• ~ Sleepless Nights ~ •

Joey groaned and rolled over in his bed. His hands wrapped around the blankets and pulled them over his shoulders.

It was an autumn night in The Lost Empire and the emperor couldn't get a wink of sleep. His home temple had giant holes in the walls, letting breezes float on through easily. Which was amazing in hot weather, but by Exor was it cold.

His parrot wings had puffed up to preserve heat and he grumbled before sitting up on his knees and pulling the blanket over him like a burrito.

Stepping away from the bed, his feet made contact with the cold, wood flooring. He chirped lightly before continuing to step towards his book shelves.

He peered through the crack in a picture frame and pulled it to the side to reveal a black staircase leading down. He stepped carefully in, flinching at the cold stone on his bare feet.

It was warmer in his Xornoth shrine.

Contained lava flowed down the back corners of the wall behind a large, black, impending throne. Joey tightened the blanket around him and grabbed the chalk off the table.

Usually this was done by a sacrifice, but he was too tired for that. The parrot emperor drew some symbols in the chalk and held the blanket in the other hand.

Once that was done, he stepped back and called for Xornoth, the champion of-

"Joey it's 2 in the morning what the fuck do you want." A booming voice rang out from everywhere and no where at the same time.

Joey jumped back and rolled his eyes.

"Hi, I couldn't sleep. I was wondering if you would... Accompany me? For a stroll of my empire."

Silence enveloped the small room before the chalk on the ground began to swirl around, the particles lifting up. Black horns formed and then a head with glowing crimson eyes.

Eventually he reached out an arm to Joey and he squeaked happily, grabbing it and pulling Xornoth out of the chalks haze, finalising the demon that was in front of the parrot.

He stretched for a second before looking at Joey with an eyebrow raised.

"So you wanted to take a stroll. At two in the morning. With me?"

Joey nodded happily and yawned, his wings shaking to try stretch under the blanket they were loosely confined by.

Xornoth sighed and took Joey's, considerably smaller hand, in his own. Joey walked up the stairs happily, accompanied by Xornoth behind him.

"So we could go to the river boat cruise, or to the.." Joey yawned and balled his free fist up before stretching his fingers. "Fire temple or something..."

Xornoth hummed and nodded, scooping Joey up in his arms bridal style. He hooked his arms just above his shoulder blades as to not catch on his wings and supported Joey's thighs to carry him properly.

The parrot squeaked in surprise but didn't complain. He nuzzled his head into Xornoths chest and closed his eyes, humming softly.

Xornoth chuckled and started walking to the river boat cruise.

"Are you sure you want to go places? You look too tired already."

Joey mumbled a response along the lines of "yeah let's do it" and Xornoth rolled his eyes but continued.

As he approached the start of it, he shifted Joey's weight to one arm and leant back to support his head while he summoned a boat.

Xornoth gently placed Joey in the double seated boat, making sure his legs wouldn't touch the water and he was sitting comfortably.

The good thing about controlling corruption vines is that you can motion for things to move. Under the water, Xornoth started to work at some vines that would grow, push the boat forward, then duck back into the ground. Repeat.

With the boat going at a steady pace, he looked at the tired blond in his lap. Joey was leaning onto Xornoth with his head turned to the side, mumbling.

Xornoth had never actually taken the river boat cruise before. It was built to kidnap the Tiger Blood Prince, as everyone knew, but Joey turned it into a true statement piece of the empire.

In the darkness of the jungle at night, the lanterns did quite a bit for the lighting. He has to admit it was all quite... Pretty.

Joey squinted open his eyes slightly to sigh and look softly up at Xornoth

Fireflies lined the insides of a tree trunk which their boat slowly slipped through. The soft light illuminated the scene of the tired emperor and Xornoth found themselves playing with some of their hair before snapping out of it.

Joey whined softly at the lack of the contact so Xornoth hesitantly continued. Braiding hair was a staple of art in Rivendell, so it came to no one's surprise that Xornoth could work a mean hairstyle.

By the time the ride was over, Joey had lots of small, intricate braids all over his hair. He also hadn't said a word.

Xornoth shook him gently and chuckled when no response came. He climbed gently out of the boat before reaching down to pick up the sleeping prince. He pressed a soft forehead kiss to his skin and opened up a portal through a tree.

Stepping through the portal, they arrived back at the stone, home temple. Xornoth looked around before placing the parrot emperor onto the bed.

He went to the chests and pulled out some extra blankets. Settling the plush fabric over the prince, Xornoth smiled to themselves.

A soft brush against their legs snapped them out of it and he swivelled around, immediately ready to attack.

A small noise came from the Tiger Blood Prince at the height of Xornoths hips. He breathed a sigh of relief and petted the tiger between the ears affectionately.

The striped feline went up to Joey's bed and lay next to it peacefully. Xornoth stood at the foot of the bed for a moment, admiring the unusually soft scene of The Lost Empire...

He crawled into the bed, facing Joey, before draping an arm over the parrot and giving him one last softer kiss on the lips.

This was nice.