King ◇ Phan AU

C4

Trickery: noun: the practice of deception

They knew the mission would be difficult.

They knew there was a slight chance of injury, even death.

They knew they might fail their mission.

They even knew that life might not be the same afterwards.

Yet they still ran towards the marketplace.

They needed food, as it was 6AM and they wanted to get breakfast before the capture. Phil could see Ben was getting tired from the constant running; the sweat dripping down his face, his clammy hands clenching into fists to try and dry his palms, his legs moving slower than Phil's. But then, to be fair, Phil has ran more long-distance missions than Ben has ever ran in his life.

As they reached the marketplace, Ben began to shiver with fear. Phil knew he was scared, so he wrapped one of his long arms around Ben's shoulders, pulling him into his chest.

"It's alright. I promise you won't get hurt, and I will hate myself forever if you do." Phil cooed, "Caspar shouldn't have given you a big mission like this as your first, I knew he shouldn't. You would've been better with Josh."

"No, I feel safe with you."

"But you're shivering, you're crying. Am I too harsh? Do I rush you?"

"No, Phil. I'm alright." He looked up at Phil, giving him a small smile, "You're alright." Phil smiled back.

"Ok, I think we're both tired and we need energy. Bacon sandwich?"

"Sure, I have some rubies-"

"Why pay when you can steal?" Phil said in mid giggle.

"Phil, we're already in enough trouble. And plus, you said to stay low and act casual. Isn't paying casual?" Ben smirked, reaching into his back pocket, "I got these yesterday by the border, aren't they pretty?" Phil's eyes opened fully to stare at the marvel that Ben had in his hands, then double-blinked, making eye-contact with Ben.

"Fine, you go get the bacon, I'll sort something out for the bread." Phil said, watching Ben run into the distance, towards the sea of people in the marketplace.

Ben knew he was claustrophobic, he always has been, but he thought he could escape this. People budged past him, acting like giants to his ant-like body. He was going against the crowd, being pushed backwards as he tried to walk forwards. The shouts, the speed, it wasn't something Ben was used to. Ben's stomach began to churn up with butterflies, he held onto it, clenching his face up in pain. His vision went blurry, making it harder to get to the bacon stand. He reached out to find a ledge, grabbing a red piece of clothing draping over a table top, and sat down in front of it. He took a second to breathe, closing his eyes and focusing.

"It's ok, Ben. Just focus-"

"Are you alright?" Ben looked up to see a boy slightly older than him kneeling down beside him, his hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Y-Y-Yeah, just n-needed some room to breathe,"

"It's ok, I understand." The boy said, smirking. He ran his hands through his silky, brown hair which was shaped into a bowl haircut. He grabbed Ben's hand and pulled him to his feet.

"So, what are you doing here at dawn?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Ben smiled, when he heard some shouting in the distance, coming towards him.

"Ben! Did you get the bacon?!" It was Phil, dashing through the crowds, eventually getting to Ben.

"N-no, not yet. I kinda fell and he helped me up." Ben said, referring to the boy. Phil raised his eyebrows and grabbed Ben's hand, yanking him away from the brown-haired boy.