Teetering on the Brink

Azure

A/N: Stunning cover was made by @Catachino. Please give her all the love and kudos in the world! And yes, eventual boyxboy romance is in this story. If that isn't your cup of tea, consider this your warning.

Charles Adler, heir to the magnanimous Adler Steel corporation and dressed to the nines in a tailored ebony dress shirt and slacks at age nine, encounters his to-best friend Lindsay Cordell under the wide circular table reserved for the visiting Danish royalty and buried wrist deep in blueberry pie. At the celebration of the Danish coronation, no less!

He had only noticed something amiss with the table as he passed by, hovering at his mother's dismissive hip.

Scowling at the polished wooden floors and desperately wishing he was home, Charles accidentally spotted a pair of expensive pink slippers dart out from beneath the silken cloth before they scuttled hurriedly back into the inky depths.

It peaked his curiosity and the potential mystery seemed far more interesting than watching his mother flush and flatter under the scrutiny of royalty.

With the company at the table thoroughly distracted, Charles crouched down by the table and scuttled underneath the expensive silk and into the waiting darkness, prepared for any number of terrifying monsters or mysterious strangers awaiting within. He was not, however, prepared for the terse scowl of an older child (a girl, Charles noticed, wrinkling his nose), dressed in an ivory dress lined with pearl frills and layered with a soft petticoat.

What was most surprising about the poorly lit picture (courtesy of the lack of light piercing the fabric surrounding them) was the fact that the scowling mouth was stained a distinctive shade of blue. As were her fingers, Charles noted with surprise, which were currently buried within the crust of what seemed to be a blueberry pie.

"Are you going to tell?" The girl asked before sticking her fingers in her mouth to clean them, eyes glinting with suspicion.

She was prepared to argue with him on this matter, challenge him, even in the face of the influential Adler crest sewn proudly into the collar of his dress shirt.

She was interesting, this girl. Most of the other children cowered before him, lessons from their parents about who was to be respected and who was not likely echoing off the walls of their empty minds.

"What's your name?" He countered, liking the spark in her eyes. To steal a pie like that, clearly unnoticed, was truly a feat worthy of his respect. The fact that it was a blueberry pie only increased Charles's admiration. It was clear she possessed good taste, matching his own preferences like that.

The opposing scowl deepened in response to Charles's widening grin and the girl offered no response.

She then sniffed and turned back to her pie, evidently dismissing him as no threat to the security of her treat. It was deeply offending, if very brave.

Charles's grin sharpened further as he searched for a suitable thread to layer his tone with. Gold, he decided, a girl as interesting as this was more than worthy of his best effort. With others he had to do nothing more than layer his tone with copper, malleable and susceptible to interference, and they would bend as easily as straw. Disappointment after disappointment.

This one, he supposed, was worthy of a greater effort on his part.

Perhaps something simple to begin with?

"The girl took her fingers out of the pie." He intoned at the other child, a single thread of golden persuasion intertwined seamlessly into the words. He watched as the child frowned, resisting, as her brow furrowed  in confusion. Charles felt as though the grin would split his face in two. This girl was so, so cool.