Servienne (LGBT)

19-Incentive

A/N: This chapter and the next two are going to be purely Aaron and Noll relationship stuff, so prepare yourself haha

    He felt sort of breath like a stone laid on his chest; he felt heavy like lead was strapped to his feet. They had mentioned Noll. He was getting too risky, too slippery in his attempts to see Noll. He had to be smarter, but just that one time, he had to speak with Noll. This entire problem could be fixed if Noll would just say yes. Even after having gone to his room, stripping of the justacorps, shoes, and all the extra, and going to the bathroom to splash water in his face, Aaron still felt nauseatingly dizzy by what had happened. If he had let one emotion betray him--a blush, a paling of his skin--it would have been all over. Alec definitely would have noticed; he was sly and observant like that.

  Taking a deep breath, Aaron looked at himself through the mirror. His dark, auburn blond hair was getting so long, wavy and puffing in all directions, slightly damp where the water splashed, now hanging in his face. His dark eyes, despite being oak colored, looked black in the dimness of the bathroom, having left the curtain of his room drawn to be consumed by that darkness. It was a small comfort. He sighed, touching his cheek, red from fluster, water beads trickling down his temple. He looked so much younger than he acted. He was on the cusp of being eighteen--it couldn't even be two weeks until the day--but he wasn't there yet. How old was Noll? Why had he never thought to wonder? Aaron had a soft square jaw, and his skin was delicate and baby-like. He felt so childish. Noll had to be in his early twenties. Why would Noll ever want someone so young? Or even a man in general? Perhaps Noll, too, felt no spark with a woman; or perhaps he was just using Aaron. The thought made Aaron's heart ache, and he dropped his hand to the kitchen sink. He was surprised by how distraught he looked in the mirror. It was a miracle he had kept the emotion off of his face in front of his friends.

  The knock came to his door, and while he had summoned Noll, he suddenly regretted it; those sad thoughts were still passing through his head. "Come in," He called from the bathroom. He heard the door open. He took another deep breath to calm himself before slinging a hand towel around his neck, not wanting the water to drip down his shirt. Stepping out of the bathroom, he looked up and locked eyes with Noll who, if Aaron wasn't being paranoid or over-analyzing, seemed to be blushing. "What?" Aaron questioned, and Noll cleared his throat, looking away. "Nothing," Noll replied lowly.

  No, it most certainly wasn't nothing. Walking in, Noll had been confused when he could not find Aaron immediately, but there the prince had come waltzing out of the bathroom, half soaking wet, towel haphazardly thrown around his neck, hair messy but somehow simultaneously neat, eyes tired, body small, the slimness of his waist visible through the buttoned dress shirt flecked in water. To put it short, it was incredibly attractive.

  "Noll." He turned to look back at Aaron when he heard his voice to find Aaron standing in front of him. Noll almost had to cover his face to hide how red he was getting. It was near pathetic. Aaron grinned. "Noll, honestly, can you not compose yourself?" He asked, chuckling. Noll gently slipped his arms completely around Aaron's waist, and he flinched when he heard the prince's voice hitch; he could tell that Aaron was already turned on. Unable to contain it, Noll smiled coyly. "Aaron, honestly, can you not compose yourself?" He teased. Aaron laughed brightly, and Noll knew it took everything in Aaron to pull away, looking up into Noll's eyes, furrowing his brows.

  "Noll, I'm sorry, but we have to talk." Noll's face fell, nodding and taking Aaron's hand, leading him over to the desk. Noll sat on the edge of the desk, but Aaron remained standing. This only acted to worry Noll further.

   Dread washed over him.

  "So, I was spending some time with my friends today, and they said that certain people have been raising suspicion on my favoritism," Aaron explained slowly and carefully.

    No, it couldn't be.

  "And I realize now that I was not careful enough. That I was selfish to be so brash, to not think about the consequences of all of this," The prince continued, but Noll couldn't hear much beyond the speechlessness and shock wrapping around his mind. "If anyone found out about this, they could hurt you; they could kill you. And if that ever happened, Noll, if they hurt you, I'd never forgive myself. So..."

     Please, don't say those words.

    "I think we should stop--"

  Already to his feet, Noll grabbed Aaron's shoulders, shaking his head. "Aaron, if you tell me we should stop seeing each other I will not be happy," He whispered low to hide whatever messiness was coming to his voice, threatening to break his words to pieces. Aaron covered his face to hide as it twisted in pain. "Noll, what the fuck else am I supposed to say? Huh? That you should risk your life? Just for something like this, kept so far under the radar that I can't even call you here without raising suspicion? I have no other options!" He exclaimed, voice cracking. "I'll do it, then!" Noll shouted back. Aaron looked up from his hands, confused. "What--?"

  "I'll do it! I'll take that stupid, god damn job, alright? If that's what it's going to take to stay, then fine, fuck it!" The volume of his shouting worried Aaron, but he couldn't help but feel a swell of happiness in his chest. "You... You'll be my valet?" When he said it, Noll flinched before nodding. Aaron had no idea why Noll was so hesitant. It seemed to go beyond 'I don't feel like I deserve it'. It felt personal. But this made Aaron so happy that he could barely care. He threw his arms around Noll, smiling wide. "Thank you, my gods, seriously, Noll! This means I can make sure you're alright. I can look after you. You'll be safe." He murmured softly. His words tugged at Noll's heart. He carefully grabbed the prince's shoulders and pulled him away from Noll's chest, but before Aaron could look confused, Noll took Aaron's face, kissing him gently. Aaron smiled against his lips but reluctantly drew away.

  "You have no idea how much paperwork this requires, though. I should be finished by tomorrow. We're supposed to do background checks and all of that, but that's just a choice thing, so it shouldn't take as long as usual. Gertrude is going to give me hell considering she was already suspicious in the first place, and forget about my uncle! He's still lurking around in his room and won't leave. He hates servants enough." Aaron sighed heavily, but Noll rubbed his shoulders encouragingly. "It's alright. Just take your time, Aaron," Noll whispered.

  "Yeah, you should be saying that, considering how much training you'll have to endure. You think this is just some 'bullshit' job where you don't have to do or know anything, but you would be surprised," Aaron said. Noll rolled his eyes. "Like what?"

  "Oh, let's see: etiquette, which includes table manners, cultural customs of greeting and conversation, dress, sophistication of language, attitude, and action, etc; there's also dance, horseback riding, grooming, grooming of others, basic self defense, and most valet's know two languages, but we can cut that out. There's much more, but we can focus on those things after I drag you to the gala this weekend." Noll gulped to all of that, glancing away nervously. "G-Gala?"

  "Ah, yes, we're going to a gala this weekend, so you have to be prepared with the basics by then as not to embarrass me." Aaron smiled sweetly, but their was a cruel mischief behind his eyes, clearly mocking Noll for thinking that this would be an easy take. Noll frowned, suddenly regretting his assumption of the workload of valets. He respected them a little more now. After all, this was going to be hell.

A/N: I didn't know how to make it any less cheesy, sue me :D