The Majesty of Choice

Everything

Frank's curtains are drawn together, but the window is opened just a crack, which lets in some of the cold night air as well as the sound of the world outside. There's wind and the sound of bugs chirping softly, and a nice summer smell. In Gerard's home, the windows don't open, and the one in his room, and the room that his sisters forced him into, both only had windows that were about a hand wide on either side. The windows in Frank's room are wide and impressive, not the stained glass in other parts of the castle, but intricately detailed nonetheless.

The light in the room is supplied only by one small lamp on the bedside table. It's so small that it shouldn't be able to light the room up like it does, but there's quite a bit of flickering, warm light which probably makes both of them look angelic, as it certainly makes Frank look that way.

Gerard doesn't really know what to do with himself. It's a little bit before he would normally go to bed. If he were back home, he'd probably read a book, or write something, or just hang out and talk to Ray. It feels weird to do anything like that here, so it's just him and Frank alone.

He sits on the bed, and Frank nervously plays with his hands as he looks at Gerard. The two of them don't do much of anything. Why do things sometimes feel awkward and other times feel like they're old friends? Gerard feels like Frank is both his best friend in the world and a complete stranger.

"You don't need to stay, you can, I mean, you have your own room, I wouldn't be offended if you wanted to go there, it's getting late."

"No, it's okay, I... I want to stay," Gerard confesses. He does want to stay, but in reality, he doesn't have a choice. Pete had ordered him to stay in Frank's room, and he didn't back out on it, which means Gerard really doesn't have a choice. How magical it would be to get to choose, but even if he did have that opportunity, he would still choose this.

"Okay," Frank says, nodding. He walks over and sits next to Gerard on his own bed. There had been a servant come in after they left, because the bed was made again before Gerard sat on it. He feels a little bad that they had to remake the bed in the first place, but since the two of them are probably going to sleep soon, at least the servants won't have to do it again until tomorrow. Gerard's never had his bed made for him ever in his entire life. His mom or Ray have ordered him to do it, but that doesn't mean he understands why it's necessary. And he certainly had never made a bed like the one Frank has, which has nearly ten pillows that are all for decoration, which seems entirely unnecessary if you ask Gerard. A bed needs three things, one pillow, one blanket, and one Frank.

Frank sits a little bit closer to Gerard than he would have expected, but not as close as he would want. Gerard bites his lip a little and looks at Frank. Such a fucking pretty person, the most beautiful man in the entire Kingdom. But only Gerard was invited to stay here. The only person ever. Frank told him he'd never even kissed anyone before Gerard. That's a big deal. It's probably the biggest deal to happen to this Kingdom since Frank's dad, the King, died. And it's happened to him, Gerard. This is the kind of gossip that Hattie and Olive would salivate over, but it's happening to their own goddamn stepbrother.

"I hope it wasn't too awful, was it?" Frank asks.

"It was... I mean it wasn't exactly fun." That's sugarcoating it. Edgar was a complete asshole. He never said anything directly rude, it was the just the way he said it. Gerard got what Edgar what he had expected. He was cold, arrogant, distant, and slimy. He made as quick work of his food as he could so that he wouldn't have to talk to Edgar anymore than he had to, and that was still long enough.

Sitting here with Frank is the biggest relief in his life. He's away from everyone, they're all alone in this part of the castle. In the back of his mind, Gerard is aware that Edgar's bedroom is also somewhere in this corridor, but he's trying to keep that knowledge right at the back. Right now, all he cares about is him and Frank all alone in this little corner of the world. There's nothing but them, no servants, no knights, no Pete and Patrick. Not even a Mikey, because Gerard has left his book in the room next door where he won't be sleeping. That may have been intentional, he doesn't want Mikey to be in the same room as him and Frank. Not after last time.