When the Universe Began [A Blackmadhi Fantasy AU]

Chapter Nine

(POV: SIMON)

Why couldn't this stupid prince remember his own peace treaty meetings and wake up on time like a normal person? Because he didn't wake up on time, that meant Simon had to wake him up. What a pain. He walked into the prince's room, seeing Nahyuta still buried deep beneath his blankets. Seriously? It was almost Eleven O'Clock and he was still fast asleep. He walked to the side of his bed, gently shaking his shoulder. Oh Holy Mother. Did he have to sleep in such a revealing position? Simon could see the curvature of Nahyuta's perfect body, along with the top of that tattoo he'd seen the night before. Not that Simon had been staring or anything. Nope, never, not at all.

"Five more minutes..." he muttered, rolling over onto his back to glare at him.

"In all respect, Your Highness, no." Simon said, smacking his face to try and get him to wake up.

"Geez! Okay, okay, I'm getting up! No need to smack me!" he yelled, holding his cheek and finally getting out of bed. He walked over to his wardrobe, throwing open the doors to the dark wooden cabinet.

"Do you mind?" he asked, blushing as he reached to take off his shirt. Ah, of course. He didn't want him to see it again. Simon turned his head away, pretending to admire a spot on the wall. The walls were painted a bright lilac similar to Nahyuta's hair color and it was almost kind of pretty.

"You can look now." he said, grabbing Simon's face and turning it back to him. Gee, he sure changed quickly.

"Isn't that the outfit you were wearing when we first met?" he said, looking him up and down. Not that Simon had cared or anything, but still... it looked nice on him.

"Yes, because unlike a certain someone," he flicked his forehead at this statement, "I like to make good impressions."

"And you're saying that I didn't?"

"Of course not you ridiculous panda." He smacked Simon in the face with his braid again as he led the way out the door to the meeting room. He sure did like doing that; didn't he?

~~~

It felt weird to stand at a prince's side in such a formal setting such as this meeting. People were... watching. Simon Blackquill was not made for politics. He could feel his face flush brighter and brighter the long the meeting went on. The colour must have looked strange against his pale skin, but Simon had no way of knowing. He didn't have a mirror after all. A young lady with long black hair noticed the red that had spread across his face and laughed softly, a sound that seemed very out of place in such a serious meeting. The woman standing next to her turned to glare at me, her silver eyes boring into Simon as she fingered a whip that hung off of her belt. He felt as if he'd seen the pair of them somewhere before, but couldn't quite place where. His stupid, failing memory.

~~~

After the meeting, the black-haired woman who'd laughed at me ran over to Nahyuta, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. Simon tensed up. Surely she wasn't an assassin if she was sent to a peace treaty meeting, but one could never be too careful. The woman's bodyguard had also tensed up at this interaction and made eye contact with him before smiling. Huh... she was scary, but maybe she wasn't necessarily a bad person.

"Simon, this is Miss Maya Fey and her bodyguard, Franziska von Karma." Nahyuta said, tapping Simon on the shoulder to get his attention as he introduced the two women to him.

"Ah right, it's nice to meet you." he said, reaching out to shake Miss Fey's hand. He wasn't just going to be rude, not while that scary woman was still here. She reminded him a bit of Captain Edgeworth, as in the way she glared at him almost made him want to piss his pants. Simon bet they were related or something and that's why she seemed so familiar to him.

"I'd love nothing more than to stay and chat for a while longer Yuty, but we've really got to get going." Miss Fey said, wrapping her arms around the prince one more time before she turned to leave with Miss von Karma. Von Karma wrapped her arm protectively around the shorter woman as they walked away. There had to be more than just a relationship between bodyguard and lady between the two of them, Simon just knew it. As he watched them, Simon wondered if he and His Royal Highness could ever be that friendly. It was probably a pipe dream, but did he have it in him to hope?

~~~

Seeing as it was quite late, Simon then escorted His Highness to his room before returning to his own right next door. It had been more than the few days it usually took Simon to settle into a new place, but for some reason, here he was still having trouble. Maybe it was because he was constantly on edge watching the prince, but nightmares plagued his mind almost every night.

~~~

P-please! I didn't kill you, I swear it on my life! Please just leave me alone! Don't haunt me like this Miss Metis! Simon woke up screaming, his sheets stained with a cold sweat. Dammit, not again. Why did this have to happen every night? He just wanted to forget about that day, and yet it still haunted him... her face still haunted him. Simon rested his head into his hands, attempting to calm himself down as someone knocked gently on the door. He walked over to it carefully, opening it slowly to see who was there.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you, Your Highness?" Simon asked as he saw the younger man standing at the door, his mouth halfway open in a yawn.

"For your information, I haven't gone to bed yet. I just wanted to know if you were okay. That scream was quite loud." he said, leaning against the doorframe. Why did he come check on him? It's not like he cared about Simon, they hated each other.

"That's nice of you, but I don't need you to worry about me Nahyuta. I can take care of myself."

"I was worried, you asshole. It wouldn't be very nice if my bodyguard got murdered in the middle of night."

"You're going crazy from the lack of sleep, Your Highness. Go to bed." Simon said, shoving him back towards his own room.

"I hate you too!" he shouted as he slammed his door behind him. That hatred didn't seem genuine, this time it was more like the way that Athena told him that she hated him. Oh damn, that meant Nahyuta and him were almost friends. Simon's heart pounded in his chest as he slipped back under his covers. Why? Why was it beating so hard? He didn't even like Nahyuta. Please, just make it stop. Simon didn't want to feel anything for him, not now or ever.