Embers of a King

A Rustic Break

Grian frowned down at the roof he was standing on. It didn't look right. Maybe it was because he had made so much of the same thing, so much that it was grating on his mind.

"Grian!" He looked back. Seto was standing at the bottom, holding two mugs of steaming tea. He smiled at him. "Come down, take a break!" That was an enormous difference between Seto and NPC. Seto wanted him to take breaks. He encouraged him to. He was always bringing him tea, too. This wasn't the first time. Grian looked down at the roof he was working on and decided that it was best to take a break. He found it was easier to face builds if he took a break from them sometimes. Besides, he was so damn sick of rustic builds... He sighed before he used the scaffolding he had off to the side, sliding down to the ground where he met Seto on the porch of the house. They sat down, each holding their cups of tea.

"How is the building going?" Seto asked.

"Roofs suck," he grumbled. Seto laughed.

"I can agree with that." He clinked their mugs together before they each took a sip from it. Grian briefly noticed that Seto's was darker than his, but he shrugged it off. In the past two weeks, he had learned that Seto often put things in his tea to make them smell or taste a certain way. It was strange, but not unwelcomed. He had asked him how he did it, but he had merely gotten a wick and a dismissive 'its a secret.' Once upon a time, that would have piqued Grian's interest. But now... He just didn't care. Being curious and going out of his way to figure things out had all come around to bite him in the ass and kick him out of the only home he had ever known.

"Grian, might I suggest something?" Grian looked at the purple mage beside him. Seto was staring up at the house he was nearly finished with, a passive expression on his face. "Now, I love your style, and these houses are just beautiful—but, don't you think you should... Add some variety?" Grian stiffened.

"Build what you're good at. You aren't one for risks, Grian."

"What about something like, modern—?"

"No!"

Seto looked at him in surprise, having not expecting such an outburst. Grian was panting as his heart raced, fears creeping up his spine. "No, no! I can't do modern, I can't, I can't do futuristic, I can't do anything but rustic! That's all I can do! That's—!" He paused as Seto cupped his face in his gloved hands, tilting his head up to look at him with wide panicked eyes. But Seto only smiled down at him, a sad understanding in his brown eyes. But how could he understand? How could he know what it was like to be outcasted and hated for something he had nothing to do with?

"Alright," Seto whispered. "That's fine, Grian." He pressed a kiss to Grian's forehead, and the pounding of his heart stopped just from that action alone. He hadn't expected that. His cheeks flushed red and Seto chuckled as he leaned back and looked at him with fondness. He dropped his hands to Grian's and squeezed them. "Your rustic builds are gorgeous anyway. People will love them." He patted Grian's hand and then released them, picking up his cup of tea as he leaned back. "Besides, we could always gather a team of builders to handle other themes!" Grian nodded, taking deep breaths as his initial panic faded. Shit. That was a close one. "Oh, but, before I let you go back to building... I have something to ask of you, Grian."

"H-Huh? Oh, sure— ask away, then." Seto sipped from his tea.

"You asked me something a few days ago when I brought this idea up to you. As we're nearing the boundaries we set down and you're doing your last few houses, I thought we should talk about it. You asked who would be the King."

"You, right?" Seto blinked and looked at him.

"Me?"

"I mean, yeah. You're really charismatic, and... Warm." Grian rubbed the back of his neck. "Not to mention, you have a crown." He gestured to Seto's head and Seto blinked before he smiled and set his cup down to reach up and pull off the metal crown he carried on his head with pride. He stared down at it, turning it over in his hands. It was then Grian realized, now that it was much closer to him and it wasn't so obscured by hair, that it was rather beaten up. There were even a few dents it in, and there were worn down sockets that must have once had jewels. What had happened to them?

"This crown means nothing now," Seto whispered and Grian was about to ask him what he meant when Seto looked at him and smiled.

"No, Grian. I don't wish to be King. My... friend and I believe that it would be better if you were King."

Grian's heart dropped to his feet.