#twkfic

"Do you love me Jude?" Cardan asks, they're sprawled on a blanket in the forest near Jude's family's domain. She looks up from the book she'd been reading to give him an appraising look.

For weeks now, Cardan has been running on little to no sleep for the sake of spending time with Jude. But he didn't mind, Jude tucked her hair behind the crook of her ear, Cardan couldn't resist the urge to reach out and touch it. Jude cleared her throat and smoothly avoided his hand.

"What?" He asked, surprised at both reaction and quiet disposition.

Jude tucks a leaf as a bookmark between the pages, sitting up straight she levels a glance at him.

"Do you love me Cardan?" Her voice is has no invocative emotion, her brown eyes seem harder than usual.

"I asked you first." He points out, sensing a game. Jude face doesn't stir and she lifts a shoulder with a tilt of her head and goes back to her book. "Well?" Cardan asks impatiently.

"Well it goes unsaid. Obviously." Jude is quiet, her face smooth irritation or embarrassment. Cardan cannot stand it.

Exhaling in frustration, dragging a bejeweled hand across his face, he glares at his beloved. "What a deliberately stubborn person you are." Tossing the book she lent him aside, he begins gathering little wheedling like flowers and begins braiding them together. He hums a tune.

She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me. Let's tie a knot. Which he does and admiring his work, he places over Judes brow.

"Here lies proof of my unnerving favor."

"You must mean unwavering." Jude clears her throat.

"I know what I said mortal."

"Whatever you say, immoral."

Cardan's eyes narrow, "its pronounced immortal."

Jude chuckles without humor. "I know what I said."

He rose to his feet and busied himself gathering dandelions. Satisfied with the amount, he sat beside her and began weaving them into her braid. Humming the tune from before, Jude didn't stir. He always admired that about her, the unabashed intensity and focus. She reminded him of a familiar general. In another life, Cardan thought, Jude and that general could have been father and daughter.

"Well I love you Jude." Cardan says softly, his hands fall to his lap, a reluctant smile at his lips. Jude actually looks up from her book and turns to him.

"I know." She plucks a dandelion from Cardan's fingertips and presses it to her lips before tucking it behind his ear. Her finger linger over the point of it and then follow the line if his jaw. "There. Now you have proof of my favor."

This is as much of a confession as any. Cardan's shoulders relax.

"Unnerving or unwavering?"

Jude rolls her eyes and goes back to her studying, but with a tight curl of her mouth she answers.

I feel like when Jude finally confronts Cardan, that they'll put all the cards on the table. Cardan will probably say he did what was best for her rather than his kingdom, exiling her as he did. He had grounds to execute her but his feelings got in the way. But Jude won't care because when she was vulnerable and tired and damn near broken from exhaustion and torture--she trusted him. He allowed her to have hope of being cared for and treated as an equal, then he took the rug from under her and humiliated her for all of faerie to see.

Cardan: his lips press into a thin line, "Jude can't you see I had no choice. I couldn't protect you without looking weak. I had no other choice!"

Jude Begins to walk away.

Cardan gets up from his thrown, pushing last the guards outside his door, their eyes widened with surprise and shock.

"As your king I demand you to come back this instance!"

Jude stops, her shoulders stay erect as she spins on her heel and unsheaths her sword. The guards react the same and Cardan waves them off. He doesn't even flinch as Jude come closer.

"I, Jude Duarte, former seneschal and kingmaker," then she throws the sword on the ground, " have pledged myself to no court here. Therefore I see no king of mine in this court." Tears begin to fall as she unbuckled her leather belt where her proud weapon once sat at her side. It is such a human reaction that every fae including the King himself stares in awe. Jude smiles proudly and sighs with such relief.

"I once had such love in my heart for you, it came out of hatred and fear that I once regarded you with. It gave me such strength and power to keep going on. But no more. I the Queen of nothing. Renounce Elphame and return to my new people." She bows her head to leave.

Cardan's frozen.

" wh-what do you mean? You just said you loved me. Why would you leave? Why would you renounce your court as such?" His fingernails dig into his palms and he begins to tremble, all of his fears and wishes manifested before him in manner of seconds. He was left speechless.

"Jude? You just said you lov-"

Jude was looking at some sketches when Tom saw her. She was so beautiful, he had noticed her before when she picked up Oak but never did anything about it. His hands felt sweaty and he had to wipe his palms on his jeans as he walked towards her. Somebody bumped into him, knocking his glasses down. A short woman with umber skin and too young to have white hair excused herself as he tried to feel for them. The lack of light and moving feet made it difficult for him to make out their shape. A hand reaches out to help him and returns his glasses. A boy.

No a young man, not much older than Tom with a haughtiness that made it obvious he was not familiar with the word no. He wore such a long and dark shirt that he would have stood out during the day especially with the humidity. But under the guise of low light and darkness he blended quite well. His sharp cheekbones and burning amber eyes greeted Tom as he thanked him for returning his glasses.

Cardan smiled, " You shouldn't go around giving so much gratitude you might end up in someone's debt one day. Besides they were right in front of me, easy to find."

"Well, thank you. Last time I'll say it." Tom frowned at the small damage, "Oh no. There's a big scratch. I knew I should've worn contacts. Now how will I find her." He mutters the last bit of his gripe but of course the King of Elfhame hear's this.

"Yes. What a shame they didn't break. Are you looking for someone, a date perhaps?" Cardan didn't even try to hide his eagerness but Tom was too distracted to notice. Tom nods and tries clean his glasses to the best of his abilities.

"Well sort of, do you think you can help me out. She was just over by that wall over there, I didn't see her brother or her sister with her."

Cardan follows his gaze, "Well what does she look like? Fair skinned? Blonde? Oooo I think that's her over there!" He points in the opposite direction at a random mortal but Tom just shakes his head and starts to press on looking for her. Town square wasn't that big but there were plenty of people and conflicting rhythms to get lost in it all. A couple of teens with neon glow paint ran in between them laughing with glee. "I doubt we'll find her now."

Tom frowns," I wonder if I still have that call sheet from all the parents in homeroom. Pretty sure I uploaded it to my-"SMACK. Cardan slaps the phone out of Tom's hand and it falls facedown on the pavement. Tom looks down at it in horror. "Why did you do that?!"

"Do what? Stand here as your phone flew out of your hands? I just met you sir and I have trouble with where your tone is going." Cardan steers him out of the crowd and under a lamplight handing him a handkerchief with strange embellishments. Tom begins to profusely wipe away at the screen hoping it'll turn on. Cardan taps at the phone and seems to power off. "No good I see. Well you might as well get a drink to wash away this turnout. How about some wine. Oh look, wine!" He points at a sangria vendor. But Tom won't have any of it.

"Dude, what is your problem! I'm trying to find my date, whose not really my date, and you're bad juju is messing up my vibes!" Tom pushes his glasses up onto his forehead in frustration, cursing today's events.

Cardan glares at him with narrow eyes, noticing how much taller this human is. Not only that but stockier too. He reaches out to feel Tom's bicep and gasps at how impressive it is. This bumbily fool who seemed weak willed with muscles would be perfect for Jude.

" No thank you, I don't drink alcohol."

Cardan's jaw dropped at his enemy incarnate. This man was Jude's dream come true. Before he could utter a glamour to sabotage him further, The Bomb pushed him out of the way. Bringing Tom's face to her own. She whispered in a heavily enchanted voice that he would not speak nor remember his encounter with the King tonight nor would he tell anyone about it. She hesitated before she added that from now on he would not need glasses anymore and to keep a close watch on Jude and her siblings. Bringing her any news of changes or strange occurrences. Cardan opened his mouth to add something when he was rushed away.

They watched from afar as their beloved mortal found Oak's teacher and waited to see things unravel. When they returned to faerie, furniture was thrown and goblets of wine were filled. And the king refused any visitors as he retreated into his former seneschal's living quarters. The Bomb was allowed to bring refreshments of wine but the King did not want to see anybody else.

Cardan tossed and turned as he dreamt of that stupid mortal being lead away by Jude. The same Jude who wouldn't smile at Cardan's clever jokes or wear that pretty sunflower dress for him that he sent for her. The flowly fabrics with dips that accentuated curves he's felt before. He sighed into the duvet breathing in her perfume. He scoffed at how disgusting he had become, like some love scorned faun.

How had she not figured it out? The mortal ward of Madoc the Redcap, the famously clever twin who outsmarted and outstrategized as she lived and breathed. Why was she still on the other side?

He looked at the ceiling and faced answer he didn't want to admit.

Maybe she didn't figure it out because she didn't want to come back. What if she didn't want his forgiveness and wanted to stay exiled.

Or even more frightening, what if she had and decided that she didn't care anymore. That he wasn't worthy of revenge?

Cardan's chest hurt at the thought and he wondered if the pain was from anything else unrelated. He knew it was not.

The Bomb came to the door, no goblet in hand but raised eyebrows at her King's state. She turned around and gestured for Van, the Roach to go in instead. Van groaned but went in anyway. He went in to find the once proud prince now slumbering King wrapped around one of Jude's old doublets. He knocked on the door several times to wake Cardan, but nothing not even a stir. Instead he made some tea and set it aside for his majesty. When he right and ready he would call for them.

They made their way back to the court of shadows, ushering away their new recruits pouring themselves heavy liquor to salve this wound of a day. The Bomb drank from a heavy coffee mug that said 'Shut up' on its face and then 'proceed' at the bottom.

"Liliver," Van starts," do you miss the ol' days? You know when we used to be thieves and deviants for a living? You gotta admit that was fun." His turn to drink his cup clean of smokey sweet beverage. It burns his throat in a soothing way.

"Well, not really. This is much more fun isn't it? Plus we get paid." She pours herself another.

" I guess you're right. But this steady salary is making us soft I think. What we need is some good excitement around here. I miss Jude."

Liliver nods in agreement then tilts her lips devilishly."You know, Van, you should be careful what you wish for."

Before he can ask why, one if their messengers comes into the room. They're to be summoned to the palace. It is there when news comes of their updated itinerary.

Van scolds at the terrible mortal's neck, uttering curses under his breath as he watches the young man knock on the door. He mutters more when he sees his old friend in a pretty sundress greet said young man at the door.

His presence was enough to set everyone in the room on edge, without even factoring in the fact that he was speaking.  Joss could almost stand the man when he wasn't talking.  Almost.  There were too many things he didn't like about Preston- he didn't blink enough, for starters.  His wide eyes simply seemed shallow, making it hard to guess if he ever meant anything that he said.  His voice was too evenly pitched, and his laughter was always lilted and mocking.  The immaculate suits he wore were ruined by a variety of awful gag ties, which were perhaps meant to make him unintimidating.  The cloth had no such affect.

Despite not having any (obvious) magic of his own, Preston did have considerable influence on the proceedings in both the black market societies and the normal ones.  Exactly what the influence was, well, it varied from individual to individual.  Drumming his fingers against the old, rotting table, Joss watched the vice principal quickly take control of a meeting that had nothing to do with him.  

Preston was doing what he always did, talking in such a way that it seemed like the metaphorical mask he wore was just slightly off center.  Like a dangerous animal lurked just under the surface, waiting to pounce.  Joss couldn't tell if that was just a part of the lie that seemed to make up Preston’s entire being, or if that was just the one slip of truth that he hadn't managed to hide.  

Pairing: N/A it's pretty platonic, though Gavin kisses everyone in AH.

A/N: The last of my gifts to Dicklark for the RT sercret santa!  Beta'd by the great and honorable trade-princess!

Prompt: Gavin has kissed at least half of the office (and most of the guys at AH) at some point or another.