i come undone

"Oh, yeah. Sure. See ya later, dude!" Kennedy gave him a little nod and wave before heading out the way she'd come in. It was a good ten seconds before she reappeared in the doorway. "Pffft, right, can you imagine?" she snorted before hoping up and taking a seat beside him before letting her face fall to a more serious expression. "But no, dude, I actually can't leave you alone. Not when your head looks like it's two seconds away from exploding goo all over the place. Tell me what's up."

The amount he thought Kennedy was actually going to listen to him this time was laughable. As if she was actually going to go while he was in this state. The sigh he let out when she returned was deep and exasperated. He pushed his fingers against his temples. “Maybe it would be better if my head did explode. Then I wouldn’t have to put up with this bullshit anymore.” His dad always riding his ass, making him feel like he’s nothing but a burden. It made him want to scream. He looked at her, desperate and tired. “Why do I even try?”

@tasteslikegold

Beau very often got bored at parties. This time, though, he'd found something to keep his interest. Much like the elf, he'd always felt an accessory for the nobler among them to gawk at. He was not noble himself. A humble jeweler that gained notoriety as one of the favorites among the royalty in the kingdom. That's why he was here, to be admired like a lovely jewel. That's all they truly saw him as. Maybe that's why he felt so drawn to the magical being before him. Or maybe it was something else.

Elian was glad when Miguel agreed to let him keep the drawing. Going so far as to sign it for him, which drew a chuckle from his lips. "Anyone that wants it would have to pry it from my cold, dead hands, cariño." He promised, taking the drawing with care and setting it on the nearby table. He would find a way to keep it safe in his bag later, once the charcoal had time to settle into the paper and wouldn't smudge as badly. "My turn!" All of a sudden, Elian pulled the sketchbook out of Miguel's hand along with his pen and sat back in his chair.

"Of course I must have you mistaken with some other handsome thief who was thrown in my dungeons. My apologies." Duke smirked and ran his fingers over the heavy metal shackles, magic running through them and the locks clicking as they fell off the man before him. He wasn't inhospitable- and besides if he ran he wouldn't get too far. The entire stone structure was crawling with Duke's minions ranging from lesser undead all the way up the upper echelons who could speak and think on their own.

Ah, his hands were free. Though he could have made a run for it, Elian wasn't about to pass up a free meal if it was offered to him. So he sat in his place at the table and licked his lips as the food was laid out before them. It looked incredible and smelled even better. Before digging in, though, he gave his attention to the prince offering these indulgences. "Well, Duke, my name is Elian." He replied, very blatantly spreading one hand against the younger's thigh while his other hand reached for a piece of hot bread. "It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Honestly, if you'd brought me up when I was first caught, I could have shown you just what my hands are capable of without all of the pomp and circumstance." A charming smirk and then a big bite of bread, humming at the taste. Elian was a survivalist first. So, if flirting with the prince was his way to a more cushy existence, he wasn't above forsaking his pride for the honor.

If it was a problem Dimitri showed no sign. He didn't seem to mind that Noah was still in his lap, said nothing about it. If he did then Noah might have to mention that Dimitri was still gripping his hips. "You didn't mean to?" He huffed out a little laugh, really finding this innocent and apologetic act rather adorable. Dimitri was easy. In more ways that one, at that. Noah had him hooked for the moment despite their unspoken understanding. "I started it..." The admission only slightly took guilt away from his roommate. Dimitri may have laid that barely there kiss on him to begin with but Noah had clearly escalated things. The way Dimitri tilted his head just so when he felt the gentle brush of lips against it seemed to say he didn't mind. That he might just be encouraging more. "Yeah... really nice, actually. And it made you feel better, huh? Forget about whatshisname?"

Noah had a tendency toward the dramatic. He just couldn't help himself. He lived in a romcom in his head. Pressing another kiss against his roommate's neck, he smiled. "Yeah. I can't even remember what he looked like anymore." He teased, brushing his lips against Dimitri's jaw. His hands moved onto his friend's chest, gently pushing him back into the couch so he could look down at him. He wanted to make sure he was actually into this. The look on his face made it pretty apparent. Leaning over, Noah kissed him again, making his intentions clear. "I could use a little more cheering up, though."

"You're proud of me?" Kade looked at the older man over the top of his sunglasses as a smirk settled onto his face. Okay, so praise clearly worked and Aslan probably knew that but it didn't stop him from enjoying hearing it. There was already an uptick in his mood as the conversation, though quiet, continued. Any time the other made it so clear that he wanted him Kade couldn't stop the fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach. Usually he tried to ignore it, pretend he didn't care so much. They both knew better. Maybe he should have opted for the private beach but it was much too late for that now. "... any way we could actually make that happen?" He took another sip from his drink, just to look occupied, and then glanced out toward the water. "Next time I go on vacation I'm picking somewhere with lots of snow so we have every excuse to stay inside."

"Maybe." Aslan replied to the question of if they could make his desire happen, not to the question about being proud. He couldn't stroke Kade's ego too much, could he? That would only lead to trouble for him. "I think there's a little cove near here where we could hide." Not that he was specifically looking for places like that or anything... Maybe he had thought about it since they decided to come to the beach. Maybe he'd imagined what it would be like to just lose himself in the water with the other without worry. Aslan laughed and nodded. "A cabin on a mountain sounds nice and secluded." He agreed. "As long as you don't try to get me on a set of skis."

"Maybe later." Kade didn't dismiss the suggestion with any attitude he just didn't want to move and give anyone reason to take more pictures of him. He knew it came with the territory, had been dealing with it his whole life, but some false sense of normalcy had overcome him and this particular instance left him bothered. "No, it's fine. She's just some girl who got excited seeing a celebrity. It happens." It was his fault anyway. The private beach Aslan wondered about had been suggested when Kade announced he wanted to get away but he'd talked his family down, pointed out that since they were making Aslan come along anyway that he would be fine. "I just wanted to pretend I was a regular person for a little while and that blew it up." He shrugged, finally finding it safe enough to look over at the other man. "If you go over there and say something she'll make a video on TikTok or Instagram about it, no doubt. Then not only will I come off as an asshole, which I know I already do, then people will start looking at you. Not worth it." Not worth anyone prying and potentially exposing them. "I'm trying to be mature about it." He took a sip from the drink Aslan had brought him, glad that it was ice cold and tasted like fresh pineapples. "Being good is hard."

Aslan hated the way Kade’s mood had dropped when the day had started out so well. He took a sip of his own drink, trying not to let his own mood slip away. He couldn’t help but smirk a little behind his glass. “You’re being very good.” Aslan told him in a soft, under his breath kind of way. “I’m proud of you. I know how badly you want to chuck her phone into the sea.” And Aslan wouldn’t blame him a bit if he did. Still, the fact Kade was willing to be this mature for his sake was extremely touching. Aslan would have to reward him for his effort. “I’d love to get you into the sea.” He said softly. “Where no one could see us.”

RECOVERING AFTER THE BIG BATTLE PROMPTS *  assorted dialogue for conversations after you just went through absolute hell to protect something, get somewhere, or fight your way through hordes of bad guys, adjust as necessary

Every part of Kade wanted to yell at that girl, to start snapping photos of her or to get up in her face. She was ruining his little fantasy. What he desired to do, however, was a complete overreaction. Definitely something he would do when he cared a little less. He could picture Aslan grabbing him by the arm if he even thought to get up and say anything to her, drag him away like he so often had to do. Kade had a bad attitude sometimes. What she was doing was probably innocent but it just felt invasive. He might've taken a photo with her had she approached him with kindness and even though he should be used to this he was a little upset. Kade didn't want to make Aslan work more than he had to, especially not when Kade's only plans for the day had been to relax and redeem his prize. "Thank you," he spoke softly to the older man but kept his eyes focused on the water. If photos of them together were being taken it would look like they weren't together at all. That sucked, yes, but he wanted to protect Aslan's job especially when he'd been the one to press so hard about him taking it easy. The whole thing was forcing him to realize that the things that went on between them would always be a problem and he didn't much like to think about it.

"You're welcome." The playfulness that had begun between them that morning was sucked from the situation thanks to one person who decided their Instagram story was more important than Kade's privacy. Aslan hated that part of the gig for him. Every bit of him would love to give that girl a piece of his mind, but it wasn't in the job description. Then again, a lot of things he did weren't in his job description. Sitting down on the chair next to Kade's, he looked down into his juice, disappointed by this turn of events. "The water's really nice. You should go for a swim." He said simply, wondering if disappearing into the water for a while might help Kade feel less watched. It certainly made him wonder why Kade's grandfather hadn't rented a vacation house with a private beach. Not that Kade would stay on it. "Do you want me to say something?"

"Don't applaud me just yet. Deleted, not deactivated." One too many lonely nights and Dimitri could so easily be back at it. Tonight though, it was easy to ignore in favor of wallowing with Noah. He was smiling too because the whole thing was silly and lighthearted and was exactly what they both needed. Dimitri might not be the one on the tail end of a 'break up' (could Noah call it that if it had only been a week?) but this was a lot more fun than lusting after some guy he could never have. Noah made it easy to be playful and fun. "What, it wasn't good enough for you?" He teased, light laughter still finding it's way out of him especially at Noah's bit of shock. It was cute. What he didn't expect, though, was what occurred next.

It wasn't until he saw Dimitri's face and heard that breathed word that Noah realized he might have gone a smidge too far. He bit his bottom lip, hands moving down to the other boy's shoulders, still in his lap like that was the most normal part of all of this. "Sorry..." Despite his embarrassment, he smiled, leaning down to put his forehead on Dimitri's shoulder with a groan. "I didn't mean to." They kind of had an understanding. They'd been roommates all year and nothing like this had happened because they didn't want things to get messy. And here Noah was trying to fuck with that because his feelings were hurt? Because his balls were blue? Still, he tilted his head just enough to brush his lips against the side of Dimitri's neck. "Kinda nice though, huh?"