A Clash of Worlds (Taliesin&redblood)

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'Sounds good.' Adrian texted back before glancing towards his balcony musingly. He decided he would take the normal route rather than freak anyone out. It occurred to him that aside from Paris there was probably not anyone else aware that he could fly and why it was so easy for them to get away at the moment. He mused on that as he headed out into the halls and down the semi-familiar path. Unsurprisingly he ended up running into Paris before they actually made it into the garden, right at the exit outside. "Hey." He managed a warm, if weak, smile as their paths joined and they moved towards their destination.
 
Paris smiled like a love struck fool when he saw the reply. Finally they could meet each other again. Sure it had only been a few days, but considering how strange Adrian had been it didn't feel like they had truly been together that last time. Somehow it felt as if Adrian was disappearing somewhere he couldn't reach. Maybe he would be better today.

At the exit door the two princes ran into each other. "Hey." Paris breathed, happily surprised that they met already. It wasn't far from their destination, but he couldn't help to cherish even the smallest of moments and extra time they could get. "How are you feeling? You seemed slightly out of it the day before yesterday." The prince commented, still worried for his lovers health.
 
To his frustration, Adrian felt sick with guilt at Paris being so happy to see him. Something had changed in his mind and now it seemed like he was eating himself alive. In the far, far back of his mind he wondered how long he would be able to take this. Since he hadn't been doing a good job of hiding it, he decided to play it off as an actual illness. He threw Paris another weak smile and shrugged. "It seems I've come down with something. Even the vultures of court noticed and gave me some space finally." He actually looked amused at that, the most lively he had been in days it seemed.
 
It was hard laughing at his joke when knowing that Adrian was sick. Maybe they should have stayed inside then? While it wasn't cold, and some fresh air was helpful for the body, it still seemed better if he didn't move around too much.

"Maybe we should call a doctor, just in case it's something serious." Paris suggested while putting a hand on the other prince's forehead to check his temperature. No fever at least. "It happens that people get really sick when traveling to another country because of the different bacteria in the air and water supply. If you've gotten something your body isn't used to it could become dangerous even if it isn't deadly." Considering how polluted their air was in comparison to Adrian's country, it wasn't too strange that he got sick because of it. The same might happen to Paris if he ever visited Adrian's country. If the water wasn't cleaned in the same way as at home, then that might make him sick. Not because it seemed like he would be able to travel there any time soon.
 
Adrian, despite his internal agony, couldn't help but lean into that brief touch. He had missed Paris as much as the other Prince had missed him, he had just suffered more for it. "I think I'll be okay, but if you want we can look into it later." He said that mostly to make Paris feel better, he highly doubted the doctor would be able to find anything let alone help with the issue. Once again that terrifying whisper in the back of his head asked 'how long will you be able to take this?'. He firmly kicked the voice back into it's box but the damage had already been done twice over.
 
Paris smiled warmly. He probably worried over nothing. It was most likely a common cold and nothing else. As long as Adrian didn't have any heart problems or so, then he would be fine when it came to such diseases.

"Let's wait a few days, and if you don't feel better by then I'll make sure someone comes over to look at you." He told Adrian before giving him a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't like their relationship was a secret anymore, so it shouldn't be a problem. Still a slight blush came over his cheeks. Doing something like that in public felt much more embarrassing than it should.

He took Adrian's hand and started to walk towards the little hideout beneath the tree. "So those stuck up aristocrats are finally giving you some space. That's good, I started to fear they might try to steal you away one day. It's quite strange to see people clinging on someone else's partner, even if it's just for a magic trick." Even though he hadn't said it right out, he had certainly implied that he had been slightly jealous. Unfortunately the prince didn't even realize himself that he was feeling jealousy. He just thought he simply didn't like that people were using Adrian for his magic and that's why their behavior made him uncomfortable. That surely was part of it, but probably not the whole truth.
 
"Very well." Adrian smiled at the peck though it seemed now almost everything made the mass in guts twist uncomfortably. He tried to put everything else out of his mind and focus purely on the feel of Paris's hand on his. Luckily, he was quite distracted by Paris's words and for the first time in several days acted entirely like his normal self. A sly smile grew over his face and he leaned closer to Paris. "Eh? Is that jealousy I sense?" His voice dropped to a low rumble as his lips neared the other prince's ear. "You know I only have eyes for you my love."
 
Paris weren't sure how to react to Adrian's proposal that he might be jealous. Of course he weren't jealous... It just didn't feel comfortable seeing people hanging over his boyfriend. Especially when he knew Adrian didn't like it very much either. A red pinkish color fell over his cheeks and he tried to figure out something to say that would prove that he wasn't jealous. But he had a hard time figuring it out in such a short amount of time.

"I..I'm not jealous. I just don't like that they're bothering you." He mumbled, already knowing he didn't sound very convincing. He weren't even sure if Adrian still felt bothered by their approaches, or if he had started to warm up to it. That topic wasn't really the first one they discussed when they met up. "Just try to refuse their requests sometimes now and then if they become too bothersome. If you always give them what they want, they'll have a harder time accepting a no in the future." Paris told him, not wanting his lover to become a doormat simply to keep the peace between him and the other ambassadors and visitors. Just because they left him alone when he was sick didn't mean they would when he just didn't feel like showing off to them.
 
Adrian almost crowed in triumph at the lovely blush on Paris's cheeks and as it was his grin grew to the point where it was almost splitting his face. It was hard to decide whether to be magnanimous when Paris was being so adorable. Finally he chuckled and shook his head. "You sounded like my father there for a moment." He slung an arm around Paris's shoulders and pulled him comfortably close, practically purring with satisfaction. "Don't worry, I can handle myself love." His hand tickled lightly along Paris's chest, not quite a sensual action but bordering daringly close to it.
 
"I know you can." Paris said, not knowing if he should pull back or just go along with it. They were out in public. Who knew whom might walk by. Even though they technically speaking didn't do anything indecent, yet, his father might still not be very happy if he heard rumors of it. Or worse, saw it himself. "I'm just worried. You're in a country with a culture you're not used to. And with a culture that's not used to you. I just don't want you to feel out of place." He explained, but the blush did not care to go away.

"I'm sure you would be worried about such things too if I ever came to your country." The prince said slightly defensively. It felt like it should be a normal response at least.
 
Adrian tweaked Paris's nose a bit, enjoying the feeling while it lasted. "Certainly. My country has it's own issues however and you forget one thing of even greater importance." He paused dramatically. "We are royalty. We are both perfectly 'in place' as you might put it, while never truly being so because we are still expected to hold ourselves ever just so above them because at the end of the day we may be the ones making the decisions that effect their lives for better or worse and we will always bear at least the possibility of that responsibility until we die." It was obvious from the way he spoke that he was probably quoting the paternal figure he had just claimed Paris to be like.
 
"Adrian... I never expected you to sound so adult." Paris said while faking a surprised expression. "You're finally growing up, aren't you?" He then said, almost as a proud mother watching her son taking the first steps into the adult world. "It feels as if it was yesterday when you hid from the aristocrats instead of doing your royal duty as the prince from a foreign country." The prince smirked teasingly and patted Adrian's head. Adrian had his way of teasing the prince, but Paris had his own ways of taking revenge for it.
 
Adrian had a feeling he really should have expected the response. Once again he was torn between two very different ways to retaliate. Taking it sexual seemed fun but this wasn't quite the place for it. So he took the most obvious route. He crinkled his nose and stuck his tongue out at the other prince in the most childlike manner possible. He also released his hold on Paris and moved ahead of him, walking backwards. "I think a little race is in order, see you there!" He stuck his tongue out again and made a dash for the tree, trying to keep the brief high going though already he could feel his previous malaise trying to creep back.
 
Paris had thought he would have gotten a scolding for calling Adrian childish, but it seemed like Adrian wanted to react in the complete opposite way by being extremely childish instead. "Hey." The young prince darted after his lover, but considering he hadn't been running around like that in at least 8 years, it was incredibly hard to keep up. He was sure he must have been the slowest runner on earth by the time he reached the tree.

"I... Should probably... work out... a bit more often." He breathed heavily as he collapsed on the bench. Working indoors all day did not do much for his strength, nor his legs. That's what happens when they're treated like fragile little princesses by their mothers. "You just lost every maturity points you have by the way." Paris mentioned teasingly while he sat up properly. His face looked red, and it was not due to embarrassment.
 
Adrian was honestly surprised at just how out of shape his lover was. Now that he thought about how Paris's daily life went he realized he shouldn't be but in Adrian's country it would not have happened. A basic level of hunting and other sort of things that required a baseline of fitness were expected of even, or especially royalty. Adrian himself still had to participate in such things and often spent time out and about the city and surrounding area. He ignored the comment about his maturity. "You definitely need to get some exercise, that was just terrible." He said frankly, somewhat concerned about Paris's health now.
 
Paris laughed at the comment. "I know, I know." He confirmed. Luckily he didn't eat much fat foods or snacks, otherwise he would never have been able to stay on a good weight. "I'm just unsure what type would fit me, so it's quite hard to start." The prince then confessed. Well that was one of the reasons. The other was that he just hadn't thought about it before. It would look slightly strange if the crown prince suddenly put on a workout outfit and started to run lapse around the castle. Especially with his current speed. There were some unused empty rooms in the castle. Maybe they could build a workout room in one of those. The question was if he was motivated enough and had time enough to actually do anything. After a long day with work, he usually preferred to relax after all. The same went for his off duty days.

"How are you in such good form?" He asked Adrian.
 
Adrian tilted his head thoughtfully. He too was having a hard time thinking of something that would suit Paris. He let the question stew in the back of his mind while he answered Paris's question, throwing away his immediate answer because that just made him feel like he was going to throw up with guilt. "My parents were not as restrictive as yours, probably because I was always so good with magic and only the second son after all. My people also prize fitness and strength so along with my lessons in magic I was always either learning various physical fighting arts or participating in hunts, etc." He shrugged. "Also there is this idea that a healthy body houses a healthy mind, which contributes to stronger and better controlled magic."
 
"Hmm... Well, fighting and hunting are definitely not anything for me. I would just feel guilty if I tried to kill animals. And fighting humans... Mm, even just as exercise with both parties in on it, it would be kind of hard. I would be too afraid of accidentally hurting someone." Paris let out a sigh. It wasn't easy to find something fitting when he never had been introduced to anything early in life.

"The closest to exercise I've gotten is horse riding. Alyssia loved horses, so we used to ride around in the garden. But last time was three years ago, so I guess if it helped my fitness at all, then that progress must be long gone by now." It wasn't like he had wanted to quit. It was just that he had gotten so busy at that time so if they had actually gone for a ride once he did have some time over, then they wouldn't have been able to talk before he had to get back to his studies. Paris would rather hear what his lovely little cousin had been up to while he studied hard, than to just look at her without speaking a word to each other. Sure it was possible to talk while riding, but if the horse didn't stand still, Paris preferred to keep his concentration on it. A horse wasn't like a car. Something could scare it and he could loose control easily. He was always a bit paranoid when it came to riding living creature, even though there always were people around to aid if need be.
 
She would come up again... Adrian thought to himself bitterly. He had removed the hex but his desire to murder the girl had not gone down noticeably. "I'm surprised your country would still employ such activities with the technology you have available to you." He spoke musingly. He decided changing the subject would be the better way to go here, until he thought of something for Paris. "With your...." He frowned and searched for the word. "Vehicles?" He knew that wasn't it but he realized that he wasn't sure he'd ever heard the term for the thing that transported them regularly.
 
Paris chuckled. Sure they had removed horses as a mean of transporting themselves, but they couldn't get rid of all the animals they already had. Horses would most likely go extinct without humans now when they had forced them to be dependent on them. It had been many hundreds of years since the last wild horses had disappeared. It wasn't just for the animals sake they kept using them though. Everyone liked animals, even if they weren't too fond of nature. Just like some had cats and dogs, others took a step further and got themselves a horse, or a whole farm.

"We don't use them for transportation though. Cars, buses, trains, air planes. They're all made to take us from point A to point B as fast as possible." The prince started to explain. "Horses are more like friends you share a fun activity with. Some ride them as a sport, and others just ride them as a fun activity during their free time. In return we give them shelter, food, a loving home and take care of them. Sure there are people who only uses them to win prizes and doesn't care much about the animals well being. But most horse owners love them just as much as they would their house cat or dog, or even friends and siblings." There were certainly people who though the same way of their car. Heck there were people actually marrying their cars. But Adrian could probably wait with learning about those things. Start with the good in this new culture, and then go to the bad.

"The only thing connecting us with nature right now is probably our animals. Though considering most animal species owned by humans hasn't lived in nature for at least a few hundred years, I guess it doesn't count much."
 
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