I want to feel my heart pounding in my chest

[tenebrarius]

They'd made it sound like a scholarship at first, an honor earned from his intelligence and hard work.

Adam had thought that this was the ticket he'd worked so hard to earn, his entry to the capitol's university. He couldn't imagine what else would summon him--him, Adam Parrish, by name--to the palace.

The reality was baffling and frustrating. He'd spent the past hours being interviewed and tested by an array of officials and tutors who claimed that he was being considered for a position as the prince's companion. It wasn't a position Adam wanted, but everyone so far had emphasized what an honor it was, and Adam's polite, non-confrontational attitude toward authority was deeply ingrained. But he had his pride and his temper, too. He'd refused to open his mouth to let them check his teeth like he was a horse for sale.

After the fifth minister left, evidently satisfied with Adam's intelligence and ambition, Adam paced the room.

This had to stop. Adam didn't want to be here, and he didn't want to play babysitter to the spoiled prince of the kingdom. He had ambitions. He had his place in the university all but guaranteed, as soon as he could save up enough money for his entry. They could take their 'great honor' and stuff it up the prince's ass.

Diatribe ready, Adam whirled on the next person to open the door, ready to tell them just what he thought of their nonsense interviews. He wasn't anticipating a teenage boy his own age. Startled, Adam drew up short, dropping his eyes to the floor. This had to be the prince. And while the kingdom had advanced past the days of public executions, Adam knew that any of the royal family could ruin his prospects permanently if he displeased them.

Comments

[the_greywaren]

Ronan might not think or overthink enough. He just goes with the flow. What he is feeling, what he wants, his anger. Reacting is what he is good at. Like now. He doesn't know this kid. But he likes how he has felt from the moment Adam stared back at him in his room and held his gaze. Most people knew it was bad manners to stare at someone in the royal family like that. Ronan liked it.

He decided to stay away from the subject of flirting for now. Adam had gone quiet again.

"What is it you like so much about school? Something you want to be?"

[tenebrarius]

"Yes. I want to be something," Adam confirms. "Discover something, invent something. Be a reknowned academic, or a professor." Anything, as long as it's out of his father's house and on his own feet, in a position where people look at him in respect for his accomplishments. "And I like knowledge for its own merits. The world is a wondrous place, and I like discovering its secrets."

[the_greywaren]

"Discover? You like to treasure hunt?" There was another kid from court that Ronan sometimes hung out with. Only when he caught him nosing around the library. As they walked he let go of Adam's hand to take off the cape that was hooked to his jacket. Using it as a bag he started to gather wood. "Wouldn't it be the greatest thing to load up a cart and set off with nothing but a horse and a few supplies and see what you can find? Or a boat."

[tenebrarius]

"Let's do it," Adam says. Escaping his life and going to see the world has been his goal for a long time, and Ronan makes him impulsive. Ronan brought him to a horse and he climbed on. If Ronan brought him to a cart or a boat, as suggested, Adam would leave everything behind without looking back.

He helps Ronan gather the wood, carrying an armful of it to a good spot on the beach and starting to build a fire pit.

[the_greywaren]

"Really?" Ronan didn't think he would get that kind of response. The idea of it is exciting. He always thought about going out in the world but he always thought he would do it alone. "Don't tease me, Parrish. If you're in..." He smiled. "We'll do it."

[tenebrarius]

"I think you like being teased," Adam retorts, but he's grinning. He steals a glance over at Ronan and then continues building their fire. "I'd do it. We can leave tomorrow morning, if you like. Which would you pick? Horse or boat."

[the_greywaren]

"Maybe I do." Maybe he likes being teased by Adam. That's a thought tumbling around in his head. "Boat. Much harder to be found that way."

[tenebrarius]

"Everyone's going to think I've kidnapped the prince. That's a whole new accomplishment for me." Adam's got the fire started, creating warmth for them both. He's glad for it, since the beach is getting cool after dark. He keeps an eye on Ronan, grinning happily about having a friend.

[the_greywaren]

"Trust me, they'll think I kidnapped you. My brother will make sure everyone believes it." He sinks down on the sand and and watches Adam light the fire. Ronan looks up at Adam. "You're pretty fuckin' handy."

[tenebrarius]

"I don't know the first thing about sailing, though." Adam looks back at him, holding Ronan's gaze easily. He doesn't think that anyone would think him worthy of kidnapping, but he doesn't argue the point. "You'll have to teach me."

[the_greywaren]

Ronan thinks he is worthy of kidnapping. A thought he will keep to himself, only trying not to make Adam uncomfortable with his flirting. He never found it so easy to say the things he wanted to say to someone. Maybe there had never been anyone he had wanted to flirt with before. "I'll teach you. For a price." He wiggles a finger at Adam, beckoning him to come sit. "I teach you something, you teach me something. Fair trade?"

[tenebrarius]

"Fair deal," Adam agrees, and moves to sit at Ronan's side. He trusts him, which is surprising. Ronan seems straightforward and fair dealing, which are tricky traits for a prince to have, but they're endearing.

It's probably more than a fair deal, considering that Adam teaching Ronan things was precisely Ronan's father's goal, but Adam doesn't point that out.

[the_greywaren]

"Good." Rona shifts so he is on his side, stretched out in the sand watching Adam. "So when do we leave?"

[tenebrarius]

"Where's my boat?" Adam asks, by way of answer. He means what he said. He'd get on a boat right now, if it sailed up an presented itself. As it is, he assumes that Ronan will have to ask his father for a boat, or otherwise leverage his influence and money to acquire one.

[the_greywaren]

"I can get us one." Ronan won't ask for it. He'll take one. Which makes it more of an adventure. "Which way should we sail?"

[tenebrarius]

Adam has no idea where to sail. It’s not something he’d considered before. This is an all-new dream. “I’ll decide by the time you get a ship,” he promises.

He curls up on his side. He’s chosen this risk, this rebellion. Might as well take advantage of the opportunity to sleep.

[the_greywaren]

Ronan turns on his side so he can look at Adam. "What if we could get one now? We're by the water as to be a boat around here."

His arm stretches out above his head and he uses it for a pillow. In the glow of the firelight he's opening staring at Adam. He's still a little taken aback by the shape of his eyes and his lips. "I've never seen anyone who looks like you."

Strange, strange compliment.

[tenebrarius]

"What's your plan?" Adam asks. He smiles a tiny bit, because he's interested in their new scheme and he doesn't mind Ronan analyzing his looks. He keeps his eyes closed. "Steal a boat or wake up some poor fisherman and buy it?"

[the_greywaren]

Ronan pushes a strand of Adam's hair off his face carefully with his index finger. "Well. I think if I throw money at this problem you would be bugged. But enticed by someone like me doing something like stealing."

[tenebrarius]

Adam's eyes flick open, but he doesn't object to the touch. He's not used to gentle, careful touches like this.

He has to think about how he feels about Ronan stealing a boat. He doesn't like Ronan buying it with his father's money, like it's nothing, or using his title to commandeer it. Adam's never stolen anything in his life. He prefers earning things honestly. Taking things and breaking rules isn't necessarily against his moral code, but taking things that other people earned with hard work is.

"I suppose it depends on what we're stealing and from whom."

[the_greywaren]

"What if we're stealing it from my dreams?" His fingers slowly drift to the end of that strand of hair. It's so long. Ronan is thinking about how sliding his hand through it would feel.

"Do you look like your mom or dad?"

[tenebrarius]

"More my mom than my dad," Adam says, though he doesn't think he looks much like either and he's grateful for that. His eyes linger on Ronan, wary of the significance of being petted like this, but also not certain he objects to it.

"I don't believe you." It's not a challenge or an accusation, merely a statement of fact. Stealing things from dreams doesn't sound real.

[the_greywaren]

There were a dozen different, corny things he was thinking to say, but didn't. He wasn't sure how to flirt without being either corny or irritating. He was better at insults. Ronan drew his hand back even though he wanted to keep touching him in some way.

"Let's start small." Ronan smirks. "Tell me something you want. Tell me what it looks like or what it does."

[tenebrarius]

There were so many things that Adam wanted, but they ranged from huge and intangible (independence, a house of his own, enough gold to survive indefinitely) to small and pitiful (an apple, a full night's sleep, shoes without holes). Adam's pride prevented him from asking for anything related to basic survival, and he'd had little opportunity to want for anything when his life was taken up with basic needs.

He watched Ronan, guarded and considering.

He wanted a salve for his hands. He wanted a blanket to lie on the beach. He wanted more food.

"A piece of candy," Adam said at last, picking something so small that he could bear to ask for it without stinging his pride.

[the_greywaren]

"Candy?" Ronan keeps watching him. "Maybe not that small. Little bigger. I mean, if I'm trying to impress you...." He found Adam's hand and laced their fingers together.