marlowemuses | Fools in Love, for gentry

"No," Laurent said, thoroughly content with his head on Gansey's shoulder as Gansey worked on the puzzle. "I wrote to them, but I haven't received a response yet. Auguste is going to be insufferably smug that we get along so well."

Getting up, Laurent went to call for breakfast, returning as soon as possible to cuddle up against Gansey's side. He loved the sight of Gansey working on a puzzle. Gansey's love of games and attention to detail on projects like his small model of the kingdom had convinced Laurent that the puzzle box would be the perfect gift, and he loved watching the intimate way that Gansey's hands moved over the wood. "How do you want to spend the day, my love?"

"Lounging around with you?"

He kissed Laurent's temple when he returned to the bed, turning his attention back on the box right after. "We never got the chance to look at all the suites, even if I still think Helen's is the best. I think it would be wise of us to take these next week weeks—one week and six days—as restfully as possible. The day before the wedding will be a busy one. Our customs dictate that we aren't supposed to see each other at all from sun break that morning, until the alter at the church on the wedding day. Helen will be keeping you busy during that time, I expect."

And for him, his guess was that Henry was going to drag him off in an attempt to get him to live up being a bachelor for one last night.

"And then after that we'll be off to our honeymoon and then visiting all the towns and cities."

"I'm supposed to survive without you for an entire day?" Laurent groaned, even though he was sure he'd be kept plenty busy with preparations for the wedding. "I like the plan of lounging. We could go to the ruins again. Perhaps you'll find a sleeping fairy in a meadow, who will fall in love with you at first sight." He grinned, playful and inventive. "Or perhaps I'll discover the ancient Raven King, and he'll ravish me among the ruins."

He trailed his fingertips up Gansey's spine, hands roaming idly over Gansey's skin, admiring the smooth warmth of it. "We'll have to be sure to take some oil along either way."

"Oh, don't give me ideas," he laughed, very distracted from his puzzle box with idle hands tracing over his skin like that. The fingertips up his spine made him shiver, body taking a sudden and definite interest in the events that were taking place.

"I'll really want to do it. Cheesy acting and all."

Sex outside was, admittedly, on his bucket list. Among ruins? Even better. Grinning, Gansey gently put the puzzle box to the side and crawled toward Laurent, cocking his head.

"I wonder, could I coax you open with my fingers, too?"

"Definitely," Laurent said, grinning at him and squirming backward out of reach. He went to grab a change of clothing, keeping an eye on Gansey with a smirk, ready to dodge playfully out of the way again if Gansey tried to catch him.

Hopping into his trousers, he glanced toward the window and grinned, excited for a day spent exploring and flirting with his beloved. "I'm glad we're going to honeymoon at the seaside castle. I want to see all the secrets of the place. I'd love to build a castle like a puzzle-box, all secret passages and one-way doors, tiny hidden libraries and tower reading nooks. With plenty of cushioned rooms for us to make love."

He tried a few times to catch his lover, but Laurent was too quick for him. Pouting but pulling on his clothes, he hummed softly to himself as Laurent spoke.

"Me too," he admitted. "I've only been there once, and it was for a very short time. It's not really a place for children. Not that there's anything lewd about, but it's very much supposed to be a romantic getaway sort of place. I want to see the architecture again. Everything that the Raven King supposedly built. The place he went with his lover, simply to exist, rather than be a king."

Stretching, he sent Laurent a lazy smile. "I'd like to see you build a castle. Not sure if I'd want to live in that kind, though. What if you needed to pee? I'm not so sure I'd be as fond as a puzzle if I had to solve it while trying not to wet myself."

Laurent laughed, admiring the stretch and coming over to slip his fingers up Gansey's shirt, tantalized by the brief flash of golden skin. "Well of course I wouldn't make the bathroom into a puzzle. It would just be like... a tree house. All whimsy and adventure."

He teased his fingers over Gansey's belly, stealing a soft kiss, then another, lingering in kiss after kiss. "We should go," he murmured against Gansey's lips, utterly distracted.

Gansey kissed back, sliding a hand across Laurent's lower back, stealing as many kisses as he could. "We should," he agreed, yet made no movements whatsoever to do that. Sliding his hand up Laurent's back he tugged his fiance a little closer, tilting his head so that he could get a real, proper kiss.

And then something a little less proper. He flicked his tongue against Laurent's lips, wanting to make the kiss deeper.

Laurent yielded to him, sliding his arms up around Gansey's shoulders and pressing their bodies close. He couldn't ever resist more kisses, and following Gansey's lead had become second nature to him. Moaning softly into Gansey's mouth, he shivered, licking at Gansey's tongue and winding a possessive hand into Gansey's hair.

"—Hnn..."

Oh, that was nice. He jerked Laurent's hips tight against his own as they kissed, sucking his mouth and making up for such a long period of time without any intimacy (read: a day). Hand wandering, he grabbed his lover's ass for a nice, healthy squeeze.

And without warning he broke it. Stepped away and gave his lover a playful wink, "Shall we go, then? Maybe we could have another ride while we're at it. The horses are just dying to get out, I'm sure."

Laurent gave him a whine in response, breathless and wobbly. Flushed, he swatted at Gansey, grinning at his lover. "Yes. Let's. I'd like the ride. And then the ravishing."

Still dazed, he caught Gansey's hand, walking with him out to the stables and enjoying the beautiful weather. "Are we going to take Star and Sky again, or a different pair?"

"It would be most fair to take a different pair. They all deserve a little bit of attention."

Leading the way into the stables, they were met with a sight: several of the hands around Butternut's stall, bringing buckets and rags. When one noticed them he bowed quickly, "Your highness."

Gansey, eyes bright with wonder, tugged Laurent's hand. "She must be foaling. Oh, fantastic!"

"Oh no," Laurent said, laughing. He went with Gansey, trying not to grimace.

Hanging back, since he didn't want to get in the way of people who might actually know what they were doing, Laurent leaned over the stall door to watch. He was nervous, and slightly squeamish. Blood and violence he could handle. Birthing? That was another matter.

Gansey hung back as well—he may have been a practiced hand with horses and loved them dearly, but helping one give birth was not on his list of talents.

But he was utterly fascinated. The hands worked quickly, but Butternut did most of the work by herself. Within fifteen minutes the hands were working on wiping down a beautiful new black filly. She was pure black, aside from the smattering of white circles along her backside.

"Huh," Gansey mused, rubbing his thumb across his lip, "I guess she takes after her father. You'll have to think of a name for her."

Laurent waited until the hands had finished wiping down the baby horse, and had left mother and child alone to recover. Then he stepped into the stall, taking a seat by Butternut and petting her, speaking softly to her while the filly dozed against her side. "She's lovely. You did very well."

Butternut looked rather pleased with herself and the compliment. She closed her eyes as she was pet, relaxing in the new hay that the hands had given her. Gansey smiled as he lingered just outside the stall, leaning over the door and watching his fiance.

"We can adopt the filly," he declared, "and my mother won't be able to argue. She never said we had to have a human baby." Teasing, of course, but he did love baby animals immensely. Like kittens and puppies.

"I like that idea," Laurent said, grinning. "She gets a granddaughter, and we can have a horse as our heir. I don't see anything wrong with it."

He petted Butternut for a few more minutes, then got up so that she could get some sleep. Letting himself out of the stall, Laurent stepped into Gansey's arms, smiling contentedly as he leaned in for a kiss.

Gansey laughed brightly, "Our family portrait would be one for the ages." Stepping back, he gave Butternut and the new filly one last affectionate look before kissing his fiance.

"This was a nice surprise. I'm glad we made it in time."

Slipping his hand in with Laurent's, he lead his lover down the line of stalls. Some were empty, some were housing some horses that looked eager to grab their attention.

"Pick whichever you like," Gansey said happily, reaching out to pet one particularly excited horse. "This stallion, Blackberry, is the new filly's father. He and Butternut had a bit of a romp when one of the new hands left them in the field together unsupervised." The handsome pure black horse nodded his head in agreement and stomped his feet, clearly having some energy needing to burn.

"All right, all right. I'll take you out today."

Laurent laughed in delight, greeting Blackberry and then going to pick a horse of his own. He was drawn to an awkward, long-legged pale horse, mottled white and light tan. A stablehand warned him that the horse was clumsy, which just made Laurent shrug. "All right, then. A challenge."

He smirked at Gansey, expecting that he would be thoroughly outmatched by Blackberry, but unable to turn down a challenge. Saddling the horse, named Ghost, he patted his neck, leading him out and mounting up. The horse was gangly, all legs, and seemed distracted by everything that was going on around him. Laurent clucked at him and gave him a light tug with the reins to get his attention.

Leaving the castle was slow going. Laurent's horse was incredibly difficult, not from temper, but because it seemed interested in everything going on around it, and then it would fail to look where it was going and trip over its own feet. It almost threw Laurent twice, and after the second time Laurent's cheeks had reddened a little in embarrassment and frustration. He looked like he didn't know how to ride, because the horse was wildly inattentive. It wasn't that the horse was badly trained, since he responded quickly and eagerly to a light touch on the reins or with Laurent's heels.

But as they rode along the road outside the city, Laurent started figuring it out. He started to distract and challenge the horse, pulling him suddenly off the path or forcing him to navigate around large rocks. He stopped suddenly, turned suddenly, backed up, goaded Ghost to jump a fence and then turn sharply and jump back over it. Ghost did all of it flawlessly, suddenly not clumsy anymore. Within fifteen minutes, Laurent had his distractible horse alert and attentive, though still skittish and troublesome.

When Laurent chose Ghost, Gansey's eyebrows rose, but he said nothing. It was one of the more absentminded horses. Awkward, shy, a little out of place. As they rode Gansey only chuckled at Laurent's struggles. The horse was... trying, but there was so much to see, Gansey couldn't blame the poor thing for being so distracted. All the horses received excellent training. It was simply a matter of disposition.

"It looks like you two are getting along," Gansey called back, having his own troubles with his horse. Blackberry was restless. He wanted to bolt down the road, bolt over the stream, bolt through a fence. He had so much pent up energy, and Gansey had his hands full keeping the horse at a peaceful trot rather than a reckless streak through the grass. He had spirit.

Gansey managed to goad Blackberry to a slow trot so that he could move beside Laurent. "He probably needs more attention than he's been getting. Think he's just bored in the stalls? The trail around the castle isn't exactly challenging, either."

"I think that's only part of it," Laurent said. He walked the horse sideways, then the other way sideways. Ghost did it with tidy, high steps, mincing delicately. "I think the problem is that he doesn't focus well. I think he needs a rider who knows how to get him to focus. I don't think he's actually clumsy or distracted. I'd like to work with him more."

Putting his heels to Ghost's sides, Laurent drove him forward across the field. It was more dangerous off the path, strewn with obstacles. Laurent drove the horse with a firm hand, pushing him forward, forcing him to focus, to trust.

They struggled at first, whenever Ghost balked or shied and then stumbled, but the horse quickly learned that it was in its best interest to trust Laurent's control. Then the two of them started to move in unison, smooth and controlled, and Ghost very quickly showed that his long legs let him step fast and delicate on the rough ground.

Looping him around, Laurent caught up with Gansey, smirking wide as he showed off his new harmony with his horse.

Gansey smiled, charmed by both Laurent and Ghost.

"I think he's found the right hand," he said with incredible affection. "I think it's a good idea for you to work with him more. We could take him out more frequently." Blackberry huffed and moved head, trotting quickly with his head held high, and Gansey laughed.

"He really wants to run. Shall we meet at the ruins? I need to wear this fellow out a bit. I'll go around, through the fields." Sending a wink, "Unless you'd like to try to keep up?"

Blackberry eased into a run and Gansey leaned forward, going off the trail and into the tall grass where trees were scarce. They moved as one, effortless, sleek and handsome.

Laurent nudged Ghost into a run after him, though he was still struggling to control the horse and he knew he'd have to meet up with Gansey at the ruins, as promised. He guided Ghost back to the trail, taking the one through the forest that had twists and turns. At high speed, it was plenty of challenge for Ghost, and he managed it gracefully, darting along the sharp switchbacks until they reached the ruins.

Exhilarated, he tied Ghost where he could graze, and then wandered into the ruins, climbing up on a pile of stones and looking around to find out if Gansey had already arrived.

Gansey ran Blackberry as much as the horse wanted. When he was satisfied, he gently lead the stallion to the ruins, where he tied the beast up so he had access to both water and grass. The horse huffs and calmed, pleased to have ran and content to relax now that he had gotten the work out he wanted so badly.

Having arrived first, Gansey began weaving between pillars and stones, simply admiring the ruins he'd known for so long. Once he was married and taking on more responsibility as heir, he wouldn't get to visit them as often. Time would stretch and his attention would be consumed. But those were the facts of life, weren't they?

When Laurent arrived he was lounging on the steps they had shared the last time they came. He waved, smiling, patting the spot beside him.

Laurent approached slowly, eyes wary, lips parted. He walked to the base of the steps where Gansey lounged, and sank to one knee, gazing up at him through his lashes with a look that was seductive, devoted, and guarded all at once. "Are you the king of this place?" he asked, voice quiet but resonant.

He tightened one of his fists, feeling nerves, hope, excitement, love. His heart thudded in his throat.

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