To say that Prince Joelin was not in a great mood when he got back from his hunting trip a while back was an understatement. He had told Rahis bits and pieces of what had happened, but was obviously holding a lot back. By the next morning, his mood seemed to lighten up though and had dismissed both Rahis and Camayla from a good deal of their chores in his room for the day. Due to that, Rahis found himself with nothing to do around midday. All of his other servant friends, including Camayla, who had different, longer tasks than him, had their own things to do and the ones he saw looked like having someone helping them would make their task harder, so he continued on. He considered checking the kitchens to see if any of his friends there needed assistance, which they definitely would, but considered having to put up with the Head Cook, Marcira, and decided against it. This left him with a good deal of free time, something he hadn't had in a while, making him antsy.

He had taken to wandering around the castle, re-familiarizing himself with some of the halls and rooms he didn't frequent very often when someone came out of a door while he was walking right by it, making him jump back. He looked up to see a confused man looking at him, his face somewhat familiar to Rahis yet he didn't know from where. As he silently studied the man, he couldn't help but notice he was quite attractive, with strong features made even more noticeable by his clean-shaven face, very soft looking brown hair, and a dark blue pair of the most beautifully colored eyes he's ever seen. With a jolt he remembered where he'd seen this man before. It was around when he first started, the lord he crashed into in the hallways, the one he thought about for at least a week, concerned he'd come for him and imprison him for running into him or speaking out of turn. A glance down showed that he was dressed much nicer than a servant and was likely a pretty powerful lord's son. Realizing that this quiet staring must be pretty awkward, even if the lord hadn't tried breaking it yet and was looking at him with matching intensity, Rahis spoke. "I am sorry, my lord, I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings."

The lord looked even more confused at what he just said, bringing a wave of confusion to Rahis as well. Was he speaking out of turn again? The lord seemed to shake it off before speaking, his voice a pleasant tone that didn't quite fit what Rahis expected, but was still nice. "No, I should be the one to apologize. I should've opened the door slower."

Rahis tilted his head. "You have no reason to apologize, my lord."

"Neither do you." Rahis smiled. The lord seemed to like that and the edges of his lips tilted up ever so slightly, bringing more or Rahis' attention to them. "I haven't seen you around here that much, why is that?"

"I rarely have duties down here. Not to mention I only recently started working here." Rahis bit his tongue, resisting the urge to bite his lip instead due to how awkward he sounded.

"Really?" Rahis nodded. The lord opened his mouth to continue, but soft footsteps and low chattering coming towards them stopped his words for a second. He looked around. "Come, I would love to hear more." He gestured, walking a door down and opening it, Rahis went in with little hesitation, shocked by the lord's actions. The lord followed and shut the door behind them. Rahis assumed it was due to the fact he knew the people coming and wished to avoid them. He took a second to glance around the room. It was a guest room, obviously either unoccupied or recently thoroughly cleaned.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but my story isn't very interesting and there isn't much to it." Rahis said as soon as he got his bearings.

The lord sat comfortably at a table not far from where Rahis was standing, gesturing for him to be seated too. With the way the lord so casually moved about the room and touched things, Rahis put together that this was the lord's room,

recently cleaned. He sat down on a chair not too far from the lord but still a decent distance away. Perfect distance for conversing. "Oh, I highly doubt that. I'm sure there is a lot we can talk about."

Rahis shook his head. "I'm positive that your stories are much better and more interesting than mine could ever be."

"Alright then, anything you'd like to hear about?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know where to start, my lord."

The lord looked at me strangely. "No need to call me that, it's too formal."

"Well then what should I call you?"

"Do you need to call me anything?"

Rahis looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed as he muttered, "No." He would like to though.

"What about you, do you have a name?"

"If I do not need to call you anything than I doubt you'll need to call me anything." Rahis bit back, thankfully his voice not sounding as hostile as he was worried it would.

The lord smiled, looking a little taken aback but still amused. "So, what would you like to hear about?"

Rahis looked into the lord-, the man's eyes and thought about that. What did he want to hear about? What was something this lor- person has seen or done that Rahis wanted to know. Everything. But since that wasn't a current option, he settled for the next best thing. "Have you ever travelled to any other Kingdoms?"

The man nodded. "I've been to Secos and Camunia." Rahis' eyes widened, curious and amazed. It made sense though, nobody from Tana had blue eyes unless they had an amount Secoan blood. "Secos was cold. The people looked so different and the castle was small and made of stone, but snow would cover the lands for as far as the eye could see, it was beautiful and deadly. Camunia was more like here. The only difference, at least in the more southern part that I visited, was that people preferred a lot more red" which was Camunia's main color on the flag "and they followed different laws. I know I'm going to Secos again soon and I assume I might be visiting Nauplia later."

Rahis nodded, very interested. He wanted to hear more as he'd always been utterly fascinated by the other kingdoms, the rest of the world he was to surely never visit, but there was something else he wanted to know first. "Have you met any members of the royal family here?"

"Why do you ask?" He asked, most likely confused by the sudden change in topics.

Rahsi turned a little red. "It's just that you seem so important and well travelled, I assume you know all the important people here and I have so many questions about them."

"Why do you assume that?"

"Well you're so nice and friendly, such a people person, I assume that people love talking to you."

A strange look came into his eye, but his posture stayed the same. "I have met all of the royal family. Have you?"

"I've met Prince Joelin and Prince Bradlan. I've seen the King and the Queen, but not Prince Rodier or Princess Sabrasia yet."

"Yet? Is it your goal to see them?"

"No, I'm just curious. What are they like?"

"Princess Sabrasia is energetic and friendly. Very beautiful and can put a smile on anybody's face. Prince Rodier is... professional." He said hesitantly. He must not have many nice things to say of the Prince, so Rahis dropped it. "What do you know of Prince Bradlan and Prince Joelin?"

"They seem very nice, although Prince Joelin does seem to be much more friendly." The man raised an eyebrow and Rahis knew exactly why. Nobody calls Prince Bradlan nice, but nobody knew him in the way Rahis did. He couldn't say this though. "What do you expect me to say, they're Princes." The man nodded again, eyes not leaving Rahis. "Do you have any siblings?"

"I do, but we don't get along all that well. Do you?"

"I have two sisters. An older and a younger. I get along pretty well with both, although better with the older." Rahis often thought of his sisters and the rest of his family, most often when he was lying in bed, ears straining for their faint breathing, but never hearing anything.

There was silence as the man's intelligent gaze studied Rahis carefully. This lasted for many seconds, Rahis taking the time to look at the man closer. He had good skin, that was for certain, red spots that were so common in people were nearly absent from his face, light freckles dusted his nose and cheeks that weren't noticeable unless you were close up. His jaw was sharp and gave him the look of being younger than he was, because he seemed to be a little older than Rahis' age. His hair was a little longer than Rahis', soft, brown wisps nearly falling into his eyes. His mouth was the perfect size, soft pink lips that looked so much better in a smile. And then there were his eyes, intense and slightly larger than average, pulling one's gaze straight to them. Rahis really liked his eyes. "Are you a risk taker?" He asked softly, startling Rahis from his thoughts.

"I wouldn't consider myself as such, but some of my friends probably would say that of me." He replied, his tone matching the one the question was asked in. "What about you?"

"I've never been a risk taker, which makes this very out of character."

"Makes wha-" Rahis was cut off as the man's lips pressed into his own.

Rahis was too shocked to do anything at first. This lord, this MAN, was currently kissing him. He hadn't even kissed anyone in a very long time. But when the shock wore off, he began to feel exactly how soft and warm and welcoming his lips felt against his own and started kissing back before he realized it. He tasted of something sweet that Rahis couldn't place, most likely because he didn't even have access to whatever this man had been eating. His hand moved up to grip the man's hair on the back of his head, not even thinking about the consequences. The man seemed to like it, responding with a gasp and a scoot closer on the chair. Rahis, who was relying purely on his instincts at this point, all logic thrown out the window, quickly took advantage of the situation and thrust his tongue through the man's parted lips, which he quickly accepted. The man was completely off his chair at this point, taking residence on Rahis' lap, making the servant aware of the man's desires while growing some if his own. Rahis didn't mind, he welcomed it, even if this was a situation he'd never even considered before. It felt too good to allow him to think. So he gave in completely to all of the urges that were quickly building inside him.

Thankful for being stronger than most, he easily stood up and forced the man to lay on his back on the table they were sitting at, now leaning over him as he broke away for a second to throw his shirt to the side, the man quickly doing the same before they reattached, their mouths fitting perfectly to each other. They both didn't want the connection to end. Of course neither complained when Rahis abandoned the man's mouth in favor of the hot skin of his neck, causing rather undignified sounds to come out of the man's mouth, urging Rahis on.

Before long, Rahis felt burning deep within him for more, and with a steady hand, he met and held the man's gaze while he carefully undid his trousers.