Chapter Text
I wake up curled around Micha's stuffed elephant. He's next to me, sprawled on his back, with one of his feet invading my personal space, snoring softly. I have a moment of bleariness trying to figure out where I am. And then remember that I fell asleep here. It's cozy. And the bed is big enough that don't feel too crowded.
And ugh. King's day. That means I have to sit in a big crowd and listen to boring things. I know learning politics is important though, even if it's not that interesting right now. Someone knocks on the outer door of the suite, then opens it. "Highness, time to get ready for court," a servant comes in. Micha stirs and makes a grumbling noise.
"Kaaaayyy." I groan too and poke him.
"Ugh, whaaat?" He blinks at me in surprise, then slowly smiles. "Oh, hey. Good morning." The servant hovers.
"Hey." I grin at him. I like when he gets all smiley. He's kind of grumpy sometimes. And he was really really upset yesterday, so I was a little worried he would wake up upset again. "Good morning. We have to go to Court. Because it's King's day."
"What's that mean?" he sits up and rubs his eyes.
"It means we have to go to court to watch Papa do rulings and stuff. Because people get to ask him stuff. Or I have to go, and you have to come with. Most of the people have to go." I shrug.
He sighs. "I was hoping that not having classes would mean we could relax."
"We don't have to be there all day. That would be terrible. So we get to relax after. It's like…" I think. "Like, two classes. Unless something different that usual is happening. Then we would need to be there for that."
"What should I bring for breakfast, my lords?" The servant asks. "And would you like to bathe before, or after?" He’s a little insistent. We must be running late.
"Fruit and cheese and bread. And…" I look at Micha and shrug.
"Just bread," he says quietly. "And bath after." I elbow him
"What?" he pouts. "I mean just bread for me. You can have the other stuff."
"Fine. You can eat some of mine when you change your mind."
He makes a grumpy noise. The servant looks bewildered and not very comfortable. People always get annoyed with me when I want to just eat one thing all day! And I think Micha thinks the gods want him to or something. It’s dumb. But I'm not supposed to call what he thinks about the gods dumb. And he doesn't always think dumb things! Praying last night with him was nice.
"Very well, my—" he starts to bow, but Micha interrupts him.
"Eggs, too. Boiled." Uggghhh. Better than fried at least. I make a face.
He makes one back at me. It's hard to read his faces sometimes, but between that and his tone there's sort of a challenge. 'Are you gonna tell me not to eat this, right after complaining about me only eating one thing?' I narrow my eyes at him a little. "You're gonna eat them. I already have my food. Eggs are gross." If he tries to get me to eat them I'm kicking him out. I mean this is his room, but I'm still kicking him out.
"Yeah, I'm gonna eat them. They're filling and they aren't decadent."
"Boiled eggs aren't too gross. Fried eggs smell worse. I mean they're all gross to eat!" The servant decides that this is close enough to an order, and leaves. "Fried eggs are more decadent, but not as much as the fancy ones."
I shrug. I really don’t know what he thinks are decadent about any kind of eggs.
"I really want to be good today," he says, with something almost plaintive in his voice. I headbutt his arm. I'm not entirely sure what he means? But it feels like maybe I shouldn't push too much to get it right now.
He smiles and pats my head. Yay! Smiling again! "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling better mostly. I hope Dirk's alright, though."
"I'm sure he's fine. Did you ask Miss Ana?"
"She said he confessed and was in some trouble. But I had a lot of other stuff on my mind." He clears his throat. "It was nice having you stay the night. I dunno if you actually decided to," he chuckles. "But thanks."
"Then I'm sure he's fine. And it was nice. I was a little confused when I woke up though."
The servant comes back with my bread and cheese and fruit. And Micha's… eggs. Don't. Say. Anything.
I eat my food. It's good. It's always good. I do sit a little further away from him though. He seems to find that pretty amusing.
I clamber off the bed to get my robe when the servant returns to tell us the bath is ready. Micha meets me in hall. I hum a little as I get in the water. I like being in water. I’m all floaty and I like the way my body feels when I move in it. Like it's heavy and light at the same time.
He floats around, less skillfully, and offers to scrub my back if I scrub his.
"Mhm." I lean against the side and just enjoy the feeling until it’s my turn to return the favor. I'm definitely not as good at this as he is. Less practice. But he never actually says anything about it. I like that he still asks anyway. I mean maybe he asks because having staff do it would be too decadent or something. But I'm a prince? I feel like having a prince wash your back would be more decadent. Maybe not, because I'm not as good at it.
He stretches and sighs happily, flexing his back muscles. Micha has a nice back. When he stretches you can tell he's stronger than you'd think he is just by looking. That makes sense, he climbs a lot. I'm a little red and I’m glad he can't see me right now.
When we're finished, he gets out to lie on the hot stones. I stay in the water a bit longer and then climb out to lie next to him. There's a knock on the door, and my attendant pokes his head in again. "My lords, it's almost time. If you'll follow me to be dressed…"
"Um, to be dressed?" Micha asks as he gets to his feet. "I can dress myself."
"Special clothes. For King's Day."
"Ugh," he follows me and the servant back to my room, where the people who do my clothes and makeup for court are waiting.
"It's 'cause it's King's Day. And we're nobles. Or you’re a noble. I'm a prince."
Micha looks from the box of make-up to the clothes laid out on the bed and folds his arms. "No."
I try not to make too distressed of a noise.
"Milord, you must be presentable for the high court…" my servant starts to wheedle.
"I'm not wearing that," he points at the red embroidered shirt that they've brought from his room. "It's vain. And what in the Smith's furnace are you doing?" This last is directed at the poor woman holding up a makeup block to his face, comparing to his skin-tone.
I wince a little and hum, trying to stay still. I wish he wouldn't be being quite so aggressive. Meanwhile my servant has started dressing me, since I’m not making a fuss. Anyway, I like my clothes. I don't think they're vain. But I don't want to have that argument after yesterday.
As they drape a broad, heavy necklace of gold and lapis over my shoulders, I have to privately concede that this does get a little ostentatious. But I like the weight of it. And I do look rather cute, I think.
Micha is desperately trying to avoid a well-meaning servant armed with a hairbrush when Adriana walks in. I’m mostly made up, with striking shadows under my eyes, and more color in my cheeks. My hair is neatly combed, which is a sensation I don't care for, but put up with anyway. They’re going to put a headdress on me anyway, but I sat still, because they don’t need both of us resisting.
"Oh, gods," Adriana says, at the same time Micha runs over and hides behind her.
"Help! They're going to do awful things to my hair! And put paint on my face." He pokes his head out and looks at me. "Which does look pretty good on Ram, but I just had a whole thing with the gods." Good. I was worried he would think I didn't look good, or that I was being vain. "Maybe there's special clothes that have less fancy stuff on them?"
"Alright, alright, calm down," Adriana runs her fingers through his hair. "No one is messing with your hair." She gives the brush lady a stern look. "You do need to put something in it. It's frizzy. But you can do that yourself, alright?"
He nods quietly. She’s good at calming him down. I like Micha's hair. It's fluffy and fun to touch. I'm glad no one's going to do too much to it. She hands him a jar of a sweet-smelling cream, and directs him to rub it in. If anything, it looks even fluffier after, with thin strands coalesced into more defined curls. I resist the urge to touch it. Later.
Oh! I remember that he was worried about Dirk earlier! "Miss Ana is Dirk okay?" Though maybe I shouldn't have asked. He could ask himself? No, he gives me a grateful smile.
"Yes, Dirk is fine. He has extra shifts for a while, since he apparently has too much free time. Now, Micha. You don't need to wear jewelry or embroidery. But at a high court, dressing appropriately to your station is a way of honoring the King." Her tone makes it clear that she means the aspect.
He chews on his lip. I go over and pat his shoulder. "Alright. Can you go get my trousers and a plainer tunic?" he asks the lead servant. "Those are still nice." He puts his hand over mine and holds it there for a second. Oh good! I did good!
"I'm glad I came by," Adriana says. "I had a feeling there might be some bumps in the road. But now I really do have a lot to see to." She ruffles Micha's hair, and pats my back.
After she leaves, Micha sits still for some makeup, making his cheekbones look more pronounced. He even gets some eyeliner. It works on him. His eyes are all framed and look… brighter. He puts on a short tunic and tight pants. Fashionable cuts, but not flashy. They look really nice on him. I spend a lot of time looking.
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