[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/191209/a714563d3be5db7a7d95a156734af8e9.png[/img]
[sub][color=gray]A collaboration between [@Rodiak], [@lady horatio] & [@Pyxis][/color][/sub][/center]


Raiden could hear his heartbeat in his ears, and his knees weaker as he got closer to Gen and Henri. While he had never been the nervous type, he was definitely anxious about the conversation that was about to take place. His abrupt departure from Beatrice and Zheng had been left behind, with little to no care about it. He wasn't going to marry that woman either way, and by the end of the celebrations, he needed to set things straight with Henri. Raiden's end goal was to make things as they were before. Both of them agreeing to stay together until he found a way to come out to the public eye while not losing his title and position. He took a sip from his drink for the extra courage and made his way to the duo. 

[color=5F9AA0]"Princess Genevieve, Prince Henri, it's nice to see you two."[/color] Raiden glanced over his shoulder to see Prince Elias walking away from them towards the bar. He could tell their conversation hadn't been a pleasant one by the way Henri looked. He wanted to reach over to hug the smaller man- knowing well enough that Elias was a huge asshole. 

[color=5F9AA0]"Henri,"[/color] Raiden leaned in closer, lowering his voice a bit, [color=5F9AA0]"Can we talk? In private? I want to talk to you."[/color] He knew that Gen was aware of their relationship, but he didn't want to drag her into this. 

Henri had been too busy thinking about the ways to avoid Elias for the rest of the night when he heard Raiden's voice. He froze up immediately, hands squeezing Gen's. He turned his head to look at the taller man. He hadn't expected Raiden to approach them this early in the ball. Henri was happy to see Raiden despite the conflict between them. He held his ground and fought off the urge to jump in the man's arms or yell at him. 

[color=8FBC8F]"Prince Raiden..."[/color] Henri's cursed himself when his voice cracked just the slightest. He didn't know what else to say. He didn't want to be alone with him, not yet. Henri wasn't ready to hear whatever Raiden had to say. After prying his eyes off Raiden, he looked at Gen- hoping she would help him. [i]Anything[/i] would help.

“I’m sorry, Prince Raiden.” Genevieve’s whole body was pins and needles, stomach knotting—and if her tone toward Elias had been cool, it had nothing on the register her voice had dropped into [i]now.[/i] “But as you can see, Prince Henri is otherwise engaged,” she said, pointedly. She tightened her fingers around Henri’s, keeping his hand close to her side.

The double meaning was unintentional, but she didn’t regret it too much—not when Henri was shrinking next to her, wavering and uncertain; not when this man she didn’t know was trying to pull him away from her without so much as an “excuse me.” If Raiden wasn’t even going to bother introducing himself, Gen saw no reason to linger on pleasantries any more than duty called for. What had possessed him to approach Henri [i]now,[/i] in public, where he was least comfortable? What made him think he was entitled to a private aside, to special treatment?

And she hated how much it bothered her, but [i]damn it,[/i] how dare he act, however implicitly, as if his claim on Henri was somehow greater than hers?

To say the least, Raiden was taken back by the tone of Princess Genevieve's voice and overall attitude. Henri had told him about her in the past. He had imagined the girl to be docile in nature, much like Henri, but he hadn't expected this. Although her response had been polite and he couldn't shake the feeling of hostility towards him. Raiden cacked off, a small apologetic smile in place, and gave them both a nod. 

[color=5F9AA0]"Well, my apologies, Princess Genevieve."[/color] Raiden gave them both a bow, eyes trained of Henri. [color=5F9AA0]"I'll leave you two to continue your conversation. I hope we can talk soon, Henri. It's important."[/color] It was clear that Henri wasn't ready to have a much-needed conversation with him. Raiden understood that. Perhaps he could have handled the situation better from the start, but he was always prone to mistakes. With that, Raiden turned around and began to make his way away from them like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs.

Henri had been frozen throughout the whole encounter. He was glad that Gen had acted so quickly of he would have just turned around and walked right out of the ballroom without looking back. Yet, as he watched Raiden turn his back on them and walk away, he almost wanted to reach out and stop him. He wouldn't do that, of course. Henri was a coward. He had depended on Gen to drive Raiden away, depended on her to drive Elias away too. It was like he was just a burden. 

After Raiden was far enough, Henri let out a long and deep breath- like he had been holding his breath for a long time.

[color=8FBC8F]"Thank you, I don't know what I would have done without you. I- thank you. Holy shit."[/color] He looked at her, squeezing her hand back. He could still hear his heart pounding in his ear even as he turned to face Gen. He had never seen this protective side of Gen before. Their little encounter with Elias before had seemed to fuel the fire Gen had inside. Henri was glad for that fire.

[color=8FBC8F]"I think I need to go outside."[/color] He needed something to stop the rush of thoughts he could feel coming. He didn't want to burden Gen with any more than he already had. He had to be there for his friend too, and him breaking down was not going to help. 

“I’ll go with you,” Genevieve offered, watching Henri’s face in concern. She’d just told Raiden that Henri was with [i]her;[/i] it would look strange for him to go off by himself...and she worried that “by himself” was not the best thing for him to be right now.

Genevieve glanced, once, in Raiden’s direction, feeling a twinge of guilty nerves despite her irritation. “And...I’m sorry if that was too much.” She probably should have been more diplomatic, to save Henri stress, if nothing else. “I’m not trying to make this [i]harder[/i] for you.”

[color=8FBC8F]”No, you were perfect. Raiden- he can be overbearing sometimes. I’ve learned to handle him, but in situations like these, my head just goes ‘bleh’ and fucks me over.”[/color] Henri gave an exasperated sigh as he began to lead the way to one of the few doors. It annoyed him that he couldn't handle his own personal things without either breaking down in angry tears or just freezing in place. If Raiden had caught him alone, Henri would have just stood there until the taller man dragged him out to the gardens and finally have his talk. He was just glad that Gen had been able to drive Raiden away and give Henri time to think thins over, not that he had already done that so many times before tonight. 

Once they finally exited the ballroom and into the gardens of the Aciran castle, Henri finally let go of Gen's hands. [color=8FBC8F]"I'm sorry- and thank you,"[/color] he repeated, looking away from her when he felt his chest ache. He hadn't expected this to happen, at least not so early in the night. Right now, all he needed was time to gather his thoughts back and think. Think real hard about what he wanted. 

“No problem.” Genevieve squeezed Henri’s arm, trying to give him space while still letting him know she was here. She had his back. “You know I’ll stick with you. And we can always hide behind Phillip if we need a social buffer. You know he can talk to anyone.” And, more importantly, not even Elias would be stupid enough to be rude in front of Phillip. 

She looked at Henri’s averted gaze, chest pinching. “In the meantime, do you want some water or anything?”

Henri glanced back at Gen, giving his friend a reassuring smile. It was going to be fine, these two months would be okay if Gen was there with him. "I think some water would be nice," He wanted to smoke just enough to be able to go back in the ballroom and see Raiden's face again. Besides, he knew how Gen felt about his habit of smoking and how she was trying to get him to quit. Henri really didn't know what he would do with himself without Gen. "Thank you." He couldn't say that enough.

“No problem,” Genevieve repeated, with a hint of relief. This, at least, was something she could do. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere, okay?” When he agreed, she ducked back into the ballroom.