[hider=Evening Sola 21, 1739: Bob & Barry Part 1][center][h1][b][color=00F8FE]Callum [s]Danrose[/s][/color] & [color=9354FF]△△△[/color][/b][/h1][/center]
[hr]
[color=Gray][i]Under the veil of nocturnal murmurs, a beast emerged surreptitiously from the shroud of shadows. With predatory grace, it closed the distance between itself and the body sprawled out on the squalid pavement. The beast fixated its vacant gaze upon the man drenched in the mélange of blood, whiskey, detritus, and misery. Claws touched the man’s face with haunting tenderness. From its lips, a whisper caressed the name of the poor soul. “George.”[/i][/color]

When the prince’s eyelids fluttered, △△△ tried again, [color=9354FF]“Your Highness? Are you awake? How are you feeling?”[/color]

Callum struggled to open his eyes; everything felt so heavy. Someone was talking, and Cal tried to lift his head but that turned out to be a bad idea. He laid his head back down but it just kept on pounding. [color=00F8FE]“Just sleepin’ it off.”[/color] Callum muttered, not entirely sure what the man had asked but it seemed like a good answer. Some of the fog in Callum’s head lifted, and he remembered that this was not a good place to sleep. 

With a raspy groan and some very ungraceful movements, he rolled himself over onto his arms and tried to climb up off the ground. Callum stumbled backward and his back hit the side of a building so he just sat there. He put one elbow on his knees and rested his palm atop his head because his head felt like it was going to fall off and roll away. He gave the stranger a shaky thumbs up before placing that hand on his head too. [color=00F8FE]“Who are you?”[/color] He asked, resting his eyes for a bit. 

△△△ opened his mouth, took that first breath needed for speech, then sighed. This curse turned out to be far more inconvenient than he initially thought it would be. He was considering creating cards that have his name and title printed out so that he could hand them out as part of the introduction. A weak smile formed as he asked, [color=9354FF]“Would you remember if I told you in your current state?”[/color] Without hesitation, △△△ began assessing the prince’s injuries, cleaning the blood off with a handkerchief and apologizing whenever he winced, but not giving Prince Callum the option to refuse the examination. [color=9354FF]“What happened?”[/color]

[color=00F8FE]“What happened?”[/color] Callum repeated the question while attempting to swat the stranger's hands away. The man who refused to give out his name was more persistent than Cal, who relented to being poked and prodded at fairly quickly. [color=00F8FE]“Hmm. Ow. Dunno. Guess I can’t remember.”[/color] He half spoke, half mumbled an obtuse answer to the stranger. Callum was pretty sure he knew what the stranger was looking for, but as he felt around his pockets he discovered they were all empty. [color=00F8FE]“All outta coin, sorry. Best find someone else.”[/color] He added, hoping that admission was enough to get the intrusive stranger to move along. 

△△△’s brows stitched together. [color=9354FF]“You were mugged? We need to alert the authorities then. If your attackers are bold enough to attack a prince, it’s possible that they won’t hesitate to harm others. But… before that we should see that you receive proper medical attention.”[/color] He leaned in closer to confirm his assessment. [color=9354FF]“It seems like they didn’t cause any life-threatening damage, but seeing that you have trouble remembering, you might have a concussion. We can’t be too careful.”[/color] He circled to the prince’s least damaged side. [color=9354FF]“Forgive me for touching you, it’ll only be until we find someone who can properly tend to you, I promise.”[/color] △△△ carefully lifted the prince’s arm to put it around his shoulder, and noticed a dark red mark on his palm. The coloring of the skin around the wound and state of coagulation suggested that the cut was made recently, but not as recently as his other injuries. [color=9354FF]“Did they do this to you too?”[/color] 

Callum didn’t offer much protest to being pulled up off the ground, more wincing and whining; it was the quickest way he was going to get up and moving again. There had been only a tired, heavy sigh at the use of prince, and again at the mention of alerting the authorities. Once off the ground, with one of his arms wrapped around the mysterious stranger shoulders, Callum moved to palce his other hand on the man’s cheek as his gave his best attempt at a stern look. What he actually did was slap the man in the ear as he spoke, [color=00F8FE]“No authorities. No doctors. Not a mugging. I wanted this.”[/color] Callum pulled his hand away, tried to look at the cut on his other palm before losing interest in the injury barely hurt. [color=00F8FE]“Musta been the broken glass.”[/color] He lied before letting his arm drop back down and looked around, finding it difficult to remember which direction to go. 

△△△’s ear rang from the slap and he pouted slightly, but the expression lasted until he heard the words. [color=00F8FE][i]“I wanted this.”[/i][/color] He gave the man with George’s face a once over, taking in all the bruises, the smell of alcohol on his breath, and [i]that look of “weakness” he did not want to—could not—show others. “I want this.”[/i] [color=9354FF]“You’re very strict on yourself.”[/color] He smiled ruefully, [color=9354FF]“So much so that I don’t think you’ll be satisfied with this… but I wonder if you’ll realize that this form of punishment will never truly ease your guilt or solve the real problem, Your Royal Highness. … Unless this was only meant to satisfy your other needs...”[/color]

[color=00F8FE]“If it doesn’t work out, try something else.”[/color] Callum said, but the thought was incredibly tiring. [color=00F8FE]“Thanks. I got it from here. You should go.”[/color] He added but didn’t pull himself away from the stranger. Callum just waited, this was the part where the stranger was supposed to tell him what he wanted. Very few people hung around him without wanting something, he just hoped the man wasn’t looking for some kind of reward for returning him too the palace. 

[color=9354FF]“Should I?”[/color] △△△ tilted his head as if he was considering doing as the prince suggested, then flashed a mischievous smile. [color=9354FF]“Uhh… No. While I appreciate your concern for my safety, unfortunately for you, you’ve been caught by a person who has a hard time leaving injured people in the middle of a sketchy alley, unattended, at night. Royalty or not. 

So my suggestion, random person who I shall refer to as Bob, is that you give up getting rid of me and help me take you to your destination… or I'll have no choice but to take you to the hospital or authorities, whichever is closest.”[/color]

[color=00F8FE][i]Mysterious stranger, that I met in an alley, who knows too much about me, won’t give out his name, and wants to do me a favor.[/i][/color] Callum slowly listed everything that made the stranger suspicious. But he was also helping and nice enough about it that he wasn’t bothered by how strange it sounded. [color=00F8FE][i]Ask for chaos, get chaos.[/i][/color] Seemed best to just go with it. [color=00F8FE]“You’re odd. I like that. This way then, Barry. To a brothel.”[/color] Callum picked a direction and pointed, mostly sure that was the right way. 

[color=9354FF]“Will you be able to pay for their services without money?”[/color]

[color=00F8FE]“They know me. Being a prince, has a few perks.”[/color] There was really only one service Callum had any interest in tonight; drifting off in a smoke-filled back room. This was neither the first nor would be the last time he’d turned up with empty pockets looking for opium. He always settled his debts, people who knew him, knew that. It didn’t hurt that Callum never argued about prices either. He knew they asked for more than the opium was worth, he just didn’t care. 

[color=00F8FE]“What are you out looking for?”[/color] Cal asked and started walking, shakily, but he was at least going somewhere.

△△△ matched his pace with the prince, occasionally pausing to steady him whenever he was about to lose balance. [color=9354FF]“Trouble, most likely. Rumor has it that you have a knack of getting yourself into them quite often.”[/color] He pointed his finger at the prince. [color=9354FF]“Which is really the extent of how much I know about you. The rest is just guess work and experience.”[/color] His finger tapped near one of the bruises. [color=9354FF]“People who ‘want to get beaten up’ tend to be masochists, people who feel guilty for something, and or people who have something to prove. Since I don’t know you beyond stories, I don’t know if any of those apply to you, Bob.”[/color]

[color=00F8FE]“Needed to make a point. This is a way to do it.”[/color] Callum offered a vague explanation but none of what the stranger had guessed at was all that far off either. 

After a pause, △△△ apologized for the tangent. [color=9354FF]“I have a friend who attended Mr. Delronzo’s party yesterday and came back in a terrible condition. Unlike you, she was beaten so badly she actually can’t walk. When I asked what happened… she… She says she has no memories of what happened at the party.”[/color] 

Callum groaned, not out of pain this time, but exasperation at the mention of last night’s party. [color=00F8FE]“Mister who?”[/color] Cal said as if he didn’t know the name. The stranger was certainly not a friend, probably working with Wulfric, or Alibeth, which was pretty much the same thing. 

△△△ combed his fingers through his hair. [color=9354FF]“Either she’s hesitant to tell me what happened to her, she was drugged, or something so traumatic happened that she blocked the memory… None of these possibilities are the least bit comforting.”[/color] 

This time it was △△△’s turn to repeat the gesture Prince Callum did to him though he was far gentler with the ear slapping. [color=9354FF]“Bob, I know you were at the party. Please, tell me what happened there. Any information, even if you think it is insignificant will be helpful.”[/color]

[color=00F8FE]“You’re good. Give ya that. All helpful, easy to talk to, but I grew up with snakes. Know what they look like.”[/color] Callum’s words were a sad mumble, while he had figured the stranger had his own motives, he hadn’t suspected he was in line with the rest of his family. A part of Wulfric’s stupid vendetta against Marek for throwing better parties than anyone in court.

[color=00F8FE]“I can’t even tell you the last time I left a party with my memories. I was there, don’t remember anything. Musta been a good time.”[/color] Cal’s words weren’t far from the truth. [color=00F8FE]“Everybody’s all upset about it. Everybody there wanted to go. Well everyone ‘cept Darryn. Only thing we did wrong. Asked for a ride there. Zarai’s always been wild. Some people like drinking, and drugs, and forgetting. Some people like fighting. Sometimes they lose. Got advice for you now, if you’re working with my family,”[/color] Callum paused and shook his head. [color=00F8FE]“Bad idea. Worst of the snakes. All of us. Bad news. You, worry about you,”[/color] Callum bent his free hand, like making a shadow puppet, to look like a snake. His hand moved around the stranger, imitating the movements of a snake as he offered a warning. [color=00F8FE]“Before they bite.”[/color] He finished before the hand snake moved to “bite” at the man’s nose.

△△△’s own hand snake hooked its fangs onto the other snake and tugged, causing Prince Callum to stumble closer. He bit the empty space in front of the prince’s nose. [color=9354FF]“I never said I wasn’t one. How can you survive a den full of them without becoming one yourself or at least be convincing enough of a snake not to get bitten by a real one?”[/color]

Admittedly, it was too late. △△△△△△△△ had been bitten long ago, swallowed whole, waiting to be digested—their bodies giving strength to those who stole everything from them. They just stubbornly refused to go quietly into the night; they would fight, kicking and screaming until their last breath was spent. [color=9354FF]“Not everyone can have the same protection that you get, Bob. Regardless of your feelings.”[/color]

△△△ studied Prince Callum. [color=9354FF]“It seems like you’ve already decided where my allegiances are, but don’t worry, your parents prefer me and mine eradicated so the odds of me working for them to do their dirty work are extremely low.”[/color]

Callum let out a soft chuckle as the man returned the snake gesture, but it never became a real laugh, everything just hurt too much for that. [color=00F8FE]“Be a mongoose,”[/color] Callum suggested. [color=00F8FE]“They fight snakes real good.”[/color] He whispered it like it was a secret. But he understood; it was easier to be a snake and he was not a mongoose either. 

With a gesture that almost seemed friendly, Cal used the increased closeness to lightly pat the man's side. He was checking for a flask, anyone walking around Sorian looking for trouble had to have something to take the edge off. 

Amusement danced in △△△’s eyes as he allowed the body search. There was no immediate cause for alarm, no hidden object of value concealed upon his person. A spontaneous chuckle escaped him, [color=9354FF]“My, my, my! Bob Bobby Bobberson, were you pretending to be mugged so that you could pickpocket me or are you trying to seduce me?”[/color] △△△ playfully raised an eyebrow, [color=9354FF]“All you had to do was ask…”[/color] 

[color=00F8FE]“Seduce you? You can’t keep your hands off me, handsome stranger.”[/color] Callum replied with a disappointed look at having found nothing in his search. [color=00F8FE]“Got anything to drink on you?”[/color] He paused, realizing something before adding, [color=00F8FE]“You said, parents. What about Wulfy, you work for my brother?”[/color]

△△△’s expression shifted, a pensive gaze replaced his mirth. Of all the royal children, he harbored the most uncertainty towards the heir apparent. [color=9354FF]“That would depend entirely on how much he’ll follow his forebears’ footsteps, what kind of country he intends to create… and at what cost.”[/color] 

[color=00F8FE]“Well, dunno your allegiances. Don't even know your name. But everyone's got secrets. Either way, hope you get to see the end of Danroses.”[/color] Cal didn’t say anything more about Wulfric despite having a strong opinion on what sort of king his brother would make. 

Studying Prince Callum’s face intently, △△△ tried to conjure the image of King George uttering the last sentence and found his mind straining against the boundaries of possibility, for it seemed unfathomable. In a hushed and guarded tone, barely audible to the air, he softly breathed △△△△△△△△s’ mantra. [color=9354FF]“Noblesse oblige.”[/color] It was the closest thing to a name he could give regardless of the curse. If the prince responded to the oath, then he knew. If he did not, then it proved how much of a close kept secret △△△△△△△△ were. Was it passed down with the crown or did it die with their progenitor? Did the queen even know? 

Callum offered only a blank expression as the man whispered something into the air.[/hider]