[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/240130/1bef81ddc0b93d02f23af9d27cc8ac97.png[/img][/center]
[sub][right]feat. Sir Tyler Morris ([@Scribe of Thoth])[/right][/sub]

Lucas had taken the Duchess’ arrival as a means to leave. He did pat Rosemary’s head before he left, but he didn’t linger; those giant golden eyes would’ve pleaded with him to stay and he wasn’t strong enough to ignore whatever drunken emotion would’ve popped up looking at her. So he gave a half-hearted farewell to the other Scions and left, fully intent on going to bed.

Except a gorgeous pair of blue eyes and a fine ass had distracted him.

It never took much coaxing to get his way with anyone. In fact, he’d argue he had more people coming onto him than vice versa. It was typically an annoyance as there were [i]some[/i] nights he just wanted to drink and wasn’t interested in someone sloppily jamming their tongue in his mouth. But he had no desire to spend the night alone and let his lust lead the way. He got Blue Eyes to come to his room, and after a round of drinks, then another, then some more, Lucas had Blue Eyes in his bed, his lips attacking the other’s collarbone as he fumbled with the dress shirt. 

His instinct to just pop it off was met with a protest. “H-Hey! Don’t go ripping off the buttons!”

Lucas stopped and raised his head, giving an incredulous look. [color=dodgerblue]“I’ll get you another one,”[/color] He offered a token non-apology.

“That’s not the point.”

[color=dodgerblue]“Are you actually going to argue over this? I’m losing wood,”[/color] The prince outright asked, sitting up. [color=dodgerblue]“I’ll find someone else if you’re going to get pissy.”[/color]

There was a little hesitation, but ultimately, degeneracy won as Lucas’ tie was pulled on, and he returned to his previous notion–with the buttons of the shirt going flying out of pettiness–his lips now descending onto the newly exposed canvas. 

Sin works hard, but the Goddess works harder, and it wasn’t long before Tyler entered the room. Sensing nothing amiss at first, he traipsed into the living room with the intent to collapse on the couch and offered barely a glance toward the bedroom. 

[color=00ccff]“I’m back. You in here?”[/color] he called. The alcohol sitting out implied he definitely was, unless the prince decided to go for a drunken stroll around the castle once he’d dulled the stresses of the night with drink. Though that begged the question, why the two glasses? They’d both clearly been drunk from, so it probably wasn’t intended to be left out for Tyler - not that he thought Lucas would be that considerate anyway - but one had to be in quite the hurry to get smashed to drink from two cups at once.

Or he’d barged into the wrong room, which was a worrying indictment of palatial security and would probably prevent him from sleeping tonight.

At the sound of Tyler’s voice, Blue Eyes looked to the door. “Who is that?”

Lucas didn’t stop, too preoccupied as his muddled brain cells barely took in the question. [color=dodgerblue]“What?”[/color]

“I heard someone in the living room, I think.”

[color=dodgerblue]“I didn’t hear anything,” [/color]Lucas replied, more focused on his current task.

Blue Eyes looked at Lucas. “Is it your Templar?”

The prince immediately stopped, his lust evaporating out of the window into the cold. He looked back towards the bedroom door, trying to listen, and unfortunately, he now heard what sounded like someone walking around. Fuck, he forgot about Tyler. Granted, he wasn’t expecting him to come to his room. Did he want to talk about something?

[color=dodgerblue]“Stay here,” [/color]He murmured, hands buttoning up his shirt as he slid off the bed. His bad shoulder hit the wall and he barely contained a yell of pain, choosing to walk it off and walk out of the room and into the living room.

[color=dodgerblue]“I’m here,”[/color] He said, scratching his head as he tried to force himself to focus. [color=dodgerblue]“Uh…’sup?”[/color]

Tyler had definitely heard talking. Then someone hitting the wall. He had definitely gotten into the wrong room someho- oh. There was Lucas. Weirdo. Then again, he was probably drunk. Tyler’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at his Scion.

[color=00ccff]“Nothing…?”[/color] he responded as he finally dropped onto the couch, [color=00ccff]“I see you continued the party without me.”[/color] He gave a loose gesture toward the emptied cups.

Lucas’ eyes followed the gesture, his brain fighting through the sludge of the whiskey he downed to make sense of the situation. He stood rigid, though he realized it didn’t make sense to hide that he was wasted when he had left the evidence there. Wait, why [i]was[/i] he acting like nothing was wrong? The ridiculousness of it actually got him to relax a touch. He was fine. But what was Tyler doing here?

[color=dodgerblue]“I didn’t think you were interested,”[/color] He raised an eyebrow, swaying towards the wall and ending up leaning against it. [color=dodgerblue]“It’s been a long night.”[/color]

[color=00ccff]“You guessed right.”[/color] Tyler was going to be on edge for the next month at this rate, and he certainly wasn’t going to go another round with Captain Dickless tipsy. [color=00ccff]“Looks like you figured that out late though.”[/color] It was [i]almost[/i] sweet. The prince must’ve poured him a drink, realized the ridiculousness of it, and promptly chugged it like a thirsty frat boy. 

Tyler arched a brow as he noticed Lucas swaying. [color=00ccff]“Do you need to sit down?”[/color]

Lucas watched Tyler, a little confused. Well, shit, he was comfortable just waltzing into someone else’s room. That was going to make for some discomfort, especially as their previous conversation came into mind. Yeah, after the attack, he wasn’t going to know what privacy was anymore, huh? The thought soured his mood, but he couldn’t do much about it. At his question, Lucas shrugged with an [color=dodgerblue]“Eh,”[/color] as a response. He still didn’t say what he actually wanted.

[color=dodgerblue]“If you don’t want to drink, you want to talk?”[/color] He asked. [color=dodgerblue]“Or…what?”[/color]

Tyler wrinkled his nose in mild confusion. Mother above, this guy was an awkward drunk. Did he want to talk? Not particularly; they’d done enough talking for the night already. 

[color=00ccff]“I kinda just wanna go to bed. Why, do you need to talk about something?”[/color]

The prince stared at Tyler, the gears of his mind whirring at his words. If he wanted to go to bed, what was he doing here? No, he needed to say that [i]outside[/i]. He was thinking too much and going around in circles and the fact that it took him [i]this[/i] long was embarrassing. 

[color=dodgerblue]“No, I was planning on…bed, too,”[/color] He caught himself, though something in the back of his head wondered why his brain was trying when stringing together thoughts was nearly impossible since he couldn’t figure out what Tyler wanted. Unless he was coming onto him and he was so drunk he couldn’t see the signs? Lucas openly looked Tyler up and down. [color=dodgerblue]“...Are you coming on to me?”[/color] He ended up asking.

And there went the rest of Tyler’s patience. This guy really [i]was[/i] a weirdo. He scowled at the insinuation and leaned back into the couch. [color=00ccff]“Yeah, you’re drunk. Go to bed.”[/color]

Alright, it [i]was[/i] a stretch, but he needed to be sure. He waved off Tyler’s words and turned towards the bedroom, only for Blue Eyes to walk out, looking around the living room. He froze when he spotted Tyler, giving Lucas an uneasy look. 

Lucas himself dismissed his look with a wave. [color=dodgerblue]“I guess he’s sleeping on the couch. It’s fine, c’mon,”[/color] He said.

Tyler stared incredulously as another figure emerged from the bedroom. His first instinct was to draw his weapon and run the assassin through, but Lucas stopped him with his comment. That certainly explained the two cups. And the awkwardness. He had a number of questions, first of which being [i]’why’[/i], but getting this random guy out of their room would probably do wonders for his piece of mind.

[color=00ccff]“How did you even [i]do[/i] that? Is this some courtesan or are you gonna get some poor servant fired for poor conduct?”[/color] Tyler barely acknowledged the other person in the room, as he had the strangest notion that he would never see him again in his life no matter how fondly his special little night with the prince turned out.

Blue Eyes opened his mouth but Lucas took a hold of his hand. [color=dodgerblue]“Three steps: a touch, a piercing gaze,”[/color] He demonstrated as he spoke, much to the embarrassment of the other man, and then he looked like he wanted to die once Lucas slammed his hand onto the wall next to him, trapping him. [color=dodgerblue]“And then a question: are we doing this or not?”[/color]

“I don’t think he was asking [i]how[/i] that way,” Blue Eyes mumbled, hiding his flushed face.

[color=dodgerblue]“Then the answer is any idiot would be [i]dying[/i] to get in bed with royalty. Not to mention I’m single and good looking,”[/color] He shrugged before peering at Blue Eyes, trying to see if Tyler was right. [color=dodgerblue]“I don’t think he’s a servant, but I’m not sure who he is,”[/color] He explained with a shrug, only to be met with a glare. [color=dodgerblue]“Listen, if it wasn’t for your ass, I wouldn’t have brought you here. You should be happy all those days in the gym are paying off.” [/color]

“That’s not funny.” 

[color=dodgerblue]“I’m not joking.”[/color]

[color=00ccff]“So he’s a security risk,”[/color] Tyler surmised, rolling his eyes at the display. He doubted this guy was particularly malicious, but whatever would get him out of their room faster. [color=00ccff]“I’m not particularly keen on listening to you two play snake in the butt from the next room over, so can I trouble you to take a rain check?”[/color] He leveled his question more toward the stranger than Lucas.

“Yes, right. Sorry,” Blue Eyes muttered, managing to dodge Lucas’ attempt to grab him in a display of dexterity–although out-maneuvering the drunk prince wasn’t too difficult.

Lucas covered his mouth as he let out a groan, his annoyance bubbling again. He waited until he heard the door close to ask, [color=dodgerblue]“What happened to that whole thing in the bathroom where you said you [i]weren’t[/i] going to do…this–”[/color] He waved his arms around. [color=dodgerblue]“–and be up my ass all the time? Or do you get off on cockblocking?”[/color]

Tyler shook his head as the man left. [color=00ccff]“Listening to you fuck in the bed next to mine is pointedly [i]not[/i] in my job description, nor is it something I [i]ever[/i] intend to do.”[/color] Honestly, he didn’t know whether to be more exasperated with Lucas or the idiot who took him up on his offer after the night they’d just had. Theodore had behaved so well, Tyler almost forgot Scions were not, in fact, Incepta’s perfect little darlings at all times.

[color=00ccff]“The gaze of the Goddess is upon you now, act like it,”[/color] he exclaimed, the hypocrisy of the statement entirely lost on him. 

The mention of the second bed tickled his mind a little, but it was put aside once Tyler decided to scold Lucas like he was some sort of troublemaker in school or something. Lucas leveled his Templar with a flat look, unhappy with the judgment. [color=dodgerblue]“Phoebus 12:15: Her eyes are on me when I wake, Her eyes are on me when I work, Her eyes are on me when I fall asleep–you need to brush up on your scripture, the Goddess is [i]always[/i] watching,”[/color] It was an immature play at being annoying, but bringing Incepta into the conversation annoyed him greatly. [color=dodgerblue]“Not to mention your Templar training should have come with etiquette classes–royalty supersedes my Scion title, I’m [i]Prince[/i] Lucas first and foremost, and everything that comes with that isn’t changing just ‘cause the Goddess thought it’d be hysterical to give me a broken gift.”[/color]

He wasn’t really sure what his point was, but he wasn’t fond of Tyler’s entire holier-than-thou shtick. [color=dodgerblue]“It’s not your fault that you’re stuck with me, especially since Theodore was a goody-two-shoes, but I’m not letting this change how I live my life. You either play along or fuck off.”[/color]

Tyler was half-tempted to spit some scripture back, especially since he doubtlessly held the moral high ground in this discussion, but then the prince transitioned into complaining, so Tyler let it go. [color=00ccff]“Got a little cuck chair all ready in the corner for me, huh? I thought you wanted me gone,”[/color] he mused as he stood from the couch. The discussion was going nowhere and he could save it for another time, frankly.

[color=00ccff]“I don’t think it’s too much to ask for you to keep your pants on in my immediate presence. I’m not sleeping on a [i]couch[/i] after I got beat up for you.”[/color]

The very last person Lucas would invite to his room in the evening would be his church-mandated babysitter, especially since Tyler would probably start talking about ‘how to be proper’ and ‘Incepta is watching’ or whatever other bullshit he had in mind. He wanted to tell him to get out so he could sleep until his last sentence. It was very likely unrelated to what Princess Belle and Scion Balder said, but it still pulled at the same string: what happened tonight was his fault.

[color=dodgerblue]“That’s not on me,”[/color] Lucas immediately replied, angry. [color=dodgerblue]“I didn’t cause this to happen–I didn’t go asking for a fucking tin man who decided to take the only thing I was supposed to be good for and throw it out the window. You don’t get to blame me for that, either.”[/color]

This again. Lucas really was fucking difficult. Tyler sighed wearily as he made his way to the bedroom, whether he had to shove the prince aside to do so or not. 

[color=00ccff]“You don’t have to be the [i]cause[/i] to acknowledge the fact that I did all of that on your behalf,”[/color] he grumbled, [color=00ccff]“I’m not even asking for gratitude, just the bare minimum courtesy to value the fact that I’m sore over getting your dick wet.”[/color] The fact that he even had to explain this was telling. Sure, an assassin could break in and finish the job while Tyler broke his back on the couch, but at least Prince Lucas would have proof he didn’t die a virgin! If he remembered a single speech Fyodor ever gave him, he’d have surely quoted it by now. Something about being an embarrassment, surely.

The urge to continue fighting was strong, but the desire to finish the conversation and just sleep was stronger. No, that was a lie, he wanted another drink. It wasn’t that Tyler was necessarily wrong, but admitting that at this point would be a loss Lucas didn’t want to take. It made more sense in his head. Through the cloudiness of the alcohol enticing him to have more, however, was a strong thought that he had ignored; a crystal clear clarity shimmered over him.

So he strolled back to the coffee table, snatched the whiskey once again, then threw himself onto the couch. [color=dodgerblue]“Have at it, then,”[/color] He said, pouring himself another cup. [color=dodgerblue]“Bed’s going to be a little messy, but you can still sleep on it.”[/color]

Oh, now Tyler was supposed to sleep in the fuck bed? He almost called the prince’s new favorite toy back to request a change of sheets, but he supposed Lucas really wouldn’t have a way to stop him from sleeping in the other one. Until he got in the bedroom, that is.

One fucking bed. Veradian hospitality must be slipping.

[color=00ccff]“You’re kidding,”[/color] he scoffed, [color=00ccff]“What was your plan here? Get the deed done real fast and hope I didn’t smell anything off when I got here?”[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]“I thought we had separate rooms,”[/color] Lucas admitted, pulling his phone out of his pocket. [color=dodgerblue]“So my plan [i]was[/i] to have fun, but I didn’t consider that Prince Rowan likely threw the Scions and Templars here together due to the other rooms being taken by all the other royals and nobles. Something something ‘the pious take the humble option’ or whatever.”[/color]

Tyler sighed again. It was a more acceptable answer than the alternative. [color=00ccff]“Dare I ask if there’s any strange fluids already strewn about?”[/color] he asked as he pulled the disheveled blankets back on one side of the bed. At least it [i]looked[/i] clean.

[color=dodgerblue]“We only made out, Father Tyler, I promise by Scion Rosaria herself that no debauchery occurred!”[/color]

The templar didn’t bother with a response, and instead began stripping off the needless layers of dress clothes he still had on. Doubtlessly Lucas would have a comment, but hiding in the bathroom just to take a jacket off was too needlessly prudish even for Father Tyler, blessed be his name.

[color=00ccff]“I hope you don’t snore,”[/color] he muttered.

Lucas spent a minute scrolling through his phone as he drank, searching his name. As he figured, there were a multitude of news outlets already posting about the attack. There were a majority of journalists already yelling about how this just so happened to have taken place on Lucas’ coronation as a Scion. Wonderful. Once polished off his last glass, Lucas abandoned the cup and strolled into the bedroom, ignoring Tyler as he took off his own jacket. The bump he felt as he folded it reminded him of the fork–well, that was a problem for Tomorrow Lucas, Today Lucas just wanted to sleep now.

[color=dodgerblue]“Think I used to talk in my sleep as a kid,”[/color] He mumbled back, opening the dresser. He was relieved to find spare clothes already there, grabbing the pajamas before freeing himself of his tie. Lucas wasn’t about to undress and have Tyler make a comment about his back, so he decided to go to the bathroom, changing fully into the pajamas given. They were an atrocious yellow but the material was breathable, at least.

He left the fork in his jacket pocket and placed everything in the empty drawer space. He doubted the tuning fork would get any attention, but he didn’t exactly have a safe place to put it yet. Or did he? He didn’t even test if his magic was back. But a quick attempt told him that, no, he was shit out of luck. If it didn’t come back in the morning, he’d worry about it then.

Lucas got into bed, but yet another thing occurred to him. [color=dodgerblue]“Don’t hog the blanket or I’ll kick you off,”[/color] He warned.

The palace staff managed to prepare spare clothes for them but couldn’t fold out a damn futon? Tyler shook his head yet again and made for the same drawer Lucas did to pull out a pair of pants. He left the garishly colored shirt in place in favor of his own mildly-sweaty undershirt, but anything that would avoid him sleeping in his underwear next to Lucas was preferable in his eyes.

Thankfully, he managed to change before Lucas stepped back out of the bathroom. [color=00ccff]“I was gonna say the same to you, and you already know my kicks are meaner.”[/color] Tyler took his place on the opposite side of the bed with a grimace and put his manasaber pointedly on the nightstand within easy reach. Theo was, as he always was, no trouble to share a bed with. Lucas, on the contrary, had been trouble in just about every facet of his existence so far and Tyler expected nothing less while he was unconscious. 

He did not have high hopes for the night.