![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Nations- Sapphire
Title: Sapphire
Fandom: FF7
Warning: No, just the universe itself...
Note: Cloud finally spoke to me! I had to beat Hojo off with a stick to get Cloud to talk, but he did! Allot... this is the lognest part yet. Well, in pages, not by words.
"Sire, I've resettled the protections. May I have a reward?" He kept his head bowed as he asked, emerald drop earrings resting against his jaw. There was a point when he would not dare ask such a question. The temple had been strict. You were not rewarded for doing your duty. You did not seek to change your duties before you were told you were capable. You did not pick favorites, and you most certainly never touched politics.
You also didn't run away to do everything they told you not to, and he'd done just that. It was a choice he'd only regretted once or twice, but never in the time he'd lived here. "What sort of reward do you want?" The voice, always without inflection when formal, did not cause him to lift his head, though he did spread his hands against the dark blue silk of his pants.
"Time." It was a murmur, and he adjusted his position just the slightest bit more, studying the pair of sapphire and silver anklets he was wearing. Ever aware of lurking eyes and ears of servants, he was not going to overstep his place where it could be seen. "Your majesty has been spending a good deal of time on plans of recent, and I was hopeful that perhaps…?"
He tilted his head just enough to see through his blond spikes where they fell forward, watching as the king sent people away with conservative, almost absent seeming motions. The servants clearly knew them for what they were, and departed, closing the door near silently behind them. "Are you the only one that's been feeling displaced recently?"
He didn't move until he caught the beckoning gesture, lifting his head and moving over with an easy stride. "You've been very busy recently. We know that."
He didn't protest when the man nudged him to kneel to his left, and he didn't feel the sting of irony that at one point such a position was only for prayer. That had faded a few years ago, mere months after he'd gotten accustomed to this court. "She can't steal my affections from the four of you, you realize that don't you?"
Closing his eyes when the pale fingers brushed along his cheek, he sighed softly. "We all knew you would need to marry eventually."
"Cloud. I want an answer."
"Yes, I do, but that doesn't mean that you're going to spend as much time with us. Unlike Zack, the rest of us…"
He opened his eyes when the king tipped up his chin. "Unlike Zack, the rest of you have complete lives you left behind for this one. Shouldn't it be my place to worry that my slaves will long to return to their original lives given any neglect from me?"
Drawing a sharp breath he shook his head, a hand raising and curving around the man's wrist before he even registered that he was moving. "I wouldn't go back there. I don't want to go back there. I hated that life." His fingers were caught before he could jerk away from his trespass, so he held still, watching.
"Nobody would believe me if they thought you were here willingly. They think you were stolen from your goddess. I don't dissuade them, because who wants to battle someone who can take the very faces of the gods for themselves?" The words were warmer, but not by much.
"I was never that high. I was always told I didn't have the ability to be an avatar, let alone lead rights. I've told you that before." Deferential tone for argumentative words, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last time he did it. It certainly wasn't the first.
"And they were wrong. Even still, you are a priest. Both you and I know this. The court knows this. They simply don't know the details, and are fooled into the illusion that they wish to see." Sighing softly, he had to concede the point. Illusions were a rather large portion of temple life, and he'd simply been the one who couldn't tell the difference between them and reality.
"Will I get my reward?" Sometimes it was a bad idea to remind and push, and those times got him a no. Other times, it would never come to be if he didn't pursue the answer. The kind was simply too hard to keep track of to stick with one or the other, so he felt it better to try than not.
"Yes, you will get your reward."
"When?"
There was a moment of silence, then the king ran his fingers up his cheek and just under his lower lashes. The action should have been threatening, yet it wasn't. He knew the king would give him nothing he didn't deserve. "Tonight. I'll be sure to come see you before I retire."
"May I sleep with you after?"
"Isn't that more than one reward Cloud? You're getting very bold of late." There was a moment of pause, one in which he dared say nothing, then a tiny smile flit over the king's face. "You may stay the night with me, so long as you deal with the others before."
He knew there'd be a catch, but as they went, that really wasn't a bad one at all. "I can do that."
"Then I'll see you tonight, won't I?"
"Yes." He rested his cheek on the man's thigh as servants started to filter back in, and it wasn't long before Zack made his way over to sit on the right side of the king's feet, the older slave just flashing him a small grin before settling into his place. It was going to be a long day. "Yes you will."
Fandom: FF7
Warning: No, just the universe itself...
Note: Cloud finally spoke to me! I had to beat Hojo off with a stick to get Cloud to talk, but he did! Allot... this is the lognest part yet. Well, in pages, not by words.
"Sire, I've resettled the protections. May I have a reward?" He kept his head bowed as he asked, emerald drop earrings resting against his jaw. There was a point when he would not dare ask such a question. The temple had been strict. You were not rewarded for doing your duty. You did not seek to change your duties before you were told you were capable. You did not pick favorites, and you most certainly never touched politics.
You also didn't run away to do everything they told you not to, and he'd done just that. It was a choice he'd only regretted once or twice, but never in the time he'd lived here. "What sort of reward do you want?" The voice, always without inflection when formal, did not cause him to lift his head, though he did spread his hands against the dark blue silk of his pants.
"Time." It was a murmur, and he adjusted his position just the slightest bit more, studying the pair of sapphire and silver anklets he was wearing. Ever aware of lurking eyes and ears of servants, he was not going to overstep his place where it could be seen. "Your majesty has been spending a good deal of time on plans of recent, and I was hopeful that perhaps…?"
He tilted his head just enough to see through his blond spikes where they fell forward, watching as the king sent people away with conservative, almost absent seeming motions. The servants clearly knew them for what they were, and departed, closing the door near silently behind them. "Are you the only one that's been feeling displaced recently?"
He didn't move until he caught the beckoning gesture, lifting his head and moving over with an easy stride. "You've been very busy recently. We know that."
He didn't protest when the man nudged him to kneel to his left, and he didn't feel the sting of irony that at one point such a position was only for prayer. That had faded a few years ago, mere months after he'd gotten accustomed to this court. "She can't steal my affections from the four of you, you realize that don't you?"
Closing his eyes when the pale fingers brushed along his cheek, he sighed softly. "We all knew you would need to marry eventually."
"Cloud. I want an answer."
"Yes, I do, but that doesn't mean that you're going to spend as much time with us. Unlike Zack, the rest of us…"
He opened his eyes when the king tipped up his chin. "Unlike Zack, the rest of you have complete lives you left behind for this one. Shouldn't it be my place to worry that my slaves will long to return to their original lives given any neglect from me?"
Drawing a sharp breath he shook his head, a hand raising and curving around the man's wrist before he even registered that he was moving. "I wouldn't go back there. I don't want to go back there. I hated that life." His fingers were caught before he could jerk away from his trespass, so he held still, watching.
"Nobody would believe me if they thought you were here willingly. They think you were stolen from your goddess. I don't dissuade them, because who wants to battle someone who can take the very faces of the gods for themselves?" The words were warmer, but not by much.
"I was never that high. I was always told I didn't have the ability to be an avatar, let alone lead rights. I've told you that before." Deferential tone for argumentative words, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last time he did it. It certainly wasn't the first.
"And they were wrong. Even still, you are a priest. Both you and I know this. The court knows this. They simply don't know the details, and are fooled into the illusion that they wish to see." Sighing softly, he had to concede the point. Illusions were a rather large portion of temple life, and he'd simply been the one who couldn't tell the difference between them and reality.
"Will I get my reward?" Sometimes it was a bad idea to remind and push, and those times got him a no. Other times, it would never come to be if he didn't pursue the answer. The kind was simply too hard to keep track of to stick with one or the other, so he felt it better to try than not.
"Yes, you will get your reward."
"When?"
There was a moment of silence, then the king ran his fingers up his cheek and just under his lower lashes. The action should have been threatening, yet it wasn't. He knew the king would give him nothing he didn't deserve. "Tonight. I'll be sure to come see you before I retire."
"May I sleep with you after?"
"Isn't that more than one reward Cloud? You're getting very bold of late." There was a moment of pause, one in which he dared say nothing, then a tiny smile flit over the king's face. "You may stay the night with me, so long as you deal with the others before."
He knew there'd be a catch, but as they went, that really wasn't a bad one at all. "I can do that."
"Then I'll see you tonight, won't I?"
"Yes." He rested his cheek on the man's thigh as servants started to filter back in, and it wasn't long before Zack made his way over to sit on the right side of the king's feet, the older slave just flashing him a small grin before settling into his place. It was going to be a long day. "Yes you will."