originally written 12/21/15.

The light from the candle flickers along the walls, Raven's shadow as still as the night. Lucius knows something is up - for those like them, it is difficult to sleep, so Raven's lack of sleep is not what concerns him (or, well, it does, but that is not something unusual.) But Raven does not normally leave the light on during his often sleepless nights.

Lucius knows this can only be about one thing. After all, with Raven, it is almost always one of few things - his sister, his late parents, revenge, Lucius himself, and the war, when it raged on. And, after knowing him for so long, Lucius can easily pinpoint which certain topic he is worrying about.

"Sir," Lucius starts, stirring Raven out of his trance-like state and getting him to look away from the dull, dusty, beige walls, "Are you worrying about tomorrow?"

"How can I not?" is the reply. A bit snappy, but Lucius knows he is on edge.

Lucius wraps himself around Raven like a cat, and Raven instantly pulls him closer.

"I'm just... so nervous. I've blamed Ostia for so long, but I know it's no longer true. Who else is there, then, to blame?"

"Now, Raven," Lucius breathed, feeling the tension in Raven's body, "You mustn't think like that. I'm not so sure there needs to be someone to blame. All that needs to happen is you finding out the truth."

A small smile appeared on Raven's face, and Lucius prided himself on his small victory. "Perhaps I've been up too long."

"All this worrying isn't good for you, sir. I wish you wouldn't subject yourself to it anymore, but I understand why you're doing so much of it. It's hard to face the truth."

Raven let out a deep sigh that shook his whole body, and subsequently shook Lucius' body, too. Raven pulled the blonde man tighter against his body, letting out another loud, long sigh.

His sighs had become too commonplace, recently. Such a thing saddened Lucius. He hated seeing Raven so solemn. Although it wasn't strange for the former lord to be silent and lost in his thoughts, Lucius felt that finally, Raven was starting to grow out of it. But he fell back into it with no problems when they received news from Priscilla saying she had found out the truth behind the fall of House Cornwell.

Lucius knew it was more than just the weight of the truth that was making Raven so somber - it might also have been the fact that he had been searing for it for years and years, with Priscilla, who seemed blissfully unaware of the torment her brother had been through (dear Elimine, please forgive him for sounding so petty!).

"I don't think I've ever been more ready to face it, though. This is what I've been searching for, Lucius. For so long. I just want to know what happened. I've given up my vengeance. I don't want to break that vow to myself, or to you."

Lucius could see, for one of the first times, the fear, the agony, reflecting in his poor Raven's eyes. "And you won't."

"I do have one request, though."

Lucius lifted his head to look up at him.

"Will you... be with me, when I find out?"

With an ever-knowing smile - that almost looked like a smirk - Lucius nodded. "Of course, Lord Raymond." To this name, here, at this time of night, Raven had no objections. But this might have been from the soft kiss that Lucius had placed on the corner of his mouth.

"And I will even hold your hand, if you wish."

To Lucius' pleasant surprise, Raven had no objections here, either.

"Actually," the former lord started, with a small smirk mirroring that of Lucius', "I think I'd quite like that."