Moment of Weakness

Chandeliers kept the room illuminated as brightly as it would be in the middle of the day. They burned brighter than candles, leaving the only indication of the late time to be the windows where the curtains were not drawn. Even though the sky went completely dark some hours ago, barely any of the nobility and gentry had left the celebration.

Balls in Barona were quickly becoming one of Asbel's last favorite events. He attended at least half a dozen of them in hopes of spending time with Richard at a celebration, but each one ended the same way. The two old friends would talk together for a few seconds here and there, but they could never bring up anything of value before someone of higher rank than Asbel required the king's attention.

The political hierarchy was always alive and clear at the celebrations as well as thoroughly unsympathetic. The opposite was true for Richard, who would always apologize and look toward his old friend regretfully when he was pulled away yet again.

On top of that repeated pattern, very few nobles had any interest in talking to Asbel due to his age. He was young for a lord and young for the court. Not to mention that Lhant was far from the most interesting place in Windor. No one wanted to know about the windmills or their notoriously strange citizens.

Asbel was swirling the contents of an untouched glass from side to side when he felt a small tug at his sleeve. He glanced down to see Sophie, who was missing one of the bows from her hair and looked thoroughly tired of the night. He placed the glass on an empty table and knelt down to be closer to eye level with Sophie.

"Are you sleepy?" he asked with a weary smile of his own.

"Can we go home?" she asked with a frown. "Old ladies keep pinching my cheeks."

He chuckled, which didn't do anything to improve her mood. "We may as well, it's late and people are already starting to leave."

Sophie looked past his shoulder, into the crowd. Asbel turned slightly to follow her gaze to where Richard stood, stuck entertaining nobles who were all vying to win the king's favor. It frustrated the nobility to no ends that Richard showed favoritism toward no one politically.

"Do you want to head to the transport ahead of me? My mother is probably ready to go as well."

"She left for the turtlez already," she said.

He nodded as he stood up. "Do you want to stay with me or catch up with her? I just want to try saying goodbye to Richard before we go…if I can."

Sophie debated the question before looked at the crowd as she stifled a yawn. "I'll go ahead of you."

He couldn't blame Sophie for being even more lackluster than he was when it came to the balls. She saw even less of Richard than he did. He moved through the crowd to get closer to Richard – which was no easy task when bumping into anyone could be taken as a massive insult.

Richard glanced over to him when Asbel reached his line of vision, though he still found himself waiting as Richard ended the conversation with the owner of Barona's port as quickly as possible while still staying polite.

"Hey, Richard, I'm heading back to Lhant. Thank you for inviting us."

"Already?" he asked, looking disappointed until he looked at the grandfather clock on the wall. "You aren't staying the night?"

"Not tonight, my mother wants to get back to Lhant," he began.

They were interrupted when the lord of one of the port cities suddenly appeared at Richard's side and greeted him with far too much informality. Asbel could see the trace of discomfort betrayed in Richard's expression, but it was replaced by a smiling façade before the guest noticed.

Though he didn't like to leave things off in such an incomplete way, he knew that Sophie and Lady Kerri were most likely already waiting for him. He stepped back and started toward the side entrance. The ballroom had two stone paths outside that lined the gardens, but due to the dropping fall temperatures, no one carried their merrymaking outside. He stepped out onto to the stone walkway, planning to jump down at a lower point and cut through the garden to leave quicker.

He looked down at the flowers and bushes as he walked in front of the windows that still had the curtains drawn. Light still escaped from below the fabric, casting faint illumination along the patterns engraved in the stone. Asbel slipped his hands into his pockets to keep them warm, but stopped when he heard rushed footsteps from behind him.

"Asbel!" Richard called out, looking slightly out of breath as he hurried after Asbel and placed his hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to get interrupted again like that."

"No, it's fine," he said, forcing a smile. "These events are really more about politics than they are about catching up."

"It shouldn't just be political," Richard said tiredly. "We've barely had the chance to have a conversation. Some of the monarchs should be leaving soon."

Even though Asbel was often accused of being too oblivious for his own good, he understood Richard's intentions, even if the king wouldn't outright say it. It wasn't like Richard to try and change his mind, which only made him feel worse about being unable to remain. Just as Richard left some things unsaid, Asbel did the same.

"I'm sorry, it's late," Asbel said. "Sophie and my mother are already out on the transport."

Asbel started to step away, but Richard didn't let go of his arm. It caught Asbel by surprise, since Richard was usually the first person to agree and apologize. He glanced down at the gloved hand holding on to his arm before looking back up, causing their gazes to meet.

"Please stay," Richard said, though every word was laden with guilt.

The tone alone was enough to make Asbel want to linger there as long as possible. He turned to face Richard completely and only pulled away from his hold to wrap his arms around him. Richard returned the embrace, holding on to him tightly, almost uncomfortably so. Asbel found no reason to object though, as a few stolen seconds together weren't enough to change their situation. They would still have to let go.

Author's Note:

Hopefully that was okay…I do love my angst. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

This was another quote based request from over on Tumblr. The quote was "please stay" and how great for angst that was.

I'm currently taking AU fic requests! My URL there is SexuallyFrustratedOrca. If you don't have Tumblr but would still like to throw a RichAss AU my way, anons are fine!