Title: What You Owe Me
Characters/Pairing: Prince/Roy. Linfa and Lyon are heavily involved.
Wordcount: 3,995
Warnings: Boys' love, possibly some slight OoCness (I tried not to...). Spoilers.
Disclaimer: I don't own Suikoden V or the characters. I make no profit by publishing this.
Rating: T
Summary: Linfa pays devil's advocate and the prince helps Roy stay out of debt. But there's more to it than that. Prince/Roy, spoiler warning.
There was no Prince/Roy on this site... I had to fix that. I'm not really fond of this one, but I guess I'll post it anyway.
Despite using her as a plot point, I tried to make Linfa seem like a decent person. Her actions are more fueled by S.A.P.P.H.I.R.E. than anything. Takes place slightly after Freyjadour uses the Dawn Rune to heal Lyon, with some past reflection near the end.
"You lose again, Roy," Linfa announced sternly, folding her arms over her chest and staring stubbornly at the boy in front of her.
Staring back at her was a teen with pale hair, tied back in a braid, and colorful Falenan armour that showed off his slim, athletic figure. He only vaguely resembled a certain rowdy, brown-haired thief that had joined the army from the slums, and yet...
"C'mon," he grinned back sheepishly, raising a hand to the back of his head. "It's not Roy, it's your valiant and noble Prince Fre-"
"Pay up, Roy," Linfa growled, "unless you want to be stuck with another 100,000 potch debt. I'm collecting interest this time."
Roy glared back at her, before reluctantly sighing in defeat. "How'd that stupid purple wench even know it was me?" he grumbled glumly, pointedly loud enough to be heard.
Linfa scowled and attempted to ignore the comment and Roy's bad attitude. Despite his "pretty boy" status, he could be a real pain to deal with at times like this. It was her duty as a member of S.A.P.P.H.I.R.E. – the Secret Alliance for Protecting Pretty Hunks in Real Endangerment – to tolerate it, but as a girl who had to make her living, she also couldn't ignore it. She'd decided long ago, when he'd attempted to cheat her the first time, that it was possibly to tolerate and demand payment.
To prove her exceedingly tolerant attitude, she replied, "Did you really think I would fall for the same trick twice?"
"Yeah," Roy answered bluntly, without a moment of thought.
"The prince himself told me you were running around playing tricks on people again," Linfa continued, with a slightly harder edge to her tone. "Apparently, I'm not even the only person you've been bothering lately. I really should have known it was you," she added disdainfully, "Even the first time we played. 'Cause the prince was never such a sucky gambler as you."
"You wanna say that again!"
'Hah. Take that,' she thought smugly.
"You really suck at gambling," Linfa repeated, making a point of sounding bored.
Her insult was working exceedingly well, judging by Roy's reaction. He gaped for a moment, then began spewing complaints, looking more like a grumbling child with the prince's hair and clothes than anything. Which also proved he really wasn't Prince Freyjadour, if she'd had any remaining doubts in her mind.
It didn't take long for her feeling of accomplishment to fade.
"Stupid basement dwellin', gamblin', money stealin', banshee voiced, ugly, connivin' purple dressed whore..."
"What was that!" she snapped at him. Maybe the whore part was justified, but 'ugly'? 'Banshee voiced'? "I could have sworn I just heard, 'Take all my money, Linfa! I'll be yours forever, Linfa! I'd be glad to make you several thousand potch richer and let you do whatever you want with my body, Li-'"
"Just shut up," Roy growled, cutting her off. As tempting as that last offer was... he was already spoken for. Mentally.
...Lyon would come around one of these days, damn it.
"You can't cut me a break? Been livin' on the streets, now I'm busy runnin' 'round for the rebel army with the princey-boy and Lyon all the time... They don't even pay me for actin' like an errand boy and being the prince's stunt double, you know I ain't got any money."
"Then you shouldn't be gambling," Linfa retorted coldly.
"...Gee. You sure are quick to turn nasty." With his begging tactic used up, it was time to resort to another: "Who's gonna make me pay up anyhow? I don't think yer tough enough that you could mak me if I didn't wanna."
"I may have mentioned something earlier about how I'm not the only person you've been bothering...? I have more than a few people to back me up on this."
The door opened as Linfa spoke. Roy could see her eyes lighting up and a smile tugging at her mouth from whoever came in, but he wasn't going to look and see who it was. That would prove he cared, that he might be a little intimidated by what she was implying...
...But whoever it was, they had awfully light footsteps, and he couldn't guess by the sound of their feet or the pattern of their walk. Perhaps it was for the better – as far as Roy's overactive nerves were concerned – that they were quick to speak; Roy nearly jumped out of his seat when the voice of the real prince suddenly sounded behind him.
"She's right, Roy," Freyjadour insisted, as soft and peacefully as always.
Roy mostly ignored the prince except for a brief chance to suck up. "Ah, my good friend Freyjadour," he greeted warmly, hoping he sounded as aquainted and favorable as he was trying to. "An' Lyon, Sweetie. Lookin' better already."
"Has he been causing problems for you?" Lyon asked Linfa, stiffening slightly. She wasn't fond of the gambler on personal terms, but she had a duty as the prince's bodyguard and most trusted assistant to maintain the peace. Even if it was between odd characters like Linfa and Roy. "We don't come here usually, but the prince needed to talk to the barkeeper and negotiate the amount of money our army spends to maintain this bar and keep it running. While it keeps people relaxed to come here and entertains them, we're also expressing some mild concern over the possibly spending too much of our budget on alcohol, and perhaps raising the prices on drinks to make up for it and reduce the chances of alcohol addiction among our soldiers."
"...'Course, ignored as usual," Roy mumbled darkly, having no interest in any official business the prince had or whatever it is he wanted, as long as it didn't concern him. Linfa looked just as unamused as he did, meaning they were actually agreeing on something for once. And now that the gig was officially over and busted, he slid the wig off his head and frowned when the prince pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.
"You have to repay your debts," the prince finished after politely waiting for Lyon to finish speaking.
"...Prince?" Lyon responded, sounding a bit confused. It was a rare moment when the prince didn't back her up on something, and just as uncommon that he would put the little problem before the large one. She frowned as she thought of something. "You're not going to bail out Roy on his debts again, are you?" Despite her insistance that he didn't, that he leave Roy to learn a lesson, the prince had somehow found a way to pay Linfa's last 100,000 potch bill, allowing Roy to get off free.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually," Linfa mused, a thoughtful smirk appearing on her face. "Prince, you wouldn't mind helping the boy out, would you?"
"Prince, ya wouldn't mind, would ya?" Roy mimicked, looking at Freyjadour hopefully. "I ain't gonna be able the cover this on my own, and if I don't pay her off, I'm gonna have half the castle on my ass."
"Then you deserve it!" Lyon glowered. "I thought I told you to stop impersonating the prince and pranking people around the castle all day. Roy, half the castle!"
"'Kay, maybe a lil less than that. Nice of ya to be concern-"
"We can't afford it," Lyon finished coldly. She and Freyjadour already used all of their earnings to buy new equipment and runes for their soldiers, including Roy.
"I asked the prince to help out. I'd let the money slide for Prince Freyja... if he does something else for me in return," Linfa piped up.
"He'd pay... nothing at all?" Lyon repeated disbelievingly. Popular rumor was that Linfa only gambled because she liked the game, but Lyon had yet to meet someone in that field of occupation without a greedy drive for money.
Roy came to this conclusion as well, with a life spent thieving to inform him that money was simply too important to let go of when the opportunity arose. He didn't know what Linfa wanted, but from the tone of her voice Roy guessed that he wasn't eager to find out either. He quickly stood up to leave.
"Well, thanks for pickin' up the tab, princey. Since ya don't need me anymore, I'll just be goin' now."
"Not so fast!" Linfa yelled before he could take a step. "Sit down, you're still a part of this." Roy flopped back into the chair grumpily and glared at her, waiting for Linfa to continue with a hostile silence.
"The prince is going to help you pay your debt, but..." her horrible poker face gave away a wide smile and a faint blush, neither of which currently meant anything to Roy. "...But you need to be here too, or it's not going to work."
"Get on with it. Whaddya want?"
"I want a kiss," Linfa replied as easily as if she'd asked them to bring her a napkin, with only a slight second of hesitation beforehand. The others, however, were shocked into a long, jaw-dropped silence that she endured patiently. And if her plan worked, Nifsara would be so jealous when she heard; Linfa could already imagine the look on her face when she told her. Being a member of S.A.P.P.H.I.R.E. was becoming a little addicting, almost like a good game of cards was.
"L-like... me to kiss you or...?" Roy asked, being the first to recover. He gave it less than a moment's consideration, then recollected himself much quicker. "Uh, how 'bout not? An' I really don't see what the prince has the do with this either."
Lyon began protesting shortly after Roy, but her complaints went ignored by Linfa.
'If you were a good kisser, I wouldn't complain,' the girl thought. Afterall, she'd had to put up with much worse – and after a while, it had even started becoming sort of fun, almost like a game. But that was the sort of thing she saved as a last resort, in case something went wrong, and only when she was on the losing end. Besides, she had something else, something potentially better, in mind this time.
"No, I don't want a kiss from you," she answered, finding amusement in his naivety. It was fun to watch the trio getting all confused and flustered, too, to the point where she wanted to drag it on for a little bit just to see them fidget.
"If yer gonna kiss the prince, I don't see what I'd hafta stick around for. An' that's really somethin' I don't wanna see."
In the background, Lyon nearly choked at the mere suggestion. The prince was faithfully at her side in an instant.
"Interesting idea, but that's not it either."
"...Lyon?" Roy suggested hesitantly. He was running out of ideas, and while he didn't particularly like the idea of giving Lyon up, he supposed it was better than having to watch Freyjadour go at it.
"No, silly. You and Prince Freyjadour."
It was hard to determine who choked more at that, the bandit or the bodyguard. Sputtering, both shot an anxious look at the Prince of Sol Falena, who merely shrugged and repeated, "You have to pay your debts."
"An' how can you be so nonchalant about that?" Roy snapped back.
"For once, I think I can agree with Roy on something! Prince, I really don't think this is a good idea," Lyon objected. "It could spread around the castle, people could get the wrong idea, we really don't need anything to risk tampering with our army's moral..."
The idea of same sex relationships wasn't completely taboo in Sol Falena, but they didn't need people gossiping at a time like this. And the prince with Roy? Who wouldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about something like that? The prince having a relationship with his stunt double and a former thief would say nothing good about the rebel army.
Freyjadour only shrugged again, his face betraying no visible emotion. "It would be even worse if we lost a good fighter and half the castle wore themselves out trying to kill him, wouldn't it?" he reasoned.
"Oh, please..." Roy groaned.
Before Lyon could protest again, the prince turned to face Roy. "Just do it," he said simply.
For Linfa, this was going much more smoothly than she had planned. The prince actually consenting left her almost as surprised as Roy and Lyon had been when she announced her request. "Y-yeah. Just get it over with, Roy, and I won't come asking for money later."
"Or ever again," Lyon cut in sternly, sending a sharp glance in Roy's direction. It was a look that clearly stated she didn't approve of what his stupid antics were getting Freyjadour into now, and if he did it again she might have to personally assure he couldn't do it a third time.
"It can't be just a quick kiss on the cheek either," Linfa pointed out, and Lyon's glare immediately shifted to her, though the glare had quickly fallen off and was replaced with a look of borderline horror.
"What the hell is up with that!" Roy growled at the girl. "That's even worse then the first option!"
"But it's free," she reminded him cheerfully.
Lyon followed the conversation with her eyes; her mouth was open, but she was too shocked to speak yet. She was surprised again to find the prince joining in on the conversation.
"Roy... don't dig yourself into an even deeper hole," he prodded gently.
"Promise. No matter what you may have heard about me, I am a woman of my word."
"Which is why yer makin' a living from swindlin' people and hanging around taverns – ow!" Roy jumped as Linfa kicked him from underneath the table; she was a lot stronger than he'd expected her to be. "Must have muscley legs, all that time spent runnin' from people..." Roy muttered beneath his breath, narrowing his eyes at Linfa.
"I want to make sure it lasts, so you have to use your tongue."
"What!" Lyon and Roy squeaked simultaneously.
"But you'll be debt free. It won't cost you a single potch."
"...Fine. I'll do it," Roy gave in, grumbling, at about the same time Lyon started stammering out more objections. "Without the tongue though."
Linfa shook her head persistantly. "It doesn't count otherwise."
Freyjadour sighed in exasperation as Roy was the first one to open his mouth and begin protesting. He didn't think Lyon was going to forgive him – either of them – easily for this. On the other hand, it was causing problems, and it was Roy. He wanted to believe Roy didn't hate him nearly as much as it seemed...
The prince made the move, grabbing the bandit's face with his hands and pressing their mouths together before Roy knew what was happening. The other boy barely managed an "mmf!" of protest before Freyjadour's wet tongue darted inside Roy's mouth, quickly ran down the length of his tongue, then retreated just as fast. The whole thing lasted only a matter of seconds, but Roy recoiled instantly with a disgusted scowl and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
At the same time, Linfa blinked at the two steadily, almost as if she were uncertain. Despite all her experience in bars and taverns, Freyjadour was overcome with the sneaking suspicion that Nifsara had probably influenced her request somehow, that she'd never actually seen two boys kiss before. She looked a bit dazed, as if she hadn't really thought they would do it. If he looked even closer, he could actually see a faintly embarrassed blushed – something he wouldn't have expected coming from Linfa. The prince had come to believe she was infallible to such things.
Worst off was Lyon, who couldn't seem to decide on a single emotion. She sputtered incoherently a bit before squeaking, "...Prince!"
...It wasn't a tone of disapproval he heard so much as surprise. And she had every right to be surprised; this could hardly be considered proper conduct for a prince, or for the leader of a political movement and an army. He was just glad that Lyon wasn't outright repulsed by him at the moment.
Outwardly, the prince betrayed none of these feelings. He looked at his bodyguard as calmly and nonchalant as always, very aware of Roy jumping out of the chair next to him. "Lyon," he started, listening to Roy's footsteps as he stormed away, "Can you take care of this for me? I think I need to speak with Roy about this."
"Prince..." But if the prince ordered it, Lyon knew she had to obey. Not that Freyjadour ever did anything without reason, even if she didn't understand the reasoning behind what he did just now.
"I think you're better for this job anyway," the prince assured her. "I give you the authority to set whatever budget you need, so long as it's within reason."
Lyon remained silent for a minute, before slowly nodding her head. The prince's features barely twitched, but she knew him well enough to realize immediately how relieved he was to have her agreeing.
"A-and if there's anything you want to talk about later..." she offered quietly, extending a hand where she thought it was needed. It was her duty to protect the prince, but she cared for him beyond duty, as a friend, too.
"I'll do my best... so you go chase after Roy now, okay? A-and tell him to stay out of trouble for me!"
She'd barely finished speaking before the prince was running out of the room. Lyon wasn't sure how she felt about that.
xxxxx
He may have been a former thief, but Roy's hiding places were all predictable. Even his lair inside the cave at the moment, that had been fairly predictable. Adding to that what Freyjadour already knew of the other boy, it was obvious that he would find Roy in the room he shared with Faylen and Faylon – it had become his new "lair" of sorts since arriving at the castle. Afterall, he was rarely welcomed anywhere else, especially with all the trouble he caused.
Aside from Faylon's expeditions to the castle's mess hall, the siblings that had moved in with Roy left their room even less frequently than he did. Thankfully, when Freyjadour opened the door, they were nowhere to be found. Only Roy was there, lying down on his bed with his face turned away from him. He'd managed to change out of the prince's costume in the time it took Freyjadour to walk to the room, and it was lying on the floor, crumpled. Only the wig was missing, he noted, which Roy had probably forgotten back with Linfa before either of them had noticed – he'd have to go back for it later.
"Roy?" the prince questioned softly, to get his attention. He hoped it wasn't too soon to be having this talk. He didn't want to disturb Roy if he didn't want to be, but he was going by the intuition that had won him so many allies already.
Roy sat up and shifted to glare at him, but his golden eyes didn't portray any bad feelings. It was a little dark in the room, but Freyjadour thought he looked more embarrassed than hateful.
"You didn't have to do that," he muttered, sounding a bit like a moping child. Freyjadour considered this a confirmation of what he had been thinking.
"It was the easiest way," Freyjadour reminded him. Quietly, he added, "It's not like we've never done anything before."
He could hear Roy choking on something for a second.
"When ya put it that way, ya make it sound much worse than it actually was! To say that... Ya make it sound like we... Ew, yuck."
Freyjadour looked at him like he had no clue what he was talking about, which Roy assumed was probably true enough. Why was he the first one whose mind jumped in the gutter? He shook his head in frustration, trying to will away the embarrassed blush that image had conjured up. The worst that had happened was they'd kissed in the prince's room, and then Freyjadour had fallen asleep on him, drooling. And Roy would have complained loudly about that afterward, only it was probably actually his own spit, since Freyjadour had just had his tongue in his mouth only a few minutes earlier.
And he still wasn't quite sure how the whole thing had transacted from comfort to kissing, but it was disrespectful to Lyon's memory.
They both knew that.
A moment of long, uncomfortable silence passed between them before the prince, a bit akwardly, carried on, "...Consider it... repaying a debt?"
He sounded sad. Emotional, as was the way he got only when thinking about Lyon. That was how Roy knew he hadn't forgotten. That in his own way, Freyjadour felt the same way that he did; that remembering the night wasn't any easier for him than it was Roy.
"That was entirely yer fault," Roy huffed, looking away. "The last time, it was entirely yer fault. I never asked for it."
The prince looked at him curiously and move to the bed, slowly bringing himself to sit down next to Roy. The brown-haired boy let him, and didn't flinch or try to move away. He was too preoccupied with recalling the details of that night:
The prince hadn't reacted as loudly as Roy had to Lyon's hospitalization, but the pain in his eyes had been obvious to anyone who had dared to look in them. Roy had seen that pain; the prince had come to him, of all people, expecting consolation, and even Roy wasn't enough of an ass to not want to help. Freyjadour had been suffering just as much as he had, if not more.
"Then you can repay me," the prince replied, "for getting you of a sticky situation. Do you think Linfa would have ever left you alone otherwise?"
He felt bad – scandelous, even – that when Lyon was injured he'd somehow found himself spending the night with Roy. And he could see how heavily this weighed on Roy as well, who was supposed to be in love with Lyon, and the only other person who could have come close to understanding how he'd been feeling at the time, how what had happened to Lyon had completely devastated him. It had wounded Roy just as badly, who had discovered dedicated, head over heals – and what they both believed to be genuine – love in the brief time he'd already known Lyon. And he was free to act on his emotions.
Meanwhile, the prince was forced to maintain a calm facade. As the leader of an army, he wasn't allowed to cry, or even burst out yelling like Roy and Miakis, and he was still confused about the boundaries between friendship and romanticism despite having known Lyon almost his entire life. It was for qualities like that which Freyjadour found himself drawn to Roy.
"I think you like this a lil too much," Roy mumbled, but made no particular protests. "Yer takin' this too far."
In truth, maybe he did. The moments they'd spent together, though few, had been tender and careful, filled with unspeakable emotion and mutual understanding.
...And perhaps he just happened to like the way it felt when Roy's lips were pressed against his.
"I'm sorry," Freyjadour responded automatically, polite as a prince should be. But the fingers he had tilting Roy's chin said otherwise.
"'S all right," Roy muttered, his voice dropping to an almost husky low.
And perhaps Roy felt the same way about him.
"...But this is the last time," he concluded, just before Freyjadour kissed him.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure if he believed that.
I don't like how that last part turned out. But after writing it twice, I'm too frustrated to try again. Does it at least make sense, or is it too jumbled with all the reflecting on the past?
...This feels like it should be a multi-chaptered fic, but if I continued with it now, I wouldn't know what to do with it.