Disparu Au Rouge

by Galiko

Co-written with DaphneRunning. Sequel to Fondu Au Noir (nothing will make sense here if you don't read that first!). Two years after the war against the Kou Empire, a sense of relative normalcy is in place-save for the unease brought about by Judal's slowly changing rukh, and the eyes that never seem to stop watching him. Sinju, Alaju, Sinja, SphinTitus, and others!

7. Chapter 7

Of course, word of that spreads quickly, with less than satisfying results, in some cases.

"Aladdin, you have to look nice! Don't you get it?"

Alibaba might be pacing in hopes of letting off some steam, though it isn't doing him much good as time wears on. "Do you know how much foreign nobility is going to be coming through here? If they see me-us-they're just going to keep thinking Balbadd is some run-down little port country! We have to look nice-just as nice as Sinbad and Judal always do, at least for a few days!"

Aladdin's smile falters. "You always look great, Alibaba! I'm not a prince, they're not going to be expecting me to be anything fancy." He certainly isn't going to have to wear itchy things, is he? Magnoshuttat was bad enough.

"… You're a Magi," Alibaba slowly points out. "Look, it's just for a little while. Come on, do you really want to be next to Judal when he's that dolled up while you're dressed like you normally are?"

Aladdin blinks. "Judal likes the way I look. I think he'd be confused if we were both fancy."

Alibaba groans. "I think he'd understand if it's for something this important! Geez, the guy is used to being dressed up, I think he'd know why you need to be, too."

"Well I don't know why I have to be. It's not like you-you don't want to choose another Magi, do you?" Aladdin asks, his eyes wide and alarmed. "Am I not fancy enough? Do you not like my vest?"

"Your vest is fine! Just-just not when a ton of nobles show up and-look, I'm not after another Magi, I just want you to look really nice for a day or two, okay?" Alibaba desperately attempts, reaching out to give Aladdin's shoulders a squeeze. "Please? Just once, I won't ask you to do it again. You won't need to once Balbadd is in great shape again, you can be like Yunan and never brush your hair for all I care."

Aladdin's mouth twists at that. "I don't know, a lot of birds go in his hair when he goes outside…" He sighs, butting his head against Alibaba's shoulder. "I'll try. For you."

Hours later, he collapses onto Judal's bed with a groan, buried in clothes brought up by the servants. "I don't get it. Why do I have to be fancy? I'm not fancy! Look, I have a jewel on my forehead, jewels are fancy!"

Judal sighs over at him, nonplussed and draped in little more than a dressing robe of his own, his hair still damp from a recent bath. "Come to think of it, I never have seen you dress up a day in your life. You'd probably die in Kou," he remarks, taking a bite out of a peach. "Layers and layers. Really heavy brocade and stuff. Sindria's nothing compared to that."

"Gross. I dressed up when I went to school," Aladdin groans. "That was bad enough. It had sleeves."

"… That's not dressing up, that's just wearing clothes. What, do you have an allergy or something?"

Aladdin squirms around, head hanging off the edge of the bed. "I get hot. And itchy. And I...lose them. Not always on purpose."

"Of all the things for you to be a baby about, I didn't expect it to be over this," Judal slowly says, sort of in awe by it. Really, over clothes? Weird, when getting dressed up is easy and looking nice for one's king something that's supposed to be fun. "Well, whatever. I'll make sure you look nice. Take that ratty old vest off already, bandages, too-why do you even wear those?"

Aladdin scrambles up onto the bed, eyes shifting from left to right. "Ugo gave me this vest," he explains. "His fingers were so big it took him forever to make it, and he made it really loose so I could grow up and wear the same one." He folds his arms over his chest. "You can find me something that goes over the bandages, right?"

"Oh, just take them off," Judal grumbles, swallowing another bite of his peach before setting it aside and walking over to the bed. "And I'm not gonna throw your vest away or anything, just-you can't wear it right now, c'mon."

With less apprehension than annoyance, Aladdin shrugs off his vest, folding it-ah, it really is getting threadbare-and setting it off to the side. He folds his arms again. "Clothes, please."

Judal squints at him. "… Do you have a scar or something that you don't want me to see?" Come to think of it, Aladdin has never taken those things off, has he? At least, not outside of bathing, and even then, it's pretty fast and Judal doesn't really get to see. He sets a knee to the bed, reaching over to hook his fingers into the bandages. "C'moooon, take 'em off, I wanna see your nipples."

Aladdin lets out a noise that even he thinks is undignified, scrambling backwards to no avail with his back against the headboard, squirming under Judal's hands. "N-no, I just-they kept rubbing against my vest and then they got sunburned so-leave it aloooone…"

Oh, it's even more fun when Aladdin makes noises like that, and when he struggles… Judal can't help but grin a little too wickedly, a swift yank unravelling the mess of the bandages, and he's almost disappointed not to see an interesting scar or something else a bit more odd. "Cute tan lines," he teases, running a thumb over the line between paler and darker skin. "So whiny today. What's the deal, do you not want me to bite them? They're cute and asking for it."

This is not Aladdin's idea of fun. Fun is when Judal is wriggling around making fun noises, not when he's doing it. He bats at Judal's hands, starts to squirm away, but Judal is a lot stronger than he pretends to be when they're rolling around, and if he doesn't want to make this a fight… "They're just really sensitive," he complains.

Oops. Aladdin probably shouldn't have told him that.

"Ooh?" Judal's eyes lid, and it takes but a second for him to lurch forward, fingers dragging playfully down over one nipple before gently pinching. "Then I'll be nice." It's the last warning he gives before his mouth closes around the other one, hot and slick as his tongue drags over it, and his teeth shortly after.

Aladdin's eyes go wide, then he squeezes them shut, trying to stay calm, but that's intense. The feeling sparks in his chest, verging between painful and exciting, like electricity, like when he can't tell if he's holding ice or flame, and he's left helpless, wriggling around and making awful, pathetic squeaking noises.

Worse still, his cock has never been harder, and in only a few seconds.

That's just not fair. How is he supposed to be nice when Aladdin is making noises like that? Eagerly, Judal wriggles up further between his legs, pausing when his thigh drags between Aladdin's and he feels how hard the man already is. "Tell me again," he breathes, one hand's fingers pinching, pulling, twisting just a little, "why you wouldn't let me do this before?" It's all the manages before the impulse to bite again is just too strong, and his teeth close over the sensitive-too sensitive nub, pulling just a bit before he sucks on it with a firm lave of his tongue.

"B-be….be...c-cause…"

Aladdin can't get an entire word out, not when his mind is short-circuiting as if he's been struck by lightning, and his nails gouge holes in the sheets when he arches up with a horribly high-pitched cry, coming so hard against Judal's thigh that he sees stars, sunbursts, and then for long moments, nothing at all.

Oh. That's really, really interesting, and ridiculously cute, too. Judal grins, pulling back with a last, lingering suck, his fingers tiptoeing their way down Aladdin's belly. "You've never come that fast," he murmurs, sliding his fingers down beneath fabric to drag through the slick, sticky mess. "I wish I was that sensitive."

Aladdin stirs, grunting as he makes a face. "s'not usually like that," he mumbles. "If I'm not already...you know, feeling good, it doesn't feel good at all."

"Just let me do it, then; I'm good at it," Judal easily replies, dragging his fingers away to lick them clean with a shuddering sigh. "Now you have to change clothes."

Aladdin opens his eyes to narrow slits. "I'm going to get you back for this," he promises. "And you're going to like it a lot."

"Ooh, scary." Judal flicks one of Aladdin's nipples. "You'll look good, you know. Really handsome. I'll let you have my mouth afterwards, even, if you behave and don't itch the whole time."

No matter that he's had Judal's mouth every time he so much as hinted he'd like to, no matter that he's had it twice today, Aladdin perks up at the thought. "Fine. Just make sure I don't embarrass Alibaba."

"You won't, so long as you're a little bit tolerant. Geez, of all the things I expected you to whine about…" He pauses, amused. "Sinbad doesn't have tan lines, you know."

Aladdin nods, already searching out the peach Judal had abandoned. "I know."

"You should go sunning with him. I won't pinch your nipples then, I promise." That's a lie.

"Why would I want to be naked with Sinbad when I can be naked with you?"

"I don't want you both doused in tanning oil and rolling together. I want you both doused in tanning oil and rolling with me."

Aladdin gives him a Look. "Maybe if you behave yourself tonight. And you don't pinch my nipples again." He pauses. "And you let me have your mouth again later."

"Lots of stipulations," Judal complains, and pulls away to better start rummaging though the pile of clothes Aladdin had brought with him. "Fine, fine. You can always have my mouth, though." I'll still pinch your nipples when you least expect it.

Dressing Aladdin, apparently, is truly a remarkable feat. The man acts like he's allergic to half the things Judal manages to force him into, for all his squirming and whining and complaining. Judal eventually tunes it out, no matter how he wants to smack Aladdin; he doesn't have the patience for this, especially when it's such a simple, pointless thing.

You really would have died in the Kou Empire.

"All right, all right, come on-don't slouch, don't try to hide in all of it, geez, don't make me sound like Ja'far-"

Of course, in the act of dragging Aladdin down the hallway to the throne room, Judal nearly misses the toddler… well… toddling his way down and promptly into his leg. "Uh," he begins. This is definitely not my area of expertise. God, I hate kids.

Then again, this one has really, really red hair, and eyes blue enough that they sort of hurt to look at. Hmm.

The child sits as heavily as it can manage on Judal's foot, blue eyes staring up at him as a wide smile splits a toothy grin, chubby arms reaching for the Magi. "Up!"

Judal's head cocks. A tentative poke at the kid's magoi explains it all, and he doesn't feel so weird giving in with a sigh. "… Aladdin, isn't this more your thing?" Judal mutters, bending to scoop him up. Ah, well. Caius-that was his name, right? god, he better remember it-has always been tolerable for a baby. Looks a lot different now, though, but Judal supposes the last time he saw the brat was when he was still permanently attached to Kougyoku's boobs.

Wait.

"Kougyoku is here," he suddenly, worriedly realizes. That worry quickly turns to outright irritation. "The hell is your mother thinking?" he growls to the child in his arms. "She better not want that classless excuse of a Magi."

"Oh Juuuuudaaaaaal," a sing-song voice comes from around a corner, a few seconds before Kougyoku, dressed smartly for traveling in the desert with an empty pouch for a baby on her back, bounds around the corner. "There you are! I knew you had to be close by, Caius never fusses unless you're around-oh good, you found him!" She leans up on tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek, seemingly quite content to leave the child in his arms. "Oh, and Aladdin too! Oh my, you look...huh."

"What?" Aladdin asks nervously, plucking at the unfamiliar clothes.

"Oh, nothing, I just never realized what a bum you looked like before until I saw you looking like a proper Magi."

Judal smirks at that, briefly forgetting his prior annoyance. "Right? He looks handsome now. I cleaned him up, so he won't make his king look like even more of an idiot. Oh, right!" Judal suddenly remembers, scowling down at her. "What are you doing here anyway?! You better not be after Yunan, he's a goddamn ass."

Kougyoku laughs, leaning against his shoulder. "It made such a convenient excuse to come to Sindria, though! After all, I'm a dungeon capturer, and royalty in my own right...and if I were to use that as an excuse to check on my favorite Magi, well, no one really expects me to bring him home, so they won't be disappointed! Oh," she says, blinking at the baby in Judal's arms, "I can never get him to fall asleep that fast, you'll have to tell me your secret."

"… I dunno, I didn't do anything. I just picked him up and…" Judal shrugs. Best not to bring up how pregnant women or women with babies like him. Yeah. That's always awkward. "Well, I guess as long as you aren't trying to get Yunan, that's fine," he mutters, shifting Caius in his arms to better lay the kid's head against his shoulder. "I hope you didn't come and expect me to be a babysitter, though. That office is on the top floor of the parliamentary building, to the right, name's Ja'far."

"He likes you, though," Kougyoku says, and as if in answer, Caius reaches sleepily up, attempt to wrap too-short arms around Judal's neck, and subsides into sleep again. "Besides, I have to run in and present myself to the Magi. Don't worry, this shouldn't take long!" she calls over her shoulder, running off.

"… Why," is all Judal can defeatedly manage, looking over to Aladdin.

Aladdin pokes the baby's head. "Wow, it's so red. Hey, if you don't want him, I can try and watch him for a few minutes. I want to see what he'll do!"

"It's a Ren family thing, all of them have red hair of some sort," Judal sighs, rolling his eyes. "And all right, here, take him. If he wakes up, though, just give him back, I don't want Kougyoku pissed off at me."

The second Aladdin's hands close around the baby's waist, shockingly blue eyes open and fill with tears. A low warning whine starts in his throat, and Aladdin lets go immediately. Caius shuts his eyes, burying his face back in Judal's shoulder. "Um. I don't think he likes me."

"… That's a new one," Judal mutters, giving Caius's back a little rub to soothe him. "Usually kids are all over you. Maybe it's a rukh thing?"

Aladdin's face falls. "Is my rukh weird today or something? What's it doing? It looks normal to me…"

"No, I mean, like-maybe it's because my rukh aided in his conception or something? Or maybe he's a water mage, that'd be cool."

Aladdin gives the boy a cautious mental poke. The child stirs, but just fists a hand in Judal's shirt before falling back asleep. "Hm...I don't know, I can usually tell by this age if they're going to be magicians or not."

"Well, he's certainly got enough magoi to be a dungeon conquerer, then," Judal sniffs, giving Caius a protective little squeeze. "Maybe he'll be suited for water djinn, just like his mother. I'm good at raising those!"

Aladdin hesitates, then gives up. It's possible Judal is seeing things through water magic-colored glasses, though the child definitely has a bit more magoi than average. Not as much as Sinbad, or Ja'far, or even Alibaba, but a bit more than someone without any magic whatsoever. And besides, Judal looks really adorable with a baby passed out on his shoulder. "If you say so."

"I know so," Judal huffs, and dryly adds underneath his breath, "At least he's not like Kouen's brat, what a joke."

"Hakuei still seems to love her, though, even if she doesn't have any real magoi," Aladdin points out.

"Well, yeah, but still… there's some irony there, mostly along the lines of Kouen being an asshole. You're gonna be a lot stronger than your uncle was, yes you are-" Things he probably shouldn't coo to a baby, oh well.

Aladdin sort of doubts that-as much as he'd detested Kouen, the man was a dungeon capturer, a multiple dungeon capturer, but ah, there's no use in fighting about it with Judal, not when the future is always so uncertain. "Um, I have to go stand next to Alibaba at the ceremony. Do I still look okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, you look fine. Ah, dammit, they're probably still gonna want me there, too… oh well, time to feign a medical emergency, Balbadd will look even better if I'm not there," Judal dismisses, turning to walk in the other direction. "If they ask, he's colicking or something and I'm being a good healbitch and fixing the heir of a foreign nation."

Aladdin reaches out, grabbing the end of Judal's braid and giving it a little tug before letting go, waving a fond goodbye before trying to look his most somber and walking into the hall. He spots Alibaba easily enough and sidles up to him, trying as hard as he can not to fuss with his clothes. "I'm wearing sleeves, are you happy?" he asks out of the corner of his mouth, watching the endless parade of nobility be corralled into something of a line to form a procession.

"Yes," Alibaba mutters underneath his breath, raking his gaze up and down Aladdin and trying not to sigh in relief. "You look good. Thank you."

It's a little startling, actually, how many people are here just to try and woo Yunan. I really did get lucky, Alibaba sort of miserably thinks, and the urge to grab Aladdin and hug him is nearly too strong to resist, no matter how in public they are. Better yet that he didn't end up with a weird Magi like Yunan, or a bitchy one like Judal-speaking of which-"Where's your friend?"

"Honestly, why don't we cut this short?" Yunan sounds bored. Very, very bored. "First task-swim a lap around the island. A king should be able to swim. And not be eaten by merely large fish. Go forth and all of that."

"… Is this guy for real?" Alibaba manages. Thank god he doesn't have to go swimming. Nope, nope, nope.

"He's healing," Aladdin murmurs.

Sinbad claps a hand down on Alibaba's shoulder. "A fine test!" he declares in a booming voice, with a nod to Yunan. "Any who would rule a nation should be able to navigate dangerous waters in every way. And those of us graced as kings should lead the way!"

He strips off his outer robes, tossing them to Ja'far. "Alibaba Saluja of Balbadd and I will lead the way!"

"Eh… eh?!" Alibaba can't help but squeak. "I-uh-but-"

"Oh, excellent, what a pity Scheherazade's Empress isn't here!" Yunan cheerfully replies, letting his head flop over the side of the throne. "Shall I make it a race, for higher placement in my favor? Of course, the two already chosen kings will undoubtedly come out on top, but that's to be expected."

"Aladdin," Alibaba hisses out between clenched teeth. "Some magic so I can swim would be great."

Aladdin blinks up at his king, head tilting to the side. "You-you don't know how to swim?" He scratches his head, thinking fast. "Um, Judal's really better at this kind of thing, he can take bodily functions and break them down into rukh, but bodies are hard-if you want to boil the seas I can help you do that?"

"You said he's off healing, though-can't you just-ugh, I don't know, make me extra floaty or something-"

"Aren't you the king of a port city?"

"I can swim a little! But not through sea monsters!"

Sinbad's hand lands heavily on Alibaba's shoulder as Aladdin tries to think of something, some wind magic-but how would being floaty help against sea monsters?

"Not to worry," Sinbad says cheerfully, and drags Alibaba with him, followed closely by the mass of petty royals jockeying for a position in a useless race. "It's good exercise, and if you can stay close to me, the monsters will give us a wide berth. They know better than to come too close to me!"

Dropping his voice, he adds, "Of course, if you fall behind, I make no guarantees. But surely a great king who has decided to take his nation for himself has practiced eliminating his known weaknesses, hasn't he?"

Alibaba strangles a squeak that's very, very undignified as he's dragged along. "U-uh… yeah. I've… definitely done that." Someone, please kill me now.

"On my mark!" Sinbad roars, watching as some-certainly not all, maybe less than half the assembled crowd-hurry to strip off as much fabric as they can. So you'll travel to Sindria but not once around? Pitiful. No wonder Yunan is bored.

"Go!"

He hits the water, and Aladdin breathes out a spell, encasing Alibaba's head in a protective bubble. "It's the best I could think of!" he calls as the water fills with shrieking, swimming royalty. "Good luck!"

Well, it'll do.

Sort of.

Okay. At least he's in good shape, Alibaba thinks to himself. He's way more athletic than all of these idiots, except for Sinbad, he supposes. He's just not a strong swimmer, and why should he have to be? It's not like one goes swimming in the ports or anything, that's actually sort of gross.

"… At least he isn't dog paddling," Judal offers from behind Aladdin in an amused drawl, Caius still held in his arms. "Guess I didn't miss much. Huh. Yunan's not even coming out to watch? I thought he'd like to see Sinbad mostly naked at least, the creep."

"Given that he's spent the last few years watching you from a continent away," Aladdin points out, "I don't think seeing Sinbad mostly naked is much of a challenge at all. It's not like Sinbad is rarely naked."

Alibaba's doing better than he'd expected, and that at least brings a grin to Aladdin's face. He reaches out, patting the baby's head. "Bring him to see his mommy win? I bet she will."

"Do you wanna watch your momma kick everyone's butt? She's a fish, just like a fish," Judal coos, hefting Caius up a bit in his arms to give him a better view. "Look, look, you can be a fish just like her some day! COME ON, KOUGYOKU, BEAT THAT STUPID KING'S ASS!"

Somewhere that should be out of vocal range, Kougyoku's ears pick up. She wriggles further under the water, breath coming out in a series of bubbles as she shouts, "Dwell in my body, Vinea!"

When she surfaces, speeding through the water, one of the first things she sees is Sinbad, eyes flashing. A second later he dives, and a woman with long purple hair, gills and a mermaid tail pops up, darting ahead of Kougyoku.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play it," she murmurs to herself, eyes alight, and streaks through the water like a flash.

On the shore, Aladdin finds himself hovering in the air, watching the vast crowd of struggling swimmers and far, far in front, two greenish-blue streaks of light.

"Hey, Alibaba's not drowning!" Judal cheerfully points out, an easy push off the ground letting him hover a bit higher, sitting cross-legged with Caius in his lap. "Heh, but mine are still better-look, look, your mom's gonna win, Caius! See, Aladdin, he's got all this good water affiliation in his veins."

Aladdin tries not to make a face. Really, so many of his friends are water magicians it shouldn't still prickle at him, but...natural instincts are what they are. "Alibaba's ahead of everyone else!" he points out, pleased as if he'd tutored his king himself. "Not bad, the only people he's behind have water djinns!"

In fact, from this angle, it's a little hard to tell… "Are Sinbad and Kougyoku even racing? It looks like they're dancing."

"They're probably going to have some weird kind of fish sex, I dunno," Judal sighs, rolling his eyes. "Caius, make sure you don't watch that part, you're too young. Watch Alibaba flopping around a little bit instead. He's less a fish, more a whale thing."

"At least whales don't sink!" Aladdin is focusing gleefully on the positives, and besides, no one would expect Alibaba to win against two water equips. Sinbad and Kougyoku have almost completed the course, with everyone else barely halfway. "How do fish have sex, anyway?"

"Hissh!" Caius announces.

"Yeah, that's right, fish!" A swirl of a finger, and it's easy enough make a little piece of rukh look like a fish for a second or two-and make it visible at all, besides-as it bumps into Caius's forehead. "And hmm, I dunno. Fishily? Way different than worms."

Twisting around, Caius lets out a happy gurgle, snatching the rukh from the air no matter that he shouldn't be able to do anything of the sort, using a pudgy hand to pet the little wings before letting it go. "Hish!"

Aladdin doesn't notice, trying to will some magoi into Alibaba from this distance, maybe give him a bit of an energy boost. "I hope neither of them lay eggs."

Judal squints, momentarily and thoroughly distracted by a kid apparently touching his rukh. No. No, he's definitely insane and imagining that. "Uh… yeah, that would be weird," he mutters, eyeing Caius one last time before, shrugging it off, giving the child a little bounce in his arms. "Especially Sinbad, that's the deepest, darkest depth of creepy."

"I could probably think of some creepier things, but it would be kind of difficult. Hey, have you and Sinbad ever done it when he's a lady? He's a pretty lady," Aladdin says, a little wistfully.

"Damn right he is-don't touch, though, I haven't had him when he's in that form yet," Judal sniffs. "I did put it in him when he was still like normal the other night, though. That was fun. I got to pull his slutty ponytail."

Aladdin's ears perk up at that, and he can't say the idea isn't intriguing. "Really? I bet he really liked that. Hey, do you think Kougyoku will want to stay a while? And maybe play around once or twice?"

"I think she's planning on it. I'm putting it in her first, though, I've been waiting for years!" Judal groans, floating up a few more inches to get a better view. "Aww, c'mon, Kougyoku, don't give up now! If she doesn't win, she's gonna probably pout."

"Mama hish," Caius insists, tugging on Judal's shirt.

"She's gonna make it," Aladdin says, pointing at the impromptu finish line, and the darting green and blue specks. "She's-she made it!"

Kougyoku flares her fins, coming to an easy stop, chest heaving and eyes sparkling with excitement. "We should do that again!"

Sinbad can't help but grin down at her, the djinn equip fading away. "I can't wait for next time already."

"Heeey, congratulate your momma already, you little ankle biter," Judal cheerfully tells Caius as a push of gravity magic makes quick work of the distance to the finish line. "Hey, stupid king! You're getting slow in your old age, aren't you?" he teases, encouraging Caius to wave down at his mother. "Should I start arranging these kinds of tests or something to keep you in shape? Ah, but at least you aren't Alibaba."

"There's no shame," Sinbad says, bowing over Kougyoku's hand and kissing it, "in losing to a worthy champion. Ah, is that your child?"

Kougyoku's face burns, and she distracts herself by staring up at Judal. "Bring him down here, I want him to meet the king of Sindria!"

Judal just smirks at her, knowing very well the tone of that voice and having to bite his tongue to keep from teasing her about her crush that has done everything but fade away in years past. "He's gonna be really strong," he offers instead as he floats down until his bare feet touch sand. "Mmn, I think he wants to call you a fish now, though, Kougyoku. My bad."

"There are worse things he could call me," Kougyoku says with a shrug, lifting the child out of Judal's hands. "Ah, there you go, did you see Mama race?"

"Mama hish!"

Kougyoku laughs, and pretends to bite off his nose, making the boy giggle and squeal. "My apologies. Sinbad, your Majesty, this is my son Caius Alexius. Best behavior," she tells the boy.

Caius giggles, and Sinbad shakes his hand gravely. "A pleasure. I see you've already made yourself at home on my Magi."

At the word, or for an unrelated reason, Caius squirms around, holding chubby arms out to Judal. "Ju! Ju!"

"Yeah, yeah, give the little worm back," Judal defeatedly sighs, holding out his arms to take him from her. "I swear he likes my rukh. Aladdin doesn't believe me, but he's gonna have a lot of power to throw around one of these days."

Kougyoku blows a raspberry on the boy's stomach, then hands him back over. "I'm not surprised he likes you, but do you really think he'll be that strong? Lady Scheherazade didn't seem very...impressed."

"Nonsense," Sinbad declares, laying a hand on her shoulder. "With such a mother? I'll be lucky if he doesn't conquer everything in sight."

Damn it, I was supposed to be able to look at him without wanting to faint, Kougyoku tells herself sternly.

Judal half wants to tell Sinbad to tone it down, lest her knees give out at any moment, but it's too fun watching Kougyoku nearly swoon. "Yeah, he'll be strong. Don't listen to Scheherazade, she's dumb," he murmurs, a little flutter of his rukh sliding around the child. Well, you feel weird to me, if nothing else, so I know I can't be completely wrong. "Oh-look, there's Alibaba! Congrats, Alibaba, you didn't die."

A heaving, ragged breath, and the man in question hauls himself ashore, trying to no avail not to flop gracelessly onto the sand and hack up his lungs.

"Spoke too soon," Judal offers with a shrug, and gently nudges his nose against Caius's cheek. "How not to be a fish," he very sternly says.

Aladdin runs to Alibaba's side, getting under an arm and helping him to his feet. "You did really great, Alibaba!" he says, brushing the hair back from Alibaba's face. "Look, you came out ahead of everyone that doesn't have a water djinn! That's great!"

"Kill me," is the man's request as he flops with a groan into Aladdin's arms.

"… If you keep winning Yunan's little games, he might actually look at you," Judal says as he eyeballs Kougyoku. "I'm stealing your kid if he does that. I mean, not that I want him or anything. Just-for safety reasons. Yunan's a creep."

Kougyoku laughs, even as her cheeks flush. "He's not going to choose me, don't be ridiculous. I've only captured one dungeon, that's hardly good enough for the likes of him." Nonetheless, she shifts a little closer, murmuring, "We'd have to figure something out about how to get him to you instead of Titus. I love him, but he's not really much of a father. Not on a daily basis, at least."

Judal's eyes widen at that, and he quickly shakes his head. "Oh, no. Don't even imply-I am not a father, go woo Sinbad or something for that if you want to break up your marriage," he lowly mutters. "Your kid just likes me, but I bet he likes Titus more."

Kougyoku's face falls, and she reaches forward, plucking the baby from Judal's arms. "Fine, I'll go find his father, then. No, no, shh," she says, rocking Caius as he starts to cry, "Judal doesn't want to play with you anymore, you're too much work. Come on, let's find Papa."

"Hey, I didn't say that!" Judal protests, reaching out a hand to grab her arm. "C'mooon Kougyoku, don't be so bitchy. You know what I meant, I'm not exactly father material, anyway-uh-look, can we take this conversation somewhere more private?" Sinbad is going to tease him mercilessly later, he knows it.

"I don't know," Sinbad says, suddenly looming behind and draping an arm around Kougyoku's shoulder, the other over Judal's. "I think you'd be an excellent father. I think I've promised you fantastic rewards for such a thing, even."

I'm going to bite your arm off. "That's-a lot different," Judal protests, giving Sinbad's arm a shove. "Siring a kid and playing babysitter are two different things, and do you really want Yunan up my ass about the first thing when he seems put out by Scheherazade making babies?"

"Heavens forfend." Sinbad sighs, releasing the two of them no matter how Kougyoku's face falls. "But you really should take the child for now," he says, placing the boy back in Judal's hands, drawing a happy gurgle out of the child's mouth. "His mother has to go be honored by the most powerful man alive."

"Yeah." Judal sucks in a calming breath before turning to Kougyoku once more. "Just remember who raised that dungeon for you, don't let him be all unwashed-creepy-charming at you!" he firmly tells her. "I've always known you were really strong, even after that time you nearly drowned in a tub of peaches. We'll meet up later and talk or something, don't make that damned pouty face."

She leans up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I promise."

Then Sinbad grabs her hand, dragging her off to the hall, and she calls back, "Come see me later! Bring Aladdin!"

Sinbad doubts the other nobles have even emerged from the ocean yet by the time he gets Kougyoku back to the throne and she bows before Yunan. "Wisest of the Wise," he says with his own bow, "the winner of your test."

Yunan reminds himself to look awake, never mind that he yawns and stretches as he peers down at Kougyoku. "Oh. The Ren girl-she beat even you, did she?" he teases as he turns onto his side. "Rise then, Ren Kougyoku; you're… ah, right, exempt from whatever challenge I decide on next, which I haven't yet, but I'm sure it will be terribly amusing and you will enjoy laughing from the sidelines because basically everyone else is a bloody fool."

"She is a fearsome foe," Sinbad agrees. "I'll have to stop underestimating her. The world would do well to follow such an example."

Kougyoku's cheeks color at the praise. "Great and powerful Magi, I thank you for your consideration, but…" She bites her lip, then admits, "I don't really want to be the king of all the world. I just don't get much opportunity to leave Laem. Please forgive the deception, I meant no ill."

"Oh, all the better. It will be even more hilarious when you undoubtedly make a laughingstock of every other 'king candidate' that attempts to roll themselves to my feet," Yunan brightly replies. He leans forward a bit from his nest on the throne, tone lowering conspiratorially-"And forgive me, but I have no real intention of choosing a king. I certainly didn't ask for all of these idiots to show up."

Kougyoku's head tilts. "Did you not send the missive, my lord? We all received one-every noble, every royal, dowager or dynasty, every dungeon capturer." She reaches into her sleeves, realizes she's still stripped from the race, and drops her hands to her sides. "It's in my clothes-it looked quite magical."

Yunan's gaze immediately goes to Sinbad. "And you had nothing to do with this."

Ah, no. He wouldn't have, would he? Yunan heaves a long, tired sigh as he flops back into his spot on the throne. "If you would, find it later so I can see it?" 'Fighting for my hand' isn't the kind of contest I thought you were talking about, so can we just not?

Sinbad blinks, for the first time in a while genuinely startled. "I? I do make it a policy not to besiege my guests and drain Sindria's resources catering to extravagant nobles. This was none of my doing."

Kougyoku calls, "Just a moment, my lord!" and runs from the hall, finding her clothing and pulling free the little scrap of paper, emblazoned with flowing gold script in her native language, rushing back to present it to Yunan. "If we are imposing, I can leave-"

"You are welcome in Sindria regardless of contest," Sinbad interrupts. "The others, I feel no compunction about banishing if that is your whim."

"Stay, stay, you're cute," Yunan distractedly mutters to Kougyoku with a wave of his hand as he takes the letter, frowning as he turns it around in his hand. Ah, he has a headache now. Is this some sort of punishment for living in a hole for as long as I have? "… And no, don't banish the others. I suppose I'm obligated to keep playing with them or something."

A slight hint of warmth from Yunan's fingers is all it takes to ignite the dormant magic in the paper, a soft thrum of light turning the ink to liquid, and it runs in rivulets down the page, forming into a tongue not spoken for hundreds of years, remembered by few, taught as a curiosity.

Trust in me.

Making me entertain a herd of unworthy fools is hardly endearing you to me right now, Yunan thinks, even as his lips twitch into a slow smile all the same. "Do you mind if I keep this?" he mildly inquires of Kougyoku.

"Not at all!" Kougyoku gives him another bow, then says, "Do you need anything else of me today? When will the next trial commence?" Her eyes already twitch toward the door, remembering Judal's promise.

"Ah… mmn, not today, I need to think of something thoroughly obnoxious." Yunan already begins turning to coil himself into a little ball around the missive in question. "Go on, then, I'm old and pathetic and tired."

The missive in his hand pulses, as warm as his blood, in time with his heartbeat.

Kougyoku spots Judal and leaps on him from behind, promptly chewing on his ear. "I'm bored and I'm a champion and I want you, can we go to bed?"

It's a good thing that he'd already handed Caius off to Ja'far. At least the kid didn't cry about it, and actually seemed pretty happy a few seconds in. "How long's it been since you rolled around?" Judal wryly replies, craning his neck to spare a last glance in the throne room. At least Yunan doesn't seem to want to strike him down for entertaining the idea of having sex with his 'champion.'

"Ages." Kougyoku grabs his hand, yanking him down the halls to her guest room, then simply jumps onto his back again. "Three turns to the left!"

He feels good under her arms, warm and sweet and softer than she remembers, though still with as much strength as ever, and that eager, excited smile she remembers so well from childhood. She tightens her arms, and when he's in them, the loneliness doesn't seem so bad. "You'll take care of me, won't you, Judal?"

"That better not be doubt I'm hearing-you know," Judal adds, nudging the door open with his hip and kicking it shut before he promptly dumps her on the bed. "You got heavier. Pretty sure it's all in your boobs," he teases as he follows after her, sliding his way up between her legs, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to the side of her neck. "Do you want me to call Aladdin, or do I get you all to myself for once?"

"Can I have you to myself? Just for a little? You can bring him later, but…" Kougyoku's hand trembles as she fists it in his hair, dragging him down for a kiss, and she says hesitantly, "You know my...you know I had a baby."

"I want you all to myself, trust me," Judal mutters, his own fingers dragging up through her hair, lips parting to better nip lightly at her lower lip. "And yeah, you did. I think it made you prettier." Grinning, he slides his hands down, thumbs stroking beneath the curves of her breasts, down the softness of her sides before gently pressing into her hips. "Can't say that about a lot of women. All the eyes that were on you when you took your clothes off to swim…" He wriggles up between her legs, giving her waist a squeeze as he pulls her closer. "Not worthy, but I can't say I blame them."

Just like that, with such a small touch, all the nerves about the faded marks on her belly, the extra weight, all the things that aren't quite as neat as they'd once been disappear. She wraps her legs around Judal's waist, yanking hard at the clothes he still wears to show all that smooth tan skin, nails digging into the back of his neck as she arches off the bed already. "I'm not the only one who got softer," she teases, pinching his sides, then his ass. "You're so...ripe, it's comfortable!"

Judal's nose scrunches up, and he promptly bites at her shoulder, up her neck to suck on the arc of her throat as he shrugs off his clothes in one easy, sinuous wriggle. "Ripe-that's a new one," he breathes, sighing as he buries his face into her neck, his hands sliding around the arch of her lower back, smoothing down her spine and drawing her closer to him as he settles between her spread thighs, the already hard line of his cock rubbing lazily along the inside of one soft, warm thigh. "Wish I had been around more when you were pregnant," Judal admits, and a hand steals around, tongue flicking out over his thumb before it sneaks down between her legs to slide slick and teasing over her clit. "I bet you were cute."

Kougyoku gasps, legs spreading wider as she presses down, eyes sliding shut, biting her lower lip as she wriggles under his hand. She's wet already, can feel herself sliding against Judal's thumb, and it sends shocks through her body, drawing soft cries from her lips. "Hnn-maybe you should-see it next time," she breathes, her eyes dark in an invitation she doesn't regret, sliding a hand down his abdomen to palm his cock. "Please, I need you to-"

That's not even fair. No matter how he's thought about it and wanted to have her like this for a long while now, there's still an edge of hesitation, because damn it-it's Kougyoku, not some girl Sinbad randomly sits in his lap because he likes to watch. It matters if anything happens, and Judal is pretty sure his mind is a little too hazy to think about any sort of magical precaution…

Ugh. He'll figure it out later. "Need me to what?" It's a low, heated tease, and Judal nips at the crook of her neck, his hand sliding down to wrap around his own cock, guiding the head of it to drag down the slick, wet warmth of her, to rub against her hole, already clenching and eager as she squirms. "Need me to fuck you like you've been wanting to be fucked for awhile now?" he breathes, and he bites his lip, breath escaping hot and fast through his nose as he presses the head inside, groaning at that hot, hot slickness wrapping around him. Judal's hands slide to her thighs, spreading her legs wider, digging and kneading into soft flesh as he sinks into her, breath hitching hard at the sight of her splayed out, spread open beneath him. "God, look at you."

Kougyoku's breath escapes in a long, drawn-out whine as Judal slides inside her, hands clenching and unclenching against his back, wriggling mindlessly under his touch. She hasn't felt full like this in ages, and never so deliciously, slick and sweet and hard where she's used to feeling empty, too full and solid as she clenches down. "You're-ahhhh, Judal-" she groans, mindless and aware of nothing but Judal moving inside her, touching her as she's rarely been touched, his mouth and his hands brushing away every old worry, every old thought that she was unwanted, not good enough, so much trash that didn't deserve all the people who ignored her.

None of that matters when Judal is inside her.

Judal's hands immediately, eagerly drag upward, running up her sides, kneading into her breasts as his thumbs slide over her nipples, needing to touch and grab all that he can when she just feels so good beneath him, soft and warm and god, the way she squeezes around him-"You're not fair," he gasps out, sucking roughly on the side of her throat as his knees scoot up closer, making it easier to thrust deep when he slowly rocks in and out, the slick, heated slide of her around him enough to make his eyes flutter. "How the hell… anyone keeps their hands off of you… fuck, they're missing out," he breathlessly laughs.

You're the only one who's ever thought so. It doesn't matter, because Judal's inside her now, and Kougyoku clings to him, nails raking down his back as she shudders, waves of pleasure racking her body as she twists and squirms on his cock. Every moment he moves inside her, all she can think about is more, eyes rolling back into her head as her ankles cross behind his ass, pulling him in deeper, deeper, helpless little noises falling from her lips. "M-more, I only want you, no one touches me like you-"

The thought that he's inside her, of what could happen, and ah, she shouldn't want it but she does, is the final straw, and Kougyoku's legs tremble as she clenches down hard, sighing Judal's name in a last, desperate buck of her hips, collapsing shivering, still wanting no matter how she shakes.

What's left of the breath in his lungs leaves him in a rush, leaving him gasping as she shivers and squeezes around him, arches up against him like some needy, desperate thing, and there's no helping the bite of his nails into her sides and hips as he pulls her down, as his teeth nip and nibble into her flesh, littering bite marks down her neck and shoulders and chest. Damn right no one touches you like me is the irrational, protective, possessive little thought that jerks through his mind, and Judal growls as he yanks her close, shoves in deep, and that's all it takes before he spills deep inside of her, panting raggedly as his vision blurs with every shiver that rakes down his spine, every pulse of his cock inside the impossible heat of her body.

It takes a long moment before he comes back to his senses, and Judal groans, face burying into the side of her neck as he flops against her. "… Sorry." For the bruises or scratches or bites or coming inside her, which should he pick to apologize for more? Wow, that was dumb, even for you.

Kougyoku huffs out a breath, stretching out as she wiggles into a more comfortable position, reveling in the closeness of it, of the sheer naughty pleasure of lying naked with a man who isn't her husband, feeling him slick and full inside her. She nuzzles her nose against his hair, smiling. "No sorry. Nothing to be sorry for. Thank you."

"… You say that now…" Judal grumbles, even as he turns his head to gently bite at her shoulder as he rolls to the side, dragging her with him with an arm slung about her waist. Whatever. Not thinking about possibilities, that never bodes well. "Your husband is insane, though. I'd roll around with you every day if you were here. Aladdin, too. And probably Sinbad, you got him going earlier, did you see his face?"

Kougyoku's eyes go wide. "Really? You think he was interested? I-I mean, of course I'm a married woman now," she says with all the gravity of a married woman currently lying naked in bed with another man. "And Titus isn't insane, he just doesn't like women. He's a nice boy, and at least he's not a drunk or an abuser or a gambler. But do you really, really think Sinbad was looking?"

"Ooh, not a married woman. Because Sinbad has never had his hands on those before," Judal teases, giving her hip a little pinch. "But yeah, he was definitely looking. Kinda hard not to, I told you that you got really pretty. You know, for an old woman."

Kougyoku squeaks, leaning over to bite Judal's ear. "You're just out to bring shame to my family, aren't you? Though I don't know how," she says with a grin, sitting up and straddling his hips. "You make me feel shameless."

Judal blinks up at her, the picture of innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he says, splaying his hands around her hips to lightly squeeze, unable to stop from smirking at the sight of darkening bruises and bite marks littered all over her skin. "I'm just saying… if I wanted to invite Sinbad in here, he'd probably come."

"Don't tease me," she mutters, hands splaying down over his chest, tweaking his nipples in revenge for earlier. "He has lots of girls prettier than me-and younger besides, probably fighting for a place in his bed."

At that, Judal rolls his eyes, never mind the little hiss of breath that leaves him. "Ahh… yeah, well, you're my kind of pretty, and you're not so old, and besides, which of those girls can beat him in a race around his own island, huh? That gets him off more than anything-a strong, capable girl with a little meat on her bones." He grins, pinching the inside of one of her thighs. "Seriously, later, I'll invite him."

The thought makes her shiver as much as the pinch, and Kougyoku leans forward, resting her forearms on Judal's chest. "You mean it? You really think he'd want to? Oh, and…" She bites her lip, then ploughs on ahead. "How about Aladdin? Do you always have them separately or sometimes together?"

"I had them together once." And even years later, the memory is still enough to make him shudder, and he distracts himself by winding his fingers around a long strand of her hair. "Not sure if I recommend it. You sort of feel like a puddle of goo afterwards… for like… a week…"

Kougyoku's eyes widen. "Together? That must have been…" She butts her head against his hand, fingers tracing patterns on his chest. "Just having the two of you that one time turned me into a puddle of goo, and neither of you even put it in me. I can't imagine what that would be like. So tell me."

"You were definitely a puddle after that," Judal teases, fingers sliding up through her hair to drag along her scalp. "And it was… ahh, you know how big Aladdin is? Sinbad's even more-thicker, especially, and even just him alone is too much at times…" He shivers, giving her hair a little tug. "Having both inside me at once… I couldn't even breathe. They just shoved me around like a toy between the two of them, I've never felt so full, and I don't think I got up for over a day afterwards. Really good."

The image alone is enough to make Kougyoku's nipples harden, and her toes curl against the bedsheets, rocking slowly down onto Judal's hips as she pictures the scene. It's easy to picture, Sinbad's big muscles, Aladdin's sweet face and sleek body, Judal writhing between them…

"I bet you made really nice noises," she breathes, and rubs her thumbs over his nipples again. "Did they treat you like something precious, or like a whore?" Either way, it's good.

Most girls don't want to hear about how he's usually the very eager, willing bedmate of two extremely attractive men. Then again, Kougyoku's never been most girls, and so he slowly grins, arching up beneath the drag of her fingertips with a hitching sigh. "Like a whore," Judal breathlessly answers, a hand slowly dragging down her spine, tip-toeing along each vertebrae. "And I always make nice noises when I'm being fucked… but with that much in me, when I'm stuffed that full-it's hard not to just whine and beg. They just fuck me harder when I do."

Her breath hitches, and Kougyoku sucks and nibbles on Judal's neck, rubbing slowly against him in a long arching grind. He feels good between her legs even before he's inside her, and the slick mess he'd left behind is even more sinful like this. "I wish I could fuck you like that," she breathes, one hand sliding down to squeeze his ass. "What's the dirtiest thing you've ever done with either of them? Tell me a story."

The thought of Kougyoku being able to fuck him like that probably shouldn't make him as hard as it does, and Judal swallows, his hips twitching up as his breath catches with the slick slide of his cock against her. "The dirtiest thing?" Damn, that's a contest, but-"Sometimes," he breathes, his hands squeezing around her hips with every wriggle of her on top of him, "Sinbad'll call me his good girl, and really fuck me like one of his girls. He likes grabbing and pinching me like a woman, likes shoving my face down into the bed and holding me there when he uses me. And he gets off even more if you call him Daddy." He smirks, grip tightening around her waist. "Try it when you have your turn with him, watch him squirm."

"Oh…" Kougyoku's hands come up to her own breasts as she leans back onto her knees, kneading and pinching and squeezing, rolling the nipples between her fingers as she squirms. "Do you think he'll be more gentle with me because I'm a woman? Or...maybe he'll be really rough, all big and hard and just-just really rough, throwing me around like he-"

She breaks off, biting her lip as she rocks, mind full of Sinbad's voice in her ear, the images Judal has planted in her head, the memory of how Judal looks when he's got a big cock inside of him. "H-hey, put it back in, I want it again."

"He'll be rough, just tell him you want it like that," Judal eagerly tells her, squirming underneath her as he urges her hips up, enough to let his cock rub and slide against her just once more before he eases it inside, a breathy, mindless groan pulling from his throat as he tugs her down, hips bucking upward. "He's got a really big cock," he breathes as he lurches up, fastening his mouth to the side of her neck, batting one of her hands away to grab and knead at one breast, his fingers rolling a nipple. "You think you can take all of it?"

Kougyoku lets out a breathless laugh, but it turns into a groan when Judal sinks back into her, and she raises up onto her knees, starting to ride him in earnest. "Mmm, I can take it." She refrains from remarking that she'd shoved a baby out, Sinbad would have to be really frighteningly large to not fit. He'd probably stretch her out good, though, and it has been a while. "Would you be watching him take me? Or in my mouth, so I can suck on you while he's riding me like a cat in heat?"

That's a particularly strong mental image, and one that makes his hips jerk up, shoving deeper and more roughly inside of her. "Definitely in your mouth," Judal groans as his lips drag down, teeth biting gently into the curve of one breast, sucking on the spot to leave another mark. "You'd look so good like that, stuffed full at both ends."

She squeals at the bite, grabbing Judal's hair and holding him there, dragging his mouth to her nipple as she rocks down harder, ass slapping down against Judal's hips every time. "Won't even need to tell him I want him hard," she groans, feeling herself tightening down around him. "All he'll have to do is look at the way you left marks all over me-he'll know, he'll know," she pants, and ah, it's so easy to imagine what Sinbad would feel like deep inside of her.

Judal's eyes roll back, his fingers biting into her skin, and he can't help but sink his teeth into that nipple as well, sucking on it, tugging as his hips jerk up into her, hard and fast and relishing every little squirm as she writhes on top of him. His thumbs press into her hips, and he knows he's leaving even more marks-where's the help for it, though, when she's so wiggly and soft and perfect when's fucking herself on his cock?

A hard, ragged exhale, and Judal shoves up deep just a last few times before he comes again, chest heaving from the effort as he drags her down and holds her there, filling her up with every slick, messy drop.

Kougyoku sighs, slumping forward gratefully onto Judal's chest, resting her cheek on his shoulder as the pleasure fizzles through her, gentler this time, a cresting wave instead of the electric shock that had picked her up and shaken her before. "I like making you come," she murmurs against his skin. "You look so good like that, and it makes me feel pretty."

"You look pretty when you come," Judal mumbles, and it's with a slow roll that he flips them, pushing her down into the mattress and nuzzling up against her like a big, languid cat. "Like coming inside you, though. You're already so warm and wet, makes it even better."

"I like it too," she confesses, all smiles at his caresses, one hand stealing down to rub over her belly. "Hey...would you be mad if I did get pregnant? I wouldn't ask you to do anything."

This conversation. Judal hides his grimace into her hair. "… It's not that I'd be mad," he slowly answers, "or even that I wouldn't want to do anything." Though I'm really not cut out to be a father. "It's… Yunan already was acting weird about Titus, and he's Scheherazade's kid. And the children of Magi… most don't live very long, if they're ever born at all. I don't think you want to deal with all that."

"I'm not asking you to make it happen or anything," she murmurs, stroking a hand down through his hair. "Whatever happens, I'll deal with it. Just so long as you're not mad."

"I'm not gonna be mad, geez." Judal sighs, butting his head against her hand. "Your kid is the only kid I like. He's cute. And doesn't chew on my hair."

"Mmm, he likes you. He is a good kid, though. He doesn't fuss much, and always eats regular, and-" She cuts off, flushing. "Sorry. That mother thing, where you talk about the baby too much, I always loathed that."

"… You really don't have that vice, trust me," he drawls, giving her shoulder a soft little nip with his teeth. "And it's fine, besides. I told you I liked him." Judal hesitates before adding, "Earlier, what you said about him staying with me or something instead of Titus… not sure if that's a good idea."

"It was a joke," she assures him, unconcerned, and stretches out her arms. Judal never had been the best at telling when she was joking, or when anyone was for that matter. "Don't worry, Titus really is a more than adequate father, and Caius is the darling of Laem."

"Oh. Good. Because I'd suck at that job," Judal mutters, burying his face into her neck. He's not a little disappointed. No, not at all. It's just still weird to remember what the kid had done with his rukh earlier, though he's still pretty sure he was seeing things… "Titus better be a good father. I told him to take care of you, you seem pretty neglected."

"He's well enough," Kougyoku says, nestling into Judal's side. "They aren't big on fatherhood in Laem, seem to think it's a soft woman's concept. But Caius likes him fine, and he makes little magic shows and things for the two of us. He made Caius a toy top that never falls over, and a sucker that changes flavor every few minutes, Caius loves them."

"… Just come and stay here already. You know. For a lot longer than just a visit." He's probably supposed to be comforted by Kougyoku's words, but he's just annoyed instead. "Doesn't it make you mad? You're really strong, and they don't even care."

Kougyoku goes still, breathing evenly against his skin for a long moment. "What do you want, Judal?" she asks quietly, all the easy mirth she's been forcing into her voice gone now. "This is the country that killed all of my brothers. My parents are dead, my country is annexed, Laem doesn't even have a reason to keep me-Scheherazade tried to get Titus to give me up and take a more important wife after Kou fell, but he wouldn't. My family-they didn't think much of me, they all just thought I was the silly one who didn't have a head for war, but I'm the only one of them who's still alive and free. A lot of things make me mad, Judal."

"I just-"

His blood boils, briefly, at the thought of Scheherazade being her usual disgusting, bitchy self, and there's an urge to get up and go to Laem and make it very, very clear how important Kougyoku should be. "Even if Sindria was always Kou's enemy, we'd still have you here," Judal eventually manages. "Look, Kougyoku-aren't you lonely? Don't you hate it? I… before, in Kou… when Kouen threw me out, if I could have taken you with me, I would have. I thought about you a lot, because weren't you always as bored and lonely as I was? I thought you hated me, though, just like the rest of them-and so when I saw you in Laem…" A sigh, and Judal lets his head flop backwards. "Now, when I can steal you away, there's all these things supposedly stopping me still… but Titus ran away and is hiding here, why can't you?"

Kougyoku gives him a gentle nudge with her knee. "Don't be dumb, I always liked you. I didn't even hear about you losing your powers until you were already gone, don't forget that Kouen had me in bridal seclusion. What would you have me do in Sindria, hmm?"

She props herself up on one arm, trailing the other hand down over his abs. "Become another borrowed relic? A pet to play with? I'm nothing here. In Laem the First Magician's wife is an icon, but here? And with my husband quite happy to pretend I don't exist-no, I'm not angry with him, god knows he needs a break from his hellbitch of a mother, but…" She shrugs. "What future is there for Caius here? I don't have any family other than Titus and Caius. Don't...don't you realize how easy it would be for them to throw me away?"

"You stop being dumb, as if I'd let anyone throw you away." Judal frowns, giving her belly a prod. "You're at least as strong as any of Sinbad's generals, if not stronger. You're a dungeon conquerer. So stay here as estranged royalty from Kou-not as some little whiny magician's wife, sorry, that title is stupid-and offer to work for him. You were one of my king candidates, I'll vouch for you, as if he doesn't already know your strength. You keep doing this thing, letting everyone tell you how strong you are when they're never right. They can't throw you away when you can dump a goddamn tidal wave on their heads, don't you get it? And if Scheherazade tries to join in and try, then I'll dump a tidal wave on her head."

"I can't." Kougyoku swallows hard, blinking back the tears that try to burn her eyes. "I-I wanted to try visiting, and it's working, but...I can't stay here. Not when I'll never know-someone in this country murdered my family. I don't know who, or why, or how, but-I'll never know if that's who I'm having dinner with, or talking to, or-if I have to be a captured princess in a foreign land that's one thing, but I won't-I won't give myself to a place that…." She rubs at her eyes, curling against his side. "I know they weren't perfect. But I don't think I'm really any different."

Ugh.

There's a very, very large part of him that just wants to shut up, to leave it at that and pet her hair and comfort her and never bring it up again. Judal sighs into the top of her head, his eyes lidding as guilt twists low in his stomach. Shouldn't feel guilty about this. I shouldn't. "You never hurt anyone, though. I mean… you know I liked all of your brothers, right? But some of the things they did in war… didn't you hear about it?"

"I know." Kougyoku's voice is very small, and she curls up into a ball, face buried in Judal's shoulder. "They were still my family. My only family. J-just because they did bad things...En still taught me how to use a sword, and Mei told off the servants for pulling my hair and making fun of me, and Ha used to make everyone play with me even though my mother was just a prostitute…that doesn't change because they went to war. If they hadn't married me off, I might have gone, too."

"… Al-Sarmen changed them, though." His own voice is tight, and it's hard, very hard, to lift his arms and drape them around her. "I'm glad they married you off, because then they couldn't get to you. They got to Koumei and Kouha less, and they were still… the things they did in Balbadd. The whole country was nearly destroyed. A fourth of the population was sold as slaves. All the men they killed, the women Kouha gave to the Kou soldiers-good people don't do that in wars. And En-he wasn't the same, Kougyoku, he wasn't at all."

She doesn't mean to cry-really, Kougyoku tells herself, she's better than this, stronger than this. "I heard stories. I...they were awful, I didn't want to believe them even though I knew they were probably true."

She takes a slow, shaky breath. "I don't-I don't blame the people who killed them, not really. I just don't know if I could sit down and have tea with them, or live with them."

I saw it. Kouha gave me to his goddamn soldiers, is that the same little brat that liked braiding my hair all wrong?

He's done. It aches, but he's done. "How about sleep with them?" Judal dully asks. "Or offer to bear their children."

Kougyoku goes still. With anyone else, she wouldn't know what he was talking about, but with Judal, with that tone in his voice, with the way he's been avoiding the answers she knows he has…

A deep breath in. A deep breath out. Her heart hurts, but it keeps beating, and that's a good sign. Is this worse, or better than it being a random stranger? Hard to tell. "Just…" She swallows, closing her eyes tightly, clutching his arm as tightly as she can. "They hurt you, right? It wasn't just-you weren't just following orders, right? They did something? You wouldn't just-you liked them, they must have done something, right, Judal?"

"Yeah. They hurt me pretty bad, Kougyoku." Well, he's done it now. Two years of hiding behind Ja'far's lie that he's the one that killed the brothers, and even that's been pretty well under wraps, all moot. Suddenly, he's very, very tired. "Aladdin, too. And Sinbad. Kouha… he liked hurting me the most, I think. He said I was a traitor."

Slowly, a muscle at a time, Kougyoku uncurls from her ball. The easy fun playtime of earlier seems years ago, everything cold and sad, and god, she'll do anything to bring that light back to Judal's eyes. "I still love you," she says softly. "When you were with Al-Sarmen, and when you left them, and when you were my friend and Kou's enemy and now-I still love you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. That's good." Better not to go into the details of it, about how he escalated everything into a full-blown war because he was stupid, and if he hadn't been, they probably all still would have been alive. Judal sighs, letting his head drop forward to rest on her shoulder. "Still won't stay though, huh. Sorry. I'm really sorry."

"I don't know." She runs a hand through the hair around his face, curling a few thick strands around one of his fingers. "I mean, you did make some good points, and I can't stand Laem. What about Caius, though? No one but you seems to think he's going to be much of anything, magically speaking, even though he's got pretty exciting parents if I do say so myself."

"Everyone's stupid," Judal mutters, looking up through his bangs at her. "He's just… his magoi is weird. People can't tell because they aren't used to looking at magoi and everything like I am. Virtues of being a healbitch, I guess. Earlier, I swear he actually touched my rukh, like a Magi would. But he's not a Magi, so… weird."

"He seems healthy enough," Kougyoku says doubtfully. "I'd heard that Titus had...that Lady Scheherazade had other children who didn't survive, but Caius always seems healthy. Do you think there's something wrong with him? I-sorry, talking about my child again."

"It's fine, I don't care. And weird doesn't mean unhealthy… just… weird," Judal lamely offers, shrugging. "I know I'm not wrong. Bring him to Yunan, I bet he can tell something's different, too. I'm good at sensing this kind of thing, I felt Sinbad across the damned world when I wasn't even allowed out of Al-Sarmen's vault."

"Tomorrow," Kougyoku decides. "He seemed to be sort of...nesting, anyway. And honestly, I'd rather spend the night here with you than with anyone else, anywhere else."

"Yeah, he does that. He's really weird," Judal mutters, burying his face back into her neck. "Either way, it doesn't matter. If you stay here, Caius can, too. Do you know how many entirely goi brats Sinbad has?"

"I don't want him to just stay," she says, thinking more of her own childhood than Caius's. "I...I know what it's like, to be alone. I don't ever want him to be alone, so he's got to have a lot of people that will take care of him. So either you promise to love him even if I die, or I'll take him back to Laem where he's at least important." She tugs on Judal's hair, asking, "So? Which will it be?"

"… You're being dumb, and I would know," Judal grumbles, reaching up to tug on her hair in turn. "I won't let you die, first of all, but if for some reason you do, I think the little brat has already decided he likes me well enough that I'm not allowed to leave him alone. I'm not letting Scheherazade have him, she won't appreciate him. I'll keep him safe and happy and all of that here."

Kougyoku's arms loop around Judal's neck, pulling him down. "Then," she says quietly, "I'll stay."

Probably should approve all of this through Sinbad before I get too happy, but oh well. "Good," he breathes, relief on a dozen levels coursing through him. "Really good."