Dream Prince
Chapter 10
You Stand Out From The Rest
Perhaps it was the uneasiness brought on by new surroundings, or maybe it was because he had not gotten to tuck his brother in for the night. It was probably a little bit of both, Seto mused as he lay awake in his tent trying to fall asleep. The brunet knew that he had a bad habit of relying on routines and sticking to certain, unchanging schedules until they became a part of him. And because of that he now found himself unable to relax as his subconscious nagged at him to do something he had supposedly forgotten.
With a heavy, extremely annoyed sigh Seto dragged himself out of bed and grabbed a cloak to put on before he stormed out of his tent and into the chilly night air. There was a startled jump from one of the guards watching over his tent but Seto did not spare him a single glance as he waved the hand to order the two to stay behind before marching off.
The only senior soldiers in the camp were the guards the pharaoh had sent to accompany the boys. Seto did not really pay attention to them as long as they did their jobs well, which was probably a relief to them, considering how frightened everyone seemed to be of the young priest.
With the exception of the royal family and his younger brother, Seto was feared by all. Even the older nobles in the court clearly turned uneasy whenever the brunet entered a room at the same time with them. It was disgusting and Seto did not think there was anything he despised more than cowardice, though incompetence was a close second.
Briefly wondering if there was a possibility of taking a decent bath so far away from civilization, Seto made his way through the small gathering of trees that surrounded the lake that was the centre of the oasis. The oasis was a reasonably large one and a tall and long line of mountains rose on the side, shading the encampment somewhat during daytime. From those cliffs came a waterfall that kept the lake in the oasis full of fresh water.
It turned out that Seto was not the only one still awake. There were two forms standing in front of Ryou's tent, the both of them easily recognizable in the light the moon granted. Ryou was standing right in front of the tent entrance, his white scarf for once away from his face. The other form that stood facing Ryou had rare, golden-tinted hair that Seto could recognize without a mistake.
"You'll need only two then?" Jono's voice questioned from Ryou, who nodded his head before hurriedly speaking: "If you could get those two pots filled with water, I should be able to get those three cleaned up."
"Alright then", Jono spoke before hoisting the two pots up, one underneath each arm. Then the blond turned around towards the direction of the oasis, the direction where Seto stood.
Ryou had already disappeared inside his tent when Jono came out of his frozen stupor caused by Seto's unexpected appearance. Brown eyes were open in shock and as the blond's mouth opened to ask questions Seto did not wish to answer, the priest cut the other off by speaking out: "Now why would someone like you offer to help with chores like this?" Seto knew Ryou; the healer would never dare to use his rank to order someone to help him with any task and even requesting help did not come easy to the shy boy. It was more than likely that it had been Jono to suggest this.
"Were you listening in on our conversation?" Jono questioned in a snappy tone, to which Seto rolled his eyes before replying: "Please. Don't think yourself so important. I merely overheard you." The brunet smirked. "It's not very hard to, considering the volume that comes out of that big mouth of yours."
A huff came from Jono, followed by the blond growling out: "You're such a jerk."
"Well, I don't exactly have a habit of aiming to please", Seto pointed out in a smug manner. Jono snorted at the words and then spoke in a sarcastic tone: "I never would have guessed." A sigh came from the shorter male as the other seemed to calm down before he spoke: "And to answer your question, Ryou has batched me up twice after a fight now." The blond shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose I'm grateful."
Seto still remembered the first of the two fights Jono had gotten himself into in the camp. It had actually taken place three days previously, when the blond had first signed up for the battalion. Jono had then been on Panahasi's list of people to put in their places. It had been a one-on-one match from which both had emerged with various bruises and injuries. Seto had been the only one present at the time to break them off, which was the only reason Panahasi had escaped the judgement of shadows then. Seto had, naturally, taken his frustration over the matter out on Jono, since the blond should have known better than to allow a character like Panahasi lure him into a private corner of the camp for their match. If Seto had not been doing rounds at the time, the smaller male could have ended up seriously hurt. Such unconsidered actions were a sign of incompetence, something Seto could not forgive.
"And…" Jono spoke out once more, brining Seto out of his musings. The blond looked awfully serious at that moment, as he continued: "It was obvious to me that no one else was going to offer to help the kid." With that Jono started to walk past Seto, his steps directing him towards the oasis. Knowing that it was too soon to return to his tent to sleep, Seto followed after the boy. He still was not quite tired enough for sleep, and perhaps Jono could tell him something useful about his new friend Rasui.
"What is it now?" Jono asked in an exasperated manner when Seto fell into step beside him. The blond obviously did not appreciate the company as he huffed rudely: "Is there still something bothering you?"
"Those two newcomers…" Seto started, trying to keep his tone nonchalant. "Have you talked to them much?" Seto really wondered if he had approached the subject in the right manner. Jono would not reveal any information to him if the other found out that the brunet was actually interested in the two new arrivals.
"Not all that much", Jono replied easily. The blond's hostility seemed to fade into a more pleasant tone at the neutral topic. "Rasui seems like a nice kid. I'm not sure if the army is really the place for him. That Akefia guy, however, seems a bit…odd." The blond shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think he's a bad guy, but I wouldn't want to make him angry."
From the way the blond spoke, Seto determined that the two had not acted exceptionally suspiciously yet. Still, time was going to pass and the brunet was certain that one of the two was going to slip before he did. After all, Jono had said that Rasui did not seem to be fit for being in the army. They would see the small male's true colours when the real work began.
By then the two had arrived at the oasis and Jono placed the pots he had been carrying onto the sand, taking only one of them and dunking it into the lake. While the blond kneeled in the sand and did his chore silently, Seto got the perfect chance to observe the other male. The moon shone down upon the pair, dying Jono's dark blond hair into an almost silvery shade; it made the brash teen look uncharacteristically serene and Seto actually dared to think that he might be able to not mind the boy's company like this.
The soft grunt Jono released sounded a lot louder than it really was in the silent night and Seto was instantly aware of the moment the blond lifted the first pot out of the water and replaced it with the second one. While Jono was busy filling the other pot, Seto noted in passing that the small stature of the blond would not be enough to carry both of the pots back to Ryou's tent.
Seto glared at the water's surface, cursing himself further when his eyes sought out Jono's reflection. It was true that there was something much more fascinating about the blond now when compared to the daytime persona, but Seto really did not believe that something like that was a good enough reason to stare at the boy.
That was when Jono straightened his body, standing up in the process of dragging the second pot across the sand to place it next to the first one. Then the blond paused and watched the pots in silence and Seto knew that Jono had only just now realized how difficult it would be to carry the two full pots back to camp at once.
Jono glanced up at Seto briefly before his gaze fell back to the pots. Then a sigh came from the blond before he crouched in front of the pot he had just moved and lifted it up in his arms. Those dark eyes looked at Seto again, as if daring the brunet to make a comment. Seto merely rolled his eyes in response before mimicking the blond's actions as lifting the remaining pot off the ground.
The vary expression on Jono's face was immediately replaced by a surprised one and the blond blinked at Seto in confusion.
"What are you doing?" Jono asked and, when Seto merely lifted an eyebrow in question, groaned and continued: "Right, stupid question." Both of the shorter boy's eyebrows rose in query. "Why are you helping me?"
"That's a simple enough question to answer", Seto spoke with a nod, after which he smirked at the shorter male. "Or, it would be if I felt like answering."
There was an annoyed huff from beside the brunet and Seto's smirk only widened from amusement. After that they both stayed silent during what remained of the walk to Ryou's tent. Neither of them seemed to want to break the unspoken truce that had formed between them.
Ryou also seemed surprised to see Seto accompanying Jono, but the healer chose to not comment on the matter, which Seto had known to expect. After the pots had been moved into the tent, the white-haired boy thanked both of the males for their help before vanishing inside. After that the duo outside was left in silence, one that was a lot more awkward than the previous one.
"Umm…thanks, for helping out", Jono finally managed to mutter. Despite the cynical thought of how predictable it was that Jono had been the one to break the silence, Seto's tone was perfectly neutral as he replied: "To me it seemed obvious that no one else was going to give you assistance."
Their eyes met in silence for a moment, before Jono broke into a grin. Seto turned his face to the side the hide the fact that a small smile was tugging at his own lips as well. He could not understand how he felt so comfortable around Jono, who he had thought to be capable of nothing but trouble.
"You're not half bad", Jono spoke out and Seto shot the blond a warning glare. The brunet's expression only served to amuse Jono as the blond laughed lightly, not the least bit intimidated by the look that usually had palace officials growing nervous, in the very least.
"Is it true that there's going to be some kind of course tomorrow?" Jono questioned then and Seto had to wonder just how word got around in the camp so fast. Honestly, those supposed soldiers gossiped more than the servant girls had back at the palace.
"I doubt telling you is going to make any difference in the end", Seto replied with a shrug. "But yes, the prince is planning on testing everyone's capabilities." The brunet smirked at the blond boy standing in front of him. "You probably won't do very well."
"Oh yeah?" Jono queried in a manner that indicated that the blond fully intended to rise to the challenge. "You just wait and see. I can take anything thrown at me."
"We'll see", was all Seto said in response, though he was smirking in a manner that told it all from amusement to disbelief.
"Yes you will", Jono insisted with a nod, after which he lifted a hand to cover his mouth as a yawn came from him. "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow", Seto repeated, watching in amusement how the blond blinked tiredly. The shorter male did not seem to share Seto's sleeping problems. The brunet felt something like peace creep into his mind as the other's eyelids lowered in a sign of fatigue and he spoke out: "Go to bed. That's an order, soldier."
A growl followed from the blond standing in front of Seto, after which the shorter male grumbled: "You're such an ass."
"And you're stupid", Seto shot back calmly. "If there were others around I would have been forced to cut off you tongue for such disrespect."
"But you won't since we're alone", Jono spoke out as a lazy smile stretched onto his lips. "Oh, I feel special."
"I might still change my mind", Seto warned with a glare but Jono was not bothered as he merely replied with: "Whatever. Goodnight, priest."
"Night", Seto grumbled back in a low enough voice that it might have been missed by the other. But the slight grin that came to Jono's face told the brunet that the words had been heard. Then the blond turned around and walked off.
It was after he could not see the blond anymore that Seto realized that he had ended up stuck watching the other's retreating form. A growl came from the brunet as he made a sharp turn and stormed back to his tent. He did not know what was wrong with him, but he did know that he did not like it and that he wanted it to stop.
To be continued…
Ending Notes: Sorry for taking so long to update. Apparently my creativity decided to go on a vacation the same time I did. I've already started working on the next chapter, so the next update should not take so long.
This chapter is a bit shorter than the norm. That's because I couldn't fit this scene into the chapter preceding or following this one, so it needed to be its own chapter. I apologise for the focus on Seto and Jono but I need to develop their relationship now so that it won't be in the way of the other pairings or the plotline.