It was sheer co-incidence that it was Aleks who encountered Treize first.

The former general had marched from Zechs's office at a hair less than a run, his breath coming in pants and his heart thumping in his ears. He couldn't recall ever being so angry before. Another moment in that office and he would have lashed out at his friend, responding physically to an emotional impulse he couldn't check in a way he hadn't since he was still a child. Zechs had pushed his buttons a few times over the years, either starting or finishing some truly vicious rows between them, but he'd never before left Treize wanting to choke the life out of him in a very literal sense.

Aware that it wouldn't be wise for him to encounter anyone else until he'd managed to calm himself down – and knowing that Zechs was just about stubborn enough to chase him to his room if he went there – the general made his way across the palace, bleeding off adrenaline with the movement. He stopped when he came to a little seating area located in front of a large set of panoramic windows, caught by the way the view – all black clouds and lashing rain – matched his mood, and sank down to sit in one of the chairs, his fingers locking around each other as he fought himself.

It took him a while before he felt steady enough to do more than just count the pace of his breathing, and he began to relax with a flurry of whispered insults aimed at the King's head.

"…Fucking arrogant son of a bitch!" he cursed.

"Who is?"

Treize jumped at the voice behind him, completely unaware that anyone was that close by. He turned, started again at the flash of silvery hair and sighed when he realised it wasn't the King, but the King's son.

"Didn't your father teach you not to sneak up on people?" he snapped.

Aleks merely blinked at him, his eyes wide and dusky in the poor light. "Should he have?" he asked seriously. "I'm sorry," he offered a moment later. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to know if you were all right."

"I'm fine," Treize dismissed tersely, then, because courtesy demanded it, added, "Thank you."

Aleks nodded at him, frowning a little as he came closer and sat down on the chair opposite Treize's. "Are you sure?" He put one hand out hesitantly. "You don't look fine. Should I find my father?"

Despite himself, Treize couldn't help the bitter chuckle that left him that. "I'd rather you didn't," he said shortly. He canted the younger man a considering look. "Who do you think I was swearing at?"

Aleks blinked in surprise. "Oh. Right. Maybe not him, then."

"No, maybe not him," Treize said. He sighed. "I'm honestly fine, Your Highness. I just needed to clear my head a little."

"I told you not to call me that," Aleks replied firmly. He leaned forward in his chair and used one long-fingered hand to sweep his hair back from his forehead for a moment. "So, what did my father do to piss you off?"

Treize smiled a little, tightly, looking back out of the window at the stormy weather. "It would hardly be appropriate of me to tell his son that, now would it." He shook his head. "We disagreed over something, that's all."

Aleks's eyebrows rose in affected surprise. "Wow. You 'disagreed?'" He whistled slowly. "You've been sat here for at least the last twenty minutes looking like you were going to commit murder. If that was the two of you 'disagreeing', it's no wonder you ended up fighting a war!"

The general's head snapped around, so that he could stare at the younger man in astonished disbelief. "My God," he said after a moment. "Are you always so stunningly tactless?"

Aleks merely shrugged and smiled. "When it suits me to be, yes."

Treize cringed, and then gestured with his hand as though he were raising a toast. "Long Live King Milliardo," he said mockingly. "For Sanc's sake."

Aleks laughed at him. "Amen to that, cousin," he agreed. His expression turned mischievous. "Feeling better yet?" he asked quietly.

It took Treize a second or two of shifting in his seat to realise that, yes, he did feel better. Some of the tension in his shoulders had bled away and the fraught energy that had been driving his heart rate was ebbing in the face of the younger man's deliberate gaucheness.

Aleks must have read his answer from his face, because he got to his feet and held out a hand to the older man. "Come on," he said determinedly.

Treize took his hand, let himself pulled upright, and let it go again just as quickly. "Where are we going?" he asked, as Aleks turned on his heel and began making his way down the corridor with rangy strides. Wherever he was going, it was in the opposite direction to the sections of the Palace Treize had been spending his time in over the past few days in. In fact, if he recalled correctly, the only things in this area of the Palace were the grand ballrooms, the throne room and some of the formal reception rooms – nothing that should interest Aleks at this particular moment.

The Prince didn't answer the general until they stopped in front of an unmarked door. "Here," Aleks said impishly and keyed a code into the panel beside it so quickly that Treize almost didn't catch it. "Kitty?" he called as he opened the door. "I brought a guest."

Treize looked over Aleks's shoulder as the Prince opened the door, curious about where the younger man was taking him. He wasn't sure what he was expecting – perhaps some sort of sitting room, or even, maybe, the Prince's bedroom – but it wasn't what was revealed.

The room Aleks had brought the former general to was small, and certainly wasn't a sitting room in the traditional sense. What had clearly started life as a storage room, or perhaps a security post, had been converted somewhat haphazardly into what Treize could only think of as a 'den'.

"Which guest?" a familiar voice answered the Prince, and then Felix's head and upper body lifted from a heap of big, mismatched cushions, making Treize realise that the doctor must be lying practically prone on the floor.

Felix propped himself on an elbow, twisting himself so that he could look over his shoulder at his younger cousin. His handsome face broke into a smile when he saw what Aleks meant by 'guest' and he sat up properly, folding his legs up Indian fashion and running a hand over his rather mussed hair. "Well, hey there," he said warmly.

Aleks held the door open as wide as it would go and ushered Treize through it before letting it swing closed again behind the two of them, blocking out the light that had been flooding through from the corridor and dropping the little room into a welcoming dimness. Immediately, the blond kicked off his shoes and began walking across the thick, springy carpeting to another pile of cushions set a little way from Felix's, where he dropped to sit much as his cousin was and reached out to retrieve a glass that was standing on the carpet next to him.

"Well, don't stand on ceremony," Felix encouraged, when Treize didn't move. "Shoes off and pull up a cushion. Or several, as the case may be." He gestured expansively to the rest of the space, indicating the stacks of unused pillows pushed somewhat arbitrarily against the empty far wall.

Feeling a little off-balance, Treize toed off his boots and stepped onto the carpeting, feeling it yield under his feet with an almost mattress-like softness. He crossed the room, selected a cushion and set it down at a mid point between the two other men, folding gracefully to sit on his heels at a nod from Felix.

Almost as soon as Treize was sitting, Felix rolled to his feet and went to the one of the cabinets fitted to the walls along from the door and adjacent to it, bending to open it and retrieve something from its inside. He turned back with a glass to match the one in Aleks's hand and an unopened bottle of wine.

"Now then," he said, coming back to his pile of cushions and pulling a bottle opener from where he'd hidden it under the bottom one. "How are you feeling? You took the new meds this morning?"

The older man blinked in surprise, frowning at the lack of discretion as he shot a telling glance at the third person in the room. Aleks's nose was in his wine glass, his eyes closed as he drained the contents but just because he looked distracted, didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. "Fine," Treize answered quietly. "And yes, I took them."

Felix smiled. "Good." He caught Treize's second glance at Aleks and waved it off with a hand. "Don't worry; he can keep his mouth shut. Any side effects so far? Any headache or stomach pain?" he asked. "What about nausea or vomiting?"

Treize shook his head. "I feel fine," he repeated. "Completely so."

"Excellent," Felix said cheerily. "Tell me you've eaten today," he instructed, setting the opener to the top of the bottle without bothering to strip away the foil protecting the cork.

"I've eaten today," Treize replied automatically, watching as the doctor smoothly corked the bottle with all the flair of a professional sommelier. Felix discarded both opener and cork onto a small tray he had sitting next to him on the carpet, setting them down by his glass and several unmarked and opaque bottles and packets.

"Honestly?" he asked Treize, holding the bottle poised over the clean glass, and suddenly he was serious.

"Honestly," Treize replied, and then realised the younger man had slipped into his professional role, checking for problems with the existing drugs in Treize's system before he added another one.

Felix nodded and tilted his hand, making rich burgundy liquid spill from the bottle into the glass and stain the sides. "Here, then," he said, holding out the glass.

Treize took it, sipped slowly and smiled warmly. "Now why," he asked softly, "does this taste familiar?"

Felix returned his smile. "It ought to," he replied. "That's the last merlot you ever approved for release from the vineyards in Bordeaux." He let his smile become a grin and dropped to the floor again to look at Treize from the same level, back to being his friend rather than his doctor. "So, what are you doing this evening?" he asked.

Treize shrugged, wondering if Zechs had anything planned before he recalled how pissed off at the King he was. "Nothing, why?" he answered.

"Excellent," Felix said. He cast a speculative look at Aleks, who smirked back at him, and then put his hand on Treize's knee suggestively. "Tell me you bought something designed to impress whilst you were shopping?"

"Define 'impress'," Treize asked carefully. "Who or what am I targeting?"

Felix set the bottle down on the tray and leaned forward. "Anyone you choose," he said softly. "Any man or woman you'd care to spend the evening with." He brushed his fingers along Treize's cheekbone lightly, his expression intent. "Our friends, mostly. Us." He let his hand slip into the same place it had been the evening before, a lightly controlling grip against the older man's jaw line. "Me," he murmured.

Treize gazed at his cousin, meeting eyes that were colour of a winter dusk for a moment before he put his glass down, caught the back of the doctor's neck with his hand and pulled them together. He'd had enough of the passive role the day before and it wouldn't hurt Felix to learn something of his true nature.

Felix made a small noise in the back of his throat, caught off guard by the sudden aggression, then yielded perfectly to it, opening his mouth to the older man's and letting his body melt into it when Treize reached out with his free hand and wrapped it around Felix's slim waist.

The former general came up on his knees to match the doctor, then bore down with his weight, pressing Felix until he sank back, shifting his body to drop onto his pile of cushions willingly, flat on his back with Treize half on top of him. His right hand was still on Treize's jaw, feeling the muscle and tendon work as Treize kissed him, the other settled on the man's shoulder, fingers fluttering under the waves of sensation.

They'd be a good pairing. Treize had suspected it the night before, and now he was sure. Felix was already shifting to match him, his pulse jumping in his throat, his breathing falling into rhythm with the older man's in a silent, physical promise that he could meet and synchronise with Treize all the way and make their encounter one of truly mutual satisfaction.

Added to that, and even better in Treize's mind, was the perfect balance of resistance and submission Felix was showing. He'd given complete control of their kiss to Treize with no hesitation at all but there was a strength in his touch that hadn't melted with the rest of him, and Treize was finding he liked it. The confidence was reassuring, enjoyable on its own, because the absolute last thing Treize needed from a potential partner at the current time was the spectre of coercion. On either side.

At almost the same moment as Felix made a first wordless murmur of pleasure, his body starting to heat to Treize's touch, and the former general felt the beginnings of a familiar humming trickle in the back of his head, the third person in the room shifted position and sighed loudly.

"All right, Kitty," Aleks drawled. "Enough already. You can play with him later."

Treize pulled back, not quite starting at Aleks's words, and found Felix grinning up at him warmly.

"That was fun," the doctor said quietly. "Here's hoping Aleks is right for once," he murmured.

Treize wasn't quite sure of what he should say to that, so he contented himself with nodding silently and settling back onto his cushion. He picked up his wine glass and drained it half-dry easily, washing the taste of the doctor away with some regret but actively seeking the lovely buzz good red wine would give him after a couple of glasses as an antidote to the day's ups and downs. Less than an hour and a half since he'd left his rooms and Treize already felt exhausted.

In his distraction, he missed Aleks and Felix communicating silently across the room, unaware of much until Felix tapped him on the knee with one finger.

"So, did you?" the younger man asked and Treize was forced to let a shrug and a confused look convey his puzzlement over the question.

"Buy anything designed to impress," Aleks explained for him, with a little chuckle. "Kitty, don't do that to the man!" he chided. "It isn't fair. Not everyone can track conversations through ninety-thousand other things like you can."

Treize lifted an eyebrow. He could – of course, he could – and he opened his mouth to correct the Prince before changing his mind. "That really does depend on where we're going and who it is you want me to impress," he said instead, pushing the point he'd been making when Felix had come on to him. "I've only had a few hours to replace my wardrobe and I wasn't buying for any specific event."

Felix nodded sympathetically. "True. Is it all similar to what you're wearing now or did you buy anything more interesting?"

Treize considered. "There are one or two things that might do," he answered. "I take it this isn't something I can wear suit and tie to?" he asked, diffidently and won himself much the response he'd been expecting.

Aleks dissolved into laughter, shaking his head. Felix merely smiled softly. "No, definitely not," he said gently and the very neutrality of his tone gave away that he was fighting to keep from reacting like his cousin. "We were thinking of taking you to the Blue Moon," he explained. "It's a cocktail bar-come-club in the town centre, somewhere we go quite a lot. It's not as wild or as well known as some of the other places we go but that's probably only because its owner is a fussy little bugger about his clients. It's him you'd be trying to impress."

Treize blinked, swallowing as he took that in. "I highly doubt I have anything at all, then," he said, wondering if either Aleks or Felix had any idea how far out of his normal patterns of behaviour they were asking him to step. He'd spent time in bars and nightclubs – of course he had – but not recently. Romefeller had seen him inside them occasionally in his teens but, by age twenty, he'd been swamped with command responsibility for his Wing and, by twenty-three, for the entire of the Specials. If Felix wasn't the same age as Treize had been when he'd replaced the doctor's grandfather, it was only by a few months. What few truly free evenings he'd had during recent years had been spent with Zechs and neither man had been inclined to waste them in the noisy confines of a club.

For a few moments, Treize considered refusing the invite altogether. He had no particular wish to go somewhere so bound to be hectic. Before he could, though, he recalled Zechs's insistence that he learn to blend in with his own age group. It would be so immensely satisfying to throw those words back at the blond after accompanying his son somewhere he was sure Zechs wouldn't approve of.

And, there was always the matter of the unspoken promise simmering between himself and Felix.

"What would you suggest?" Treize asked the two younger men and Felix's face lit with a smile even as Aleks groaned.

"Oh, you did not want to say that," he explained, when Treize looked at him in surprise. "You've just offered yourself up as a living doll for the afternoon, cousin, and if it doesn't end with us shopping, I'll be shocked."

Treize smiled softly. "That's all right," he replied. "I like shopping."

It took Zechs almost an hour after he'd thrown Treize out of his office to calm down enough to regret the words he'd exchanged with the younger man, and almost another full hour after that to start feeling really guilty.

When the reaction did finally set in, though, it hit like a ton of bricks and Zechs found himself sitting with one hand in mid-air, pen poised to write, as he recalled the expression in Treize's eyes and the pallor of his face as Zechs had snarled at him.

One comment in particular kept replaying in his head. Treize's voice had been cold enough to freeze reacting hydrogen as he'd said the words but his eyes and his body had told a different story, one that Zechs had missed at the time.

"I'm well aware that there's no place for me in this cosy little world you've built," the younger man had spat back. "That's been made abundantly clear."

It was enough to make Zechs cringe. If Treize felt that way so strongly, just forty-eight hours after waking properly in this time, then they were failing in their task of helping him adapt. Zechs had spent too many years never quite fitting in with the world around him to ever wish it on someone else, and that was without all the warnings Sally had given the King that Treize acclimating was vital. They could not afford for Treize to feel he didn't belong, for both their safety and his own.

It was Sally's professional opinion that Treize was on shaky ground psychologically. Isolation, she insisted, would worsen that state, exacerbating the traumas he had experienced and blocking any hope of recovery. If they didn't anchor him here, quickly, if they didn't give him a sense of friends and family, then she and Felix would have nothing to work with to treat him and it would only be a matter of time before he came apart completely.

It was a scary thought but Zechs had managed to forget it completely for the few minutes it had taken him to lose his temper with his friend over something Treize hadn't really said in the first place. The King knew well enough why it had happened – it had been years since he'd been ignorant of his own mental issues – but that didn't stop him wanting to shoot himself for his timing. Treize was emphatically not a good choice as target for one of Zechs's stress-triggered emotional outbursts.

The King's sense of his own stupidity, and the accompanying guilt and remorse, dragged on through the afternoon and well into the evening. He abandoned his work around dinnertime in an attempt to locate the younger man so he could apologise but he got nowhere and he was beginning to be seriously worried when he ran into Dorothy in his favourite sitting room.

"Oh, they've gone out," the blond woman told him dismissively, not looking up from the book she was reading.

Zechs frowned at her. "Pardon?" he asked, taken aback.

"The boys," she clarified. "They've gone out. Feliu popped his head around my door about two hours ago and told me he wouldn't be at dinner." She folded her book onto its delicate silver marker and smiled up at him. "I rather think he and Aleks have gone on one of their little escapades and they've taken Treize with them." Dorothy laughed indulgently. "From the wine on Feliu's breath when he kissed me goodbye and the wonderfully eye-catching way he was dressed, I'd certainly say they're planning more than a quiet meal somewhere."

Zechs grimaced, frustrated and annoyed with himself. On the one hand, it was good to know Treize hadn't been as upset as he'd feared, but on the other, it left Zechs completely at a loose end. Neither Aleks nor Felix were known for their early nights.

He nodded his thanks to his friend and left the room, finding his feet taking him up to Treize's room without thought.

Almost completely certain that Treize wasn't going to be in, Zechs pushed open the door without knocking and nodded ruefully at the final confirmation that Dorothy had been right. The room wasn't a mess, exactly – Treize would never have allowed that – but there were certain signs that it had been occupied, and by more than one person. The sheets on the bed were slightly rumpled, the nightstand had three used glasses on it and the left hand door of Treize's wardrobe was standing slightly ajar.

Felix and Aleks had, unmistakeably, dragged Treize up here, dressed him up and taken him out to show him the town.

There was nothing Zechs could do, then, to offer his friend an apology except leave him a note saying he was sorry and asking him to contact the King when he was ready the next day. They had things to do that, really, needed an early start.

Sighing softly, Zechs closed Treize's door behind him and went to join the rest of his family for the evening, his mind half on worrying about what trouble his son and his nephew would get the older man into.

It didn't help that Treize still hadn't returned to his rooms when Zechs fell asleep that night.