Azrem to Ruuk no Hanashi

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Chapter Two: Getting to Know You

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Noa was soon introduced to his quarters—well, Ryuuji's quarters—being a slave, the two of them were to share.

Ryuuji's room was lavishly expensive, with a large four poster canopy bed, lined with black satin sheets and covers made of the finest silk. The sort of silk that you could only get in a country known as Kriit. The finest fabrics and other rare materials were made there, though one wouldn't dare to cross the people of Kriit, for they were a war-based country, with many vast armies and not one defeat on their record. Many secrets were kept by that country, and many tried their best to stay on their side, or unassociated altogether.

Stepping bare footedly over to the large bed, the small slave boy took a seat upon its fluffy spread, sinking into the beautiful comforters and pillows. He glanced once more around the prince's room, this time in an attempt to memorize his surrounding areas. There were windows, both with spots to sit and leisurely watch the clouds above or the gardens below. The whole tint of this room was a light red, one you would see on a spring rose.

Not long after, light footsteps could be heard against the marble of the palace's corridor floors, and the long haired prince soon entered his bedroom once again. He smiled a bit to the boy, who was now curled up on his bed, engulfed in extraordinary silks and a large smile over his pink lips. The blacks and reds of the prince's sheets and pillows shown around the boy's lean and small form nicely, he himself now in a small black robe.

"It is time for us to get ready for dinner," Murmured the tall prince, as he stepped up to Noa on his bed in a careful stride, reaching up to shake the fallen boy's shoulder. "Noa. . ."

Shifting a bit on the bed, Noa's eyes fluttered open after a moment, looking confusedly up at Ryuuji as if for a second, he had forgotten where he was. He smiled a bit when he remembered. "What?"

"Time for dinner." He smiled a bit. "You took a long nap, little one."

Noa blushed a bit out of embarrassment, and tried to get out of the bed and stand. After a bit of difficulty and some help from the prince, standing was achieved. "Sorry,"

"No, it's fine. We'll need to brush your hair for the dinner, come now," Ryuuji held out one careful hand for the other, waiting for a bit for the other to take it, and then heading into an attached room. This seemed to be the bathroom, black tiles and marble, with golden trim was the theme. A large bathtub big enough to hold five people was located to the left of where Noa was now standing, and a counter, where Ryuuji had gone to retrieve a brush.

The prince grinned. "Here, I'll use my brush until we go out and search to buy you your own. Turn around." Noa did so, presenting the taller with his matted aqua locks. The prince lifted the brush and his opposite hand to Noa's head, carefully brushing out each and every tangle that the boy had managed. He was gentle with it, not rigid like Noa's mother had been when he was a child. Ever since then, the smaller boy had always been a bit weary about letting others brush his hair.

"All done," Ryuuji cheerfully declared, setting the silver-backed brush of his carefully down onto the table. Noa giggled at that, and turned himself around, as Ryuuji grabbed for an equally beautiful hand mirror to show Noa how his hair looked. Noa's eyes widened slightly, having not seen his hair in such a tidy state for eleven years of his life. He smiled.

Placing the mirror just as delicately down as he had the brush, emerald-eyed Ryuuji brushed past Noa, taking his hand swiftly. "Come now, we must bring ourselves to the dinner table to feast."

Noa smiled a bit at that, walking carefully along, barefoot still, but Ryuuji was as well. "I have not had a decent sized meal in a long time," Commented the blue eyed boy. It was true, him and his father could only live off of the money they earned from selling jewelry, and even though you'd assume, that itself was not enough to feed the both of them. The man next to them was a bread maker, so bread was a common thing for them to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One would tire of it after a while.

- - -

After a small deal of walking, the two boys soon reached a grand dining room, one of those rather large and luxuriously long dining tables in the center of the room. Noa's mouth went slightly agape for a moment, having already been amazed by what parts of the palace he had already seen, but even more shocked by this.

Ryuuji let out a small chuckle at him, patting his head, before heading off to take a seat in one of the large chairs. Noa let out a small whimper at being left behind—scared of getting himself horribly lost in a palace this large—and taking the seat next to Ryuuji.

Many, many courses of feasting foods lay spread across the table, turkey, chicken, and meats of all sorts. Vegetables, soups, rice, fruits, breads, and wines. . . it was unbelievable. Noa had never imagined seeing so much food in once spot in his life. He looked up to Ryuuji carefully, and only found that his reaction was to be that of someone that saw this life everyday, which should have been expected.

Noa's own eyes sparkled with delight, as a woman poured a large glass of wine for the aqua haired boy, and then for Ryuuji. Noa thanked her kindly, bowing his head and setting a napkin in his lap. Ryuuji chuckled at him. "You don't have to thank her, it's what she's here for."

Noa frowned, and shook his head. "But she deserves to be thanked for what she does for your family, does she not?"

After a silent moment, Ryuuji nodded to him. "Yes, that she does."

Not too long after, the rest of the royal family were soon to join in on the feast, and in not a moment's time, each person had begun on their own plate.

- - -

After each person was excused from their meal, Ryuuji set out to take Noa somewhere. He tilted his head down to the boy's ear, lips nearly brushing against the careful curves as his breath spoke softly to him. "I want to show you my favourite spot," He murmured.

Noa blushed furiously at how close Ryuuji was to him, breath hitching for just a moment. He nodded, not about to disobey anything or any wish that the young prince wanted. With a loud laugh Ryuuji swiped his arms behind Noa's back to pull the other into his arms, holding him up bridal style. The aquamarine haired younger squeaked loudly, not ready for something like that as he held tightly onto Ryuuji's cloak in fear of being dropped.

Ryuuji chuckled low in his throat, kissing the top of his slave's head. "I'm not going to hurt you, don't worry." He grinned, and began to head off in the direction of a large garden, the one that could only be seen from Ryuuji's windows.

It was now nightfall, and it was quite difficult to see all of the designs and flowers and things in the garden in the night, though the lights from the large palace illuminated the garden just as well. Lining a sidewalk, there were small stone benches for one to sit and think to themselves, blocking out the world around them. In the center of the vast garden was a large fountain, flowers shaping its center and water pouring into four pools that progressively became larger and larger.

Carefully, the prince set the boy down to the ground and on his feet, taking his hand instead to lead the other along with himself. He pulled them into the heart and center of one of the outlying side rose gardens, where there was a patch of grass, just beneath where you could spot the moon.

Sitting himself down on the grass and letting his black robes fall around his lanky form, the prince grinned up at the other, whose face was showing quite nicely in the light that came from mother moon. His grin turned into a soft smile now, and he gently pulled Noa down to sit next to him. Noa did so quite willingly, his eyes sparkling as his attention was on the moon herself.

"This is my favourite spot," Murmured the prince as he stared quietly at Noa, the corners of his mouth playing at a smile. Turning his head to stare up at the moon with his companion, he continued. "I've taken some time off ever since I was very young to stare up at the moon here, in this spot. It's so quiet. It's perfect."

Noa nodded to show the other boy that he was indeed listening to him as he spoke. The prince's voice was entrancing, intoxicating. He could listen to the man's calm voice for hours, content. He smiled to the other now, and their attention was on each other's company once again, and not that of the moon.

The smaller of the two of them watched as Ryuuji let out a loud happy sigh, stretching himself and laying back on the grass in a catlike manner. He giggled at that, watching Ryuuji's beautiful ebony hair pool out beneath the crown of his head, as his green eyes sparkled like jewels under the moon's light.

"I wish I had had a place to sneak off to when I was younger," He murmured, not only in an attempt to begin conversation, but it had reminded him of some instances.

"Why is that?"

"My family was quite poor, just like my father is now. My mother was quite scary, and she would get very angry frequently. She liked to tell me that she did not understand how someone could love a child like me. I still, to this day, am not entirely sure what it is that I did wrong. She was a drunk."

Ryuuji frowned at that, no longer letting himself lay comfortably on the grass, and lifting himself up to sit.

"Sometimes I just wanted somewhere to run to." He said with a weak smile over his face. Ryuuji tilted his head to the side. "It was then when I used to wish I were you."

"Wish. . . you were me. . .?" Ryuuji's brow furrowed in question. "Why was that?"

"You are the prince. I never thought that anything went wrong for you. To me, your life was wonderful. Everything was grand, and I wished I could be like that. Wished that I wasn't poor, and that I could eat dinner with my family each night." He confessed carefully. "That is why I knew it was you when I saw you come to our little shop."

Ryuuji smiled a bit, careful not to say anything that would further hurt the other's feelings in such a tense situation. His hands played mindlessly with the green grass beneath his slim fingers, and he was picking out little portions of it without even noticing his actions. His eyes were on Noa, concerned for the other's being.

Noa's sapphire eyes soon met his own with a grin. "But that's alright. That was a long, long time ago. I barely remember those times. Just as I cannot remember anything from before I was five."

At this, the other frowned. "You cannot remember them?"

"There are many portions of my childhood that I do not remember anymore. As if. . . the memories had been intentionally wiped away." He shrugged. "It's alright. I don't really want to remember."

"I understand," He commented softly, moving himself so he was a bit closer to Noa, and letting himself stare up at the moon yet again that night. "Mm. . . what I have left of my own childhood was lovely. I dare say, I miss those days."

This made Noa laugh. "Oh? Why is that?"

"Well, nothing was wrong. There were no pressures of being a prince, no decisions to be made for a large country's well being. It was pretty care free. All I cared about was trying to catch a butterfly for my mother when she was sick." He laughed. "Soon, however, the butterfly moved on without me, and my mother was healed by a nice healer from the country of Qin."

Noa smiled softly. "That is nice to hear. We were not able to save my mother when she died—we did not have the money to pay a mage or a healer to help her. She may have scared me. . . but she was still my mother. I still miss her dearly."

Ryuuji nodded understandingly to the other's speaking. "That is understandable, she helped to raise you, right?"

"Yes. . . though I still cannot remember. I have dreams every once in a while, but they seem so strange, I never really try to remember or decipher them." He yawned a bit, leaning his head on the black haired prince's shoulder and closing his eyes. "Mostly nightmares. . . of wars. Horrible wars."

This made Ryuuji's soft smile fall. "Wars? But. . . would you have seen a war? There has never been such bloodshed in our calm lands. . ." He shifted a bit, moving to lay down and to pull Noa's resting head to his chest, not wanting to disturb his comfort too much.

"That is the part that I do not understand," Noa admitted. "I do not remember having seen any war. . ."