Disclaimer: I own the dog.
A/N: Okay, I lied. There will be one more chapter after this one. Another story that ran away from me. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Oliver dashed down the hall, calling out to Helga as she entered her room. "HELGA, hold on, I need to talk to you."
The woman smiled brightly at the small Frenchman, dark eyes bright with happiness. "Of course Oliver. Won't you come in? I'm sure that I have some nice wine in here. Robert always makes sure that my room. He takes such good care of me."
The green haired man rolled his eyes, smile never leaving his face. "I'd love too, but I have to speak with Johnny before I head to bed. I just wanted to let you know that Robert wants to speak with you. Do you know where his room is?"
Helga nodded, her smile widening even further. "Of course. Gustav gave me directions when I first got here. I'll go speak with him in a moment. I need to take my hair down before my headache gets any worse."
Oliver bowed down. "Okay. Have a good evening my lady." He waited until she had closed her door before running back down the hall and around the corner where Johnny and Rei were waiting, trying desperately not to start laughing.
The Scotsman pulled his lover close, lavender eyes brimming with tears of hilarity. "Taking her hair down. Gods, I haven't heard such an excuse in a long time. More like she's slipping into something kinky but tasteful, that she thinks will lure Robert into her bed."
Rei snorted, trying to stop his laughter. "The only way that would happen is if she managed to sprout a penis. And that would only work if she managed to change into Bry." He shuddered. "And now I'm going to have nightmares about her turning into Bryan. Okay, I'm going to run up there and tell Bry that she's coming up so he can get Robert in the shower. I'll swing by your room after."
The three men parted ways.
Rei knocked on the door to Bryan and Robert's room, glancing down the hall. The door swung open and he slipped into the room, golden eyes sweeping over the room. Bryan was wearing a pair of low slung black pants and a royal blue robe was hanging off his shoulders, revealing a tattoo of a sitting gryphon just over the arch of his hip. "Where's Robert?"
The Russian jerked his head towards the bathroom door that was partially open. "He's just getting ready to shower. Is she going to be coming up soon?"
The neko-jin nodded. "Yep. She should be up here in a couple of minutes. Just keep him in there long enough to make sure that he doesn't hear any of the conversation."
Bryan smirked, silver eyes burning with a feral light. "Don't worry Rei. He always takes a long shower when he's stressed. He's not in any danger of coming out early."
"Okay. Scare her as much as possible. Tell me how it goes tomorrow. Have a good night." Rei stretched up and kissed the Russian on the cheek before sauntering down the hall.
Helga stopped outside the door of Robert's room and adjusted the neckline of her robe to show the lace that decorated the top of her nightgown. Normally she wouldn't have come to Robert's room wearing such little clothing, but she couldn't help but believe that the nobleman was finally going to tell her how he felt.
They had met when they were teens and she had instantly fallen for the silent teen. However, between Robert's Beyblading and his constant traveling for other things, she never got to see much of him. When he had come to her to ask if she would be in charge of planning all his parties for him she had nearly died of shock. Helping him in his social life had been a dream of her since they had met.
She gently knocked on the door and toyed with the sash on her robe, feeling nervous. From inside the room she could hear someone putting down their book and padding across the stone floor. The door slowly opened and her voice died in her throat when she saw who was opened the door.
Bryan stared down at the woman, silver eyes dispassionate. "Can I help you with something?"
"Can I speak to Robert?" Helga took a step back, dark eyes sweeping over the Russian. Her mouth opened in shock when she saw the gryphon tattoo on his hip that matched the gryphon on the ring that encircled his left ring finger. "Why are you here?"
The Russian smirked down at the woman. "You're a smart woman. I'm sure you can figure it out. Or are you going to pretend that your precious Robert isn't into men and that this whole situation isn't what it seems?"
Helga was about to answer when Robert came out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of grey pants as he toweled his hair dry. "Falke, about the party nex-" The noble's voice dropped off when he saw Helga at the door. "Helga, how can I help you?"
The woman's gaze drifted to the other man and she blushed when she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. She clutched her robe tighter with one hand, unable to look away from the noble. "I wanted to talk to you, but since Bryan is here, it can wait until tomorrow."
The German turned his gaze on his mate who was looking far too innocent and was trying to hard not to smirk. He slipped a shirt on before crossing the room to look up at his lover, suspicion burning in his eyes. "Bryan Kuznetsov, do you have something to do with this?"
Bryan smiled down at the shorter man, fingers on one hand stroking lightly over his tattoo. "Of course not. Why would I want the woman who has been lusting over you for so long up here? If she's around then I can't really do anything unmentionable to you."
Helga frowned at Bryan, dark eyes angry. "How dare you suggest that I've been lusting after Robert! We've been friends since we were teenagers. I'm not like you, some harlot who seduces rich men because they're some homicidal maniac that can't get a job because he's been brainwashed and was part of a plot to take over the world!"
The Russian straightened up, silver eyes burning with rage. "Woman, if you wish to live, don't ever suggest that I sleep with people for money. And as for ending up with Robert, that was never my intention. I was stealing things so I could make my way to Russia to tell Kai how I felt about him. I hadn't meant to steal from Robert and I certainly had no plans to end up in bed with him, let alone in a serious relationship. Fuck, he was on the bottom of the list of people I ever thought about getting together with."
Silence fell and Bryan finally realized what he had said. He started to apologize to his mate but stopped when he saw the anger and hurt in Robert's garnet eyes. With a soft sigh he bowed to the other man before slipping out of the room and down the hall.
Helga rested a hand on Robert's arm, dark eyes filled with compassion. "Robert, don't worry. I'm sure Bryan didn't actually mean any of that."
The German brushed the woman's hand off his arm and glared at her, eyes chilling in their emptiness. "He must have or he wouldn't have mentioned it. Go back to your room. Your presence here isn't helping or welcomed." He went back into his room and shut the door, ignoring the woman.
Bryan slipped into the kitchen, feeling like an asshole. He'd been planning on telling Robert about the whole Kai situation at some point in time. Preferably when they were in their eighties. By that time Robert wouldn't doubt him and they wouldn't have to deal with any fights. He was sorely tempted to go back upstairs and snap the little twit's neck and dump her body in a ditch in the middle of Robert's land, but he knew his mate wouldn't appreciate it and it certainly wouldn't help him get back on the noble's good side.
Corcoran got up from where he'd been sleeping by the oven and padded over to lean up against his master's legs, dark eyes on the Russian. Bryan scratched the dog's sharp ears. "I'm an ass Cor. There really isn't anyway around it. Go keep him company, someone has to keep him brooding."
The Great Dane huffed once before leaving the kitchen to go comfort his other master.
Rei entered the kitchen and stopped in shock when he saw Bryan sitting at the small table, looking like he hadn't slept all night. "How'd it go Bry?"
The Russian looked up from where he had been staring at the table. He focused on the neko-jin, silver eyes dead. "It didn't. That fucking bitch pushed me too far and I lost it. I said everything about Kai and that Robert was the last person I ever thought I would end up with. And he heard it all."
The neko-jin crossed the kitchen and sat in the chair next to his friend and rested his hand on the other man's knee. "It could have been worse."
Bryan laughed, the sound short and sharp. "No it couldn't have been. He hates me. I'm going upstairs. Don't try and find me." He got up and stalked out of the kitchen leaving Rei to stare after him, feeling like it was his fault everything had gone to hell.
Once the neko-jin couldn't hear Bryan's footsteps anymore he jumped out of his chair and dashed out of the kitchen to go fine Oliver and Johnny.
Oliver threw the door to Robert's room open, and stormed in to stand in front of his friend. The other noble was sitting on the couch with Corcoran lying across him as he stared into the empty fireplace, idly stroking the dog's ears.
The Frenchman sat on the ottoman in front of the couch, purple eyes sad. "You're killing him Robert. Rei told me that he looks like he didn't sleep last night and that he thinks you hate him. Robert, you know he loves you. Why are you so worried about this?"
Robert shrugged, eyes never leaving the fireplace. "I have no idea Oliver. Probably because Bryan was the first person that ever told me he loved me and I knew that he wasn't with me because of my money or social standing. He could care less about either of those things. My Russian is a creature of feeling."
The smaller man sighed in frustration and moved so he was standing in front of the German, forcing the other man to actually look at him. "Robert Jurgen! Stop being so damn stupid. You know that Bryan loves you, and it's obvious that you love him. Will you just forget your pride for ten seconds and go apologize to the man. At this rate, both of you are going to die from not being with each other."
The German smiled slightly. "You are right, as usual Oliver. I'll speak with him later tonight. I need a little more time to figure everything out."
When his friend didn't move Robert slid off the couch, ignoring Corcoran's huff of disappointment. He rested one hand on the smaller man's shoulder. "I promise I will. Just give me a little more time."
Oliver smiled brightly up at his friend. "Fine. See you later."
Robert poured himself a glass of brandy before settling back on to the couch, mind going to his gilt eyed lover.