The setting sun painted the ocean in a wash of a pinks and yellow. Sinbad slumped back against the ravished pillar, his gaze skittering between the ocean Proteus was intently watching, and Proteus. Tilting his head back, he rested against the sun-warmed marble, letting his eyes drift shut.
"Leave with me." He whispered the words, only letting them fall out now, outside of Syracuse's royal court's hearing. He had said some variation of them before when he was younger, full of anger and spirit. Run away with me. He wondered if Proteus caught the difference now. The finality of the words. He hoped he did, and he hoped it would be enough to convince Proteus to leave this time.
As they had aged, their friendship had changed into something that Syracuse wouldn't support. And trapped in Syracuse, neither of them could sate their hunger for the sea. Sinbad and Proteus needed the sea as much as they needed each other, and Syracuse would never let them have it.
Proteus sighed, his gaze still firmly on the sea. "Haven't you given up on that, Sin?"
His shoulder's drooped. If Proteus had heard the finality, he had ignored it. "Childish notions, right?"
Something in his voice must have made Proteus rethink his comment. Sinbad could feel his gaze turn to him, and kept his own eyes shut. He didn't want to see whatever expression he wore. He wasn't sure he could keep his own façade on if he was looking at Proteus.
"Sinbad." Proteus whispered the name like a caress.
Sinbad shook his head, listening to the sound of the waves on the shore. He was a fool to think he could have them both.