Chapter 47: Good night

The fireplace.

He was talking about his fellow knights.

Laughter grazed the landscape at that exact moment, reminding Izaya just how tempting the idea was. The peaceful sensation of just sitting among Shizuo's knights was no bad offer. Just thinking about the kind of topics these dorks were discussing made Izaya smile.

"You are making a bad habit of showing off your wife to your knights. I'm not sure if I like that," Izaya argued and a hint of surprise flashed across Shizuo's expression. Faster than Izaya thought he counted two and two together. "You heard them?"

As loud and boisterous as the group had been?

"How could I not? Alaric is quite the flirter, isn't he?" Approaching any woman with half the confidence his words held would support more men than were currently present.

A soft chuckle was given but Shizuo shook his head. "Don't let him fool you with his words. He has seven sisters. Raised them all by himself too. I think his direct approaches are rather a habit than actual advances."

Seven.

The number itself was amazing- but the implication that their mother died during the birth of the last was high. Trying to not dive any deeper into what seemed to be a topic too personal to be discussed like this Izaya quickly hummed. "Sounds like a convenient excuse."

Shizuo shrugged, "He just likes to flatter. Confidence is a fleeting sensation in most women and I think he just wants to give them some. If a woman expressed even the slightest hint of discomfort he would probably be the first to notice and apologize."

A knight in shining armor, huh?

"I would have never guessed," Izaya could somewhat get behind his idea. Praising his sisters and encouraging them in everything they did was an act that only seemed natural to him. He didn't see anything wrong continuing doing so no matter their age.

Turning those same compliments to strangers seemed more like flirting than encouragement, but Izaya could see what Alaric was aiming to accomplish. It also explained the way he expressed himself so carefully compared to Craigh.

A soft smile grazed his lips as he thought about his sisters. The icy clench on his heart still remained as their whereabouts were still unknown, but the chance to find them had increased by far.

Again the peacefully loud melody of laughter mixing with licking flames of fire reached the carriage.

The knights were having quite the pleasant evening it seemed.

"You already set up a camp?" Izaya whispered, trying to ignore the soft sensation of itch at the back of his throat. Another cough was sitting there ready to slay the mood and Izaya knew better than to move in an elaborate fashion.

Shizuo noticed none of it and quickly nodded, "We rode through day and night to get as far as we did today. A break is the least I can give them."

Ah.

Right.

Izaya cringed.

Only for him. A queen that wasn't even a real one.

Torn between feeling grateful and pretentious, Izaya couldn't quite decide which emotion to follow.

"So?" Shizuo asked, reigniting his earlier offer of having Izaya join them at their fireplace.

Not the best option. Feeling his expression slip, Izaya couldn't quite hide the concern about the knights' opinion on the topic.

"After having them ride nonstop for my sake?" he whispered, but Shizuo wasn't willing to hear any of that.

A shrug was given and the king rose from his seat to open the door. "They have experienced worse," he announced with convincing confidence and Izaya snorted.

Right.

They were knights.

The had fought for their lives, protected others with a similar fervor and seen cruelty of a kind Izaya probably wasn't even able to imagine.

It was funny, but his concern had obviously been baseless. Riding through a single day and night was probably but a pebble on the roads these men had been striding on.

Guilt taken away successfully, Izaya sighed before pushing the top layer of his blanket off his frame.

If it was just about his desire, then yes, he really did want to become part of that group again. Not only had it proved an amazing distraction but it had also spiked his curiosity. He wanted to learn more about the people that were willing to give their lives for Shizuo. About who the king viewed as family. What did they like? What did they hate? What did they strive for at the end of their service?

And of course he longed for stories.

Eyes flickering upwards he couldn't quite hide a smile from sneaking onto his lips.

Stories about Shizuo and his deeds. His slip ups. Just anything about him, really.

Taking the hand he pushed himself from the makeshift bed- and the cough that had been sitting at the back of his throat like an assassin waiting to strike finally got its chance.

At first it was just a quiet one, one that cleared Izaya's throat in a not exactly unpleasant way. But then another followed- another- and another-

Expression falling and smile disappearing from Shizuo's eyes the king rushed quicker to Izaya's aid than Izaya's ability to breathe.

Because suddenly he couldn't anymore.

Quite like a tire stuck in a pit on the road Izaya felt the pressure needed to move his damned chest- but the execution was one he couldn't fulfill. Cough after cough wrecked Izaya's body and Izaya's eyes squeezed shut with force as he tried to suppress the onslaught of pain. But he couldn't-

To Shizuo it was as though the current reality broke into pieces.

He had already seen Izaya like this before.

On the stairs to the castle. When he found him collapsed and still thought him to be a woman.

Wheezes and frowns of pain overwhelmed Izaya quicker than Shizuo could follow and his heart sank. Shizuo reached for Izaya's body, for his back, his arm- he didn't know what to do, all he could do was sit and watch as Izaya's body shook and went clammy and cold.

"Izaya-" but Izaya wasn't even looking at him.

As if on cue he remembered what Izaya had told him back at the castle. The one time he led him to their watchtower. Shizuo had told him about illusionary dragons and Izaya about how sometimes he thought he was going to die when his body resisted to breathe and somehow Shizuo's lips moved on their own.

"It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."

He didn't really know where the words were coming from, nor had he properly contemplated their contents, yet they flowed. Easily, like honey water on a sore throat Shizuo's lips continued moving in soft encouragement. "Just a second, you will be able to breathe, okay? It's going to be okay, Izaya."

Calm and soothing Shizuo's voice reverberated inside the small space of the carriage.

Izaya could hear it of course. Even though the haze and slight assault of panic grazing his mind he could hear him. Calm. Much calmer than he would have expected the king to react.

As if he had never done anything else.

But it helped.

In the way it served as an anchor in the black sea he was drowning in and Izaya held onto him for dear life.

And sooner than Izaya expected them to, the coughs subsided. Slowly, but surely.

The stabbing pain that they left in his chest remained, but so did the fresh air that suddenly filled his lungs again.

Tears had sprung to Izaya's eyes and upon opening them again a single one dropped to soak the blanket.

Shizuo was right there. As close as he could be.

Soothing patterns were drawn on Izaya's arm and back and the sweet whispers seemed to have no intention to stop.

Like a blanket of caramel and honey Shizuo's voice mantled Izaya's mind.

And yet…

Gaze locked at the blanket beneath Izaya's palms he couldn't quite fail to see the weak grip he had on the fabric. He had clutched it with all his might. Which appeared to be laughable.

His wrists were hanging loosely, his body weak and the grasp on the piece of cloth a fucking joke. He was pretending to be a queen, a woman, but he was a man at the end of the day. A brother, a possible successor to the duke's mansion- or at least he should have been. But at the end of the day? He proved to be none of that.

Neither a successor, nor a good brother.

He hated it.

Silence occupied the small space as Shizuo's chant of calmth had subsided and knightly laughter filled the air again.

"I will rest."

Izaya's announcement came awfully harsh and cold compared to the fear he must have felt just a second before. Gaze unsure, Shizuo couldn't help but frown a bit.

"Are you sure?" His wife still failed to meet his gaze and somehow that fact irked him more than the coughs.

A soft sigh followed, and then it was there. A smile.

"Sorry, I don't really feel like sitting down to talk with anyone right now." A smile so blatantly fake Shizuo knew better than to pry.

A moment of silence passed. It was the kind of silence Izaya took as confirmation of his wishes. And a second later Shizuo moved to the entrance of the carriage.

He closed it.

But with his own self still inside.

Confusion marked Izaya's expression as the king walked back over, just to regain his previous seat right next to Izaya.

Hands were crossed and parts of his armor tossed to the ground.

"... Shizuo?" Izaya found himself asking, and the king merely shrugged.

"I don't really feel like talking to my knights either."

He didn't-

For a second Izaya wasn't quite sure how to react to the statement, but his body was quicker to decide than he was and a snort pried its way from his lips.

"Liar." That was definitely not the reason he stayed.

But no complaint followed, nor did Shizuo try to explain himself.

Grasping the ridge of the blanket he merely covered Izaya in the places that had been laid bare upon his coughs.

"Sleep," he announced with a voice of milk and honey, "You need it."

Shizuo was speaking nothing but the truth.

Sleep was something that Izaya truly needed. Despite all the rest he had already gotten. But how was he supposed to sleep with the king this close?

"Your eyes are open." Shizuo scolded a second later and Izaya sighed.

"So are yours."

"Alright."

Confused, Izaya watched the king as he crossed his arms in front of his body. Seemingly moving his limbs into the most comfortable position he had closed his eyes just as Izaya had told him to.

Mild stupor grasped Izaya before he understood that Shizuo was pulling a child's play on him. He was executing what he asked Izaya to in order to make him comply.

Izaya had felt down, really, and his conscience and fatigue paired with the fever were doing a pretty desperate job to keep him that way, but how could he when he was offered such a funny sight?

"You are such an idiot sometimes." Izaya sighed with the slightest smile grazing his lips.

But Shizuo remained silent.

He didn't budge, he didn't complain.

Which made sense since he didn't want to entertain Izaya, but to have him rest.

Eyes flickering to the small window, Izaya couldn't help but notice the sky. Its darkness, clarity, but also its stars.

Aligning beautifully in a picture made by gods he couldn't help but feel as though he had returned to the fireplace after all.

Just that the fireplace came to him this time.

A single glance was cast towards the king and for a few moments Izaya merely watched how Shizuo's chest rose and fell.

Easily.

Steadily.

Almost as if he had already fallen asleep himself.

It was funny. He had discarded Shizuo's behavior as stupid- yet he couldn't help but feel his own eyes' lids grow heavy at the sight of the relayed king.

Closer than ever, in more ways than one, Izaya closed his own eyes with a soft sigh on his lips. Just when his head had leant against Shizuo's arm was something even Izaya couldn't tell, but what he could feel was the way Shizuo moved. He shifted, just barely, to make room for his queen and provide more comfort, without pulling away.

And somehow that action was just so… comforting.

Warm.

And safe.

To be continued~

Damn. I feel like every chapter is drenched more and more in fucking diabetes xDDDDDD I might die from the sugar dose one of these days xDDD