Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day outside, and Kalbris Verdigris was happily looking forward to doing something he knew he wasn’t supposed to.
As the prince of a coastal nation known for its beautiful beaches and incredible culture, he couldn’t help but want to get outside. After all, the sun was shining, the city was bustling with activity and life, the seagulls were calling triumphantly whilst they stole food from the market stalls, and best of all, today he was going to hang out with his best friend. The only problem with that was his bodyguard, who would never have let him come outside in his current disguise.
Right now, Kal wasn’t a prince, and had never been. Instead, he played the role of a common boy strolling through town without a care in the world. Otherwise, he couldn’t imagine the stares he would get from curious townsfolk. He’d come up with a solution to this problem years ago: Hildebert Brewer. A cocky, charismatic performer who looked and acted absolutely nothing like him. Naturally, though, if his overbearing bodyguard found out he was leading this life, he’d never be allowed to leave the palace on his own again. So he would keep the secret, and as long as none of the wrong people knew, he could continue to enjoy the sunny days he spent in the capital.
Exposition aside, however, he didn’t expect today to be very high-stakes. All Hildebert had planned was meeting with his favorite person and getting lunch at—
Oh, hey!
His wandering thoughts were cut short by a surprising sight. The bodyguard in question was sparring with some other palace guards in an open space that happened to be right in Hildebert’s path of travel. More importantly, Ramon had friends.
Ramon Mendoza, Kal’s bodyguard, was a man of few words. He wasn’t the type to value making new connections very highly, nor to express admiration or affection readily, so he was a man of few friends, too. The few he did value, though, he valued more than anything else. After having known him for a few months, Kal had somehow been lucky enough to become one of those people; though he could be offputting to those who weren’t familiar with him, Kal thought nothing but highly of him.
Apparently Kal wasn’t the only one who respected him so, if he’d gotten familiar enough with some of the armor-clad soldiers to train with them, as could be implied by the tactfully used (but mostly harmless) pole in his hand. Not to mention his opponent on the ground, laughing despite their clear exhaustion. Though it was still spring, the country was close enough to the Center Line— a demarcation believed to be the horizontal center of the planet, and known for its hot climates— that it couldn’t be pleasant wearing armor in the already rising heat. Ramon wore the exertion well, though. His heavy exhales and sweaty brow complimented his victorious stance.
That in combination with his striking purple eyes, muscular body, and well-arranged face, one could even say he was attractive enough for Hildebert Brewer to flirt with on a whim.
It was incredibly in character, but the thought still made Kal laugh. Ramon would absolutely complain about it later; that knowledge only made the temptation stronger, and by the time he’d decided to execute the plan, he was nearly close enough to Ramon to pull it off. In his head, Kal apologized in advance. This was just something he knew Hildebert would do. Who was he to get in the way of a good show?
As he passed his target, Hildebert whistled in Ramon’s direction, long and low.
Some of the guards snickered. Ramon himself simply turned his head, almost surprised, and met his confident gaze with a look that soon turned into a suspicious glare. Hildebert blew him a kiss as he went past, and kept walking like nothing had happened, albeit with slightly quicker steps.
Sure, leading a double life may be considered by some— bodyguards past, in particular— to be a safety risk, but it was the ability to make moments like this that convinced Kal it was more than worth it. He considered telling his friend about it when they met, but relentless questioning would probably make him regret it, so he kept the enjoyment to himself. The walk to the tavern was a short one, but gave him plenty of time to cringe at himself for what he’d done. The laughter, on the other hand, was well worth the embarrassment.
When he arrived at the tavern, it was strangely empty. Only a handful of tables were filled, and though the groups there made plenty of conversation, it felt quiet to Hildebert. He was usually here on weekends, where he’d supposedly earn a part of his income by performing for the boisterous patrons; any time he came here to spend time with someone, he couldn’t help but feel something was missing. He certainly wasn’t using his disguise to lay low, but it was enough of a contrast to the hermit-like persona the public knew as Kal that it had never presented him with much risk.
With the lack of people, it didn’t take long for him to spot Rio’s eyes meeting his own. Her face lit up with excitement as though she hadn’t seen Hildebert in years (it had been around a day or two) and he exclaimed with a near yell, “Starface!!”
Adrian, better known as Rio, was a tall teen around Hildebert’s age. He wore his long, flaxen hair in a ponytail that brushed his waist in its abnormally stationary position. Under usual circumstances, it swayed with her unceasing movement. As Hildebert never hesitated to declare, they’d been friends for over six years, and in that time it was far more common to see her sprinting, jumping, or dancing in place than sitting.
Rio had also somehow come up with the nickname "starface" in that time, and hardly ever called him his own name since.
“Hey, Rio!” In the years they’d known each other, Hildebert had grown comfortable with his loud enthusiasm. He strided over to the table at which she now stood— a booth towards the side of the room, which they’d met at more times than Hildebert could count— and readily accepted the hug which Rio offered with a grin.
Apparently a day had been far too long to wait for him. Her excitement, however, was more prolonged than usual. That could only mean one thing.
“I have a draft for you, by the way! It turned out so much better than I thought it would. I changed a few things from what I’d talked to you about, but honestly…” Rio kept talking about the long-awaited story as she dug through her stuffed leather bag. Hildebert sat across from her, and eagerly accepted the pile of papers presented to him.
The front page was dominated by a title written in messy handwriting, Cherry Blossom Days. He wasn’t surprised. Rio had been writing professionally for around a year now, and every title of the books he’d published had something to do with flowers. Hildebert still wasn’t sure why; it was one of the few things she hadn’t told him about. This novel in particular was based on one of the societies on the newly discovered Eastern Continent, so Rio had done an impressive amount of research— she’d taught Hildebert a lot of what he knew so far about the new land, actually— and in the process, had become especially fascinated with a flowering plant known as the cherry blossom tree.
Before he could keep musing for long over the intriguing title, Rio asked him, “So what do you think?”
“I think it’s going to be an amazing read,” he replied with a matching grin. He loved editing Rio’s manuscripts, especially since this meant he could get an exclusive look at her next story for no cost. Not to mention, the pride on his face was well earned; even his manuscripts immersed Hildebert like few other stories could.
“Are you two going to order anything or not?”
“Oh, hey Chai!” Hildebert turned his head to see a server had appeared behind him. “Just pineapple juice for me, thanks.”
“And for you, oh beautiful one?” Rio giggled, at least partly out of nervousness. Hildebert still couldn’t tell whether this was simply an inside joke, or if Chai was actually flirting with her, no matter how many times he witnessed it. He was almost afraid to ask.
“Same here, if that’s alright,” he replied with a weak smile.
“You got it!” Chai left, leaving Hildebert with plenty of questions in her wake.
He turned to Rio, with a look he could only hope was smug. It seemed sufficient, and before he could present any probing inquiries, she blurted, “I am going to do something about that, I promise!”
“Sure,” said Hildebert with a sly smile.
This had been going on for weeks, but at least he finally had an answer to the question that had been bothering him most. That only left a few more to investigate. Unfortunately, he knew Rio would be avoiding them as much as he possibly could, so he didn’t say anything more on the subject.
How ironic, for an author of romance novels to be so unskilled with flirting.
“Oh my goodness, she’s so oblivious the whole time, too! It takes nearly six chapters for her to even realize Ushi has feelings for her,” Rio said, legs swinging back and forth as he sipped his pineapple juice. This was only her third glass. Considering how long they’d been there, Hildebert was impressed.
“There’s no way. And even after all the hints? Even after the kiss?”
“Yep. She’s a bit insufferable to write sometimes, in all honesty, but it’s so funny from an outside perspective. I would’ve caught on by chapter three. Clemence, I missed writing fools like her.”
“Well, chapter three seems a bit generous.”
The two laughed. They’d been talking like this for hours, long enough that lunch had come and gone. When Kal had arrived at the tavern, his crudely made dial had read around 9:30. It still seemed to him like hardly an hour had passed, even now.
Just then, a boisterous noise came from the entrance to the tavern, drawing Hildebert’s attention. A group of guards had entered the tavern to shelter from the heat, following what according to them was rigorous training. Among them was a familiar face: Ramon. Luckily for him, none of the soldiers had noticed him watching yet. Not quite so luckily, Rio had, and she was intrigued.
“What are we looking at?” She turned to see the newly arrived patrons, eyes void of recognition. For now, this meant little to her.
Still, Hildebert knew he wasn’t getting out of this without satisfying his curiosity. He briefly explained the situation, excluding Ramon’s actual identity. After all, if Rio found out he had flirted with his bodyguard, even just for fun, she would lose her mind. Unsurprisingly, even without the full story Rio was now irreversibly invested.
“There’s no way you’re going to pass up this opportunity,” he gravely remarked.
Hildebert sighed. “I suppose I do have to finish what I started now, don’t I… Alas, what work…”
“What are you waiting for? Time is of the essence, Hildebert!” Rio covered his mouth with one hand, barely stifling a giggle.
Winking at Rio as he stood, Hildebert left the booth and sauntered over to where Ramon had sat down at the bar. As expected, all he had in front of him was water.
“Isn’t this a surprise.”
Ramon turned to face him, eyes flashing with recognition and narrowing in an instant. He said nothing, just stared at Hildebert, shoulders tense. Hildebert, undeterred, took a seat next to him. He heard other guards whispering to each other nearby as they joked and bragged about meaningless things. He’s certainly not making much effort to fit in. I’m glad.
“Seeing you again, I mean. Although a soldier choosing a non-alcoholic drink at a tavern, and water no less, is certainly a new one to me as well.”
No response.
“Well, I suppose I’m doing all the talking here. No worries, talking is one of the things I do best!” He flashed Ramon a confident smile, though he was sure all that would do is irritate him.
“What do you want with me?” Ramon finally spoke. His voice was cold and empty. Hildebert finally feigned mock offense, putting a hand up to his heart and gasping.
“Deities forbid I want to talk to a beautiful stranger!” He hummed with thought, itching to keep the conversation moving. “Although, I suppose I could invite you to something while I’m here. Do you have any interest in music, by any chance?”
“I’m busy, sorry.” Ramon’s foot had started tapping. A small movement, but enough for Hildebert to notice in his peripheral.
“Aw, but I haven’t even told you the details!”
“Still busy.”
Hildebert sighed with exaggerated disappointment. “If your packed schedule ever happens to free up, me and my favorite people will be spending time at the beach two days from now, sometime around 3 hours past noon.”
“Hm.”
“That’d be near the docks down the street from here, but if you don’t want to ask for directions, we do perform here on weekends…”
“Oh really.” Finally, Hildebert had gotten him intrigued! He had started to worry he’d leave without anything to show for his efforts, and while he wouldn’t have minded letting Ramon be, he knew Rio would be much more entertained by a tale than a single scene. He almost sighed with relief, knowing he wouldn’t disappoint.
“Yes, really! I’m in a band, you know. We’re quite popular— well, not nationally or anything, but the taverngoers love us. It’s a fun time, I promise,” he said with delight. Performative nature of his persona aside, Hildebert really did love talking about his band.
“Interesting,” Ramon remarked. His voice held noticeably less disdain than before.
“Of course it is! You didn’t really think I’d come over here just to flirt with you, did you? I’m much more entertaining than that.” His chest puffed with triumph, because really, any stranger getting Ramon to be less hostile could only be described as a victory. Especially such an arrogant person as Hildebert; he was surprised he’d even gotten any words to come out of the man’s mouth at all.
“Well, I’ll consider it.”
If Hildebert was surprised at his success before, then that might just have sent him into shock.
Kal and Ramon were both back in the palace, conversing in the lavish bedroom of his quarters. It was Kal’s turn to use the sink, so he was cleaning his mouth with a superbly crafted toothbrush he almost felt unworthy of, in addition to an unpleasant mixture of saltwater and coconut oil. The discovery of coconut oil’s medicinal properties from trade with the new continent had certainly alleviated the harsh taste of the salt, but he couldn’t help but gag sometimes at the strange new texture. Thus, he attempted to scrub his teeth as quickly as possible, and hoped Ramon’s chatter would distract him enough to get through the process without complication.
“Oh yeah, something odd happened while I was in town today.”
Excited to hear his account of the day’s events, Kal raised his eyebrows.
The corner of the other boy’s mouth twitched slightly. “Apparently I was performing well enough during training that not only did a commoner wolf-whistle at me, but when we happened to be in the same place later—”
Kal yanked his toothbrush out of his mouth, and spit out the remaining spitty saltwater with so much enthusiasm, Ramon almost seemed to startle. “THEY DID WHAT?!”
“Let me finish,” Ramon said with a huff of amusement. “When we were at the same place for lunch, he invited me to meet him at the beach on Thursday.”
“Whoa, looks like someone’s got himself a date. Are you planning on going?”
“...Probably not.” At the mention of a date, Ramon’s expression hardened. Hildebert wouldn’t be his kind of partner, I suppose. Although, I don’t really know what his kind of partner even is.
Still, Kal didn’t plan on backing down just yet. “Aw, but you could make friends there! And you can tell me all about it afterwards!” Just the thought of Ramon making friends with Hildebert’s social group tempted him to laugh.
His anti-social bodyguard, however, was not as convinced. “I already have friends.”
“Well, true, but having a few new ones could be fun. And maybe, just maybe, you could have—” he gasped dramatically— “a good time in a social environment!”
“I will be bored if I have nothing to do after I visit my parents, I guess.”
“That’s the spirit!”
“Surely you aren’t this invested already in some no-name’s advances?”
“You’ve got to admit though, if they’re towards you, he must have interesting tastes.” That got Ramon to chuckle. “I’m very curious about how this will go.”
The two were silent for a moment, Ramon seemingly considering his choices. Kal got the feeling Ramon was only considering the possibility to humor him; he didn’t mind much, though, so long as he saw the outcome.
“I’ll have to think about it more,” he finally said. Knowing Ramon, that was as far as Kal’s persuasion was going to get. And while he still wouldn’t be shocked if Ramon chose not to go, Kal smiled knowing he could have a story of his own to bring back to Rio when they next met.
“Oh, and aren’t you supposed to be brushing your teeth?”
“Aw man…”