The Kingmaker's Game (Invite-Only)

[Patuania]

Paras Kanatus huffed as he looked at himself in the mirror, smoothing the lapels of his suit. It was a simple black morning suit finely cut to compliment his tall fit figure, a pale blue tie fell smoothing down his large chest and disappeared into a clean gray waistcoat. He'd combed and carefully washed his short cropped red hair, and shaved. A part of him felt silly as he dressed up for a dinner, at least not one that wasn't with a foreign head of state, which this was not. He was not used to it, but he had come around to the idea of having it. After all this dinner was important to him in a different way. State dinners were always these things that he'd had to be exceedingly polite and navigate through the mental mine field that was diplomacy. He wasn't sure if he was any better for what he was preparing for tonight.

He made his way through the Parasjava Palace, the monumental building that stood like a mountain of ice in the capital, traversing the corridors with their high ceilings, like going through glacieral canyons. He was not heading to the palatial state dining room that had on rare occasions held vast dinners for hundreds of guests. Instead he made his way up the grand staircase, rising up higher and higher through the palace , till he seemed to come to a dead end. He pressed a hand to a marble tile in the wall, one that seemed no different from the rest, and a door swung open. Kanatus walked through and entered the smaller more private apartments of the Parasjava palace, home of the Paras and remains of his family.

The halls were narrower here, shorter and lined with red and gold tapersties that had belonged to his mother. The private apartments had many of the relics of previous parasi, particularly as many were relatives of Kantus himself, his mother, grandfather and great-grandfather had all ruled over the commonwealth before him, each having won the election of the Grand Assembly. Still, it was a spartan home. Kanatus and his brother Voarok had never cared for much, and with the loss of the feminine touch of their late sister, Queen Kiayon, the household of the Narikid men had grown ever colder and harsher. The Paras reached the dining room, a small and intimate room overlooking the mountains with a table set for only two.

The servants nodded their heads as he entered, standing to the side as they prepared to serve the Paras and his dining partner. Kantaus stood over the table, inspecting it to make sure that it was well set, it was, with the silverware, porcelain platters and crystal glasses are clean and shined to perfection, much to Kanatus' relief. He stood behind one of the smooth oak wood chairs, his grip tight on it as he took a breath, and looked to the door, waiting.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean held his head high as he walked swiftly through the tapestry lined halls of the Parasijava Palace, the de facto home of his over the last six months after Kanatus had given up all pretense of subtly. When the Yoyos had first arrived in icy Patuania over a year ago, Jean’s father appointed as ambassador, only Jean had known that it was truly him who was sent to Patuania, a piece on the board game of geopolitics willingly sacrificed by Andeja III.

Jean and Kanatus, they had, well Jean was not sure what they had. The balance of their relationship felt constantly in flux. At times Jean felt like little more than a play thing in the cage set around him by the Paras. And yet. One does not spend time around one another as they did without coming to understand one another. Perhaps it was not full understanding, but it was a glimpse into the greater truth of Kanatus. And in this lay the beginning of a shift of their relationship.

It had been Jean who had insisted on dinner. He had grown tired of being treated like what felt like a shameful toy. At first Jean had been too intimidated by the ruler, who was both older and physically larger than him, like great white wolf and Jean was but a pup. But he had watched him and found that Kanatus was not a particularly violent man. Perhaps he was to be feared, as all sovereigns were, but Jean was not helpless. And with that realization he felt more comfortable.

And with comfort, had blossomed warmth and ambition, both perhaps ironically planted in his chest long ago in the Celestial Empire. Which was why Jean, though still little more in fact that a great rendition of beauty and the beast, plucked and held by the Paras in his palace, still held his head high, fire he knew that beneath the beast lay a man. He was certain of that as he stepped into the dining room.

Jean wore an outfit of pale tan trousers and waistcoat that clung to his slender torso, his white dress shirt traitors to his lean form, the sleeves ended with silver cufflinks engraved with JY for Jean Yoyo. His hands were covered with short pristine white gloves. A pale blue jabot tie was perfectly ruffled around his high collar. The pale palette of the outfit contrasted with Jean’s dark brown skin and eyes, his long coiled black hair made into long box braids that he’d tied back into a loose ponytail that let the long braids fall down his back.

[Patuania]

Kanatus’ grip on his chair lessened as he saw Jean Yoyo step into the dining room. In that moment he felt his heart thumb in a definitive Ba-thump, ba-thump. Kanatus had never been good with feelings. Fucking he had down. He was a good fucker, and at times didn’t mind getting fucked. He had a long line of men who could attest to that. But feelings were not his strong suit. He had been told so quite plainly by his own brother who had been horrified by how little emotion he had shown upon the death of their sister.

Feelings were particularly difficult when it came to Jean Yoyo. He had been in a frustrated place when he’s met the younger man. Kanatus while not a man known for his emotion, was not emotionless. It was more that he was a man of extremes. He didn’t do middle of the road. When he had lusted after the hereditary prince of Gosataborg, and while they had both been attracted to each their commitment to one another could not have been more varied. Perhaps Kanatus had acted badly, looking back on it, but the prince had been just as cruel in his rebuke.

It had been, in the void of trying to get over that failed romance that Kanatus had bumped into Jean at the then Crown Prince of the Celestial Empire’s birthday ball. The Deritains were a pretty people. He was convinced there was a dark reason behind their famed beauty. There always was when it came to the Southerners. And while he had no interest in their women who schemed and plotted their way to power, even he could not resist the temptations of their men.

Jean was beautiful, a word not often used to describe men, but one Kanatus found fitting. Though slender, and even with his long hair he wasn’t particularly feminine to Kanatus. He was a different type of man than Kanatus, and proper and tight laced in a way wholly different than he was used to. He was younger than Kanatus had typically gone after, and gone after Jean he had. Perhaps too in that he had acted badly. But selfishly he did not regret doing so.

Despite it all, Kanatus had found he could not bully Jean into doing as he wished. Even here in the Parasijava the young man seem to walk confidently and calmly as if it were he who did not belong. No Kanatus could not bully this one. And he loved that. For that made him a challenge. Perhaps having seen his failures in the past, it made him all the more willing and wanting to win this young beautiful challenge that had ensnared him from the south.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean took a breath as he saw Kanatus and felt heart burned through his chest. He swallowed slightly. Jean had always like stiff tightly tailored clothing. He had never been quite sure why. Perhaps it was his nature. Perhaps it helped him feel control, as if each button and lace held him together. And he never longed for that more than when he saw Kanatus, for the man made him feel as if he were going to fall apart.

Jean had not been, and still was not nearly as well versed in love and lust as Kanatus. He had crushed on many boys and men in his twenty years of life. He remembered finding a footman in his father employ quite dashing in his formal livery as a newly minted teenager. He had even had a crush on his friend Keoni Rohan, when they had first met, that was until the film had opened his mouth. It had not been all that different when Kanatus had cornered him at that ball.

Kanatus was damnably handsome. Something he had found exceedingly surprising. Most only knew Kanatus by reputation as cruel and bigoted, monstrous and a bully. And it many ways he was all those things, He had a certain roguish look to him that both scandalized Jean and lit a flame in him. He was a chocolate encasing a thorny rose. For Kanatus was prickly and had his flaws, but he was also not wholly bad.

Even here, even now a part of Jean felt guilty for his attraction to Kanatus. Jean was fundamentally a logical person, more comfortable with books and ledgers than affairs of the heart. The frustration and mixed illogical state of his own had not further ingratiated him with such affairs. A part of him, a selfish part felt he could look past the more monstrous bits. He could like determined contractor, fix up Kanatus, smooth out his edges and enhance his potential, and remove guilt from his many mixed emotions associated with the man.

[Patuania]

Kanatus held his gaze on Jean for a moment. Then he remembered that they were to have dinner and that he was not some boy who was supposed to be lovestruck. He was one of the most powerful rulers on the continent, leading the largest country in the Borean League. Still, he moved quickly, letting go of his chair and practically dashing over the other side of the table to reach the other chair. He slowed as he took it, realized what he had done and feeling a flush of embarrassment on his pale cheeks.

The Paras stood up straight, cleared his throat, and pulled out the chair and gestured for Jean to come and take his seat.

“Please,” Kanatus said. It came out awkwardly. He was not used to asking, and he had tried to be careful not to make it sound like an order. He did not want to order him around. That would bot, he had discovered bring him victory, just as war could not always bring about one’s desired outcome in ruling. He tried for a smile, a large awkward thing that he soon quickly abandoned, feeling like monkey trying to perform at the circus. Kanatus was not a man who was used to smiling. Jean however seem to make him want to be.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean raise an eyebrow and resisted the urge to rub his arm. He had been raised to always have a sense of decorum about him, he was a Yoyo, his mother an Ardales, a friend of the most powerful man on the continent (the Emperor, not the Paras). Still he was both pleasantly surprised by Kanatus’ sense of chivalry. It was flattering and it made him want to dissolve into a pool of blushing goo, but he resisted the instinct to do so.

“So you are in possession of proper manners,” said Jean as he made his way across the dining room and to the oak chair, taking a sharp breath as he neared Kanatus. He was close enough to small man’s aftershave, and it sent shiver tingling through his limbs as he turned his back and sat down in the seat. He draped his braids of over his shoulder as he said, “careful. The rest of the world may discover that you have them.”

Despite the words themselves, Jean delivered them with a dry wit, one that had always driven Keoni back home up the wall. Jean was a calm and collected individual, most of the time, that being when not intimately around the Paras, and his humor was reflective of that. He was sarcastic and dry, his wit taking stabs that were meant to be small enough to enlighten and invoke reflection, not lasting harm.

[Patuania]

Kanatus let out the approximation of a laugh as he slid the chair back under the table with Jean in it. The words stung a little. He knew that he didn’t have the best master over politeness, at least not for long. That disaster summit with the Emperor of Nemidia and the Seoyese Cabinet had unfortunately put that well on display. He could pretend for a bit, but after a while, or particularly when his plans were foiled he found a harsher tone tended to feel more natural on his tongue.

“The rest of the world will never believe you,” Kanatus shot back as he made his way to the other end of the table, taking a seat. “After all, monsters don’t have manners.”

Kanatus took a seat in his chair and looked at Jean. The table was not very long, but it put them just out reach of one another, meant to be able to accommodate others. But there would be no one else joining themselves Kanatus’ sister was gone, and his brother had little want to be around him these days, instead drowning his sorrows in care of their niece. And Jean’s family, well, the Paras would have to be blind if he didn’t realize that the Baron Cebo Yoyo didn’t hate him. A sentiment that he suspected the rest of the Yoyo family shared.

Well, all save one. And that was the only one that matters. Kanatus tried again for a smile, this time a smaller one. His heart felt like a hummingbird in a cage. He took the cloth on the table and placed in his lap.

“I do have have them though,” Kanatus continued. “I just prefer to reserve them for those I feel are deserving of them.”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean took a deep breath as he saw Kanatus smile. It was a lot like seeing a wolf smile. Entirely unexpected, unfathomable and yet immediately enchanting. For in a flicker of a moment it shattered the image of the stern military man who loomed over the north like a shadow of winter itself. And there was something, Jean figured that was special about him catching this, this glimpse of the man and not the Paras. It was a sight not many, if any had seen. With was a pity.

“And you have come to deem me worthy of these carefully guarded manners of yours?” Jean asked as he unrolled his cloth napkin and gently placing it flat and smooth in his lap. Jean had triumphed over all his friends, even the imperial ones, in classes on etiquette. The rules and regulations of it all came exceedingly natural to him. A part of him did miss that aspect of the Celestial Court. Here in Patuania there seemed to be no rules, only power. The Parasijava despite its impressive image and name was no palace by Jean’s metric.

But then Kanatus was not a monarch, Jean considered, despite how the rest of the world might act as if he was. In many ways Patuania was a very mysterious land, amongst mystical, hidden in high mountains and frigid forests as it was. Particular for Jean whose home was a pleasant sun kissed paradise on earth with lush lands, sparkling rivers and gleaming cities. Jean, himself who had been here for over a year now was only now starting to understand how the Patuanian system of government even worked.

[Patuania]

Kanatus considered Jean’s words for a moment, a bit taken back by them. Not that they were particularly barbed, but it was a good question of his actions. He thought and wondered had he been so polite with the prince of Gosataborg? He could not recall. But then with him they had been both so quick to disregard etiquette all together that he would have had no need for manners.

With Jean however he knew that that could not be the case. The young man was made of the stuff, manners, from how he dressed to how he walked, even to how he talked, speaking with that refined accent of a southerner who undoubtedly belonged to the elites of his homeland’s society. Kanatus watched how Jean had moved with such grace and ease, even seated and merely unrolling a goddamn napkin and yet he seemed to be insulting him.

Kanatus re-smoothed his own napkin in his lap, feeling as if he had done it incorrectly the first time. Was there truly a proper way? He suspected that there was one indeed and that Jean was perhaps unintentionally giving a course in it, for he had clearly masted if. The Paras tilted his head slightly, balking his fingers into fists as he rested them on the table. “You are worthy of my affections,” Kanatus said, trying to think the words that Jean would best understand.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean raised an eyebrow at Kanatus. It was his turn to be caught off guard by Kanatus’ word choice. Kanatus, even after all these months didn’t seem like the kind of man to dole out his affections to any one in particular, that Jean knew, and more so he wasn’t the type to even use the word affection. It was so… restrained. It was odd to Jean. He kept his hand in his lap, elsewise leaving the table unmolested unlike the Paras and his firsts.

“Do you believe those to be the same thing?” There was a bit of wit in his words, but it was mostly a genuine question. Jean may be perhaps the foremost expert on all things Paras Kanatus, save perhaps for the man’s brother— though Jean was confident that even that was a toss up— that didn’t mean that he perfectly understood the man. Particularly when the matter came to such a topic as that of his apparent affections. Kanatus was often as mysterious as his country.

Jean looked at Kanatus, eager to hear his response, to further see how it was the older man thought and viewed the world. It also was no hinderance that Jean found him pleasant to look at. He focused on his face, though his eyes had briefly drop to note the suit, as opposed to the grim military uniform that the man seemed to live in. It was a good thing to know that he did not fact do so. In fact he looked rather nice in a suit. He also looked nice clean shaven, much more to Jean’s preference.

[Patuania]

Kanatus tilted his head, mirroring Jean’s look of skepticism. That was not the kind of response he had expected to come from him openly expressing his feelings towards Jean. Had he used the wrong word? No certainly not, he was no fool, certainly not when it came to language. He was the foremost curator of words in the north, his speeches and media pieces in pamphlets and newspapers had proven successful a hundred times over. No. Kanatus had not misspoken, of that he was sure.

“What do you mean,” asked Kanatus, are what both the same thing?”

Even as he said it Kanatus continued to mentally assess the question. And how had he not been clear? Jean did not, and have never struck him as the type to play dumb, the young man seemed far too proud of his own intellect and self assure in his opinions to be one to do so. Kanatus frowned at that thought and considered a second option, one that he found far more plausible with the likes of Jean’s personality.

“Why do I feel as if I have just walked into a trap?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean smiled at Kanatus’s little frown. He didn’t like seeing him drowning, he still much preferred the smile, but there was something a bit humorous about seeing the Paras pout like that. Not something one think they will ever see on the face of a fearsome dictator. And Jean could not help but take a bit of pride in knowing that he had been the one to invoke such a look on such a man as Kanatus. Most satisfying.

“I suppose that the bear does know when it has stepped into the bear trap,” Jean said, smile remaining small but ever present, as if he were truly considering the possibility of the train of thought a bear might experience should they be most unfortunate enough to find themselves caught in a bear trap.

Jean, not yet wishing to answer the first of the two questions posed by Kanatus— and no small part in spite due to Kanatus being clever enough to have posed the second of the two— turned his head and attend away from thd man across from him and to the small group of staffers who lined the wall like statues, seeming waiting for Jean or Kanatus to call upon them. At this moment Jean did just that.

“Pardon me, but can we get something to drink, I’m feeling a bit parched,” said Jean softly.

[Patuania]

Ah Ha! Thought Kanatus as Jean gave him all but his admission of guilt. That had been a trap, and had more or less been able to see it, if not side step it. The young man was clever, but so was Kanatus. He had not after all gotten to become Paras by luck. Yes he had the benefit of connections thanks to his family, but he still had had to win the position himself. Something he had worked and fought hard for.

Kanatus’ silent celebration was cut short however as Jean asked for something to drink and Kanatus cursed himself and then the servers themselves.

“Well? You heard him,” snapped Kanatus, glaring at the servers standing next to walk. The each seemed to be caught off guard, as if they had forgotten that they were there just as much as Kanatus had. With their presence suddenly center stage they threw them into trying to find the right response in the face of their Paras. They stood at attention, as if they were soldiers, one of them even saluted the seated Kanatus.

This only earned them the darling glare of Kanatus however, for the small but exceedingly key fact that they had not moved. He gritted his teeth. He was not use to having deal with the staff of the Parasijava. Kiayon had always been the one to do things like that. and he had rarely needed them since other than to fetch particular things, as he was a largely self-sufficient man with a Spartan life style.

Kanatus let out a noise of exasperation that one might be forgiven for mistaking as a growl. “Get is something to drink!” Kanatus looked back to Jean, lowering his voice to a calm level. “Wine?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean pursed his lips as his eyes dart back and forth between Kanatus and the staffers, feeling a rapidly changing degree of sympathy for each party. He hadn’t meant for Kanatus to snap at them, and for that he felt bad for them. His parents had taught him that it was always best to be cordial with the people who worked for them. People were still people regardless of rank and each deserved an appropriate amount of respect due to them. Plus, his mother had always noted, servants could easily poison the food of a cruel lord.

Admittedly some of Jean’s sympathy dissipate as they seemed to be amateurs at their task. Not for the first time he missed the Celestial Court and it’s centurions of tradition well taught and skilled staff, certainly the best in the world with only the Genoise comparable. At the Celestial Court Jean wouldn’t have had to even ask for a drink, must less consider what kind. He wasn’t sure how they did it, but they had always seemed to know exactly when and what he was in the mood for before he did. It was magical. This… was less so.

“I,” said Jean softly in response to Kanatus, “I suppose so. A glass won’t hurt. Though can I also get one with water?” Jean had been raised on the mainland of the Celestial Empire, we’re alcohol was banned. In fact first time Jean had drunken alcohol had been the night he met Kanatus in Aukusa City. He didn’t fully trust the mind altering substance, but he also couldn’t say he didn’t joy it.

[Patuania]

Kanatus nodded and shot a glare at one of servers. “Get the Dasorresan wine,” the Paras barked the order. The server unlucky enough to have been caught in the line of sight by Kanatus nodes rapidly and hurried out of the room. The server returned a few moments later, wheeling in a cart with a bucket of ice, of which the Patuanians were never in short supply of even in the heart of summer, and a bottle of wine and a glass pitcher of water.

The server, though nervous, was able to move quickly and pour mostly smoothly as he filled the Paras’ glass and one with wine and one with water for that of Jean. Kanatus huffed and straightened his tie as he looked back at Jean, pleased that that had become settled. He cleared his throat.

“Sorry. I’m not used to having guests.” Kanatus took his glass of the dark red liquid and took a long sip from the glass. The wine was good, and it made him feel a bit warmer, but did a good job to calm the rapidly beating wings of the hummingbird that was his heart at the moment. “Please, try the wine, it’s fairly good, though I’m not myself much of a wine person. It a bit sweet, though not nearly as so with your southerner drinks.”

Kanatus set down his glass and took a breath. “I’m sorry, where we?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

“Thank you,” Jean said to the server as he poured him the glasses. Jean lifted the crystal glass of wine, cradling it delicately in his hands as he lifted it to his lips and took a small sip. He had never had wine from anywhere except the Aukusa Bay Area, and there wine was enjoyed as a very sweet beverage. And though Kanatus had said that the Dasorres shared a similar set of tastebuds, Jean could not agree.

He recoiled a bit as the wine ran over his tongue and down his throat. He could feel it enter his stomach and leech into his bloodstream. Perhaps to Kanatus’ taste buds the Dasorresan might have produced a sweet wine, but to Jean’s pampered southerner ones, it was exceeding tart. He pursed his lips, trying not to cough as he gently set the glass back down.

“The difference between respect and affection,” Jean said, recovering from his silent ordeal with the wine, and recalling their conversation before Kanatus had gone all mad white wolf on the staff. “You find worthy of one but not necessarily deserving of the other. And when I pointed that out,” Jean said, pointing a gloved finger at Kanatus in a gesture of making his point, “you began to pout.”

[Patuania]

Kanatus choked on his wine, slamming his glass down and coughing into his fist as he processed Jean’s statement and a bit of the wine went down the wrong tube. He blinked as he pressed through the coughing fit and looked at Jean wide eyed with a mix of shock and offense in his facial expression.

“I most certainly was not pouting,” Kanatus said, snapping the final word as if it were a personal offense at the mere suggestion. In a way it was. Kanatus ruled over a nation. He had lead armies, fought wars. Pouting was something that schoolboys did when they didn’t get to play with their favorite toy. The Paras did not pout.

“And another thing,” Kanatus continued, jabbing a figure at Jean defensively in response to his own pointing. He noticed for the first time that he wore gloves. Should Kanatus have worn gloves? We’re gloves consider proper for dining? He didn’t know anyone who wore gloves while dining. In Patuania when one was wearing gloves they were usually thick and fur lined, meant to keep out the frigid cold or snow. Yet Jean’s gloves seemed light and delicate, beaming with a sense of refinery. “I never said that respect and affection were different. How could you think I could like you without respecting you?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

“First, you were absolutely pouting. You shouldn’t feel ashamed about it,” Jean said, trying to keep his voice level but there was still a faint flush of red on his cheek, thankfully hard to see on his dark skin. “It was quite quite adorable in fact.” Jean said that last part a bit wistfully as if commenting on a morning fog since burned away by the afternoon sun. In a way those moments of Kanatus the man and not the dictator often felt just as fleeting.

“Second,” Jean continued, “you must forgive me if I find it hard to believe that you respect me, considering… well considering every interaction we have ever had since we’d first met.”

Jean waved his hand as if there might be a cloud of images montaging their various encounters over the last year. Thankfully there was no such magical cloud to appear, but Jean still visualized it. In his mind he could think of the Paras and his blunt actions, his domineering attitude that even when not directed at Jean still lingered like smoke on a freshly doused fire, thought admittedly that was not something entirely off putting to Jean.

Still the very nature of their relationship, Kanatus’s position and the fact that Jean had been all but sent to Patuania with a bow wrapped around his neck meant that their entire dynamic, no matter how it had changed since was still based on a vast power imbalance.

“I know you are attracted to me,” said Jean, “I even believe that you like me, but I don’t think you respect me.”

[Patuania]

Kanatus’s mouth opened as he started to protest. First on the account of him pouting, of which he was certain he never did, but more into the matter of respect that he had for Jean. He felt like had been struck in the chest with a steel needle with Jean’s claim. He thought over how they had met, and yes, he could admit that he had been aggressive but he hadn’t though he’d been disrespectful.

In bribing him to Patuania he had been… determined in his efforts to navigate around Jean’s potential protests, sidestepping the possibility of his refusal. Was that what he meant? Was that not what one did when they were determined, when they found a worthy opponent as Jean seemed determined to be in this dance that they continued to perform?

Had he not agreed to this dinner? This strange and out ritual of eating and talking to someone he had now known for months? Was that not in itself a sign of the respect that he had for him? He had not done this for others. He didn’t recall ever eating with the prince of Gosataborg when not at a state dinner.

Kanatus closed his mouth. He felt his stomach drop as he thought about that. He had never sat down and had a dinner with anyone, had never really considered it before Jean had suggested it. Should he have? He thought of his previous relationship and felt a sense of regret in that sudden realization. Had he not respected the prince? Or at least had he not known how to show, as he now realized he wasn’t sure how to show it to Jean?

“I’m sorry,” Kanatus said gently, his fingers relaxing, his seemingly ever present fists uncurling. “I do. Respect you that it. And like you. I shall try harder to show you that in future.”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean was silent for a moment, blinking as he placed his gloved hands in his lap. He had expected Kanatus to protest and to deny, to double down as he had seen him do so with so many other things, with so many other people. Instead he was met with an apology. It was a surprise to be sure. But a rather pleasant one.

“Thank you,” Jean said after a moment of silence. “I appreciate that.” He wasn’t sure what else to say to that. He was proud that Kanatus seemed to have the emotional awareness and maturity that Jean had not been at all confident that he had had to recognize when he was in the wrong. Perhaps the Paras had been changing more than even he had realized. The enigma of Kanatus was a mystery that seem to ever grow.

Jean took up his water and drank. He appreciated the water much more than he had the Dasorresan wine, and he was happy to have the cool liquid wash away the longer taste of the tart beverage. He set down the glass and he licked his lips.

“Maybe we can start over then. We can’t forget the past, no, but, well we can perhaps move forward on the same page.”

[Patuania]

Kanatus took a moment before he nodded his head. Though his gut still felt like a swarm of butterflies had taken over inside, in a way he felt more comfortable. Perhaps relationships weren’t too different from diplomacy as he had thought. They had to balance each other’s feelings or interests for their mutual benefit.

“I,” Kanatus said, flexing his fingers. They felt odd not forming fists, a position that he was so used to forming. He didn’t particularly like it, but he felt like he had to make a point that he could resist his habits. “I think that is a good idea.”

The Paras shifted in his seat and after what felt like an eternity he shot a death glare towards the servers who stood along the wall, causing one of them to jump, either out of fear or self sacrifice, though either way it set the Paras’ eyes in them. “Are we expected to wait forever and sit here and drink or are we going to be served?”

The server let out a terrified squeak and all but ran out of the dining room in search for the kitchens to bring out the dinner for the Paras and his date. Kanatus let out an exasperated shy. “Sorry. They aren’t used to serving like this. I don’t usually do things,” he waved his hand at himself, his suit and the table, “like this.”

[Kingdom of Derita]

“Seriously?” Jean asked, a bit of amused incredulousliness sneaking into the word. Jean had little experience in the world of romance, but he couldn’t believe that Kanatus was similarly virginal in such pursuits. Not only was the Paras older, but he had made it abundantly clear that he was a man who took what and whom he wanted.

“You’ve really never just had dinner with a boy?” Jean asked, laughing softly. “I mean, even before you became ruler of a nation. Surely you must have gone out a met someone before me.”

A blush spread across Jean’s cheek, a deeper red than before. No small part of him liked the idea that he was first that Kanatus treated to such a way, even if it was to him the base line, not exceptional. It was sweet in a odd way if you didn’t look too closely at it. It made Jean feel as if he were special, and who didn’t want to feel special?

Another part however was curious, concern perhaps as to why. That was the part that couldn’t help but refuse face value and instead had to look closer. Why was Kanatus, this mysterious man so closed off?

[Patuania]

Kanatus shrugged his shoulders and let out a grunt. It was a far question, though he imagined that Jean would be disappointed by the answer for it was incredibly simple. No. Of course he hasn’t ever done so before. He had never needed to do so. Not even the prince of Gosataborg had wanted something like it. How frivolous southerners could be. And yet a part of him wanted to get it right, if only to prove the point that he was capable of doing so.

“Why would I?” He didn’t understand the strangeness of that. He didn’t know anyone who had done something similar, though then again he was not one to care much about the romantic lives of anyone. “You are the first to request being wined and dined before hand. Most are find to just get to it.”

Kanatus took another sip of his wine, a shorter one this time, and set down his cup. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “Have you done this before? Is it how you always eat? Dressed up and in gloves and suits?” The Paras picked up one of the three forks places in the table, something that he had always found strange, that need for multiple forks. “Using salad forks versus steak forks or snail forks?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Jean laughed, though he was please that Kanatus, for all his poking fun at that the silverware did seem to know which was which, or perhaps that was by sheer coincidence. Either way it made him chuckled.

“Well of course. And not just for special occasions as you seem so determined to think of it as. In truth I am not certain that I know any other way to dine.” He remembered his mother telling him that they did not eat, they dined, for the two words meant very different things in Deritain. People dined at a table, experienced the culinary joy of a meal, performed the etiquette. Animals eat in the street, savage and unkempt. Jean dined. Never ate.

“There is a great deal of effort placed in all this,” Jean said, saying so as if that were a boon and not a retraction. For that was indeed how he saw it. Effort in something, a passion and reasoning for even the most seemingly minute of details added up and created masterpieces that were meant to be truly enjoyed. It was not just about the food or the sets or the clothes. It was about showing that one cared enough to create the experience and live through it.

“Trust me, I think you will come to find that you actually enjoy it a great deal.”

[Patuania]

Kanatus smiled as he watched Jean laugh. He was so very handsome when he laughed. Laughter was not a sound that he had been used to in sometime. His family had never been one for much laughter, even Kiayon, the most humorous of them preferred a sly snicker behind a hand to full blown laughter. He did not remember laughing much with the prince of Gosataborg either. They had always been otherwise preoccupied with other tasks for their mouths.

And he was so earnest. His explanation was entirely matter of factual with being condescending, unlike other Southerners that Kanatus had had the misfortune of meeting who seemed to think that their ways, no matter how odd they were, had to be the proper way of doing things. Kanatus didn’t enjoy being talked down to, not being made fun of. And Jean seemed entirely uninterested in either pursuit.

“I believe I will as well,” Kanatus said softly, not bothering to look away from Jean as he watched him in admiration, “on the condition that you are there with me.” He admitted he was not yet sure on these customs of Jean’s, no matter how charming he made them seem, but he didn’t mind them much with him there.

The server at that moment returned with a small cart with covered dishes. Moving with military efficiency and speed he set the main dishes in front of Jean and Kanatus, plates of poronkaristy perfectly seasoned, decorated with green garnishes, potatoes, and broiled apples.