Fanfic: The Right to Bleed (Schneizel/Suzaku)
A Christmas gift for xtainted_blackx ♥♥♥ (You mentioned something to this effect in your Christmas List, so hopefully the fic meets your expectation ^^)
Title: The Right to Bleed (Infinity Part 14A)
Fandom: Code Geass
Characters/Pairing: Schneizel el Bitannia x Kururugi Suzaku
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Er, a short chapter?
Word Count: 2059
Challenge: 30_nights #14. Guardian Angel
Notes: Sorry for the intolerably long delay. This is the first part of the fourteenth installation. Short, I know, but the other part is a bit different in tone, so I want to separate them. Anyway, enjoy!
My infinite gratitude to my awesome new beta, xoxeskel. You've pushed me to new heights, I hope you know that.
Previous Installation: Hour of the Witch
See the complete list of stories
-----
Servants, as Schneizel had discovered many years ago, had their degrees of usefulness, but there was possibly none more valuable to him - bar Suzaku, naturally - than his faithful manservant.
It was at breakfast, exactly one week after the shooting incident, that Klaus, as he served the prince and conveyed his daily report of recent news and rumours prevalent in the city as was customary every morning, decided to digress from the growing discontent in parts of Area 11 and venture into domestic news.
“Perhaps Your Highness would be interested to know,” he said in his usual low voice which never varied in tones, “that a particular situation concerning Lord Kururugi has arisen during the past week.”
The prince finished a sip from his cup of coffee and then looked at his manservant with raised eyebrows. “A situation?”
There was a small, delicate cough before Klaus proceeded with his account. “It appears that Lord Kururugi has developed a - if I may be so bold to say - possibly detrimental habit of abstaining himself from sleep at night.”
“Did he?” Schneizel murmured to himself, speculations starting to take shape in his mind. “And how did you acquaint yourself with this information?”
“A few of the guards stationed in front of Your Highness’s bedroom have apparently taken liberty to converse about the matter amongst themselves.” There was the faintest shade of disapproval in his valet’s voice, but the hand which moved to refill his cup remained entirely unaffected. “It seems that this new routine Lord Kururugi has taken into practice is causing a degree of concern among them.”
It would have been, Schneizel reflected wryly. Suzaku did not understand reserve when he endeavoured to do something, and the prince very much doubted that the unpleasant repercussions of many sleepless nights could ever daunt him into appreciating one. Delicacy would forever be a lost art to his knight.
“In the past week, you said?” he asked the other man.
“Yes, Sir.”
Schneizel resisted the beginning of a dry smile. “I assume he has taken a fancy to ensure the security of my chamber during the most unusual hours,” he made his guess, his matter-of-fact voice echoing in the otherwise silent parlour.
The stony, angular face remained inexpressive. “Indeed, Sir, it appears to be the case.”
Yesternight would have made seven in total. It had certainly gone on long enough.
-----
That night, he left instructions to the guards to admit Lord Kururugi when ever he appeared - as he was clearly wont to do like former nights - and then settled himself in his bedroom to plough his way slowly through reports and documents which had accumulated in the last few days while he had focused his attention in restoring order among his staff and officers.
Hectic was a dramatic word, but it was still much too mild to describe the various reactions which had swiftly arisen once the news about the murder attempt had spread out. Horror and concern about the condition of their security were to be expected, but to a higher extent, fear and anger were more prevalent. Two guards had died protecting him and it was two more than anyone could accept. To complicate the situation further, one of them was an honorary Britannian, which not only stirred uneasiness amongst others in a similar situation, but also bred suspicion in the ranks of his officers.
He knew it would not end there. And now there was Suzaku - who brought it to a whole new level.
Schneizel was no stranger to assassination attempts. They were a part of his life as a prince in a court like that of his father’s. He had lived with this darker side of palatial intrigues his entire life - from relatives who saw a growing threat in him and uncles who had their greedy eyes fixed on his father’s throne, to siblings and cousins who had allowed jealousy and ambitions to rule the better part of them. The apprehension might be there, flimsy ghosts of the paralysing fear in his younger days, but it would feel far and subdued, mitigated by experience as the number of similar attempts grew with years. Now he could see and simply dismiss it with an indifferent eye, the way he treated almost everything else.
His knight, unfortunately, was far less experienced in this field. Suzaku had no qualms with sacrificing his own life, but to protect another’s - his life in particular - was an entirely different case. Schneizel knew better than to take everything at face value and pretend that his knight was not at all affected by the incident. Suzaku had never been a good actor to begin with and his reaction, as much as he tried to hide it, was a little bit too much for his meagre acting skill.
Which made the prince wonder if things had not, in fact, gotten slightly out of hand. With Suzaku, it was always a little quicker, a little harder, a little more personal, a little off the mark. For someone who was nothing but predictable in term of character, his knight had a tendency to catch him by surprise at the most inopportune moments.
He was halfway through the first stack of reports when a polite knock came to his door. Suzaku entered a moment later, still attired in his knight uniform.
“Good evening, Your Highness,” he said tentatively, a guarded, slightly lost expression rippling on his face. “I was told outside that my presence was expected?”
“Yes,” Schneizel nodded and motioned for him to approach the sofa he was sitting on. Suzaku did so gingerly, the tension much too evident in his step and posture, as if he was expecting a scolding or a punishment - which would not be too far from the truth, the prince mused. “I heard you liked to make many nightly visits to my door,” he remarked slowly, just a small glint of the blade.
The tiny ‘oh’ which slipped out of Suzaku’s lips was admission enough, but the blush stealing over his features was certainly more than a pleasant complement. Schneizel found himself resisting a smile.
“May I ask why?” he asked, knowing full well that his casual tone was affecting his knight in a manner which was far from casual. Suzaku lowered his gaze, using his embarrassment as usual to stall time and arrange his reply.
“My only intention is to check that everything is as it should be, Your Highness,” he answered after the deliberate pause, polite words awkwardly strung together. Schneizel put away the agricultural report he had been reading and gave his knight a bland look.
“You know very well that you cannot afford to fall ill during this precarious time, do you not?”
“Yes.” Suzaku’s voice was uneasy and he fidgeted a little.
“And yet you did it all the same.”
“Only as a precaution, my lord,” he answered, rather too quickly. “Particularly after the incident last week, it is imperative to make sure that any kind of slip in our security will not occur again in the future.”
“And of course it requires you to do an inspection to my room at least once every hour for seven consecutive nights,” Schneizel said evenly, as if he was not simply using the finer edge of reproach to carve the same wound.
Suzaku’s face gained a faint shade of pink, but his voice was still firm - if not insolent - when he replied, “In matters of security, too much is better than too little, Sir.”
“You are not the one responsible for security,” the prince remarked, eyebrows raised.
The look which his knight promptly gave him was almost rebellious. “Yes, I am.”
“Hershkin is.”
“But I am responsible for Your Highness’s safety,” he persisted, and his entire demeanour suddenly became wrought up and stiff, not unlike that of an animal when it was faced with a threat over its territory.
Schneizel allowed a frown to crease his brow, a more tangible proof of his displeasure. “It is greedy and arrogant to think that you can do everything by yourself,” he said, each word accentuated slowly to deliver a greater impact. He observed, indifferent, as they achieved their desired result, painting a different, colder shade of red on Suzaku’s face than simple embarrassment had earlier.
“I...I’ve never really considered it that way,” he finally admitted, his voice strangled by threads of emotions. The prince only looked at him. He could have been merciful and respond with a few words - not even necessarily soothing, simply words - but he opted to let the silence thrive. It made the knife sink deeper, the flesh tore wider, but he knew his knight could handle it. Suzaku was good with pain - more often that not, it served to make him feel better instead.
“I apologise, Your Highness,” he said at long last, head bowed in defeat.
“And?”
A hint of defiance flickered on his face, but the taste of fresh pain quelled it in time. “It will not happen again,” he murmured, just loud enough for his master to hear.
“Good,” the prince curved his lips, a smile but not quite. “I have no use for a knight who is incapable of taking care of himself.”
Suzaku’s eyes widened and the flash of raw fear in them was so palpable for even the blindest to see. “I shall not disappoint again, Sir,” he said hastily, his body leaning forward slightly in a pleading gesture, consciously done or not. Either way, it presented the prince with a perfect incentive to take his wrist and pull him, literally, onto the sofa.
“Your Highness, what-”
“You are quite a handful one, aren’t you?” he intoned, amusement easily finding its way into his voice as Suzaku struggled to position his legs in a less awkward manner on the cushioned seat.
“I’m sorry,” he said miserably, colour once more rising to his cheeks. His hands dropped uncertainly to his side once he had surrendered to the fact that he was sitting on his master’s lap and there was not much he could do about it. Schneizel found himself smiling very slightly.
“Are you?” he murmured, almost to himself, and pulled his knight down to capture his lips in a kiss. He easily swallowed the small sound of surprise elicited by the throat under his fingers but allowed the younger man to set the pace, angling his head in such a way that he could savour the wordless intensity threading tense muscles and warm lips as the chaste kiss rapidly declined into something else. His hand followed a line down Suzaku’s spine to squeeze one plump buttock, and he could feel the shiver it caused, manifesting into a small moan that hummed in his mouth.
It didn’t take long for Suzaku to undress himself, the rhythm of his breathing tumbling into shambles as layers of clothes were shed off his body. And then he was kissing his master again, as passionately as before if not more, and this unexpected display of impatience would have made the prince frown - along with the tantalising warmth spread across his lap, the arms tightly wound around his neck - if not for the fact that he knew exactly whose fault this was. After all, one could not always turn a blind eye on one’s own doing.
“This is a dangerous game you play,” he said, releasing the younger man’s lips - and could not help but notice the deep colour which had bloomed on them.
Suzaku’s eyes darkened. “I am not playing, Your Highness,” he whispered, his voice deeper, rougher than it had been moments ago.
That is why it is dangerous, the prince would have said, but Suzaku pressed his lips on his left ear, murmuring pleas very softly, his body tight with desire. Then again, it might not matter much at this point. They both knew exactly how dangerous it was.
It was still a surreal realisation nonetheless, as he claimed his knight and felt him shudder in his arms, love tightly entwined with desperation all too transparent in those green eyes, and noticed that the uneasiness which had lurked under his skin and echoed in the deep for quite some time was reminding him a little of fear. Fear, perhaps, that Suzaku had given away too much.
Perhaps.
It was fortunate that he was now a stranger to it.
End
-----
Notes: I will post the next part on the 31st. Hopefully XD
Next Installation: Marked for Life
Title: The Right to Bleed (Infinity Part 14A)
Fandom: Code Geass
Characters/Pairing: Schneizel el Bitannia x Kururugi Suzaku
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Er, a short chapter?
Word Count: 2059
Challenge: 30_nights #14. Guardian Angel
Notes: Sorry for the intolerably long delay. This is the first part of the fourteenth installation. Short, I know, but the other part is a bit different in tone, so I want to separate them. Anyway, enjoy!
My infinite gratitude to my awesome new beta, xoxeskel. You've pushed me to new heights, I hope you know that.
Previous Installation: Hour of the Witch
See the complete list of stories
-----
Servants, as Schneizel had discovered many years ago, had their degrees of usefulness, but there was possibly none more valuable to him - bar Suzaku, naturally - than his faithful manservant.
It was at breakfast, exactly one week after the shooting incident, that Klaus, as he served the prince and conveyed his daily report of recent news and rumours prevalent in the city as was customary every morning, decided to digress from the growing discontent in parts of Area 11 and venture into domestic news.
“Perhaps Your Highness would be interested to know,” he said in his usual low voice which never varied in tones, “that a particular situation concerning Lord Kururugi has arisen during the past week.”
The prince finished a sip from his cup of coffee and then looked at his manservant with raised eyebrows. “A situation?”
There was a small, delicate cough before Klaus proceeded with his account. “It appears that Lord Kururugi has developed a - if I may be so bold to say - possibly detrimental habit of abstaining himself from sleep at night.”
“Did he?” Schneizel murmured to himself, speculations starting to take shape in his mind. “And how did you acquaint yourself with this information?”
“A few of the guards stationed in front of Your Highness’s bedroom have apparently taken liberty to converse about the matter amongst themselves.” There was the faintest shade of disapproval in his valet’s voice, but the hand which moved to refill his cup remained entirely unaffected. “It seems that this new routine Lord Kururugi has taken into practice is causing a degree of concern among them.”
It would have been, Schneizel reflected wryly. Suzaku did not understand reserve when he endeavoured to do something, and the prince very much doubted that the unpleasant repercussions of many sleepless nights could ever daunt him into appreciating one. Delicacy would forever be a lost art to his knight.
“In the past week, you said?” he asked the other man.
“Yes, Sir.”
Schneizel resisted the beginning of a dry smile. “I assume he has taken a fancy to ensure the security of my chamber during the most unusual hours,” he made his guess, his matter-of-fact voice echoing in the otherwise silent parlour.
The stony, angular face remained inexpressive. “Indeed, Sir, it appears to be the case.”
Yesternight would have made seven in total. It had certainly gone on long enough.
-----
That night, he left instructions to the guards to admit Lord Kururugi when ever he appeared - as he was clearly wont to do like former nights - and then settled himself in his bedroom to plough his way slowly through reports and documents which had accumulated in the last few days while he had focused his attention in restoring order among his staff and officers.
Hectic was a dramatic word, but it was still much too mild to describe the various reactions which had swiftly arisen once the news about the murder attempt had spread out. Horror and concern about the condition of their security were to be expected, but to a higher extent, fear and anger were more prevalent. Two guards had died protecting him and it was two more than anyone could accept. To complicate the situation further, one of them was an honorary Britannian, which not only stirred uneasiness amongst others in a similar situation, but also bred suspicion in the ranks of his officers.
He knew it would not end there. And now there was Suzaku - who brought it to a whole new level.
Schneizel was no stranger to assassination attempts. They were a part of his life as a prince in a court like that of his father’s. He had lived with this darker side of palatial intrigues his entire life - from relatives who saw a growing threat in him and uncles who had their greedy eyes fixed on his father’s throne, to siblings and cousins who had allowed jealousy and ambitions to rule the better part of them. The apprehension might be there, flimsy ghosts of the paralysing fear in his younger days, but it would feel far and subdued, mitigated by experience as the number of similar attempts grew with years. Now he could see and simply dismiss it with an indifferent eye, the way he treated almost everything else.
His knight, unfortunately, was far less experienced in this field. Suzaku had no qualms with sacrificing his own life, but to protect another’s - his life in particular - was an entirely different case. Schneizel knew better than to take everything at face value and pretend that his knight was not at all affected by the incident. Suzaku had never been a good actor to begin with and his reaction, as much as he tried to hide it, was a little bit too much for his meagre acting skill.
Which made the prince wonder if things had not, in fact, gotten slightly out of hand. With Suzaku, it was always a little quicker, a little harder, a little more personal, a little off the mark. For someone who was nothing but predictable in term of character, his knight had a tendency to catch him by surprise at the most inopportune moments.
He was halfway through the first stack of reports when a polite knock came to his door. Suzaku entered a moment later, still attired in his knight uniform.
“Good evening, Your Highness,” he said tentatively, a guarded, slightly lost expression rippling on his face. “I was told outside that my presence was expected?”
“Yes,” Schneizel nodded and motioned for him to approach the sofa he was sitting on. Suzaku did so gingerly, the tension much too evident in his step and posture, as if he was expecting a scolding or a punishment - which would not be too far from the truth, the prince mused. “I heard you liked to make many nightly visits to my door,” he remarked slowly, just a small glint of the blade.
The tiny ‘oh’ which slipped out of Suzaku’s lips was admission enough, but the blush stealing over his features was certainly more than a pleasant complement. Schneizel found himself resisting a smile.
“May I ask why?” he asked, knowing full well that his casual tone was affecting his knight in a manner which was far from casual. Suzaku lowered his gaze, using his embarrassment as usual to stall time and arrange his reply.
“My only intention is to check that everything is as it should be, Your Highness,” he answered after the deliberate pause, polite words awkwardly strung together. Schneizel put away the agricultural report he had been reading and gave his knight a bland look.
“You know very well that you cannot afford to fall ill during this precarious time, do you not?”
“Yes.” Suzaku’s voice was uneasy and he fidgeted a little.
“And yet you did it all the same.”
“Only as a precaution, my lord,” he answered, rather too quickly. “Particularly after the incident last week, it is imperative to make sure that any kind of slip in our security will not occur again in the future.”
“And of course it requires you to do an inspection to my room at least once every hour for seven consecutive nights,” Schneizel said evenly, as if he was not simply using the finer edge of reproach to carve the same wound.
Suzaku’s face gained a faint shade of pink, but his voice was still firm - if not insolent - when he replied, “In matters of security, too much is better than too little, Sir.”
“You are not the one responsible for security,” the prince remarked, eyebrows raised.
The look which his knight promptly gave him was almost rebellious. “Yes, I am.”
“Hershkin is.”
“But I am responsible for Your Highness’s safety,” he persisted, and his entire demeanour suddenly became wrought up and stiff, not unlike that of an animal when it was faced with a threat over its territory.
Schneizel allowed a frown to crease his brow, a more tangible proof of his displeasure. “It is greedy and arrogant to think that you can do everything by yourself,” he said, each word accentuated slowly to deliver a greater impact. He observed, indifferent, as they achieved their desired result, painting a different, colder shade of red on Suzaku’s face than simple embarrassment had earlier.
“I...I’ve never really considered it that way,” he finally admitted, his voice strangled by threads of emotions. The prince only looked at him. He could have been merciful and respond with a few words - not even necessarily soothing, simply words - but he opted to let the silence thrive. It made the knife sink deeper, the flesh tore wider, but he knew his knight could handle it. Suzaku was good with pain - more often that not, it served to make him feel better instead.
“I apologise, Your Highness,” he said at long last, head bowed in defeat.
“And?”
A hint of defiance flickered on his face, but the taste of fresh pain quelled it in time. “It will not happen again,” he murmured, just loud enough for his master to hear.
“Good,” the prince curved his lips, a smile but not quite. “I have no use for a knight who is incapable of taking care of himself.”
Suzaku’s eyes widened and the flash of raw fear in them was so palpable for even the blindest to see. “I shall not disappoint again, Sir,” he said hastily, his body leaning forward slightly in a pleading gesture, consciously done or not. Either way, it presented the prince with a perfect incentive to take his wrist and pull him, literally, onto the sofa.
“Your Highness, what-”
“You are quite a handful one, aren’t you?” he intoned, amusement easily finding its way into his voice as Suzaku struggled to position his legs in a less awkward manner on the cushioned seat.
“I’m sorry,” he said miserably, colour once more rising to his cheeks. His hands dropped uncertainly to his side once he had surrendered to the fact that he was sitting on his master’s lap and there was not much he could do about it. Schneizel found himself smiling very slightly.
“Are you?” he murmured, almost to himself, and pulled his knight down to capture his lips in a kiss. He easily swallowed the small sound of surprise elicited by the throat under his fingers but allowed the younger man to set the pace, angling his head in such a way that he could savour the wordless intensity threading tense muscles and warm lips as the chaste kiss rapidly declined into something else. His hand followed a line down Suzaku’s spine to squeeze one plump buttock, and he could feel the shiver it caused, manifesting into a small moan that hummed in his mouth.
It didn’t take long for Suzaku to undress himself, the rhythm of his breathing tumbling into shambles as layers of clothes were shed off his body. And then he was kissing his master again, as passionately as before if not more, and this unexpected display of impatience would have made the prince frown - along with the tantalising warmth spread across his lap, the arms tightly wound around his neck - if not for the fact that he knew exactly whose fault this was. After all, one could not always turn a blind eye on one’s own doing.
“This is a dangerous game you play,” he said, releasing the younger man’s lips - and could not help but notice the deep colour which had bloomed on them.
Suzaku’s eyes darkened. “I am not playing, Your Highness,” he whispered, his voice deeper, rougher than it had been moments ago.
That is why it is dangerous, the prince would have said, but Suzaku pressed his lips on his left ear, murmuring pleas very softly, his body tight with desire. Then again, it might not matter much at this point. They both knew exactly how dangerous it was.
It was still a surreal realisation nonetheless, as he claimed his knight and felt him shudder in his arms, love tightly entwined with desperation all too transparent in those green eyes, and noticed that the uneasiness which had lurked under his skin and echoed in the deep for quite some time was reminding him a little of fear. Fear, perhaps, that Suzaku had given away too much.
Perhaps.
It was fortunate that he was now a stranger to it.
End
-----
Notes: I will post the next part on the 31st. Hopefully XD
Next Installation: Marked for Life