[DC31] Far From Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: HenKyu
Genre: AU!Fantasy, Romance
Theme: Desert, Phrase to include: "just 'cause i can"
Summary: The lone prince in fairy tales demands companionship with neighboring royalty, but in that matter lied an exception, one that almost conveniently stumbled upon him.
-
Kyuhyun drew on the canvas, biting his cheek as he finished the final stroke.
The young prince stared at his work and exhaled deeply, feeling he could have done better, but the arts were never his strongest attribute.
Both pair of eyes stared intently at the masterpiece but turned away, their horrible attempt at mimicking held nothing to them. Because for whatever reason, no matter how close it was to the real painting, it didn't hold the same presence. Nothing they couldn't repeat or manufacture.
There was something that felt almost complete by simply being near it, that neither could ever explain.
-
Kyuhyun stood before the painting in the room, tilting his head and sighed. Deciding to momentarily stop for the evening, he turned to stare at the original that now laid on the desk. He pursed his lips, impressed at the colorful array before his eyes.
The starless skies outside poured into the room with large windows and turned off lights. Kyuhyun sighed as he closed his eyes temporarily to rest them.
"Just once."
A flash of light erupted from the painting, forcing his eyes wide open as the swirls brightened the entire room. At full force it came towards him and he braced himself for the oncoming impact.
Soon both wind and dust settled around him. He slowly opened his eyes and stepped towards the glowing blue painting, tilting his head at the sight. He hesitantly but without much caution, traced his fingers alongside the edges. He glanced at his fingers, the few drops of water clinging to his skin.
He wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Donghae," He called out above the stairs. He heard the incoming footsteps.
"I do not want to be alone."
That was the last thing he heard.
He felt the whips of blue light snaking around his wrists, no matter how he pulled it only grew stronger, it enveloped him completely. The room returned to its darkened appearance, the painting falling back into place.
===
Kyuhyun groaned at the impact he made against the marble floors, he slowly looked up and to his horror, wished he kept faint. He stared at a giant stoned faced lion and he gasped, stumbling back.
The sounds he made, unbeknownst to him, reached the open balcony. The darkened curtains whipped away to reveal a shadowed figure.
"Who are you?"
Kyuhyun made out through the dim lights a young man who returned from the balcony, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
Henry stepped back, he didn't understand nor recognize the language the man spoke. The clothing he wore appeared foreign, he crept for the dagger attached to his belt.
"Who are you?" He repeated, his tone absolute. Kyuhyun figured he was a man of power and authority, but he knew it'd be futile to speak in his own language.
His name though, he hoped to get across.
"Kyuhyun," He murmured, gesturing to himself. It took a few tries before Henry could realize what he meant.
"What are you doing here?" Henry then asked. "What is your intent?"
Kyuhyun was lost, his almost timid nature and scrawny appearance made Henry doubt his past assumption.
"You do not seem like a killer." Henry concluded, his fingers withdrew from the dagger by his side.
"Young Master?"
Henry looked up, hearing the incoming footsteps. He pulled Kyuhyun to his feet before the latter could respond, he was pushed to the bed on his back. Henry on top of him, hands on his chest.
"Young Master?"
"You're intruding." Henry replied sternly, the group of guards stepped back and lowered their eyes from the implicated scene. Kyuhyun noticed the maroon dyed blankets were moved to cover his clothes.
The group apologized and walked out of the room. Henry lifted himself off the stranger and sat on the edge of the bed. He was glad the man couldn't ask, but he didn't know his own answer. He wasn't sure why he spared the man's life.
Kyuhyun looked to his left from the large bed and noticed the sand outside, a desert that stretched on for miles. He gulped visibly, and wished he could where he was. And why?
-
Slowly he picked up the language, learning bit by bit as he repeated what he heard Henry say. Although most of the time, he assumed they were insults to him.
"Idiot." Henry said through gritted teeth, still angered by his meeting earlier with the neighboring prince. "He thinks he can order me around in my own home? I-"
"Idiot." Henry looked back at Kyuhyun and narrowed his eyes, the only clear sign to the stranger that he had done anything wrong in the first place. "Sorry?" He added hesitantly.
Henry sighed. To his guards who had come across his constant companion, he explained it was a foreign escort he was given as a gift. The explanation answered their questions for the time being.
"I wish I could actually talk to you," Henry admitted. "But then I might found out you are as unpleasant as the others."
Kyuhyun was instantly lost by the long winded sentence.
Kyuhyun spent most of his time indoors from the barren wasteland outside. He felt like it, being stripped of a past, a civilization, a lifestyle he once knew. But he moved past the feeling of being lost and could now speak the language to some extent with a heavy hint of an accent, one he aimed to rid himself of. And often spent his time with the young prince who aside from the few times he left to perform his duties, returned to the large room.
It was during those nights as he stared at the manmade gardens outside that lacked the quality he was used to, did he realize he had lost track of time of how long he had been there.
"My brothers handle them."
"Why not you?" Henry gave him a look as if it were an obvious answer. "Don't they feel burdened by it?"
"They are used to it." Henry replied. "And I would not know how they personally felt about it. I have not spoken to them in years."
Kyuhyun would have found that hard to believe, but he sometimes witnessed the distance between the brothers from the solace of the room. "Are there witches here?" Kyuhyun abruptly asked, the young man seemed offended.
"Do not call us such vile things. Witches are foreign beasts, are they not?"
"Wizards then? Demons? Monsters?" Henry's look warned him. "I just wanted to know, I haven't seen anything of the like here. Guess they don't exist."
"Have you ever seen one?" Kyuhyun shook his head. "Do you only believe things you see?" Henry countered.
Kyuhyun was stumped by that answer. He was sure he saw the blue light that entangled him, that somehow brought him here. If that wasn't magic, he wasn't sure what to call it.
He allowed the question to wither when he looked back as Henry went to lay on the bed, Kyuhyun soon joined him although he kept a small distance between them.
From his many observations, he could see Henry kept to himself. He thought that by the man's attitude, he was too picky over which friends he could have, but then he realized there weren't many people who willingly spoke to Henry. The man had no options to consider despite his authority.
Kyuhyun didn't mind his callous attitude. And Henry didn't seem to mind his presence either.
The older man shifted to adjust the sheets around the younger when he looked down, Henry's hand unconsciously gripped his shirt. He considerately fixed the thin sheets as a draft blew in, and he leaned back against the velvet pillows, watching over the lonesome prince.
-
Henry nearly threw the cup against the wall, but merely seethe in anger, fuming as he stormed in his room. Kyuhyun instantly perked up, smiling briefly before it faltered.
The young man fell into one of the seats, exhaling deeply when he felt Kyuhyun's hands on his shoulders. He tensed and stood up, pulling away from the other.
"If you do not wish to keep me company, then leave."
"I never realized I had a choice." Kyuhyun replied honestly, Henry scowled.
"Fine, you want a choice? Determine a price then and I will pass it along to my cousin. Maybe you two will get along better than we have."
"He offered to buy me?" Kyuhyun asked curiously, Henry kept silent. "You told him no."
"Obviously."
Kyuhyun blinked. "Did I even have a say in the matter?"
"Did you want to leave with him?" Henry asked accusingly. Kyuhyun couldn't reply quick enough before the young man stalked before him, glaring menacingly. "Promise you will never leave this room, never leave me."
"I thought you weren't the type to hold to promises." Kyuhyun replied calmly, his tone only worsened the other's mood.
The cup finally shattered past Kyuhyun who flinched, watching as the double doors closed and the room was once again empty.
Henry adjusted the robes around his skin, sitting on the stone edge of the indoor hallway. He heard distant footsteps and looked up, recognizing the head advisor who bowed to him. Henry narrowed his eyes. "How long have you been there?"
"Only a short while, but I can already guess most of the argument." The advisor said calmly. "Your silence is your enemy, you tend to speak your mind whenever you are upset or angry. But dare to admit how you feel and you say not a word. Strange person you are." The advisor noted, Henry arched an eyebrow.
"How would you know what I want?"
"I doubt anyone knows what you want, you are that skilled in being quiet!" The advisor said proudly with a grin. Henry kept still when he heard the man utter, his voice echoing slightly in the vacant hallway.
"It's only when you're separated from someone, do you truly appreciate what you have." The man had said calmly before walking past him outside. Henry crossed his arms, lifting himself off and disappearing in the opposite side.
The advisor then smiled. "If you feel guilty, then speak to him. There's no sense in keeping quiet for you either."
Kyuhyun sunk slightly from the advice that was meant for him. He knew Henry wanted someone, anyone, and Kyuhyun couldn't help but sympathize. But he may have pushed a few buttons without truly meaning to.
Henry looked out the open rooms, staring outside at the sand that entered the floors. He felt a pair of arms enwrap around him. He knew instantly who it was.
"I said you did not have to force yourself." Henry murmured coldly, mentally scolding himself for his own tone.
"I'm sorry." Kyuhyun apologized sincerely. Henry kept stolid, they remained like that until Henry pulled away, returning inside with Kyuhyun in tow. Once they reached inside the room, Kyuhyun vaguely heard the soft, audible apology that escaped Henry's own lips. He hid his smile.
-
"Your world is strange." Henry commented, laying back against the bed. Kyuhyun sat on the floor, his head resting on the edge.
"It's only strange to you, but back in my world, this place is."
Henry then turned on his side. "Tell me about it then."
"Do you want to?" Kyuhyun asked skeptically. "You may not believe me."
"I don't have to see it to believe it exists." Kyuhyun was slightly surprised by his informal speech.
Since then, and every night, Kyuhyun told him and described as best as he could, the world he came from. To his greater surprise, Henry didn't pass off any of it as a lie, and listened intently as if it were important.
To see a young prince hanging off his every word would make the palace itself beckon at its feet, but Kyuhyun was glad for the attention, and mused himself with the thought that he was the only one granted with such.
He noticed how often Henry stole glances from him and he pretended not to notice, saving the prince his pride.
Henry was faced with a dilemma he refused to voice. One brought up often as they stood beside one another, when his eyes would linger from his eyes to further down to his lips.
Meeting his lips were far from fantasy, but now he was faced with the daunting realization that he maybe he did want this. He wanted it desperately.
-
"Then you are unwed?" Henry asked one afternoon, sitting on the floor as he opened his own handmade paint set. Kyuhyun thought he saw a brief glimmer of relief once Kyuhyun nodded. "Then... Are you currently involved with someone?"
"None whatsoever."
Henry mused that thought as he brushed his thick paint onto the laid out fabric. Kyuhyun followed his movements whenever he done so.
"All I did for the longest was that painting, I barely attempted my own work." Kyuhyun admitted. Henry gave him a questioned look when Kyuhyun explained about the very painting that brought him here.
"Ah... That." Henry said uneasily.
Kyuhyun lowered himself beside him. "Will you let me see it? Maybe I'll-"
"No." Henry replied sternly. Kyuhyun furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why not? Has it moved? Been destroyed?"
"What if it has? Why do you want to see it so much?" Henry interrogated hotly, his brushes staining the ground as he stood up. Kyuhyun wasn't sure what he said that made the other like this.
"I just need to know." Kyuhyun explained simply.
"There's nothing to tell, it's the same painting you and I have both seen. And you said yourself you were around it for countless nights and nothing like this had ever happened."
"But-"
"Speak of it again and I'll burn it." Henry warned, he hastily closed the now ruined fabric of the ground. He was no longer in the mood to peacefully paint.
Kyuhyun didn't utter another word about it.
-
It bothered him.
Henry felt a pang whenever Kyuhyun closed his mouth when around him, choosing to stay quiet, all because he knew exactly what he would say the moment he spoke. The thing he may let slip because that was all Kyuhyun ever thought about. That retched painting.
Henry looked at it, surrounding by his many attempts was the lone original work that was slightly covered in dust. He attempted to do, mimic the circumstances Kyuhyun had described to him. But nothing had worked, the painting was merely a painting, nothing more to it. But that constant assurance he gave himself ebbed away to the potential fact that it only applied to Kyuhyun.
Maybe if Kyuhyun was in his place, it would work. Then it would take him back.
Henry's fingers curled into his robes, eyes hardened as he straightened up and laid his hand on the door. But he stopped there and continued to look back at the painting that remained in the corner.
-
What did it matter if he was happy? What did it matter if he finally able to call someone a friend, even more than that? Even if he could smile with ease now, it was done so selfishly.
He grabbed onto it as long as he could, this elation he allowed himself to foolishly grow used to.
If Kyuhyun wasn't, if he wanted to return, then so be it.
Happiness was fleeting, the young prince decided, he could live on without it.
-
Kyuhyun raised his gaze as the doors open, reaching to greet him when he recognized the painting held by Henry. He paused mid-step as Henry laid it on the bed. Without a word, the young man stood against the bed's platform, averting his gaze as Kyuhyun stepped towards it.
"Thank you." He said gratefully. He pursed his lips, noting that Henry made no reaction to his words. Kyuhyun traced the edges with his fingers.
It remained still, no matter what he had done, the painting mimicked nothing of that day. He stood there, contemplating what to do when the doors opened. The servant informed Henry he had to leave soon.
"Will he be accompanying you?" The servant asked, referring to Kyuhyun.
"No," Henry replied, his tone detached.
It was then Kyuhyun heard the quieter reply.
"He will not be joining me anywhere in fact." Henry corrected the servant who bowed his head and left the room.
Kyuhyun softly spoke his name and the young prince didn't respond, walking to the back of the room when he appeared holding Kyuhyun's folded clothes.
"If you find your way back home before I come back, you'll need this." Henry said, when Kyuhyun made no move to reach them, Henry placed them on the bed beside the painting.
"If I can find out how this works, then I can come back." Kyuhyun said hurriedly, hand on Henry's arm.
"That's not how it works." Henry replied stoically.
"How would you know?"
"I just..." Henry's voice broke off. Even Kyuhyun knew it, somehow they both simply knew, that it wouldn't do so.
A hand reached out to cradle Henry's cheek, even Kyuhyun could see there was no emotion in those eyes.
"Don't ever touch me again." Henry ordered, stepping back from his hand. Kyuhyun forcibly reached out and grabbed Henry's hand, the young man's eyes narrowed in warning. "I said-"
"I care about you, I like being with you, being around you." Kyuhyun uttered. "And I know you feel the same way about me. To the same extent as I do."
Henry didn't say anything, his silence confirming his suspicions.
Henry heard the servant call for him, Henry instantly pulled out of his grip. "If you want a confession out of me, now before you leave, then you are a worse person than I thought." He said coldly. "I won't feed your pride only to have you leave right after."
Kyuhyun didn't want him to leave.
"Just once."
The young prince pleaded that day, sitting on his knees on the floor, hands clasped together. Never had he demeaned himself in such a physical way, but he pleaded to forces beyond him, because that was the edge of how desperate he now was.
He knew his life ahead of him, that he would be forever trapped this way, and he'd know nothing else.
That wasn't the life he wanted.
Yet when he pleaded with the heavens, he didn't just want someone to visit. He wanted someone to stay.
"With me." Henry softly spoke.
The painting glowed, they both looked as the flash of light spurred from its lines. Henry, by instinct, closed his eyes but Kyuhyun watched on as the gust of wind whirled about. The flash of light sprang forth and to his surprise, overcame both him and Henry before it evaporated into air.
Kyuhyun stepped towards the glowing blue painting, Henry hesitantly opened his eyes, staring back as Kyuhyun dipped his fingers in the painting.
"Guards!" The servant yelled, Henry looked back, realizing the servant had witnessed it.
"Leave." Henry said quickly, turning away. He'd distract them long enough for the other to leave.
"Come with me." Kyuhyun stated, Henry looked back in surprise, stunned. Kyuhyun tugged his hands into his own. "You can stay with me, I'll take care of you, I'll teach you the language and help you into my world. My time."
Henry lowered his eyes. "I... I can't."
"Is there something stating you can't?" Kyuhyun asked. He had made his decision.
If the other wouldn't leave with him, then he'd stay. If Henry willed it, they'd leave together. Either option he picked, he'd have Henry with him no matter the decision the other came to.
Henry could feel the guards approaching and he looked back at the lonesome castle. He decided then this wasn't the life he wanted to live. Even if Kyuhyun did stay with him, he couldn't have Kyuhyun tear away from the family he once knew.
Henry however, could make that sacrifice.
The wisps of blue light intertwined around their hands, entangling itself around them.
The doors opened as the painting fell onto the floor with a sharp clang, the guards searched the room but there was no sign of the young prince nor his companion.
-
Henry slowly opened his eyes. The desert was replaced with a luscious garden outside, his fingers felt the soft texture of the leaves surrounding him.
He hurriedly sat up, looking around but saw Kyuhyun no where in sight. He called out his name repeatedly.
"Where are you?" He asked breathlessly, feeling afraid, lost.
But no one answered back, no matter how many times he asked, there was not a hint of a reply.
-
The timeline was different from the one Kyuhyun described to him. Rather than carriages being pulled by horses, their were metallic carriages that moved on their own by a simple turn of the wheel. Then he realized the other simply described it using the ordinary things he was used to, rather than attempting to describe a world the young prince surely couldn't fathom.
It took a few awkward brushes with this new world to discover why it was different, until he accustomed himself to it. Living a post modern time that not even the intellectuals of his time could understand. But he didn't care much for it despite the mild curiosity it sparked, now able to speak the language, able to mingle himself within the crowd as if he were one of them. His thoughts drifted elsewhere when he was allowed to.
Still he couldn't find the other and wondered if he ever would.
-
Kyuhyun stared at the painting for a long while as he sat on the chair of the large room. His family members could only stare in worry at the young man's strangely gained habit.
"Maybe we should have taken him to a psychologist." His mother said quietly, confiding in her first born son. Donghae crossed his arms and looked back as Kyuhyun tapped the painting repeatedly, repeating words in a language none of them could understand or even identify.
"At least he's awake now." Donghae reminded his mother who nodded her head.
Only months before did they often visit the man who kept his eyes close, to what felt like forever in that comatose state. The moment they found him in front of that very painting of that room, that he briefly wondered if it could have been cursed.
"Kyuhyun." Donghae called, Kyuhyun briefly turned his attention away from the painting to his older brother who sighed. "Let's go visit Ryeowook, he's been begging us to visit the countryside for a while." He tried to add lightheartedly.
"You can go on your own." Kyuhyun suggested.
Donghae bit his cheek. "Just 'cause I can alone isn't the issue at hand. Nothing's going to change about that painting, and it's reaching to the point of obsessing over it."
Kyuhyun thinned his lips, obviously displeased with that answer as he looked back at the painting.
"You're scaring mom." Donghae murmured. Kyuhyun lowered his eyes in guilt and slowly got up, grabbing his jacket and accompanying his brother outside.
He took one last look of the painting before the door closed.
-
Henry lifted the fruits into their assorted baskets, long past the title of prince and becoming that of a mere laborer. The lowest of the low he realized.
He wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist, throwing his gloves onto the sink as he washed them beneath the cool water. He heard a car pull up and turned away, hearing his co-worker speak with the guests.
Henry walked past the outside stand, reaching for the broom to clean the front edges of the stand.
"You."
"Don't be informal." Henry countered by habit, but he froze, recognizing the foreign language he hadn't heard in years. He slowly lowered the broom in his hand and looked back. Kyuhyun was standing behind him.
"They told me it was a dream." Kyuhyun uttered, staring at him a bit longer. "I knew better. I know I didn't imagine you. I-"
"Kyuhyun!" A voice yelled, a hand grabbing Kyuhyun's shoulder and pulling him back. He gave an apologetic bow to Henry. "My brother has recently gotten out of the hospital, his mind isn't in the right state-"
"No. You don't understand, that's Hen-"
"Kyuhyun." Donghae said sternly, Kyuhyun ignored him.
"Where were you then?"
Donghae froze at the familiar foreign language, to that Kyuhyun grinned despite his brother's shock.
"Don't be afraid," Henry said courteously to Donghae. "He was never in his right mind."
Kyuhyun couldn't be deterred despite the blatant insult, gathering the young man into his arms.
-
Kyuhyun was the prince in this world, or it felt so at least. Henry gazed at the large home and modern style of the house, that seemed to surpass most of the population's.
There were questions that even Kyuhyun couldn't answer to Henry's disappointment, but they decided it was better not to discuss the past with his family. But simply treat it as a first meeting, to begin things anew in sight of the prior relationship.
One that seemed to have strengthened and manifested, Henry realized. Kyuhyun no longer cared for pretenses, for their differences in classes, and without caution he kissed Henry firmly on the lips. The young laborer couldn't order him not to, but didn't bother to stop him either.
Henry didn't understand why they were separated, maybe he hadn't held on as tight as he should have. Maybe the fates punished him for disobeying and leaving where he belonged.
But he now understood what his advisor had meant that day, if they hadn't been separated, he would never have appreciated being reunited. Being alone then and now were the terrifying facts that no matter the lifetime, he'd always face that fate. Yet with Kyuhyun's presence, the young man felt assured.
"Promise you won't leave me." Henry ordered outside his home, walking through the outside gardens of the household. The other didn't retort or counter playfully as before.
Beneath that evening sky, Kyuhyun reached to hold his hand, forehead against Henry's side. Eyes peacefully closed as he murmured a soft declaration, his honesty bringing Henry closer towards him.
"I promise."
- ❄ Challenge 30 ❄ | ❄ Finish ❄ -
A/N: I'm so sorry....for this epically long one-shot .-.
This is now the completed December 31-Shot List ( ^^) _旦~~!
I honestly didn't plan for this length, and I'm incoherent to a point that I've long crossed in the midst of writing this. Please excuse my errors throughout these challenges, I fail at grasping grammar and it shows... But my rereading Howl's Moving Castle brought me to a fantasyish concept that I don't think I've done often. Hope it was okay ^^
And my intention to write my couples once and only once was fulfilled ^o^ These challenges were fun and I love doing them, thank you Lien for the prompts <3 Now shall get to writing my other incomplete stories ><
Hope you all enjoyed~ ❄ Happy Holidays and Happy New Year's Eve/Day! :D ❄
Pairing: HenKyu
Genre: AU!Fantasy, Romance
Theme: Desert, Phrase to include: "just 'cause i can"
Summary: The lone prince in fairy tales demands companionship with neighboring royalty, but in that matter lied an exception, one that almost conveniently stumbled upon him.
-
Kyuhyun drew on the canvas, biting his cheek as he finished the final stroke.
The young prince stared at his work and exhaled deeply, feeling he could have done better, but the arts were never his strongest attribute.
Both pair of eyes stared intently at the masterpiece but turned away, their horrible attempt at mimicking held nothing to them. Because for whatever reason, no matter how close it was to the real painting, it didn't hold the same presence. Nothing they couldn't repeat or manufacture.
There was something that felt almost complete by simply being near it, that neither could ever explain.
-
Kyuhyun stood before the painting in the room, tilting his head and sighed. Deciding to momentarily stop for the evening, he turned to stare at the original that now laid on the desk. He pursed his lips, impressed at the colorful array before his eyes.
The starless skies outside poured into the room with large windows and turned off lights. Kyuhyun sighed as he closed his eyes temporarily to rest them.
"Just once."
A flash of light erupted from the painting, forcing his eyes wide open as the swirls brightened the entire room. At full force it came towards him and he braced himself for the oncoming impact.
Soon both wind and dust settled around him. He slowly opened his eyes and stepped towards the glowing blue painting, tilting his head at the sight. He hesitantly but without much caution, traced his fingers alongside the edges. He glanced at his fingers, the few drops of water clinging to his skin.
He wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Donghae," He called out above the stairs. He heard the incoming footsteps.
"I do not want to be alone."
That was the last thing he heard.
He felt the whips of blue light snaking around his wrists, no matter how he pulled it only grew stronger, it enveloped him completely. The room returned to its darkened appearance, the painting falling back into place.
===
Kyuhyun groaned at the impact he made against the marble floors, he slowly looked up and to his horror, wished he kept faint. He stared at a giant stoned faced lion and he gasped, stumbling back.
The sounds he made, unbeknownst to him, reached the open balcony. The darkened curtains whipped away to reveal a shadowed figure.
"Who are you?"
Kyuhyun made out through the dim lights a young man who returned from the balcony, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
Henry stepped back, he didn't understand nor recognize the language the man spoke. The clothing he wore appeared foreign, he crept for the dagger attached to his belt.
"Who are you?" He repeated, his tone absolute. Kyuhyun figured he was a man of power and authority, but he knew it'd be futile to speak in his own language.
His name though, he hoped to get across.
"Kyuhyun," He murmured, gesturing to himself. It took a few tries before Henry could realize what he meant.
"What are you doing here?" Henry then asked. "What is your intent?"
Kyuhyun was lost, his almost timid nature and scrawny appearance made Henry doubt his past assumption.
"You do not seem like a killer." Henry concluded, his fingers withdrew from the dagger by his side.
"Young Master?"
Henry looked up, hearing the incoming footsteps. He pulled Kyuhyun to his feet before the latter could respond, he was pushed to the bed on his back. Henry on top of him, hands on his chest.
"Young Master?"
"You're intruding." Henry replied sternly, the group of guards stepped back and lowered their eyes from the implicated scene. Kyuhyun noticed the maroon dyed blankets were moved to cover his clothes.
The group apologized and walked out of the room. Henry lifted himself off the stranger and sat on the edge of the bed. He was glad the man couldn't ask, but he didn't know his own answer. He wasn't sure why he spared the man's life.
Kyuhyun looked to his left from the large bed and noticed the sand outside, a desert that stretched on for miles. He gulped visibly, and wished he could where he was. And why?
-
Slowly he picked up the language, learning bit by bit as he repeated what he heard Henry say. Although most of the time, he assumed they were insults to him.
"Idiot." Henry said through gritted teeth, still angered by his meeting earlier with the neighboring prince. "He thinks he can order me around in my own home? I-"
"Idiot." Henry looked back at Kyuhyun and narrowed his eyes, the only clear sign to the stranger that he had done anything wrong in the first place. "Sorry?" He added hesitantly.
Henry sighed. To his guards who had come across his constant companion, he explained it was a foreign escort he was given as a gift. The explanation answered their questions for the time being.
"I wish I could actually talk to you," Henry admitted. "But then I might found out you are as unpleasant as the others."
Kyuhyun was instantly lost by the long winded sentence.
Kyuhyun spent most of his time indoors from the barren wasteland outside. He felt like it, being stripped of a past, a civilization, a lifestyle he once knew. But he moved past the feeling of being lost and could now speak the language to some extent with a heavy hint of an accent, one he aimed to rid himself of. And often spent his time with the young prince who aside from the few times he left to perform his duties, returned to the large room.
It was during those nights as he stared at the manmade gardens outside that lacked the quality he was used to, did he realize he had lost track of time of how long he had been there.
"My brothers handle them."
"Why not you?" Henry gave him a look as if it were an obvious answer. "Don't they feel burdened by it?"
"They are used to it." Henry replied. "And I would not know how they personally felt about it. I have not spoken to them in years."
Kyuhyun would have found that hard to believe, but he sometimes witnessed the distance between the brothers from the solace of the room. "Are there witches here?" Kyuhyun abruptly asked, the young man seemed offended.
"Do not call us such vile things. Witches are foreign beasts, are they not?"
"Wizards then? Demons? Monsters?" Henry's look warned him. "I just wanted to know, I haven't seen anything of the like here. Guess they don't exist."
"Have you ever seen one?" Kyuhyun shook his head. "Do you only believe things you see?" Henry countered.
Kyuhyun was stumped by that answer. He was sure he saw the blue light that entangled him, that somehow brought him here. If that wasn't magic, he wasn't sure what to call it.
He allowed the question to wither when he looked back as Henry went to lay on the bed, Kyuhyun soon joined him although he kept a small distance between them.
From his many observations, he could see Henry kept to himself. He thought that by the man's attitude, he was too picky over which friends he could have, but then he realized there weren't many people who willingly spoke to Henry. The man had no options to consider despite his authority.
Kyuhyun didn't mind his callous attitude. And Henry didn't seem to mind his presence either.
The older man shifted to adjust the sheets around the younger when he looked down, Henry's hand unconsciously gripped his shirt. He considerately fixed the thin sheets as a draft blew in, and he leaned back against the velvet pillows, watching over the lonesome prince.
-
Henry nearly threw the cup against the wall, but merely seethe in anger, fuming as he stormed in his room. Kyuhyun instantly perked up, smiling briefly before it faltered.
The young man fell into one of the seats, exhaling deeply when he felt Kyuhyun's hands on his shoulders. He tensed and stood up, pulling away from the other.
"If you do not wish to keep me company, then leave."
"I never realized I had a choice." Kyuhyun replied honestly, Henry scowled.
"Fine, you want a choice? Determine a price then and I will pass it along to my cousin. Maybe you two will get along better than we have."
"He offered to buy me?" Kyuhyun asked curiously, Henry kept silent. "You told him no."
"Obviously."
Kyuhyun blinked. "Did I even have a say in the matter?"
"Did you want to leave with him?" Henry asked accusingly. Kyuhyun couldn't reply quick enough before the young man stalked before him, glaring menacingly. "Promise you will never leave this room, never leave me."
"I thought you weren't the type to hold to promises." Kyuhyun replied calmly, his tone only worsened the other's mood.
The cup finally shattered past Kyuhyun who flinched, watching as the double doors closed and the room was once again empty.
Henry adjusted the robes around his skin, sitting on the stone edge of the indoor hallway. He heard distant footsteps and looked up, recognizing the head advisor who bowed to him. Henry narrowed his eyes. "How long have you been there?"
"Only a short while, but I can already guess most of the argument." The advisor said calmly. "Your silence is your enemy, you tend to speak your mind whenever you are upset or angry. But dare to admit how you feel and you say not a word. Strange person you are." The advisor noted, Henry arched an eyebrow.
"How would you know what I want?"
"I doubt anyone knows what you want, you are that skilled in being quiet!" The advisor said proudly with a grin. Henry kept still when he heard the man utter, his voice echoing slightly in the vacant hallway.
"It's only when you're separated from someone, do you truly appreciate what you have." The man had said calmly before walking past him outside. Henry crossed his arms, lifting himself off and disappearing in the opposite side.
The advisor then smiled. "If you feel guilty, then speak to him. There's no sense in keeping quiet for you either."
Kyuhyun sunk slightly from the advice that was meant for him. He knew Henry wanted someone, anyone, and Kyuhyun couldn't help but sympathize. But he may have pushed a few buttons without truly meaning to.
Henry looked out the open rooms, staring outside at the sand that entered the floors. He felt a pair of arms enwrap around him. He knew instantly who it was.
"I said you did not have to force yourself." Henry murmured coldly, mentally scolding himself for his own tone.
"I'm sorry." Kyuhyun apologized sincerely. Henry kept stolid, they remained like that until Henry pulled away, returning inside with Kyuhyun in tow. Once they reached inside the room, Kyuhyun vaguely heard the soft, audible apology that escaped Henry's own lips. He hid his smile.
-
"Your world is strange." Henry commented, laying back against the bed. Kyuhyun sat on the floor, his head resting on the edge.
"It's only strange to you, but back in my world, this place is."
Henry then turned on his side. "Tell me about it then."
"Do you want to?" Kyuhyun asked skeptically. "You may not believe me."
"I don't have to see it to believe it exists." Kyuhyun was slightly surprised by his informal speech.
Since then, and every night, Kyuhyun told him and described as best as he could, the world he came from. To his greater surprise, Henry didn't pass off any of it as a lie, and listened intently as if it were important.
To see a young prince hanging off his every word would make the palace itself beckon at its feet, but Kyuhyun was glad for the attention, and mused himself with the thought that he was the only one granted with such.
He noticed how often Henry stole glances from him and he pretended not to notice, saving the prince his pride.
Henry was faced with a dilemma he refused to voice. One brought up often as they stood beside one another, when his eyes would linger from his eyes to further down to his lips.
Meeting his lips were far from fantasy, but now he was faced with the daunting realization that he maybe he did want this. He wanted it desperately.
-
"Then you are unwed?" Henry asked one afternoon, sitting on the floor as he opened his own handmade paint set. Kyuhyun thought he saw a brief glimmer of relief once Kyuhyun nodded. "Then... Are you currently involved with someone?"
"None whatsoever."
Henry mused that thought as he brushed his thick paint onto the laid out fabric. Kyuhyun followed his movements whenever he done so.
"All I did for the longest was that painting, I barely attempted my own work." Kyuhyun admitted. Henry gave him a questioned look when Kyuhyun explained about the very painting that brought him here.
"Ah... That." Henry said uneasily.
Kyuhyun lowered himself beside him. "Will you let me see it? Maybe I'll-"
"No." Henry replied sternly. Kyuhyun furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why not? Has it moved? Been destroyed?"
"What if it has? Why do you want to see it so much?" Henry interrogated hotly, his brushes staining the ground as he stood up. Kyuhyun wasn't sure what he said that made the other like this.
"I just need to know." Kyuhyun explained simply.
"There's nothing to tell, it's the same painting you and I have both seen. And you said yourself you were around it for countless nights and nothing like this had ever happened."
"But-"
"Speak of it again and I'll burn it." Henry warned, he hastily closed the now ruined fabric of the ground. He was no longer in the mood to peacefully paint.
Kyuhyun didn't utter another word about it.
-
It bothered him.
Henry felt a pang whenever Kyuhyun closed his mouth when around him, choosing to stay quiet, all because he knew exactly what he would say the moment he spoke. The thing he may let slip because that was all Kyuhyun ever thought about. That retched painting.
Henry looked at it, surrounding by his many attempts was the lone original work that was slightly covered in dust. He attempted to do, mimic the circumstances Kyuhyun had described to him. But nothing had worked, the painting was merely a painting, nothing more to it. But that constant assurance he gave himself ebbed away to the potential fact that it only applied to Kyuhyun.
Maybe if Kyuhyun was in his place, it would work. Then it would take him back.
Henry's fingers curled into his robes, eyes hardened as he straightened up and laid his hand on the door. But he stopped there and continued to look back at the painting that remained in the corner.
-
What did it matter if he was happy? What did it matter if he finally able to call someone a friend, even more than that? Even if he could smile with ease now, it was done so selfishly.
He grabbed onto it as long as he could, this elation he allowed himself to foolishly grow used to.
If Kyuhyun wasn't, if he wanted to return, then so be it.
Happiness was fleeting, the young prince decided, he could live on without it.
-
Kyuhyun raised his gaze as the doors open, reaching to greet him when he recognized the painting held by Henry. He paused mid-step as Henry laid it on the bed. Without a word, the young man stood against the bed's platform, averting his gaze as Kyuhyun stepped towards it.
"Thank you." He said gratefully. He pursed his lips, noting that Henry made no reaction to his words. Kyuhyun traced the edges with his fingers.
It remained still, no matter what he had done, the painting mimicked nothing of that day. He stood there, contemplating what to do when the doors opened. The servant informed Henry he had to leave soon.
"Will he be accompanying you?" The servant asked, referring to Kyuhyun.
"No," Henry replied, his tone detached.
It was then Kyuhyun heard the quieter reply.
"He will not be joining me anywhere in fact." Henry corrected the servant who bowed his head and left the room.
Kyuhyun softly spoke his name and the young prince didn't respond, walking to the back of the room when he appeared holding Kyuhyun's folded clothes.
"If you find your way back home before I come back, you'll need this." Henry said, when Kyuhyun made no move to reach them, Henry placed them on the bed beside the painting.
"If I can find out how this works, then I can come back." Kyuhyun said hurriedly, hand on Henry's arm.
"That's not how it works." Henry replied stoically.
"How would you know?"
"I just..." Henry's voice broke off. Even Kyuhyun knew it, somehow they both simply knew, that it wouldn't do so.
A hand reached out to cradle Henry's cheek, even Kyuhyun could see there was no emotion in those eyes.
"Don't ever touch me again." Henry ordered, stepping back from his hand. Kyuhyun forcibly reached out and grabbed Henry's hand, the young man's eyes narrowed in warning. "I said-"
"I care about you, I like being with you, being around you." Kyuhyun uttered. "And I know you feel the same way about me. To the same extent as I do."
Henry didn't say anything, his silence confirming his suspicions.
Henry heard the servant call for him, Henry instantly pulled out of his grip. "If you want a confession out of me, now before you leave, then you are a worse person than I thought." He said coldly. "I won't feed your pride only to have you leave right after."
Kyuhyun didn't want him to leave.
"Just once."
The young prince pleaded that day, sitting on his knees on the floor, hands clasped together. Never had he demeaned himself in such a physical way, but he pleaded to forces beyond him, because that was the edge of how desperate he now was.
He knew his life ahead of him, that he would be forever trapped this way, and he'd know nothing else.
That wasn't the life he wanted.
Yet when he pleaded with the heavens, he didn't just want someone to visit. He wanted someone to stay.
"With me." Henry softly spoke.
The painting glowed, they both looked as the flash of light spurred from its lines. Henry, by instinct, closed his eyes but Kyuhyun watched on as the gust of wind whirled about. The flash of light sprang forth and to his surprise, overcame both him and Henry before it evaporated into air.
Kyuhyun stepped towards the glowing blue painting, Henry hesitantly opened his eyes, staring back as Kyuhyun dipped his fingers in the painting.
"Guards!" The servant yelled, Henry looked back, realizing the servant had witnessed it.
"Leave." Henry said quickly, turning away. He'd distract them long enough for the other to leave.
"Come with me." Kyuhyun stated, Henry looked back in surprise, stunned. Kyuhyun tugged his hands into his own. "You can stay with me, I'll take care of you, I'll teach you the language and help you into my world. My time."
Henry lowered his eyes. "I... I can't."
"Is there something stating you can't?" Kyuhyun asked. He had made his decision.
If the other wouldn't leave with him, then he'd stay. If Henry willed it, they'd leave together. Either option he picked, he'd have Henry with him no matter the decision the other came to.
Henry could feel the guards approaching and he looked back at the lonesome castle. He decided then this wasn't the life he wanted to live. Even if Kyuhyun did stay with him, he couldn't have Kyuhyun tear away from the family he once knew.
Henry however, could make that sacrifice.
The wisps of blue light intertwined around their hands, entangling itself around them.
The doors opened as the painting fell onto the floor with a sharp clang, the guards searched the room but there was no sign of the young prince nor his companion.
-
Henry slowly opened his eyes. The desert was replaced with a luscious garden outside, his fingers felt the soft texture of the leaves surrounding him.
He hurriedly sat up, looking around but saw Kyuhyun no where in sight. He called out his name repeatedly.
"Where are you?" He asked breathlessly, feeling afraid, lost.
But no one answered back, no matter how many times he asked, there was not a hint of a reply.
-
The timeline was different from the one Kyuhyun described to him. Rather than carriages being pulled by horses, their were metallic carriages that moved on their own by a simple turn of the wheel. Then he realized the other simply described it using the ordinary things he was used to, rather than attempting to describe a world the young prince surely couldn't fathom.
It took a few awkward brushes with this new world to discover why it was different, until he accustomed himself to it. Living a post modern time that not even the intellectuals of his time could understand. But he didn't care much for it despite the mild curiosity it sparked, now able to speak the language, able to mingle himself within the crowd as if he were one of them. His thoughts drifted elsewhere when he was allowed to.
Still he couldn't find the other and wondered if he ever would.
-
Kyuhyun stared at the painting for a long while as he sat on the chair of the large room. His family members could only stare in worry at the young man's strangely gained habit.
"Maybe we should have taken him to a psychologist." His mother said quietly, confiding in her first born son. Donghae crossed his arms and looked back as Kyuhyun tapped the painting repeatedly, repeating words in a language none of them could understand or even identify.
"At least he's awake now." Donghae reminded his mother who nodded her head.
Only months before did they often visit the man who kept his eyes close, to what felt like forever in that comatose state. The moment they found him in front of that very painting of that room, that he briefly wondered if it could have been cursed.
"Kyuhyun." Donghae called, Kyuhyun briefly turned his attention away from the painting to his older brother who sighed. "Let's go visit Ryeowook, he's been begging us to visit the countryside for a while." He tried to add lightheartedly.
"You can go on your own." Kyuhyun suggested.
Donghae bit his cheek. "Just 'cause I can alone isn't the issue at hand. Nothing's going to change about that painting, and it's reaching to the point of obsessing over it."
Kyuhyun thinned his lips, obviously displeased with that answer as he looked back at the painting.
"You're scaring mom." Donghae murmured. Kyuhyun lowered his eyes in guilt and slowly got up, grabbing his jacket and accompanying his brother outside.
He took one last look of the painting before the door closed.
-
Henry lifted the fruits into their assorted baskets, long past the title of prince and becoming that of a mere laborer. The lowest of the low he realized.
He wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist, throwing his gloves onto the sink as he washed them beneath the cool water. He heard a car pull up and turned away, hearing his co-worker speak with the guests.
Henry walked past the outside stand, reaching for the broom to clean the front edges of the stand.
"You."
"Don't be informal." Henry countered by habit, but he froze, recognizing the foreign language he hadn't heard in years. He slowly lowered the broom in his hand and looked back. Kyuhyun was standing behind him.
"They told me it was a dream." Kyuhyun uttered, staring at him a bit longer. "I knew better. I know I didn't imagine you. I-"
"Kyuhyun!" A voice yelled, a hand grabbing Kyuhyun's shoulder and pulling him back. He gave an apologetic bow to Henry. "My brother has recently gotten out of the hospital, his mind isn't in the right state-"
"No. You don't understand, that's Hen-"
"Kyuhyun." Donghae said sternly, Kyuhyun ignored him.
"Where were you then?"
Donghae froze at the familiar foreign language, to that Kyuhyun grinned despite his brother's shock.
"Don't be afraid," Henry said courteously to Donghae. "He was never in his right mind."
Kyuhyun couldn't be deterred despite the blatant insult, gathering the young man into his arms.
-
Kyuhyun was the prince in this world, or it felt so at least. Henry gazed at the large home and modern style of the house, that seemed to surpass most of the population's.
There were questions that even Kyuhyun couldn't answer to Henry's disappointment, but they decided it was better not to discuss the past with his family. But simply treat it as a first meeting, to begin things anew in sight of the prior relationship.
One that seemed to have strengthened and manifested, Henry realized. Kyuhyun no longer cared for pretenses, for their differences in classes, and without caution he kissed Henry firmly on the lips. The young laborer couldn't order him not to, but didn't bother to stop him either.
Henry didn't understand why they were separated, maybe he hadn't held on as tight as he should have. Maybe the fates punished him for disobeying and leaving where he belonged.
But he now understood what his advisor had meant that day, if they hadn't been separated, he would never have appreciated being reunited. Being alone then and now were the terrifying facts that no matter the lifetime, he'd always face that fate. Yet with Kyuhyun's presence, the young man felt assured.
"Promise you won't leave me." Henry ordered outside his home, walking through the outside gardens of the household. The other didn't retort or counter playfully as before.
Beneath that evening sky, Kyuhyun reached to hold his hand, forehead against Henry's side. Eyes peacefully closed as he murmured a soft declaration, his honesty bringing Henry closer towards him.
"I promise."
- ❄ Challenge 30 ❄ | ❄ Finish ❄ -
A/N: I'm so sorry....for this epically long one-shot .-.
This is now the completed December 31-Shot List ( ^^) _旦~~!
I honestly didn't plan for this length, and I'm incoherent to a point that I've long crossed in the midst of writing this. Please excuse my errors throughout these challenges, I fail at grasping grammar and it shows... But my rereading Howl's Moving Castle brought me to a fantasyish concept that I don't think I've done often. Hope it was okay ^^
And my intention to write my couples once and only once was fulfilled ^o^ These challenges were fun and I love doing them, thank you Lien for the prompts <3 Now shall get to writing my other incomplete stories ><
Hope you all enjoyed~ ❄ Happy Holidays and Happy New Year's Eve/Day! :D ❄