The Rules of Love According to Andreas Capellanus: 1 Marriage is no excuse for not loving.
Author Notes:
Young Avengers fic. Not beta read. No warnings necessary.
Needed some prompt ideas to get started on writing fic and I had to do a reading for my English class and these rules came up. I looked them up on Wikipedia and lo, prompts were found.
On this rule I did the Teddy goes off into space and Billy goes with him idea that seems pretty prevalent in the fandom. Also tried playing with a different voice, not really sure I like it.
The Rules of Love According to Andreas Capellanus: 1 Marriage is no excuse for not loving.
The wedding is picture perfect placed in the grand hall of the palace of the new Throneworld. All the Skrull Governors, Heroes of Earth, the Inhuman Royal Family of the Kree, High Council and Majestor of the Shi'ar Empire Imperium have come to witness the union that would bring peace to two of the major Empires of the Universe. Every important person is here … except William. Dorrek VIII looks down at his empyreal robes; they have never felt so heavy. Beside him is the young Le-Ia, the youngest daughter of the Majestor whose power has weakened due the destruction of a large percentage of their planets, a cataclysm that been experienced by and recovered from in the Skrull Empire under Dorrek VIII’s rule.
A reign that has had William beside him from the first step of that new road and carried half the weight of his crown throughout their journey together. He knows he can not restore the Imperium Empire by himself. To do so would be like dancing solo on the floor when trained all his life in pair dancing. Depending on Le-Ia as a new partner would be disastrous; she did not know the steps, let alone could be trusted on the dance floor of empyreal politics. When he and William first started, they were clumsy sure, but they could count on the other to follow where one led and not to be dropped by their partner in the middle of a dangerous stunt. Or to switch partners in the middle of a dance, something Dorrek VIII thinks Le-Ia is already contemplating as he watches her look out into their audience. She is too young, inexperienced, and selfish to be in charge of a dinner party, never mind allowing her to be responsible for even a single life of one of his subjects. No, the only one whom he could ever rely on for the safekeeping of his Empire is William. He smiles to himself as he remembers how he would lead his William in front of the Governors so his partner could blind them with the flare of his Cape as Dorrek VIII would view the scorecards of their true thoughts and intentions for their planets, or how his William would guide him to ‘accidentally’ bump into up incoming opposition to spill them onto the floor for their Empire to see. What he loves the most of their dancing is no matter how much work they put into a plan or how hard the steps became his William would always smile and laugh if he added a few spins just for the hell of it. Eyes that would look at him with unwavering confidence that whatever stunt Dorrek VIII wanted to try, that they could pull off.
He needs those eyes.
He reaches into his robe to touch the woven band around his wrist, a more permanent symbol of their handfasting and the vow “for as long as love shall last”. He is not betraying that emotion; he does not have any feelings for the bird other than a responsibility for her health and wellbeing as a long-term guest in their palace. He is doing this for their people! If the Shi’ar were left to themselves, they would soon become desperate and attack the Skrull Empire for resources, killing many. Why would not William stand beside him on this decision? This is not Emperor behavior damn it!
He and Le-Ia rise as the Official stands before them reciting a purple prose marriage contract. The Emperor is lost in his thoughts until he hears “If anyone should have a reason for these two not to join-” and the sound of a chair shifting back as someone rises up and silences the room. He turns to see Patriot glaring at him with black eyes. They stand staring at each other for a second and an eternity before Patriot leaves the room.
The rest of the wedding goes as planned. Politicians and guests surround the bride and groom during the reception with flattery and well wishes. Now that the two Empires have legally combined and the financial, food, and defense problems of the nearly destroyed Shi'ar Empire have been averted by having the marriage secured and finalized, the noble families all try to feel him out and jockey out a position of power by being by his side and having his ear to advise him on the ways that things should be done by their personal Shi’ar standards. Never mind that those ways and standards not only failed to protect the old empire from falling but failed to help it rise above the destruction and rebuild. He wants a drink, but would not dare in such company.
The Avengers that are still there toast him from across the room. Hawkeye gives him a bittersweet smile over her glass and Statue has not let go of Vision’s hand since coming to the Throneworld. He has not seen Speed since this morning when the mutant punched him and blew-up a statue of the soon-to-be-wed-couple and Patriot locked him in Earth’s ship.
He has not seen William since last month when the first bit of substantial evidence that made the wedding no longer a theoretical, interesting discussion that had been going on for the past four months into a physical concept arrived. Kl’rt has been giving him daily reports and images at night and sometimes a letter from the man himself. Things he places in a jeweled lock box by their bed and looks through when he is feeling lonely. He knows that William has been sleeping in his lair. He does not dare confront him in that private place because that has always been the brunette’s space away from everyone. But he begins to worry when guests’ ships are leaving and no one he has spoken to or has seen William, not even Kl’rt, to tell him how he is doing. The wait of the confrontation he knows is going to happen is eating away at him. He knocks on the lair’s doors and calls out to his William. There is no sound from the other side. He turns and heads back to their rooms.
When he gets there he drops his royal robes on the floor, too emotionally tired to deal with anything more complicated than getting to bed and sleeping. This is why he only sighs when he finds La-Ia undressed in his bed, “Your room is a floor below.”
She smiles as she crawls down the length of the bed, her feathers shimmering and reflecting the soft glow of a hundred candles. As she moves, her arms brush against her supple breast and show off her long legs. She gets to the end of the bed and slides herself up and down the corner bedpost and chuckles. “I did not know that Skrulls were so prude. This is our wedding night Husband and we should celebrate.” She spins around, lets go of the bedpost and falls back onto the sheets, her breast bouncing and her legs splayed open. She reaches out a hand towards him, “Come, we shall create an heir to the strongest Empire the Universe has ever seen.”
He picks up his robes and places them over the back of the couch by the windows and sits down. “La-Ia, you know I am gay. You know my mate is William. You know that I am a shape-shifter and so can provide an heir for my Empire. You know your room is a floor below. Why are you here?”
She frowns as she sits up, still trying to show off her body. “We are wed Husband; I am here to do my wifely duties, to provide an heir for our Empire.”
He leans his head onto the back of the couch and rubs his eyes with his hands. “Those ‘duties’ belong to my mate and you already know a female is not needed for an heir.”
Her feathers begin to ruffle, “You would have a bastard child heir to our Empire?!”
He looks up. “Bas-…William and I are already wed.” He shows the handfasting band wrapped around his wrist. “And it is my Empire, La-Ia. The Shi’ar bowed down before the Skrull Empire and begged me to take care of them. This is a political marriage to show how serious I take the envelopment of what was the Shi’ar Empire into my Skrull Empire. I ask again, why are you here?”
The door slams open. “You two can be such idiots that I wonder how you manage to do anything together.” Patriot strides in with his William being led behind him, stops dead at the sight of the other two occupants, and immediately slaps a hand over William’s eyes.
William tries to shift the hand away while La-Ia jumps down from the bed and stalks over to pair by the open door. She turns to look at Dorrek, who has shot off the couch while staring, as she points at his still struggling mate with Patriot slowly trying to walk them both out the door. “You have been rejected by your mate!” she crows “You have no reason to refuse me!”
His William stills. “What the hell is she doing in our bedroom?!” He smacks the hand away and turns to face Patriot who has let him go and trying to flee by himself, looking as uncomfortable as Dorrek feels. “You see! All worries completely justified!”
“She came in without my permission, knows that her room is a floor below and has yet to give an explanation for being here!” Dorrek says as he rushes to the other side of the room. “If you have any worries about anything, please tell me and I will refute them to your satisfaction.” He tries to gather up his William into his arms, but instead his mate goes behind a still awkward looking Patriot to glare over their friend’s shoulder. “I have not seen you in person for so long, is that the reason?”
“She. Is. In. Our. Bedroom!”
“I had no knowledge of that until I entered!”
“I am his Queen!”
“No you are not!” was said by all three males. Patriot turns to Dorrek, “How did she even get past the guards?” The men turn to the door and see at lease seven people watching them…and now quickly walking away.
The two guards at the door enter the room and bow. “I am sorry my Emperor, we allowed her in. She is your wife now and we assumed-”
“One who assumes just makes an ass out of you and me. Never do that again. You may now allow my wife into her room. Downstairs.” Dorrek says, his eyes not leaving his mate’s face.
“You cannot do this to me! I am the Queen; I command you to leave at once!” La-Ia screams as the guards come towards her to follow their Emperor’s orders.
“She is to be guarded at all times and restricted to floors allowed to the guests, and not to be seen by the public. We do not need an incident so soon after the wedding; it will cause undue stress and political panic for the people and for you two to loose your heads.” William commands as the guards try to lead the wife out. Their eyes widen at the tail end of the orders and they quickly turn and salute to carry out their other Emperor’s commands, dragging the screaming girl between them as they rush through the door.
Patriot looks longingly after the guards, then back in-between the staring match of two of the most powerful men in the universe. “Well, now that that misunderstanding has been cleared up,” he quickly maneuvers himself behind William, “I think it is time for the two of you to have a long conversation about where the future of your enlarged empire is headed.” Patriot uses his super speed training to get to the door, “Good luck with that” and slams it closed as he leaves.
Dorrek and William stand there, not but four feet separate them, starring at the other. “…how are you?” Dorrek looks his fill, not knowing when he will get this close to his William again. His robes are two sizes too big, he has lost weight; he has dark circles under his eyes, he has lost sleep; his lower lip has chapped and cracked, he has been worried. The images Kl’rt took had not shown him this.
“I am well,” William has his face turned away, the candle lights flicker and reflect off his hair and eyes, “I think that we should organize a fleet of small ships to verify the resources and conditions of the newly acquired territory. Doubtless the previous owners had overlooked some damage and overestimated their remaining supplies to maintain what remains of their pride and to make for themselves a better bargaining position. While we do that, we can also ascertain the welfare of-”
“You do not look well. I have missed you.” Dorrek takes step closer to the other.
“-the people and public opinion. Sending out medical aid and food supplies with the surveyors will take care of the immediate problems and show the people that the Skrull Empire has the ability and desire to take care of them. That will hopefully weaken the will to revolt against the new order of things. It will not, of course, prevent the rebellion that is bound to happen. Too much resentment has built up among the people for having been mistreated and neglected-”
“Is that how you feel? I feel miserable without you. I do not give meetings the attention they deserve; too busy am I looking forward to Kl’rt’s report and images of you.” He takes another step forward.
“-by their government. Those feelings will not just disappear with the change of political power or arrival of food and aid. Their direction will be changed and channeled at us instead of the ones who deserve them. There will most likely be small fights, nay-sayers, and a bit of looting of the supplies by the rebels which will slow down the spread of provisions to the people. We will need to set up information stations to inform the public of changes in law and policy and the ones who are truly robbing them. This will also be a place to voice concerns-”
“Why did you not voice yours? Did I give the impression that it was not wanted; because I always wish to hear your thoughts. Thoughts about anything or nothing. What are your thoughts right now? Please be direct with me.” He takes another step closer. He cannot see his William’s face.
“-and ideas on how to fix some of the problems. Credit will be given, and local people hired as contractors so that the people can feel a sense of accomplishment at making things better for themselves and circulate money into the local economy. Rebels will eventually feel the pressure of public opinion and stop. All that will be left will be publicly acknowledged criminals who were trying to take advantage of the situation, and those can be taken care of with law enforcement, preferably local. The rebuilding of a local and trustworthy, to the satisfaction of both the locals and ourselves, government will be the hardest part. The merging of the two cultures is always difficult. There will be problems, but as a skeletal plan I think that-”
Dorrek takes the finial step forward and pulls his William into his arms. “I think that that this can wait until tomorrow.” His mate’s body shakes in his arms and he can smell salt water. He wraps his arms around and around and around him as he walks them towards their bed. He throws the covers off their bed and then throws one of the candles on it to watch it burn. His William turns to watch the flames from the bed, the light reflecting off the tear stains; tear stains which he licks away. “You know my feelings.” He waits until his mate nods, “Then why?”
“I share so much of you. Your time with the Empire, your thoughts with advisors, your hands with the people, your duty with politicians, your battles with soldiers, your home with staff, your meals with guests, but this,” William puts his hand over Dorrek’s heart, “this I thought I would never have to share. That I would have to…I was not ready, I needed to learn to be without you because she would demand you and I…and I….” William hides his face into Dorrek’s neck and curl’s his hand into fist. “I cannot do it Teddy. One thing of you to keep for myself is all I ask, that is not so much is it?” Dorrek shakes his head and rubs Billy’s back. Billy leans back and looks Dorrek straight in the eye with the same determination he had when he said that they would travel down this road together. “If I cannot have this one thing of you to share with no one else, then I can no longer be with you. It would break me.”
Teddy’s eyes widen and he pulls Billy close and wraps not just his arms, but his legs and body around him, as if to prevent the very possibility. “I can not let you go Billy” he whispers, “do not ask it of me, for it is the one thing I will ever deny you.”
“Then this,” Billy hand holds Teddy’s beating heart, “must be mine alone, in every shape and form.”
“Done. I will divorce the bird and send her back tonight.” Teddy’s head shifts out of the living cocoon around Billy. “Nerrvien!” A skrull in scribe robes opens the door and bows, his eyes never leaving the floor. “Get me divorced while keeping our new empire whole. Then send the girl home tonight, the guards know where she is.” Nerrvien bows and leaves.
“What about the political unrest?”
“I will give you the world, the moons, the stars, and everything in between if you ask it of me; whatever it takes to keep you by my side.”
Billy closes his eyes and settles into his cocoon ready to finally get a peaceful night sleep with his ear next to the beating heart in his hand. “This Teddy, this is all I ask of you.”
Young Avengers fic. Not beta read. No warnings necessary.
Needed some prompt ideas to get started on writing fic and I had to do a reading for my English class and these rules came up. I looked them up on Wikipedia and lo, prompts were found.
On this rule I did the Teddy goes off into space and Billy goes with him idea that seems pretty prevalent in the fandom. Also tried playing with a different voice, not really sure I like it.
The Rules of Love According to Andreas Capellanus: 1 Marriage is no excuse for not loving.
The wedding is picture perfect placed in the grand hall of the palace of the new Throneworld. All the Skrull Governors, Heroes of Earth, the Inhuman Royal Family of the Kree, High Council and Majestor of the Shi'ar Empire Imperium have come to witness the union that would bring peace to two of the major Empires of the Universe. Every important person is here … except William. Dorrek VIII looks down at his empyreal robes; they have never felt so heavy. Beside him is the young Le-Ia, the youngest daughter of the Majestor whose power has weakened due the destruction of a large percentage of their planets, a cataclysm that been experienced by and recovered from in the Skrull Empire under Dorrek VIII’s rule.
A reign that has had William beside him from the first step of that new road and carried half the weight of his crown throughout their journey together. He knows he can not restore the Imperium Empire by himself. To do so would be like dancing solo on the floor when trained all his life in pair dancing. Depending on Le-Ia as a new partner would be disastrous; she did not know the steps, let alone could be trusted on the dance floor of empyreal politics. When he and William first started, they were clumsy sure, but they could count on the other to follow where one led and not to be dropped by their partner in the middle of a dangerous stunt. Or to switch partners in the middle of a dance, something Dorrek VIII thinks Le-Ia is already contemplating as he watches her look out into their audience. She is too young, inexperienced, and selfish to be in charge of a dinner party, never mind allowing her to be responsible for even a single life of one of his subjects. No, the only one whom he could ever rely on for the safekeeping of his Empire is William. He smiles to himself as he remembers how he would lead his William in front of the Governors so his partner could blind them with the flare of his Cape as Dorrek VIII would view the scorecards of their true thoughts and intentions for their planets, or how his William would guide him to ‘accidentally’ bump into up incoming opposition to spill them onto the floor for their Empire to see. What he loves the most of their dancing is no matter how much work they put into a plan or how hard the steps became his William would always smile and laugh if he added a few spins just for the hell of it. Eyes that would look at him with unwavering confidence that whatever stunt Dorrek VIII wanted to try, that they could pull off.
He needs those eyes.
He reaches into his robe to touch the woven band around his wrist, a more permanent symbol of their handfasting and the vow “for as long as love shall last”. He is not betraying that emotion; he does not have any feelings for the bird other than a responsibility for her health and wellbeing as a long-term guest in their palace. He is doing this for their people! If the Shi’ar were left to themselves, they would soon become desperate and attack the Skrull Empire for resources, killing many. Why would not William stand beside him on this decision? This is not Emperor behavior damn it!
He and Le-Ia rise as the Official stands before them reciting a purple prose marriage contract. The Emperor is lost in his thoughts until he hears “If anyone should have a reason for these two not to join-” and the sound of a chair shifting back as someone rises up and silences the room. He turns to see Patriot glaring at him with black eyes. They stand staring at each other for a second and an eternity before Patriot leaves the room.
The rest of the wedding goes as planned. Politicians and guests surround the bride and groom during the reception with flattery and well wishes. Now that the two Empires have legally combined and the financial, food, and defense problems of the nearly destroyed Shi'ar Empire have been averted by having the marriage secured and finalized, the noble families all try to feel him out and jockey out a position of power by being by his side and having his ear to advise him on the ways that things should be done by their personal Shi’ar standards. Never mind that those ways and standards not only failed to protect the old empire from falling but failed to help it rise above the destruction and rebuild. He wants a drink, but would not dare in such company.
The Avengers that are still there toast him from across the room. Hawkeye gives him a bittersweet smile over her glass and Statue has not let go of Vision’s hand since coming to the Throneworld. He has not seen Speed since this morning when the mutant punched him and blew-up a statue of the soon-to-be-wed-couple and Patriot locked him in Earth’s ship.
He has not seen William since last month when the first bit of substantial evidence that made the wedding no longer a theoretical, interesting discussion that had been going on for the past four months into a physical concept arrived. Kl’rt has been giving him daily reports and images at night and sometimes a letter from the man himself. Things he places in a jeweled lock box by their bed and looks through when he is feeling lonely. He knows that William has been sleeping in his lair. He does not dare confront him in that private place because that has always been the brunette’s space away from everyone. But he begins to worry when guests’ ships are leaving and no one he has spoken to or has seen William, not even Kl’rt, to tell him how he is doing. The wait of the confrontation he knows is going to happen is eating away at him. He knocks on the lair’s doors and calls out to his William. There is no sound from the other side. He turns and heads back to their rooms.
When he gets there he drops his royal robes on the floor, too emotionally tired to deal with anything more complicated than getting to bed and sleeping. This is why he only sighs when he finds La-Ia undressed in his bed, “Your room is a floor below.”
She smiles as she crawls down the length of the bed, her feathers shimmering and reflecting the soft glow of a hundred candles. As she moves, her arms brush against her supple breast and show off her long legs. She gets to the end of the bed and slides herself up and down the corner bedpost and chuckles. “I did not know that Skrulls were so prude. This is our wedding night Husband and we should celebrate.” She spins around, lets go of the bedpost and falls back onto the sheets, her breast bouncing and her legs splayed open. She reaches out a hand towards him, “Come, we shall create an heir to the strongest Empire the Universe has ever seen.”
He picks up his robes and places them over the back of the couch by the windows and sits down. “La-Ia, you know I am gay. You know my mate is William. You know that I am a shape-shifter and so can provide an heir for my Empire. You know your room is a floor below. Why are you here?”
She frowns as she sits up, still trying to show off her body. “We are wed Husband; I am here to do my wifely duties, to provide an heir for our Empire.”
He leans his head onto the back of the couch and rubs his eyes with his hands. “Those ‘duties’ belong to my mate and you already know a female is not needed for an heir.”
Her feathers begin to ruffle, “You would have a bastard child heir to our Empire?!”
He looks up. “Bas-…William and I are already wed.” He shows the handfasting band wrapped around his wrist. “And it is my Empire, La-Ia. The Shi’ar bowed down before the Skrull Empire and begged me to take care of them. This is a political marriage to show how serious I take the envelopment of what was the Shi’ar Empire into my Skrull Empire. I ask again, why are you here?”
The door slams open. “You two can be such idiots that I wonder how you manage to do anything together.” Patriot strides in with his William being led behind him, stops dead at the sight of the other two occupants, and immediately slaps a hand over William’s eyes.
William tries to shift the hand away while La-Ia jumps down from the bed and stalks over to pair by the open door. She turns to look at Dorrek, who has shot off the couch while staring, as she points at his still struggling mate with Patriot slowly trying to walk them both out the door. “You have been rejected by your mate!” she crows “You have no reason to refuse me!”
His William stills. “What the hell is she doing in our bedroom?!” He smacks the hand away and turns to face Patriot who has let him go and trying to flee by himself, looking as uncomfortable as Dorrek feels. “You see! All worries completely justified!”
“She came in without my permission, knows that her room is a floor below and has yet to give an explanation for being here!” Dorrek says as he rushes to the other side of the room. “If you have any worries about anything, please tell me and I will refute them to your satisfaction.” He tries to gather up his William into his arms, but instead his mate goes behind a still awkward looking Patriot to glare over their friend’s shoulder. “I have not seen you in person for so long, is that the reason?”
“She. Is. In. Our. Bedroom!”
“I had no knowledge of that until I entered!”
“I am his Queen!”
“No you are not!” was said by all three males. Patriot turns to Dorrek, “How did she even get past the guards?” The men turn to the door and see at lease seven people watching them…and now quickly walking away.
The two guards at the door enter the room and bow. “I am sorry my Emperor, we allowed her in. She is your wife now and we assumed-”
“One who assumes just makes an ass out of you and me. Never do that again. You may now allow my wife into her room. Downstairs.” Dorrek says, his eyes not leaving his mate’s face.
“You cannot do this to me! I am the Queen; I command you to leave at once!” La-Ia screams as the guards come towards her to follow their Emperor’s orders.
“She is to be guarded at all times and restricted to floors allowed to the guests, and not to be seen by the public. We do not need an incident so soon after the wedding; it will cause undue stress and political panic for the people and for you two to loose your heads.” William commands as the guards try to lead the wife out. Their eyes widen at the tail end of the orders and they quickly turn and salute to carry out their other Emperor’s commands, dragging the screaming girl between them as they rush through the door.
Patriot looks longingly after the guards, then back in-between the staring match of two of the most powerful men in the universe. “Well, now that that misunderstanding has been cleared up,” he quickly maneuvers himself behind William, “I think it is time for the two of you to have a long conversation about where the future of your enlarged empire is headed.” Patriot uses his super speed training to get to the door, “Good luck with that” and slams it closed as he leaves.
Dorrek and William stand there, not but four feet separate them, starring at the other. “…how are you?” Dorrek looks his fill, not knowing when he will get this close to his William again. His robes are two sizes too big, he has lost weight; he has dark circles under his eyes, he has lost sleep; his lower lip has chapped and cracked, he has been worried. The images Kl’rt took had not shown him this.
“I am well,” William has his face turned away, the candle lights flicker and reflect off his hair and eyes, “I think that we should organize a fleet of small ships to verify the resources and conditions of the newly acquired territory. Doubtless the previous owners had overlooked some damage and overestimated their remaining supplies to maintain what remains of their pride and to make for themselves a better bargaining position. While we do that, we can also ascertain the welfare of-”
“You do not look well. I have missed you.” Dorrek takes step closer to the other.
“-the people and public opinion. Sending out medical aid and food supplies with the surveyors will take care of the immediate problems and show the people that the Skrull Empire has the ability and desire to take care of them. That will hopefully weaken the will to revolt against the new order of things. It will not, of course, prevent the rebellion that is bound to happen. Too much resentment has built up among the people for having been mistreated and neglected-”
“Is that how you feel? I feel miserable without you. I do not give meetings the attention they deserve; too busy am I looking forward to Kl’rt’s report and images of you.” He takes another step forward.
“-by their government. Those feelings will not just disappear with the change of political power or arrival of food and aid. Their direction will be changed and channeled at us instead of the ones who deserve them. There will most likely be small fights, nay-sayers, and a bit of looting of the supplies by the rebels which will slow down the spread of provisions to the people. We will need to set up information stations to inform the public of changes in law and policy and the ones who are truly robbing them. This will also be a place to voice concerns-”
“Why did you not voice yours? Did I give the impression that it was not wanted; because I always wish to hear your thoughts. Thoughts about anything or nothing. What are your thoughts right now? Please be direct with me.” He takes another step closer. He cannot see his William’s face.
“-and ideas on how to fix some of the problems. Credit will be given, and local people hired as contractors so that the people can feel a sense of accomplishment at making things better for themselves and circulate money into the local economy. Rebels will eventually feel the pressure of public opinion and stop. All that will be left will be publicly acknowledged criminals who were trying to take advantage of the situation, and those can be taken care of with law enforcement, preferably local. The rebuilding of a local and trustworthy, to the satisfaction of both the locals and ourselves, government will be the hardest part. The merging of the two cultures is always difficult. There will be problems, but as a skeletal plan I think that-”
Dorrek takes the finial step forward and pulls his William into his arms. “I think that that this can wait until tomorrow.” His mate’s body shakes in his arms and he can smell salt water. He wraps his arms around and around and around him as he walks them towards their bed. He throws the covers off their bed and then throws one of the candles on it to watch it burn. His William turns to watch the flames from the bed, the light reflecting off the tear stains; tear stains which he licks away. “You know my feelings.” He waits until his mate nods, “Then why?”
“I share so much of you. Your time with the Empire, your thoughts with advisors, your hands with the people, your duty with politicians, your battles with soldiers, your home with staff, your meals with guests, but this,” William puts his hand over Dorrek’s heart, “this I thought I would never have to share. That I would have to…I was not ready, I needed to learn to be without you because she would demand you and I…and I….” William hides his face into Dorrek’s neck and curl’s his hand into fist. “I cannot do it Teddy. One thing of you to keep for myself is all I ask, that is not so much is it?” Dorrek shakes his head and rubs Billy’s back. Billy leans back and looks Dorrek straight in the eye with the same determination he had when he said that they would travel down this road together. “If I cannot have this one thing of you to share with no one else, then I can no longer be with you. It would break me.”
Teddy’s eyes widen and he pulls Billy close and wraps not just his arms, but his legs and body around him, as if to prevent the very possibility. “I can not let you go Billy” he whispers, “do not ask it of me, for it is the one thing I will ever deny you.”
“Then this,” Billy hand holds Teddy’s beating heart, “must be mine alone, in every shape and form.”
“Done. I will divorce the bird and send her back tonight.” Teddy’s head shifts out of the living cocoon around Billy. “Nerrvien!” A skrull in scribe robes opens the door and bows, his eyes never leaving the floor. “Get me divorced while keeping our new empire whole. Then send the girl home tonight, the guards know where she is.” Nerrvien bows and leaves.
“What about the political unrest?”
“I will give you the world, the moons, the stars, and everything in between if you ask it of me; whatever it takes to keep you by my side.”
Billy closes his eyes and settles into his cocoon ready to finally get a peaceful night sleep with his ear next to the beating heart in his hand. “This Teddy, this is all I ask of you.”