Til Death Will They Part

Vinyll stepped out into the courtyard of the Derse castle, looking to find his parents with a few guards. They'd summoned him to meet someone, but he couldn't find anyone particularly of meet-worthy. That is, of course, until one of the guards dropped down to a knee in a respectful bow.

"This is Ermine Avneer, the Arsonist Lovesick. He has sworn his life to you as your bodyguard. We want to ensure you live long enough to take the throne," they explained. Vinyll gestured for Avneer to rise back to his feet and obediently, he rose. Of course, it was in the prince's best interest to look over the cape-clad knight that was going to spend the rest of his life protecting them. The first thing Vinyll took note of was the large scar that striped down the left side of Avneer's face. He hummed a little to himself in thought as he then took in their height difference, common between a purple and a violet, but still noteable nonetheless. 

"Very well, come along then, Arsonist, I'd like to return to my studies," they said before turning on their heel to begin walking back up to their respitblock, not bothering to look back to make sure Ermine was following. They could soon hear the gentle clicking of his boots on the tile behind them. As they approached the door to their block, Ermine's steps sped a little to get around the prince, opening the door for them with a bow. He stepped by into the block, Ermine following him in quietly before standing by the door. Vinyll took a seat back at his desk to continue where he'd left off on his books.

After what felt like a few hours, they looked over to Ermine and perked their ear fins a little, "You must be getting tired standing there like that, why don't you take a seat? I'll be at this for a while." Ermine's ears twitched and that was all the indication that he'd been heard that Vinyll was given. The guard didn't speak, nor did he move toward any seating. All Avneer did was shake his head gently, a polite refusal. He had a job to do and he'd be damned if Vinyll's parents happened to pop in and catch him relaxing on the job on his first night. 

"Alright then.." Vinyll huffed a little at the stubbornness already, but they didn't want to start an argument during the first night. They turned to Ermine in their chair now, leaning sideways on the backrest to keep an open demeanor for him, "Do you have any interests?"

He was met with a small shrug, Ermine's head tilting a little in the process. His hair fell victim to gravity, waving slightly over his face. Vinyll cleared his throat and brought a hand up to fiddle with one of his dreads to try and keep his thinkpan on track, taking a deep breath. They decided to try and stick to yes or no questions, seeing as Ermine was apparently not the talking type, gesturing a little to the scar on Ermine's face, "Can you see out of that eye?"

There was an adamant shaking of Ermine's head. Vinyll commited this to memory, what he was going to do with the information was up for debate though. Already, they were forgetting the "yes and no questions only" rule they made up in their thinkpan now, "How did it happen?"

Avneer's ears fell back, obviously not particularly fond of the question, but he had come to expect it whenever he met someone new. He cleared his throat and Vinyll's ears perked up. Was Arsonist really going to speak? His ears were met with a smooth, low tenor voice and Vinyll could swear his bloodpusher had stopped beating while the sound resonated in his ears. They shook their head a little and tuned into what was actually being said now, not wanting to be rude.

"... and my foot slipped. I hadn't dropped the knife in time and it sliced open my face. It's a little difficult to deal with stress by baking when you're stuck in an infirmary where you have no access to a kitchen, though," a small sound bubbled from Ermine's chest and Vinyll could feel his bloodpusher in his throat now. He was laughing at himself. Vinyll was quick to notice the golden tooth wedged at the base of the scar on Ermine's face in his laughter.

Vinyll quickly came to the realization that the next 60,000 some-odd sweeps were going be absolute agony on his bloodpusher.

***

As time stretched on, Vinyll and Ermine of course spent more time together. When you sign your life away to protecting someone, that tends to happen. Vinyll found enrichment in finding ways to make Ermine laugh, just as Ermine, knowingly or not, managed to find new ways to tug at Vinyll's bloodpusher. Vinyll learned that Ermine didn't bring his personal life with him as he trailed behind the prince. He knew he had a job to do and he was committed to staying focused on it. That, of course, didn't keep Vinyll from figuring out when Ermine was in a quadrant with someone. He was there for the ends of these relationships. Ermine was a purple who chose to quad with lowbloods, albeit Vinyll suspected that these quadmates didn't die of old age. He knew how broken Ermine would get, just under the surface. Vinyll was surprised that no one else would pick up on Ermine being so torn up from caring so deeply for another troll. It eventually came to Vinyll's attention that no one else gave Ermine enough attention to be able to read him so easily as the prince did. 

It would always hurt just a little bit to see Ermine be happy with someone else. Vinyll knew that, eventually, they'd have to find a partner for themself in one of the eligible royals. They could never work out, he knew that. It was nothing more than a wishful fantasy, of course. Still, he found himself watching his bodyguard. Stolen glances, whenever they thought Ermine wasn't looking. When he would try to sleep, he'd occasionally order (read: gently asked) Ermine to read something to him from the shelf. It was comforting to have such a smooth voice read him to sleep. They weren't sure where Ermine went after they fell into slumber, they weren't sure he ever slept at all honestly, but he was always there when they woke up, just stepping back into the block with breakfast for them.

Vinyll wasn't sure what all in particular had been in the job description when Ermine became his personal guard, but he was sure breakfast and bedtime stories weren't there. It gave them just a little sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, Ermine did it because he wanted to. Why he'd want to, Vinyll wasn't sure of yet, but he was happy to receive the attention regardless. 

***

It wouldn't be for a while that they finally got their answer on how Ermine truly felt until they'd been attacked by assassins. He wasn't supposed to be with them. They had gone out to get him a surprise after his most recent quadmate died, wanting to cheer him up. He was there just in time to save him, and Vinyll couldn't tear his eyes from Ermine's face if his life depended on it in that moment. They had spaced out entirely until Ermine was extending his hand to them to help them to their feet. 

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice not holding the same professional tone he tried to keep. His voice, his smooth, sweet voice, was filled with genuine worry, anger, fear, at the notion of Vinyll being hurt. Vinyll forgot how to speak, but nodded quickly after a moment or two when Ermine's face twisted to match the emotions in his voice.

They were alone, save for the bodies of the assassins Avneer had just saved him from. Vinyll decided to take the chance, pulling Ermine into a hug. They were filled with a warm feeling as they felt strong arms wrap tightly around them in return. Ermine was careful to not crush him, or impale him on his horns, as he soon buried his face in Vinyll's chest. Ermine tried to not shake with sobs from the build up in his thinkpan, but Vinyll could feel the slight rattling of his shoulders all the same, and the prince hugged their knight tighter.

Some part of Vinyll's thinkpan knew he should be the one fearfully crying right now, and he knew he would eventually have his breakdown about nearly being assassinated tonight, but in this moment? All they could focus on was the light, floating feeling in their chest, the warmth they felt under Ermine's touch.