Dang, it's been forever since I wrote in this fandom. But here's my consolation offering! I originally posted this as a separate fic since it was so long... but I feel like it just fits with the snippets better, despite the length. So ... omg, the snippets are alive again!
Warnings: Some language, implied Kaistern/Tetheus if you want it.
Insomnia's Cure
Kaistern had picked the worst time to get sick.
He and Tetheus were attending a diplomatic event at Origas, to receive the new Vice-Minister. The previous one had passed away due to questionable causes—the report had said he'd been involved in a regrettable carriage accident, but horses normally ran away from accidents, and did not hang around long enough to trample someone who would have taken their time getting out of the carriage. Nonetheless, it was supposed to be a simply meeting to create liaisons between the new Vice-Minister and the rest of the who's who of the political world. It wasn't important enough to warrant the presence of the Lord of Dusis, though he did appear for a day as he went onto a meeting further away in Hermosa.
Lord Lorray was the fourth Vice-Minister in fifty years, and that was a lot considering the term for office was generally two hundred years. There had been other suspicious rumors and conspiracies going on around Origas, and accidents seemed to occur far too often, and for that reason, Tetheus was accompanying the Blue Officer. To a social event.
It was neither his cup of tea nor remotely near his area of skill as the Black Officer and Secretary of Security. Unlike Kaistern, who twirled words like they were roses and roses like they were inflections of the air. He had a flair that drew others' eyes to him, a wit that shaped his words into dangerous daggers or compassionate handkerchiefs, and then was somehow able to extract himself back into the shadows to accomplish whatever other purposes there were to the visit. He was not merely the representative of Draqueen to foreign countries, he was a spy, an errand boy, a jack-of-all-trades. Tetheus would never deny he had high degree of respect for both Kaistern and his abilities.
As it was, he was currently on one side of the ballroom, sipping from a glass of wine he'd already tested against poison, and watched the crowd with a wary, weary eye. There was a group of young radicals on one corner, but they were far too new and inexperienced to be of any potential threat. The most they would ever be able to come up with was a haphazard plan to overthrow a governor or something minor. There was a pair of individuals that Tetheus had eyed cautiously, but the safety of Anaina Kingdom's Secretary of Foreign Affairs was hardly his concern, and already the security staff of the Secretary, who Tetheus had to admit had done a good job of blending in and disguising their purpose, was closing in on their protégé just in case the pair decided to act tonight after all.
Tetheus kept a sharp lookout on the situation around him, but his main concern was Kaistern. The man, however, had discreetly motioned for Tetheus to back off, because apparently the individual he was trying to pry information out of —Tetheus guessed by the abundance of military medals and the two plainclothes bodyguards that danced inconspicuously around him that he was from Clandestia, as they were known for their strict militaristic regimen—had spotted Tetheus' eye on Kaistern, whether knowing they were both delegates from Draqueen or not, and would not loosen up to Kaistern's satisfaction until his presence was reluctantly bid away. Tetheus was not pleased, if one could understate it as such, but he figured that he could bend to this one whim of Kaistern's for half an hour. Nothing more, nothing less, and he knew Kaistern was aware of his time limit. In the meantime, since he couldn't directly keep a watch on Blue Officer, he'd keep a watch on everything else around him, hopefully accomplishing the same result.
Nonetheless, his glass of wine served as a sufficient mirror when he stood in front of a dark background, and he could pretend he was a wine connoisseur staring thoughtfully at his glass. In truth, he was only copying one of Kaistern's tactics, and felt more ridiculous than anything else, and he had a gnawing feeling that this was a part that was never meant to be played by him. Kaistern would feel either insulted or amused that Tetheus was so severely undermining Kaistern's acting expertise with his poor attempt at mimicking him. Besides, he could barely tell cheap bar wines from the ones being served here, and if it wasn't for color, he wouldn't be able to tell red wine from white. A wine connoisseur was definitely not the wisest choice to dissemble as.
Time was up. Tetheus would make himself shown to Kaistern, who had undoubtedly obtained the valuable information he was seeking by this time. He maneuvered himself to the area where he'd last spotted Kaistern's cap-adorned head, silver hair sticking out in semi-tameness. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the area, and there was no sign of Kaistern. The alarms immediately went off, because Kaistern knew better than to move away from a public area if it wasn't in the plan. And it most definitely was not. This was a simple 'social' visit, during which Kaistern had hoped to gain some information that would help Draqueen's stance on various treaty proposals. Tetheus was here as prevention if any of Origas' many unfortunate situations arose. He was supposedly only precaution.
There was a man making his was over that Tetheus recognized as one of the escorts that had been assigned to him and Kaistern during their stay. He was tempted to ignore him and continue his search, but that would tip off anyone paying attention to the scene that there was something amiss.
"Sir," the man bowed low as was custom, but Tetheus did not acknowledge the gesture, and the man continued without waiting for a response, "Your colleague, Blue Officer Kaistern of—"
"Yes," Tetheus interrupted the long introduction and narrowed his eyes as due clue to get to the point.
"Ah, yes, the Officer has fainted and we thought as his colleague, you should—"
"Lead me to him," he ordered, and the short man stammered some sort of agreement and turned, and his motion to be followed was completely unneeded.
They walked through the hallways quickly, with the escort speeding up steadily, not because he was in a hurry, but because he had to keep ahead of Tetheus' increasingly quicker gait. Tetheus was anything but tactful.
"What exactly happened?" he didn't let anything other than brusqueness seep through his commanding voice, but in his mind were running the endless possibilities— had Kaistern been poisoned? Who was the culprit, and for what reasons? Could it have been a powdered poison in the bed Kaistern had taken a nap in earlier? Tetheus had checked the general premises of the room, but Kaistern had gone straight to bed as soon as they'd arrived, and Tetheus had not been able to test the pillows or covers. What political repercussions would occur from this, were it to turn into something serious? Even worse, what if this was a trap, and they'd already captured Kaistern and were now luring Tetheus in?
"Well, the Blue Officer was speaking to the Fuhrer of Clandestia, and according to him, Lord Kaistern asked to step out to get some fresh air, and that was when he fainted. He was transported to his quarters," if it had been poison on the bed, then it would most likely be gone now, standard procedure of evidence removal.
"Who was around?"
"Ah, the Fuhrer of course, and several other guests," so Kaistern had gone out to one of the public balconies. Tetheus almost damned him for not coming to him if there'd been something wrong—Kaistern knew well the symptoms and possibilities of poisoning— but of course, it would have defeated the purpose of waving Tetheus away to get the trust of the Fuhrer.
"Has a doctor been sent to him?"
"Of course, sir, first thing," first thing should have been to contact him immediately, but Tetheus refrained from saying so. Kaistern would most likely have said it'd be a politically insulting comment.
They reached Kaistern's quarters, and the escort laid his hand on the doorknob and pulled it open. Tetheus tensed, awaiting the worst, and had to consciously force his muscles to relax.
"Tetheus!"
He blinked once at finding Kaistern sitting up in bed, chatting amiably with the doctor, pausing to beckon him forward cheerfully. This was a far cry from what he'd expected, and though he felt at once frustrated and relieved that it was a false alarm, he let his eyebrow lift in puzzlement.
"What is this?" he said, obviously referring to the whole incident in general, and making sure Kaistern recognized the hint of gruffness that indicated he would not be pleased if this had been some stunt he'd pulled for his own amusement.
"That'll be all, thank you," Kaistern turned immediately to Tetheus, thereby discharging the doctor, who inclined his head and left without a further word. Tetheus recognized his offhand manner as a characteristic of the culture of Origas. Tetheus nodded dismissively to the escort as well, and they were finally alone.
"Sorry about that, I'm sure you thought I'd been kidnapped or drugged or something," the casualty with which he said it told Tetheus just how commonplace the danger was to Kaistern, and Tetheus was sure it had occurred to him more times than the few Tetheus himself had had to organize a rescue attempt for, or that the scars on his chest told of.
Tetheus sighed and drew a chair up to the bedside, "Yes, I did. The stunt was not appreciated," his tone lacked any sort of rebuttal or annoyance, because Tetheus noticed the slight tinge of fever rising to flush his washed-out, pale face, and the vague glassiness of his lemon-colored eyes.
"Sorry. I was hoping I'd be able to make it through the night after taking that nap earlier, but I guess I gave out," Kaistern smiled tiredly, and Tetheus was not sure what to make of the contradictory mix of jocularity and self-deprecation, "Human bodies just don't last that long, you know?"
"Yours is not fully human any longer," he muttered stiffly, because he was never sure how to deal with this side of Kaistern.
"Hmm, I suppose, but it seems like it's human enough," Kaistern seemed to notice the disapproval in Tetheus' eyes, his only way of showing his discomfort with the situation, because he artfully changed the direction of the conversation with wanton ease, "Unlike demon bodies. When was the last time you got sick?"
"I can't remember."
Kaistern grinned, rubbing his temple briefly before speaking, "I remember the time you got hung over though. That was priceless," he laughed distractedly, whether in reminiscence or affected by the fever, "Alfeegi was appalled. I think it was Ruwalk who somehow got you to drink that extra couple glasses, right?"
"I seem to remember you having a large part to do with that," Tetheus grumbled, because he did remember that incident, and not quite as fondly as Kaistern.
"I was hoping you'd forgotten that," Kaistern said with a smile that said all too well the contrary.
Tetheus made a noise that was the closest he came to a snort, and watched as Kaistern's eyes momentarily glazed over, and his hand reached out to grab the glass of water at his bedside, far more unsteadily than his words had indicated him to be. Tetheus suspected it had a lot to do with having to master the art of manipulating how others perceived you no matter how drunk you were. Kaistern could probably pretend to be drunk when completely sober and pretend to be sharp and alert when completely plastered.
When Kaistern failed to be able to reach the glass and take hold of it successfully, Tetheus finally took the glass himself and handed it to Kaistern, who took it with both hands, quietly. He then eyed the pill lying on the table and looked back at Kaistern.
"What are they for?"
Kaistern blinked several times to focus his eyes on the foreign writing on the package, "It's aspirin and amphetamine."
Tetheus glanced suspiciously at the packet, and Kaistern read his gaze and laughed softly, "Don't worry. I learned the hard way to carry my own medicine, check in one of the side pockets of the blue bag."
He did, fishing out a similar pack of pills from among bottles of aspirin, anti-oxidant, food rations, antidotes, poison-testers and a plethora of likewise items. Tetheus was impressed, though not necessarily in a positive manner.
"Well prepared, hm?" he popped out one of the pills and passed it to Kaistern, who downed it gratefully and almost spilled the glass when he set it back down without quite enough coordination. Tetheus held back a frown.
"Of course, you never know when a good bit of information can be obtained by spending a couple hours in a bedroom in the shanty part of town," Kaistern apparently thought Tetheus had been talking about something else, and he was glad he hadn't searched that deeply in the bag. He did not appreciate the wit—mistakenly applied, especially, and wondered how much pressure it took to render Kaistern's acting skills useless.
"That's not what I meant," he growled, almost relieved when Kaistern opened his mouth to insert another two-cents and yawned instead, wobbling a bit even sitting up. Tetheus sighed and peered down at Kaistern with something akin to exasperation, "Would you lie down already?"
Kaistern murmured something, his eyelids drooping as the medicine took effect, but complied anyway and laid down, shivering slightly and pulling the covers tighter around himself, "I'm not going to sleep. You tryin' to get rid of me that bad,?" he mumbled, blinking repeatedly to hold off sleep.
"No, but you need to get back on your feet as soon as possible, since I suppose you didn't manage to get the information you were looking for in your state," Tetheus answered neutrally. Kaistern talked too much, and that was why he didn't sleep much, Tetheus decided. No wonder his health was so precarious, and Tetheus did not want to feel responsible for impeding his recovery any further than Kaistern did for himself.
"I did… what kind'av proffesio'l you think I mm?" came the burbled reply, and within a minute, his face relaxed into sleep, save for that slight scrunching of his eyebrows, presumably from the fever. In any case, if Kaistern had obtained his information, and the induction ceremony was over, technically that meant they could cut their visit short, using Kaistern's illness as an excuse. Or, alternatively, without any further obligations, Kaistern could relax here until their visit was officially over.
Tetheus settled back in his chair, lazily picked up the newspaper courteously left in the room, even though he could only recognize a few words, and gave Kaistern a once-over to double check the depth of his sleep. The newspaper eventually ceased to provide him with any information for him to scope out with his limited knowledge of Origan, and he shifted in his chair and looked around the well-decorated room as he ran over the security plans for the new city hall in Draqueen. The distant sounds of the still-ongoing party filtered in even through the walls, just a blur of noise, and Tetheus could see the lights brightening the underside of the balcony rail outside. Inside, incandescent lights gave a soft, yellow hue to the mahogany furniture and salmon coverlets of the beds. He wondered briefly why they had been assigned to different rooms when Kaistern's had two beds.
Nearly an hour later, there was a knock at the door, and after first glancing at Kaistern, who remained obliviously asleep, and checking the time, exits, and sliding one hand closer to the dagger in his belt, he approached the door, standing in front of it so whoever was on the other side wouldn't be able to see Kaistern as he opened the door at a deliberate angle.
"Yes?"
It was just their escort, but Tetheus did not inch his hand away from his dagger, and stood waiting impassively, "My Lord Tetheus, Black Officer of Draqueen, we were just about to ask whether you wished for your quarters to be prepared for tonight at this time."
"No need, I'll be keeping watch over my colleague for a while longer," Tetheus paused, "In fact, I'll be making use of the second bed in this room, so there will be no further need of assistance from you tonight."
The escort's eyes widened slightly, and he blinked as if comprehending something, and quickly bowed and excused himself. Tetheus returned to his less-than-comfy chair and wondered if maybe his words had been a tad rough. He hadn't particularly found them so, but maybe Kaistern would have had something to say about them had he heard them.
He'd been deep into planning the most effective training regimen for this next unruly crowd of trainees he'd received when Kaistern's sudden stirrings and mumblings snapped him back to reality, and he'd watched silently to see whether it was a passing fit or the awakening of consciousness.
It was the latter, as was obvious when the tossing ceased abruptly, and the covers rose and fell at an increased pace. Tetheus stood and peered down at Kaistern's half-lidded eyes.
He finally seemed to gather his bearings, eyes widening frantically as he rose up, "I fell asleep?"
Tetheus frowned, pushing him back, and Kaistern resisted for a moment before sinking down weakly into the mattress, "Yes. You need something?"
Kaistern closed his eyes again and lay like that for a moment before drawing in a deep breath and hoisting himself up to a half-sitting position.
"…Water," he finally mumbled, rubbing his eyes and clearing his throat tiredly as his glassy eyes fought to regain focus of anything. Tetheus fought the impulse to smirk at the lopsided, tangled locks of silver hair that reminded Tetheus of inexperienced soldiers out of formation.
He held the glass for Kaistern to drink out of, tilting it carefully so as to not choke the other officer, but Kaistern somehow still managed to get a dribble of water down his chin nonetheless.
"Feel like a kid…" he mumbled, wiping his face with the back of his hand, and Tetheus reluctantly dropped the napkin he'd picked up for the same purpose. Kaistern sometimes did lack common etiquette, at least when not in the presence of foreign ambassadors or royalty. His lemon eyes squinted at the ornate clock on the opposite wall, "Damn it, didn't wanna fall asleep…Time is it?"
"About eleven. You've only been sleeping for an hour and a half or so."
The silver-haired officer sighed and drew himself up the last couple inches so that he was sitting up properly, "And I suppose you're keeping me company for a while longer?"
Tetheus resisted rolling his eyes as Kaistern's jocular nature took over, even when Tetheus had no intent or wish to play with it.
"Do you have any medicine to make you go back to sleep?" he answered drolly.
Kaistern only laughed in response, making the Black Officer wonder whether he did indeed. He wouldn't be surprised at all if Kaistern was an insomniac or something similar, and had somehow found a way to hide it from them all for the near hundred years they'd known each other. It was just like Kaistern to hide all his problems. Tetheus supposed he was the same way, but it irritated him when it came from Kaistern. He wondered if that was because of a subconscious belief that the Blue Officer was weaker than him, even when Tetheus knew logically that was a complete farce. But maybe he still unconsciously sought to protect him. He watched Kaistern fan himself, looking still rather wan and tired, and his skin had a damp texture to it.
"I can't tell if I'm still hot or not," he whined, after attempting to feel his temperature with the back of his hand, and Tetheus snorted.
"That's why other people normally do it for you," he muttered and removed one of his black leather gloves, choosing to forgo finding a real thermometer for simply placing his hand on Kaistern's uncomfortably warm cheek, shifting it to his forehead as Kaistern groaned softly and closed his eyes.
"Still high," he said, about to remove his hand, but Kaistern's fluttering touch on his arm stopped him.
"Keep it there a second longer," he murmured, eyes still closed. Tetheus hesitated, then sighed mentally and complied, until finally Kaistern leaned his head back, grinning slightly, "Felt good."
"Hn."
"So," Kaistern looked again at the clock, "Have they prepared your room already?"
Tetheus replaced his glove with meticulous care, "No, I told them it wouldn't be necessary. Someone should keep watch over you, and there are two beds here."
Kaistern's eyes widened, and he groaned and slapped a hand to his head, "No way, you mean to tell me you told them you'd be sleeping here?"
"That is what I just told you, is it not?" Tetheus pursed his lips, feeling slightly annoyed with Kaistern's response, "Is there a problem with that?"
"Yeah, they think we're married now!"
Tetheus blinked, and looked at the human closely, wondering if the fever was affecting him, "For what reason?"
"Do you remember that originally it was Lykouleon, Raseleane and me that were coming for this ceremony?" Kaistern began explaining, leaning back heavily into the pillows, as if it was too tiring to sit up straight, "Well, this was Raseleane and Lykouleon's room. A couple's suite. The Origans are extremely reserved, taciturn, and private. To the point that couples normally sleep in separate beds, they pretty much don't talk unless it's necessary, and I mean, c'mon, their sluts insist on keeping their shirts on even during—"
"No need to go any further," Tetheus cut him off, mostly because he did not want a mental picture of Kaistern and an Origan slut, whatever they looked like. He rubbed his temple sorely, "So… what do you propose we do about the misunderstanding?"
Kaistern huffed, pushing the covers away from him uncomfortably, while his tone remained nonchalant, borderline sleepy, "I suppose it's kinda late to do anything. We'd just be inconveniencing them, and now that the assumption's been made, any attempt to change that probably will just seem like we suddenly got embarrassed about it or something…" he looked up, a devilish glint in his eyes that always warned Tetheus that the more playful side of Kaistern's mind was at work, "Or we could live up to it."
Had Tetheus been someone a tad more sensitive, he might have blushed a little, what with Kaistern looking rather flushed and half-dressed, lying sprawled on the bed with a beckoning look in those washed out golden eyes. But if there was something Tetheus wasn't, it was easily flustered.
"No, thank you, I'll leave that to your Origan sluts."
"Ouch, I wasn't expecting you to be so mean about it," Kaistern smiled a little even as he shifted restlessly.
"Just go back to sleep."
Whatever Kaistern was about to quip next was interrupted by a light knock on the door, and Tetheus immediately stood, while Kaistern looked toward the door with mild interest. Tetheus followed procedure again, looked at the clock for logging purposes, and approached the door, hand on dagger.
But upon opening the door, all that stood there was a young Origan child, dark-skinned and light-haired with sharp eyes, holding a tray of food and medicine.
"Courtesy of Origas, we hope that your Lordship is feeling better and feels that no need has gone unfulfilled," the child said brightly, clearly expecting to be let in. With his earlier blunder in custom and culture, Tetheus was not willing to make any move on his own and glanced back at Kaistern, surprised to see his narrowed eyes. Kaistern shook his head marginally, clearly communicating that he would take control of the situation.
"We are satisfied and thank Origas for their hospitality," he spoke in curt, fluid Origan, and the child blinked as if not expecting what Tetheus vaguely recognized a very traditional reply. The child smiled prettily and skipped in, depositing the tray at Kaistern's bedside and looking up curiously at him.
"You don't look like most Dragons I've seen," he said with large eyes, and turned his head to look at Tetheus with a hum, "And you don't either. Are you guys half-breeds?"
Kaistern's eyes flashed dangerously, Tetheus assumed from the question itself, and wondered if it really bothered him that much that he was human. For his part, Tetheus hardly cared what either of them was. They served Lord Lykouleon, and that was similarity enough.
"Nothing further is needed," Kaistern said, keeping his gaze deliberately away from the child, and after a momentary hurt look, the child skipped out again, the door shutting rebelliously.
Kaistern sighed heavily and lay back down on the bed, reaching out to the tray to take a bread roll on it, chomping on it with languid chews, "Can't believe they're using kids…"
"I've never seen you act so coldly to a child," Tetheus ventured to say with a raised eyebrow. Kaistern shook his head tiredly, pushing away the covers even further so they left his slim shoulders and forearms exposed, his protruding collarbone gracefully dipped.
"He was just a ploy to get information on us. Origan children are shy and have been taught to never speak to their elders unless spoken to first. He's been trained against the mold specifically to gather information from representatives who don't know their customs and let their guard down around kids."
He placed a hand over his mouth abruptly and closed his eyes, looking nauseated, the remaining bread falling to the ground. Tetheus looked at it, allowing a hint of worry to seep into his eyes as he picked it up. Anything to get Kaistern to realize he was overstepping his limits, because the damn man never knew when to just quit and save himself. Tetheus had seen this self-denying attitude of his many times over, but it was one of the many subjects Kaistern rarely allowed to be aired out in the open.
"Yesterday was such a bad idea…" Kaistern mumbled faintly, and Tetheus was tempted to ask what it was he'd done yesterday, because it apparently was the root of this sudden illness, but then realized that Kaistern was only baiting him so as to keep the conversation going. What did the man think he was gaining by this?
"Kaistern," he ground out, lifting the human's chin with less force than he'd intended, so that it ended up being more of a gentle upwards tug, and Kaistern blinked blearily, "You will sleep now and attempt to get rid of this cold. Understood?"
To his surprise, Kaistern's eyes shied away, looking like he was at a loss for a moment before nodding with a weary sigh and rolling around. His face was no longer visible to Tetheus, only a pale, skinny expanse of skin, shoulder blades creating a dip that cocooned a trail of scars centered in the hollow of his back and fanning outwards. And then, even that was gone as Kaistern pulled the covers back around his shoulder, sheltering his head so that there was now only a shock of silver hair at the top, that blended with the shimmering white covers. Always blending in.
Tetheus sighed and looked away with a suppressed growl. Despite outward attitude, Kaistern was easily hurt, as had taken Tetheus many long years and awkward conversations to learn. He was afraid he'd maybe ended up saying the wrong thing, but couldn't for the life of him figure out what. He wondered if Kaistern was just moody because he was sick, or if Tetheus had missed some vital clue as to the reason. Maybe he should have given him some more of the medicine that had knocked him out so quickly earlier. Though now that Tetheus thought about it, Kaistern had initially refused to go to sleep then too. What, was Kaistern afraid of something?
"Kaistern," he said suddenly, and maybe it was the softness of his voice, or simply that Kaistern was in a willing mood, but there was a pause, and then a slow rustle of fabric.
"Yeah?"
"What are you avoiding?" he asked clearly, carefully, as if Kaistern was a young animal easily frightened away. Or, to use an example Tetheus was more familiar with, as if Kaistern was Rath when he was younger.
There was a silence that lingered with the sound of skin burying itself deeper into the covers, and then a muffled murmur from within those covers, "Just… I don't feel comfortable when I'm not in control of the situation. I'm sure you can guess that plenty's happened while I was sleeping. But… I guess… if you're here…"
Tetheus found he had difficulty speaking, and reached out slowly to touch the curve that was Kaistern's cloth-draped shoulder, "You know I'm here to protect you," and though those were standard words he'd used with more people than he could remember as Head of Security, for once they were not a formality but an earnest wish, and it unnerved Tetheus with how strong a feeling he said them.
Kaistern shifted his head, a glimpse of lemon eyes finding their way into Tetheus' blood red ones, and then they were gone again, with a heavy, "I know… I've always known."
Review to yell at me for the bad ending. ::chu::