driftfleet | Kayanni System Mingle

[because shut up]

I found this one for you, too, because I knew you'd complain.

[He flips to another page, pointing down at the chapter title- "Triumph in Scandal: the love letters of the exiled prince of Zalaria VI".]

Ooohhhh, love letters! Oh my gosh, he was exiled, I bet he loved a commoner. [BEAMS DOWN AT BOOK and wraps arms around Mikleo in a hug] How romantic.

[Pfft. Yeah he knew you'd like that shit. Mikleo tries not to look proud of himself but yeah- he's still got it.]

What'd you get?

Oh uhhhhh, [stretches out an hand to snag the book he'd picked up, the title in an alien language.] It says, Common Ideologies of the Galaxy. It's a little simpler than our usual stuff, but it's harder than anything else I've tried to read in this language.

Mm... I can't read that, so you'll have to recite anything you wanna share. Where should we start?

Let's do yours so we can both read, and I'll just read over your shoulder. [Okay so he kiiiinda loves these cuddles, also loves that kid Mikleo is more unabashed about seeking affection. It's real cute.]

Okay. We can do this one first, then.

[your weird gross romance one, I GUESS. He flips back to the page and scans through the introduction, brows lifting.]

Oooh, even worse than a commoner. The prince's lover was a princess from a rival kingdom. Bitter enemies for centuries, it says. He was exiled for treason.

[This might end up interesting after all.]

Oh no! [Gosh that is just so not fair. Exiled for the crime of love!! How cruel.] Okat okay, we're totally reading this one first, I gotta know if there's a happy ending!

[Cruel indeed. Mikleo smiles to himself - he knew Sorey would get hooked by that, he picked a good one! - and begins reading, sometimes out loud and sometimes in silence, both comfortable and satisfied. This is familiar- this feels like home. It's not the same as being in Elysia, but it's a step up from the ship.]

[Sorey just rests his chin atop Mikleo's head as they read together, sometimes one of them reading a passage aloud and stopping to debate over its meanings or implications. Sorey can't quite argue with Mikleo like he usually does (obviously), but it's still so refreshingly familiar that he almost forgets how much he misses his equal partner. Well, does he?

It's strange. Maybe if he didn't know this was temporary, he'd miss him more, but with Mikleo like this...Sorey's enjoying getting to know his childhood friend all over again.]

Aaaahh, no! They scheduled the princess's execution?! Turn the page, Mikleo!

[Mikleo giggles quietly and obliges, leaning in closer. It's getting pretty exciting!]

It looks like he's trying to coordinate a rescue through his letters... her family sure is merciless, huh? At least all he got was exile. Maybe they run away together?

I love history, [Sorey mumbles into Mikleo's hair, curling around him as he reads wide-eyed over his head. This is so tense. Sure, historical texts have a tendency to deliver information in a very cut-and-dry factual manner, but that's what made history so cool!]

I know you do, [Mikleo mutters back, vaguely self-satisfied in that I-still-know-you-best way, even if it doesn't take a lifetime friend to realize Sorey's a history nerd. Well, it's not like Mikleo is any better.

He turns to the next page, scanning through the chapter index, brows lifting in surprise.]

Oh! This section's supplementary. A series of letters throughout the countryside, tales of a kindly knight traveling to the capital, doing good deeds and rumoured to be the prince himself... if they're unconfirmed, does that mean he died, or did historians not find these letters until much later? The text isn't specific.

Would he really go to the capital if he was the exiled prince? It sounds so risky, but from his other letters he definitely sounds enough in love to try it. [Sorey sure hopes so!! Gosh that's so romantic.] Check down in the next section, the princess disappeared before her scheduled execution. It was totally him.

Definitely him. And the princess knew it too, I think- look, there's a letter from her over here. It's really mean, and it's addressed to him. She didn't want him to come for her!

[He points to a damaged image of an elegantly scripted letter, with the text detailing the princess's words- a denial of love, cruel words that practically bleed with desperation.]

[Clicks his tongue and shakes his head.] Why do people always think that would work? If he loves her, he's not going to turn around and leave just because he thinks she hates him. Nobody who loves someone else would do that.

It's probably the only thing she could do, locked up like that. And maybe if she denied how she felt about him, she wouldn't be executed, and it would be easier to rescue her.

[But yeah, it was kinda dumb. Clearly he came for her anyway.]

Exile is one thing, but to execute someone for falling in love... [Sorey huffs.] I wonder if there was something else going on behind the scenes. Some reason why her people would try to get rid of her. [He's reminded unhappily of Alisha, and how Bartlow and his men had done all they could to try and undermine her, to the point of not caring if she'd died. Politics are an ugly thing.]

Maybe. The text is vague and incomplete- the focus is on the love story instead of the politics. Maybe there'll be more details in another chapter.

[He turns to the last page, where they find two images- the first being a ratty old cottage, obviously in disrepair after so long, simply labeled as the house rumoured to be where they raised their children. The final image is a photo of another letter in the princess's handwriting- thanking a priest of the capital for aiding the prince in her rescue, detailing their new life together, and expressing how happy she is. Huh.]

...Don't cry.

I'm not crying, [Sorey cries, face smushed into Mikleo's hair]

[Mikleo can't help his giggle, reaching up to pat the side of Sorey's head, since that's all he can reach.]

Don't do that, I'm not your tissue!

But your hair's so white and soft just like a tissue, [Sorey mumbles, still crying a little bit but using Mikleo's giggles as a pRECIOUS BALM FOR HIS TEARS]

That's disgusting and I'm not gonna encourage your animal behaviour.

[Mikleo squirms in Sorey's lap until he can turn himself around, glancing this way and that- oh bother, there's no cloths or tissues handy. Half-defeated he pats his hands against Sorey's cheeks, calling up just enough water to get his face damp. Come on, you big softie.]

If you get saltwater on the books you could damage the paper, y'know.

How much do you think I'm crying right now? [LOOK!!! IT'S ONLY A LITTLE BIT!!!!!!!

Sorey will scrub his own eyes clean thank you very much, though...though that water is nice. Nice and cool.] It's just- it's just so great. They even got to have a family.

[a little bit still makes you a sap!!!

Mikleo squints at Sorey's face, only sitting back down when he's satisfied, tugging the book back into his lap.]

I guess it's better this way. You'd have cried even harder if the ending was sad.

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