Take It Away, Prince!

(this is the one that should be titled Keep Talking, Funny Man, but choices and mistakes were made and now they complement each other ':)

"Oh, keep talking, funny man, you'll get what's coming to you."

It was the kind of retort that crumbled at the end, with a pathetic pause between "you'll" and "get" that forced the speaker to spit out the rest of the phrase in a hurry. Minoth shocked himself with just how well he'd pulled it off, honestly.

Dreamy. Of all the descriptors, dreamy?

A better one for Addam, Minoth thought. A schoolgirl shine for a glorious, unattainable prince who glistened in every facet, from mind to muscles (emphasis on the muscles). Dreamy, like you'd dream about him - dream about meeting him, catching his interest, talking with him, sharing a meal or even a bed with him.

The only dreams Minoth could imagine anyone having about him were dark omens of a mysterious tight-lipped cowboy coming to exact revenge for some unknown transgression, some distant deed done.

But everyone else (that is, the ineligible girls) didn't seem to think so, given the way they giggled casually, thinking nothing of Addam's choice of word.

"So...since when did you and Prince Addam get all buddy-buddy?"

"I don't know about buddy-buddy, Lady Lora - I think it's more like lovey-dovey!"

"You might be right there, Haze. I'll admit, I'm usually oblivious to things like this, but if I didn't know any better, I'd even say you were flirting."

Minoth groaned. Addam, flirting? You'd be better off asking a Sand Upa to recite Judician scripture.

"I think they would be sweet together - don't you, Haze?"

"Oh, absolutely, Lady Lora!"

And if he was lucky, he remembered just enough of the doxology to teach it.

Sweet together? Really? Again with the inaccurate adjectives. Addam and Minoth were not sweet. They were...

Minoth couldn't even think of how to describe what they were - would be, rather, since Lora and Haze seemed to have worked together to spin, in an instant, on a whim and a dime, a hypothetical future of romance and domesticity before their golden eyes. It was easy for them, of course. Lora had awakened Haze and Haze had loved Lora from the very instant she'd laid eyes on her. Sure, Lora was a lovable sort, and sure, she wasn't already spoken for. She took the best care of her Blades she possibly could, if at times to the detriment of care for herself, and Haze had all manner of reasons to fall in love with her lady.

Maybe it was because they were men, but Minoth just didn't see the same fairytale for him and Addam. Not that he was outright opposed to it, mind you. He just wouldn't let himself get ensnared by impossible, childish hopes.

Childlike, perhaps. Childlike wonder. Maybe Minoth would dream. Maybe Minoth did dream.

Obviously Minoth didn't dream of opening a finishing school for ants. Though he immensely enjoyed any and all time he got to spend in the peace and quiet, just studying his bugs, he had to admit that reading out his stories, grand and limited alike, to a captive audience had been a nice change of pace.

A nice change of pace. Another sentiment peeled from the prince.

Just look at us. Of course we'll win!

That was what Lora and Haze thought, wasn't it? Just look at them. Of course they'll fit together like pieces of a parlor-table puzzle.

Just dying to see me in action, aren't you?

He addressed this to Minoth especially, because he was that comfortable around Minoth especially.

The future is within our grasp!

Minoth took a weary seat on a nearby outcropping of rock, beckoning Haze and Lora to join him. They came willingly, attentive with cheeks tucked between palms. His classical chorus, at the ready to emphate wherever required.

"You really think Addam thinks of me in that way?"

Haze frowned, contemplating. "Well...I think it's certainly possible!"

"Great. Real helpful, Haze."

"Now, now," Lora mediated, "I think what Haze means to say is that, well, what we meant to say is that Addam quite obviously cares for you, and you for him, so if it's something you think is important to you, you should go for it."

Minoth sighed. "Once again: real helpful." He of all people acknowledged the boundaries of confidance and asking for advice only to get back a leveling answer ("if you think you should" - "that's up to you" - "whatever you do, you have my support"), but he was quite obviously looking for opinions here. No politeness necessary.

Whatever you do. Minoth was the one who mentioned support the most out of all of them, and an outside observer might take that to mean that he was obsessed with taking care of his teammates. Not so much. He was just...afraid of taking the title role. Afraid to take too much, and leave himself open for criticism.

He watched as Haze brushed sand from the front of her smock, then turned to Lora to inspect her clothing for fresh signs of wear. Lora hardly paid attention, at first, only absentmindedly twisting this way or that to assist Haze in her ministrations.

So easy. So natural. And he and Addam weren't really like that, but in other ways, they just fit together, glove in glove.

If Minoth couldn't confess to his prince, maybe he could at least be honest with Lora and Haze. After all, he knew that they truly would support him, no matter how the whims of a shielded, apprehensive heart took shape.

He had to know what he meant to say, first, though.

Were they flirting? Had they been?

Minoth rotated the problem in his head: if he had to construct a scene with two characters bantering back and forth, would it look like that?

Another slight twist: did he believe the chemistry that exuded, here? Did he believe that Lora and Haze believed it?

Oh, definitely. Haze didn't have a deceptive bone in her boneless body. Well, mostly. But yes, the girls - the ladies - were right. These exchanges with Addam, and the one they'd had a couple days back about "kissing it better"; they spoke as if they'd known each other forever, and not just most of their adult (independent) lives.

Minoth wouldn't be content to let Addam lead a joint life of theirs as he willed, but he would be overjoyed to be one half of a measured discussion about the future, and what considerations each needed to make toward the other. Minoth wanted promises, stability, constancy.

As Haze had with Lora. For she wouldn't be separated from Lora until death. Minoth didn't have that, and yet his dynamic with Addam reflected that of a Blade and Driver all the same.

Not just physical, but emotional. Not just mechanical, but spiritual. Not just mortal, but divine.

The girls were still preening, grooming each other. Minoth hated to disturb, except for the fact that they couldn't really be disturbed. That wasn't how those two worked.

"There are few people I'm more comfortable with than Addam," Minoth said, with no other preamble than that they'd already had. "He's annoying, sometimes, but wonderful."

The chorus returned to attention.

"His jokes aren't always funny, but the ones he makes to me - for me - are great. He's thoughtful, always trying his best to do the right thing for me, for Mythra, and for Alrest. He doesn't always succeed, but..."

But neither did Lora always succeed. In fact, many times, Lora was a bit of a bumbler (or bungler, depending on how you like your sensory syllables). It didn't make Haze, also a bumble-bungler, love her any less. It probably made them love each other more.

And Minoth wouldn't be Minoth if he didn't admit that there was an entire world of things he did that were annoying, misguided, or otherwise deserving of reproach.

But Addam didn't reproach him. Not really.

"That's a beautiful thing, Minoth," Lora said, reaching out to place a gentle hand on the side of his arm. "I'm glad you were able to tell us."

Thought Minoth, didn't you basically force it out of me? But they hadn't. They'd only been playful. Minoth had played along.

"Are you going to tell him, then?" Haze asked, fists of excitement at the ready.

Tell him? Tell him what?

I love you? I can't imagine my life without you?

I don't want to live another day knowing you're not mine, forever, as long as we both shall live?

All these things, true. Minoth just had to believe that Addam would be amenable to them. That Addam, by his jests, was revealing his heart, too, with Minoth's autograph already righteously tattooed on his soul.

Minoth had to take several deep breaths, massaging at eyesockets and nosebridge and forehead all with great force of will and gloved fingertips. It wasn't a confession if Addam already knew, right? They already loved each other. They were already all but sworn to each other.

"My prince?"

Addam turned toward the call at once, face beaming from every pore. Oh, dreamy. Dreamy, indeed.