Chapter Text
"What?" Rue asked, clearing his throat.
"You heard me. Well? Are you?" The prince challenged, stepping closer.
All Rue could focus on was the boy's brilliant blue eyes.
"I- yes, I've done it," Rue murmured agreeably.
A moment of silence passed as the boy considered him.
"Alright. I have a job for you."
---
And so here he was, sneaking through the bustling kitchens, all alone, while the spoiled prince waited outside for him.
Sure, it was easy enough to grab a couple of items of food - an apple, some crackers, a muffin or two.
Sure, it was easy enough to duck behind the countertop when the employees rushed in.
Getting out would not be so easy.
He narrowly avoided being caught by a dark haired Enre removing the pot that he was hiding behind, by ducking instinctively.
Rue's question is why there were so many people on the other side of the counter top and not where he was hiding.
Second only to, "What the hell am I doing?"
He could see the door just ahead of him. If he made a mad dash for it, he could make it.
Only if he dropped all the snacks though. The prince would not be happy.
Oh, whatever.
Who cares about the prince right now?
He ran out of time to consider his options however, as an Enre boy was making his way to Rue's side of the counter.
In a split second decision, Rue was on his feet and out the door, leaving the items he'd grabbed behind.
He ignored the shout of dismay as he burst through the kitchen's door, expecting to see the prince waiting for him.
But the sight that greeted him, was much less of what he had imagined.
The hallway was empty.
Rue glanced up and down the halls, searching for the icy figure that would get him out of this.
He heard the voices through the door, and clenched his hands into fists.
Of course the prince would ditch him.
Who did he think he was?
Taking off down the hall, he tried to ignore the way his skin was beginning to itch and burn.
---
The ice prince sighed.
Free at last, from the nagging eyes and tailing footsteps.
The flowers surrounding him had started accumulating a thin layer of frost, and the blades of grass were already stiff with the cold.
Cross-legged in the solitary royal garden, it was the only place Sen knew that he could truly be alone.
And every second of it was bliss.
Sure, he might have lost feeling in his hands, but he was used to what the cold did to him.
It didn't change anything anyway, they'd always freeze over again in an hour or two.
As the ice given prince sat in the garden amidst the flowers and frost, he held his eyes shut to lose himself to thought.
Lose himself to the cold, to the ice.
He willingly gave himself up to it.
The bliss was interrupted.
The boy's irritable tember came back as he opened an eye to look for the source of the stomping he heard.
He couldn't help but notice how delicately the black leather boots stepped through the flowers, so as not to squish any.
He was thoroughly surprised when he looked up and found his assigned fire given staring back at him. And he looked pissed.
"You made it out." He said.
The fiery-haired boy didn't respond.
"Did you get caught?" The prince prompted.
The fire given shook his head as he carefully sat down next to the prince, avoiding as many blossoms as he could.
The prince watched the kid seat himself beside him delicately.
Does he talk?
Sen opened his mouth to speak, but paused.
A single green apple was offered up to him.
What a strange person.
Accepting the apple, he tucked it away for later as he stared at the other boy.
"What's your name?"
Blue eyes met a dark red as they locked gazes.
Somehow, the intense blood-red of the irises was dulled by the dark circles under his eyes.
"Rue Nirisa." The red-eyed boy answered.
"Rue." Sen echoed.
He narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the figure in front of him.
He got some amount of pleasure over how Rue shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
He wondered why he'd never noticed the kid's blackened and burnt sleeves before.
He'd been too busy ignoring him, he supposed.
The clothes he wore were indeed tattered and fraying at the edges, the end of the sleeves where fingers were barely visible had blackened and charred, not to mention the pants he wore were distressed and ripped.
"Why do you wear that? You know we can get you new clothes, don't you?" Sen said.
"I chose to keep these clothes." Rue said simply, looking down at his orange sweater.
What a strange person.
The prince moved on to his next question.
"Why are you so sweaty?"
This earned Sen a flash of annoyance.
"My skin is too hot." He said, lifting up a hand.
His palm was sweaty, and the caramel-colored skin was surprisingly smooth.
Sen thought it was rather gross.
"You're Gali, aren't you?"
Sen didn't miss the way the fire given flinched at the word.
That's an interesting reaction.
"Yes." Came the slow reply.
The prince hummed and turned his gaze to the sky.
The flowers between them were no longer frost-coated, instead the petals bore little drops of dew from the melted ice.
"It's not so bad, you know. Being a Gali, I mean. You have so much power at your fingertips. With that fire, you could do whatever you wanted." Sen said, missing the offended look thrown his way.
There was a quiet moment between them as the words sunk in.
"That's easy for you to say." Came a murmured reply.
"Hm?" The prince inquired, looking back to Rue.
The breeze was warm as it travelled between them, filling their ears with sounds of rustling grass instead of the silence that would follow.
The smaller boy had his gaze fixed to a bold orange daffodil in an almost melancholic stare.
What did he have against that flower?
"This given fire isn't as amazing as you believe it is." He said, picking the flower between his thumb and forefinger in a gentle hold.
"Being the Engali isn't the all-powerful position you think it is. I can't do anything I please. Not like you. You've always had a choice." He murmured, turning the stem over in his grasp, making the flower spin.
Sen snorted.
Rue's gaze was drawn to his face by the sudden noise.
"You think I get a choice in any of this? You think I chose to bring you here, that I chose to live the way I do?" Sen lifted his arms helplessly, his heavy coat rustling with the action.
"I get no choice. Not ever. All my decisions are made for me."
Spiraling crystals of ice grew where Sen left his hands between the flowers.
"You're freer than I am, at least. I didn't choose to come here, nor did I choose to go to that school." Rue argued, a bitter undertone in his voice.
"You take that for granted, I never got to go to school with other kids." The prince shot back.
"You should be grateful, you've never had to deal with the stares or the insults, or the crushing knowledge that you're a disappointment to everyone around you." Was the reply.
"At least you had the opportunity to have that experience, all I've been allowed are occasional accompaniment from other servants."
"Well at the very least you have your own personal bedroom and a mattress waiting for you there."
"At least you don't freeze over when you fall asleep!"
"At least you can sleep at all!"
The silence that followed the loud voices was very still.
It was deafening and damp, the air once hung heavy with words of thoughts relieved and burdens lifted from the shoulders of both boys, sitting together in a garden.
The prince finally broke it with a simple statement.
"What a pity party we've thrown here."
A dry laugh was heard from the boy beside him.
The prince hadn't even noticed how the daffodil had burnt to a crisp in Rue's grasp.