Chapter Text
It took Hunter an entire minute to find all the letters to spell ‘hello’. In that time, Darius had already sent for scouts to clean up the wreckage and convince Hunter they should walk back to the castle. Darius needed the air, and a walk was on his day off agenda.
“What do I do now?” Hunter whispered to his bird. It chirped at him, looking up at Darius. Darius raised an eyebrow, still baffled The Golden Guard had a palisman in the first place.
“You messaged the plant girl?”
Hunter nodded.
Darius rolled his eyes, “Wait for her to message you back.”
Hunter frowned, “That seems boring.”
“You aren't supposed to sit and wait.”
“What if I miss it?”
“It stays there, little prince. It won't disappear.”
“Oh, that's nice.”
Darius would have preferred for the walk to be silent, he had used up all his energy for the week. The walk was meant to be for him to clear his head. He gave the right hand of the Emperor a scroll when he apparently wasn't supposed to have one. (Which was weird and unfair, but it made sense for a child so sheltered.) And he found out about the right hand of the Emperor having a palisman.
In a few hours Darius had taken Hunter's life, shaken out every secret and then offered to teach him to sew.
He was regretting that now.
The Golden Guard could be bratty, callus, a bit of a snob. But never in his life did Darius think the boy would be so damn talkative.
Darius hadn’t even been nice, he had insulted the boy consistently throughout the day. All it took was a smile, a pat on the head, and keeping a secret for Hunter to blossom. Once Hunter realized Darius was not going to get angry over him talking, Hunter did not shut up.
Hunter wouldn’t stop blabbering the entire walk. He told Darius about everything that had happened that day, carefully skipping the parts where Darius was an ass. Something that… admittedly made Darius feel guilty. He talked about how excited he was to use a scroll and talk to his new ‘kind of’ friends. Another thing that made Darius feel guilty. He talked about how he was glad someone else knew about the bird, (its name was Flapjack). Every time Hunter opened his mouth, Darius cringed from the guilt. He hadn't cared for the Golden Guard, and he hadn't cared for the Emperor's Nephew. But the boy who was talking now was either of those things. He was just that. A boy.
Between topics that Hunter jumped through, running his hands over his newly fixed cloak, he thanked Darius.
There was plenty to thank Darius for: giving him a scroll, promising to keep quiet about the palismen, sewing the cloak, telling Hunter he would teach him how to sew. And yet, despite all the thanks Darius felt he deserved, Hunter was doing too much.
It was no wonder Belos liked the kid so damn much. Darius was positive that if he asked Hunter to lick the sand off his boot, he would. And probably thank him for that too.
Darius shuttered.
After another round of thanking Darius and praising him for what was starting to feel like nothing, Hunter took in a deep breath. Darius closed his eyes and sent a quick thanks to the Titan for answering his earlier prayer of shutting Hunter up. That thanks was cut off when Hunter started speaking again.
“So… Were you being serious about those sewing lessons?”
Darius should say no. And he would have every right to say no. He was in no business to be hanging out with a teenager. Hunter's voice and face was off putting already, reminding him so much of his mentor it had begun to hurt his chest. He should say no, and avoid letting the boy get attached to something that wasn't there. He had a few friends and an uncle he worshiped. Nothing would come out of sewing lessons but a headache.
Yet, before Darius could say no like he planned. He said, “Yes. I can't live knowing you're out there using surgical stitches on fabric. It would haunt me.”
“There are other kinds of stitches?”
Darius tilted his head up to the sky, “Titan gave me strength.” he sighed, “Yes, there are multiple kinds of stitches. What times work for you? I won't wake up before six in the morning and I want to be in bed by midnight.”
Hunter frowned, “You sleep in until six? And go to bed at midnight? How many hours of sleep are you getting?”
The vague guilt was instantly turned to deep concern. “How much sleep are you getting child?”
Hunter frowned, having to seriously think on it instead of answering ‘eight’ like he should have. “Four or five.” Flapjack chirped angrily, and Darius couldn't agree more.
“That's ridiculous.”
Hunter shrugged, “It's different on the weekends, Belos expects me in the throne room before dawn and I stay up to finish paperwork or studies.”
By that point, they were long gone from the beach. Though not long enough to keep Darius from wanting to run into the boiling sea. He could not believe what he was hearing. It was no wonder the boy was in such pain, why he was so snappy. “You should sleep more.” Darius said through gritted teeth.
Hunter shrugged, “I manage.”
Darius hoped the light of the scroll wouldn't damage his sleep schedule anymore. In fact, maybe unlimited access to the internet for a kid with no social awareness was a bad idea on his end. Though he couldn't imagine taking it away from Hunter. He had never seen the boy smile before, until today.
The guilt was back.
Hunter did not need to be so thankful for this. He didn't need to look so happy. If anyone had spent the first decade of Darius’s life ignoring him at best, and being outwardly rude at worst; then tried to make it up to him with a stupid scroll and an offer to teach him a basic skill; Darius would be offended.
And yet Hunter wasn't, he was just grateful.
Darius needed a drink, or to sleep until the end of the week. He needed something. This morning he was fine, it was his day off. There was no teenager or Golden Guard who wanted to be friends. There was no life threatening secret to keep from the Emperor. There was no ‘flyer derby’ or his mentor's old cloak.
Ten hours ago, things were normal. Now, Darius’s head was pounding. He couldn’t let this cloud his mind, he had a revolution to organize. He’d pity the boy with some sewing and make an attempt to not be so cruel. It was the least he could do. Hunter could be sassy and cocky all he wanted, Darius was done trying to make the kid feel bad about himself.
Embarrassing, it took him until now to decide that. But it was a decision nonetheless.
“Come to my chambers when you're off your night patrol. We can do lessons from then until eleven.”
Hunter's eyes could have lit up enough to be seen from the castle. “Really?”
Darius’s heart hurt again, he didn't let it show. “Really. Be on time though, I won't be running late for you. My nighttime routine is important, I need to unwind before I can fall asleep.”
Hunter nodded and Darius was worried it would be aggressive enough to knock the bird off his shoulder. “Okay! I will, do I need to bring anything?”
Darius thought, his feet were starting to hurt. “Not for the first few sessions, once you're good enough you can bring things that you want to be fixed.”
“First few?”
The joy in Hunter's voice was the second strike for Darius to turn around and let himself boil in the ocean. One more thing and he would do it, really.
“First few,” Darius repeated, “Let's try a few times a week. Just let me know when you want to start.”
Thankfully, Hunter was quiet after that. Their silence wasn't comfortable, Darius still had ash and rubble on him from the airship. Hunter was doing his best to keep his eyes on the horizon and not glance over at Darius every few moments. Though, the silence wasn’t bad either. There was no tension beside the feeling in Darius’s stomach. And if anything were different, it could have been nice.
It wasn't.
They got back to the castle before the moon had touched the top of the sky. The perfect amount of time Darius needed to get ready for bed. He didn't know where Hunter's room was, so he offered to walk the boy there. Hunter seemed shy over his room, though Darius assumed that was because the boy had been used to complete privacy. One he got from total isolation.
Darius frowned over where Hunter's room was. It was on the other side of the castle from the rest of the coven heads. On the main level of the castle too, nowhere near the scout barracks. The rooms they passed to get to him were empty, void of light or life. It was cold over here, lonely. Hunter pulled Darius out of his thoughts “Does tomorrow night work?” the boy's hand hovered over his door handle.
“I’ll see you then,” Darius was shocked to find that his smile was not forced. It was soft, easy to go on his face.
Darius had thought earlier that he had never seen Hunter smile. He wondered when the last time he smiled hismelf was.
“Uh-” Hunter's voice broke, “Thank you, again.”
Darius caught himself in enough time to not roll his eyes. “You do too much little prince, I've hardly done anything at all.”
Hunter swallowed, “Still… thank you.”
“Of course, as I said, it's about time you had some interaction with witches your age. Your coworkers are all old enough to be your parents.” It was a joke, but Hunter didn't smile.
“And for everything else,” Hunter mumbled
Darius nodded, “The cloak was yours,” he said, speaking slowly. “It wasn't mine to take. But yes, everything else. You're welcome.” Darius had not known he wanted to say it, it lifted a bit of weight off of his shoulders. It was far from a proper apology, but it was what Hunter deserved to hear. Nepotism or not, it was a cloak Hunter earned. Darius only felt entitled to it.
Hunter's brows furrowed enough to touch, his ears drooped down. “Yeah,” he tugged the cloak around him. Unwilling to fight back on Darius’s word in agreement or otherwise. “Goodnight Covenhead Deamonne.” Then, Hunter bowed. Hands at his sides and bending fully at the waist.
Darius couldn't keep in his full body cringe, he stepped away and blinked. As if what he was seeing was nothing more than dust in his eye. “Uh- stop that.”
Hunter straightened immediately, though he tilted his head in confusion.
“I’m not your superior Hunter, you don't need to bow to me.”
“You're older than me.”
“Right… well either way. You don't need to do that. And for the love of the Titan just call me Darius. You had no problem with it a few hours ago.”
“Yeah but that-”
Darius lifted up his hand, “Darius.”
“Darius,” Hunter repeated. “Goodnight Darius.”
“Goodnight Hunter.”