:: NICKY & TRICK - Valdora ::

[dangernerd]

So, come to find out.. Calypse had been none too amused by the entire shenanigans that had happened at the Graduation Ceremony. This was standard behavior for the Kirkland siblings-- they could fight like cats and dogs, but they had been quite united on this front and had been waiting for this exact moment to sneak into the Lunar Caverns and attempt to find King Eadrick Kirkland's dagger, the one that Nicholas had lost in there on his own Graduation ceremony.

It had been a point of honour for the both of them to find it and whatever strange magic that had taken the dagger and bring it back to it's rightful place.

And right now Nicholas was sitting on one of the benches at Queensglaive Park, lightly twirling it between his fingertips and staring intently at it. He'd used it to cut Calypse out of the Dark Energy when they had been pitted against each other, it had been the start of a relationship.

Now? It was the end.

The words went through his mind, of course they did. There had been a lot that had been said in hurt and anger, including the fact that Calypse could not be with someone who did not respect his position more, their position more; and he'd let Calypse go because the thing was that Nicholas did not. He knew this, being Prince meant little to him in the grand scheme of things; the sword had been more 'bringing back a keepsake' then doing something for the good of the crown. They were different people and they wanted different things, Calypse wanted to climb his ambitions and Nicholas? He had ambitions but they were as far apart as possible from bloodlines and crowns.

And now he was stuck in Valdora and unable to go to Lethe to attend the Festival of the Winds (per directive of the Pentacles, and he'd been dumped. He'd closed up Shadowspires for a few days and the first day he'd laid there on the couch and stared up at the ceiling with his blue eyes slightly glazed, almost tempted to burn everything that was a culmulation of the past five years.

Instead he'd just messaged Trick, asking him to meet him in the park.

Comments

[giveeverything]

Trick was worried about Nicky. He didn't know the full story, wasn't entirely certain what had happened. But something was wrong, clearly. The fact that Claypse had left rather abruptly probably had something to do with it. Something had happened, and Nicky wasn't himself, and Trick hated not knowing and hated more not being able to help. When Nicky had shuttered the agency for a few days and gone quiet the worry had skyrocketed.

So he was almost relieved to receive the message, and was immediately on his way to meet up with the Prince and hopefully find out what was going on.

The only delay was a three minute stop off to snag a bottle of liquor just in case this was that sort of talk they would be having.

He caught sight of Nicky easily enough, and immediately changed direction to a straight line directly to the other man, steps picking up to a job without consciously intending to.

"Hey. Got your message. You okay?"

[dangernerd]

It wasn't that he was sad about it, more like numb. Uncomfortably numb.. it had been a long time in coming but that did not make it any less jarring when all was said and done. Issues under the surface that people did not see, and he was a private person and did not air his business out for just anyone.. and gods he wasn't the sort that went out to have public arguments.

Glancing up when he heard the voice and therein came a surge of something-- relief and also an intrinsic understanding that now that Trick was here it would all be okay. Looking up at Trick and then he very carefully balanced the knife on his knee and then brushed his hands together. "Hey Trick." he motioned for Trick to sit down next to him on the bench. The park was not crowded at all as there was a party going on that was not in Valdora. It'd switched trajectory to Lethe.

At this moment his sister was in Lethe but she couldn't not go, she was the Queen and it was expected that she would be there. But he was Valdora bound and he had the magical equivalent of a baby leash backpack to prove it. "I guess I am okay? Not really all that sure." if he twirled the knife awkwardly right now at this moment, he may stab himself.. so he did not.

"I think it'd be better if I was not here, to be honest.. but not here as in not physically here but somewhere else.. like Lethe-- watching Airships zoom across the sky." but he'd missed the airship races before, and it never hit this bad. "Valdora is so emppty right now and there's too much space to think--- do you know how many thoughts you can fit on an empty street, ridiculous really. Thoughts shouldn't be allowed outside of the brain underneath any circumstances."

He was starting to ramble.. bad.

[giveeverything]

Ah yes, His Royal Highness Nicholas Kirkland, Lord of 'oops I'm bleeding even though all I had in my hands was a pillow' was twirling a knife. Cool. Maybe the cleric breathed a tiny little sigh of relief when that dagger was set down. Trick dropped to a seat beside the Prince, looking at him curiously.

Nicky was rambling, and this was not entirely new too. Whatever was going on, it was clearly weighing very heavy on his dearest friend's mind. So Trick reached over to plop the bottle of booze into Nicky's lap. "They should not. Here. Let's find out if they can swim, and you can tell me what's going on, yeah?"

Come on, Nicky. Let him help. He wanted to help. For all the things in the world, the most valuable he could conceive of in his moment was Nicholas Kirkland's smile, and it was currently missing. So. Trick was on the case.

[dangernerd]

The legends stated that no Kirkland would ever be hurt by fire, and that was true. He'd never once been burned nor even remotely singed. But knives, they were decidedly still the sort of object that Nicky should mot be holding, it was safer tucked into his belt; perhaps where there was no steps with which to trip down and fall and send the knife into his side.

So many accidents could absolutely occur, good thing that Trick was a cleric.. huh?

He felt the heaviness of the booze bottle and then he gave the other guy a wry smile before he set about uncorking it, he nearly immediately took a sip from the bottle and then settled it on the seat between them. "Oh well my anxieties can swim, but I really don't have anything to be anxious about..." which reasons, well you know.

"Well you know how I got grounded by the pentacles because of the whole switcheroo with Tish? Well I got dumped shortly there-after." and then he took a long draught from the whiskey bottle, making a face because that was too much to go in the mouth at any given time.

[giveeverything]

Well that certainly caught Trick's attention. His eyes went wide and a strange mix of emotions rushed through him: Concern over Nicky because he must be heartbroken, and Trick hated the idea of Nicky being hurt. Fury at Calypse for being stupid enough to fumble dating someone as amazing as Nicholas Kirkland. And some small surge of good because Nicky deserved better than that stuffy, sparkly asshole.

Trick managed to school his expression into one that only ran the full gauntlet of those emotions once instead of the half dozen or so that his brain actually bounced back and forth between those feelings. A moment later, he slipped the drink from Nicky's hand so he could take a swig as well and then set his hand against the other man's arm.

"Fuck him and everything he stands for." A pause. "I'm sorry, Nicky. You okay?"

[dangernerd]

Nicky was the sort that had to compartmentalize what he was feeling himself before he revealed whatever it was that he was feeling, he'd done it when his parents died and he'd been sixteen years old-- he'd locked himself in his room for a few days; he'd shuttered the Detective Agency because of this, but now he could tell Trick because he was not a mess of feelings.

His fingers once again wrapped around the whiskey bottle and he glanced over at Trick, offering a smile and then a very surreptitious shrug. "So, we had been arguing more so than we did anything else so.. that is a relief, but you cannot be with someone for that long without feeling like.. your entire identity has gone missing?" he brought the head of the bottle to his lip before glancing around.

There were was only one Guard in the Queen's park and probably they just didn't think anything of this very public drinking. "I think I will be okay, I just have always felt like an imposter and this hit a little bit... Calypse probably thought that he was dating a Prince.. and I am the anti-Prince; I am the most Unprincely Prince in existence of whatever and part of me is quick to say that best it happen now to spare further disappointment on his part."

And if there was anyone that he could talk to about these things, it was Trick. Of all people it was always Trick.

[giveeverything]

If a guard or anyone else wanted to come hassle them for the bottle, Trick would stare them straight down and tell them it was medicine and dare them to argue with the royal cleric and his treatment of the prince.

Not for the first time and not for the last, Trick considered the two secrets he was keeping from Nicky and quite nearly cracked and let them spill. Two secrets. Just two. The prince was his closest, most precious friend. Trick told him everything. Everything except the truth of who he was and just how pathetically in love with Nicholas Kirkland he was. He spared a moment to stuff those thoughts back into the mental box stored at the back of his mind and shove them far away.

His hand tightened where it rested, a slight squeeze to Nicky's arm. "You really are a terrible prince."

Was that supposed to be comforting? He wasn't done speaking, at least. So maybe there was still hope. "You're way too interesting for one thing. You have to know and understand everything, and that curiosity makes you brilliant. You're kinder and you're way funnier than any boring perfectly polished royal could ever hope to be. Calypse was way too invested in appearances and in his own reflection anyway."

He wiggled his fingers at Nicky in a my turn with the bottle gesture as he continued. "You're a prince because of who your parents are. You're a menace because of all the amazing things you are and all the incredible things you've done. I think the latter is way more interesting."

So there.

[dangernerd]

That was comforting in a way, for more comforting than it had any right to be.

The thing with that though was not that he really required the confirmation, he did not. The thing was that it all came down to expectations which had been drowning him his entire life. Tish was meant for the throne, but he was the next in line if anything did happen to her. Not that he thought anything would happen to Tish in the nearby future-- anyone who tried anything would have to deal with her, and he was sure any potential assassins knew this.

He'd also told it to her face.

Nicky shoved the bottle back at Trick, it made a sloshing sound from all the liquid. Well there was Trick, making him feel better in that intense way of his; it was like a weighted blanket.. Trick was a weighted blanket who could easily lay over him and calm him down if he needed it. "I never wanted to be the Prince, and I still do not because it gets me all sorts of attention that I don't like and now that this has happened the Pentacles will be on my ass and will attempt to draw my attention to all sorts of eligible people of all genders while I try to dodge every attempt."

Him and Tish had been successful up to this point, but that didn't mean it wasn't tiresome.

"Also you know what really gets my gander, Trick?" once Trick has taken a sip, he grabs it back. "The fact that I think that maybe he was only enamored of my title, if I were just anyone else? I don't think that he would've even looked twice at me and I hate hate hate that I am nothing more than that to a lot of people, a crown with a giant K emblazoned on it."

[giveeverything]

"Extra fuck him then. ...except like, no, don't actually fuck him. He doesn't deserve that at all." Not a single fuck should be thrown in Calypse's direction. Trick scowled. "If some people can't see past the crown and the Kirkland name, then that's on them. Not on you. They suck, and you're still way better than any of them deserve."

Especially Calypse.

Trick took his sip and relinquished the bottle back to Nicky, looking more than a little thoughtful as he considered. The words he said next, he really didn't particularly enjoy speaking, but he said them anyway. "Maybe you should draw their attention instead. Maybe if you found someone you wanted to be with, someone that was your choice because you loved them, maybe that would be better than just getting matched because it looked good on paper."

The words tasted bitter on his tongue because he was well aware that Nicky would never look at him that way. And it was fine. Their friendship was the best thing in his life, and he wouldn't trade it for anything. Nicky deserved to be happy and loved and appreciated by whoever it was that the prince chose to gift his heart to.

And if they hurt him? Trick would cast some anti-healing on them.

[dangernerd]

That sounded suspiciously like 'the best way to get over one man is to get under another one..' or woman, whatever the case may be and Nicky had no real preference for gender either way, it had never mattered to him-- what had mattered was shared interests which.. in retrospect he was not sure that had happened to begin with, with Calypse the ambitious fashion plate of the Fallon family, the main family from which several illustrious Headmasters had come from that line.

And he liked Detective Novels, Jella, his Cat, Pizza and also as Trick said, learning new things.

Honestly, he did not want to break his brain thinking on the past at this particular moment in time. "So, I do not think I want that.. I.." he said this quietly. "..really do not want a relationship for a long time, at least a year-- or two." he did not take the bottle from Trick but rather clasped his hands in front of him, elbows on his knees.

"And if I even think about getting into another relationship, you need to act as my voice of reason.. maybe knock some sense into me with that quarterstaff or flail of yours?" he turned to look at Trick, those blue eyes appearing far more blue than they ever had a right to be. "In fact maybe all you have to say is 'remember Calypse' and I'll get the meaning perfectly clear, yeah?"

[giveeverything]

"All right, then be you. And I'll help you duck the Pentacles matchmaking." How? Probably by causing enough trouble to keep their attention directed elsewhere. Trick set the bottle aside and turned to sit crisscrossapplesauce on the bench, sidewise so he could look directly at Nicky.

A quiet hum. "You're asking me, a humble cleric, to commit violent acts? Against my prince?" He tried to pretend that those absurdly blue eyes didn't do the funniest things to his heart in his chest. He managed not to look away or blush (too much). "I've got your back, Nicky. I will always have your back."

In matters of lover or war or anything else. If Nicky needed him, Trick wouldn't hesitate. "I'm glad you called me today. I was worried about you. ...but seriously Calypse can suck it. Jella and I never liked him anyway."

[dangernerd]

"Alright so not precisely violence, but I think reason will definitely suffice-- maybe I need to do the 'single definitely not ready to mingle' thing to remember who I am as a person." and not be beholden to anyone's whims; hell, he'd had a hard enough time managing his own whims and not to follow them at any given point

And then came the next statement because Nicky was so painfully blunt and no amount of comportment classes would ever change that; it was the constant lament of the Pentacles that he could not even do that, and it had earned more than a few knuckle-punches from Tish, hard against his shoulder.

"I won't toss you out because of some promise of sex or anything that my significant other made, in all honesty you will be tossing me out-- you may have to put a sock on your door handle so that I do not knock while you're..."

Fucking, he managed to stop just in time. And yes, Calypse had been fond of tossing both Jella and Trick out-- Jella had disliked Calypse a great deal and when he was in the room, Jella had made a great show of crawling into Trick's lap; solidarity in this one thing-- their mutual dislike for the Fallon. "Really it is better all things told, but just remember to toss me out whenever you need because I may get needy and clingy, my ego will survive."

After all, it had weathered far worse.

[giveeverything]

Calypse had been the best thing to happen to Trick and Jella's relationship, honestly. But that was the only good thing that Trick had to say about him. The enemy of my enemy and all that. He and the cat could plot the appropriate sort of comeuppance for Calypse at a later time, Trick reasoned. ...which mostly meant he'd have a villain soliloquy in the feline's presence where he'd muse about whether scandal or physical discomfort would be the better sort of curse to levy upon Nicky's lackluster ex.

For now though, he shook his head at what Nicky had said. Half said. The fucking, and the idea of him kicking Nicky out for the sake of some tryst with... who? See that was the problem there. If Trick were going to be taking anyone back to his bed, the only person he could possibly picture, had ever really wanted, was this royal disaster sitting next to him.

"That's not something you've got to worry about. The only person I'd even want to fuck," See Nicky? He provided the verb for you right there, "...well, they're not interested in me like that. So here's me, single and no desire to mingle. So cling all you want. I like it anyway."

[dangernerd]

Great, they could be single together.

That sounded like quite a relief, but also Nicky had not wanted to get in the way of any of Trick's life-living because he himself was intent on avoiding any sort of romantic relationship at any cost. Nicky was, as usual, oblivious to the interest of most anyone around himself-- and he'd only been queued in to his ex's interest because it had come on the heels of another scandal involving the Lunar Caverns Graduation ceremony.

And it had been phrased as a way to get the Pentacles off his back and Calypse's mother off him. He was now not sure if Calypse ever had feelings for him other than something passed purely in transaction but that was neither here nor there and he would need to push those thoughts firmly out of his mind before he started spiraling.

At the mention of someone nameless, he grew almost instantly curious though he thought perhaps it was better not to pursue it-- Trick after all was a bit more terse about these things than he was. So Nicky placed a hand on Trick's forearm.

"If you ever want to talk about it, I will always provide a listening ear.. but I respect your privacy, elementals know that it's hard to get in my world where your every action is reported." there he was, being a friend. "But I will take you up on the clinging though feel free to shove me away if it gets too much."

[giveeverything]

So close. So far.

It was fine. Trick had long ago gotten used to keeping his feelings to himself, another secret added to his small but utterly crucial list. Who he was and what was in his heart. Minor things really. Except, what was left of him when those two were counted out? He felt a bit like he was lying to Nicky by omission, but better that lie than a truth that would only cause him harm and put this friendship at risk.

Because look at what a good friend Nicky was, that gentle touch at his arm, that offer to listen when he was the one who was dealing with heartbreak, and Trick was just an idiot. Story of his life. He smiled and shook his head.

"I'm fine, but... I appreciate it. You. I appreciate you."

A brighter smile at the next comment. "No way it will, no way it could. My world makes more sense when you're around."

[dangernerd]

Well Nicky was attempting to be brave about the whole thing, and honestly this was just put into perspective that maybe the single life was the best route for him, maybe he just needed to be single for.. forever. But as long as he was not keeping Trick away from anything, then that was all that he could ask for.

"The offer still stands, it always still stands." and then he took bottle and looked down at it. "So what I propose is that we keep this on us, go get a pizza from the Tavern" which arguably he would not be allowed to pay for even though he would try, "And then go back to Shadowspires and get piss drunk, and we can also burn some of the things that Calypse gave me as gifts."

There was a large collection of clothing that he had been given that were not at all his style but had been given to him as an effort to 'match' Calypse. He'd sorted them out previously in his closet and they were laying there and intact, ready to be shoved into the woodstove.

[giveeverything]

"All right, my Pyro Prince, that sounds like the best plan I can imagine." And fire at least was something he didn't have to worry about backfiring on Nicky. So that worked for him.

Up to his feet, he offered a hand out to Nicky. "Let's get going. We've got a lot of drinking and burning to do." And they could bitch about all Calypse's many infuriating qualities. Trick had a whole list. He and Jella had put it together. Or well, okay, it had been him since Jella couldn't write or speak, but he knew she agreed with each and every item.

He'd let Nicky's offer to listen stand though, forever, he assumed. No telling him that all Trick wanted was to spend the rest of his life with him, to keep him safe and make him happy and give him his whole entire heart.

[dangernerd]

Nicky was extremely oblivious but he was also extremely self-depreciating of his own worth or place in this world, and the breakup had lodged a particularly nasty hit against that already fragile part of him.

He placed his hand in Trick's and smiled something that was disarmingly like mischief. "Prince Pyro? That is a title that I will wear with a badge of honour." And then he got up from the bench-- once he rose up, he released Trick's hand though not before giving it a little squeeze of 'thank you'

"Pizza it is then, double pineapple..." because Nicky was convinced that it belonged on pizza. "And whatever you want on it." Because Nicky was not picky and would eat anything.

[giveeverything]

"Ha. You would." Trick offered a grin, just as mischievous right back. They were partners in crime first and foremost, weren't they? He squeezed the hand in his back. Trick was aware that Nicky's self esteem in certain areas was a broken thing, and it continually amazed him because from where he stood, Nicky was nothing short of amazing.

The prince was handsome and brilliant -- when he wasn't being incredibly stupid anyway -- and kind. Yes, Nicky's sense of humor was at times the sort that produced groans, but they were well-earned groans, and Trick loved the terrible jokes because of how terrible they were. He loved how Nicky's filter had gone missing in the womb and never been recovered.

He loved so many things about him that he'd never said out loud. Maybe he ought to change that at some point. For now though? Pizza.

"Pineapple works for me. Come on."

[dangernerd]

There were very few people that lauded the Prince's lack of filter which was why during social functions usually one of the Pentacles had to lead him around by a invisible child-leash to make sure he did not make a gross faux pas. Oh, how he wished that Trick could be there to share in what he had to endure, he felt like if he had a partner in crime there too, it would make everything far more endurable.

Visions of him and Trick at a party, managing to evade the Pentacles, drew to his mind and he had to cover his mouth to repress a grin; finding the image just a bit wistful and something that well he would've liked-- Trick was his dearest friend and he loved him so much, loved how he could be himself around the other man with no pretending because Trick gave him the space to do that.

They headed toward Swingslines Tavern where true to form, Nicholas's coin was no good no matter how he argued the tavernkeep would not take it, so it ended up with a free large pineapple and bacon pizza that was fresh out of the oven. On the way back to Shadowspires, some roasted corn from a vendor down shop row thrust a foil wrapper with two buttered cobs at Trick and Nicky, saying that the Prince needed to eat his vegetables and she was happy to provide.

[giveeverything]

"People really do feel compelled to feed you at every turn," Trick remarked as they finally made it back to Shadowspires with free pizza and bonus corncobs in hand. He knew it was because Nicky was the prince, yes, but he rather thought it was also because somehow Nicky, despite being royalty and next in line to the throne, gave off the general vibes of a stray orange cat who was too sweet and too dumb to take care of itself in this big wide world.

Trick opened the door and ushered Nicky and their snacks inside. They had the rest of the bottle of liquor he'd brought, and there was certainly some booze stashed around Shadowspires.

Without hesitating, Trick went to snag another bottle and a couple glasses. "So. Let's get a fire going in the fireplace, and dig in. Then we can start burning stuff.

[dangernerd]

"They do.. which I suppose I like better than them throwing their marriageable sons and daughters at me."

Point in fact, they could throw pizza at him all day though he would still make an attempt to give gold to them but more often then not the people of Valdora was far more stubborn then he was which was why they had pizza and roasted corn cobs for dinner, because they would not take no for an answer and he when it came down to it was not as stubborn with them as he was with his sister or the Pentacles.

"Sounds like a plan." he nodded to Trick to take care of getting the glasses, he would start the fire.

It was a matter of rubbing his hands together until flames started to lick at the tips, like little writhing snakes, and then he leaned down to grasp a log and then he was transferring the flames over to them. They did not hurt, they felt warm but they had always been there for him and while flames could be destructive they were also had so many other meanings, such as transformation.

The logs started to crackle as they wiggled from Nicky's hands to latch themselves against the firewood, and then they started to burn quite merrily, he then glanced up and over his shoulder as Trick rummaged around.

There was also Jella who had come out and was at the moment on the counter meowing quite loudly at Trick.

[giveeverything]

"That would be awkward to split with your friends," Trick agreed at the mention of marriageable sons and daughters.

He came over to settle on the floor in front of the fireplace, setting down the food and glasses and liquor before turning to watch Nicky. He found it fascinating, still, how fire came so naturally to Nicholas Kirkland. It flowed through him like blood.

A tilt of his head to the side as his eyes lingered on the dancing flames. "I remember the first time I saw you do that," Trick reminisced. He'd never experienced actual magic, growing up where he had, and it had been a wonder, especially with how natural Nicky seemed doing it. Since then, he'd learned magic of his own in his cleric studies, butt he wonder of it never went away entirely.

[dangernerd]

He sat back on his knees and watched as Jella came over to yell at them, likely a demand for some bacon. Which valid, bacon was extremely delicious. She would harass the two of them in equal measures, using the fine art of intimidation and manipulation to get what she wanted. Once he had slid is hand out of the fire, there were no marks, perhaps a bit of singing at the cuffs of his jacket but that was normal.

His sleeves always tended to look a bit ashy from any flames he decided to play with.

"I had been attempting to escape from my nursemaid, and attempted to crawl up the chimney." with the flames still roaring in the fireplace, perhaps a bit unsettling to a small child but it had been true that his nursemaids who had not been of Core Family blood could not touch the flames. But Tish had come by and proceeded to pull him right out of the chimney, and both of them never the worse for wear.

"Must've been unsettling for you.." also the yelling as Nicky told his sister to let him go, and Tish's equal shouting. Then he'd been introduced to the young boy by the man who he would soon learn to be Sir Dumas, and with the boy named Patrick who looked a bit tired and sad.

It had been an instant friendship as Nicky took the other boy under his wing and showed him all his favorite places like the library and also all the places that he wasn't supposed to get into, like the Cake Pantry.

[giveeverything]

"A little unsettling, yeah." Though not because magic was so new so much as, well, he'd just watched his entire life destroyed in a conflagration, had been dragged away from the fire that was consuming his home and his family by Sir Dumas despite his protests that they had to go back, they had to help.

Instead he wound up being dragged off, and he did understand that there wasn't anything he could have done to help besides die alongside his father and brother. He was a child, and he was alone and afraid. But then there was Nicky, who was so full of fire. Trick had quickly learned that Nicky's fire was light and warmth and not pain and destruction. He didn't like thinking about what might have become of him if he hadn't found his way to the side of Nicholas Kirkland. That friendship had been his salvation, a lifeline that he had clung to then as he did now.

Nicky had given him another home, and a purpose. Someday he'd try to make the prince understand just how grateful he was for everything. ...maybe by then he'd have gotten over the absurd desire for more, for a heart that he had no business asking for.

And yet, the yearning had been blooming inside him for a long while and would likely blossom a while yet. "Honestly I kind of thought you were crazy at first. ...now I know for a fact that you're crazy."