#𝐯𝐢. there is bravery in being soft

[waehlesarc]

@unbound-tales: gets a plotted thing.

   When Henry landed on a tarmac, he’d gotten a text from Alex saying not to be mad and that June had started it. He lifted a brow and considered texting back, but decided to just get home to see what was going on. The driver got him to the brownstone quick enough, fortunately the airport was roughly fifteen to twenty minutes away from their home. Sometimes the traffic was bad, but they’d made good timing. Henry thanked the man before stepping out of the car, taking his bags with him and going inside.

   “Alex?” He stepped further into their home, having already locked the door behind him and sat his bags down at the foot of the stairs. He could unpack them later. Henry found Alex in the living room, bouncing a fussy baby in his arms. He frowned a little. Where did Alex get a baby from and what did this have to do with June? She didn’t appear to be here, but he could tell Alex was struggling a little with the situation.

   “Darling, where did you get a baby from?” Stepping closer, he peered over at the whimpering baby and reached out a finger to wipe at its watery cheek. Now that he looked at it, the little one looked oddly like Alex. “Alex? What’s going on?” Concern was in his voice more than anything else and confusion too. He hadn’t been gone that long, a week. Alex would’ve told him what was going on and he never would have imagined coming home to him with a baby. So he wanted answers and he wanted them now, but the crying was frustrating and Henry held out his arms. “Here, let me try to calm them down.”

[waehles]

@dutyled: cont.

   Henry smiled softly, thinking of his relationship with Alex as Nicholas spoke of Gabriel so fondly. “Y’know, you and I are more alike than I think you give us credit for. I did the same thing with Alex. He came and stormed the palace to tell me how he felt when I ran away.” He shook his head, amused but also sad about how they could be. “I’m really glad you found someone like that though. Everyone needs someone that will fight for them.”

[waehlesarc]

@firstscn said: ❛  you were so good for me, i love you so much.  ❜

   Henry smiled, soft in his expression as he pressed a kiss to Alex’s shoulder. “You weren’t so bad yourself, but thank you.” Their first time, in Paris of all places, had been nothing short of romantic. Except, perhaps, for Alex mocking him for calling it ‘making love.’ He was a romantic, okay? And he never thought that he’d get this far with someone. University had been different, that was . . . experimental and fun. This was real and scary and a whole new world of possibilities for them both.

   And love, love was being brought into the equation now. “You really love me?” Henry asked, knowing he loved Alex. He’d loved him for so long now that he was sure the man would mock him for telling him such a thing. His fingers curled around Alex’s, their touch as familiar as breathing. “I love you too. You have no idea . . . , I never thought anyone would feel all of this with me.”

[waehlesarc]

@unbound-tales: gets a thing.

   The worst day of his life had already happened and Henry did not think that it could get any worse. He was wrong. One day, Alex was already at school and he was getting ready for work, he’d gotten a text from Alex. Granted, it wasn’t unusual at all to get a text from him. It was more the nature of the text. ‘msg – last night was fun. We should do that again sometime.’ Following by a winking face and a kiss emoji and Henry knew that was not meant for him. Alex had been with June last night, at least, he was supposed to be, helping her with a paper she was working on and he’d told him he was staying with her for the night. Now, he was not so sure if that was true and his hands shook as he thought of what to say back. In the end, Henry didn’t reply to the message and went about his day as usual. However, even Pez noticed something was off about him and told him to go home early, so he did.

   Unfortunately for him, Alex’s classes must have ended early, because he was there as well. At the first sign of ‘baby’, leaving the mans lips, Henry evaded him and went on up to their room, slamming the door in his wake. Who had Alex been with last night? And why would he even cheat on him? It wasn’t something that he thought would happen between them and yet . . . it had. Clearly it had done. Henry removed his jacket and tossed it aside before curling up under their covers. Alex would probably try to find out what was wrong and Henry was avoiding that because he feared the truth for what it was. After everything, it had come down to this. What had he done wrong? There was a knock at the door, which was a surprise for Alex, but he found himself telling him to ‘go away’ anyway.

[waehles]

@unbound-tales: liked.

   “What is all of this?” Henry asked, eyes wide as he stepped into their apartment. It looked like something out of a romance movie. Henry had rather hoped that Alex wouldn’t surprise him with a party, but this … , “Sweetheart, this is stunning. Did you buy out every flower shop in New York?” For the apartment was covered in flowers and petals alike. It would be a mess to clean later and he could tell David was just as thrilled to roll around in the petals, but he was pleased Alex had done this. Far more than he had thought. Stepping over to Alex, he wrapped his arms around him so that he could kiss him softly on the mouth. “You know it’s my birthday, right? And not Valentine’s Day?”

[waehles]

@dutyled: liked.

   “Happy birthday, Nicholas!” Henry had to wonder if Nicholas and his twin, their brother, had ever celebrated his birthday on his actual birthday. For all he knew, neither of them had and he felt like that needed to change. He offered out the gift wrapped box, large in its size because he’d gone out of his way to get Nicholas a new instrument, one he knew he liked and some sheet music to go along with it too. He wanted him to know that he was paying attention and that he cared about him too.

[waehlesarc]

@unbound-tales asked: 001. — Backhand my muse.

   Henry stared in horror at first, frozen on the spot and hands fisted at his sides. He never would have taken Alex one for violence, but he wasn’t even sure what he’d said in the first place that had made him react as such. It also took everything in him to not react, to not retaliate, because he’d already done all of that in boarding school and it had done him no good there. “What in the bloody hell do you think you are doing?!” Henry finally demanded, sounding angry and hurt. There was a flaming hand mark appearing on his face and he fought the urge to touch it. If Alex had been trying to get his attention, well, he certainly had it now. “You know that could be considered treason, right? I could have you locked away for laying a hand on me like that.”

[waehlesarc]

@westwingsolo: gets a thing.

   “Go on then. Tell me to leave!” So he did and they were the worst words that Henry will ever say in his life. Alex slammed the door behind him, which he was sure to wake his sister and Henry crumbled to the floor, head in his hands as he sobbed. Beatrice came in shortly afterward, asking him what had happened and when he wouldn’t respond, she knelt on the floor with him and wrapped him in her arms. His best big sister Beatrice, Henry knew that he could always count on her. And having her there had helped, but he felt like the words worst arsehole.

   A few months later, their emails got leaked and Henry’s grandmother had made a statement saying they were forged, even though that was the last thing they were. They took control of his life once more and ofttimes Henry wished that he’d stood up for himself and accepted all that Alex had to offer. But he wouldn’t contact him again. In fact, he’d not only changed numbers and email, but had blocked Alex everywhere, which he knew got questions out of of social media that he had never answered.

   That had been three years ago and Henry was not the same as he had once been. He saw his therapist more than before, but even she didn’t help that much these days. It was worse when his grandmother announced an arranged marriage. The women was nice and all, but he just simply wasn’t interested and Henry didn’t get a say. Fortunately, Charlie, ‘Charlotte’ felt the same way and was as forced into this as he was. From a noble family, Charlie couldn’t afford to be who she was either, but together they found tried to find a way to get through it.

   They were at an event that evening, hand in and as they stepped through the doors. Henry was representing his home country and he was meant to show off his fiancé while he was at too. However, Charlie squeezed his hand as she spotted her girlfriend near the drink station and he let her go. Henry went around introducing himself and he tried his hardest not to fiddle with his signet ring as he did so. Feeling like he was being watched, Henry looked over at spotted a very familiar face.

   Alex.

   The man was staring daggers into him and Henry had to fight the urge to coil in on himself. No, not here. He turned to put more distance between them, but it seemed that Alex had other ideas as he grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of there. Henry swallowed nervously, but complied, shooting a look back into the main room. No one was paying them any attention and before he knew it, Alex had him cornered in a closed off room with the door closed.

   “Alexander,” Henry said with a firm, but polite nod. If Alex wanted to yell at him, he might as well let him get it over with.

[waehles]

@apurekindness: liked.

   "Would you like a piece of cake?" Henry asked as he plopped down on the couch nearby her. He offered out the piece he'd cut, another one in his hand for himself. Everyone else was helping themselves really and he'd noticed her keeping to herself. Henry knew what that was like, but he wanted to be a welcoming host even if he wasn't the one who had started the party.

[waehlesarc]

@unbound-tales asked: [ stolen ] a quick, stealthy, and impromptu kiss snatched in secret [Alex for Henry!]

   Fingers reached out, grabbing Alex gently as he passed by. They were attending the same event again, though fortunately there was no cake here to topple over. It seemed everyone got the memo not to have a cake around where the two of them were involved. He ushered Alex into a small, quiet room off from everyone else and then took his face in his hands to kiss him. It had been how many weeks now? The long distance wasn't easy, but it made these sneaky getaways so much more worth it when they did get some time together.

[waehles]

@resignedworkaholics said: they will kill you if they get the chance. - Spy stuff~

   It wasn’t that Henry didn’t believe him, it was that, it was more that he knew how too real it was. He was too soft for the lot of them, too different. And because he didn’t always follow too closely to the rules, they’d one day realize how true that ones and just end it all for him. “Trust me, I know,” Henry said as he ran a hand through his hair, a soft sigh escaping his mouth. He wondered if his dad had known, it was probably why he’d assigned Shaan to him. “Do you have any suggestions for what I do about it?”

[waehlesarc]

@fsalexdiaz: gets a thing.

   It’s been three years since he had last seen Alex. Three long miserable years and Henry wonders how he’s still even a person. He supposed in a way he wasn’t, he was more of a disgrace than anything else. Not only had he kicked out the love of his life, their love got splattered all over the papers through their e-mails and his family denied that they were real. Henry was never the same after sending Alex away, if anything he was even more of a monotone person than before Alex had come into his life and really he had no one else to blame but himself.

   In the three years since then, he’s been engaged, something that Henry himself didn’t want and Charlotte hadn’t wanted it either. She had a girlfriend and was forced into this as much as Henry was. Still, they put on smiles and pretended that everything was alright even though it very much wasn’t. Tonight was an event that the two had to be and and Charlotte, ‘Charlie’ was regretting it as much as he was. More so because her girlfriend would be there serving the drinks. Henry gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before they walked into the room together. He knew others from many of the countries would be there, but he didn’t expect to lay eyes on a very drunken version of his ex. Henry swallowed and avoided looking at Alex as he introduced himself to many in the room.

   Charlie eventually wandered off to the bar to say hello to her girlfriend and he didn’t mind her going. The more time they got together, the better. At least one of them could be somewhat happy amidst all of this. Suddenly, his arm is grabbed and he’s tugged along into a quiet room and Henry makes a noise of protest. “Oi! Let me go!” It’s Alex of course, who doesn’t seem to be listening as he’s fuming and leading him away. Henry lets out a breath as he’s practically shoved into a room, the door shut firmly behind them. “Are you TRYING to make a scene? You can’t just drag me out of there and not expect anyone to say nothing.”

[waehles]

@dutyled

".... There's something you should know. Our family is not who we think they are." Slamming down the file in front of Henry, he made sure the front page was opened. There it stated his full real name of Nicholas Arthur Gareth Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor.

   Henry blinked up at the other in surprise, opening his mouth once before shutting it again. He did not miss the way Nicholas specified the way he said our family. They were cousins, yes, but there was more to it here. He looked over the file, frowning down at the name there before he pulled it toward him without asking permission and fingering through it. Henry didn’t say a word as he digested the information and even then, it would be weeks before he properly understood it. He wasn’t sure if he ever would. Looking up at Nicholas, Henry said, “You’re my brother.” Not a question, merely a statement, though there was confusion lingering on his face. “That’s … bloody hell.” He was going to need a drink. “Come to the kitchen with me, yeah? I’m going to get us a drink. I think we both are going to need it.”

[waehlesarc]

@unbound-tales: cont.

   Henry sighed and flopped back onto his pillow. David looked concerned from where he was curled up against him, but there wasn’t much the dog could do unless he had the magical ability to transport Alex to him. “Trust me, I know. I didn’t think I’d have to be here so long.”

   It was one meeting after another. After his grandmother had passed, there had been the funeral proceedings and then the arrangement of making his mother queen and everything from there was just one meeting after the other. “It’s just been . . . it’s really hectic right now and I’m trying to be there for my mum. She needs all of the support she can get right now. But I promise I will try to come home when I can, alright?”

[waehlesarc]

@unbound-tales asked: 😖 - Bury their face in my muse’s chest [Alex for Henry!]

   Henry hadn't been sure what to expect when Alex had stepped closer to him. A hug, maybe? Instead he was faced with Alex pressing his face into his chest and he instinctively brought his hands up around his back to rub softly there, worried that something was wrong. "Hey, is everything alright, Alex?" His tone was soft, gentle, as if he was worried that he would ruin the moment. "Not that I don't like this, it's just ... are you okay?"

[waehlesarc]

@oncerebrn:

"Henry?" Arthur asked as he stepped back into the log cabin. He was wondering how Merlin set this get together up. "My name is Arthur Pendragon. The Arthur Pendragon. Has Merlin told you how or do I need to close in the gaps?"

   Henry had been wondering if he had somehow stepped into the Twilight Zone or maybe an episode of Doctor Who. If meeting Merlin had been a shock, meeting an ancient ancestor had been even more so of one. "Er ... I think so. You're my great-great-great-times many great grandfather, correct?" It was unusual, how alike they looked. One might think the firstborn of his family would look more like the old king. But that was not the case here. "I take it that you were told about me too, then?"