#louis warren. / verse. / pv. / king arthur. / heastrongblake

[myhiraeth]

another king arthurverse drabble for @headstrongblake

Styxx is not one of the lot being pulled around and shoved into place; whether he likes it or not, he's treated differently and while those he's come to like, to protect, to respect, get prodded and pushed, he's allowed to converse with the Roman soldiers that know who he is and who his father is. They make polite small talk, disparaging the new recruits to Styxx's annoyance, and talking strategy to Styxx, about where they've been and where they're going. But when Louis goes into a rage, he's quick to abandon the soldiers he's talking with and go try to diffuse the situation Louis has created.

He catches the younger boy right before he can launch himself back at his captor, yanking him by the shirt collar and throwing him behind Styxx, setting himself between Louis and the quickly approaching backup soldiers with their swords already drawn. " Stand down. " He hisses sharply, successfully turning Louis' glowing blue eyes to his own. The boy is panting, panicking though he hides it under rage, and while Styxx gets it- it doesn't make it acceptable. He grabs Louis by the chin and keeps his eyes on Styxx, holding his other hand out to the soldiers behind him to stall them in coming for the boy. " You assault them on Octavia's behalf and you won't be the only one bleeding. She is leaving with them, without you, and you want her to be the cause of their injuries?" He lets go of Louis but his voice doesn't lose it's steel edge. "Control yourself before you have Octavia's blood on your hands."

That at least gets Louis to pause, still panting with the effort it takes to control himself (they'll have to work on that while they're together in this century unit) and Styxx turns back to the soldiers, still careful to keep himself between Louis and the others. "He's upset, but he's calm now."

what's his problem?

"Sister." He says without skipping a beat, praying to any god that will listen that Louis is smart enough to go with the lie. "Nothing time apart won't cure." He can't tell the truth. If he implies the two are close, are intimate, that implies that Octavia is desirable, that she's desirable enough to risk one's life over. And the last thing he wanted were the words 'desirable' and 'Octavia' running through lonely soldier's minds at the same time. That, too, wouldn't end well for the girl.

keep him under control, laeti. Styxx bristled at the insult, an implication that his family weren't true Roman citizens, but forced himself to keep quiet as the soldiers turned their back on him and walked away, taking only a moment to shoot Octavia an unamused look before turning back on Louis and taking him by the arm and pushing him back toward their own line.