#damen my charismatic barbarian

[nikanndros]

The Post-Canon Time Travel AU

[Prologue] [Act I: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act II: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act III: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3]

Act III, Part 4.

The thought of being away from Damen, when he is so close, is unbearable, so Laurent continues to sneak into his rooms at night despite the lack of courting. Usually, Laurent can leave quietly before daybreak and be back in his own rooms before anyone can notice he left. One morning, this plan is foiled by a late night visitor.

Laurent is sleeping against Damen’s chest when they hear the light knock on the door. It opens slowly, and Damen sits up.

It’s Nikandros, lit by the moon coming in through the windows, and against his chest he holds a whimpering Ione. Nikandros glances fleetingly at Laurent before he focuses entirely upon Damen.

“What’s wrong?” Damen says, his hair a mess of curls.

Nik opens his mouth to explain, but the infant cuts in. “Baba,” she says, tearfully. Then, at the sight of Laurent, “...Mama?”

Laurent picks his head up, and she recoils in shock. “Baba! That’s not mama!”

“This is Laurent,” Damen says. “You met him earlier.”

“Briefly,” Nikandros replies, in defense of the infant clutching itself to his chest. “She had a bad dream and has been crying for you and Jokaste.”

Nikandros then drops Ione into Damen’s lap, and then while Damen is distracted, he finally looks at Laurent properly. Laurent can’t quite read his expression, but he certainly isn’t pleased. “I’m going back to bed,” he says after a long moment. “I’ll take her back before your first meeting.” And then he leaves.

Laurent looks at Damen, who is now cradling his daughter. Ione is gently babbling to him about how scary Vere is and that she wants to go home.

“We’ll go home soon, little one,” Damen says, patting her hair.

She has his curls, and his dimples set into her chubby cheeks. Laurent smiles softly. They make a pretty picture together: someone as indomitable as Damen genty holding an infant in his arms.

She huffs out a breath and looks at Laurent suspiciously.

“Hello,” Laurent says.

“Say hello to Laurent,” Damen prompts.

Ione does an admirable job of trying to pronounce his name.

“When I was your age,” Laurent says, “my family used to call me Lolo. You may too if you’d like.”

Ione smiles. “I like your hair,” she says. “It’s yellow.”

“Thank you,” Laurent replies. “I like your hair too.”

“Cassi has yellow hair,” Ione tells him.

Laurent glances at Damen.

“Cassiope,” he explains. “My other daughter.”

Laurent hasn’t gotten round to asking Damen about it yet, but he has noticed him using plurals when referring to his children. “Do you have any other siblings?” Laurent asks.

Ione looks confused.

“Tell Laurent about your brother and sister,” Damen says.

“Cassi is my sister,” she says. “She’s littler than me. And Leo is a baby. He’s not fun yet, but mama says he will be one day.”

“How lovely,” Laurent replies, and then to Damen: “Three kids?”

“Yes,” Damen replies. “Maybe more in Vask, but that was true of our last life as well.”

By the time Ione falls asleep against Damen’s chest, it’s not long before sunrise.

“I should go,” Laurent says, kissing Damen chastely. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Try to get some more sleep,” Damen replies.

“Fatherhood suits you,” Laurent says, before he leaves. It’s true. He won’t pretend he hasn’t before thought about Damen with children - children that inherit his goodnature and sweetness. But that hadn’t been a viable possibility for heirs when they were both kings together. Laurent is glad that, out of everything, Damen has at least been given this one gift in their new lives.

-

Damen and Auguste actually manage to get along quite well in the following days. They are both naturally charismatic and loving men and so it doesn’t surprise Laurent that the forced proximity in meetings causes them to bond a little.

Damen ducks into Laurent’s rooms after they break for lunch one day. “I think the situation is improving,” Damen tells him, ever the optimist. “He’s still insistent that I cannot court you, but he also admitted that I’m not as barbaric as he originally thought.”

“Only you can take distrustful Veretians and turn them into friends,” Laurent replies.

“Friends?” Damen says, smiling. “Is that what we are?”

Laurent has to pull Damen towards him at that, and kiss him soundly on the mouth.

“Prince Laurent!” Damen says, in a scandalised tone. “In broad daylight!”

Laurent laughs; they are in his sitting room and his newly appointed guard Lazar is off admiring the foreigner’s chitons, so there is no danger of them being caught here. “I can stop if you want me to.”

Damen kisses him again. “No,” he says. “You’ve seduced me.”

He unlaces Laurent’s jacket, with an expert’s proficiency and tugs it off his shoulders.

“Do we have time?” Laurent asks.

“I’m willing to skip lunch,” Damen says. “You are a much more satisfying meal.”

Laurent unpins Damen’s chiton at the top, so that it falls to his waist and reveals his bare, muscular chest. “At least you are in no risk of wasting away from one skipped meal.”

Damen fists a hand in Laurent’s hair - he hasn’t said as much yet, but Laurent knows he likes it long, likes to grip it - and lays down a series of long, heated kisses down Laurent’s neck. Laurent lets his head fall back. The collar of his gauzy white undershirt has been unlaced enough to fall down his shoulders and reveal more skin for Damen to lay claim to.

Laurent makes a small noise of pleasure. They had been voracious lovers before coming to this world, but something about the time spent apart and the uncertainty in their current relationship has lended them to a new level of insatiable desire. Every opportunity they get to kiss and touch and make love behind closed doors they take. Laurent has no complaints about that.

They must look unspeakably erotic like this: Damen, with his bared muscles, taking a flushed and partly unclothed lover into his muscular arms. He softly puts his hands on Damen’s waist. Sometimes Laurent is taken by the urge to clutch Damen tightly to him and drag his nails down his skin in pleasure. He controls the urge, especially now that Damen’s back is a blank canvas again - he will not contribute to marring it again.

Then is the sound of the door opening and Laurent remembers too late that his brother never knocks.

“Auguste,” Laurent says, pushing Damen away.

Lazar is standing in the doorway next to Auguste, looking sheepish. He must have told Auguste about Damen and Laurent fucking. Auguste is silent for long enough for Laurent to realise that this is not the first time in this world that Auguste has walked in on his younger brother in a sexual situation.

Auguste, face filled with a kind off all-consuming rage that Laurent has never seen before, pulls the sword from Lazar’s belt and comes forward at Damen.

Lazar moves to stop Auguste, and gets the solid impact of an elbow to the nose for his efforts.

“Arm yourself, Damianos,” Auguste demands.

“Auguste, stop,” Laurent says, horrified.

“Turn around, Laurent,” Auguste replies. “I won’t make you watch this.”

“I’m not going to fight you,” Damen says. “Calm down.”

“Calm down?!” Auguste repeats, because no one in existence has ever gotten calmer at those words. “You come into my country and defile my brother against my wishes, and you expect me to calm down! Get your sword now or I will fight you unarmed.”

Laurent hates the way Auguste uses the word defile: as if he is something to be tainted or made dirty. It took him years to stop feeling that way about himself, and to hear his own brother say it is deeply upsetting.

“I won’t fight you,” Damen repeats.

“Fine,” Auguste says, and he draws back his sword and lunges forward.

Damen jumps back and Laurent is unwilling to watch a replay of Marlas. He steps in front of Damen, and the strength that Auguste has to put into stopping his blade mid-swing is reminiscent of Laurent getting between Damianos and Makedon all those years ago. It seems his life is just a replay of awful moments.

“Step out of the way, Laurent,” Auguste orders.

“No,” Laurent replies. “Damen go into the bedroom, now. I need to talk to my brother.”

Damen, who has probably never retreated from a fight before in his life, does as Laurent says, ducking into the bedroom and closing the door. He’s probably going to listen at the door. Laurent rounds on his brother, furious.

“I am an adult,” Laurent hisses. “You have no right to tell me who I can and can’t bed.”

“I am your King. I have every right.”

The implication of ownership makes Laurent’s blood boil. He does not enjoy feeling helpless, or without the power to make his own decisions.

“Fine,” Laurent says, and he gets right up in Auguste’s space and his mind is filled with the angry buzzing that lets him know he’s about to say things he will regret. Usually Damen stops him when he gets to this point, but Damen is in the next room. “I am your subject, then. My body is yours to decide what I do with. I’ll let men fuck me only when you say I can, and you can be just like uncle.”

Auguste slaps him across his face and Laurent’s head snaps sideways with the force. “How dare you--” Auguste shouts.

“Fuck you!” Laurent cuts over him. He’s so angry he can’t think. “You were meant to be there for me! We sat in your tent at Marlas and you promised me you’d come back, you promised you’d always protect me. And then you left me with him! And I kept telling myself that you’d help me, that you’d love me no matter what, that you’d forgive me -- Perhaps I am the one who has to forgive you.”

Auguste is breathing heavily, and he faces Laurent with barely concealed anger. “Do what you want, Laurent,” Auguste says. “Fuck who you want. But if you want me to trust you - you will not spread your legs for our enemy. You can decide what you want more - my trust, or to fuck some barbarian you’ve barely met.”

Auguste turns and storms out, sword clattering to the ground. Lazar, nose red with blood, follows him.

Laurent stands alone in the room for a very long moment, before Damen comes out of the bedchambers again.

“Laurent,” Damen says, sounding mournful. “I don’t want to come between you and your brother.”

Laurent clenches his jaw. “Fuck you too, Damianos,” he says, in the iciest voice he can manage. The ice is cracking. “I will not choose between you. Neither of you will make me.”

#captive prince #the time travel au #sorry!!! #writing

[nikanndros]

The Post-Canon Time Travel AU

[Prologue] [Act I: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act II: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act III: Part 1]

Act III, Part 2.

“There’s a scar on your thigh,” Laurent says, when the kingdom is sleeping that night and he’s managed to sneak into Damen’s chambers.

“Nik says it’s from a Vaskian,” he’s running his hands through Laurent’s hair, detangling it. “Apparently she was very impressed when I still managed to best her.”

“Stop making me jealous,” Laurent laughs. He can’t help it. It is so wonderful to see Damen again, and to know it’s him, and that they both love each other equally and unconditionally. It’s nice to have something remain constant after all that’s happened. “So Nikandros knows then?”

Damen winces. “Yes,” he says. “He knows everything.”

“I’m going to have to befriend him again in this world. We were friends in the last,” Laurent says. Damen stays silent. “He taught me to wrestle,” Laurent insists.

“My love,” Damen says, “I’m afraid wanting to throw you around a bit and friendship are two different things.” Damen looks good like this, sitting in bed with tousled hair, only sheets to cover him. It is a sight that Laurent has gone too long without.

Laurent laughs. “I can be charismatic,” he says.

Damen takes a breath. “Nikandros is in love with me.”

“Some things don’t change then,” Laurent says.

Damen looks at him. “What?”

“Really?” Laurent asks. He considers Damen for a long moment. Then, scolding, “Damianos. I thought you knew. I thought you just didn’t want to talk about it.”

“You knew?”

Laurent shakes his head. “You’re hopeless.”

“It’s so complicated now,” Damen replies.

“You are both together then, in this world?”

Damen nods. “I told him that you and I are monogamous.”

“Oh,” Laurent replies.

Damen sits up, alarmed. “Are we not?”

“Calm down,” Laurent says. “You know you’re the only one for me. Rather, you’ve always been quite free with your affections. I only insisted on our monogamy because it would have been disrespectful for you to have another lover when we were equals.”

“We still are equals.”

“I know; I’m very proud of you for being okay with me being a second son,” Laurent says patiently. “But I meant in the eyes of our subjects. If you’d had a lover, then I would have had to also or it would have undermined me as a co-ruler. You’re the only man I want in my bed, but I won’t force you to act the same now.”

“You want me to have a mistress?”

“No,” Laurent frowns. “Or yes. I’m saying I don’t mind either way. I know you love me, as I love you. I might get jealous sometimes, but we can survive that.” Laurent sighs and then adds, “I feel guilty.”

“What do you have to feel guilty for?”

“I want to marry you,” Laurent replies, taking Damen’s hand. “Again. I want us to grow old together, happy and in love. But I can’t just leave Auguste, like this. He has no other family yet, and even if he did I… would loathe to be apart from him.”

“I don’t want to force you two apart,” Damen admits. “What does this mean for us?”

“I’d come back to Ios, to be your husband, if you still want that. But I’d have to visit Arles, preferably for at least a quarter of every year.”

“You’ve thought about this a lot?” His expression is neutral. Laurent doesn’t know what he’s thinking and this is worrying.

“Yes,” Laurent agrees. “I am being selfish.”

“You’re being loving,” Damen rebukes him. “I won’t fault you for caring for someone other than me.”

“Good,” Laurent says, and then, pointedly: “It is the same for me with you.”

Damen frowns. “I don’t need a mistress.”

“I’m not telling you to take a mistress. Only that I know you care for Nikandros, and he loves you, and if you were to find yourself wanting to return his affections - I won’t fault you for it. You don’t have to decide whether you want this now, I just want you to know it’s a possibility for you.”

Damen still looks unnerved by the prospect. “You wanting to spend time with your brother is different than me bedding someone else.”

“Then don’t,” Laurent says, “if you don’t want to.”

“Okay.”

“But if you do want to-”

“Stop!” Damen says. He pushes his curls out of his eyes so that he can hit Laurent with the full brunt of his earnest gaze. “You told me earlier that you didn’t think it would be me in this world -- that you thought I’d wish for Kastor back, but... when I was in that cave, Laurent, I looked at the back of your head and I only had one desire: that wherever you went, I was able to follow.”

Laurent opens his mouth and then closes it again. Sometimes, he is foolishly shocked by the magnitude of emotion that Damianos carries for him. It is a heady thing, to have this much love given and received in return. “So,” Laurent says, and he forces his tone to be light so that he doesn’t spend the rest of the night weeping over their shared love. “...you don’t want the pets I was going to invite in for an orgy, then?”

Damen laughs. “I cannot bear all this conversation when I have only just gotten you back. Let me enjoy you before I remember how vexing your words can be.”

Laurent makes them both lie back down. “You’re right. There’s still time left of the night and I am not yet satisfied with your prowess. I heard you once spent seven hours straight on bedplay with a fighter. Is it all hearsay?”

Damen falls back in their easy teasing with a smile. “After that, I beat the record on my wedding night,” he replies. “Would you like a repeat?”

They have much to discuss even still, Laurent knows, and there are plans to be made. But he is willing to allow himself the luxury of tonight. Tomorrow, he will sneak out of Damen’s room before anyone can catch him, and they can find the time to deal with all of their issues. For now, it is hard to think of much more than Damen’s lips against his.

-

It is lucky that Laurent makes it back to his quarters not much after dawn, as he gets an early morning visitor.

“Laurent,” Auguste says, coming into his rooms. He automatically presses a kiss to Laurent’s forehead and Laurent smiles at the unconscious gesture.

“How are you?” Laurent asks.

“Well,” Auguste replies. He looks at Laurent awkwardly for a moment, before he continues. “I think the Barbarian King is going to attempt to court you. Please be tactful when you refuse his advances.”

Laurent resists the urge to smile. “What makes you say that?”

“Don’t be coy. He barely took his eyes off of you last night. And he looked much too pleased to discuss politics with you in the garden. Let’s not make this an incident between the kingdoms.”

“What if I don’t want to refuse his advances?”

Auguste laughs as if Laurent has told a joke and bumps their shoulders. “Yes, I know, you’re very unpredictable. Just keep in mind that we can hardly afford a war with Akielos at this point in time. Now it’s my turn to go play nice with the savages. Wish me luck and I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Good luck,” Laurent says, blankly, after Auguste has already closed the door behind him.

This may be a problem.

#captive prince #the time travel au #writing #look i updated!! #tomorrow i 99% wont tho bc mondays are aka 12hr shift days #also i realised today that this fic is mostly just grown men talking about their feelings smh