Chapter Text
When Touya was informed of his engagement to a member of the court of some small neighboring kingdom he couldn’t remember the name of, it felt like a slap to the face.
Logically, Touya knew that he would have never been allowed to marry for love. As the eldest son of the King, he was expected to marry well, so he’d always been aware that he’d be married off to whoever would bring their dynasty more influence, and would just have to hope that the emotions developed somewhere down the line. Yet being betrothed to a court member of some backwater country clearly stated where he stood with his father.
He hadn’t explicitly been removed from the line of succession, that would’ve been a shattering scandal, but the marriage definitely illustrated that he was no longer favored as his father’s first choice to inherit the crown. He would’ve been given to some court lady from an influential noble family, if that were the case, or the princess of a larger kingdom across the sea.
But no.
His situation found him ushered into his bedchambers with his new spouse beside him, the door swinging shut with a thud of finality behind them. Touya glanced at his consort.
A male harpy.
His father hadn’t even looked surprised at the short ceremony, so the situation stung even more for Touya.
His husband (the word felt bitter in Touya’s mind) glanced at him as well and caught his eye. After a moment, the harpy turned away and began loosening the silk ribbons that kept his ceremonial robes closed.
“What is your preference for this?” he asked quietly, the first Touya had heard the other speak. He had a barely noticeable accent, which caused his words to lilt ever so slightly.
He shrugged the robe off his arms, and Touya’s eyes were drawn to the soft, rippling movement of the muscles of his back as he lifted the fabric away, two slits underneath his wings that Touya hadn’t noticed earlier allowing him to remove it easily. Bright red tail feathers were revealed as it fell away, but Touya set aside the discovery to think about in the morning. As the other’s hands moved to untie the cord that held his loose silk pants up, Touya finally reached out and grabbed his wrist. The harpy froze under his grip, eyes snapping up to meet Touya’s.
Touya finally saw his spouse’s face up close, noting his slitted pupils and that the markings around his eyes were far more natural than the kohl he had initially suspected.
“I don’t even know your name, I’m not going to lay with you.” The harpy looked up at him with surprise. Touya cocked a brow. “Did you really think I would just plough you through the mattress before we’d even had so much as a conversation?”
His husband’s face flushed at his vulgar words, and he jerked his wrist out of Touya’s grip. His wings flared slightly in agitation, and Touya allowed himself a moment to admire their broad arc before they settled tight against the other’s back. “You may call me Hawks, then,” the harpy said stiffly.
Touya hummed in acknowledgment, taking a few strides to sit on the edge of his bed. “What exactly do you want from this marriage?” he asked simply. Hawks cocked his head to the side and rested a hand on his hip, red wings settling in a less tense position than before.
“What do you require of me in this marriage?” Hawks shot back in kind. “Since you seem uninterested in me simply being an exotic creature to warm your bed.”
Touya ‘tsk’d, narrowing his eyes at the bratty remark. He’d never expected much out of marriage, but an attitude like that wasn’t something he was interested in. “A son would usually be our first expectation,” he said, “but seeing as you can’t provide-”
“I can.”
Touya paused, and after the initial irritation of being cut off faded, he processed Hawks’ words. The harpy took his silence as cue to elaborate, kicking aside the discarded robe with one of his clawed, bird-like feet as he moved to sit on Touya’s bed as well, just out of arm’s reach.
“In the spring.” It was late autumn. “It’s a very limited time frame, but my body is capable of producing an heir.” Hawks spoke clinically, in a detached sort of voice as he gazed blankly at the wall on the other side of the room. He looked at Touya. “My body has an estrus cycle, around the last week of April. I would be able to conceive then.”
Touya combed his eyes along Hawks’ figure and the tense posture with which he held himself, even as he tried to project confidence. He waved a hand dismissively. “I’m no longer to receive the crown, so it’s of little concern.”
Hawks seemed to relax minutely at his words. He didn’t question what Touya meant when he brought up the matter of succession, but his eyes sharpened in understanding.
So there was a brain underneath the pretty face. Touya could work with that.
“For now,” Touya said after a few moments, “I’ll mostly keep you as an advisor and confidant.” Hawks nodded. As a foreigner in the court, Touya was his one solid connection, and with marriage, their fates were intertwined. He seemed to understand it was in his best interests to help Touya be as successful as possible.
Touya briefly rose to slip out of his own ceremonial robe, leaving the silk puddled on the floor next to Hawks’. He paused, considering changing into sleep clothes, but decided he could live with the loose pants he wore under his robe for a night, considering he had company. Touya could already feel Hawks’ eyes lingering on the agitated burns and old scars littering his torso. Best not to reveal any more.
He stepped around to sit on the other side of the bed, bending over to remove his boots when Hawks spoke with another question. “If not tonight, is there another time you’re expecting us to consummate?”
Touya paused before he finished removing his boots. He sat up and looked over his shoulder at Hawks. The harpy had rearranged himself, fully leaning against the headboard with his knees drawn close to his chest, gazing at Touya critically, as if his answer were of vital importance.
Touya had little knowledge of the other’s culture, but he supposed it was, regardless.
“No,” he answered simply after a few moments, looking away from Hawks’ golden eyes to lift the covers of his bed and slip underneath. “I have no interest in lying with you for nothing other than politics. Additionally, if our marriage goes unconsummated, it will be easier for us to separate when my father dies.” Touya glanced at Hawks again, who had tilted his head at him. “I assume you have your own aspirations that don’t involve me.”
Hawks didn’t answer, but it was easy enough for Touya to imagine the response would be yes.
It was another few moments before Hawks spoke again. “And if they ask questions?” Dabi leaned against the headboard, keeping his eyes on Hawks. “You know as well as I do that they’re listening outside that door. Your reputation could be ruined if rumors start circulating about the state of our union so soon.”
“Not concerned for your own?”
Hawks shook his head, a rueful smile on his face. “People here barely have the vaguest idea of who I am. You don’t even know who I am.” Touya scowled at the reminder, but Hawks kept talking. “They don’t have a basis for me, so if rumors start so soon, that’s what I’ll be known as. A lackluster concubine to a disavowed prince. Whether or not you’re to take the throne, this will hurt both of us.”
Touya growled in the back of his throat, earning a raised brow from the harpy. He shifted to kneel in front of Hawks, who gave him a leveled stare. Touya pushed apart Hawks’ knees in order to lean closer to him, hand reaching out to grasp his jaw. The other made no move to push Touya away, but he noted Hawks’ fists clenched in the corner of his vision. Hawks narrowed his eyes at him, almost dangerously.
After a few moments, Touya pushed Hawks’ head back and let go, hand drifting down to settle on Hawks’ shoulder. “Tilt your head back, pretty bird.”
Hawks’ wings twitched, but he obliged Touya’s demand, though it didn’t escape him how he did so in a way that he could keep Touya in his peripheral. Touya flicked his eyes up to look at Hawks for a brief moment before he leaned forward and set his mouth on the harpy’s neck, just below his jaw, and sucked a harsh mark into the skin.
Hawks’ breath hitched and Touya could feel him jerk in surprise. After a few moments, in which Hawks was impossibly tense and still beneath him, Touya switched to the other side of his neck and repeated the process twice more there.
He pulled away and looked at Hawks, who stared evenly back at him, even through the flush on his blank face. Combined with the red marks on his neck and his shaky but careful breathing, Hawks looked wrecked in the most detached way possible.
He wrinkled his nose slightly at the sight.
Touya moved fully away from Hawks and back to the other side of the bed, leaning over to the candle on his bedside table as he spoke. “That should prevent any questions.” He blew the candle out, bathing the room in darkness, and laid down on his side, finally closing his eyes to sleep.
A few minutes later, Touya heard the soft rustling of sheets and the cover pull taut over him as a second body slid underneath beside him. He jerked as he felt something press against his back, feeling blue flames flicker over his fingers reactively before he recognized the sensation as feathers. It was just Hawks.
The harpy shifted a bit, but soon settled beside him, breathing evening out as he fell asleep, and Touya followed not long after.
The next morning, Touya was up before Hawks awoke, and left his bedchambers with a word to a servant to guide Hawks to his own apartments when he awoke.
“Soooooooo…”
Touya looked up from his book and sighed. Apparently, he couldn’t find peace even in the library. Natsuo slid into the chair on the other side of the table, and wiggled his eyebrows at him. Touya leveled his little brother with a flat stare. “What do you want, Natsuo.”
“How’s married life going?” Natsuo asked, propping his head up on his hands with a too innocent smile, the smug little shit. Touya narrowed his eyes.
“Fine,” he answered rigidly, returning his gaze to his book in clear dismissal.
“Just fine?” Unfortunately, Natsuo couldn’t take a hint. Touya’s grip on his book tightened in agitation. “Seriously, you left some marks on him, the servants are all gossiping about it-”
“And the servants should mind their place,” Touya hissed, slamming the book shut as he stood up sharply. “As should nosy little brothers.” He turned on his heel and strode stiffly out of the library, but was only afforded a few moments of peace before Natsuo’s footsteps caught up to him in the hall.
“Touya, is something wrong?” Natsuo asked, keeping his voice soft, looking over at him in clear worry. Touya ground his teeth, but glanced quickly around them, and once he was sure the coast was clear, grabbed Natsuo’s shirt and dragged him into a small alcove in the hall.
“I am going to explain this once, and then I never want to hear about it again, clear?”
Natsuo appraised him for a moment but slowly nodded.
Touya sighed, shoulders slumping. “Nothing happened between Hawks and I. The state of his neck is simply to keep rumors from spreading about our marriage, which is something neither of us can afford right now. Hawks will be staying in his own apartments from now on, as neither of us are particularly enthused about this. Understand?”
“What do you mean you can’t afford rumors right now?” Natsuo asked, tilting his head in confusion. “You’re fairly well-liked, and the crown prince-”
“In name,” Touya interrupted. Natsuo shut his mouth. “I’m the crown prince in name only, now. You really think father would marry me off to a random member of the court from some small seaside kingdom if he intended for me to take the throne? Larger kingdoms to the West have been offering marriage alliances for a while.”
Natsuo’s eyes sparked in understanding. “I won’t say anything,” he said solemnly, in a low voice. Touya appreciated the discretion but sighed nonetheless. He exited the alcove and continued walking down the hall, Natsuo falling into step next to him.
“It’s most likely that father intends for Shouto to take the throne.”
Natsuo sucked in a breath. “He’s barely ten-”
“And I’m barely of age to marry, yet look at me now,” Touya drawled sarcastically. “We might be able to arrange a reagent for him if it comes to it, but I’d prefer to figure out an alternative solution before the kingdom falls on his shoulders.”
Shouto took to politics well, yet it was clear to both Touya and Natsuo, as well as Fuyumi, that he held no love for them, and didn’t seem inclined to develop any anytime soon.
“He could resign, if he didn’t want it-”
“Then Fuyumi would be stuck with the kingdom, and I don’t think she would be any more thrilled about it. Neither of us could take the throne since father would need to remove both of us from the line of succession for Shouto.”
There was a brief silence before Natsuo responded. “You don’t have to take this all on your own, Touya,” he said softly. Touya risked a glance at his brother, only to find the fourteen-year-old staring at him with those puppy eyes he never grew out of. He redirected his gaze to the hall ahead of them, eyes honing in on a spot of red at the next corner, and he felt an idea blossom in his mind.
“Not on my own, no,” he said, and Natsuo gave him a strange look as a slight smirk spread across his face. “I have a consort now, don’t I?” Natsuo tilted his head in confusion, squinting at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Touya cut over him. “Hawks,” he called, and the harpy’s head shot up, twisting over his shoulder with his wings dipping to look at them. He turned to face them fully as he realized who was approaching, tail feathers fanning slightly.
Touya noted that he looked significantly more comfortable than when he had been wearing robes the previous day, having donned a loose shirt that was tailored to fit his wings, the marks on his neck clearly visible, and fitted breeches that were held up with a red sash. He still wore no shoes.
“My prince,” he greeted, giving him a short bow. His eyes trained onto Natsuo next to him, and he gave another quick bow as he again said, “My prince.”
“This is my younger brother, Natsuo,” he said, and Natsuo blinked but inclined his head politely. “Natsuo, this is my husband, Hawks.” Hawks returned the slight nod of his head. Satisfied that introductions were complete, Touya focused his attention on Hawks. “If you’d like to go for a stroll in the gardens with me…?” he trailed off invitingly, holding his arm out for the harpy.
Touya could feel Natsuo’s confused stare on him, and even Hawks looked at him suspiciously but sighed and looped his arm through Touya’s nonetheless. “I suppose,” he said shortly.
Touya gave Natsuo a clear glare of ‘get lost,’ causing his brother to roll his eyes petulantly but depart with a pleasant 'farewell,’ nonetheless.
As Touya and Hawks walked down the hall, the only sound to be heard was the soft clicking of Hawks’ talons against the floor. The usual nobles and servants that would be bustling along the halls were most likely in court or preparing lunch, respectively. Touya appreciated the rare chance for some semblance of privacy.
“You wanted to talk to me,” Hawks said quietly. “Why?”
“Mm, I’ll get there,” Touya said nonchalantly as he led the harpy out to one of the larger gardens, one that extended to the forest at the edge of castle ground. Hawks huffed in annoyance beside him, but held his tongue. “How are you settling in?”
Hawks shot him another suspicious glance. “Well enough. The castle is large, though. I’m not sure I’ll be able to find my way back to my apartments after this.”
“They’re in the same hall as mine, I can show you back,” Touya offered amicably. “Is there anything that would make your transition more comfortable? I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that the household has more money than my father knows what to do with,” he said, gesturing behind them at the extravagant palace, with marble cladding from the south of the kingdom.
Hawks hummed neutrally. “Something to spend my time with would be appreciated. I’m not familiar with the common pastimes, here.”
“We have an extensive library, if reading catches your interest.” Hawks made an intrigued noise, so Touya made a note to show him the library on the way back to their apartments, but no further comment, so he kept speaking. “Archery range, training fields, horse stables, most anything you can think of. However, I have something a little more trying of the mind that might interest you.”
They were well into the gardens, and anybody trying to eavesdrop would be easily visible, so Touya felt safe enough to begin dropping pretenses. Hawks looked at him out of the corner of his eyes - a sharp, predatory glance. Touya suppressed a smirk. The pretty bird caught on quick.
“Oh?” Hawks said, light tone not quite matching his piercing stare. “How so?”
“What would you say the current line of succession is?” Touya asked instead of answering, choosing to instead appraise Hawks’ knowledge and intuition before further cluing him in on his thoughts.
“Prince Shouto is favored to take the throne,” Hawks said almost immediately. “Natsuo is barely talked about, your father is too traditionalist to pass it to Fuyumi, and you’ve been married to some court member of a country whose name you don’t even remember.” It wasn’t said in an accusatory tone, but Touya tensed nonetheless at the statement. “Your father is most likely just waiting a little longer to announce the change, but anybody with half a brain can see you’ve fallen out of favor.”
Touya scowled and clenched his teeth. Hawks raised an unimpressed brow at him.
“You’re too emotional about this,” he commented off-handedly.
“And you’re too detached,” Touya fired back.
Hawks gave him a strange look, but shrugged. “Perhaps. But you had a point you were getting at?”
Touya pinched his lips, but carefully schooled his expression and continued talking, the edge of the forest closer than the castle. “Shouto’s too young to inherit the throne, and all of us suspect he doesn’t want to.”
“Who’s the ‘us’ here?”
“My siblings.”
“Ah.”
“I want to ensure that the crown goes to me and not any of them. They don’t hold any desire to rule, and I don’t wish to see them miserable.”
“So do you want the crown?” Hawks asked neutrally, taloned toe flicking a pebble down the path. Touya watched it bounce and roll away, considering his answer.
“Not particularly,” Touya said after a few moments of silence, Hawks occupying the time by sweeping his eyes around the garden, sharp gaze absorbing all the details. “But I’ve spent more time preparing than the rest of them, and they don’t need any of the stress that would come with ruling the kingdom. And do you think the court would respect Fuyumi as Queen, or listen to Natsuo’s word as an adolescent, much less Shouto’s? Natsuo and Shouto can be easily manipulated at their age, and Fuyumi would have to fight to get any of them to even listen to her.”
Hawks hummed. “So you want to secure your place as crown prince.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Touya chuckled humorlessly. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”
“And what do you want me to do about this? Why tell me to begin with?”
“Because you’re stuck with me, pretty bird,” Touya remarked smugly, twisting his hand to interlace his fingers with Hawks’, so that they were holding hands instead of Touya simply guiding the harpy around on his arm. Hawks glanced at their entwined fingers and then back up at Touya, an unamused look on his face. Touya smirked. “If something happens to me in order to secure succession for Shouto, my father would likely send you to a convent or marry you off to some lesser noble to keep any objections you have quiet. I wouldn’t put execution past him either, he’s killed for less. It’s in your best interest to make sure I take the throne.”
“You really know how to sweet talk me, don’t you,” Hawks said blandly.
“I look forward to working with you, lovebird,” Touya responded, amused even as Hawks scoffed derisively at him. The harpy’s eyes kept scanning the gardens, even glancing back over his shoulder to look further at flora they had already walked past, even as they approached the edge of the forest.
“So do you even have an inkling of an idea of how we’re going to secure the throne?” Hawks asked after a few moments, breaking his observation of the gardens for a few scant seconds to look at Touya.
“Given the short notice, the best I can think of is to curry favor with the court so that my father will have strong opposition if he tries to remove me as crown prince.”
“Has your father yielded to the court’s opposition before?” Touya pinched his lips, and Hawks sighed as he returned to staring at the scenery around them as they stepped off the cobbled pathway of the garden and headed towards the forest, which was the highest chance of privacy they would get. “It’s as good an idea as any, I suppose, until we can figure out something else. How much time do we have?”
“The court will soon adjourn for the winter months,” Touya began. “Only the nobles that live close to the Imperial Palace will be easily accessible for us, but many of them have clear and established allegiance to my father, considering their proximity.”
“So we likely only have until the spring to curry enough favor to secure your place, and most of our prospective support will need to be gathered by correspondence during the winter months,” Hawks stated flatly. He traced his fingers along a leaf of a lower hanging branch as they entered the woods, causing it to fall and join the rest of the red and orange that coated the ground.
The leaves crunched beneath their feet, and Hawks glanced down at them for a second, cocking his head. Touya was beginning to find it amusing to watch the harpy’s more bird-like mannerisms, sparing a thought to whether or not he might be able to chirp.
“My father has reigned for over twenty years,” Touya muttered softly. “He has a whole host of military achievements to his name, but little has been accomplished in the way of pushing the kingdom forward.”
“Are you going for the reform angle, then?” Hawks asked, inclining his head with vague interest.
“There is a small movement within the court-”
Suddenly, the pupils of Hawks’ eyes became thin slits and his head jerked to look over his shoulder. Before Touya could even think to ask what he saw, Hawks shoved him to the ground, where he landed roughly and barely caught sight of Hawks spinning around and grabbing something, wings flaring dangerously as a sickening crack sounded through the trees.
Touya laid there, sprawled messily on the ground and not moving out of shock, unable to see what had happened through the bright red feathers that blocked his view, though he could see Hawks’ shoulders rising and falling sharply with quick breaths.
After a few tense moments, in which the only sound was of Hawks’ ragged breaths, Touya saw a hand fall back down to the harpy’s side, clenching and unclenching repeatedly for several seconds before his wings folded and tucked close to his back again.
Hawks looked over his shoulder at Touya, who still hadn’t moved, with the same dangerous look of a predator in his slitted eyes that had appeared less than a minute prior.
“Your father seems to have come up with a different way of removing you from succession than disinheritance,” Hawks said simply, turning to face Touya as he tossed something at his feet.
It took Touya’s adrenaline-addled mind several moments to recognize it as a body. A very still, very lifeless body, with its neck twisted at an odd angle. He scrambled back as soon as it registered in his head that there was a dead body in front of him, moving away until he pressed himself against a tree. His breathing picked up as he looked between the body and Hawks, who was standing still just a few meters away from him, as he realized that Hawks had killed the man in front of him.
“Squeamish?” Hawks asked lightly, crouching down as he began rifling through the man’s clothes, pulling trinkets and papers out of his pockets. “Or have you not seen a body before?” He glanced up at Touya with something that could almost be called sympathy crossing his face as he took in Touya’s rattled state.
Touya hadn’t seen a body before. He’d grown up in the relative comfort of the Imperial Palace, and for all the harsh treatment of his father’s iron fist, he’d never before seen someone dead in front of him. It was significantly less peaceful than the paintings of his ancestors and saints in the halls of the palace had depicted.
The man was simply sprawled there like a rag doll, neck twisted at a horrific, unnatural angle. His eyes were glazed over, and his simple tunic and trousers brought no thought of the impossibly white togas of paintings. There was no angel coming to collect him for the afterlife, only Hawks rummaging through his pockets.
He opened and closed his mouth several times before he managed to get his voice to work. “You killed him,” he said shakily, words coming out far weaker than he would’ve liked.
Hawks’ hands paused for a brief moment before he continued his work. “It was you or him,” he responded matter-of-factly.
“What?” Touya was struggling to understand what had just transpired within the last two minutes, mind reeling from the sudden change of atmosphere and the fact that he’d just watched his consort murder someone.
“Your father, the king,” Hawks said, articulating his words slowly, in an almost mocking manner that would’ve had Touya bristling had he been in a less shocked state of mind. “High Emperor, Protector of the Realm, etcetera etcetera, sent someone to assassinate you. Either I let him or I kill him.”
“You didn’t have to kill him! We could’ve-”
“Kept him alive?” Hawks asked, looking at him flatly. “What, so he could go report back to your father? Try to kill you again? I doubt you have a secret dungeon somewhere so we could’ve held him safely until we secured your ascension.” He picked up an odd, three-pointed dagger from the ground. “They were trying to pin it on me, as well, most likely,” he said, examining the tool consideringly. “Make it look like I tore you apart with my talons.”
Hawks’ eyes seemed to spark as he realized something, and quickly collected the scraps of paper and trinkets into his own pockets, standing up and spreading his wings. Touya’s eyes caught on the full extension of the feathered limbs, silhouetted against the harsh light of the midday sun. He brought his wings down harshly, the sudden force of wind sending leaves flying away from the small clearing.
A few of the dried leaves caught in Touya’s lap, but he made no move to clear them, still in a state of shock.
“My prince,” Hawks said, somewhat snapping Touya out of his reverie. “I need you to burn the body.” Touya made a confused noise. Hawks sighed and stepped over, crouching down to slip Touya’s arm over his shoulders, using it as leverage to lift him into a standing position. Hawks guided him a few shaky steps to where the body laid and looked at him expectantly. Again, it took Touya longer than it should have to realize what exactly Hawks wanted from him.
“You… want me to burn the body,” he said quietly. Old memories of priests explaining the importance of a grave as a proper memorial for one’s descendants to pay homage to their soul welled up in his mind.
“The ground’s too cold to bury him by now,” Hawks responded, not meeting Touya’s eye. “And if we take this to the castle guard, your father will inevitably hear of it, and neither of us will know how he’ll react to us having knowledge of his plans against you. We need to burn the body so nobody else finds it and reports it to the castle guard.”
Touya swallowed roughly and risked a glance at Hawks, who stared down at the limp body with steady eyes. He took a shaky breath before removing his arm from Hawks’ shoulder in order to crouch down next to the body, his consort taking a few steps back in anticipation of the coming wave of heat.
Touya reached out, flexing his hand hesitantly before setting it on the dead man’s chest. He took a moment to center himself and called upon the well of magic within him.
The body burst into blue flames, starting from Touya’s hand and quickly spreading outwards to engulf the entire corpse. The scent of burning flesh filled the air, and it made Touya more nauseous than a carriage ride through the city ever had.
He held his hand out to feed the flames for a few moments, to ensure that they lived long enough to consume the body whole, before pulling it back to his side, standing up and taking a few shaky steps back. He barely even noticed the waves of pain that accompanied new burns that were surely spreading across his hand and arm.
Touya stared at his flames for a moment longer and promptly threw up.
Touya barely remembered Hawks leading him back to his apartments, occasionally nudging him for directions that he gave with a jerk of his head, unwilling to speak through his burning throat. Hawks had quickly sent a servant who was staring wide-eyed at Touya to go prepare a bath, who ran off to do so with a little nod.
He was sitting on the edge of his bed, Hawks kneeling in front of him, saying something that Touya wasn’t quite registering, the events of the previous half-hour finally catching up to his confused mind.
Hawks had killed somebody, and Touya helped him cover it up. His father was trying to murder him to remove him as crown prince.
Touya was suddenly brought back to reality by a sharp pinch on the back of his hand. He flinched with an insincere “Ow,” escaping his mouth. He looked down at Hawks, who was gazing at him with a worried crease in his brow.
“Have you heard anything I’ve said?” he asked.
Touya opened his mouth to respond that of course he’d been listening, but his voice died in his throat and he closed his mouth as he realized he couldn’t remember a word Hawks said.
His husband sighed. “You’re in shock,” he muttered. “The bath is ready. The warmth will do you some good.”
Touya nodded numbly, stumbling along behind Hawks as he tugged him towards the small private bath he had in his apartments, steam rolling out of the bathroom invitingly. Touya began to undress without much prompting, Hawks disappearing as he shed the clothes that he’d just burnt a body in.
The memory replayed again in Touya’s mind as he sank into the hot water of the bath, muscles relaxing slowly as the heat chased away the cold that’d settled in his bones after having been outside for so long. He lowered his arms into the bath, only to pull his left out with a hiss, the heat against his fresh burns causing them to pulse in agitated pain all over again.
He hung the arm over the lip of the tub, leaning his head back as he closed his eyes, but immediately reopened them as the paranoia of an assailant he couldn’t see began to sneak up on him, as the moment of Hawks pushing him out of the way played over and over on loop in his mind. He stared at the doorway, watching as Hawks returned with a basket in his arms, kicking Touya’s discarded clothes into a small, consolidated pile to the side.
He knelt down by the tub, and without saying a word to Touya or even so much as looking him in the eye, he gently took Touya’s hand in his own and began to dab something over the fresh burns that crawled their way up his forearm. Touya recognized the familiar sting as burn ointment, and reacted with nothing but a sharp breath at the initial application.
After a few minutes, Hawks gently cleaning and applying ointment to the burns, Touya broke the silence that lingered between them. “Did he suffer?”
He saw Hawks glance up at him curiously in his peripheral vision, but he answered in an equally soft tone nonetheless. “No. I snapped his neck, it was quick.” A few more moments passed between them before he continued. “You show a lot of sympathy for a man who just tried to kill you.”
“I suppose I’m naive like that,” Touya said with a detached sort of amusement, his voice burning from the remnants of acid in his throat.
Hawks said nothing to respond to Touya, simply finished applying the medicine to his arm and let go of his hand. A moment later, a cup was being pressed to Touya’s lips, and he drank the offered water without protest. Hawks set the cup down on the wooden floor with a soft clink once Touya finished, again leaning his head back against the edge of the bath.
“What are your intentions from now on?” Hawks asked after a minute of silence. He moved to kneel behind Touya, nudging him so he sat up straight in the bath.
“Well,” Touya said, almost blandly, feeling the ripples in the water as Hawks filled the water jug he had brought with him, “we have just murdered a man, so we can only go up from here.” He squeezed his eyes shut as water was poured over his head, lifting his right hand to wipe his wet bangs out of his eyes and stop a dribble of water down his left arm before it could muddle the ointment.
“I understand that you’re shaken,” Hawks said, beginning to comb through Touya’s hair with his fingers, pulling it away from hanging limply in his face, “but our timeline has been shortened drastically. If your father doesn’t intend to remove you through the court, then we no longer have the winter to secure your place. There’s already been one attempt on your life, we don’t know when the next will be.”
Right. He’d almost been killed, an hour ago. Touya was surprised by how detached he felt from the event.
“We’re not safe here,” Touya murmured, leaning his head back against the hands massaging his scalp. “We can’t stay through winter. It’s not too late for us to travel to one of the other royal households to stay for the colder months.”
“And how do you intend to move us safely?” Hawks asked skeptically, slowly pouring a colder bowl of rosemary water into Touya’s hair, working it into his roots. “So soon after your father’s assassin goes missing, we ask to spend the winter at some other palace?”
Touya hummed in acknowledgment. “How good are you at acting, pretty bird?” he asked as Hawks set the bowl aside.
“I like to consider myself proficient.”
“Well then, it shouldn’t be too difficult, actually.” Hawks made an interested sound from behind him, and Touya took it as his cue to continue. “We propose it from a honeymoon angle. We’re both young and attractive, newly married, presumably consummated.” Touya tilted his head back to look at Hawks, who was perched on the edge of the bath. He lifted his hand out of the water, reaching towards Hawks and running his fingers across the bruise underneath his jaw. “Enthusiastically consummated, at that.”
Hawks huffed in amusement, even as a soft pink tint covered his cheeks. Touya smirked at him, letting his arm fall back into the water. “We can’t sell suddenly being in love, so we’re just going to be obscene instead?”
“I’ve already mentioned that my father’s very traditional,” Touya said. “A few lingering eyes, hands straying a little further than what would be considered proper, a blush or two, and he’ll be racing to get us out of his sight.” Hawks’ hands tangled in his hair again as he began to rub in camellia oil. Touya sighed contentedly at the feeling. At least something nice had come out of having a spouse.
“So we make him uncomfortable enough that he’ll say yes so we’re at least out of his view?”
“Enough so that he decides our desire for a more secluded place to spend the winter to an enjoyable wedding night rather than a bid for time and space.”
Hawks hummed. “It’s as solid a plan as any, I suppose.” Touya said nothing in response, having nothing of substance to return. A few minutes of silence passed between them as Hawks finished cleaning Touya’s hair and moved to apply a second layer of ointment on his arm. “Why is your father so intent on removing you from succession?”
Touya curled his hands into fists for a brief moment as he tensed before forcibly relaxing himself. Hawks gave him a curious glance.
“He only had children in order to carry on our lineage,” Touya began after collecting his thoughts. “As do most other monarchs. Love isn’t much part of the equation, as you can tell.” He laughed bitterly, but Hawks said nothing. “While I am a son that can carry on our family line, my father is also concerned about how his heir will reflect back on him.” Touya leaned against the back of the tub, watching Hawks treat his arm with mild interest. “He married my mother for her natural abilities. Her family has powerful ice magic, and she’s certainly no exception. He hoped that a child with her would offset the heat limitations of his own magic.” Touya gestured blankly down and himself, and Hawks’ eyes looked up from his work for a brief moment to scan Touya’s body, to take in the old and new scars that he had barely a few minutes to observe the night prior.
“Your body is weaker,” Hawks surmised, setting aside the cloth he had been using to apply the ointment and reaching for the linen bandages.
Touya grunted. “Backfired. My magic’s strong, but it burns me. My father doubts I’d be of much use leading armies on the battlefield. Fuyumi and Natsuo each have weakened magic due to the match.”
“And Shouto?”
“Ever seen him?” Hawks shook his head. “Perfect split, right down the middle. Half a head of red hair and half a head of white. He can use fire magic perfectly from one side and ice equally as well from the other.” Touya tore his eyes away from Hawks as he began wrapping the bandages around his arm. “Probably should have been able to see this coming. He already locked our mother away, not long after Shouto was born, when she grew too loud in her protests of how he trained Shouto and I.” A bitter smile split his face. “The heir and the spare. Barely even that anymore.”
“You are not the spare,” Hawks hissed. Touya blinked at him in mild shock, watching the harpy glare at his arm as if it had personally offended him. He clipped the end of the bandage in place to look up properly at Touya, the same dangerous look in his eye as had been there earlier when he killed Touya’s would-be assassin. The most life he’d seen in Hawks’ eyes. “You will not be tossed aside, not if I can help it.”
Touya and Hawks stared at each other for several moments before Touya responded. “Why do you care so much?” he asked, raising a brow at the harpy. “You’ve barely known me for eighteen hours, yet you’ve already murdered a man for me. I know I said your fate is uncertain if I’m killed,” and Touya thought back on how he’d almost said it as a joke, which he no longer found amusing, “but you have those wings.” He looked at the large and bright appendages on Hawks’ back pointedly. “You could easily fly away. So why do you care?”
“I was ward of the Queen, back in Shokken,” Hawks said, and Touya perked up at finally being reminded of where his consort came from. The small kingdom had only recently settled on Doryoku’s borders, having taken control of land there from some bandit tribes a little over ten years prior. “I was betrothed to you, and I saw it as my chance to get free. I hated it in that court.” Hawks fisted the fabric of his trousers in his hands, continuing to glare angrily at the floor. “If I was invited to someone’s bed to ‘sing a pretty birdsong’ one more time, I’m certain I would’ve lost it. I wasn’t taken in out of compassion, I was taken in as a rare, exotic luxury to show off at royal parties.”
“If you wished to escape the royal court, I’m probably the worst choice you could have made,” Touya remarked. Hawks glanced up at him, a spark of amusement in his eyes, a slight smirk beginning to replace the scowl on his face.
“Clearly. But you’re crown prince, and my ride to the top. Through you, I could influence reform for sentient creatures, and if you happened to be as interested in war as your father, perhaps crush and absorb Shokken somewhere along the way.”
Touya raised his brows. “I’m not particularly fond of war, but your passion is certainly moving.”
Hawks snorted and rolled his eyes, and Touya chuckled too, amused by Hawks being the most expressive he’d been since they met. “I was able to glean your distaste, considering your reaction, earlier,” Hawks said, smiling blithely. “I’m out of that court, but if you died I would be sent straight back, if your father didn’t sell me off as some pretty concubine for a lower lord first.” Hawks gave Touya a charming smile, one that was certainly fake, yet, Touya was forced to admit to himself, incredibly attractive. “Harpies as humanoid as me fetch a very nice price on the market. People like digging their hands into our wings.” The smile fell from Hawks’ face, and he shrugged. “I’m also young, pretty, and able to bear a child, so there’s a little extra to be made off of that, as well.”
“Even if you escaped, they’d hunt you right back down,” Touya guessed. Hawks nodded.
“Essentially. You are by far my best prospect in life, and I’m not about to let it go that easily.”
“Thank you for the compliment, I guess,” Touya muttered sarcastically.
Hawks rolled his eyes. “Don’t be like that. If nothing else, know that I am irrevocably on your side. I don’t have a family or a clan to go back to, and you already know my feelings about Shokken’s court. My allegiance is with you, now.”
“Allegiance?” Touya asked, raising a brow at Hawks. He propped his unburnt arm upon the side of the tub and leaned his head against it, giving the harpy a critical, appraising look. “That’s a very heavy word to use. Are you sure you didn’t run into the language barrier, somewhere in that sentence?”
“Do I need to be clearer?” Hawks asked, tilting his head. “I don’t do things in halves.”
Hawks stood up, taking several steps back. Crossing his feet and holding his right hand over his heart and his left arm out to the side in a delicate curve, he swept himself into a flawless bow. His wings arched high above him, crowding into the corners of the bathroom ceiling, and causing the candles to briefly flicker as they cast a slight breeze.
“On my wings and my soul, I swear.” Hawks looked up, slitted golden eyes staring straight into Touya’s. The steam in the room seemed to pool around the harpy’s feet, giving the scene a mystical feel. Touya’s breath caught in his throat as the next words left Hawks’ mouth.
“I swear my undying loyalty to you, my king.”
Touya walked down the hall with Hawks on his arm, mentally preparing himself for the ordeal that would be dinner. Hawks glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before redirecting his sights forward. Touya felt some of the tension drain out of his shoulders as a wing pressed comfortingly against his back.
“I was trained to an acceptable degree in combat, back in Shokken,” Hawks had said as he carefully fitted his feet into specialty boots to cradle and conceal the avian limbs, “and my hearing and sensory ability is far above yours.”
Touya had raised his brow at Hawks, watching the harpy quickly lace the boots up to his knees with practiced, deft movements. “So you’re offering to play lookout?”
“If nothing else, I can try and offer you protection,” Hawks answered, standing up and shifting his weight and scuffing his soles against the ground before he deemed the footwear acceptable. “Your life is arguably more important in this situation. If you die, I’m either sold or shipped back to Shokken. If I die, you still have a chance to secure your place.”
“I’d prefer my consort doesn’t die before the winter is out,” Touya remarked blandly. Hawks’ wings and head tilted together curiously as he tied his red sash around his waist. “You’re ambitious. I doubt something like my demise would stop you from clawing your way to the top.”
Hawks gave him a mysterious, coy little smile. “Well, if you’re here, I only have to do half the work. I prefer to be a little lazy, if I can.”
Touya had laughed and rolled his eyes, but stood up and offered Hawks his arm. “Shall we?”
And then Hawks plastered a portrait perfect smile across his face as he softly placed his hand in the crook of Touya’s elbow. “We shall.”
As the door to the dining hall approached, Touya stopped to take a deep breath.
“It’s fine,” Hawks said quietly, so soft that he almost missed his words. “I’ll snap his neck if he tries anything.”
Touya huffed in amusement, responding in an equally low tone. “Execution for treason still counts as dying, songbird.”
“It’s only treason if a guard sees it happen.”
Before Touya could even think to respond, they were entering the small dining hall, the last to arrive. He noted Natsuo giving them an appraising glance, while Fuyumi and Shouto looked on in interest. They hadn’t met Hawks yet, so their interest in the young harpy was justified, he supposed.
His father narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly at them, and it took all of Touya’s willpower to not smirk and laugh in his face that his plan had failed, and he was still stubbornly alive.
They paused a few steps from the table, where Touya bowed his head in deference towards the head of the table. “Father,” he greeted respectfully.
At his side, Hawks offered a bow, not removing his hand from Touya’s arm. Touya felt far too pleased to note that the bow offered to his father was far shallower than the one Hawks had presented him with earlier. “Your grace,” Hawks said in a soft, pleasant voice that was almost entirely different from the tone he had taken with Touya during their earlier conversations.
Formalities out of the way, they approached the table to take their seats. Touya noticed with an internal grimace that the chairs had full backs, and he could feel Hawks’ tail feathers twitch against his thigh at the sight. Without missing a beat, Touya stepped forward and pulled the chair out for Hawks at an angle, allowing him to hang the skirt of feathers off the side. Hawks flashed him a grateful smile as he guided the avian into his seat before Touya took his own, right next to the harpy.
“Touya,” Fuyumi greeted him with her signature pleasant smile, which Touya did his best to return without allowing the events of the day to show on his face. Given that her face didn’t fade into that soft frown she always gave him when he displayed concerning behavior, he assumed he was successful.
Shouto didn’t greet him with his usual enthusiastic smile, mismatched eyes fixed in subdued awe at the bright red wings that swelled above Hawks’ head, even when folded against his back. Touya was glad that Hawks had decided to wear a shirt with a higher collar to dinner, easily hiding the marks on his neck. Neither of them needed to worry about Shouto asking questions when they already had enough to deal with.
As usual, at almost every dinner with his family since their mother had been locked away, silence laid heavy at the table as the first course was brought out and laid in front of them. They, being Touya, his siblings, and Hawks, sat patiently with their hands in their laps until their father began his meal, at which point they picked up their own utensils and began to eat. Touya was so accustomed to silence reigning supreme at mealtimes that he almost flinched when Fuyumi began talking.
“How are you settling in, Hawks?” she asked pleasantly. “I’m Touya’s sister, Fuyumi.”
Hawks blinked and tilted his head at her, but adapted easily enough and quickly swallowed the food in his mouth in order to respond. “As well as can be expected, I suppose,” he said, a sweet undertone to his voice, smiling. Touya noted that his accent became slightly thicker. While still sounding fluent, the lilt of his words became heavier, almost musical, in a sense. “Your brother showed me around the gardens this afternoon, and it was wonderful to see that the Imperial Palace is every bit as grand and beautiful as they say.”
A bright smile appeared on Fuyumi’s face. She was always the more sociable one, so Touya supposed he couldn’t blame her for immediately latching onto her new relative who didn’t seem inclined to spend every meal brooding. “Did he show you the bushes of rindou in the center of the courtyard? They’ve always been his favorite.”
Touya hadn’t taken him to see the rindous, and he quietly hoped Hawks was as good at acting as he had claimed, earlier.
“Oh, yes!” Hawks said, clapping his hands together, a bright and pleased look on his face. “They were lovely. They grow so beautifully, and the roses surrounding them give such a pleasing contrast to the eye. He was very proud of them.”
Touya had to fight to keep any confusion from showing on his face, instead giving Hawks a loving smile, carefully keeping his eye on his father’s tight face in his peripheral vision. He hadn’t shown Hawks the courtyard, yet he described it rather well. However he knew the details of the gardens he hadn’t shown him, it certainly saved face with the way Fuyumi beamed.
“They are, aren’t they?” she said, laughing. “He used to give all of us cute little bouquets of them when we were younger, until the gardeners caught on and got him to stop.”
Touya sighed, covering his face with his hand. “Can we not talk about that?”
“No, no, go on,” Hawks said with a mischievous smirk. “I’m intrigued.”
Touya clicked his tongue and tugged harshly at a feather that fell too close to his face, but other than that offered no reprimand. Hawks’ wings shuddered and puffed slightly at the agitation, and he flexed them outwards slightly to settle them. Shouto breathed out an awed little sound at their movement.
“Are they real?” he asked, innocent sparks of wonder in his eyes. Touya smiled at him, content with the show of curiosity he hadn’t seen out of his brother in years. Hawks blinked and glanced at Touya, as if asking for confirmation that he should continue talking. Touya shrugged and tilted his head, and Hawks began to talk to Shouto. Touya kept careful watch of his father’s state, for no matter how good their story was, he needed to not be in an about-erupt mood in order for him to grant permission to leave the palace.
“My wings?” Hawks asked, flaring them slightly for show. Shouto nodded eagerly, and Hawks smiled, a little bit of pride on his face as he curled a wing around to run his fingers through his feathers. “Considering they’re a part of me, they’re as real as I am.”
“Can you fly?” Shouto asked, an eager face lighting up.
“I can.” Something that could almost be called a smirk passed over Hawks’ lips before his face schooled back into that neutral charming smile. “Quite fast, actually.”
“Can you take me flying?” The pitch of Shouto’s voice rose as his excitement did the same.
A displeased look crossed the king’s face, and Touya tensed, preparing himself to intervene before his father’s mood could worsen. Without looking at him, Hawks reached over and gripped his thigh underneath the table, and Touya stopped, watching Hawks carefully as he responded.
“The winds get rather harsh and cold in winter,” Hawks said, in an almost regretful tone. “It’d be dangerous for me to take another person, especially one not built for flying in this season. Perhaps ask me again in the spring or summer, and we’ll see what the king says then.”
Their father grunted rather noncommittally, and Touya felt himself relax. Hawks had diffused the situation. Shouto sighed in disappointment, but still nodded with some level of excitement.
“Here,” Hawks said, running his fingers through his wing once more, a rather well-groomed feather falling away into his hand. He held it up for Shouto to see before he let go and blew on it. The feather floated gently across the table, spinning and bobbing, before it landed almost perfectly on top of Shouto’s head. Touya wondered if he’d practiced such a trick in the past to get it to float over so precisely. “Keep that to remind me, later.”
Shouto reached up and grabbed the feather almost reverently, holding it in front of his face with awe. He looked up at Hawks, nodding enthusiastically enough that Touya almost cracked a joke about his head flying off. Fuyumi smiled, reaching over and plucking the feather from Shouto’s grip to tuck it behind his ear.
Touya reached down and laid his hand over Hawks’, running his thumb over his knuckles, trying to indicate he’d calmed down. Instead of simply pulling his hand away, however, he simply turned his hand over to press his palm against Touya’s, interlacing their fingers. They held hands between their chairs, the angle of their arms making it clear that they were doing so. Shouto didn’t seem to notice, running his fingers over the feather happily, but both Fuyumi and Natsuo did, raising their eyebrows.
Their father huffed, almost transparent in his frustration, and Touya again suppressed a smirk, instead settling for a little smitten smile in Hawks’ direction.
That’s right, get angry. The pretty bird you tried to tie me down with will fly me to the top.
“So you and Touya are getting along, then?” Natsuo asked. Although the question was directed at Hawks, he stared at Touya with clear confusion in his eyes. Touya stared steadily back at him.
Trust me and stay quiet.
It was a look shared often enough between the siblings growing up, so Natsuo simply redirected his gaze to Hawks as he answered, instead of trying to push any further.
“I like to think that we are,” Hawks said neutrally. “We’ve reached an understanding with one another.”
“‘Understanding,’” Touya muttered softly under his breath, just quiet enough that it wouldn’t seem purposeful when the other occupants of the table were able to hear his words. Hawks flushed lightly, and whether it was genuine or not, it certainly seemed to communicate the image they were going for well enough
Fuyumi looked torn between trying to be happy for them and being scandalized, while their father simply tightened his grip on his utensils, fingers briefly turning white at the pressure.
Touya hid a smirk behind his hand for a brief moment before he managed to school his face. It was almost fun.
When dinner ended, and his siblings departed, Touya gave Hawks his hand as he stood up, more as a formality than any real need to help standing. “Go ahead without me,” he muttered into Hawks’ ear. “I’ll see if I can secure our permission.”
“And leave you here alone?” Hawks asked, eyes sharpening.
“If you insist on staying…” he trailed off, the implication hanging between them. Hawks didn’t look any happier about the situation, but nodded curtly nonetheless.
“I’ll wait outside,” he said, compromisingly. “If anything happens I’ll come for you.”
Touya nodded and kissed the back of Hawks’ hand before he began walking away, exiting the dining hall, leaving Touya alone with his father.
Touya took a deep breath to steady himself and turned to face his father, who was looking at him with a raised brow.
“Touya,” he said cordially.
“Father.”
“What do you want?” Alright, straight to the point then.
“I was hoping to stay the winter at the Kaihin Palace with Hawks, in the southern territories,” Touya said calmly. After a moment in silence in which his father didn’t respond, Touya took his cue to elaborate his reasons. “He’s not fond of the cold and finds the expansive layout here somewhat overwhelming. I thought it’d be best if we stayed somewhere at least a little warmer, to give him some more comfort as we get to know each other better.”
“‘Get to know each other better,’” his father repeated slowly, narrowing his eyes.
Touya kept a careful smile on his face. “If I’m to have him by my side for as long as our lives will allow it, then I’d wish to know at least a little bit about him. I found his company… enjoyable, shall we say.”
Something like disgust flashed across his father’s face, and Touya knew he’d hit the jackpot.
“Very well,” the king ground out. Touya bit his tongue to keep the victorious smile off his face. “You may send a messenger ahead to prepare the palace for your arrival. You’ll leave in five days - I will select an entourage to accompany you to the palace.”
There it was. The catch. His father wouldn’t let him out of his immediate reach without contingencies, after all. Touya didn't let his thoughts show on his face.
He bowed. “Thank you for your generosity.” He took several steps back before he rose out of his bow and turned to leave the hall, his father’s eyes boring into his back.
Hawks was leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the dining hall, giving him an unimpressed look as Touya shut the door behind him. “So we just have to make it five days then?” he asked as he took Touya’s offered arm and they began walking back to their apartments.
“And the six-day travel by ship it will take to arrive,” Touya said, dread already pooling in his stomach at the thought of being seasick. “The Kaihin Palace is relatively close to the shore, and it’s significantly faster than going by horseback.”
“Still, it’s almost two weeks, then,” Hawks muttered, eyes narrowing at the halls around them, wings ruffling slightly. He pinched his lips and looked up at Touya, flicking his eyes behind them meaningfully as he kept speaking. “But we’ll be able to get away from watching eyes till then, won’t we?” Hawks spoke with a flirtatious undertone to his voice, but Touya quickly caught on to what Hawks was attempting to communicate to him.
“We’ll certainly try our best,” Touya said, replicating Hawks’ tone and smiling sweetly down at him. “After all, how could I say no to your company?” he purred, leaning down to nip the shell of Hawks’ ear. “How many?” he breathed softly before he pulled away with a lascivious smirk on his face.
Hawks flushed and curled his shoulders, running a hand through his hair with a shy little smile on his face as he used the hand tucked in the crook of Touya’s elbow to tap his arm three times. “I’m glad that you find it pleasing, my prince. I’m always happy to serve.”
Touya kept the smirk on his face as he responded. “Let’s hurry back to our apartments so we may retire for the night, shall we?” He began walking faster, and Hawks easily kept pace with his steps, pressing closer to his side and fanning his wings against Touya’s back.
Hawks was tense, and by the time they arrived back to the hall that held their rooms, he was almost dragging Touya along as he jogged the last few paces, ducking into his own apartments instead of dealing with the minute it would take to arrive at Touya’s own. He shut the door behind them almost feverishly, locking the bolt as soon as it was settled in its place. Hawks stood there for a moment longer, head cocked to the side as he seemed to listen to something, before quickly whirling around and pressing close to Touya.
“Still there,” he breathed, placing his mouth right next to Touya’s ear. “We need to convince them we’re not doing anything of note.” He pulled back and looked into Touya’s eyes, face solemn. Touya sighed, understanding the situation, and not at all pleased with it.
Touya’s first kiss with Hawks was loud, messy, wet, and not in any way enjoyable. They lowered themselves to the ground, kneeling across from each other while their lips slid together sloppily. After a minute or two of what had to be the most uncomfortable make-out session Touya could imagine, Hawks broke away to send a frustrated glare at the door, jaw clenching. Huffing, he took one of Touya’s hands and jammed it against the base of his wing.
“Pull,” he growled lowly, before he hid his face in Touya’s neck, tensing in anticipation.
Wiping off his mouth with a sleeve, Touya did as instructed, digging his fingers into the soft feathers at the base and giving them a harsh tug.
Hawks shuddered, releasing a choked, high-pitched moan from the back of his throat, wings flexing and flapping for a moment. Touya froze, feeling a dangerous flush rise up on his own cheeks at the noise. He stayed still, not quite sure how to react to the lewd sound, but Hawks managed to make that decision for him. The harpy’s chest heaved with sharp breaths, and he thumped his fist on Touya’s back. “One more time,” he muttered.
Touya swallowed roughly, but repeated the action, and the noise that came from Hawks was louder and longer than the first. His wings jerked out of Touya’s grasp, a secondary shiver ruffling the feathers.
After a tense minute in which the only sound in the room was the two of them catching their breath, staring at the door, Hawks sighed, shoulders slumping. “They’re gone,” he said in a more normal, yet still strained, tone of voice.
He pulled his face away from Touya’s neck and pushed him away. Hawks sat back and wrapped his arms around his legs, hiding his face in his knees, continuing to breathe deeply as he curled up.
“Are you alright?” Touya asked, pushing himself against the floor to rock up onto the balls on his feet and crouch in front of Hawks. He began to reach a comforting hand towards the harpy’s shoulder before he paused and thought better of it, pulling it back to rest on his knee. He didn’t know Hawks’ boundaries at the moment.
“Just- just give me a minute,” Hawks muttered, still not looking up at him.
Touya stayed still, waiting for Hawks to calm himself. After a few minutes, the harpy’s wings slumped down to the floor, and he looked up at Touya with a defeated expression. “Eleven days of this,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair, and Touya frowned sympathetically. “Fuck.”
The days leading up to their departure from the Imperial Palace were exhausting. They had taken to sleeping in each other's apartments, one staying up and keeping watch while the other rested. Nothing had happened yet, but Touya couldn’t stop the shiver of fear down his spine whenever he heard a servant go past the door, and Hawks didn’t seem to be faring much better.
They were lucky that they’d decided to play off the ‘enthusiastically consummated’ angle, as it gave a far stronger alibi for their tired state than anything else Touya could have come up with.
Their days were spent either in the gardens or near a window in some high-rise tower. Despite the chill, Hawks kept insisting on going out, feeling safer when he knew he’d be able to escape to the sky if they had to. Though seeing him bundled up in a coat and several scarves, Touya could only imagine the sight being humorous, but he kept his tongue.
Natsuo still gave them odd glances whenever he spotted them together in the hall, but seemed to trust Touya enough to not say anything about the strange situation. Touya, for his part, had found his right arm constantly sore, as he’d never had to hold it out to guide another anywhere as much in his life as he did the previous five days.
When they stood on the docks, preparing to board the ship that would take them down to Hinansho, where the Kaihin Palace was located, he felt dread.
“Is something wrong?” Hawks asked with thinly veiled concern, an ever-steady presence by his side. Touya sighed and shook his head.
“I get motion sick,” he muttered, glaring at the sea vessel with distaste.
Hawks clicked his tongue. “I’ll take the primary watch for our voyage.”
“You’ll be exhausted-”
“And you’d sooner throw up than be able to fight,” Hawks countered, narrowing his eyes at him. “You already look pale and we haven’t even boarded yet.”
Touya breathed out through his nose, tearing his gaze away from the harpy, and said nothing, knowing the other was right. “We’re halfway there, pretty bird,” he murmured under his breath, laying his hand over the smaller one tucked in his elbow. They walked up the boarding ramp, and Touya could already feel his stomach twist sharply as he heard the waves rocking the ship beneath him.
Hawks squeezed his arm. “It’s fine,” he said in a soothing voice, though he looked no more pleased about being on the ship than Touya did.
“Doesn’t feel fine,” he hissed in response. Hawks pinched his lips but quickly guided Touya down to their cabin, regardless.
“Lay down,” he said, letting go of Touya’s arm as he turned to close and lock the door behind them. “You’ll feel better.”
Touya grunted in acknowledgment and flopped onto the bed, curling inward slightly around his stomach as it gave another lurch. He heard the clunk of Hawks’ walking boots before a dip in the mattress next to him, and a hand began running through his hair, thumb sweeping over forehead comfortingly. Touya looked up at Hawks, who had a concerned pinch to his brow.
“How bad is it?” he asked.
Touya gritted his teeth. “Like I’ll throw up any minute.”
Hawks sighed. “This will be rough if you can’t keep anything down for six days.” Touya wanted to snap something back in response, but refrained as he worried that he’d vomit if he so much as opened his mouth. “Close your eyes, I have an idea that might help.”
Touya obliged, feeling as though it couldn’t make him feel worse, at the very least. After a few moments, he heard a bird chirp next to him. His eyes shot open and over to Hawks, who was determinedly not looking at him. “Didn’t think you were that much of a bird,” he joked weakly.
Hawks scoffed and shoved his head further into the pillow. “Imagine you’re in the gardens or something, I’m trying to help with ambient noise. Take it or leave it.” Touya huffed in amusement, but allowed his eyes to slip shut again. Hawks resumed running a hand through his hair, trilling in the back of his throat, offering intermittent chirps.
Touya hummed in contentment as Hawks scraped his nails against his scalp, sinking further into the mattress. Hawks let out a little warbling coo at him. Touya could almost feel the breeze of the courtyard as he drifted asleep.
Touya slept through most of the first two days on the ship, though by the third he managed to force himself to put up with the rocking motions of the ship so that Hawks could rest, looking absolutely exhausted by that point. It turned out that Hawks would occasionally trill in his sleep, however, so as long as Touya kept his eyes away from the window, he could keep the rolling of his stomach to a minimum.
On the fourth day, wherein they both had a reasonable amount of sleep, Hawks was getting restless and hauled Touya up to the deck. “Harpies aren’t meant to be caged,” he said as Touya dragged his feet behind him. “One hour, then we can go back.”
The chill of the end of autumn hit Touya like a horse as Hawks pushed the hatch to the deck open, and the harpy in front of him shivered and puffed his wings up. Hawks ducked his head further into his scarf, glaring up at the grey skies as if they had personally offended him. Regardless, he was determined, and dragged Touya up to the quarter deck and gave a polite nod to the first mate at the helm. Touya, for his part, was fighting back the bile in his throat as he looked out at the rolling waves of the sea.
“This was a bad idea,” he muttered, struggling to not curl over and hold his stomach. “This was a very, very bad idea.”
Hawks looked at him sympathetically but still made no move to head back under the deck. “Sorry,” he said. “I’ll try and make it quick.” He led Touya to sit at the bench at the very rear of the quarter deck and sat beside him just long enough to untie and toe off his boots, uncurling his feet with a relieved sigh. Standing up he gave Touya a soft smile. “I’ll be right back. I’ll keep watch on you, so don’t feel afraid to close your eyes if you have to.”
With that, Hawks easily pulled himself to stand on top of the railing and faced the tailwind that billowed in their sails. His wings and tail feathers flared slightly as they caught the wind. Touya watched, mesmerized as he crouched down and spread his wings to their full span, feathers ruffling slightly in the breeze. His toes curled around the railing to keep himself from being blown away. A moment passed, and Hawks launched himself into the sky.
He quickly gained altitude with several strong beats of his wings before they locked outward, easily catching the wind underneath to keep aloft. He was a distant figure above the ship, but Touya was able to spot the harpy waving down at him. Touya smiled, almost able to forget the turmoil of his stomach, finding the action endearing as he lifted a hand in response.
While Touya didn’t feel completely at ease, with the crash of the waves so close to his ear, he found himself strangely calmed, watching Hawks fly in circles and spins above the ship, his bright red wings a contrast against the gray of the sky.
All too soon, yet also not soon enough, Hawks was diving down, flapping his wings as his feet curled once again around the railing with his face screwed up in concentration. Without looking at Touya, he steadied himself as he folded his wings tightly against his back to prevent catching any further drafts, and hopped down to sit on the bench, reaching for his boots.
Touya watched him, the strong arc of Hawks’ wings as he easily launched himself into the sky replaying in his mind. As the harpy was slipping his feet back into his boots, Touya spoke. “Would you fly again for me, some other time?” he asked.
Hawks paused and looked up at him, face tinted pink from exertion and the cold bite of the wind. He smiled. “I’d be happy to.”
Their fifth night aboard the ship found Hawks slamming his fist against the headboard, the loud moan escaping his throat in no way matching the malicious smirk on his face. He followed up the noise by exaggerating his breathing, loud pants echoing through their loud room.
Touya sat on the other side of the bed, clutching his stomach as he cried tears of laughter, face stuffed in a pillow as he struggled to keep his hysteria quiet.
A few moments later, Hawks said, “They’re gone.”
Touya tossed the cushion aside and began snickering loudly, covering his eyes with his hand as he tried to catch his breath from his laughing fit. “That was incredible, birdie,” he wheezed. “Where’d that little prude of two weeks ago disappear to?”
Hawks snorted. “After the fourth time you have to fend them off by yourself, you get over your embarrassment,” he said, smirk staying on his face, eyes glinting in amusement. Touya had been relieved of ‘enthusiastic consummation’ duty since they’d boarded the ship, since Hawks had no interest in sleeping in a bed Touya threw up in because he pushed himself too far. “I also pity you. You can’t hear the scandalized noises they make, it’s rather funny, actually.”
The statement threw Touya into a new fit of laughter. “What, can you hear them gasping out ‘these hedonists need some time at a shrine’ before they run away, clutching their pearls?”
Hawks’ face finally cracked and he started laughing as well. “No, no, they run off muttering prayers under their breath, we’re too vulgar and obscene to even be heard without tainting their purity.”
Touya sputtered and wheezed. “Holy shit,” he choked out, completely at a loss for more eloquent words.
“Not quite the prayer I was thinking of, but that certainly works.”
Touya cackled as he fell off the bed.
When they finally arrived at Hinansho, the sigh of relief Touya let out was loud and long. “Sweet, still ground, how I missed you so.”
Hawks rolled his eyes and tugged him along. “We still have the carriage ride to Kaihin.”
Touya groaned.
As Touya led Hawks to their quarters for the duration of their stay at Kaihin, he gave the harpy the rundown of their location.
“It’s slightly warmer here, so it might make the winter more bearable for you,” he said. A cold wind immediately blew through the palace ground, and Touya could hear Hawks’ feathers ruffle behind them, and feel the unimpressed stare he was being given. “Slightly.”
Hawks sighed. “At least it’s not snowing, I suppose.” He glanced around as they walked, taking in the grand archways between different buildings and complexes on the castle grounds. “Is this a compound?”
Touya smirked. “That’s the best part of this location,” he said as they approached the building in the center. “Everything is in its own place, so we have the royal quarters to ourselves, in a building completely separate from everyone else.” He nodded to the guards on either side of the entryway who stood at attention as they passed. The grand, heavy door was shut with a deafening thud behind them. “Guards at every entrance, locks on every door.”
“How do we know the guards will prioritize us over the will of the king?” Hawks asked softly as he was guided towards the bedchambers.
“Currently, we don’t,” Touya admitted, using his shoulder to push the door to their bedroom open, holding it for Hawks. “But they’re less likely to turn on us than those at the Imperial Palace. Hinansho is relatively isolated from the politics of the court. I don’t think a member of the family has stayed here in at least a decade.”
“Safer, but not quite a haven, yet,” Hawks concluded. Touya nodded, turning the bolts to keep the door firmly locked.
“We’ll need to do a bit of investigation to judge how safe we are with the guard here, and if they’re trustworthy, we can easily issue orders to keep my father’s entourage from coming near us if we so wish.”
Hawks hummed in acknowledgment, unwinding his scarf from around his neck and undoing the buttons that kept his coat closed underneath his wings, pulling it off and tossing it haphazardly on a chair. Touya mirrored his actions as Hawks sprawled out on his stomach on the grand state bed that sat in the center of the lavish room. The harpy tucked a pillow under his head, keeping his eyes lazily trained on Touya.
“So,” he asked, spreading his wings so they curved off the side of the bed, “we’re hundreds of miles away from the Imperial Palace. What now?”
Touya smirked as he settled himself into the desk chair, propping his feet up on the wooden hinoki surface.
“Now, pretty bird,” he said, plan formulating in his mind. “Now we get to work.”