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Tweak says, "G is for Grater"

Jonathan (Jack) Lockwood → Alec Lightwood (takemystrength) wrote in thereincarnates,
@ 2016-10-22 22:07:00

Entry tags:

!au, !fairytale, abraxas vex, jonathan lockwood

Who: Jonathan Lockwood & Abraxas Vex
What: The prince is getting married, the warlock has some objections
Where: Alicante, Idris
When: A week later, an hour before sundown
Warnings: KISSING!
Status: Incomplete

The Lockwood castle had been a war zone all morning and early afternoon with last minute preparations. Additional flower arrangements and table seating, unforeseen crises with the food or the room decor. The castle's servants were scurrying around in a mild panic all day trying to get everything ready while also living in fear of running into the queen before everything was ready, including the finishing touches. Guests would be arriving soon, they had to make sure everything was done by the time the first guest walked into the front hall, or else risk the wrath of Jonathan's mother, who wanted everything to be perfect. After all, her only son was getting married today.

Abraxas Vex had kept his promise in the end, as it turned out. After observing Jonathan for a few days, he'd announced to Jonathan and his parents that he'd discovered the secret to breaking the curse that had been plaguing the young prince for two years. It was true love's kiss, ironically, which Abraxas had said is why the curse had at that point been so deeply embedded in the prince's heart. Jonathan's curse would be broken when he kissed his true love for the first time. Jonathan had heard some rumors of curses broken by true love's kiss in other lands, but he'd always thought it sounded a little cheesy. He never thought that sort of thing would happen for him.

He still wasn't sure it would. Despite Abraxas's conclusive diagnosis, Jonathan wasn't sure it would work. After all, didn't you need a true love first, in order to receive true love's kiss? That didn't seem to be a detail that was concerning his parents at all, who almost immediately after being given the news started to make the arrangements. Namely, an arranged marriage. One might think that setting one up in the span of a week would seem hasty, but before the curse, Jonathan had been promised to someone, until the curse he'd been placed under had put the impending nuptials on hold. A perfectly nice princess from a neighboring kingdom, who Jonathan didn't love at all.

It didn't matter, of course. Now that they knew of a way to get rid of the curse, it was Jonathan's duty to break it, take a wife, and accept his father's crown. All at once, apparently, and it was clear that Jonathan's parents were hoping that it would be as simple as Jonathan's true love being the princess he'd been betrothed to, so that on the day of their wedding, their first kiss as husband and wife would secure the kingdom and rid their son of the curse. News of the wedding spread throughout the kingdom like wildfire in a matter of hours, and before Jonathan knew it, he was getting married in less than a week. He should have been relieved that at the very least, he might soon be free of his curse, but the trouble was, he couldn't stop thinking about someone else.

Even now, as he was smoothing out the lines of his formal wear in front of a mirror, Jonathan found his mind wandering to Abraxas. Wondering where he was, what he was doing. Jonathan didn't yet have a name for why his stomach twisted into warm knots every time he thought of the warlock, or why every time he thought of kissing Lydia, he found his thoughts turning to Abraxas instead of focusing on his wife-to-be. Jonathan hadn't seen him since the day he'd told Jonathan's parents how to break the curse and the king and queen of Idris had immediately started wedding preparations. Now as Jonathan was being lead to the grand ballroom where the ceremony was being held, Jonathan surprised himself by wishing that he were outside on the grounds with Abraxas, instead of walking down the aisle to take his place at the end of it and wait for his bride to join him. The wedding was about to begin.

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quitemagical
2016-10-23 09:13 pm UTC (link)

It ought to have been satisfying. Perhaps Prince Jonathan's curse wasn't broken, as of the moment, but Abraxas had figured it out when who knew how many others hadn't, and he'd done it in a matter of days, when the prince had been suffering under his curse for years. All that Prince Jonathan had to do was kiss his true love, and then he would be free, a man both day and night. No more hay, no more courtyards, no more stripping down in front of strange warlocks in hopes that they'd be able to divine something about his particular condition. It was convenient that there was a prepackaged 'true love' that his parents had been able to pull out of the woodworks, someone that Jonathan had been meant to marry before the curse. No one had seemed to question whether it could possibly be so convenient, at least not out loud, but Abraxas supposed that even if the girl wasn't his true love then, he'd learn to love her, in time.

That wasn't the way it was supposed to work, of course, but it wasn't as if there was any better way to find a true love for the prince than that. True love, as far as Abraxas had found, was largely a daydream. He'd never found an example of it, himself. The only love he'd ever witnessed had been built over years, and going through hardships together, until it was as true as anyone could ever wish for. Except him. Taking the time to build up that sort of love should have been nothing, for a warlock, for someone who lived as long as he had and would continue to live even longer, but there was always a part of Abraxas that held back, that couldn't conceive of how long forever would be with anyone he'd been involved with.

He'd been paid. Not the full amount they'd quoted him, of course, and he hadn't gotten all the concessions that he'd hoped for, for his fellow underworldlings, but he had expected them to try to wriggle out of it in the first place. It was easy, this time. They were entirely correct that they couldn't prove that he'd solved the curse entirely until Prince Jonathan kissed his princess and broke the curse forever. Since Abraxas had his own serious doubts about whether that was going to work, he didn't really anticipate ever getting the rest of the money, or the deals. Frankly, he didn't care. He'd been dismissed, told that he could leave, now that he'd done what they'd brought him there for. He should have left, instead of seeing this go through. He'd been on his way out of the city when he stopped, and turned around, because...

Because when he thought of Prince Jonathan, he could imagine seeing him smiling at him for the rest of his life. Jonathan's not Abraxas's. Abraxas would still look just as he did when the prince was old and gray and then gone, and that ought to have made him run away as quickly as he could, so he never had to see that happen. Instead, he kept thinking that, wouldn't it be worth it, for that short part of Abraxas's life, to have him? It was ridiculous. It was insane, the way he'd turned and practically run back to the castle where the wedding was about to begin. He wasn't invited, of course. Couldn't have an underworldling at the prince's wedding... but if they thought they could keep him out, they were mistaken.

He didn't know what he thought he was going to do once he got there, not even when he'd slipped through the doors into the ballroom, at the back of the crowd. It was impressive, how quickly they'd managed to organize the event, but Abraxas only had eyes for the man at the front of the room. Jonathan looked amazing. He'd known Jonathan would look amazing. He didn't even know if Jonathan liked him like that, if Jonathan liked men at all, but even though Abraxas had always held back before, had always protected himself, he was completely in now. He couldn't let him go without one more chance.

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takemystrength
2016-10-26 11:49 pm UTC (link)

Once the ceremony started, things moved quickly, or at least it felt that way to Jonathan. Almost as quickly as the planning of the wedding had been itself, and how alarmingly fast word had spread of it. Not that Jonathan was dreading it. Okay, he was dreading it. Of all the possible scenarios he'd entertained when a cure had been found, he'd somehow never expected this. As much as he wanted to be free of this curse, he wasn't sure it was worth the cost of marriage to someone he barely knew. Even before the curse, he'd only met her twice after the betrothal, and not since. Not until tonight.

Tonight would be the first time he'd seen her since he'd ceased to be entirely human, and as his parents were clearly hoping, the last time he'd be anything other than human. It was nothing against Lydia, Jonathan was sure she was a perfectly nice girl. She'd seemed so, from the whole two times he'd met her, years ago. Perhaps she'd changed, but even if she hadn't, he didn't think his feelings about this would change. He didn't love her. What did his parents expect to happen? That they would share their first kiss as man and wife and the curse would magically be broken? That wasn't how true love worked.

Jonathan was trying to remain positive, but it was having little to no effect on him at this point. Before now, Jonathan had never really given all that much thought to true love, but he was pretty sure it didn't happen like this. Marrying someone you barely knew and eventually coming to love them. To Jonathan, true love had always seemed like something that happened all at once. You met someone, and you connected instantly. Maybe even loved them instantly, even if you didn't realize it right when it happened. Someone who you couldn't live without, someone you couldn't stop thinking about, who made you feel like you couldn't breathe when they walked into a room.

He kept all these thoughts to himself, of course. There was no stopping this wedding, and Jonathan knew his parents wouldn't appreciate his wildly idealistic notions of true love when he was about to get married in a few minutes time. The clothes he was wearing were uncomfortable, too tight, resisting the urge to fidget while standing up there in front of everyone. When it started, and Jonathan saw Lydia walking toward him in her wedding gown, Jonathan desperately wished he felt something for her. That would make everything so much easier, if he could stop thinking about someone else who was long gone from the city by now, and start thinking about the woman he was about to be married to for the rest of his life.

After getting through the initial opening ceremonies and rites with Lydia standing beside him, they were prompted to exchange wedding bands and make their commitments to each other out loud. Nervous, Jonathan opened his mouth to speak, but when no sound came out, he looked helplessly out into the crowd. That's when he caught sight of Abraxas, towards the back, and it felt like his entire world had spun out from under his feet, feeling his chest tightening like he suddenly couldn't breathe. Try as he might, Jonathan couldn't tear his eyes away from him now, despite several promptings by the priest which he barely heard. Having inexplicably lost the power of speech, all his attention was on the warlock in the back of the room.

"Your highness." Jonathan blinked, finally hearing the priest addressing him and turning with a shock to find him and his wife-to-be staring at him like he'd lost his mind. Maybe he had. "Sorry, I..." He looked back at Abraxas. He didn't know what to say.

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quitemagical
2016-10-29 12:26 am UTC (link)

From the moment he'd arrived, Abraxas had known that this was a horrible mistake. He wasn't certain how a minor crush, something that he'd thought based entirely on how very attractive the prince happened to be, could be quite so painful. The thought of Jonathan marrying someone else should have simply made him sulk for a day or two before moving on and consoling himself with some other pretty body far happier to offer itself up for his pleasure. This, though... Abraxas had lived a very long time, and he couldn't quite recall feeling as if seeing someone he was attracted to with someone else might kill him, before.

Perhaps it was the insult of the king and queen thinking that he could find so neat a solution to the problem that had taken Abraxas such heavy thought to resolve. True love wasn't so easy a thing as all this, after all. True love wasn't something that you could make happen simply because you wanted to, simply because it was convenient. True love was something that you had to work at. True love was something that came unbidden, something that snuck up on you by surprise when you hadn't realized that you were working toward it at all. True love was sitting in a boring courtyard until your very fine ass went numb night after night because you couldn't bear to leave someone else lonely and suffering without company.

Not that he was truly in love with Jonathan. That was ridiculous. Clearly he wasn't in love... the two of them hadn't known each other nearly long enough for it to be love. They didn't know each other well enough for it to be love. It went entirely against everything that Abraxas had believed about the concept of it, of course, to think that he could possibly care deeply enough about Jonathan already for it to bother him, the thought of a Lockwood prince being stuck for life with someone that wasn't his true love... but Jonathan had been kind. Jonathan had been nothing at all like Abraxas had thought he would be, in the brief time that they'd known each other. He couldn't simply let this happen without letting his objects be known, could he?

Except he could. He'd been paid as much as he was likely to be paid, more than he could have dreamed of for some other sort of job. Even if the 'cure' didn't work, he would be far better off than he had been before deciding to take the royal family of Idris up on their plea for someone to find a way to fix their son. And any bad reputation he might get, when this farce of a true love story didn't work, it wasn't as if Abraxas wouldn't outlive anything that this particular family might say about him. They wouldn't live nearly long enough for the story of Prince Jonathan and the curse that Abraxas hadn't broken to have any impact on the rest of Abraxas's life.

No, it would just weigh on Abraxas, instead, even if no one else remembered it. Perhaps Abraxas couldn't do anything other than what he already had, to help Jonathan. Perhaps Jonathan wouldn't welcome anything further from him, at all. Abraxas still had to try to offer it.

He knew, the moment that Jonathan noticed him. It wasn't as if it could have been missed, the moment that Jonathan had noticed him in the crowd and reacted to Abraxas's presence. If Abraxas hadn't missed it... no one else had, either. He'd faltered, in his vows, right before the moment that would have sealed him to someone else forever. It was a sign, wasn't it? Not that Abraxas believed in anything as lax as signs. Signs were for people who couldn't make up their minds for themselves. Signs were for people who didn't have anything better to rely on. Abraxas hoped... he hoped that Jonathan thought this sort of sign couldn't be refuted, Abraxas showing up last moment when it all ought to have been over. He stepped forward, into the aisle that lead up to the altar where Jonathan stood with the pretty princess that was meant to be his wife.

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takemystrength
2016-10-31 05:26 pm UTC (link)

Everything had gone quiet. A hush had fallen over the guests, and he was now being stared at by Lydia, the priest, and his parents who were sitting in their seats of honor on the throne behind them. There was still the faint tinkling of some music being played, the violin quartet continuing to play hesitantly for not knowing what else to do in the awkward lull of wedding activity. No one else seemed to know what to do either, it wasn't exactly common for the groom to get sidetracked like this in the middle of his own wedding.

Jonathan had lost all sense of himself, of where he was, what he was doing here. The longer he looked at Abraxas, the more he felt like he was wearing someone else's clothes. That he wasn't the person everyone wanted him to be up here, standing in front of everyone, marrying some princess he barely knew. A princess who Jonathan was sure was perfectly nice and maybe one day he'd even find himself happy with, at least on the surface. That still didn't count as true love, he thought, but if he was being forced to marry someone who couldn't break his curse and Jonathan stayed like this forever, maybe he could still find happiness.

But as soon as his eyes found Abraxas, he knew he was just lying to himself. He could pretend for the sake of his parents, but deep down Jonathan knew the truth, and the truth was staring right at him from across the room. When Jonathan thought about marrying Lydia, he didn't feel anything, except maybe a sort of sad resignation. In marrying Lydia, Jonathan was fulfilling his role as the dutiful son. In this marriage he'd be able to take his place as king of Idris himself one day, and produce his own heir the same as his father had. He'd be securing his family's line and reign, for the good of the kingdom. That used to be something Jonathan cared about, but now, he felt nothing.

When he thought about Abraxas, he felt something. All those hours they'd spent sitting in the courtyard, just talking, and then afterward when Jonathan would transform and Abraxas would still stay with him, content to be with Jonathan as a horse as much as human. Abraxas never seemed to care that Jonathan was only half-human. He'd treated Jonathan just the same as a horse, except perhaps for his tendency to feed Jonathan more apples. It had never felt strange, for Abraxas to be with him like that, it had felt... right. It meant something to him that Abraxas had never treated him differently, and Jonathan caught himself wishing that it was Abraxas he was marrying instead. Even if the curse was never broken, Jonathan thought it wouldn't make a bit of difference to Abraxas. More than that, Jonathan thought they'd be happy.

It was in realizing that he was standing up there next to Lydia, while staring at Abraxas across the room and thinking about marrying him instead, that Jonathan finally realized with a sudden shock how he really felt. He didn't love Lydia, that much he already knew, but it was entirely possible that he'd fallen in love with Abraxas without knowing it. That would explain the empty knot in his stomach after the warlock had supposedly left Idris, and the tightness in his chest now upon seeing him again, like he couldn't breathe. Abraxas had stepped forward into the aisle and Jonathan's muscles had tensed with the urge to walk over to him. His mouth fell open, no sound coming out until the priest asked if he wanted him to continue and Jonathan shook his head numbly.

"I can't..." It seemed like he was answering the priest's question, but Jonathan was in shock, fidgeting a little where he stood, eyes still locked on the warlock across the room. "I can't breathe." There was movement in the room, his mother had stood and was making her way past Jonathan down the aisle, maybe to run interference in case Abraxas tried to get closer. Jonathan couldn't hear what she said but it sounded like she was telling Abraxas to leave in a low hiss, as if trying not to make a scene despite the one that had already been made, and now it made a little sense. Why his parents had been so relieved when Abraxas had left, why his mother had been so bothered by all the time they'd spent together. Maybe, Jonathan thought with a small amount of hope, that was because he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

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quitemagical
2016-11-02 11:10 pm UTC (link)

Jonathan's eyes hadn't wavered from Abraxas since he'd seen him. Abraxas knew that for a fact; his own hadn't moved from Jonathan's face, either, he'd have noticed if Jonathan had looked away from him. Abraxas didn't want him to look away from him. Something told him that if Jonathan looked away, even for a moment, whatever it was between them would be shattered, shattered as thoroughly as the curse would be when Jonathan kissed his true love. Abraxas didn't care about the curse. Jonathan was a handsome horse, after all. Perhaps he could learn to be happy with it, simply knowing how it could end. What Abraxas cared about, what Abraxas couldn't stop thinking about, was whether he'd ever feel the way he did when he looked at Jonathan, if Jonathan looked back to his bride. If Abraxas looked at the crowd whispering around him, the guests at the edges of the aisles scooting back and away from the underworldling that had invaded the castle.

The queen was stalking toward him, jaw set firmly... the queen herself, as if Abraxas was such a threat to this wedding that she couldn't leave him to anyone lesser. If she'd meant to intimidate him, it failed. All it did was give Abraxas hope, because if the queen was afraid of what his presence might do, afraid that it might ruin their plans, surely that meant that Jonathan was... that Jonathan felt as Abraxas did, that he'd felt it obviously enough that they'd all noticed it. It hadn't simply been something that Abraxas imagined, what was between them. That Jonathan felt something, anything, for him, even though he certainly wasn't supposed to. Even though it likely went against everything he'd ever been taught.

"Leave this wedding, warlock," the queen hissed at him as she drew closer. There was nothing she could do to make him, of course. There was nothing that a single person in this room could do to make him, outside of all the guards rushing him . Even then, he'd take out his fair share of them before they overran him, and that was far worse than any sort of scene that Abraxas might have made for himself, at the wedding. Far worse than anything that she could justify, and still insist that the ceremony go on. After all, a delicately bred princess would likely faint at the sight of blood on all that white silk, wouldn't she? And Abraxas was certain that, while the queen might have steel in her spine, they'd picked a proper princess for their son.

Abraxas couldn't have left now even if he'd been intimidated by the queen. Not after turning around and coming back, racing to the castle in hopes of stopping this. In hopes of knowing what Jonathan would choose, if he knew that Abraxas was one of his choices. Then, even if it wasn't him that Jonathan had chosen, he could say that he'd tried, that it had been Jonathan's decision alone to follow the path that his parents had set out for him, instead of making his own way with someone who was entirely unsuitable to be a prince's companion. "This is between me and your son," he told the queen, voice just as hushed as hers. "I'll leave if he asks me to."

And he would. As much as it pained him, if Jonathan asked him to leave, if Jonathan asked that he be escorted out, if Jonathan declared that they needed to go on with the ceremony, Abraxas wouldn't fight him. Not any further. He'd pressed as far as he could, as far as he was able to go. Any further... any further would have to be Jonathan's call. Abraxas was there. Abraxas had made himself as open, as vulnerable, as he'd ever been, standing there in a ballroom waiting to see if he was going to be standing alone forever, or if... maybe... if there was a chance that the two of them could stand together.

Jonathan wasn't looking away. Jonathan wasn't moving, either, but more importantly, Jonathan wasn't looking away. Abraxas ignored the queen, stepped past her as if she wasn't even there. That wasn't the way that one was supposed to interact with a queen, of course, particularly one who was paying him, but Abraxas didn't care. He'd step a little further, a little closer, every step fewer between him and Jonathan one less that the prince would have to find the courage to take.

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takemystrength
2016-11-04 11:46 pm UTC (link)

He couldn't hear exactly what his mother and Abraxas were saying to each other, but Jonathan didn't have to, because their body language was perfectly obvious. His mother's shoulders were tensed, she was clearly trying very hard not to be overheard by anyone else in the room, and Jonathan imagined that he could actually see the steam rising from her ears. The queen wasn't exactly known for her temper, but Jonathan could always tell when she was dangerously close to losing her cool. His mother was the sort of woman who saw the value in keeping herself cool and composed so no one would question her, and to see her so unhinged was a surprise even to her son.

Abraxas, on the other hand, definitely seemed as cool as a cucumber. He was saying something to the queen in return, but Jonathan couldn't hear it anymore than he could hear what his mother had said just before. He was practically straining his ears to try and catch their words, and then Abraxas stepped around her. People in the room gasped, because that wasn't the way you were supposed to interact with the queen of Idris. Especially if you were a underworldling. Jonathan's own mouth dropped, and for a moment he was more preoccupied worrying that Abraxas was about to get carried out by guards, instead of by the reason he could be here in the first place. The reason that had Jonathan freezing up in the middle of his own wedding ceremony, instead of being able to recite his vows.

Then the moment passed, and Jonathan caught himself almost smiling. Even he wasn't brave enough to do what Abraxas had just done in side stepping the queen of Idris, and it was so like him. The warlock hadn't stopped surprising Jonathan since the day they met. Blinking, Jonathan realized that someone was speaking to him, and he turned in mild confusion to see Lydia trying to catch his attention. Guilt immediately flooded over him, and it must have shown on his face because all she did was look at him knowingly for a long moment before her gaze shifted to Abraxas in the aisle, and then back to Jonathan before saying, "It's okay." It was okay? How was any of this okay? How was the fact that he was hesitating to marry her because he was too busy staring at another man in the room at all okay?

Staring at her wordlessly, it slowly dawned on Jonathan that it seemed like a girl he hadn't seen in years apparently understood him more than his own parents did. More than he did, even. Jonathan still felt a tightness in his chest that almost had him on the verge of panicking, but the gratitude he felt to a woman he barely knew right then immediately loosened all that tension in him, and Jonathan carefully exhaled. He knew what he had to do, now, if he only had the courage to do it. Taking a deep breath, Jonathan shot Lydia a look and mouthed 'thank you' before turning to face the room. Immediately, he came face to face with rows of wedding guests who clearly didn't know what was going on, but that didn't matter, because Jonathan finally did. Maybe deep down he always had, but now it was clear.

Steeling himself, Jonathan took a step, and then another, making the slow descent back down the aisle towards Abraxas, the music faltering as it became even less clear to everyone else, including the musicians, what was happening or how they should proceed through this. His eyes were still fixed on the warlock even when his mother tried to step in between them again and hissed at Jonathan that he needed to march right back up to that altar this second. "Enough," Jonathan told her, the tone of his voice final as he brushed past her and found himself stopping directly in front of Abraxas, a small smile playing in the corners of his mouth and sounded pleased when he spoke. That feeling like he couldn't breathe was present again this close to him, but it was almost nice, and Jonathan took the way his heart was beating a little faster now as a good sign. "You came."

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quitemagical
2016-11-06 02:15 am UTC (link)

When Jonathan turned to speak to the woman that he'd been meant to marry, to look at her instead of keeping his gaze locked on Abraxas, he felt his heart drop somewhere down into his gut. He'd thought... he'd hoped that was enough, that Jonathan felt as he did and would step forward, would ignore what was expected of him and come to Abraxas. What they'd do once he got there, Abraxas didn't know... alright, that was a lie, he knew exactly what he wanted to happen once Jonathan got there. As ridiculous as it was, as much as Abraxas didn't believe that true love could be anything so easy as meeting a person and simply getting along with them well enough that you knew it was meant to last until the end of your life, he wanted Jonathan to come kiss him, for the curse to be broken and for everyone to know that he was Jonathan's true love, not some princess he barely knew.

Of course Jonathan didn't feel the same way. Of course that ridiculous hope was doomed to be disappointed. Abraxas still didn't regret it, didn't regret knowing for an absolute fact that Jonathan didn't feel the same, so that he didn't have to wonder for the rest of his life... Abraxas's, not Jonathan's, because he had a distinct feeling that the question, the thought that if only he'd tried it might have turned out differently, would have lingered long past when Jonathan was old and gray and then in the ground. Morbid, but it was something that you got used to, as a warlock. As an underworldling who associated with other people, with people who lived and died in a fraction of the time that Abraxas had already lived before he even found someone worth the risk of the pain that came with rejection, when what they were rejecting was tender feelings, not sex.

Except... Jonathan was turning again, after his hushed conversation with the princess at his side (she was pretty, of course she was pretty, she and Jonathan would make beautiful little princes and princesses), turning and looking back toward Abraxas, and now the princess was looking at him, too, looking at him with something that looked almost like understanding. He couldn't handle her sympathy, if that was what she was offering. The last thing he wanted was the sympathy of the woman who would have what he wanted for the next few decades, and she wasn't even his true love. Not that he was resentful of her, of course. Only a little bit. Entirely. He was entirely jealous, and it made him sick.

Jonathan was moving then, though, walking away from her and toward Abraxas, and his heart had never gotten this much of a workout before, because it lifted right out his stomach and soared up to somewhere in his throat, watching Jonathan brush past his mother, cut her off with a single word and continue walking away from the altar, away from the future that his parents had planned for him, and toward Abraxas. The smile on his face as he looked at him was beautiful enough to be infuriating. Abraxas would hate that perfect face, if he wasn't quite so fond of it. Jonathan stopped too close, but still not close enough. It wouldn't be close enough unless they were touching, though, in Abraxas's opinion. They'd spent long enough, in his opinion, dancing around the facts. He would be more than happy to get to the good parts, now.

"I had to come." That came out wrong, Abraxas thought, like it was some sort of obligation for him to be there. He shook his head, shook it off. "There's nowhere else I'd want to be." Nowhere but with Jonathan, even if they were in the last place that Abraxas would have chosen for this. Somewhere private would have been better, or at least somewhere that didn't include a woman in an ornate wedding gown, one that was made to be the perfect complement to Jonathan's suit. Certainly one that didn't include Jonathan's mother would have been preferable... but if Jonathan was there, Abraxas would be, too. Abraxas would have followed him into the depths of hell itself, if it meant that he had a chance to see Jonathan looking at him, smiling at him, like that.

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takemystrength
2016-11-11 07:10 pm UTC (link)

Jonathan's heart was beating so loudly in his chest that for a few seconds after, he thought it might have some sort of fit. That, accompanied by the sudden sweating of his palms and the nervous jitter in the pit of his stomach made it entirely impossible for him to say anything at first in response to Abraxas. To even hear his voice had Jonathan's heart leaping from his chest into his throat, the actual words he said causing Jonathan to swallow and falter, though not because he was suddenly unsure of himself. He was speechless in the wake of this thing that was happening between them, this thing that somehow felt bigger than himself, almost.

It hadn't been something he'd done on purpose. Obviously. He'd never set out to fall for Abraxas. Jonathan had never even entertained the possibility that he might one day fall in love with a man, let alone a warlock and an underworldling. Not because Jonathan had any kind of problem with it, it just wouldn't have ever occurred to him before, never actually considered it as a viable option. Especially when he was more or less confined to the castle with little chance to meet anyone outside of it that his parents didn't arrange for him to meet first, and the people he met, Jonathan had definitely never felt this way about. Not like how he knew he felt about Abraxas now.

Before he'd met Abraxas, he'd never met anyone else like him. There was no one else like Abraxas, and not just because he was a powerful warlock who also happened to be kind, and didn't care that Jonathan spent his nights as a horse. Abraxas was unlike anyone else simply because Jonathan loved him. And there was a small hope rising steadily in his chest now that maybe Abraxas felt the same way. The initial response that Abraxas 'had to come' didn't sound like an obligation to him, except maybe in the most romantic of sentiments. That maybe Abraxas was so powerless against what was happening between them, right under Jonathan's nose before he actually stopped to notice, that he couldn't have stayed away even if he'd tried. At least, that's how Jonathan was hoping he meant it.

Everything stopped after that, for Jonathan, making the world around them slowly fade away and he stopped noticing everyone and everything else. Gazing at Abraxas, Jonathan noticed for maybe not the first time, but the first time he was letting himself acknowledge that he was noticing it, just how stunning the warlock before him was. His perfect skin and eyes like deep pools of brown, nearly black, that you could just get lost in. Not as dark as his hair, which was just a little bit too long to be acceptable for a man to wear in Idris, but Jonathan liked it. On impulse, he almost reached out and touched a strand, but he didn't, only because there was something else he wanted to do even more. Well, there were two things he wanted to do.

One was a lingering, nagging question that a small part of him wanted to ask Abraxas why he'd come, why he didn't want to be anywhere else, but the larger part of Jonathan didn't think he needed to ask. He sincerely doubted that Abraxas had come back all this way because he just had to watch Jonathan marry someone else. Abraxas had come for the same reasons that Jonathan had just abandoned his bride-to-be at the altar, or Jonathan hoped they were the same reasons. He almost opened his mouth to ask, but instead of words coming out, Jonathan leaned in impulsively to close the distance between them, grabbing hold of the open collar of the warlock's shirt and capture Abraxas's mouth in a gentle, but eager first kiss.

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quitemagical
2016-11-13 07:44 pm UTC (link)

Logically, Abraxas had known where there was leading. Known that there was only one place for himself and Jonathan, one way that this would end. Abraxas had come back, had dared the queen's temper to see if, maybe, Jonathan might feel the same way about him that he had begun to feel about Jonathan. Jonathan had left his bride-to-be at the altar because... Abraxas didn't know the because of it, they hadn't had the time to have an extended conversation about it, but he'd walked away from her and come to Abraxas, chosen Abraxas, instead. There weren't any logical explanations for that, other than that Jonathan returned his feelings, that Jonathan wanted Abraxas more than he wanted to make his parents proud.

He was still surprised when Jonathan kissed him.

Admittedly, the way that the prince had leaned in, had reached for him, really ought to have given him plenty of warning, but Abraxas felt almost as if his brain was two steps behind his body, now, that he hadn't quite caught up with the enormity of what he'd done, of what Jonathan had done. Of what was happening between them, at that moment, that frozen moment where it seemed as if everyone in the entire world had fallen away. His body knew entirely what it ought to be doing, though, how it ought to be responding to Jonathan's lips gentle against his own. He tilted his head into it, eyes drifting closed, lips soft and willing beneath Jonathan's. He didn't try to take the kiss over, even though he was certain he was, technically, far more skilled in the art of it. That didn't matter. This was their first kiss. This was Jonathan stating his case, making his point to anyone who would deny that this was something he meant.

His hands rose to cup the backs of Jonathan's arms, just above his elbows, wordless support of Jonathan's grip on him. He didn't care that it would wrinkle his clothing, didn't care that it was, perhaps, not the most dignified way to be held by a man whose lips were currently pressed tenderly against one's own. It was still Jonathan holding on to him, in perhaps the only way he felt comfortable with doing so, at the moment. That was entirely fine, in Abraxas's mind, entirely acceptable that Jonathan do whatever he was comfortable with, only what he was comfortable with, just so long as he did something, as long as he held on to Abraxas in some undeniable way, some way that everyone could see. Could realize that this was the prince making his claim on the person that he wanted.

The kiss, the enthusiastic press of Jonathan's lips against his, was like a buzz under his skin, a warmth that trickled from the back of his throat down to tickle his chest. Abraxas had kissed, and been kissed, but he had never been kissed like this. He had never been kissed in a way that felt as though it meant something. As though there was more to it than just a kiss, more to it than a brazen declaration that this was the reason Jonathan wasn't getting married. It was a promise, he thought. Hoped. A promise that Jonathan wouldn't regret this. That he thought that, perhaps, Abraxas was worth ruining his reputation over. Worth possibly giving up the chance of a cure for his curse for.

That Abraxas could, maybe, be the cure, instead, could be the true love that his parents had sought for him in the sort of princess that would have been suited to be seen on their son's arm.

It didn't matter, to Abraxas, if he wasn't Jonathan's 'true love', if he could never be his true love. If he could never break his curse. All he wanted was Jonathan, in any way he could have him... no, not in any way he could have him. Abraxas knew, as he leaned in, let his lips fall just a breath apart, that he wouldn't be content with just a night, with just scraps, from Jonathan. He wanted all of him. He wanted him for as long as he could possibly have him.

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takemystrength
2016-11-22 05:29 am UTC (link)

At first, all Jonathan felt was the kiss. Everything else around them had faded into the background, he wasn't seeing anything else, hearing anything else, he wasn't thinking about anything else. Maybe he should have been. Some part of Jonathan was still aware that they were in a room full of wedding guests, Jonathan's parents and the woman he had been about to marry just a few minutes ago. He should have been more aware of that, and maybe he would have been, if it weren't for the fact that Abraxas had consumed nearly every thought in his head, and all Jonathan could think to do in that moment was the one thing he'd been secretly wanting to do since... maybe even the first day they'd met.

The kiss was soft, at first. Incredibly soft. Nothing urgent about it, which was fine, for their first kiss. Their first kiss together, and Jonathan's first kiss with a man. Jonathan hadn't known what to expect, when he leaned in to kiss Abraxas, but even if he had expected anything, the actual reality of kissing the warlock would have far surpassed anything that Jonathan's imagination could have come up with. It consumed every fiber of his being, lit him up from the inside out, and humbled him all at once the more he pressed into the kiss, matching Abraxas's head tilt with one of his own. Jonathan had kissed women before, and been kissed by them, but he knew in that moment that none of them had ever felt quite like this. None of them could even compare.

Everything else was essentially white noise to Jonathan, but he was hyper aware of Abraxas's touch, where his hands were on Jonathan's body. Hands on a person's arms wasn't exactly the most exciting place you could put your hands on someone, but to Jonathan, nothing had ever been more exciting than Abraxas touching him, it didn't matter how or where. The grip Abraxas had on him only made Jonathan hold onto the warlock a little tighter, fingers curling into his collar as Jonathan leaned more into the kiss too. He didn't try to deepen it, this wasn't the place for that, but his lips pulled slowly and gently at Abraxas's, causing a shiver to run up his spine the longer their mouths stayed slotted together in a way that made Jonathan's insides ache and heat up.

A hush had fallen over the guests, which Jonathan honestly hadn't noticed at first, but he did notice when a collective gasp started to ripple through the crowd. It took a moment for him to connect that with what was happening to him physically, which he also hadn't realized was happening at first. He'd been so caught up in the kiss that he'd assumed everything he'd been feeling was perfectly normal when engaged in this kind of lip lock, and just the result of a phenomenal first kiss. Maybe most of it still was, since despite everything else going on, Jonathan was melting further and further into the pleasant warmth of Abraxas's lips. But there was also something strange that was starting to happen...

While Jonathan was busy kissing Abraxas, there were two other things happening that he hadn't yet noticed, aside from the various reactions of the wedding guests. For one thing, it was officially after sundown. For another, he was... glowing. Not obnoxiously enough that people had to shield their eyes, it was more of a faint glowing on his skin that soon became obvious how unnatural it was. Jonathan only noticed because of the gradual tingling that was starting to spread throughout his body, and he finally broke the kiss on a sharp breath, looking down at himself then in surprise before glancing out the nearby window. Then he looked back down at himself. The sun was down, and he was still human.

Jonathan looked back at Abraxas in wide eyed disbelief, still holding onto the warlock like he didn't want to let him go as he released a shuddering breath and smiled broadly at him. "It was you. You were the one, all along."

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quitemagical
2016-11-26 03:04 am UTC (link)

There was no reason that Abraxas should have been waiting for those words, by any means. He'd never set out with the intention to be someone's 'the one' by any means, he'd never been looking for a one and only, to be someone's one and only. After all, warlocks lived for a very long time. It was unreasonable to think that there would only ever be one person in the entire world that was meant for them, that they could love and be loved by. No, Abraxas hadn't intended to ever be somebody's true love, but when Jonathan said that, when he said that it was Abraxas, as if it couldn't ever have been anybody else, something seemed to fill a part of him that he hadn't even realized, before, was horribly empty. You couldn't miss what you'd never had, Abraxas supposed, and no one had ever looked at him, smiled at him, like Jonathan was right then.

He noticed the fact that the sun was down a second after Jonathan. He was less attuned to it, he supposed. He had less reason to know, to pay attention to, where the sun was in the sky. His magic worked just as well day or night, after all. It did make that little statement make far more sense, though. It was after sundown, and Jonathan was still a man. Jonathan was glowing, as if someone had lit a candle at his core, and he was beautifully human. Well, then, Abraxas supposed he did have a very good reason for that grin outside of the fact that really, it had been an absolutely exceptional first kiss. They might have tripped into this, whatever it was, quickly, but there was no denying that they were very well suited.

It was, perhaps, the least appropriate moment for it, but Abraxas snorted, suddenly amused. "It's a good thing for the floors that I was, wasn't it?" After all, if Jonathan had gone through with the wedding, if he'd spoken his vows to the princess still standing at the altar, watching them, he'd have been clambering down the aisle as a horse after all was said and done. Really, they ought to have been clever enough to hold it outdoors, where it wouldn't matter at all whether Jonathan still happened to turn into a horse after the entire bit with the kissing and the ever after was finished. No trying to parade a horse who was only concerned with horse things through the narrow halways of the castle, something that Abraxas, personally, thought they really ought to be doing their best to avoid.

It didn't matter in the least, now, though. Abraxas didn't even have to use magic to examine Jonathan to be absolutely certain that every last scrap of curse was gone. He did anyway, though, just to be certain, blue fire springing to life around his hands as he moved them over Jonathan's chest again in a now-familiar examination. It was gone, broken, as if there'd never been a curse there in the first place. As if they'd imagined the entire thing, even, and Jonathan had never been a horse to begin with. The check didn't take long, and he didn't tell Jonathan what he'd found. He didn't think he had to, really. Not when the quirk of his lips, small and pleased, said it all for him. Abraxas had promised to break Jonathan's curse, and he had. Perhaps not in the way that anyone had expected. Certainly not in the way that Jonathan's parents had wanted, but it turned out that Abraxas really was a warlock of his word. Just because they didn't approve of his methods.

"And what do you want to do with your first night as a man in years?" Abraxas would have expected something dirty, from anyone else, but... he imagined there was plenty that Jonathan had missed out on. Plenty that he wanted to try, that he wanted to catch up on. Besides, they'd only just had their first kiss, and Abraxas supposed that, if he were going to be a prince's true love, he ought to practice being a gentleman. Particularly since he was already on the bad side of his lover's parents. Not that they could do all that much about it, of course. Not with the very public display of curse breaking that they'd just put on. In some ways, Abraxas thought, they were absolutely safe from that interference.

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takemystrength
2016-12-01 02:59 pm UTC (link)

The plan to hold the wedding an hour before sundown had of course been his parent's bright idea. A little misguided, considering there was no guarantee that things would pan out the way they had hoped when Jonathan and Lydia said their 'I do's' before sharing their first kiss as husband and wife. Their idea to hold the wedding then was shamelessly optimistic, so sure they were that the woman they'd already chosen for Jonathan before this whole mess even started would somehow be the one. Because of course she was, after all, who else could it be? His parents always did know what was best.

In this case, that couldn't have been farther from the truth. The spell on Jonathan had indeed been broken before the sun had set, but it hadn't been broken by the woman he'd been about to marry, as everyone had clearly been expecting it would be. In a socking turn of events, his true love had ended up being the charming, enigmatic warlock with golden eyes who Jonathan had only known for the span of about a week, but in that week, he'd managed to fall in love so completely that Jonathan didn't think he would have been satisfied with anyone else if Abraxas somehow hadn't turned out to be the one.

As a young man, Jonathan had never spent much time thinking about things like true love and forever. Those seemed like such abstract concepts to him, too intangible to be at all real. The idea that there was one person in the entire world who was meant for you, and only you? The world was a pretty big place, and Jonathan had always fallen more on the practical side of things. It just didn't seem possible that the one person you were supposed to be with could just show up out of the blue one day, sit down beside you in the courtyard to talk about nothing, and everything at the same time.

Jonathan laughed in response, and merely nodding in agreement at first. Had the kiss not done its job and Jonathan had still turned into a horse at sundown, he would have made a mess of the inside of this chapel, which either hadn't occurred to his parents or it had, and they'd decided that the upset was worth the risk, as long as they got their 'dream royal wedding'. Theirs, not Jonathan's. Nothing about this wedding had been about what Jonathan wanted, only what they had wanted, for him and themselves. What Jonathan wanted was right here in his hands. Which reminded Jonathan, as he stood there comfortably, gazing at Abraxas while the warlock's hands spread blue fire over his chest area, like they were already intimately familiar with each other. What did he want to do now? He had an answer for Abraxas, but he had something he needed to say to everyone else first.

"I choose him." Jonathan turned so he was clearly addressing the whole room, but specifically his parents, who were now standing side by side at the altar, looking shell shocked. Jonathan didn't care, and he held his chin up high. He was still the same prince he had been before the curse had been broken, only now he was going to be king, and that meant he had a say in his future, and who he spent it with. "If anyone has a problem with that, feel free to leave." Including his parents, but Jonathan had a feeling they would cave eventually. Turning back to Abraxas, Jonathan smiled again, more hesitantly. He was nervous. "Do you... want to take a walk?"

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quitemagical
2016-12-03 10:59 pm UTC (link)

As far as declarations went, Abraxas had really thought the kiss was enough to prove that point, about him being Jonathan's choice. After all, there weren't many gestures clearer than leaving your bride-to-be at the altar to go kiss the man who'd crashed your wedding. There weren't that many ways that could be interpreted, so far as he was aware... but then again, he supposed it could have been merely a declaration that Jonathan preferred men, and men alone, and wouldn't be marrying any princesses at all. It was a statement that, under other circumstances, he'd have been more than happy to help someone as attractive as Jonathan make, without it meaning anything more than that. Under these circumstances, though, being the tool used for that sort of announcement without it including some sort of specific choice of him, as well, would have been... devastating.

It was a very good thing that he didn't have to deal with that, wasn't it? Abraxas wasn't precisely the best at handling the more tender emotions, in general, but specifically the painful ones. He did have a tendency to brood about it, and brooding, while as attractive on him as everyone else, caused wrinkles. Call him vain, and he wouldn't even begin to argue that point, but Abraxas would prefer to avoid wrinkles. He'd be wearing his skin for a very long time, after all, and he hadn't had to resort to any cosmetic charms or magic salves yet. He didn't intend to start doing so now. It was a matter of pride, honestly, and he wasn't ashamed of it in the least.

Still... even though it was probably clear enough even without the words, it gave Abraxas a thrill to hear them. Jonathan chose him, and he wanted to make absolutely sure that there was no misinterpretation of it. Why else would he have made a point of announcing it, instead of letting everyone else draw their own conclusions? He let the blue fire linger around his fingers a little longer, even after he pulled them away from Jonathan's chest, leaving absolutely no doubt about that particular fact, either. He was the one that the prince had chosen, and he was a warlock. An underworldling, banished from their lands, but there couldn't be any more banishing now, could there?

Of course, that hadn't been any part of Abraxas's intentions, in these feelings that had built between himself and Jonathan. He imagined there'd be whispers about it, suspicions, that he'd done something to lure Jonathan in, to make him love him, to gain some sort of special rights for underworldlings. To make some sort of point. And while it wasn't beyond some underworldlings, it wasn't the sort of game that Abraxas would play. Sex, yes, but love... there was no such thing as a love spell. Not really. There were lust spells, spells to cause obsessions, but it wouldn't fool anything so deeply seated as a curse that struck the heart. Not that he'd expected anyone from Idris to understand.

It didn't matter. It didn't matter that there would be problems, that there would be people constantly questioning whether what Jonathan felt for Abraxas was real. That there would probably be dozens of people poking and prodding, trying to figure out of he'd somehow enchanted Jonathan, and that didn't matter to Abraxas in the least. He'd put up with all of them, for Jonathan's sake. For their sake. He smiled back at Jonathan, his own far less hesitant, far less nervous... then again, he was far more used to expressing affection for another man in public. He reached out, took Jonathan's hands in his, and squeezed, gently. "I'd love to."

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takemystrength
2016-12-04 11:25 pm UTC (link)

No one actually responded to him, which Jonathan had more or less expected. They had all heard him, he'd been speaking loudly enough that there was no way anyone hadn't. He imagined that most of the guests were waiting to take their cues from the king and queen, and react accordingly, but the king and queen were a little too busy staring at their only son with jaws dropped, very clearly still in shock. Jonathan could only assume it was bad enough that his mother had gone into some kind of catatonic state, because normally, she'd never be so off her guard that she completely forgot about being a good hostess.

Jonathan had been nervous about how they'd react, but their silence didn't seem quite as bad as the other scenarios that had popped into his head. Anger, yelling, commanding him to either finish the wedding ceremony and take Lydia as his wife or just screaming at him to get out, that he was no longer their son. That would have hurt, Jonathan couldn't pretend that it wouldn't, but he had changed. He had changed when he'd been put under the curse, and he'd changed again when he met Abraxas. He wasn't the same person he was before the curse, and he wasn't content to only live the life that his parents had wanted for him anymore.

If that meant leaving the kingdom and being stripped of his title, Jonathan would have accepted that consequence, he thought, because being without a throne sounded better than being forced to live a lie, and unhappy for the rest of his life. If his parents had told him to leave, Jonathan would have left. At least he would have been leaving with Abraxas, if that were the case. They could go anywhere, do anything. Without all of the responsibilities of a king, they would have no one to answer to, no ties keeping them to a single place. When Jonathan thought of it that way, he didn't hate the idea. It actually sounded pretty nice.

Assuming Abraxas would want to travel the world with him, maybe he was jumping the gun a little in assuming that he would. The way that he'd kissed Jonathan just now, the prince was pretty sure he would have had a good chance at convincing him. But Jonathan wasn't being shouted at to leave. His parents were speechless, but glancing at his father again, he thought he could already see the lines of his face softening under the weight of the truth about his son. Jonathan would still be king, and Abraxas... there was time to talk about what Abraxas would want, but Jonathan had already been pretty clear about how he saw things with his abrupt announcement. If Abraxas wanted a place at his side, it was his.

He turned his full attention to the warlock again. His parents could tend to the guests, who were still sitting around awkwardly, but there was already a low buzzing of excited, hushed conversation rippling through the room as everyone fully caught up with what was happening. The prince had just kissed an underworldling and, presumably, taken him as his intended. This would mean major changes to come in the kingdom and with Idris-Underworldling relations, but for right now? Jonathan just wanted to take a walk with the warlock who had changed everything for him. He squeezed Abraxas's hand and held onto it as he moved them towards the doors, giving no more glances or thought to the other people in that room. "Have you ever seen the lake at night? It's beautiful."

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quitemagical
2016-12-06 10:48 pm UTC (link)

They were getting out of this entirely too easy, in Abraxas's opinion. Yes, yes, they'd created plenty of drama with that kiss. He doubted that anyone else would happen to think of the entire situation as anything resembling easy, even though there was no one springing into the way, trying to keep them from leaving as Jonathan started tugging them toward the door. Not that Abraxas was complaining, of course. He had no desire to deal with anything else, any more stress that might happen to get between himself and Jonathan, that night. Still, he couldn't quite believe that Jonathan was his. Tentatively his. It had been a kiss of true love, a kiss that could break a curse, but that didn't necessarly mean that Jonathan was going to continue feeling that way forever.

Or perhaps Abraxas was so used to nothing going his way easily, to having to fight for everything that he gained, and pretend that the ones he lost didn't bother him nearly as much as they did, that he simply couldn't comprehend something going well for once. That seemed equally likely, knowing himself as well as he did. He imagined that anyone else he knew would probably agree that it was a very strong possibility, him making this far harder on himself, in his head, than it really needed to be, now that he'd won the fair prince and they were... something. Something that they hadn't defined, which really didn't bother Abraxas all that much. They'd be whatever Jonathan was comfortable with them being, for now.

Abraxas wasn't an idiot, after all. He couldn't possibly expect Jonathan to be instantly comfortable with loving a man, with loving an underworldling. No matter how promising the start of them seemed, he'd have to give him his space, let him come to terms with it at his own pace, now that the grand, dramatic reveal was over. To a certain point, anyway. Abraxas also knew there might be a point where, for both their sake, he had to push.

"I haven't," he told Jonathan. He hadn't really gone sightseeing, while he'd been there. All his attention had been focused on Jonathan, to the exclusion of anything else that might have caught his interest. Really, he probably should have known far sooner that Jonathan was going to be something special to him. There was very little in the world that could capture Abraxas's attention in full, to the point where it wouldn't wonder because he'd gotten a little bored with what he was doing. "I was a little busy with the attractive palace scenery I came here for." Jonathan, obviously. That was the only scenery that Abraxas had really needed, for his visit, or for the rest of the time he'd be there.

There was plenty of time to appreciate the rest of it now, though, even if he'd rather continue to appreciate Jonathan. That was entirely alright. After all, a beautiful lake in the moonlight sounded terribly romantic, and the absolute perfect place for a second kiss. One that they didn't have to worry about offending any spectators with. Not that Abraxas really thought they'd get carried away just because they happened to be kissing next to a beautiful, romantic, moonlit lake, but these things happened, especially when you were young (in Jonathan's case) and in true love. Abraxas just wanted to show him the best experience of realizing he loved a man possible. "I can't wait to see it."

A stroll by a moonlit lake, a kiss... and a prince who had chosen him. Abraxas couldn't think of a single more magical moment in his life, and he hadn't had to cast a single spell to make it happen.

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