Advances

[Existentially Odd]

As much as Lam liked being close to Kysis and trying to help him sort his feelings out, her body couldn\'t have cared less.  In fact, the longer she was away from finishing her food, the more violently opposed to behaving it became.  With a heavy sigh, she kissed the corner of Kysis\' mouth and began moving back to her former position, so that she could continue eating.

"I love you, Kysis," she said apologetically, "but this son of yours is demanding more food and I\'d rather not heave up all the effort I\'ve already made."  The words were out before she\'d given them much thought and she sat down against her pillow leaning on the headboard with a little thump and a few blinks of surprise.  She\'d only recently come to the conclusion that she had to be pregnant because her body surely wouldn\'t keep throwing challenges at her in her current state of misery over her job and exclusion from the palace - she wouldn\'t be that cruel to herself.

Suddenly, she seemed to have decided she had a boy inside her and had labelled it \'son\'... which had to be the most wonderful and eerie thing she\'d ever said in her life.  She looked at Kysis blankly, wondering if it was just her that had heard that weird little word and felt... like this.

After the stress of serving Lam and Kysis, the guards were a dream to please (though, as always, he felt slightly inferior towards Rico when the food the Greek produced was met with vocal enthusiasm) and Matthew relaxed through the serving.  When his housemate asked him to eat with him, he agreed, following the Greek man\'s lead with the pita bread (which he rather liked, despite not being much of a fan of the yoghurt).

Matthew leaned against the counter Rico was sitting on, envying him his litheness and standing close enough so that his hip was against the brunette\'s knee.  He watched his handsome face as they ate, feeling that he probably shouldn\'t just be admiring the man\'s bone structure, he rally should be talking - but about what?

"So... do you think you want to stay and help me clean or are you feeling confident enough that Kysis isn\'t going to evict you that you could work on lunch?"  He would like Rico\'s company while cleaning but they\'d never really divvied that job up - Rico was usually the one going to the markets to pick up the mysterious ingredients he\'d need for the next couple of meals while Matthew stayed back and attended to the house.

[Kysis]

"That\'s fine." Kysis spoke in a detached, still hushed manner, eyes distant, until the word son registered with him.  His sapphire eyes came into focus, registering the mostly uneaten food before him until he slowly swiveled his head, looking first at Lam\'s belly before looking up at her face.  There was a question in his eyes, and a sparkle of hope.  Kysis felt rude just staring, having to voice it, not moving from his lock with Lam\'s eyes while doing so.

"You can tell?"

Kysis had no clue about these things, so he was completely bewildered by the statement.  When his mother had been pregnant with Alia, she had been locked inside her office for the most part, so Kysis had never heard a peep from her.  And when Calista was (probably still is, now that he thought about it) pregnant, Kysis had not been around enough to inadvertantly hear anything.  So, clueless, Kysis just stared at his fiancé.


"They didn\'t seem too bothered by my presence, so I can help wherever you want me." Rico grinned as he mixed the yogurt and honey together with a rough edge of pita, taking a bite and savoring it.  He gave a sideways glance at Matthew, nudging his knee against his new friend.  Was friend the appropriate term?  It seemed like Matthew was still interested, so the title had probably transfered to lover now.  Thinking of Matthew that way would take a lot of getting used to.

"What would you like me to do?" Rico was playing with his sentences, just to see what Matthew had to say.  It was an interesting game.  Let\'s push this button and see what happens... Rico had always gotten in trouble doing things like that, but... Tiberius and Ryos were far, far away now and could not harp at him for such things anymore.  Rico, now that he was getting food and was more woken up, was in a playful mood, and it glimmered mischievously in his eyes.

[Existentially Odd]

Lam pulled a bemused face and shook her head.  "No, I... I\'m not sure why I said that, actually.  It just sort of popped out.  I won\'t know what it is until... well, until it comes out, basically," she answered sheepishly, feeling slightly embarrassed by her labelling.  Embarrassed and curious, now...

"I hope it is a boy though," she admitted, "do you?"  She took amouthful of cool porridge as she waited for Kysis\' answer.  Up to this point, all they\'d really talked about was the worry of her dying during childbirth - it was a nice change to start thinking about the baby now.

Matthew\'s grin was slow but understanding as he felt Rico\'s nudge and watched the brunette ask what Matthew desired.  Cheeky.  The blonde realised the insinuation and a thrill of awareness went through him that couldn\'t be quickly tamed.  In fact, his imagination was running positively wild as he thought of all the secluded rooms or hideaway niches in the manor.  They were a pain to keep clean but they would be quite delightful to sneak a kiss... or a touch... in.

"I\'d... like you near me," he answered quietly, his voice rather husky as he thought of shadowed corner after deserted room that needed cleaning.  "Just in case I need an extra pair of... hands," he smirked, his gaze roving from Rico\'s hands to his crotch and then upwards to his deep brown eyes.

[Kysis]

In all actuality, he would be happy with either.  However, that was not what came out of his lips. "Yes.  That\'d be nice..." There was a quiet happiness in his voice, the type that had a smile inching onto his lips.  For some reason he had been thinking on that a lot lately, though he had not mentioned it to Lam, considering baby names.  If it ended up a girl, he really wanted to name her Pandora.  Kysis did not know why.  In Greek myth, Pandora was not exactly smiled on, but still.  It just... wouldn\'t leave his head.  For boy names, Kysis could have sworn Lam already said something about that.  He was mentally kicking himself for not remembering.

Of course, his parents wouldn\'t be happy if it was anything but a boy, a masculine, strong, smart boy.  They had a lot more expectations than that, which Kysis tried keeping out of mind.  Worrying about them AND Lam at the same time would be a bit too much for now.  When they had the baby, then there could be worrying.


Rico bit his lip, laughing lightly.  Matthew was a lot more frisky than he would have expected.  The first time Rico had ever been intimate with someone (in this Kysis was not first) like with Matthew, Rico had locked himself in a room the day after and just stared at the wall, thinking through it all.  It was not a surprise when he came to the realization that he felt no attraction, what so ever, to girls.  He had pondered the sensations and what caused each of them for a week before jumping back into the arena.

But Matthew was an entirely different person.  He had to keep that in mind, Matthew being different than anyone Rico had dealt with before.  Rico grinned at Matthew, having forgotten the awkward confrontation of earlier already.  "I guess I can stay then.... but we do have to get some work done, or they\'ll be suspicious."  Rico gave a little laugh again,  imagining that line of questioning.  

So, you two have been here all day.  Why are the dishes still out?  And the shelves not dusted?  And why is the only clean spot that corner in the closet?

Rico really needed to contain his mirth at the thought.  The voice he tacked to the words almost had him rolling though, Rico still chewing lightly at his lip to keep it back.  It was going to be a fun day.  The first fun day in a long while.

[Existentially Odd]

She laughed wryly, adding an off-handed comment once she\'d finished her mouthful.  "Better a boy than a girl that might turn out like me," she muttered self-deprecatingly, knowing that the two of them were unlikely to be able to raise anything but a warrior easily.  Still, her life had been hard and she wouldn\'t curse anyone with her lot if she could help it, especially her own daughter.  Considering how everything had ended up for her, she was far too depressed to see what she\'d amounted to as anything but a failure and her tone implied that exactly.

Matthew glancd pointedly around the kitchen.  "I suppose we should start with washing up," he offered, wishing he was worldly enough to make a comment about things being dirty in there - which ran through his mind but would never cross his lips - and simply moving away with an enigmatic smile instead.  "Where we finish up... well, we\'ll get to that in time," he said with a nod and moved away to begin work.  Like Rico, he knew it was going to be the most fun he\'d had in a long time.

[Kysis]

"Oh, Lam..." Kysis gave her a gentle nudge, as to not upset her delicate stomach in the gesture.  He gave her one of those looks, a look which said \'you know that would not be a bad thing, stop killing yourself with it\'.  He put down his pita, which was growing colder by the second (cold pita wasn\'t bad with the yogurt, though). "Any child you raise would turn out great."

He really meant it, too.  Kysis thought Lam would make a great mother.  She cared about everyone, and had a strong moral compass.  She was loving, compassionate.  What else could a child wish for?  Kysis had wished his mother had at least had a little less of an ice heart, but he would not be the same person without her, so he forgave her.  Some people were just meant to be strict.  It built character.

"Have you been.... thinking about names at all?"  Kysis asked because he knew he had been.


Rico knew the guards would be bringing back their dishes soon, so that meant keeping it clean for the moment.  Washing dishes sounded good.  Rico helped round up all the cooking items and plates which had been used already before volunteering to draw water for the washing.  It was still a bit crisp outside, but Rico liked it.  An early morning work-out was good, all the more since he wanted to take a bath later.  Mmm, a bath with Matthew would be even better than just a bath alone.  Perhaps he would ask about that later?

Soon he brought the washing water in. "The guards should be done eating any moment now." Rico knew their schedules well, all the more since he had lived amongst them for a while.  Kysis was taking surprisingly long with his food, but that was just fine.  Rico did not want to talk to or see the Lord Liari at the moment.

[Existentially Odd]

Lam looked surprised because she was.  "No," she answered honestly, "I\'ve only just begun to believe that it\'s actually a baby doing these things to my body, rather than some illness.  I haven\'t been brave enough to think ahead that far... have you?" she enquired, tilting her head curiously.  The thought of him contemplating baby names filled her with an excited warmth she really liked the feel of.

It was a lot better than feeling like death warmed over because she couldn\'t stop thinking of what she\'d lost, that was for sure.

While Rico had been gathering water, Matthe whad been thinking and feeling somewhat guilty for tying Rico to his side.  His expression was almost apologetic as he voiced his thoughts then.  "Do you want to go to the markets and get ingredients for the lunch, then?  I think everyone around here seems to appreciate your cooking more than mine - seeing as I haven\'t quite got teh hang of it all yet," he demurred feeling slightly embarrassed that he wasn\'t as good as Rico at keeping the manor residents happy, but not resenting the man\'s skill at all.  If anything, he envied it.

[Kysis]

"Yes." Kysis admitted sheepishly, smiling just slightly, down at his food.  He hadn\'t been able to stop himself from thinking about it, in all reality.  Those sudden spurts of thought about a name came at the most random times, too.  He had been helping a young woman pick out a dagger when the name Pandora just popped into his head and would not leave again.  Rico had to finish up the sale as Kysis contemplated it, no longer able to concentrate on his job.

The wedding had been much the same way.  Kysis had never been to a wedding before, or asked anyone what they were like, how they were supposed to be.  He had no idea what the traditions were in his own country, much less how they would be in the far north.  Oh dear, that had his mind swirling in circles again.  Rico was completely forgotten at his point in time.  He was a touch nervous about the wedding.  They weren\'t public things, like the succession ceremony had been in Greece, right?  That thought had him even more nervous.

He\'d better not think about it too much.


Rico was a bit surprised by the question, blinking a few times while staring rather blankly at Matthew.  Liked Rico\'s food better?  Bah.  Sometimes the ratty old security blanket was nice, but they hardly liked it better. "I haven\'t been here in a while.  However, I\'ve heard Alex say more than once that he\'s really liking the food here.  Yes, they like Greek every so often, but new flavors are always welcome."

At that Rico gave Matthew a reassuring kiss.  It was nice, just being able to kiss someone whenever he really felt like it.  Rico wanted to deepen the kiss, but could hear the guards heading back up, breaking it off and going back to cleaning.  The guards thanked Rico, giving mock salutes to the former soldier and setting their plates by the wash bin.  Rico let out a nervous laugh. "And they can get an easy out on practicing their English if I\'m always here."  Which was true.  English was coming hard for most of them.  Well, except for Alex, who threw himself at the language all the more after Alia died.

[Existentially Odd]

Lam scooped the last of her porridge into her mouth and smiled as she set the tray aside for the last time, putting it on the floor so they could have the bed free.  She made a beckoning gesture to Kysis that would hopefully see him come up and lay beside her on his pillow again, once his meal was done.

"Apart from wishing to call a boy Gwilym, to continue the family tradition - though you may well argue that when you meet my father, with good reason," she muttered wryly, "I hadn\'t thought on it.  What names have you thought about?"

Matthew was left dazed and worshipful after Rico kissed him and he knew he wouldn\'t amount to much while the Greek man was around to distract him like that.  Plus, he appreciated the lengths the brunette had gone to to reassure him that his contribution in the house was valued; the Rico prior to their night together certainly wouldn\'t have done that, it only made him feel even more enamoured with the man.

"Well then maybe we\'ll give the ground floor a once-over with the dusting cloths and then go to the markets together?" the blonde offered, figuring that if they hadn\'t got to the markets straight away in the morning, it wouldn\'t matter when they eventually did go there to get their vegetables.  His gaze was openly yearning as he watched Rico (while ostensibly doing the washing up), wanting more contact with the man but unable to bring himself to initiate it.

[Kysis]

Ah yes, Kysis remembered now, the family tradition for male names.  He would be perfectly fine with allowing that to go, all the more considering his own family had no traditional names.  However, that girl name kept popping into his head.  As much as he wanted a son (and he really did) that was the only name coming to mind.

"For some reason, I can\'t get the name Pandora out of my mind.  I don\'t know why, it has just been bothering me lately."

That was the truth, plain and simple.  It had been bugging the living Hades out of him.  Pandora.  Maybe it was just a subconscious fear of all the things a child would let loose on their life?  Kysis had no clue.  He just knew that he wanted Lam to feel better.  Her being sick so much and worrying so much and the whole thing with the Prince was really trying on Kysis, because he had to watch her suffer (at her own punishment).  Kysis really wanted to get her mind off that.

Now that he thought about it, he never had met Lam\'s father, despite the request to.  Around that same time, Alia had taken a turn for the worst, Kysis forgetting the meeting all together.  It was the wrong time to ask again.


Rico nodded in agreement to the plan, then voicing aloud that it sounded great.  Through all this he helped washing dishes as best as he could without getting in Matthew\'s way, which ended up being just taking the dishes Matthew had finished with to dry and put away.  Every so often Rico nudged Matthew sideways, giving him a look.  That look was playful and teasing.

"After lunch, I was thinking of taking a bath.  Would you like to join me?" Rico hadn\'t thought he would be so blunt about it, considering how Matthew had been so far, but it just came out that way.  With all the water and washing and drying Rico\'s brain kept drifting back to thoughts of being in that large tub with Matthew, and having some fun in the water while getting clean all the same.  Rico liked the thought of washing Matthew, for some reason.  It was an intimate thing, and the asking of it made Rico nervous.

What if Matthew said no?  What if Rico had just scared Matthew right back into his prude, unknowing shell?  What if-- he should just wait and see, otherwise he would what if himself to death.

[Existentially Odd]

"Pandora," Lam repeated, tasting the name quizzically.  "Does it have any special meaning?"  She\'d have thought he might want to name their daughter after his sister - perhaps a second name?  Pandora Alia Liari.  It had a strong sound to it, one she felt she could get used to.  She certainly had no preferences for a girl\'s name and rather hoped she wouldn\'t need one.

Matthew\'s eyes widened (in direct proportion to the amount his heartrate accelerated, it seemed) at the suggestion of a bath with Rico, his mouth suddenly going dry - dry enough that he couldn\'t respond straight away, anyway.  The looks and nudges had been one thing, building him to a more heightened awareness with each one, but this question... Talon but it just about had his brain immediately exploding with possibilities.

"I... would love to but... after lunch?  Wouldn\'t, um, after dinner be better?" he asked quietly, glancing surreptitiously around himself, as if the walls might hear his protest and boo him.  "When we have time to relax and... enjoy it?"  He couldn\'t imagine them cleaning through the morning, preparing lunch and then sneaking back to their place for a bath together.  He didn\'t want to rush something like that, it seemed entirely thrilling.

It suddenly occurred to him that Rico might mean something even more daring - something he didn\'t think he\'d be able to go through with but the Greek man might be able to.  "You do mean a bath at our place... don\'t you?"  The manor was hardly somewhere he could imagine them bathing together but Rico had lived there - better to be certain.

[Kysis]

Kysis actually blushed when asked about the meaning of the name.  Lam wasn\'t going to like this.... finishing the last bite of his yogurt and pita at the same time, Kysis put his tray off to the side.  Normally he would take the trays down immediately for cleaning, but he would rather not walk in on Matthew and Rico again, plus Lam had asked him a question.  No amount of time would make the story any more friendly to name a child by so, he just jumped right into it (once he was laying beside Lam comfortably).

"Well, in Greece, there is a legend about a woman who had a special box given to her by the gods.  And they told Pandora to never open the box.  Out of curiosity, she disobeyed the gods, opened the box, and let out all the evils of the world.  Pandora managed to close the box and seal in the last thing: man\'s hope..... I know.  It\'s a terrible name."

He grumbled the last past, not looking Lam in the face as he said it.  Just saying the story out loud made his heart sink.  It was more than just a terrible name.  It was asking the cosmos to wreak havoc on the so named child\'s life.

"I just can\'t... get it out of my head, for some reason.  Sorry."


"Yes, at the townhouse." Rico grinned and laughed.  Wow.  Rico had not even thought of that.  It seemed like Matthew was catching on. "Though after dinner would be better.  So we can relax and just... unfurl... after all the stress of today.  Take off a little tension." Rico spoke in a low whisper, the last words of it a whisper right in Matthew\'s ear.  Moving away, Rico laughed again.  He hadn\'t felt this good in a while.  And they were almost done with the dishes!  Rico was already drying the last one.  Then they could get to dusting, and the markets, and all that other stuff, and their afternoon.

[Existentially Odd]

For the first time in over a week, Lam laughed.  She snuggled closer to Kysis once he moved up beside her, nestling her head in against his shoulder and curling her arm around him, a leg between his.  Despite the horrific connotations with the name, she found it amusing he would nominate their child to sport it.

"It\'s okay.  You obviously just... like the name.  Pandora Liari has a nice ring to it, though we could shorten it to Pan or Dora for ease.  I just think that it would be a typical name.  I can certainly see any daughter of ours getting into something she\'s not able to handle and messing up the entire world with her mischief.  She can come to you to get her out of it then," the redhead chuckled, feeling much better since she\'d eaten (it was ridiculous how much of a dramatic difference eating food made, really, turning her completely normal in no time - as long as it was the right food) and gave Kysis a squeeze.

Since she was close, she also kissed his nipple and flicked it with her tongue, to prove what a playful mood she\'d suddenly found herself in.  It seemed that the storm clouds of loss and depression were finally clearing away, helped mightily by talking about the subject of their unborn baby (as scary as it also was).  It occurred to her that they hadn\'t done much about the wedding, either, and the season was gradually getting warmer and warmer, signalling that if they wanted it to be during the next moon, they should choose a date.

Matthew\'s eyes widened and he convulsed as those intimate words inspired a shiver to run through him.  All he could do was watch Rico, a slow smile forming in response.  He also set about completing his work this day with renewed vigour.

(Matthew and Rico\'s story continues in \'Alternate Tactics\')

[Kysis]

Kysis could not help but smile at the mention of what kind of trouble a child of theirs would get into.  Kysis himself had gotten into a great deal of trouble as a child, and only half as much trouble as he should have, as he learned very effectively how to sneak around.  That was back in Kreos when he had reason to sneak around and be mischievous, not that teenage boys needed an excuse.  He was older now (not by very much), more mature (he hoped), and thoroughly smitten with this (which his parents had actually approved of).

Before he could make a comment about why it was his duty to get their daughter, if they had one, out of trouble, Kysis felt a shiver run through his nerves, sapphire eyes training downward.

It was good to see Lam was feeling better.  Her depression after the whole Price Mayhew scandal was eating at him, and wanted so badly to help her, to make her feel better, and nothing had seemed to be working until now.

And thinking about the baby growing within her also made Kysis think about the wedding, which they had yet to do anything about, considering the tempest which had erupted around Oberon, staring with Alia\'s worsening condition, her... Kysis still had trouble even thinking that word.  And then the Prince, the Guard.  Everything had been going wrong, and Kysis had been afraid that might continue on with their wedding.

All the more now than before, he wanted this day to be perfect.

"Have you been thinking about dates?"


((sooooo sorry!  If I\'d realized, I totally would have posted way, way sooner.  You should have bugged me about it, a lot, a while ago. *dies*))

[Existentially Odd]

(ooc: I figured you knew and were just uninspired.  It didn\'t need much to finish it and, really, it was so long ago that I\'ve lost the flavour of it and I\'m planning to just skip through all that wedding stuff and take it up to the present, seven months on, her heavily pregnant and them married six months already, okay?)

Even though she\'d only just settled into a cosy position against him, the mention of the other pressing engagement in their lives inspired a sudden burst of energy within her that had her sitting up again, green eyes twinkling to life.  She smiled, seeking his hand with hers and drawing it closer.

"You know, I thought you\'d never ask!" she told him mysteriously, her grin broadening.  And with that, she dragged him out of the bed, got them both dressed and headed downstairs to his office so she could launch her ideas and they could write down what decisions they came to.

It was time to get this wedding planned and done... for the baby was looking like a good chance to beat it, if they didn\'t get their act together!