emirandivan: (Default)
[personal profile] emirandivan
First posted here

“Emir,” someone was whispering, very close to his ear. Emir stirred, disorientated. He turned his head on the pillow and opened his eye.

“Hello,” Ivan said. He was sitting up on an elbow looking down at Emir, his hair loose and falling over his shoulders. The soft light from the half-open curtain made his husband look even lovelier than usual.

“Hello,” Emir said. “You look annoyingly well for someone who has slept in their clothes.”

Ivan smiled at that, his eyes crinkling.

“You look well yourself,” he said. “I’m so sorry to wake you, but it’s very late. We both slept like the dead. And it wouldn’t matter at all, but there’s a walk in the gardens arranged for all the guests this morning. Peter wanted an archery competition which we’ll all have stand around in the cold watching, and it’s pointless because no one will dare beat him. But Erden is going to demonstrate his hunting skills with his eagle and I thought you’d quite like that.”

Emir rubbed a hand over his face and sat up. “I would,” he said. He pushed his hair out of his face.

“Does your hair always do that in the morning?” Ivan said, eyes dancing with amusement.

Emir put a tentative hand onto the top of his head. “Oh. Yes. Unless I tame it down a bit then it tries to curl everywhere.”

“Well, it’s lovely,” Ivan said. He didn’t seem to be teasing. He looked at Emir a moment longer then got up.

“We’ll be out in the bloody gardens for two hours at least,” he said with a sigh, gathering up his discarded coat and shoes. “Tell me you’ve mastered the winter underwear, or some very important bits of you might freeze off.”

“Don’t worry,” said Emir, who had finally worked out where he’d been going wrong with it. “There were just some unexpected holes and I kept getting it all tangled, but I know where to…um…align everything now.”

“I’d have happily shown you, you know,” Ivan said, a mischievous expression on his face. “Where to align everything. I’m very good at that.”

Ivan was flirting. There could be no doubt of it, even to someone as unused to these things as Emir was. Not flirting in the way that Kanat did, which usually left him feeling flattered but uncomfortable, and completely out of his depth. This was playful and sweet, like Ivan himself. If only Emir could think of a single response that wasn’t stilted and awkward. The silence lengthened.

“I’m sure you are. Like…like a migrating crane,” Emir said at last. Oh, Gods.

He could almost hear Emira’s reaction all the way from Samatra. “Watching you attempt to flirt is one of the most excruciating things I’ve ever witnessed,” she had told him once, and he couldn’t really argue.

“They’re very good at alignment,” Emir continued valiantly. “When they migrate. It helps them find the…oh, I mean, you don’t look like a crane. I didn’t mean that. Although they’re very beautiful birds really. Very elegant…legs,” he added, as if this helped at all. He looked helplessly at Ivan who seemed to be stifling giggles.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said in a rather strangled voice.

“You should,” Emir said starting to laugh too. “I bet there are all sorts of large migratory birds I can compare you to if I put my mind to it. Really I should write poetry.”

The clock in Emir’s library chimed ten. Ivan groaned. “I do hope someone has left us some breakfast,” he said.

Someone had, and they made short work of it before dressing themselves for the tour of the Palace grounds. Many of the guests seemed tired and less inclined to chat after the Reception the night before, especially with the Queen’s dogs barking incessantly and peeing everywhere. No one attempted to claim Ivan’s attention from Emir at all. They strolled arm in arm through the gardens, chatting idly and marveling at the Midwinter decorations amid the trees.

The archery competition was interminable, but Peter received enough adulation to satisfy even him, and Erden’s demonstration was quite fun. The assembled crowd sat on snow banks heaped with blankets and furs and watched as Erden – looking quite outrageously handsome in his Queen’s Guard uniform – put his eagle through her paces.

The eagle made a sharp dive at one point and then took to the skies again with a small mammal in her talons. With a few waves of his hands, Erden encouraged her to drop it in Ivan’s lap.

Ivan gave a huge shriek and jumped up, shaking the blanket he had been sitting under, and almost knocking Emir flying in the flurry. Emir could see Erden’s shoulders shaking with laughter. The small shrew, having somehow survived all this, darted off into the snow.

“Oh he’s such a dickhead,” Ivan said, after he’d calmed down. “I bet he thought that was terribly funny.” But he was grinning to himself and Erden gave him a cheerily unconcerned wave from where he stood talking with the guard Captain.

“Forgive me Emir, I must talk to him about something,” Ivan said. “I promise it won’t take a moment.”

“Of course,” Emir said.

“Please do wait there, I’ll be back in the blink of an eye,” Ivan assured him.

Emir watched as Ivan joined Erden, so slight and elegant in comparison to the two Guards.

“I thought I would snatch a moment of your attention while his Highness greets his friend,” Kanat said behind him. Emir turned to look up at him, then quickly cast a glance around them.

“Don’t worry, I won’t sit down next to you,” Kanat said. “I just wondered if you had thought any more about what we spoke of before. It has been two days.”

“It’s been a little busy,” Emir said, feeling defensive.

“I understand,” Kanat said. “And yet the people of Altuem will find it harder and harder to wait as winter deepens.”

Emir felt at once frivolous and stupid. “Of course they cannot,” he said. “Tonight is the ball, and after that, perhaps…”

“Ah, the ball,” Kanat said. “At last a use for all those Erensenian dances we were taught at school. Will you promise me a dance, my prince?”

“I don’t think I can,” Emir said. Why must Kanat push and push this way? Ever putting Emir on the wrong foot.

“Not even so much as that?” Kanat said in a low voice.

“I cannot,” Emir said firmly.

“But if you had the choice, would you?” Kanat said.

Emir couldn’t help but glance over to Ivan, who was laughing as Erden let the eagle hop from his forearm to his Captain’s shoulder. The Captain looked a little unnerved but pleased.

“Your silence is my answer,” Kanat said quietly. “You know, I never expected you to fall under his spell quite so thoroughly. But I suppose that many, many others have done the same. I cannot fault you for it.”

“I am not under any spell. He is my husband,” Emir said.

“And you are his. And yet…” Kanat looked over at Erden. He shrugged and smiled, tight lipped. “I wish you well, Emir.”

Emir didn’t look back at him, worried that his face would betray how these words made him feel. He felt rather than saw Kanat go, leaving him to his unsettled thoughts. He had thought that perhaps things were changing between he and Ivan. Now he felt only that he had been foolish and had read meanings into Ivan’s teasing words that were not there at all.

Ivan made his way back over to him. “I didn’t mean to take so long,” he said. “Erden’s Captain is rather charming, isn’t he? Adric has a bit of a thing for him.”

“Where are Adric and Pasha anyway?” Emir said, standing up and stamping some warmth into his feet. “Surely not still…”

“I’d say definitely still,” Ivan said. “But I’ll get Olya to drag them out shortly. They’ll have to make some sort of appearance; Andrei’s mother will be furious otherwise. But are you alright? You look a little melancholy.”

“Hungry,” Emir said. “Come, let’s go to lunch.”

Adric, Pasha and Andrei didn’t make any sort of appearance until long after lunch had been cleared away. When they finally did, their joy was palpable and infectious. They seemed to fit effortlessly together as a trio and seemed equally happy in each other’s company whichever of the three of them were present. Just now Andrei was kissing Pasha slowly with a hand curled in his hair, but as Adric came over to them they broke apart and Adric dipped down to kiss them both in turn.

They managed to leave each other alone long enough to join Emir and Ivan in looking out of the windows of the Marble Room and watching the late guests arrive.

Ivan and Pasha drifted off further down the room with Andrei, and Adric remained with Emir for a moment.

“So. Andrei,” said Emir. Adric looked at him and smiled.

“I know,” he said. “Oh Emir - isn’t it wonderful?”

“Love at first sight,” Emir said.

Adric beamed at him and nodded. “It is. Well I think he fell desperately in love with Pasha at least, and then realised that I wasn’t so bad either. And he’s just so…we are still getting to know each other of course. But I do think it is all going to work out splendidly.”

“You are very lucky,” Emir said, and it came out a little more wistfully than he meant it to.

Adric looked at him. “Emir, forgive me if I’m plain with you. I really do think that you…” he began. Then he became distracted by a carriage arrival.

Oh...there’s Princess Lavinia!” he said, excitedly. “Dear Vinny, I wondered if she’d come back to us for Midwinter.”

“Princess Lavinia…Ivan’s Princess Lavinia?” Emir said, making the connection. “The failed marriage arrangement?”

“The very same,” Adric said.

Emir watched as a small merry looking girl with short dark hair alighted from a carriage outside. She was wearing riding clothes and was rather mud-splattered, and Emir wondered if she’d made most of the journey on horseback, only sitting in the carriage for her arrival.

“Does Ivan know she’s coming? After all the upset. It must have all been very distressing for her,” Emir said.

“Oh, absolutely devastating,” Adric laughed. Then he shot a look at Emir. “Wait - what on earth do you mean?"

Part 48

Date: 2020-05-31 07:05 am (UTC)
minutia_r: (Default)
From: [personal profile] minutia_r
Awwww, I love how awkward Emir's flirting is. He's so much less smooth when he knows it's real than when he's pretending it's fake, as when he and Ivan went to the theater!

And of course Kanat has to come by and crush Emir's delicate confidence, because FUCKING KANAT. But it was nice to see Emir sending him packing!

Date: 2020-06-02 09:02 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Yes, he can get himself together to play a role at times (assisted by champagne and candlelight) but the full force of Ivan flirting before he's even woken up properly is not something he can handle :D

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