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[sterngaze]

I love me some gen threads, especially funny or drama-filled ones, but I am also shamelessly here for shipping AUs. The general Liem-shipping vibe is "I want more than this, but I shouldn't & they can't possibly want me back," so if you're into that, I've got what you need. His default setting is very D&D-like high fantasy, but I'm comfortable playing him in modern fantasy settings as well. Pretty much any prompt can also accommodate Liem being a full vampire instead of a dhampir, if that's your thing. Prompts for inspiration: • Arranged Marriage: Liem's shady vampire family has arranged his marriage to you, but he seems a rather reluctant fiance. • Bodyguard Shipping: It's Liem's duty to keep you safe and out of trouble, possibly despite your best efforts. • Companion to Royalty: Reclusive vampire king Liem and YOU! Are you a gift from a local power? Sacrifice from the townsfolk? Or did you just stumble up the road to his castle during a storm? • Enemies to Lovers: Maybe Liem is a foreign agent trying to sabotage your country or organization. Or maybe you're rebelling against the current regime and he's trying to take you in. • Fake Dating/Fake Married: A relationship is your cover story while you're travelling for some secret reason. Gotta keep up appearances. • Hunter & Hunted: Are you a hunter trying to track Liem down? Or a snack that proved more than he bargained for? • Hurt (Comfort Optional): Whether he's hurt, sick, drugged, or just upset, two things remain constant: Liem needs help, and he doesn't want to accept it. But maybe you don't want to fix him anyway; maybe you want to make him worse. • Living a Lie: Whether you're undercover on a mission, or you lied to cover something up and now you have to commit, you're stuck playing a role until you accomplish some secret objective — or until you can shake off your nosy company. • Loss of Control: For whatever reason, one of you is struggling not to go berserk — or perhaps has already failed. If it's Liem, can you help him come back to himself, or are you the one pushing him over the edge? • Out of the Frying Pan: The classic "tried to help someone in trouble, ended up with a new and possibly worse problem" situation. But at least you're in it together! • Priest/Celibacy: Default here is that Liem is the priest, but it could go the other way. Smutty, or just laden with UST? You decide. • Texting: Stupid TFLN-style text threads, my beloved... • Random Scenario: For if none of the above tickle your fancy. contact. Sporelett | info. Link | permissions. Link

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[greenbriar]

As am I, apparently, [ retorts Cardan, not particularly appeased. It's true, but he's testy about it, even though Liem is not the one who truly deserves his ire. But it is ever a drawback of his bad temper that he cannot stop fighting with people he likes.

Maybe it's because the moment he knows someone will tolerate his bad moods, he cannot help but take advantage of them.

He has exchanged his warm winter coat for an expensively heavy -- though not quite so thick -- cape in the dark red of venous blood. This he pins onto his shoulder with the amber brooch Liem had gifted him an eternity and a half ago, on a hill that seemed almost as magical as Faerie. But then-- ]

You are mistaken. [ He has clawed back some of his composure; the sharpness in his voice recedes by a fraction. ] Every forest is magic. I felt it when I walked there just as I feel it here.

[ Outfit change complete, he will place a hand on Liem's knee. He'd stripped his warm gloves along with his coat, and he thinks he can feel Liem's lingering chilliness through the fabric of his trousers, though perhaps it is just that Cardan himself is too warm. ]

If this is overwhelming, the palace will be more so.

[ He has no real recourse for that. They must go, and they must kiss Eldred's ring, and they must stay at least long enough to show face. If Liem is already unsettled, he will have to shake the feeling quickly. ]

[sterngaze]

[Liem's eyes cannot help but follow the motion of Cardan's hands as he speaks, taking in the appropriately blood-hued cape, the familiar brooch he pins to it. Even tousled and travel-weary, his husband strikes an arresting, princely figure. He would wonder if this is a taste of the sort of splendour awaiting them at the palace, but even during their wedding — which had been attended by both vampire and faerie courtiers in all manner of glittering finery, including Cardan's elder sister — he cannot recall any who had come close to outdoing his husband in any regard.

Perhaps, even by faerie standards, Liem just managed to wed an unusually beautiful man.

The warm hand on his knee rouses him from his contemplation. He manages to shake some of the intensity from his expression, shelving his wariness for the time being.]

When did I say that, husband? You know I enjoy a challenge.

[It is hardly Cardan's fault, or Faerie's, that ease does not come naturally to Liem. He will just have to channel his restlessness productively, as he does every night — especially those nights that necessitate his attendance at major social events. He's not inclined to be cowed just because he now finds himself in a foreign court.

In any case, he cannot expect his husband to do everything relating to Faerie all by himself.]

I said I would accompany you on your trip, and so I am. Everything else is details.

[greenbriar]

[ Details are the difference between life and death or worse in Faerie, but Cardan doesn't feel like lecturing on this topic. It's not like Liem hasn't been appraised of it, anyway. He withdraws his hand from Liem, though the brush of his thigh against his husband's stays, augmented by the carriage's occasional shaking as they encounter bumps in the road. Very little of Elfhame's land is paved.

They circle the lake and soon after plunge into the Milkwood -- named for its eerie bleached-white trees. Here, there is more noise; as Cardan had promised, both the screams and the laughter are denser, and they come from odd angles -- sometimes too close, discordant on the breeze. Distant bonfires flicker through the trees. Glowing eyes blink at the carriage, there and gone in the next breath; there are myriad things here, alive and dead and dying, engaged in their secretive dances.

Cardan will be a little tense until they come out the other side, at which point he makes a visible effort to relax the hold of his shoulders and unclench his jaw. ]

We are nearly there, [ he tells Liem-- and then, as if in afterthought, reaches out to straighten his husband's collar, smooth his lapels. It's of no particular importance in Faerie, where folk hardly value put-togetherness as much as they do intrigue, but he knows, too, that Liem would probably prefer to be neat about his arrival. ]

[sterngaze]

[Despite what Cardan said about his forest, about all forests, Liem continues to be struck by just how alive their surroundings are as their carriage plunges into the bone-white trees. Strange sounds and flickers of movement catch his attention through the carriage's windows, drawing his eyes this way and that, though he keeps himself otherwise still in his seat. Eventually, he realizes what the experience reminds him of; it is like visiting town, but without the orderly lines and the stink of civilization. The pulse of life filtering through the trees, filling the nighttime woods with its beat, is almost the same.

Though of course, Liem has never had cause to feel on edge in a town full of humans.

The tension living in his husband's shoulders as they travel does not particularly ease Liem's nerves, but he is still glad of his familiar presence, which ironically is the only thing he now has to remind him of home. When Cardan reaches out and fusses a little with his collar, a small smile curves his lips.]

Are you intending to show me off, Cardan? [He lifts his hands so he can take his husband's — lightly, on account of the chill still clinging to him. What is he if not a fun new toy for Elfhame's youngest prince to dangle in front of the folk's noses? As far as Eldred's court is concerned, he need not be anything else.] Perhaps inspire some jealousy at your good fortune?

[greenbriar]

[ The chilled hands on his feel nice; there is something steadying in Liem's touch. Perhaps he had gotten too used to it over the months in Liem's care -- too dependent on his husband's steadfast reliability and calm, deliberate touch. It is strange, to now be the one helming the ship, so to speak. Before he can think better of it, he tilts his face to press his hot cheek to the curl of Liem's cool, dry fingers.

There is not a hint of irony in his serious gaze. ]

Of course. Why would I want anything less?

I want every courtier in the palace incandescently jealous of us both. I wish for them to be utterly besotted with you, as they will be.

[ The smile that does twitch into place on his face is a little secretive. ]

Besides, it's never better to be overlooked, least of all in a Faerie court.

[sterngaze]

[Liem finds himself unsurprised by the unhesitating agreement that Cardan offers in answer to his question. Has he not made the extent of his covetousness clear already? If they are to have all the eyes in the palace court on them — and they surely will, as Elfhame's errant young prince and his mysterious new groom — of course Cardan would wish for the onlooking courtiers to be green with envy.

What surprises him is his husband's certainty that the palace folk will all be besotted with him.]

Will they?

[His voice carries a hint of gentle skepticism for this assertion, although he does not, cannot cast doubt on his husband's belief. His fingers slide down Cardan's cheek until he can run his thumb in a gentle caress over that secretive little smile. This expression he much prefers to some of the tighter, sharper ones his husband has worn since they landed.

He ponders, soberly:]

Curiosity and puzzlement I had been expecting; for infatuation, I may have to put in a bit more effort.

[greenbriar]

[ The idea of Liem putting in effort to court the palace gentry is oddly distressing, even though, in some ways, that is exactly what they've come here to do. Cardan dismisses the thought. ]

You are a secret, [ he will tell Liem, shutting his eyes for a moment. The Palace of Elfhame looms in his advance towards them, not unlike Iago's manor in the way that its pressures will come down on them both. He breathes out against the caress of Liem's thumb, then turns his face to brush his mouth over the dip between his thumb and index finger. ] A thing none of them have ever seen before. And they so want for novelty at my father's court.

[ He looks at Liem's face again, catalogues the now-familiar features -- the serious shape of his mouth, his cheekbones, the aquiline nose, those strange and striking eyes. ]

Disdain them; it will make them all the more desperate for your regard.

And besides, it is callous to make me watch you beguile someone else.

[sterngaze]

[Somehow over the handful of months they've been married, the ease with which Liem seems able to provoke Cardan's jealousy has become a little charming. He doesn't know what this says about him, that he should find it endearing when his husband wishes so freely for the envy of the entire palace, then falls prey to jealousy over Liem's attention in almost the same breath. But perhaps his predilection towards Cardan's brazen inclinations is for the best, given the likely forecast for their stay. It would be inconvenient if he were to find them exhausting instead.

He smiles, scorning the slowly looming view of the palace in favour of returning his husband's regard.]

Then I will save all my beguilement for you.

[This, at least, does not seem difficult. Liem has years of practice disdaining the advances of courtiers, in both personal and business contexts. In support of Cardan's assumptions, his aloofness had never caused the tide of people eager for his time to dwindle appreciably.

Indeed, being unapproachable had only driven the humans who desired his attention to offer him their blood in exchange. That was never a temptation with other members of the gentry, but in Faerie… he wonders.]

[greenbriar]

Very good, [ says Cardan, though he cannot say he puts any great stock into Liem’s promise. His husband will have need of being at least a little bit charming, and besides — it’s harder than it seems to not want the good regard of a Faerie court. Even a man so sober and reasonable as Liem may find himself caught up in the chase of it.

He means to kiss his husband one last time, for good luck— but the carriage rocks to a halt. They are out of time. Just as he had instructed the driver, she had stopped between two great trees — an oak and a thorn. Cardan pulls back, extracts his hands from Liem’s, and settles into his usual mildly bored arrogance. Despite the relative smallness of the carriage, he has managed to sprawl.

A moment later, the door opens. Outside is a guard wearing the same crest that decorates Cardan’s signet ring — a tree with great big roots, flowers on one side and thorns on the other. She peers dubiously inside, blanching a little upon spotting Cardan.

My lords, she will begin, uncertain, you are invited into the Palace..? The questioning note hangs on her last word, a little flustered.

Cardan glances at Liem, his eyebrow raised, searching for his husband’s approval. He’s gotten used to the ritualized salutation vampires use for each other; in comparison, this seems almost intolerably stumbling.

Then again, they are lucky that the guard has been persuaded to do it at all. ]

[sterngaze]

[As always, Liem is absorbed by his husband's gaze, and his scent, and the softness of his skin, warm beneath his fingers. He releases him with a short sigh when their carriage comes to a halt, but the business of the night will not wait. Sitting back, he turns his attention to the soft sounds of people beyond the confines of their carriage.

Unlike his husband, Liem does not sprawl — in fact, he does not move at all from the neat, poised seat he'd taken for their journey. When the door opens, he regards the guard outside with the same steady, deliberate look with which he'd taken in Cardan's talking door.

His expression does not change noticeably in response to the woman's slightly faltering invitation. Liem spends another moment observing her before he ventures any comment.]

It is not the warmest welcome I've received.

[So saying, he frees the guard from his regard so he can look back at his husband instead. Nonetheless, an invitation is an invitation, even when it is delivered without any particular polish, and the look he gives Cardan is assenting. It will suffice.]

[greenbriar]

[ Cardan's eyes stay on Liem as he reaches back to rap sharp knuckles on the carriage's wall, signalling the coachee to move. The door closes again.

The Palace of Elfhame, as it has turned out, does not look particularly special, especially not after the excesses of the Milkwood. It is only a gently sloping hill mound with an abandoned folly lurking forlornly at its foot. It is this structure that the carriage will move towards now, with rather more certainty than woman or horse ought to have when racing towards a construction made entirely of stone.

None of the fey -- not Cardan, not the coachwoman, nor the footman perched beside her -- so much as blink as they crash into the structure. Except, of course, that they don't: instead, the carriage passes through it, and the air shimmers and shifts and pulls apart like a thin membrane, spitting them out into a night quite different from the one before.

The Palace of Elfhame sits in a giant hill, and atop it is a tree of such size and age that it would take several men to encircle its trunk. Folk mill about in the courtyard that they have entered -- knights and coachmen, ghostly ladies with gossamer veils and round imps carrying the trains of their ephemeral gowns. It is significantly noisier here, too; the din of voices and the flutter of wings and the stamping of hooves fills the air.

They have arrived in time for a Faerie revel.

Cardan exits the carriage first, offering his hand to Liem -- which is a little funny, considering one of them is a supernaturally agile predator, and it is not the man wearing a dramatic, difficult cape.

His eyes glitter in the firelight of torches -- real torches this time, burning with coloured flames. ]

Welcome to my father's palace, Liem Talbott.

[ In the flickering flameswept shadows, his smile is barely there. He will echo words from an eternity ago, with a rather earnest replica of the tone Liem had used back then: ]

Come in and be welcome.

[sterngaze]

[If the palace guard's lukewarm invitation at all dampens Liem's expectations for their arrival, his reservations are thoroughly forgotten when the carriage takes them through a veil of illusion and into the midst of a courtyard the likes of which Liem has never seen.

Firstly, Elfhame's palace is unlike any manor or castle he has visited in his brief life; the sight that greets him from the carriage windows reminds him of nothing so much as the forest hill with his favourite oak atop it, but on a larger scale than he'd ever imagined possible. The activity surrounding the hill is also miles removed from his quiet memories from his father's forest. Liem's eyebrows lift slightly as they come to a halt before it.

He recalls easily the fey guests he had hosted at his wedding; how strange and novel he had thought them, with their foreign garb and their variety of unfamiliar shapes and features. But perhaps time and distance have softened the memory, because he still finds himself startled by the scene that greets him as he takes Cardan's hand to exit the carriage. His memories of their wedding could not capture the atmosphere that fills the activity-filled courtyard, or the way the scent of the folk permeates every breath of air that sweeps past.

And still, perhaps most enchanting of all is the glitter of torchlight in his husband's eyes and the play of shadows over his face as he welcomes Liem, properly, to his father's palace. This is the kind of welcome that he imagines could precede a great deal of trouble and mischief, but where his husband is concerned, he will welcome it gladly. His alert regard of the courtyard pauses as he is assailed by just how bewitching Cardan looks against this backdrop.]

It shall be both my privilege and my pleasure.

[greenbriar]

[ Though Cardan is well familiar with the palace, he has not felt at home here since his first banishment a decade and some years ago. Indeed, in five short months, Iago's estate has cemented itself as more his own than either the palace or Hollow Hall.

But home or not, they have an entrance to make.

Folk are already staring, but then of course they should: here is the youngest prince of Elfhame, returned with his exotic groom. They will continue staring as he leads Liem into the magical hill, into the throne room, to bow low to his father, who will touch their heads with an indifferent hand. Then they are dismissed to revel and frolic, to drink themselves silly and dance through the soles of their shoes.

Liem will have occasion to meet Cardan's friends: there is Nicasia, the daughter of the Undersea, who throws her elegant arms around Cardan's shoulders while sparing Liem nary a glance; fox-faced Locke, more charming even than the youngest prince; Valerian, whose cold stare looks through Liem rather than at him. Cardan introduces him to Balekin and the two sisters he hadn't yet met, and then-- rather promptly abandons him for a carafe of wine, having reached his daily limit of familial interaction. After that, Liem will know even less peace: whereas Folk seem to part around Cardan in a mixture of respect and fear, his husband is not due such reverence, and they are curious. He is immediately inundated with requests to dance and offers of unwise bargains, and will be so for the rest of the night.

And several nights after that.

It is one drowsy evening, some days later, that Cardan sighs, shifts, and then stifles a yawn against his husband's bare shoulder. Though the palace suite they have been put in is windowless -- as most of them are -- he knows the sun has gone down in some intuitive, animal way. He announces, without much preamble, ]

Balekin invited us to Hollow Hall. For a party.

[sterngaze]

[If Liem notes the stares that they attract as his husband leads him into the strange, magical hill — into the palace — he doesn't show any unease at the avid attention. He keeps his manners about him as he pays his respects to the High King, as he must, and attends Cardan's various introductions gracefully despite the extreme inconsistency of interest he receives in return.

Mercifully, although he discovers how unnervingly alike the master of Hollow Hall is to his own husband, he is not forced to cross paths with Dain. Considering the other things to which he must devote his attention on this first night in Faerie, that at least is a blessing.

Especially once he is left to his own devices, and he discovers with absolute certainty that it was only Cardan's presence that had kept the curious onlookers at bay before. An onslaught of attention converges on him almost immediately: questions, offers, invitations. Liem rediscovers the folk's seemingly unlimited love of dancing, which he recalls to a lesser extent from his wedding. He accepts these invitations readily, if only to stave off the others; by the time dawn comes, he has hedged and insinuated and made polite excuses a hundred times over and more, and told more tales than he can remember giving life to in the last six months combined. At the end of it, he is very nearly exhausted enough to fall straight into sleep as soon as he and his husband are shown to their rooms.

He doesn't, of course. He has never been so far from home or in so strange a place, and not even Cardan's familiar presence wrapped about him can settle the nerves jangling beneath his skin. Liem spends the morning wondering if his husband might be agreeable to forgoing sleep along with him just to keep him occupied, and eventually settles for rising to poke his nose through every inch of their rooms instead, padding over carpeted floors on silent feet. Cardan clearly needs the rest, and he expects that their ensuing nights will be no less busy.

Indeed, they are not. But at least rest does manage to find him after he finally acclimates to the palace atmosphere.

One side effect of their schedule since arriving in Faerie is that, in a rather novel turn of events, Liem often finds himself still abed when his husband rouses. There is nowhere for Liem to be without him, after all, and he has left his paperwork at home in Gusairne's (admittedly capable) hands.

So he has the pleasure of not only waking up in Cardan's warm embrace, but of enjoying the luxury of staying there until his husband is actually awake enough to get up — which, depending on how early Liem wakes, can sometimes be a good while. He continues to be loath to wake Cardan unnecessarily from his sleep, but when he does stir, Liem takes this as his opportunity to press drowsy kisses against whatever bit of bare skin is within easy reach of his mouth, sliding a sleep-warmed hand up Cardan's back.]

Tonight?

[He doesn't wait for a reply to the murmured question. It doesn't really need an answer.]

Finally: an opportunity to say another hello to your door.

[greenbriar]

Mm.

[ It is alarming how quickly he has gotten accustomed to the luxury of waking to Liem's touch; worse still is that he cannot imagine giving it up again. He shivers against the soft onslaught of kisses and pulls his husband more tightly against him. That is lovely, too, the slide of skin against bare skin, for once unmarred by exhaustion. He feels wonderfully insulated from the outside world, and the quiet rumble of Liem's voice only adds to Cardan's pleasure in having him here, in his arms and under his covers like a secret he's keeping from the world.

But it cannot last. After another moment of indulgence, he will open his eyes and glance at his sleep-mussed husband, illuminated by the soft glow of phosphorescent ores embedded in the carved stone walls of their bedroom. ]

In an hour or two.

[ Which means they should have been getting ready. Instead, he leans in to kiss Liem properly, apparently more concerned with this than with notions of punctuality. ]

[sterngaze]

[It is a testament to how wrapped up he is in the soft, contenting pleasure of Cardan's embrace that Liem doesn't immediately sit up at the news that they're expected to be at Balekin's estate in an hour or two. His eyes do snap open to find Cardan's, but how is he meant to object when his husband only takes the opportunity to draw closer and kiss him good evening? He so rarely has the luxury of enjoying the feeling of being held like this, indulging the illusion of unhurried indulgence, as if he has nothing more pressing to do than melt blissfully against his spouse in the privacy of their bed.

He does not hurry to pull back from Cardan's kiss — but when he finally does, it is with a raised brow, one pale hand slid round from his husband's back to press gently against his chest.]

That is information you could have shared with me before nightfall.

[Like perhaps the morning before, when they'd been going to sleep. Liem is dryly aware that his husband likely chose not to tell him any sooner because of the knowledge that if he had, Liem would not still be in bed with him right now.

That is about to change though, considering that he's now going to attempt to extricate himself from Cardan's grasp so he can rise.]

We are going to be late.

[greenbriar]

[ Cardan is going to be obstinate about this. His arm winds around Liem's waist, stubbornly unbudging. ]

Before nightfall, I was asleep.

[ And before that, he didn't want to have to think about it. He doesn't want to go, and though there is no avoiding it entirely, he cannot help but indulge in the childish impulse of putting off his unpleasant task. He doesn't know what Balekin will demand in exchange for his gold -- probably something that requires either submission or humiliation or both. Worse, Cardan has very little to negotiate with.

It's a foolish plan, and he'd rather not let it intrude on his cozy, warm bed for a little while longer. ]

My brother's revels don't start and end so much as they wax and wane. Beside, arriving on time would only make us look desperate to please him.

[ He pauses, struck by a thought. A moment later, he huffs out a slighlty amused breath. ]

Unless, I suppose, we pretend that I'm on time because you're controlling and uptight. That might piss him off enough to lend me his aid.

[ It's a stupid strategy, but Balekin is a possessive man. ]

[sterngaze]

[The arm wrapped about Liem's waist frustrates his attempt to get up and begin the process of readying himself for the night. Caught in Cardan's grasp, propped up on one elbow as he peers down at him, he frowns uncertainly down at his husband, paused in the midst of levering himself upright.

Cardan is more familiar with both his brother and the local customs than he. If he asserts that it would be better not to be too punctual, Liem has no choice but to trust his judgement.

Except.]

Your brother might give you his money to spite me?

[He ponders this a moment. Ostensibly, the reason Cardan needs his own townhome is to conduct affairs, which would be unquestionably humiliating to Liem, sooner or later. But of course, Cardan cannot actually claim as much, and obviously Liem can't lie for him about this.

However, acting like a controlling, work-obsessed prig is well within his capabilities, and that would invite all kinds of other assumptions about his marriage with a man like Cardan. If Balekin would chafe at the idea of his investment being under another man's control…

Liem leans closer to his husband again, sliding his arm back around him.]

Well, if I am to play the villain, you will need to get out of bed.

[This time, when Liem makes a move to sit up so he can rise, he will bring Cardan with him.]

[greenbriar]

[ Cardan's sigh is so dramatic it edges on a groan, but he gives up on his task of being a leaden weight and lets himself get hauled upward instead. ]

You are a villain, [ he will complain, even as he releases Liem to engage in a languid sitting stretch. For once, he feels a little less wrung out than he had for the past few weeks; for all of its flaws, Elfhame is nothing if not restful in comparison to Ironside.

But Liem isn't wrong, is the problem. If they are to make this plan work, they will have to be there disgustingly early and groomed to the nines, which takes time -- especially with Cardan's relatively inexperienced hands assisting Liem in dressing. He sighs again, and then rises, not bothering with a robe. ]

I could just go nude. It isn't so unusual.

[ Surely Liem has seen it, in the past few nights in Elfhame: some Folk truly do just arrive at balls wearing naught but a winning smile and a pretty necklace.

Of course, Cardan is joking, because no prince of Elfhame would do such a thing, even if the solitary folk might. ]

[sterngaze]

[The expression Liem wears as he "assists" his husband upright is perfectly sober, faltering not at all even at Cardan's aggrieved complaining. He is only doing as he must, after all; they don't have time to waste if they're to be truly, absurdly punctual. He watches his husband for a moment longer as he stretches, then slips out of bed himself to slide his shoulders into a robe waiting nearby.

Though a smile does cross his face briefly at the suggestion that Cardan might attend Balekin's party wearing nothing but his array of jewellery.]

You could… if your terrible, controlling spouse would tolerate such a thing.

[Perhaps Cardan's new husband does not want to see every faerie in Hollow Hall ogling his naked groom. He would not even have to be especially insufferable to hold such an opinion, though he might have to be a little jealous.

Liem himself is going to need a bath and a shave before he goes anywhere, nude or not — though of course, he wouldn't attend a party naked any more than Cardan would. He is already pondering what he (what they) should wear as he rubs absently at his jaw.]

What kind of parties does your brother throw?

[Or party, singular, if the revelry at Balekin's manner doesn't truly ever stop. Liem cannot imagine the work that must go into such a thing; he has to assume Balekin doesn't manage it all himself.]

[greenbriar]

[ Liem is going to have to hurry if he wants to beat Cardan to the bath; his husband is already advancing towards the large copper tub, separated from the bedroom via an intricately embroidered silk screen. The good news is that it's more than large enough for the two of them; the bad is that it takes some time to fill up.

He'll perch at the tub's edge as he turns on the tap, his voice carrying just above the splash of water. ]

The kind my terrible, controlling spouse would absolutely loathe.

[ He leans back, a little dangerously, teetering on th edge. The long tail hangs down into the water, its tuft already wet. ]

Balekin leads the Circle of Grackles -- those devoted to pursuing pleasure at any cost. [ He pauses before proceeding, drily: ] Difficult to know where I got it from, I suppose.

It will be much like the blood orgies you are used to, except with rather more orgy.

He will probably offer you some of the servants.

[ Which should really make Cardan reconsider going, or at the least going with his husband in tow. ]

[sterngaze]

[Given that the tub isn't going to be ready for anyone's use for a little while yet, Liem opts to ponder the wardrobe that they were able to bring with them across the sea. What does one wear to make an impact at probably the most debauched party one has ever attended? Rather — what does one wear to such a party when one is expecting to be the most sober, forbidding person there?

Dark colours, probably. For a moment he simply considers the collection of fabrics, rifling through different garments, his eyes intent as though on a puzzle he's been tasked with solving. When he lifts his voice to carry over the sound of flowing water, his fingers are perched on a glossily-embroidered jacket the deep blue of a star-studded midnight sky, of the kind he has seen often since arriving here.]

Your brother is bound to think me a rather perverse man.

[What lord of Faerie would attend a revel at a painfully punctual hour, only to scorn most of the entertainment? He can't imagine that is something that ever happens here — nor is it likely to happen in his father's court either, since Liem is now away. But then, Liem's habits have only been made more strange since his marriage to Cardan.

For now, he leaves the jacket hanging where it is and crosses the room to appear around the embroidered screen. The pensive frown on his face eases somewhat when he sees his spouse perched there, on the edge of the generously proportioned tub — though it does not vanish entirely.]

Are all of his human servants in such poor condition?

[greenbriar]

[ Cardan's face doesn't change. The way his eyes trail down from Liem's frowning face to the hollow of his throat, his collarbone, the drape of the robe over his bare chest-- all of it is opaque and unemotional, disinterested in the human servants and their hollow, gaunt faces. Only the tail splashes against the water, twitchy. ]

Yes, [ he says, as if he wouldn't prefer to avoid this particular subject altogether. He has never liked the servants -- their vacant stares are creepy, and the way they are actively dying at every point in their existence makes it worse. But that's an embarrassing thing to admit to; he continues to affect boredom instead. ]

Don't feel sorry for them, [ he warns, as if it will make a single shred of difference, ] they have made their bargains of their own free will.

[ As Cardan will, later tonight. He continues to not want to think about it. What he wants is to reach out and touch Liem, to draw his hands over his flank, his hip. To pull him close and bury his face in his scent, at least while they wait for the bath.

Instead, he lays light fingers against Liem's waist and looks up at him, searching that frown. ]

[sterngaze]

[There are many things that Liem could say about Balekin's treatment of his human servants; he could say that it is wasteful, that it is needlessly cruel, that it rather tellingly suggests a certain glee at having power over others, whose flagrancy Liem finds rather vulgar. He had not been expecting to like Cardan's erstwhile caretaker, but still Balekin has managed to surpass his expectations, and not for the better.

But he has been confronted with this scenario more than he'd like in his visits to other vampires' homes. Distasteful and, admittedly, discomforting as he may find it, he cannot say he is especially surprised.]

Somehow that does not compel me.

[His low murmur is distinctly dry. There is no bargain he can conceive of that would not render the fate of those humans just as abjectly pitiable as he might otherwise suppose. And for all his endorsement of Cardan's deceit of Balekin, there is no degree of blasé attitude that can ease the twitchiness Liem feels at the idea of escorting his husband back into this man's home.

He moves closer at the warm touch of Cardan's fingers, sliding his hands up his husband's thighs as he steps into his space.]

It is senseless — but so is dwelling on it. Regardless, I will not be swayed by the offer of servants who already stink of death. My duty is not to them, but to you.

[greenbriar]

[ Even as he shivers, pleasurably, at the slide of cool hands on his skin, Cardan is immediately distracted. My duty is to you strikes him like a stiletto to the ribs -- first a keen spike of warmth and then the brutal realization of just how foolish it is to feel this way. He knows his husband well enough by now to know that Liem means the words, but he would mean them regardless of whom he was married to. It's not Cardan himself that he's dutiful to, in the end, just the obligations of his marriage.

But that's a stupid thing to get hung up on when it is already more than he ought to expect. ]

Your duty is to staying out of trouble, [ he'll counter, unnecessarily. Liem is not a man particularly taken to getting into trouble, and he has, so far, performed admirably in keeping his nose clean. And although Hollow Hall is not without perils, they are more often of the violent kind, which Liem is unlikely to be subject to nor in much danger from. That, at least, is a relief. ]

...and being as insufferable as you can manage. [ He'll tangle one hand in the sleep-mussed hair at the back of Liem's head, rifling affectionately through the short strands. And even though he has already acknowledged the foolishness of his thoughts, the half-smile he gives Liem is helplessly charmed. ]