#mathias is kind of sus but he tries his best lol

[beevean]

Prompt: Hector and Mathias live with Rosaly now, and Mathias notice how the other two are growing closer to each other. :)

:)

It starts with a smile that lingers for a second too long.

Mathias knows how to read every twitch on a person's face. No one, human or not, has been able to hold secrets from him, the most renowned strategist in Europe.

And Hector does a poor job at hiding his interest in the young woman who is sheltering them.

Mathias can only hope to be more discreet than his knight, when his stomach knots at the sight.

It continues with fingers that brush against each other.

Mathias has no reason to doubt Hector, none at all. The kisses that he gifts him, the embraces that envelop him, the passion that flows from him when they're alone in their room and decorates Mathias' skin: they're the same as the day the knight pledged loyalty to him.

He's a pure man despite his sins, and Mathias would never love him any less.

But he used to be a knight in a hellish world of cruelty; surely he'd have learned how to masquerade to survive...? Perhaps he is only trying to protect his Lord's heart, the noble man that he is, but in reality his own already belongs to someone else...

Mathias grabs Hector for a kiss when Rosaly's back is turned, and allows his taste to wash off his impure thoughts.

It takes roots with a gentle tucking of Rosaly's hair behind her ear.

Hector shines in Rosaly's presence like the warm sun that bathes the small cottage. Mathias should be only happy for his beloved. God knows he deserves all the love he can receive, and if he has learned anything about Rosaly, is that she is brimming with love to give to anyone who needs it. She is the embodiment of Christendom, much more than those hypocrite philistines clad in white and gold infesting churches, and he can't help but respect her.

But Mathias is counting the days until she grows bolder and unbuttons Hector's collar, and notices the few small scars on his throat, and ask where they came from, so that he'd be honest with her and disgust her, young woman who only knows the Church and nothing about the Hell Mathias and Hector have lived through, and Hector would seek comfort into the arms of the only person who could understand the torment he had to suffer...

Then Mathias remembers the scars on Hector's back and thighs, depraved and deplorable warnings to people like Mathias who would dare to love Hector. He's playing Dracula's game. His own game.

He throws up in his mouth, and runs to check his own reflection in the mirror, to make sure he still has one.

It blossoms with a peck on the cheek, before Rosaly dashes out of the room with a poorly concealed giggle.

"Ah, my Lord," Hector stammers, rubbing where Rosaly declared her intentions. "You're not... I mean, you are not angry, are you? Please understand, you are still my Lord and nothing will change that..."

"Yes, I understand," Mathias says, stretching his mouth into a smile and holding his beloved's hand. "Don't worry about me. I'm not the Count. By all means, if you are growing... fond of Rosaly, you are free to pursue her. Rest assured that she fancies you, and I've never been wrong about people so far."

Then, hammering the stake in his heart, he adds:

"You look good together."