#this will be interesting if ulysses and arganan ever meet again!

[countarganan]

"Heard you were in a relationship with the Gurak Prince, care to explain? Did you break up with him after you found out who he really is? Did you know it the entire time?"

@ribbedxgloves

“Firstly, about the breakup: It wasn’t so much a I broke up with him situation. More like: He left me after his identity was revealed, and he gave up on our relationship entirely.”

Arganan was definitely bitter about the fact that the man he loved had literally run away twice, now. 

“I offered him safety at my palace after his true identity as a Gurak was revealed. I don’t give a shit about what type of being he is. However, after the fact that he ran away a second time, after all that? I deserve better than his attitude to the relationship I tried to keep with him. It’s not fair to me if I keep trying to be with him and he keeps pushing me away. So, I’m moving on.”

He swallowed a bit, taking a deep breath, before finishing. “And to answer the last question: No, I did not know the entire time. Not until he revealed himself during the Gurak attacking at Azami’s engagement ball.”

[countarganan]

The Royal Arrangement: Interested?

@ribbedxgloves

Note: Arganan wonders if he should pursue a new relationship. (Had to throw this under a cut because of how long it got)

“One, two, three, four...yes, there we go. See how your feet are more pointed now? You just need to maintain that throughout the dance. Think about gliding, rather than stepping through.”

Arganan nodded as he maintained hold with his current instructor, one Lukas Usbeorn. “Understood.” His voice came out softer than he hoped, but then again, he was the student right now. Lukas was the one that took the lead. The younger man offered him a grin, before continuing to  lead him in their foxtrot.

Lukas was...an unexpected gift, in a way. After Arganan came back to Lazulis alone, to prepare for the ball celebrating his niece’s engagement to one Jirall Rambaldt, he was low in spirit. Given how he’d reunited with Ulysses, and then Ulysses seemed to leave as soon as he came, he knew in his heart that he was grieving. Tahirah knew about the two of them being together, as well as Ulysses’ departure due to him wishing to try to stop the Gurak from warring on Lazulis, but a potential future war seemed inevitable at this point. It was just as a matter of when it would happen, hence why Arganan was working much harder to get Calista’s marriage to Jirall pulled off as soon as possible. The Rambaldt family’s close ties with the Empire’s mainland would certainly be helpful, should war come to Lazulis. Arganan was confident that Lazulis’ forces were strong, including the famed Lazulis Cannon they used to ward off enemies for so long now, but it never hurt to have allies.

Given that Calista was engaged and that meant future parties to celebrate her engagement to Jirall (and eventually marriage), Arganan needed to keep up some amount of dance practice. Lucky for him, Lukas was passing through Lazulis when Arganan heard of the man’s excellent dance expertise. Apparently Lukas used to be a stablehand for Tahirah, numerous years ago, and Arganan couldn’t help but wonder about the change in career since then. Lukas had simply explained, at the time, that he had to leave his stablehand position due to taking care of “family business” outside Melodia, and he figured being a dance instructor was the next best thing he could do when he initially couldn’t find work as a stablehand after the business was taken care of, given the training he did have in dance. Lukas did give a further explanation about why he really was in Lazulis later on, only for Arganan to hear in private, and he knew it made sense. He’d be sticking around for a while, that was for sure.

Lukas was good. Not only was he attentive and critical during their lessons, but also outside of them. He was caring, and polite. And damn, Arganan would be lying if he said he didn’t find the man attractive with the dark eyes and hair of his. Sure, Lukas was probably younger than him. But it wasn’t like he was so young that it would be illegal. Also, he was more than sure the other man was flirting with him half the time, so maybe he had some actual interest in the Count himself as well.

“Hey. You okay?” Arganan blinked, looking Lukas in the eyes. The younger man looked mildly concerned, given the lightly furrowed brows of his.

“I’m fine.” Arganan managed, though he wished he didn’t sound so hoarse right now. 

“You look like you need a break.” Lukas gave him a light pat on the upper right arm. “How ‘bout we sit for a bit and stretch?”

Arganan let him lead him to the nearest chairs, both of them sitting down. Lukas wiped his own forehead with the back of his hand, a slight grin on his face as he looked towards him.

“You know,” he started, stretching his legs out as he spoke, “It’s not often I see a lot of uncles doing their best to be prepped for dancing for their niece’s own engagement and wedding. It’s pretty sweet.”

“Yes...I suppose so. I don’t want to make a fool of myself, when the time comes.” Arganan admitted. Sure, that was a reason Arganan had requested more practice time from Lukas (with additional pay, promise!) but the fact that he could spend more time with Lukas was also a factor.

“Well, I guess that makes sense, too.” Lukas paused, then continued speaking, turning to properly face the older man. “I think your hold is getting there. And your sense of timing is better than when we started...I think you might be ready to start trying the Argentine Tango. It’s like the Tango, but it has  more open position when in-hold, to allow for more elaborate tricks. It’d be a showstopper at a ball.”

“Assuming we do dance with each other at those balls, yes.” Arganan paused, then leaned back in his chair, looking Lukas in the eye. “What kind of dance is that like? Is it anything like the Foxtrot we practiced? Smooth?”

“You could say that.” Lukas leaned in a little, probably a little closer than should be appropriate towards between dance instructor and Count of Lazulis. “And it’s got a lot of intensity, like the standard Tango. But the real essence of it? Passion.”

Oh, fuck. Arganan saw the glint in Lukas’ eyes at the last word. “Passion?”

“Mhm.” He thought Lukas might even be smirking. “Chemistry can make or break a dance like that.” 

Arganan wondered if he should go for a more flirtatious response, or hold back. Then again, it was already publicly known that he was bisexual at this point, due to the whole coming-out dance he had during Azami’s engagement ball, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to push his luck. 

“If that’s the case,” The Count chuckled, “Maybe you can teach me?”

He saw Lukas crack a genuine, curious grin. “Really...?”

Someone cleared their throat, and both men turned to see Calista, Arganan’s niece, standing nearby. She pushed a few strands of silver hair out of her face, before looking towards Lukas. “Apologies for interrupting the lesson, but I’d like to have a word with my uncle, please. Privately.” 

“Er...” Lukas sheepishly chuckled, looking towards the nearby clock on the wall. “Lesson time is about over, anyway. Count, if you don’t mind—I can teach you the Argentine Tango starting tomorrow tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow sounds lovely.” Arganan responded, looking towards him. “In the morning?”

“Nine o’clock, like usual?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. I’ll see you then.” Lukas bowed to the Count and his niece, bidding them farewell before leaving them alone. Calista waited until Lukas was gone from sight, before she looked towards Arganan, who stood to face her properly.

“Uncle.” Calista looked towards him, right in the eye. “You like him, don’t you?”

“What do you mean?” Arganan pushed a few bangs out of his face, frowning.

“You like Lukas.” Calista giggled a bit, putting a hand to her mouth to muffle herself from getting too loud. “And more than him being an instructor.”

“I know that I’m publicly bisexual, Calista,” The Count sighed, then swallowed, “But that doesn’t mean I can be with whoever I want.”

She stared, just a little. “What about Ulysses?”

Frowning, he averted his gaze from hers. The thought of the Gurak Prince made his heart ache. “...You know that’s a sore spot. And to be fair, I didn’t know he was even a Gurak until he revealed himself at the ball. And then he had the audacity to leave me a second time with barely a warning. He’s not worth it.” 

A sigh left Calista, shaking her head a little. “I’m sorry. I just,” She managed to catch eye contact with him again, and he felt one of her hands touch his, “I just want you to be happy with whoever you end up with. And if Lukas makes you happy, then I’m okay with that. That’s what I want you to know.”

Arganan looked towards his niece again, before squeezing her hand, offering her a soft grin. He was glad that she was, at least, supportive of him in this case. It helped him feel a bit more at ease with everything going on. “Thank you...Calista.”

---------

Lukas did his best to push his hair back with both hands, as he walked down the halls of Lazulis Castle. A chuckle escaped him as he fondly recalled the lesson, but as he turned the corner, the sight of someone else made him groan.

“Rafaele...did you really have to show up now?”

“It’s only brief. And for good reason.” The godfather of Countess Tahirah sighed, before looking Lukas in the eye. “I know both my goddaughter and Starling instructed you to keep a close eye on the Count, but I don’t think your increased flirtation is necessary.”

“Look, it’s not that bad.” Lukas raised both hands slightly in surrender, daring to look him in the eye in return. “It’s not like I’ve slept with him or anything on the first day I met him. But let’s face it: He’s interested. And I’m interested. And you know I’d hate to be a tease for too long. Besides, Tahirah would probably support me and him being together.”

“Just be careful, okay?” Rafaele managed, tilting his head slightly. “We have an upcoming war on our hands with the Gurak. I’m just concerned that you and the Count might...rush it and end up hurting each other. Does he even know about what you truly are?”

Lukas faltered, then his gaze lowered to the floor once, before looking up at Rafaele again. “He does. He knows. I haven’t shown him the whole thing, but I told him.” 

“Well...at least you told him before any dramatic reveal.” Rafaele shook his head. “You’ll probably have to show it all off at some point. I just hope, for both your sakes, that he really has enough interest that he likes you for all of you.”

Lukas offered the other a slight grin. “Yeah...I know. But one thing’s for sure—I’m not gonna just ditch him out of the blue. That’s something I can’t fathom.”

“We’ll see.” Rafaele vanished, leaving Lukas alone. The younger man sighed, leaned against the nearest wall.

“We’ll see how it goes, I guess.” I hope the mutual interest works out. It could be really good, I just know it...I just hope it works.