Word Games

@Thoth

It wasn't like Nicolas (Miklos?) were inseparable and attached at the hip. They did things separately, even though they were together the majority of the time purely because of his bodyguard's job title. It was usually Ulrich that wandered off anyway, and most of the time it was into the sea where Nicolas dared not enter.

It was growing late in the evening when Ulrich reemerged and slunk his way back into his human body. The night sky was chasing the sun down over the horizon and staining everything red and orange with hints of blue around the edges. He barely bothered to dry off as he slid the back door to the floating house open, the towel that always sat hanging near the entrance only getting a brief use.

Otherwise he was naked, still dripping over the hardwood as he made his way across the room and paused in the living room where he could see Nicolas passed out on the couch.

How strange of him to let his guard down.

Ulrich made a faint huffing noise, stepping towards him only to pause when he accidentally kicked a bottle aside. He bent to pick it up and noticed there was more than one. A few, actually. He didn't even have to sniff it to know what it was, and he gingerly placed it down on the coffee table.

@Thoth

Ulrich usually didn't partake in too much alcohol. He could hold his own based off weight alone and a few drinks here and there wouldn't hurt him, really, but he was sure he drank nowhere near as much as Nicolas did. In fact, he hadn't quite made the correlation between how much was strewn about and how drunk Nicolas was yet, either. To him, he was speaking in full sentences and may as well have only been a little drunk.

"You know how I feel about clothes." He didn't like them. Not one bit, and if he could get away without then he would. It was getting into the night and he was in his own home away from home, so he figured he was safe here. Safe aside from Nicolas' prying eyes, that was.

At Nicolas' little demand, Ulrich couldn't help but crinkle his nose a little.

"Hiding?" He had plenty that he was hiding. Okay, so it was obvious that Nicolas wasn't all there right now. If he wasn't so great with words before, he was definitely drunk enough to be fumbling them now.

@Thoth

For a second there, Ulrich thought that this was Nicolas' ass-backwards way of flirting with him, but he knew better. He was probably making some jab and, in his drunken state, wasn't quite getting all his thoughts out there properly. Ah, but a man could dream, couldn't he?

His point was immediately proven by the jumble of words that came out next. So Nicolas was very clearly drunk, which handily explained why he let his guard down and why he made no sense. He probably shouldn't have been as off put by what he said next because of it, but Ulrich bristled anyways.

Ulrich gritted his teeth. "No. I would never." His voice was steady, but there was that hint of his usual seething rage that lurked underneath. Part of him just said Nicolas was ignorant, but that didn't help much. Abdicating was no option for a very hierarchy and pride based species, and especially not the Panthalassian. The generations after him would never forgive him. Hell, the current population would likely, literally, rip him to pieces.

"The woman you met is the queen. Not my queen, but the Third Queen of the Deep Levels." Ulrich didn't have a queen. It wasn't customary for their species to permanently pair off, though it wasn't unheard of, just rare. "And I, as I've been for the past three hundred or so years, have been king."

@Thoth

"Yes." He wondered where he accidentally skipped that part. Perhaps he was used to it just being a given that he was king that he never explicitly stated it to Nicolas. What did he think he was this whole time, then? Probably just some rich or high ranking beast of the sea, but not the king of them all.

It was almost amusing, really, if it wasn't such an insane oversight.

Ulrich couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter. If being his concubine meant being less of a pain in the ass, he'd take it. Hell, he wouldn't even mind it all that much if the last incident was any indication.

He made a vague humming noise, as if in thought, before leaning closer. Probably too close for Nicolas' comfort, but he'd proven time and time again that he had no personal boundaries. It was difficult to have a personal bubble when you've lived most of your life as an unfathomably large undersea creature.

"If you want to be."

@Thoth

The difference between sober and drunk Nicolas was night and day. He sincerely hoped he would never need his help when he was drunk, because his balance was horrible and he could barely get coherent words out. His topple backwards didn't get him too far, considering he was sitting on a couch.

"Well, whatever you say. I do sincerely hope you take your job a little more seriously now that you're aware of my status." Ulrich reached over and tilted Nicolas' chin towards him, so he was forced to at least look at his face.

"Whatever your job may be."