*** Cal ***

Dark red is the first thing I see. A deep, velvet red rich with embroidery.

I sit up. The duvet rustles around me, the sound as thick and luxurious as it feels against my skin.

Skin.

My clothes are gone. Where there should be a blank white sleeve is my bare forearm, dark skin mottled shiny and pale with old scars, scars written over with pastes of crushed herbs and magic, symbols and runes, ancient inscriptions.

I remember a few things - bits and pieces. Scraps of memory brush against my mind, elusive as fog when I try to grab them.The Queen. Laughter. Words. And -

Nier.

I scan the room, heart slamming against my chest. My anxiety only dissipates when I see him curled by the windowsill, arms wrapped around his knees, staring into the night sky. He looks so small.

I try to call out his name, but all that comes out is a ragged cough.

Nier's head jerks in my direction. He strides to my bedside and pours a glass of water, bringing it to my lips. Water drips down my chin and the thuds against the duvet.

"I was scared," he says, refilling the glass. This time when he presses it against my lips I take it into my own hands. His fingers hover for a few moments before turning into fists at his side. "I thought you wouldn't make it this time."

I down the second cup and wipe my chin, scraping off some of the inscriptions on the back of my hand. They crumble and fall onto the bed sheets. "Never pegged you as a worrier."

"I'm serious," he says, bristling. "I thought I wouldn't be strong enough."

"You were," I state, putting the glass down. I lift my hand and study his work. When I pick at the paste it flakes off to reveal skin and scar tissue stained with complex runes thrumming with magic. In some places the healing spells he used called for seamless lines of needle thin application, impossible without a steady hand that disavowed hesitation. "You've gotten good at this," I say, impressed.

A word of praise is usually enough to get Nier preening, but he barely bats an eye. He stares at his fingertips, dyed from the herbs, absentmindedly rubbing them together.

It doesn't need to be said, that one day he won't be good enough, that the severity of my curse will eventually surpass his ability to heal. It doesn't bother me, though. The Silence will always be there to protect Nier whether I'm here or not, but my death - and his inability to stop it - is a notion that terrifies him.

"How long has it been?" I ask.

"Three days."

His concern makes more sense now. I've never been out that long.

"You need to eat," he says. He walks away from the bed over to a corner of the room where platters of untouched meals sit. "Gross," he complains, although they look perfectly fine. Nier abandons the food and goes to the door, pulling it slightly open. Once he's sure that no one is close by, he darts out and comes back with a fresh platter. Then he kicks the door shut. It slams heavily.

"Arthronians sleep during the moonlight," I remind him.

"You're right," he replies, gently placing the food on my lap. "I should have slammed it harder. Wake them up and break that bad habit. It's fucking weird. Besides, what's the fucking point of a door if you're not going to slam it?"

Wooden doors are a novelty I can imagine Nier taking an immense liking to. Back at D'haravat all we had to separate rooms was silk and linen hanging from the doorways. Dense, opaque fabrics gave more privacy, but even they couldn't compete against a good solid door.

I'm not hungry, but I force the food down my throat to make him feel better. My eyes narrow at the untouched platters across the room. "Have you eaten?"

Nier avoids eye contact. "Well-"

"Eat."

"I almost had some tea."

"Eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Eat."

"Arthronian food sucks."

I stare him down until joins me. The next few minutes are spent in silence, both of us partaking in an unwanted meal just to please the other person. We've finished half of it before being interrupted by a polite knock at the door.

"Ignore it. It's just the princess," Nier mumbles around the food in his mouth.

"Princess Marigold has been visiting you," I state.

"Yeah."

"And you've been ignoring her."

He chews some more before swallowing.

"Pretty much, yeah."

I suppress the urge to massage my temples.

"Nier."

"Well, I was taking care of you!" he replies defensively.

The Princess knocks again.

"Get me some clothes," I tell him, "and answer her."

Nier tosses me my white uniform. It's a bit disheveled for greeting an heiress to a kingdom, but it would have to do.

"Hello, Princess Marigold," he greets in Arthronian, opening the door a crack.

"Why hello! It's so wonderful to finally see your face again. You must be feeling very refreshed after resting as well as you have," I hear her reply as I straighten the cuffs on my sleeve, her voice high and sweet. "I mean, every time I dropped off a meal you were sleeping like a log! I almost thought you were ignoring me." A giggle. "I think such silly thoughts sometimes."

"Thank you for the food," says Nier slowly. She was speaking too fast for him to understand everything.

"May I come in?" she asks.

Nier's eyes flicker briefly at me. "I think-"

"It's just so exciting having a foreign prince live in my castle," she says, pushing past him with a small tray of food and a single lit candle. "After all, I hardly - Oh," she says, her eyes catching on me. "Hello there."

The tiny flame is only about the size of the tip of my finger, but it's uncomfortably bright, so I shift my focus onto her face. It's the kind of face you wouldn't have to be avoiding a distraction to appreciate - perfectly framed by soft, golden hair, perfectly pink lips and sparkling blue eyes. She is a beautiful girl.

"Hello, Princess," I reply with a slight dip of my head. "Thank you for your gracious hospitality."

"What's that on your face?" she asks, slowly walking towards me, candle raised.

I turn away from the oncoming flame and brush my fingers against my cheek, feeling the ridges of the herbal pastes Nier applied. Some of it crumbled off, but most of it stayed. "This is... decorational. I apologize if you find it offensive to the eyes."

"No. It's very pretty, actually. I would love to have those sorts of designs on my dress," she says, her voice startlingly close. For a moment I worry that the Princess might sense the magic running through my skin, but she doesn't seem to notice. "Did you do this to her?" she asks Nier, a trace of genuine interest trickling in her tone.

"Move the fire. You are hurting her eyes," he replies bluntly.

The searing light is whisked away, leaving me blinking at the onrush of darkness.

"Oh, she was ill, wasn't she?" Princess Marigold says, snapping back into her unsubtly bright and bubbly persona. "What happened, exactly? It seemed serious."

"I was born sickly," I answer, stepping in before Nier could say something rude. "I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused."

"Oh, the manners on this one are just darling," Princess Marigold says, turning to Nier.

I could tell that he was tired, but the light of the candle casts shadows highlighting the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, the grimace on his face. He's in terrible condition and I am to blame.

"Yes," Nier replies. He leans against the wall, suddenly looking as if the weight of the world has collapsed onto his shoulders. I wonder if he's slept at all in the past three days.

"I was thinking," Princess Marigold continues, seemingly unaware of his wretched state, "that I could show you around the gardens! It looks beautiful in the night, especially the white anemones."

"No. Another night will be good."

"Well, I thought you'd be restless to get out. That you'd be bored, since all you were doing was sitting and twiddling your thumbs for three whole days." She cocks her head. "Unless, of course, you were doing something else while you were here. Something more interesting."

"Thank you for the concern," Nier says after a few moments of stiff silence.

"There we go. That's what I was waiting for!" Princess Marigold replies, clapping her hands. "A little. Bit. Of gratitude. Now was that so hard? Hm? I would have thought it would come more naturally for a princess bringing your meals three times in the middle of the night like some kind of chamber maid, but I suppose that sort of thing just doesn't come naturally to some people."

Again, she's speaking too fast, but Nier grasps the gist of it. I can see it on his face.

Marigold is... not unlike some of our female cousins. Glib charm and giggles until something happens to puncture their composure, exposing the bite behind their words.

Nier absolutely despises them.

"I am tired," he says. "Please leave."

Princess Marigold's continues to smile, but her blue eyes sharpen ever so slightly.

"Fine. I'll take my leave, since you asked so politely," she says, walking to the door. "I'll leave, and I'll tell my mother, the Queen, just what sort of illegal witchcraft you've been up to."

The tips of her fingers just barely graze the door before it slams shut. She jumps back and bristles.

"That isn't funny," the Princess yells at the door. She grasps the doorknob, rattling it, but it refuses to turn. "Whoever the hell is doing this is going to get fired if they don't knock it off."

I turn to Nier and slowly shake my head.

The door unlocks.

Princess Marigold swings it open, shooting Nier a venomous glare before slipping out the room.

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A/N: So it turns out that my family's health insurance barely covers any of my dentist visits, which totaled over six hundred dollars. I'm going to relax and spend the rest of the evening being real fucking salty. Just one salty fuck sitting on a couch. Rubbing salt everywhere.

Fuuuuck adulting is hard.