"You have yet to give me my reward". Eggsy had not found the blonde in the lounge room in his usual armchair. Instead the man was been a floor above leaning from the balcony of a study. The study was a warm room of deep varnished wood and more red toned furniture. Books lined the walls and a large desk dominated the space. Eggsy might have snooped around curiously if his attention had not been drawn to the open balcony doors and the lean figure bent over the stone railing. Neil was leaning on his elbows over the drop in the brisk air that was England autumn. The cloudy white light bleaching the colour from his skin and hair, making him seem as pale and white as a ghost. 

He didn't turn at the sound of Eggsy' voice, barely moving as the brunette joined him overlooking the lands of the estate. JB now missing. For a second there was silence other than the distant sounds of birds. Then Neil's grey blue eyes flickered over to him and there was a distant familiar arrogance to his voice when he spoke. "I said I would give you a reward when you reached the finals. Did I not?"

"Yeah. And I have reached the finals. Passed the final exam. Last six candidates", Eggsy pointed out. 

"The last I checked, we only needed one agent. There is still five other to cull, which means at lest three more evaluations". Long white fingers tapped the stone with a hesitancy that seemed born of jitters. Neil let out a long sigh. "God I need a smoke". 

"So when can I get my reward?" Eggsy asked with a sly grin. Neil's challenging smirk flickered back across his face and those blue eyes seemed less cold. 

"When you make it to the finals", He leaned closer, voice dropping. "I thought that was clear. You haven't proved yourself to me just yet".  Then something buzzed. The blonde fished his phone from his pocket and his whole face fell into bitter anger. Brows furrowing and lips scrunching up in distaste. It was fascinating to watch and Eggsy realised that he had never actually made the other man angry before. Vexed him, yes. Pissed him off, yes. But this rage on his face was something barely controlled. Neil scooped the phone up and reared back, hurling the phone over the balcony with the grace of an experienced pitcher. The sliver iPhone went sailing through the air in a wide ark, shattering on the gravel below. "Fuck Off!" Neil roared after it, face colouring bright pink. 

Eggsy watched as the fight drained out of the man as quickly as it had come. Neil straightened and smoothed down his suit, brushing a hand through his hair to smooth it back into place. "Apologies. I do not often throw tantrums. Just when it concerns family. It is frustrating that you had to witness that". 

Eggsy let out a low whistle, eyebrows rising. "I've had that reaction to my stepdad a few times but why did you have to take it out on the phone?" 

Neil let out a chuckle. "I'll fix my phone later". 

"So why are you so pissed?" Eggsy turned to rest his back against the stone to better watch the blonde. Neil rocked back on his heels and tipped his head to the sky, eyes fluttering shut as he let out a long deep breath. (He was unfairly beautiful). 

"Kingsman has a variety of agents. Agents like Lancelot and Galahad, warriors and knights who take on more aggressive roles to compete their missions. James Bond, license to kill if you want a similarity. They are the sharp pointed arrows primed and ready to go. Quick and dirty and bloody. When they are used, there is normally going to be a big fight and a lot of bloodshed. Then there's agents like Kay and Bedivere who take on more infiltration undercover roles. Others, like Gawain, Percival and Bors are our agents for missions that are long but dangerous. A middle ground between those of Lancelot and Galahad, and Kay and Bedivere". 

"What's the point to this explanation?" Eggsy interrupted. "And how does that explain why you are throwing your phone off the balcony?" 

Neil fixed him with a sharp look. "I am getting to that. Now have you read the story of Tristan and Iseult?" When Eggsy shook his head, he continued. "It's a Celtic tragedy. Knight Tristan is tasked with escorting the princess Iseult to be married to Tristan's uncle, a much older man. Now on the journey the two fall in love, a love doomed by their duties and responsibilities. But they cannot help but fall in love with each other. In the end, Tristan's uncle discovers the romance and Tristan is stripped from his title and banished from the round table and his role as a knight. He then dies just before reuniting with his lover. A tragic and hopeless figure". 

"Sounds like Romeo and Juliet". 

A wry smile tugged on Neil's lips. "Yes. But not so stupid as to fall in love with your family's sworn enemy. Tristan and Isodel, as it is called now, is more a story of love and duty. How to pick which". 

"But how does that connect to everything else?" Eggsy listened as the blonde continued to speak. 

"The positions of kingsmen agents is influenced by the characters of legends, not just from name but in training and how we take on missions. Lancelot of legend was a slayer of many beasts and lover of many women. In some tales he's a brute, in others he is the perfect storybook hero. The agent Lancelot is our gun. Galahad, the gentlemen when we need, but not far from his father, the agent is our perfect English gentleman but with the skills to cause a massacre". Eggsy nodded. What he was describing fit perfectly with what he had seen of Harry so far. 

"Now Tristan was a doomed lover who betrays his family and responsibility for his love.  So that is my role. I am a honey trap, a servant, a undercover agent who gets in close and strikes like a snake. It is not just my role in work, it is something I have played out in my personal life too". Then Neil took a deep breath. "My father is influential and rich and famous, but he is not a good man. Not that anything can be tied to him though. I am a bastard son, but still a son and that meant that I was raised alongside his real children. We were constantly set against each other, made to be enemies from the get go. But I found a love in my lessons. I like being the best. I like the power that his job gives me. So when I was brought to Kingsman as a candidate, I did what I love and betrayed my family for it". 

He sighed and ran a hand through his fair hair. "My older half-brother now rots in expensive prisons and my sister disappeared, fled the outcry. And my father, who does not know what it is that I do, but suspects at lest, has made me heir to his fortune". 

"And what is bad to being a heir to his fortune?" Eggsy asked. 

"Because it gives him more control over me", Neil hissed sharply. "Think Eggsy. Because I am his heir, he can lock me into a mirror of his own life. I cannot escape because everything my mother owns belongs to him. He gives me space for the most part but on certain occasions he calls me back like a dog". He waves a hand dismissively at the shattered phone and suddenly his anger at the phone was explained. "Working here, I have been slowly funding my mother with money not tied to my father and his sick empire but legally, I cannot do much". 

"Why did you tell me this? What honesty do you owe me?" Eggsy was burning to know the answer. 

Neil turned to him and suddenly those blue eyes were raw. Vulnerable, no mask and no distance. He turned and leaned back against the stone in a mirror of Eggsy's position. Their arms brushed and the contact was warm.  "Because you want to prove yourself. You want to beat all those other posh fuckers here and prove that someone from a different background than them can make it. Once I wanted that too. You remind me of that, but I suppose I have become jaded over the years. Also, did I not say that honesty would be what I granted you each time you came closer to roving yourself to me?" 

"Proving myself as what?" Eggsy stepped round to stand directly in front of the blonde, blocking him against the stone. "What do I need to prove to you, Agent Tristan? What do I need to prove that is different from everybody else here that are watching me, waiting for me to prove something to them. Arthur wants me to prove that someone like me can never make it here. Harry wants me to prove the opposite. But what to you want?" Eggsy pressed closer so that there was less than an inch between their chests. 

"I want"- Neil's eyes were half lidded and his breath was soft. "I want you to prove to me that the honesty I have given you wasn't wasted. I want you to prove to me that you can make it, that you are different and might end up being a friend. Lancelot, other than Harry was one of the few others in my life that I could trust. If you want to become the next agent Lancelot, then I need to know I can trust you". 

"What about Roxy? Isn't she your candidate?"

"She already knows me. Personal and work". 

Eggsy's lips quirked up in a smug smirk as his green eyes darted down to linger on Neil's lips. They were a pale pink in the chill. "So you're admitting that I am the next best candidate after Roxy?" 

"Don't take it to heart". Neil's words were a whisper as he leaned further back against the stone. Eggsy leaned forwards, the positions making the brunette slightly taller. 

"I think I'll take that as a compliment", Eggsy murmured in a deep tone. Neil licked his lips and then Eggsy leant down. Neil ducked round the kiss and out from the other man's body in one quick moment. Eggsy turned to watch him as Neil put several steps of distance between them. The air now cold without the body heat of the other. 

"Bad boy", Neil grinned. He wagged a finger like he was telling off a puppy. "Did I say you could kiss me? I am not sure I did". 

Eggsy leaned back against to stone and fixed him with a smile as he crossed his arms. "I'm gonna have to work for it. Aren't I? Are you going to make me beg?" 

"Oh darling. I could have you on your knees if I wanted". 

"Is that a fact? What if you're on your knees for me? I'd bet you'd look pretty". 

"I'd look beautiful", Neil laughed as he placed a hand over his chest. He batted his eyelashes at the other, and was rewarded by a chuckle. "But an agent cannot take advantage of a candidate. The scandal might finally be the think to kill off Arthur". 

"All I am hearing is good ideas". 

"Also. You don't even know my name", Neil's grin slipped into a more sober smile. 

"Will you tell me?" 

"No. Not yet". Neil turned and began walking inside. "Make it to the last two Eggsy and maybe I might". Behind him, he heard an amused chuckle. 

unedited

their tension is unreal but no kissing just yet.