Chapter Text
Stanley Marshwalker was faced with the same insurmountable obstacle each and every day.
His number one objective as a knight of Larnion, especially as the king’s chosen protector, was to put king Kyle above all else. To swear undying loyalty to him, even if it meant sacrificing his own life in exchange for Kyle’s. Stan knew very well what he had gotten himself into, and took no issue with any of it. To him, Kyle was well worth laying down his life for, royalty or not.
That wasn’t the issue. The issue was that his brain had an apparent inability to draw the line in the matter of ‘undying loyalty.’
He despised himself for it. Felt guilt stab through him like an enemy blade each and every time Kyle complimented his work, or offered him one of his endless gifts and niceties. It made him feel sick to believe he was a traitor to the kingdom, even after everything they had done for him, but worse than that? He was a traitor to the king himself. King Broflovski, quite possibly the most beautiful and kind soul he’d ever laid eyes upon. Even doing so much as looking at him felt like losing himself in a dream, as though he was falling further and further into a siren’s trap with each and every sneaked glance at him. And perhaps he was, given the situation it had placed him in.
Quite obviously, he kept his feelings to himself. He would surely be exiled from the kingdom if word of this ever got out, and even if he were spared from such a fate, there was no way he would ever be able to look the king in the eyes again. He’d tried everything from distancing himself to buying love erasure potions in secret at the night market, but nothing had worked. These feelings were here to stay, as much pain as they caused him, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.
So, when Stan awoke from what felt like a year’s long slumber with a pulsing headache and next to no memories of the past twenty four hours other than confessing to Kyle that he loved him, he was afraid. And when he took in his surroundings, realizing the bed underneath him was far too big for one person and in fact not his bed at all, he was terrified. The sage colored walls that typically provided him with comfort whenever he had the pleasure of seeing them were now overwhelming, closing in on him and leaving him struggling for air. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten into this position, but he was certain it couldn’t have been good. Not when his only memory of the past day was doing the single thing he had vowed to himself never to do under any circumstance. Stan distantly wondered if it could have been a dream, but it felt so fresh and realistic in his mind that he doubted that could be the case.
No, it was most definitely a dream. It had to have been, or Stan wasn’t sure what he would do.
“How are you feeling?” Stan jumped as he heard a voice come from the other side of the bed. He hadn’t even noticed him in his panicked confusion, but Kyle had been standing near the other end of the mattress, evidently having been watching him. He must have noticed his shock, and let out one of his quiet, gentle laughs that never failed to tug on Stan’s heartstrings. “Relax, it’s only me. I’ve been keeping an eye on you to make sure your condition doesn’t worsen.” His condition? He placed a hand on Stan’s forehead without warning, which absolutely did not make his heart flutter in his chest despite his best efforts to restrain himself. “Good, you’re cooling down. You had quite a nasty fever while you were unconscious, you needed three separate cooling spells until your temperature was under control.” Whatever had caused him to end up in Kyle’s bed must have been severe, evidently, if that and his horrible headache were anything to go by. Stan still had numerous questions, the one at the forefront of his mind being why he was in Kyle’s personal quarters rather than being in the healing wing, but one thing bothered him above all else.
“I’m sure you have more important duties to attend to than just simply watching me recover.” Stan worried his tone may have come across as accusatory rather than questioning, so he quickly followed himself up. “It’s very kind of you to do this, your highness, it just seems like more of a servant’s job than something to dirty your own hands with.”
“Is a king not allowed to care for his favorite knight?” A simple answer, but Stan’s heart swelled all the same. Favorite. That wasn’t a term Kyle used for him often, likely not to cause jealousy from the other warriors and knights. It was glaringly obvious to anyone that observed the two of them for a significant period of time, but it felt nice to hear it said aloud.
How would he feel if he knew his favorite knight had gone and betrayed his trust? Stan pushed the thought away as quickly as he possibly could.
“It’s just like you to worry about my own actions before even asking why you’re here in the first place, Marshwalker.” Another laugh, gentle and loving without a hint of malice. “I have always admired that about you.” Before Stan even had time to reply, the words, ‘it’s just my duty, your highness,’ already on the tip of his tongue, Kyle reached over and handed him a goblet of translucent liquid. “I need you to drink this, if you’re feeling well enough to stomach it. It should help rid you of any remaining symptoms.” Stan couldn’t have taken it fast enough, eager to get this horrible headache over with. He choked it down, wincing at the disgusting medicinal taste as much as he tried not to, and handed the empty goblet back over to Kyle. He felt the effects almost immediately, reducing his migraine to something far more manageable. With his head now cleared, Stan figured now was as good a time as any to figure out what had led him to the position he was currently in. It was most likely that he had just fallen ill and Kyle had decided to watch over him out of the goodness of his heart, but with that horrible memory still taunting him, he needed to be certain that was all it was.
“Symptoms of what, exactly?” Stan didn’t miss the way Kyle’s eyes momentarily widened as he took the goblet from him and set it on his nightstand, and he certainly didn’t miss the worried sigh that came out of him as he turned back to face him. Whatever this was about, that couldn’t have possibly been a good sign. Stan braced himself for the worst, though what ‘the worst’ actually was he was unsure, but nothing could have prepared him for the response he got.
“Last night you were under the effects of a love potion. With the object of your affections being, well, me.” Oh. Relief immediately washed over Stan as he realized that, while he presumed he hadn’t dreamt up his confession, it hadn’t been something he had any control over. But embarrassment and guilt hit him just as quickly, feeling horrible for not being able to combat whoever did this to him and making the king deal with whatever horrible things he said and did while under the potion’s influence. Stan felt frozen to the bed, shifting his eyes away from Kyle’s. He hated to see those gentle emerald eyes shine with anything other than joy, and he wasn’t sure he could stomach the disappointment he was sure to see in them right now.
“My sincerest apologies for my actions, your highness.” He still refused to look into Kyle’s eyes, worried they would turn him to stone if he dared look into them. “I don’t remember much, but I’m sure I acted very… unknightly.” Stan tried his hardest to remember anything from while he was cursed, as much of a horrible idea he knew it likely was, but came back empty-handed. He would have claimed it was to apologize for each and every thing he did individually if asked, but in the back of his mind he knew that wasn’t the only reason. He wanted to indulge, knowing full well he had just lived through his only ever chance to let out his true feelings to Kyle. Perhaps it was for the best that he couldn’t conjure a stable memory— the less he despised himself, the better.
“You have no reason to apologize. It’s not as if you did this yourself.” But I still enjoyed it. Isn’t that just as bad? You should unknight me, banish me from the kingdom. I’m a traitor, a horrible traitor that can’t keep his feelings under contr— “It had to have been someone from Kupa Keep. We truth serum tested every single resident of the palace, and I’m having some knights go and test the surrounding villages now. I think it was a plan to cause political unrest and get you banished from Larnion, but I can’t be sure until we meet with the humans tomorrow.” Kyle moved to sit on the bed next to him, the closeness between them being the only thing Stan could think about. “Why on Zaron they would choose something so complex over simply poisoning you is beyond me, but…”
Kyle trailed off as he leaned in even closer, brushing a stray strand of hair out of Stan’s eye. Stan could never decide if it was a blessing or a curse that the king was unafraid of showing physical affection like he did. Holding his hand, fixing his hair, even occasionally kissing the back of his hand, which typically happened the other way around. He loved each and every second of it, cherishing every gentle touch deep within the chambers of his heart, but it was always soon followed by a stream of negative emotions. Hatred for allowing himself to get so worked up over something so menial, and for allowing himself to catch these feelings in the first place, and occasionally even jealousy as he wondered if Kyle acted similarly with the other knights. This time was no different, with his heart divided between two opposite spectrums of emotion. “I’m overjoyed that you’re safe. I don’t know what I would do without you.” What Kyle would do without him? Stan couldn’t even begin to imagine how he would cope with Kyle’s death, and to imagine the same thing was true vise versa filled him with an odd sense of comfort.
“I know it’s not quite my fault, but it feels wrong not to apologize. I did make you spend your whole night watching over me, after all.” It suddenly made a lot more sense why he was in Kyle’s quarters rather than the medical wing, given that it could be dangerous to separate someone under a love curse or spell from their loved one for a significant period of time. Stan pretended he didn’t feel saddened by the fact that Kyle evidently hadn’t stayed here with him by choice.
“I can assure you that I don’t mind in the slightest. In fact, there’s… something I’d like to discuss with you, if you’re feeling up to it.” Kyle’s tone shifted, whether it was positive or negative Stan was unsure, but his head burned with worry. Or maybe that was just the fever coming back, he wasn’t quite sure. Either way, Stan couldn’t shake the fear pooling in his stomach.
“Of course, your highness. Is something the matter?” Kyle shifted, adjusting the position of his crown and staring down at him. Even his soft gaze alone was enough to partially quell Stan’s fears. Stan still wasn’t fully convinced Kyle’s eyes weren’t enchanted with a calming spell.
“I want you to be honest with me.” Oh dear. His fears came right back after hearing those words, stabbing through his heart like an enemy blade. “I won’t hold anything you say against you. If you’d like, we can forget this entire conversation ever happened once it’s finished, okay?” Stan was sure he didn’t want to know, positive he couldn’t stomach the result of opening up this rabbit hole, but his curiosity was eating away at him.
“What— What are you speaking of?” Kyle sighed once more, picking at his nails in a display of nervousness rarely seen from him.
“The potion you were under last night was, ah, very strong, to say the least.” What had he done? Had he stolen the king’s first kiss? Attacked one of his fellow knights from jealousy? Stan still knew he didn’t want to know, but he needed to. “It was obscenely obvious. It would have been impossible for anyone to mistake it as genuine love.” Ah, so at the very least it appeared his true feelings hadn’t been discovered. That partially helped lift the weight off of Stan’s chest, though Kyle’s cautious and nearly worried tone made sure a part of it still remained anchored to him.
“Did the humans really think anyone would believe something like that? Or are there ulterior motives at play?” Kyle shook his head.
“No, no. Valmer ran a check on you, and the potion was supposed to be well-crafted and near-indistinguishable from genuine romantic feelings.” Kyle took his hand, squeezing it gently. Without thinking, Stan interlocked their fingers together. “But he found that it lacked the dragon-scales that make it work in tandem with pre-existing feelings for the person it’s targeted to.” Pre-existing feelings?
Oh no. Nononono, this could not be happening. It couldn’t, it wasn’t. Surely he’d misunderstood Kyle, as little room for interpretation his words left. He had to have misunderstood him, because he couldn’t possibly live with the shame that was sure to come crashing down on him any moment now. And he most definitely couldn’t live with being exiled from Larnion, de-knighted and forced to live the rest of his life as the traitorous knight that had fallen for the king.
He had just misunderstood what Kyle had to say. He must have.
“Pre-existing feelings?” He stumbled out, his frantic tone not doing himself any favors in the way of trying to keep his feelings hidden. Kyle squeezed his hand again, and the action that had provided him so much comfort in the past suddenly made him queasy.
“Stay calm.” He commanded, as if it were that simple. “I promise you that whatever you say here will not leave this room. I swear on my life.” Stan believed him, knowing that the king would never stoop to something so low, but that wasn’t what he was afraid of. He was afraid of Kyle’s reaction himself, of the disappointment and shame he would see reflected off of his eyes, of the soft touches and gentle praises coming to a sudden halt, of the hidden trips with him to the night market to try and rid him of his feelings. He was terrified, much more so than he ever felt in a battle. Ironic, considering both had a high likelihood of ending his life.
“I have to leave.” His voice was shaky, and he was certain Kyle could figure out his answer from that alone. But even so, he couldn’t dare admit it aloud.
His life was over. All of his hard work had been for nothing. All of those late nights spent trying to will his feelings away, the dozens of unsuccessful love-removal spells, his life spent protecting Kyle at all costs; It was all for nothing. Stan stumbled towards the door, barely remembering to grab his helmet from the nightstand, and rushed to open the door as soon as humanly possible.
“Marshwalker.” Kyle didn’t even sound angry with him, nor even disappointed. He sounded understanding— perfectly fitting of a kind king such as himself. “Please stay here. I promise you that you won’t face any consequences for whatever you say. I just need to know your answer.” In his first ever disobedience of a direct order from the king, Stan continued to fiddle with the doorknob. It took what felt like centuries to open, Kyle’s disappointed gaze piercing through his neck not doing him any favors, until, finally he was free from this horrible emotional prison.
And then his hopes were crushed as the door immediately shut itself before he could leave through it, an impenetrable force field completely surrounding it.
Right. Kyle could use magic. He probably should have thought of that before attempting to escape, but he had been so overwhelmed that the thought had completely slipped his mind.
“I suppose I’ll have to go first, then.” Stan was so busy planning the end of his life as he knew it that he almost didn’t catch what Kyle had said. Go first? What did that mean? Stan turned around, deciding that looking in Kyle’s vague direction was better than staring endlessly at the magic barrier trapping him in here. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing his farewell speech. He didn't get far, the burning shame pulsating through his body making it too difficult to conjure up with anything coherent. Though he supposed it didn’t matter all that much— he’d be lucky if Kyle allowed him to give a resignation speech at all, given the circumstances of his departure. “Come here, if you will? I'd much prefer to do this next to you.” That task seemed insurmountable, with the way Stan’s legs were currently anchored to the floor with fear, but he had to make an attempt. For Kyle. To his own shock he managed to walk himself back over to the bed, climbing onto the side opposite of where Kyle sat. Stan felt like a young child about to get scolded for his actions, and to feel that way next to the one person he swore loyalty to above all else made his stomach churn.
“My sincerest apologies, I— I don’t know what came over me.” He did know what came over him, of course— it was panic. But he was still holding onto the hope that Kyle still didn’t know his secret, clinging to his delusions more desperately than he’d ever held onto anything in his life. He wasn’t sure he could lie to Kyle if asked directly, the guilt of telling such a bold lie directly to the king’s face likely being too much to bear, but he still held onto his hope, clutching it like he held the fate of the world in his palms. Which, to an extent, he did.
“You’re shaking.” Kyle placed a palm on Stan’s leg, only just now noticing that he was, in fact, bouncing his leg in a poor effort to calm himself. He stopped as soon as he noticed, not wanting to disrespect his king any further. “I don’t know how else to convince you I mean no harm other than simply being honest, so…” Kyle took a deep breath in and out, then gave him a soft, warming smile. Stan felt himself calm ever so slightly as he readied himself for the world crashing down on him. He could do this. He’d mentally envisioned what this conversation would look like if it ever were to happen plenty of times, he was sure he could take it. Kyle even seemed to be more understanding about this than he was in Stan’s head, with no malice in his voice and little sign that he was even upset at all. He would just have to throw all of his hard work away and move as far away from the kingdom as he could. He could take this. (He definitely could not.) “To be quite blunt, you’ve captured my heart. You have for nearly a year now.”
“Hm?” Stan’s eyes widened, his heart soaring to heights it had never been to before. He couldn’t believe what he had heard, convinced he must have been dreaming. But slowly, piece by piece, he started to place it together. The physical affection, the favoritism he tried (and failed) to hide, even the occasional questions regarding whether or not he’d found a partner yet; It all made sense. It was still nearly impossible to believe that he had been blessed with something so wonderful, but his remaining doubts faded away as he looked up into Kyle’s eyes. Soft. Kind. Loving. “That’s— That’s a lot to take in, your highness.” ‘A lot,’ was undershooting it by more than he could ever put into words. The love of his life had just confessed that he’d fallen for him nearly a year ago. That was so much to take in that it was impossible to all stomach at once.
“Drop the titles.” He commanded nearly the second the words left Stan’s mouth. “We’re alone, you don’t need them. Please, call me Kyle.” His first name? Stan was pretty sure he could be executed for such blatant disrespect under the right circumstances, and now the king wanted him to refer to him that way?
“It doesn’t feel right.” Stan tried to force the name out of his mouth, but it died in his throat. Even upon his own will, he couldn’t disrespect him like this. “You’re royalty, it feels wrong to refer to you as anything but.”
“And what is royalty other than luck?” His statement caught Stan off-guard. “I just happened to be born with royal blood, does that really deserve such special recognition? You’re the one who’s laid down your life for me countless times. If anything, you’re the one who deserves honorifics.” The more Stan thought about it, he supposed Kyle made sense. He had never known Kyle felt that way, and wished he could have known sooner. Before he could even begin to think up a response, Kyle continued. “You referred to me that way last night. By a nickname, actually. It made me finally come to terms with never having enjoyed being referred to with special titles.” Kyle leaned in closer to him, wiping a few tears off of his cheeks that Stan hadn’t even noticed were forming.
“Alright, then. If that’s what you wish.” Stan squeezed his eyes shut momentarily in preparation, then opened them with a nervous smile. He had nothing to fear. Kyle loved him too. He still couldn’t fully wrap his head around it, but he knew it was the truth deep in his heart. “I love you too, Kyle.” The name slipped off of his tongue with ease this time, like it was destined to be there. Stan continued, the adrenaline flowing through his veins giving him a sudden confidence. “I have for quite some time, but I always tried my hardest to ignore it. It felt selfish of me to even harbor such feelings.” Stan leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Kyle’s hand. A gesture he’d done many times as a sign of respect and gratitude, but one that held much more meaning in their current circumstance. “I had never even dreamed of you ever reciprocating my feelings. So thank you, your high— Kyle. I’m sorry for acting the way I did, I kept this secret so closely guarded to my heart for so long that I wasn’t sure what to do with myself when you figured it out.” He looked at Kyle with pure joy, who was in turn giving him the happiest smile he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing him wear. “But now, I can’t even remember why I was so worried.”
“You have no reason to apologize. I understand completely.” Kyle placed a hand on his cheek, and, with no warning, leaned in and gently pressed his lips against Stan’s own. He tried his very best to appear calm, though he felt anything but. He abandoned the facade almost immediately; How could he ever be calm? King Kyle, the love of his life that he assumed he’d be banished from the kingdom for having feelings for in the first place, had just kissed him. Kissed. Him. He tried to kiss back, desperate not to mess this up, and after a few seconds of mindless staring like he’d been struck with an ice spell and frozen in place, he finally managed. “That wasn’t our first kiss, you know,” Kyle said with a laugh as he pulled back, his hand still unmoving from Stan’s cheek. He leaned into the touch, desperate to greedily drink in as much of this sickeningly sweet affection as he possibly could.
“It wasn’t? ” Oh dear, he didn’t even want to imagine the things he had said and done while under the influence of that potion. Above his embarrassment was a sense of regret that he had no memory of their first technical kiss, though their second ‘first’ certainly hadn’t been a bad one.
“Not by any means. You were very, well, for lack of a better word, clingy yesterday, and I had to—” Kyle paused, his eyes flashing with worry. “Oh dear, you’re burning up. Lie back down, I shouldn’t have gotten you so worked up while you’re still recovering.” He was? Stan had been too busy comprehending that his wildest dreams had just come true to notice, but now that Kyle pointed it out, he did feel rather warm. He lied back down on the bed and snuggled himself beneath the covers, though he knew that likely wouldn’t help his temperature situation.
“You didn’t finish. What did you have to do?” Now that the threat of rejection was gone, Stan had to admit that he was morbidly curious as to his actions the previous night. It was a curiosity that shouldn’t be satiated, knowing full well it would result in nothing more than his embarrassment, but he simply had to know.
“I had to kiss you for you to agree to do anything I asked of you.” Kyle leaned over him and squeezed his eyes shut, evidently preparing a spell of some kind. That response had been just about what Stan expected, but that didn’t stop the embarrassment from smacking him over the head. He pictured Kyle bribing him with affection as he apparently had, and laughed quietly to himself at the mental image. Stan would have apologized for his previous actions, but he had a sneaking feeling he was tired of his apologies by now. “This morning even that didn’t work, and we had to eat breakfast in here because you refused to let go of me.” Kyle opened his eyes back up, and Stan felt a refreshing wave of cool air hit him. A cooling spell, just what he had needed. “I didn’t mind, though. It was strangely entertaining to see you acting so unlike yourself.”
“Sounds like fun.” Stan was only being half sarcastic. “I wish I could remember any of it.”
“Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise. If you were so worried over referring to me by my first name, I think you would have a heart attack if you knew some of the things you said to me yesterday.” Judging by the arrow he felt pierce through his heart at the thought, Kyle was certainly right. He lingered on the thought for a moment, his embarrassed curiosity soon turning into an intense longing. Kyle loved him, he reminded himself. He could say all of the cliché romantic things that always floated around his mind when speaking to Kyle without consequence. He could tell him how soft his hands were and how beautiful his hair was, all without fear of being exiled or ridiculed.
But did Kyle want that? What if they were nothing more than a secret? What if his confession had been more of a nicety than a long-standing commitment, and he had never intended on taking this anywhere that wasn’t strictly behind closed doors?
He needed to know. It was eating away at him, gnawing at each and every chunk of his heart. He trusted Kyle to be honest with him, so, as much as he feared getting told what was between them wasn’t anything serious, he spoke with confidence. “What… is this? What are we?”
“Ah.” It appeared didn’t need to elaborate, and Kyle had understood him from that alone. “I wondered that myself. To be quite honest, I too tried to rid myself of my feelings for you. I worried that I would be looked down upon and have my abilities doubted if I didn’t marry into another royal family, but—” Another kiss, this one planted onto the top of his forehead. “I’ve since realized there are more important things to devote my time to worrying about.” Stan grabbed onto Kyle’s hand, and gave it a gentle, loving squeeze. “We will have to wait until we’ve met with the humans and can confirm that you’ll be safe before we announce anything, but after that? We can be whatever you want us to, dearest. You will have to fight twice as hard to combat the favoritism allegations, but I doubt that would be an issue for you anyway.” Stan had to have been dreaming. Everything was too impossibly perfect, like he’d been tricked by an incubus and had fallen for his trap. But even if that were the case, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Even if this were a dream, he wished to never wake up, and keep breathing in this fantasy forever.
“Anything?” Stan tested the waters.
“Anything.” Kyle administered another cooling spell, and this time Stan was certain the wave of warmth he felt through his body wasn’t a side effect of the antidote. “To be quite honest, I’d love nothing more than to marry you someday. Of course, only if you wish the same.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” He sat up, as if in a daze, and pulled Kyle in for another kiss. It was longer this time, especially without Stan’s body completely frozen in place, and he savored each and every second of it. Of course, it wasn’t as if he needed to— He had a sneaking suspicion this wouldn’t be the last of their kisses. “What time are we leaving?” He asked as he pulled away, very much so eager to get this over with as soon as possible and find out which person he had to thank for inadvertently making his dreams come true.
“ We’re leaving at twelve. You are staying put in this bed until you’ve made a full recovery.”
“But—” They had apparently been through this song and dance enough times that Kyle had his argument memorized, and refuted it without him even needing to say anything.
“No, I’m not letting you spend hours traveling to the human kingdom, a resident of which very likely wishes to kill you and has already partially tried, when you’re burning up and nowhere near fully recovered. I have other knights to protect me if things go awry, I don’t need you risking your life when it’s unnecessary.” But I need to keep you safe. The words lingered on the forefront of his tongue, dying to escape, but Stan bit them back. If there was anything Kyle was adamant about it was risking his safety when it wasn’t needed, and he didn’t necessarily feel like reawakening this argument for the umpteenth time.
“What time is it now, then?” He couldn’t stomach the thought of being alone right now, not after everything that he had just learned. He needed Kyle, just as much as he needed oxygen or water.
“About nine. We still have a few hours together, but I really do recommend you get some more sleep. Valmer informed me that this particular potion can have some lingering effects if you’re not properly taken care of during recovery, and while I do love you, I’d really prefer not to have you attached to my waist at all times.” That didn’t sound half bad as he thought about it. Though he supposed it would be difficult to get any knighting done if his hands were always wrapped around Kyle’s waist.
“You expect me to be able to sleep after all of this?” Stan couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of his assumption.
“No, I truly don’t, but your antidote had crushed up sleeping nettles in it. So I don’t think you have much choice in the matter.” Ah, how tragic. Well, he supposed losing a few hours with Kyle was a somewhat fair trade for keeping control of his brain. Now that he thought about it, he was getting fairly tired. Stan yawned, laying back down and shutting his eyes. “That’s probably them kicking in. Goodnight, Stanley. I love you.” He was so tired he nearly missed the usage of his first name, but once he noticed, his eyes quickly shot back open.
Stanley. Kyle had used his first name. He’d mistakenly thought he couldn’t have possibly gotten more shocked today, but Kyle had proved him wrong once again.
“Oh, my apologies. I never did ask if it was okay to refer to you that way.” Okay? It was more than okay. It was so, so much more than okay.
“It’s perfect, Ky.” The nickname slipped from his mouth completely accidentally, and Stan had no idea where it had even come from. He had just called Kyle, the king, by a cheesy romantic nickname. If this had occurred in any other circumstances his life would surely be over, but Stan doubted that would be the case after everything that had just occurred. Kyle looked at him with shock at first, then with adoration.
“That’s what you called me yesterday.” So maybe he had retained some of his memories after all? Deep in the back of his mind? “I quite like it.” Stan tried his best to make a mental note to call him that, but with drowsiness rapidly beginning to eat away at him, he wasn’t sure he’d remember it.
“When will you be back, Ky?” He mumbled, only half audible.
“We should return within forty eight hours, if everything goes according to plan.” Forty eight hours? Two entire days? Though, Stan couldn’t bring himself to be angry. After receiving blessing after blessing today, it would take a hell of a lot of bad news to make him anything less than overwhelmingly giddy.
“I don’t wish to bother you, but—”
“Drop the formalities.” Kyle commanded him once again. Stan cleared his throat.
“Please come lay with me, at least until I fall asleep.” Kyle smiled at him, almost as if he’d been waiting for that question to escape his lips. He was at his side in seconds, wrapping his arms around Stan’s waist without even being asked.
“I think I owe whoever did this to you an apology.” Kyle muttered against his ear. “Because I don’t believe this would have happened without their kind gesture.” Stan attempted to agree, but the only thing that could come out of his mouth was a tired mumble of approval as Kyle pressed a gentle kiss to the nape of his neck. It only took seconds for him to drift off to sleep after that, the effects of the sleeping nettles and the warmth of Kyle’s body against his being too difficult to fight off. Stan almost wondered if he would awake in his own quarters, realizing this had all been a dream and the world’s cruel attempt at a joke. But when he woke up two hours later with Kyle still wrapped around his body like a viper, breathing softly against his neck, he knew that couldn’t have been the case. That this was real, as difficult as it was to believe. That they wouldn’t be the king and his knight for much longer, instead being a pair of kings destined to rule over Larnion together.
And it was all because he had been ‘cursed’ with a love potion.