Chapter Text

“You want to borrow Mother’s jewels… for an excursion?”

“Yes. I’ll be bringing them back, of course.”

Auguste sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, likely contemplating the proposal; the pros and cons of Laurent’s idea.

“Okay, just, explain it to me please -- actually, no. Don’t tell me anything. If you’re caught, I am going to throw my hands up and play a fool. It’s better if I know nothing.”

Laurent smiled just the slightest. “Is that a yes?” he asked.

Auguste sighed and nodded, not removing his hand from his face. “You’re not going alone, right?”

“Of course not.”

His brother merely sighed again before shooing him away to do as he pleased. Laurent would repay him later with a favor, as always. It was an unspoken exchange that they’d had going for years now.

That afternoon, Laurent rode out the palace gates with his mother’s jewelry box, as well another thin box in hand, heading out to the middle of nowhere. But this particular nowhere was somewhere special, actually. It was the place where his adventures had all began, and where he was anyone but the Prince of Vere. It was also the place where Laurent had first fallen in love.

He and the Crown Prince of Akielos - ‘Damen, please call me Damen’ - had been courting for quite some time now, though not publicly.

It hadn’t started out so easily either. In fact, neither had been fond of one another until they somehow got into a sticky situation outside of the palace and had had to work together to get out alive. It turned out, after surviving a life-threatening situation, that they had a lot in common, and their differences easily made up for one another's weaknesses rather well.

The people only assumed that Prince Damianos enjoyed his time in Vere. Only Auguste knew the truth.

Damen was already waiting when Laurent arrived. He could see him just inside of the forest brush at their spot, out of sight of anyone that may happen by. Laurent signaled him with his lantern, switching it on and off three times. Then, they met in the brush.

“Did he actually give them to you?” asked Damen.

“Surprisingly, yes. Shall we? We must get there quickly, or we’ll miss our window.”

Damen gave him a surprised look that was quickly replaced by a smile before they kicked off into a steady canter, heading North for the town of Beaufort. It was likely one of the most pleasant rides anyone could take, even at night, as it went through many fragrant fields of lavender and rosemary. They trotted through the rows of herbs, their senses overwhelmed with the fresh perfumes.

Once they reached the edge of the little town, they could hear the nightly bustle of wagons and motor vehicles puttering up and down the streets. They would be going further in than just the outskirts; there was a downtown spring harvest festival that was sure to be even busier than this.

They tied up their horses within a small unused back patio on the outskirts. It was here that Laurent began removing his clothing, charging Damen to pull out the garments from the other box he had brought along.

“Are you completely sure about this? It could be very dangerous, especially if they find out who you are,” Damen reiterated once more.

“I’m positive. This is our best bet of catching him,” Laurent said, grabbing for the blue fabric. “We’ve tried other ways, but he’s left us no choice.”

Damen sighed - as he had so many times while formulating this particular plan - while Laurent pulled the dress over his head, doing up as much of the lacing as he could.

“Can you cinch me up?” he asked, turning around so Damen could get to his back. Damen’s hands fumbled a lot, taking a good amount of time to lace it up. “You have to do it tighter,” he said when he realized Damen was done pulling the fabric in.

“What? But it’s already tight.”

“It has to be tighter to give me a more feminine form,” Laurent explained.

“You already--” Damen cut himself off quickly and went back to the laces, tugging on them again.

“I already what, Damianos,” Laurent asked, pulling his stomach in.

“Nothing, just hold onto something. It’s hard to pull it tighter like this.”

Once dressed, he pulled on his shoes and Damen clipped on his jewelry for him. He put on a quick couple swipes of lipsticks on his lips.

“How did you do that so quickly...Have you do--”

“Maybe,” he said quickly. “Alright. Go time.”

Laurent placed a chaste, lipstick covered kiss on Damen’s cheek, then he was on his way.

Making his way down the streets and towards the center of the festival, Laurent kept his eyes keen The townswomen had been mysteriously losing their jewelry during the festival, left in a stupor and out in the open. With the festival finally coming to an end at the end of the week, Damen and Laurent were running out of time to find the culprit. It had been tireless work connecting the sparse clues and finding the similarities in each case to get to where Laurent stood now. In a blue dress, eyes roving the crowded streets.

His plan was foolproof. Even as the sun set, the festival’s crowd had yet to thin, travelers from all around still seeking to buy the largest quantities of lavender and rosemary goods made by the locals. And of course to enjoy other activities such as traditional dancing, lantern lighting, and well-wishing.

Laurent went up to one particular stall, looking over the samples of handkerchiefs scented with lavender. He picked out a light blue one that matched the color of his dress and smiled at the tender who blushed as Laurent paid and went on his way.

The next stand over was selling sunflowers of all colors and sizes. Some were made into bouquets, some into corsages and boutonnieres. One particular loose flower was red and yellow and looked a lot like that of a lion’s mane. He smiled, unable to stop himself from picking it up and dropping a few coins on the table before moving on.

At random, Laurent picked up a few things here and there, walking slowly as he looked over each item for sale, but also taking the occasional looked ahead of him. He knew there was a consistent shadow behind him, following him to each booth. He had his man on him now.

As his final stop, Laurent walked to the wishing well, standing there for a moment among other people before dropping a gold coin into the well. He brought up his newly acquired handkerchief, covering his mouth and coughing into it, but being very careful to not actually breathe in any of the perfume.

Taking a few steps back, he purposefully fumbled, making a point to nearly trip over his feet. Dramatically, Laurent seated himself on the other side of a fountain, facing away from the festival. There were few people where he sat and the only sounds around were coming from the fountain and the distant celebrations.

Now, he waited.

Not much time needed to pass before he heard the faintest sound of footsteps. A giggling couple passed by first, paying him no mind as they continued on their way. In an effort to speed things up, Laurent swayed a bit, leaning over as if he was lightheaded, his breath becoming heavier on purpose. Though it was all act, it seemed to be believable enough that someone came up to him, asking if he was alright.

He nodded, slightly regaining his posture, but only for a moment before he leaned over again to take more deep breaths.

Just as Laurent had planned for, he felt a hand rest at the curve of his neck, rubbing down a bit, then up. Two fingers lifted from his neck, gently releasing the clasp of the necklace so that it fell onto his lap.

“Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry. Here, let me help you,” said the stranger behind him. The necklace was taken but never replaced.

Laurent pretended not to notice, coughing a bit. A hand then came over his that was adorned with three rings and a pearl bracelet. The ring on his ring finger began slipping away. Laurent let the ring go before snapping his hand back, gripping the stranger's wrist tightly and finally looking up at them.

“Not my mother’s wedding ring, you won’t,” said Laurent.

The thief - wearing an off-white, almost skin tone mask - looked at him shocked, his instincts likely telling him to run.

He’d let him run. Let him think he’d won.

That’s exactly what he did. He easily slipped from Laurent’s grasp and sprinted for the nearest alley.

Laurent heard a curse from somewhere behind him before Damen galloped by, chasing after the thief. Watching him go, Laurent stood and dusted off his dress before making his way over to the building next to the alleyway.

♘♚♕♞

Damen took off in a burst, running after the escaping caper.

The man before him was thin with long legs that kept him just ahead of Damen. They twisted and turned about in the alleyways, the streets becoming a blur. Damen was sure he’d be completely turned around by the time he caught the man and only hoped Laurent would be able to keep up.

He took one heavy breath once he finally got just close enough that if he pounced, he would catch the man. He focused in, then took the leap.

Almost…

His fingers just grazed the man's shirt when he took a sudden sharp turn, just out Damen’s reach. It all happened so slowly, him falling to the ground, the thief getting away.

Damnit. They’d been working so hard on figuring out how to catch this man, and Damen had let everyone down by miscalculation. Now the man was going to get away with the late Queens’ jewels.

He watched the man just barely round the corner. But after the sense of slow motion ceased, a mere second after he made his realization that they were completely fucked, something blue came falling from the sky. It was large and fluttering down from the rooftop, directly above the man.

There was crashing of trash cans just beyond what Damen could see, so he quickly stood and scrambled to get over there before the man could escape again. What he saw was the last thing he expected.

Laurent was straddling the man, his dress dirty and ripped to reveal half of his back, his hair disheveled. He was rustling through the man's pockets for a second before his arm whipped straight up into the air, a shiny ring with a massive diamond in its center held in his fingers.

“I told you, sir, not my mother’s wedding ring,” said Laurent matter-of-factly.

Damen, crossing his arms, cleared his throat loudly.

Laurent stopped and whipped his head around, hair falling over his shoulder, covering his also half revealed chest.

“What the hell was that? Were you planning to let him go all along?” asked Damen.

“Hello, Love. Of course. Where is the fun in just catching and having him arrested? How boring.”

“Is this a game to you?” Damen asked, raising a brow. He already knew the answer.

“It is the game I like, Dearest One,” Laurent said, then turned back to the thief beneath him. “Alright, fork it over. Where’s the rest of it? Stop looking at my nipple. It’s weird.”

Damen sighed deeply, dragging a hand down his face. He loved Laurent and would have ridden straight into hell for him and back. But sometimes, he was infuriating.

“You have the right to remain silent,” Laurent began when there was a small pile of jewels beside him.

“Lau--”

“Shh, let me have me have my fun.”

Damen couldn’t help it. He smiled and did as he was told.