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"Who the hell are you?" Aegon yells when he sees a hunk of an alpha just standing at his door step.
His sister had told him that Jacaerys was coming to visit so he needed this annoyingly hot alpha gone yesterday.
But then this man smiles at him.
And Aegon immediately connects the thoughts as the sun blasts him in the face.
Cute, he thinks begrudgingly.
Jace has always been so adorable...so by that logic what did the world have against him to make Jace grow up this way?
What had the kid been eating?
Aegon scowls deeply and that wipes the smile off Jace's face as he visibly becomes concerned.
"Uncle Egg?"
God, even his voice has dropped.
Clenching his hands and suppressing a whine, Aegon settles for glaring. Then when he sees Jace falter with hesitancy, he starts to feel a little bit bad.
It's not like Jace did this on purpose. He can't control the way his genes work. If he's meant to be tall and broad, with the look of a man that can totally manhandle Aegon any way he wants then-
"Hey, Jace," he says through gritted teeth, forcing those evil thoughts away. He definitely needs to go back to the club and find himself a sex partner for the night. "Come on in," he adds in a more friendly tone. He honestly did miss his nephew, his cute nephew who'd he'd babysat for his sister, he had these puppy brown eyes and floppy brown hair and he'd always laugh and smile whenever Aegon did anything, so easily amused, that Jace was endearing.
This Jace is...
Still Jace.
Because the man almost trips over the welcoming mat as he walks into the apartment door with that familiar clumsiness he's always had around Aegon in particular, and Aegon laughs, his heart thawing as fondness reappears in a flood of warmth.
"You're so eager," he teases slyly.
Jace blushes and sheepishly scratches the back of his head. He has long loose curls now and Aegon kinda wants to run his hand through them. They look so soft.
"I did miss you while I was away," the man murmurs. "Though I don't think you missed me at all."
"Huh?" Aegon detects the sadness in his tone and realizes that he's been too cold. And judgmental. He shakes his head and takes Jace's arm in his hand to tug towards his modest living room. "I was expecting you to not have changed at all. Which is stupid of course but now you're taller than me and could probably win our pillow fights more easily now."
"You talk as if you ever won a match," Jace says, amused but his eyes seem to sparkle in delight too as he stops and grabs Aegon by the shoulders. "You're still so small uncle. I remember always having no trouble pushing you around and tackling you-"
"Okay, I get it!" Aegon says, flustered. His dirty mind is not hearing that with the innocence it should have. There's no way Jace is trying to flirt with him. It's only been five minutes since they've seen each other after years and Jace is his nephew.
Granted that's not the most bizarre thing to happen in their super fucked up and entangled family but Aegon is not crossing that line. For once he wants something pure and uncomplicated and Jace only sees him as his cool uncle.
Take that Aemond.
Aemond is no one's favorite uncle.
"So, what was it like spending time in the North with your puppy crush?" Aegon asks as he flops back on his couch. He pats the seat next to him and Jace obediently sits down but a lot closer than he expected so their thighs are flushed together.
"I didn't have a crush on Cregan," Jace says, like a lying liar that lies.
Aegon just waves it off with a raised brow. Jace sighs and says, "I learnt a lot, and I think I'm ready to take over the company one day. Hopefully that's years from now."
"And?" Aegon presses, getting into Jace's face obnoxiously as he pokes at his cheek. Fuck. It's no longer squishy. His sweet adorable nephew is all chisled up. He almost cries at the unfairness of the world. "Did you date anyone or lose your virginity yet? Come on, tell me the more important stuff."
Like he cares about their family's company. His father didn't leave him anything when he died just a small allowance of his inheritance. Perhaps an afterthought too since he'd only been thinking of Rhaenyra.
And Aegon is honestly glad for that. He would have crashed thier entire stock market in a day.
Jace blushes, and gulps. "I- Yeah. But it didn't mean anything." He says it quickly.
Aegon squints suspiciously and crosses his arms. "Why do you sound guilty?"
After befriending Cregan, Jace had matured faster than he ever could have expected.
At twleve, he was talking about politics and boring stuff that Aegon couldn't bother to keep track of and he thought he and Jace would grow apart because they were so different. Jace is obviously thinking high on life with his ambitions while Aegon has no true motivation for anything. He'd rather cozy up at home and drink a glass of wine. He'd have some jazz on his record player to set the mood, but he doesn't like doing that often because he ends up crying like a pathetic loser.
While Jace had pursued his education so he could be a formidable CEO one day, Aegon had stayed behind trying to find his place in life and eventually settled with being a camboy as a pastime. It's given him the attention he craved for and he got to make money off of it.
Which absolutely isn't anything he could just talk to Jace about.
"Then what about you?" Jace suddenly retorts as he sits up straight and he stares at Aegon with an intensity that makes his stomach roil with heat. "Have you got anyone you should introduce to me?"
Aegon clears his throat and averts his gaze. He's never shy about his sex life but he's nervous right now like he's being pressured.
"No," he says. It's been a while since he's had sex, only his sex toys were his companions these months. And he hasn't had the opportunity to go on any actual dates.
Jace hums vaguely.
When Aegon looks back at him, he sees that the alpha has a severe look on his face. He can't resist poking at the crease between Jace's brows. "Don't do that, your forehead will get all wrinkly."
The frown is immediately gone but Jace still seems to be sulking. Aegon can just pinpoint the jut in his bottom lip, the pouting he does whenever he's upset and it seems like he really hasn't grown out of that at all. To Aegon's immense glee.
"Hey, what's the matter?" He asks.
"You would tell me, right," Jace says, staring into his eyes imploringly. And Aegon's brain just freezes as the alpha continues, "if you had anyone."
"Y-yeah," Aegon says hoarsely. No such person will ever exist but he feels like he has to promise anyway. He can't say no to Jace when he's making that face.
After that, Jace smiles and Aegon's heart flips and squeezes in his chest.
~~~
It's two weeks later when Aegon realizes that he's in trouble and needs to find a way to resolve this tension he has with Jace and this inappropriate attraction he develops just because his nephew is a hot alpha.
Hot or not, Jace is Jace.
And Aegon feels like shit after he's gotten wet thinking about the ways Jace could touch him with his large hands and push him around if he wanted. Jace is oblivious as ever, getting close every time, unaware that his uncle is a massive pervert.
So he decides to take matters into his own hands and shows up dressed in the barest amount of efforts to the night club that Aemond is running because of course his brother grew up and decided he wanted to be a club owner.
"I need to get laid," he tells his brother.
But Aemond doesn't take him seriously at all.
He gives him this disgusted look when he so much as breathes the same air as him and he knows not to take it personally anymore, well, okay maybe it's a little personal because he's been a huge dick to his brother when they were kids, but Aemond always seemed to have everything he's always wanted.
"Why are you telling me this?" Aemond asks.
Aegon rolls his eyes and lightly punches his brother's arm. "Because you're a massive pimp!"
"Shut up," his brother hisses, covering his mouth roughly and glaring at him. The people that have stopped to stare at them return back to their business but they still get an odd glance every now and then from the other patrons. Only after he seems sure that Aegon won't cause another scene, he releases him and wipes his hand on his slacks. "I can have you blacklisted. Don't think I won't do it."
"Oh come on," Aegon nettles as he grabs onto his brother's shirt. "Find me a good alpha to fuck, please, I don't want to talk to anyone. I just need to get my shit rocked."
It's paramount to how little boundaries they have because Aemond isn't even discomforted by his words, he only sneers. "I will not have you running any of my employees dry."
Aegon snorts. "Come on, I've seen the way Mr. Hot Bouncer over there is looking at me, he totally wants to rip my clothes off and fuck me." And he's not even trying to push Aemond's with this very factual observation. The man has stared at Aegon with interest, hungrily kept him in his sight and only looked away when he realized he was here for Aemond.
Aemond is like some boogeyman. He's as intimidating as their grandfather ever was when he was merely sixteen and scaring grown men with his cold silent stares or evil cackles of madness.
Then mother had decided to get them all a family group therapy for the sake of saving face rather than their declining mental health.
It did little to help, but Aegon has learned a lot about himself and well, more about his siblings than he ever wanted to know, and his mother's..repression.
He shakes his head to get rid of the solemnness creeping into him even though he shudders from surfacing thoughts that emerge unbidden. He doesn't want to think of any of their therapy sessions. He's just glad that he has his life figured out enough for stability even if he's still a massive disappointment.
His brother's tongue clicks in his mouth before he glances over where Mr. Hot Bouncer is then he sighs in resignation.
Aegon beams and presses a slobbering kiss on his brother's cheek. Aemond shoves him as he rubs at his face with a cringe of disgust.
"Thank you! Don't worry, I'll make sure this doesn't effect his work!" He doesn't care that he's embarrassing Aemond and that some people have looked at them curiously, their silver blonde hair is attention grabbing and everyone here knows, or should anyway, who Aemond is as he walks around in his pimp clothes and a monocole like he's an old man. Truly trying to emulate their grandfather to the highest degree.
With a bounce to his step, Aegon flutters away, high on cloud nine as he goes to chase some dick.
~~~
It's a testament to how shitty Aegon's luck is when he's pressed up against Mr. Hot Bouncer (who's name escapes him, and anomnity is good anyway) right outside of the club, near the back room door that's only accessible to employees when there's a sharp clearing of the throat. At first Aegon ignores it, not thinking it was intended to interrupt them, yet it happens again but then followed by a familiar voice that strikes out like a cobra, "Aegon, I didn't think I'd see you here."
The utter fakeness of that cheery voice unsettles him as he hastily separates from the broad and firm body he was latching onto for a make out. The promising bliss of sex overtaken by dread and a strange, inexplicable guilt.
"Jace," he says with a nervous chuckle as he turns to his nephew. The lights are dim over here yet he can see Jace clearly as he stands not even a few short feet away. For some reason, the alpha has arrived from the back of the club right when Aegon was getting ready to go to third base.
What a really scary concidence! He inwardly cries, actually shrinking a little at the lack of warmth on his nephew's face, coldness seeping into his expression as his eyes are narrowed with a glint.
This is the kind of man that Aegon could easily imagine leading a multi-million company one day. He has that stoic bearing and intimidating factor yet Aegon's heart twinges, unused to such regard from his nephew.
Has his opinion of Aegon changed when he's seen him being indecent in public with an employee of the club no less? Jace has always been strict with regulations, he has a humor to him as well and moments when he can be fun but mostly he tries to act in a proper way to avoid scandals and anything to tarnish his mother's name.
But no! Jace is here too! At a club! So of course there's no way he could judge Aegon for enjoying himself! He fumes, indignant and lost in his own head even as tension arises in the silence, no one saying a word and Aegon's hook up for the night shifts on his feet and takes a step back and away from Aegon, so he's alone when facing Jace's uncalled for ire.
But Jace turns to the bouncer guy and gives a sharp nod, his chin tipped up and the gesture is so fluid and natural that it's obviously been done before, and the indication is clear; a dismissal.
And the guy suprises Aegon when he unquestionably obeys, leaving him there as he goes back inside of the building.
There's that feeling like he's been stranded but soon Aegon is taken over by offense. And he glares back at Jace as he crosses his arms.
"Why did you do that for?" He asks hotly.
Jace blinks at him, and just like that the superiority is giving away to a wounded puppy dog look that baffles Aegon.
"I- well, you shouldn't really be-" he sounds flustered suddenly, his confidence wavering.
"What are you doing here?" Aegon decides to cut in as he steps up to Jace. His anger is gone as his pulse traitorously skips a beat, and now he's just tired. It's hard to stay mad at Jace for too long anyway, maybe he just wanted to talk to Aegon when he spotted him. Though the courteous thing to do would have been for Jace to pretend he hasn't seen anything then approach him some other time, preferably when he wasn't about to get his bones jumped.
Jace lowers his head a little to stare him directly in the eyes and Aegon ignores the warmth creeping onto his face as he anticipates the younger man's answer. "I came to find you because you were avoiding me, I know you were," he hastily says before Aegon can protest and there's truth to that even though Aegon had tried to be subtle as he made excuses and had attended some of their meet-ups.
Dryly, he says, "I didn't want to take up your time, I mean, you shouldn't be hanging around with lil ole me when there's-" he cuts off before he can continue with his doubts: other people who deserve it and aren't a massive pervert who lusts after you but even that might be a common thing. This attraction to a handsome alpha like Jace.
But Aegon feels dirty about it, because Jace trusts him, and the man he's known since he was a wee boy is his nephew, and for all the inbreeding in their family he believed himself to be different.
"But I want you," Jace says quietly, gaze intent.
"Huh?" Aegon asks, attentive as his heart lurches in his chest.
"I want to spend time with you," Jace repeats with great solemnity, and Aegon nods with a faint pang of disappointment in his heart. He can't believe he's misheard something so delusional!
Sighing, he rubs his forehead. "You still scared away my hook-up," he complains, but only half-heartedly. There had been a purpose for that, more than to scratch that itch but to leech out any of his lustful desires so he isn't panting over Jace like a creep.
"Oh," the alpha says flatly.
Aegon has to look at him then. "Oh?" He echoes, tinged with disbelief. Where's my earnest apology at, Mr. Goody Two Shoes? He thinks, miffed.
Jace smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "What good is an alpha that doesn't properly wine and dine you? He was going to maul you right there in the open...tch." There's an uncurrent of irritation in his voice.
"..."
Awkwardly Aegon scratches the back of his own head. That's been his life for the last several years. Sex with no strings attached and most of them depraved enough to make his religious mother faint. "Ahah, well it wasn't anything I didn't want," he hedges because he thinks Jace is severely misunderstanding the situation, believing him to be some damsel in distress or something. But he knows how to hold his own against overbearing alphas.
The alpha purses his lips, eyes lowering. "I see."
"Let's get out of here, and hang out somewhere else," Aegon says quickly because he doesn't want to continue this very awkward encounter anymore. They can move on from this. They're both adults! Though he has a hard time accepting the immense change brought forth by Jace's growth spurt, it is what it is.
It's midnight, but when one goes to the nightclub then that's pretty early.
Jace nods, no longer brooding as he smiles eagerly and he sets his hand around Aemond's arm, and Aegon is reminded again of their newfound size difference.
No! Absolutely not! He shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut as Jace leads him back to his car and his pulse is frantic, unable to settle when he's trapped in a small space with Jace. It's not the first time, but there's something more intimate about this, probably because Aegon's blood is still running hot. And he can't stop furtively glancing over at his nephew as he drives them to his apartment.
Aware of everything even though he tries not to be, such as the lights from the streets dancing on the alpha's sharp cheekbones and making him glow beautifully, his full lips and brown eyes that pool with the warmth of a candlight-
He sharply turns his head to look out the window but even then he gets a vague reflection of Jace from the glass. Releasing a small groan, he pulls at his hair then drops his head in his hands.
~~~
The meaning of desperation is running to your older sister and crying to her about your problems. Said problems being that you want to her handsome hunk of a son to fuck you and that you're at your wits end.
Aegon doesn't have many friends to turn to and this isn't something he wants to confide in to his own siblings. He'd get sympathy from Helaena but none from Aemond, and Daeron is just a sweet summer child. He won't believe any different even if there's evidence to the contrary of that. Anyway, he's sitting on his sister's couch in her office and he's sobbing while releasing a string of incoherent words. But he might have mentioned how hot Jace was one times too many because Rhaenyra cuts through in a voice that's unnecessary loud, "It's going to be okay, let's go through this one bit at a time."
It's nice to know that she hasn't scorned him for lusting after her oldest baby boy, instead she offers understanding patience even though her brows are furrowed and her lips are in a stiff line. As least her eyes lack any judgement.
He sniffles, wiping his face dry. Not ashamed for having a mental breakdown. But he does get self-concious when he bares his feelings once more. "I'm the worst. You should keep Jace away from me from now on. Until I get my feelings sorted, until this comes to pass-"
It will. It has to. He can't avoid Jace forever. Though he considers that Jace would soon come to forget about him with his other responsibilities and more impressive people he'll meet down the line as he interns at his mother's company. He's the heir, and Aegon the disgraced oldest son.
Jace already has friends from high places. Respectable people that carry the same prestige and certainty in what their aiming for in life while Aegon is still stuck, not trying to do anymore than make himself comfortable. He has a cozy apartment and can afford to buy whatever he wants once in a while, and he's practically a trust fund baby that hasn't had to work hard a day in his life.
Rhaenyra sighs with feeling and brushes loose stands of hair away from his forehead and tucks some behind his ear. She treats him as if he's one of her littler sons that need comforting yet he soaks it up, the consolation he rarely gets.
Then her hand settles on his shoulder and squeezes as she sits down next to him, providing him with warmth. "I won't do that," she says, shattering his hopes and he snaps his head towards her, eyes wide and lips trembling. She winces, but barges onwards, "Jace is old enough to make his own choices. I will offer guidance and advice when he needs it, but I won't hinder anything he sets out to do, because I trust him. And you shouldn't think too low of yourself...it says a lot that you're conflicted about this. You're good, Aegon, more than you think."
Aegon scoffs, glancing away from those intense eyes that unnerve him as his heart flips.
His sister is rarely sentimental, at least when they were younger. There was a huge gap between them so it was difficult to get close. But once they've managed to have a lukewarm relationship, he realizes that she's not all that bad, just too hot-headed at times but also forgiving. Though motherhood has both softened her and made her more ruthless in her protection as she prioritizes her sons.
He's eventually come to find his own haven at her home too where he's been welcomed with open arms. Whenever he was on the brink of getting disowned by his mother or rather grandfather who saw so little in him, he'd run away to his sister and stay at her house for weeks.
In a way, she's looked out for him. Yet he didn't expect her to still do so when it was about this.
Aegon had been four when Jace was born, yet he only met his nephew for the first time when the boy was eleven, at father's birthday party.
"I-" he chokes out, feeling too much as his heart constricts. "I'm his uncle! I used to babysit him! He was supposed to stay cute forever but curse those Strong genes!" It's all absurd but the truth, such is Aegon's life. He whimpers as new tears form in his eyes.
But Rhaenyra is glancing over at the door, yet she turns back to him and grabs his attention before he can follow her line of sight. "Have you ever noticed the way he looks at you?" She asks and it takes him aback but she doesn't give him a chance to gather whatever is left of his wits. Her voice gains some exasperation but with fondness. "Adoration, enough to bring me grief when he was a boy. I thought he would have grown out of it by now, but Jace might have only become more certain of what he wants. He's not that boy anymore, Aegon, as you've noticed."
As that sinks in, Aegon realizes with disbelief that his sister is encouraging this. "But- I'm not- I can't be-" how does he explain how bad everything about this is? Aegon will only drag Jace down! He should he with someone as equally as intelligent and well-rounded. He thought Rhaenyra would have caught onto that since she should only want what's best for her son, but as he stammers, his sister offers a reassuring smile and pulls away.
Her hand drops from his shoulder and she stands up so he's sitting there bereft of warmth but then she's turning to the door with a raised brow.
Aegon inhales sharply as he blushes from mortification and something icy sinks to his gut.
"How long have you been standing there?" He asks Jace, a little hysterically. His nephew is holding a stack of files and that's right, he's interning here so of course he showed up at his mother's office with a workload but-
He looks at Rhaenyra, feeling played but Rhaenyra only nods at him, then walks over to her son to take the burden off his hands before leaving the room with the finality of the door shutting behind her.
Alone with Jace, Aegon starts to feel small. But he leaps to his feet and plasters on a fake smile. "I have to go," he says, trying to escape. But his nephew catches him by his arm, his grip firm.
Jace gives him an beseeching look. "Why can't we be together?"
Aegon moves his lips soundlessly, gripped by shock. "What?" He asks.
"Mom was right, I do adore you," Jace says bluntly with passion. "It was always you. I see you in everyone that I try to date or do anything with, you're always lingering in my mind."
"Jace, this, uh, maybe you're conf-"
"Please don't discredit my feelings."
"Okay," Aegon says quickly because Jace has that dark look on his face. "That's not what I meant to say, just that you're muddled because I'm an omega-"
"That's the same thing," Jace says, eyes flashing but then he sighs with his head dipped low. But his face is ever so close when he stares back up at Aegon. "I don't care that you're an omega, just that you're Uncle Egg and over the years, I thought I would be able to move on, but then- then I saw you on-" he hesitates for the first time and shame passes over his face.
Aegon raises his brows. The alpha coughs out, "I didn't mean to, I swear. Only once did I look at your work."
There's only one thing Aegon can do, he laughs even as incredulous as he feels. Jace tenses at the sound.
"You watched my sex cams? Did you sponsor me too?" He asks bitterly. "See, this is all it is." That's all there is to Aegon. And he's disappointed but it's expected. "If you want to get it out of your system then I suppose we could try it out once, it'll be for both our benefits."
He leers as he twirls his hair but anxiety twists his stomach and his fingers are shaky, and the lump is hard to swallow down in his throat. He might enjoy sex, crave it, but he didn't think it would overshadow any notion of romance like this. But it clings to him, who he is at the core and what he has to offer. The only thing he has of worth. So he gives Jace a smirk and pats his arm coyly as he flutters his lashes.
But Jace backs away like he's been burnt, and his eyes are wide and lips pursed. Aegon masks his hurt with an aching smile.
"Don't be ashamed," he says, his voice sweet but it sounds like poison, "it's natural to feel the way you do...after seeing me like that." He wonders what had been going through Jace's mind when they reunited for the first time in years even though Aegon had no idea that his nephew had watched one of his old sex cams, something he's stopped doing for a long while. How embarrassing though, to believe that none of their interactions had ever been pure.
Aegon had not so innocent thoughts he tried to suppress, but he didn't expect for Jace to have already seen him so wanton. What is his impression of me? He wonders. Did this really change anything?
"It's not like that," Jace says fiercely. "It's not the reason why I want you, Aegon. I told you and I meant it, that you should be courted before anything like that happens. And I intend to show you how much you mean to me. I'm just trying to prove to you that I am a man with desires too. I only looked once by accident. I was curious. I never watched after that- I promise." There's open desperation on his face as he wills Aegon to believe in his words.
And Aegon glances away, because he is too weak.
"Okay," he says simply after a moment. The silence afterwards is charged and Jace is staring at him expectantly but Aegon leaves it at that for now as he ducks his head and mutters an excuse before he rushes out of the room.
This is a lot to take in at once.
~~~
Aegon is moping, eating ice cream with a blanket wrapped around him and his living room is as dark as a cave with the TV giving him the only light he needs as he wallows in self-pity. He hasn't been through a heartbreak nor has been even been rejected, if anything he was the one that was confessed to, yet he left without a proper response. So he feels like shit.
Jace is too good, he often thinks. He has good qualities a mile wide. He's everything his own mother would have wanted in her first-born son, and he's definitely not wanting for much. Yet he wants Aegon. For whatever reason.
Had it really been a childhood crush that blossomed over the years into something intense? He can hardly believe it.
Things like this didn't happen to Aegon.
There's a knock on his door that startles him. It's sharp and inpatient. It happens again but more loudly when he doesn't quickly get up to open his door. He doesn't bother moving at all as he sullenly eats his cookie dough ice cream. When he thinks whoever it is will leave him alone when there's a reign of silence, the door suddenly bursts open and his heart hurts from how shocked he is by the abruptness of everything.
Without so much of a warning, his brother stalks into his apartment like he owns the place. The door slamming shut behind him but he even switches on the lights so he can look around and Aegon hisses as he adjusts to the brightness, he's kept himself in the dark for days, pretending that the days were as dreary as his mood. But Aemond ruins the illusion. He stomps towards him with a loathsome expression on his face.
Aegon has kept to himself for a week or so, so he doesn't know what he has done to offend Aemond somehow. Not to this extent but his brother is ripping the blanket off him and snatching away his tub of ice cream and setting it on the coffee table. Then he gives Aegon a dark look.
"What do you think you're doing?" He spits out with acid. And Aegon slowly blinks, confused. His brother is acting as if he pissed in his coffee or something.
Aemond sneers. "You are ruining everything! All my hard work is being undone because you decide now of all times to be bounded by chastity."
"What's your problem?" Aegon grumbles. He doesn't care if Aemond slut shames him, he knows that his brother has the worst way of getting his words across unless he's speaking to their mother or sister.
"You should have let Jacaerys fuck you!"
"What?" Aegon rears back, not expecting that at all.
Aemond doesn't give him a simple answer. Instead he crosses his arms and paces around while cursing under his breath, all very creative and involving Jacaerys in some matter as if their nephew was the bane of his existence.
"What's going on?" Aegon asks with more of a demand. How does Aemond know about that?
It's not like Jacaerys propositioned him for sex either, he just gave him a confession.
A confession that Aegon had been mulling over for days.
His brother scoffs, and his tone is still laden with irritation and he's visibly frustrated. "The day you give yourself to Jacaerys then I can finally have the omega I want. Jacaerys and I had a deal of sorts. He wasn't giving away his brother to me, no, but he said he could be persuaded to help me if I helped him, an exchange. You let Jacaerys fuck you then I can have Lucerys."
It's a moment of stillness then Aegon stands up and picks up his tub of melting ice cream and with the blankest face he tosses the contents out at Aemond. So his dress shirt is splattered with ice cream.
And Aemond freezes, not realizing what's happened until Aegon turns and walks away.
"You really are a pimp," he mutters darkly. His brother has not cared about him at all, he only wanted to gain something in the end. "Oh, and what makes you think that'll ever happen? You have to go through Rhaenyra, his stepfather and protective brothers."
Aemond inhales and exhales to calm himself. Normally he would not have let Aegon get away with what he's done but fighting isn't something he seems keen on today. "Jacaerys promised me some time to court Lucerys, to test my sincerity since I helped him out with giving him your information. You know, your occupation, your whereabouts."
"Just stop," Aegon says in a pained voice, realizing that there was no such concidences in their encounters and that perhaps Aemond is to blame for Jace coming upon his sex cam. As fucking weird as that is. "You're a twat."
"And you're a coward," Aemond retorts and it stings despite Aegon having believed that he no longer cared. Probably because there's truth to it. "Why do you run away from something you want and can have? If it were me, I would not have hesitated."
"I'm not like you," he says weakly.
He's never been obsessed or besotted with anyone in his life. He didn't believe himself capable of love since he's had a hard time receiving it. If that hadn't been a reflection of who he was as a person then he couldn't understand why it was that way. Why he never pleased anyone. Yet Jace had smiled at him and hung on to his every word. The boy that was would always laugh and his eyes would light up whenever Aegon was around, he seemed happy that he simply existed.
His heart clenches.
"Of course not," Aemond says but not unkindly, just a fact.
"I want him," he admits.
"Then go and take what's yours," Aemond says with that dark undertone. The possessiveness borne from his own desires to claim what he wants yet unlike Aegon, he needs to wait and prove that he's trustworthy by winning over approval.
And Aegon isn't surprised that Aemond wants Lucerys but he thinks that his brother is going about this the wrong way. It's the opposite of romantic when you go behind someone's back and try to bribe their brother for you to date them.
"I will," he says, then adds because he does care about his twat of a brother somewhat, "instead of making backhanded deals you should just be upfront maybe then Lucerys will be able to look at you and see that you're not some scary monster hailing from the underworld. Honestly, I'm convinced he thinks you're some kind of criminal."
Then he shakes his head and goes to take a shower, not caring that his brother practically crashes from his words of wisdom.
Aemond has never considered anything to be simple so he does things to the extreme in the most roundabout way.
But that's no longer Aegon's problem.
~~~
Aegon had meant to drink only a bit of tequila to give himself liquid courage, but he's completely drunk off his ass by the time he finds Jace.
And he isn't aware of this until later. He just feels overly bubbly and invincible. Nothing can stop him and he's untethered to do as he likes.
Jace is exactly where Aemond had told him he'd be. His brother had even driven him to the cafe restaurant where Jace was eating outdoors with a friend. A friend that's attractive. But Aegon can barely make out anything more than that and doesn't care to as he approaches his nephew and he casts a shadow over their dining table. He notices them both faltering but his eyes are trained on Jace. The alpha looks up at him, puzzled.
Then after observing Aegon's face for a moment, Jace frowns in concern and he opens his mouth but Aegon speaks up, unrestrained, "I want to be courted by you."
His nephew stills. His eyes are dark and piercing though, but that only draws Aegon in so he leans into the alpha's space and smiles. "I don't care anymore, my heart and body are yours to do with as you please as long as you give me some TLC then I'm fine but Jace-" he sighs out and the alpha's eyes greedily examine his face and even trail to his lips but then Aegon giggles and pinches his cheeks, no longer soft but smooth enough for Aegon to enjoy this.
"You," he says gleefully, as he tugs on the skin of Jace's squishable cheeks, "are the cutest!"
Jace's eyes are so soft and warm as he sits there and let's Aegon play with his face. "You mean that?" The alpha asks quietly, pleased.
Aegon nods vigorously. Jace smiles. And then the man sitting across from Jace pounds his fist on the table to get their attention; they both turn, awkward in their positions, Aegon is half way into Jace's lap as he hovers over him, and he narrows his eyes at the friend.
The man is handsome with a beard that only gives him more sex appeal, and that irks Aegon but then the man says in a booming voice, "Congratulations on your courting, Jacaerys and Uncle Egg, now let's toast to this wonderful occasion."
"Who are you calling Uncle Egg?" Aegon sullenly mutters as he takes a seat on Jace's lap and he crosses his arm as he stares down Cregan Stark.
Cregan smirks. "I'm sorry, that's all I know you by."
Jace clears his throat. "Yes. Let's toast. Thank you. I'll take Aegon back home after this, sorry to cut our time short."
"It's of no matter."
Aegon pouts until they've split ways.
"I was going to wait," Jace says when they're alone in his car. And there's that heated stare he gives Aegon as his tone is laced with something purposefully dark. "But you came to me, so...I hope you don't regret this, uncle."
Aegon only gives the alpha a kiss on the cheek in response to which Jace freezes as if he's malfunctioned. "You can't even handle a small kiss," he teases the alpha coyly, "stop trying to act like a big bad wolf."
Jace releases a strangled noise as his ears reddened.
Yeah, Jace is still Jace but Aegon knows that there's a lot he has to uncover in the depths of the man he's become too.