Work Text:
‘When I said bring me to your dungeon, I was talking about the sexy kind.’ Alex declares as he stops in the stairs. Henry’s in the doorway, Alex thinks he looks smaller than usual, like he’s hunching. It seems unnatural in comparison to his princely posture. Henry bites his lip, looks behind him into the room and then back to Alex. There’s hesitation, Alex wants to pull the words that are threatening to spill from Henry’s lips.
‘Maybe I’ll take you to the sex dungeon later…’ Henry lets out a shallow chuckle, before his tone turns darker.
‘But before I bring you in, you must promise to never speak of this to anyone. Not your sister or parents. Not even Nora, even if she tries to drag it out of you.’
Alex almost trips over a step, his body automatically backing away. His hand grips the railing tightly. He gulps and he swears he can see Henry watching his Adam's apple bob. Henry steps forward and offers his hand with a smile. Alex studies his eyes, there’s something there he doesn’t see very often outside of their sexcapades if he’s honest; excitement. Alex takes the final couple of steps and takes Henry’s hand.
‘Okay, I promise.’
‘Good, you’ll see why I asked in a moment. This way.’
Henry guides Alex through the doorway, it’s pitch black despite the light from the hallway. It’s like there’s something shielding it from getting through when he looks, there’s just a void of dark grey.
‘Just a moment, stand still.’
Henry drops Alex’s hand, and he instantly feels off balance. His breathing quickens, he focuses on the footsteps he prays are Henry’s.
‘You might want to close your eyes for a moment, it will help adjust you to the light.’
Henry’s voice echoes straight into Alex’s ears and he finds himself oddly soothed, as if someone put a blanket around his shoulders. He closes his eyes as instructed.
‘And let there be light… Okay, you can open your eyes now.’
When Henry asked if he wanted to see something off the beaten track, less touristy, this is not where Alex saw them going.
He opens his eyes to so much colour. The ceilings are draped with chiffon that somehow sparkles without Alex moving, the stone floor seems normal until Alex releases where his feet stand, the stones are in fact glowing. There’s shelves filled to the brim with books, are some of the titles… moving? Like text on a news ticker. On the other side of the long thin room is a wooden table with a camping stove and cabinets that look fit to burst. Alex peers through the glass panels to see jars of varying colours, some of which Alex wasn’t in a rush to find out about. At the end of the room there are targets with lots of tiny holes. Alex turns back to Henry whose shoulders are tensed up as he waits on Alex’s reaction.
‘So this was… this was, um… Yeah, I don’t have words.’
Henry’s eyes flash panic until Alex gives him a big goofy grin. He loosens up as he joins Alex by the table, his hands lean back on it.
‘Gran always thought my mum married beneath her. Dad was a low life actor, a peasant to her essentially. Funny thing is, it was my mum who was marrying into power that wasn’t even in Gran’s wildest daydreams.’
‘So I am connecting the dots right… We’re talking like magic powers? Or is this some elaborate scheme you and Percy have cooked up?’
Henry barks out a laugh which does things to Alex’s tummy. More than normal actually, it feels like he’s soaking in Henry’s happiness. He smiles at Henry, his eyes fluttering a moment. Henry straightens up.
‘Shit, I should have warned you about that. First of all, this isn’t a prank. My dad was a mage. And a rather powerful one at that. Secondly, this room works as an echo chamber for power and well, I seem to be rather gifted when it comes to emotions. At least other people’s emotions.’
Alex thinks of the feeling of calm he got before the lights came on, Henry was looking after him. He takes another spin, gazing around the room before he gathers Henry’s hands in his.
‘Thank you for showing me this, baby.’
‘Thank you for making me feel like I could. It’s been too long.’
They smile at each other and lean in for a chaste kiss. Alex giggles when they back out of it. Henry cocks an eyebrow at him.
‘Well if this is your regular dungeon, I can’t wait to see what the sex dungeon looks like!’
Alex breaks out into laughter, feeling like he’s somewhat high and Henry slaps his chest lightly while rolling his eyes.
‘Such a bloody rascal…’