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“Elaena, don’t run off,” Aemond preemptively warns his daughter before she has a chance to pick up her dress and sprint towards the nearest house without him.
The five year old has the grace to look a little sheepish, hands dropping the fabric she’d bundled up guiltily. “Sorry daddy,” she murmurs before reaching out to grab his hand. “I wanna keep trick-or-treating!”
Aemond huffs as he’s pulled along on the pavement, his typically shy daughter now bold and assertive when they’re alone. Elaena was usually such a well behaved little girl, but like every child she had her moments of rebellion. Well, she thought it was rebellion. Aemond thought it a mild inconvenience at best.
Still, he was glad she thought it was rebellious. He’s seen some of the things the twins and Maelor do when they’re acting out and it would have made his hair turn silver if it weren’t already had Elaena started acting similarly. How Helaena managed, he’d never know.
He lets himself be pulled along, Elaena’s hand held tightly in his grip and his eye ever vigilant of the other trick-or-treaters around them. The street they were walking down was a nice residential area, the houses all decorated for Halloween (some more than others) and the people all perfectly respectable. It was only a ten minute walk from their own house, but Aemond still kept his guard up. You never knew what kind of weirdos could be wandering around.
The first house Elaena tugged him up to was minimally decorated, with a jack-o-lantern at the foot of the door at and a ‘Boo!’ sigh hanging on the doorway. His daughter took a moment to smooth down her purple and black witch’s costume and adjust her black pointed hat before knocking. She looked adorable in her matching tights with her broom clutched in one hand and her plastic pumpkin bucket dangling from the other.
Aemond is rather certain he looks significantly less adorable in his witch costume. He hadn’t wanted to wear it, but for the past few years Elaena insisted they wore matching costumes every Halloween. She had given him those sad, pleading eyes of hers and he caved like a house or cards. Unlike Elaena’s costume, his was all black from head to toe, with a black cloak and a black pointed hat to top it all off. He elected against having a room, wanting his hands free for when Elaena inevitably started falling asleep on the way back and would ask to be carried.
The door opens, and the woman inside (dressed as a fairy) exclaims joyfully at Elaena’s costume. She looks at him with a twinkle in her eyes and he smiles back at her, thin-lipped and uncomfortable. It felt strange doing this just the two of them. He was used to Helaena sticking to his side as Aegon and Daeron kept up with Elaena, the twins and Maelor running ahead. But Jaehaerys and Jaehaera were at a friend’s Halloween party right now with Uncle Aegon and Uncle Daeron chaperoning, and Helaena and Maelor were watching Halloween movies instead, the boy having come down with a cold a few days ago.
So that left him trick-or-treating with Elaena alone. The things he did for his child.
“Thank you!” His daughter exclaims to the woman before tugging him along to the next house. They pass the next forty minutes in much the same way, with nothing of particular interest happening until they reach one of the houses at the end of a different street.
Unlike the rest of the houses found on this street, this one has been decorated to the nines for Halloween. A spooky graveyard has been set up in the front garden, with skeletons and carved pumpkins adding to the scene. On the door is a sign saying ‘Knock If You Dare.’
Elaena, of course, knocks without hesitation. A second, the door swings open to reveal a tall man dressed as a pirate. His voice is loud and obviously exaggerated when he says, “Well yo ho ho, me hearties! Shimmer me timbers, we’ve a pair of witches on our doorstep. The Cap’in’s gonna flip when he hears this!”
His daughter giggles at the man but Aemond finds himself struck by how familiar he sounds. Like someone else he knew a long time ago. His eye searches his face, which is covered slightly by the black pirate hat and the fake beard but he thinks he can just spot the man underneath, whose eyes he’d know anywhere.
“Lucerys?” He asks abruptly, feeling like he’s gone back in time.
The pirate startles at the address, peering intently at Aemond before those brown eyes go wide with realisation.
“Aemond?” He asks, looking him up and down. “Gods, I didn’t even recognise you! Been a while, huh?”
“Indeed,” he replies, thinking back to the last time they saw each other. It was at a graduation party one of their friends had thrown after they finished university. He and Luke had been dating for two years at that point and Aemond hadn’t wanted to imagine a life without him. But with the end of university, their paths were splitting. Luke was set on travelling around the world and Aemond had received a job offer in King’s Landing for a prominent legal firm.
Luke had said he’d stay with Aemond, and Aemond said he’d come with Lucerys, but neither could accept it, knowing how important it was for the other to be able to do both those things. So they agreed to split up, knowing long distance relationships rarely ever worked out. The last memory he had of Luke was him stealing one final kiss before he had to go home.
“I’ll never forget you Aemond Targaryen. Never. You’re seared into my soul.”
And now here they are, ten years later.
“You look good,” he tells the other man, because it was true. Luke hasn’t aged a day. His hair is still luscious and full underneath the pirate hat, those dark curls Aemond loved to twirl in his fingers. His muscly form has only become more defined, his skin fair and healthy, and his eyes are as enchanting as ever. Standing in front of him, Aemond is only too aware of his wraith-like figure and how ridiculous he must look in this witch’s dress.
“So do you! I can’t believe how long your hair is now,” Lucerys replies, his smile exactly the same.
He resists the urge to touch said hair, sleek and silver and as Luke said, long. “Yeah, it’s been a while since I cut it.”
“Well, it suits you.”
Elaena decides to make her presence known, apparently fed up of being ignored. “Daddy, who is this?”
Luke makes a choked noise. “Daddy?” He questions.
For some reason, it makes Aemond blush. He clears his throat. “Uh, yes. Luke, meet Elaena, my daughter. Elaena, this is Lucerys. He’s a,” he hesitates. “He’s an old friend of mine.”
The young girl happily accepts this answer, talking animatedly to Luke who recovers enough to respond. He supposes it’s not everyday you find out the former love of your life has a child.
“Well, it’s been fun chatting but we should probably head on,” Aemond says a few minutes later. Luke’s eyes widen slightly, like that’s the last thing he wants.
“Hey, maybe I could come with you? If you’re alright with it, of course. It’d be nice to catch up,” Luke asks. “And I could show you all the best houses to get sweets from around here.”
“Oh, we couldn’t possibly impose,” Aemond denies.
Elaena pipes up then, “Yes, we could! Daddy, say yes!” She demands. Aemond casts a baleful look down at her, to which she smiles back innocently.
“I’m sure you’re busy,” he tries, “Don’t you have to answer the door for trick-or-treaters?”
Luke waves him off. “Eh, Joffrey can handle it. Unless you don’t want me to come?” He sounds uncertain now, and more than a little dejected.
It’s this that makes him say, “Well… If you really don’t mind…”
Lucerys perks up like an overgrown puppy. “I don’t.” He turns back to the house to shout, “Joff, you’re on door duty!”
They hear a voice start to say, “What? Hey, no, wait-“ before Luke slams the door shut.
“Shall we?” He smiles.
Elaena is more than happy to have two people to drag around after her, talking Luke’s ear off at a pace that surprises Aemond. She’s usually a lot more shy around new people, but she takes to Luke like a duck taking to water.
Eventually, though, there comes a point when she tires of talking and walks on a little ahead of them. Aemond lets her, on the condition that she stays close and in eye sight, to which she happily agrees.
It’s a little awkward between he and Luke the first few minutes, neither of them sure of what to say. It’s Luke who breaks the silence with, “So… You had a kid.”
Aemond chuckles a little. “Astute observation.”
He hears Luke laugh. “Yeah, alright. How old is she?”
“Five.”
He’s silent for a few moments before he delicately asks, “And her mum?”
Aemond saw the question coming but it still doesn’t make it hurt any less. “Not in the picture,” he replies, his voice tight and clipped. He really doesn’t want to talk about Alys right now.
“I see,” Luke says. And then, with the same kind of pointedness that Aemond remembers coming from him, he asks, “So, what have you been doing with yourself? Other than raising a child, of course.”
It’s easy to get lost in the conversation. Aemond tells Luke of his life, how he’s a lawyer now, how Helaena has three adorable and patience-testing children, how Elaena loves art and sport. Luke in turn tells him about himself, how his travels went, how his parents moved into their new house Aemond was at earlier, how his siblings have been getting on. How he’s moving back to King’s Landing permanently.
“Really?” He asks, a little too eager. But he can’t deny there’s something nice in knowing Luke’s going to be living in the same city as him once more.
Luke nods. “Yeah, I’ve got a flat close to city centre, and it’s not too far from the new family home, so everyone’s pretty happy.”
“Hmm.”
“So, a witch huh?” Luke asks apropos nothing.
Aemond huffs, refusing to feel embarrassed, even though he dearly wants to. “Elaena insisted.”
“I figured. She’s pretty great, you know.“
Something warm blooms in Aemond’s chest at those words and he can’t help the proud smile he directs at his little girl’s back. “I know.”
“She reminds me a lot of you.”
That pulls him up short. “What? How?” He looks to Lucerys, who’s smiling so kindly back at him.
“You’re both so confident and sweet. Though I’m sure you’d deny being sweet until your dying breath.” Aemond snorts but before he can offer a reply, Luke continues, “Plus, she looks exactly like you so she’s obviously gorgeous. Albeit in a very different way.”
It’s stupid, the way he blushes like a teenaged boy at those words. He’s a grown man, for fuck’s sake, he shouldn’t be so affected by such simple and heavy-handed flirtation. But it’s been so long since anyone’s flirted with him like this, and the fact that it’s Luke flirting with him - the guy who taught him how to flirt, his first love, the one who got away - makes it all the more special.
Luke’s easy smile dips slightly into a frown and Aemond realises too late he hasn’t said anything. “Well that’s certainly a compliment coming from you,” he flirts back, rather poorly he would say, but it’s worth it for the smile coming back on Luke’s face. He’s about to say something else - something charming and devastating - when he hears yawning and looks to where Elaena’s sleepily rubbing her eyes.
“Home time, I think,” he says to Luke, nodding to Elaena doing an impression of a zombie.
He chuckles in understanding. “Well, in that case, can I walk you home?”
He agrees.
Half-way through the walk home, Elaena demands to be carried back as predicted, which leads to her sleepily snoozing over his shoulder as he and Luke quietly chat.
“Well, this is us,” he tells him, coming to a stop before their door. He bids Luke to wait a moment inside after he unlocks the door, carefully slipping up the stairs to lay Elaena down on her bed. He takes a moment to kiss to her forehead, unable to resist, and then heads back downstairs where’s Luke waiting in the hallway.
He bites his lip, wondering if he’d be too presumptuous if he offered Luke a drink. But, well, what did he have to lose?
“Care for a nightcap?”
Lucerys smiles ruefully. “I’d love to, but I better get back. I promised Joffrey I’d drive him to a party his friend’s throwing and Mum wants me to go and keep an eye on him.”
Aemond tries not to feel too disappointed. “Oh, of course. That’s fine.”
His tone must sound too dejected because Luke hurriedly tells him, “But it was great catching up with you. And it was so good seeing you again. I- I’d love to repeat it. Maybe we can grab a coffee some time?”
He smiles. “I’d like that. I’m sure my mother would be willing to babysit.”
Lucerys smiles back. “Could I get your number then? That way, we can arrange the details later.”
Aemond tells him what it is as Luke types it into his phone. They make some more small talk before Luke says he really has to get going but before he does, he stops him a moment on his doorstep.
“It really was so good to see you again, Aemond. I’m glad we ran into each other.”
Butterflies, which he thought he’d outgrown, erupt in his stomach and he can’t help grinning ear to ear as he says, “Yeah, me too.”
Daringly, he leans in and presses a kiss to Luke’s cheek before he can think better of it. “Good night!” The door is all but slammed shut as Lucerys stands there and Aemond can just spot him reaching a hand up to touch the cheek he just kissed before his view is cut off.
Aemond leans against the door for a few moments, feeling giddy and light. His face is starting to hurt from smiling so much. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he fishes it out to see a text from the person he just said goodbye to.
Lucerys
Are you a witch? Cuz you’ve put a spell on me.
He snorts in spite of how corny that line is, or maybe because of it. Back in university, Luke had delighted in wooing him with cheesy pick-up lines that ranged from sweet to funny to downright awful. He kept this practice up even after they started dating. Aemond hadn’t realised how much he missed that until now.
He types back a reply.
Aemond
I am a witch, though I seemed to have lost my broom. Mind if I ride you instead?
He thought Luke had already left but the choked off gasp he hears coming from outside contradicts that.
And Aemond laughs.