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Jimmy fussed with his tie, clicking his tongue as he frowned at his reflection in the mirror. It came as a surprise to no one that he was unhappy with the current arrangement he found himself in, least of all surprising to his older sister, Lizzie, who was currently attempting to tame his unruly - and endlessly damp, it seemed - hair.
“Why couldn’t it be Katherine instead? Or Pix?” He huffed, fussing again with his tie until Lizzie rolled her eyes fondly and turned him to face her.
“Katherine would never have agreed, considering her…current arrangements. And it would seem less sincere to marry off someone already advocating for peace, the kingdoms need to see both sides are willing to compromise to put an end to the fighting.” Lizzie explained as she fixed his tie straight. “As for Pix…” She trailed off.
“I know.” Jimmy sighed, rubbing his neck apologetically. “No one’s seen him in ages. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
Lizzie smiled at him and ran a hand through his hair to push back some flyaway hairs. “It’s alright. And hey, if you try this out and decide you really can’t stand him, I’ll have my guards stage a kidnapping so you can come see me.” She added with a smirk and a wink that brought the smile back to his lips for the first - and likely last - time that day.
“Thanks, Liz.” He nodded sincerely.
“Anytime, Jimmy.” She grinned back, pulling him in for a side hug mindful not to touch his hair or wrinkle his suit jacket. She held him by the shoulders as she pulled away and gave a supportive squeeze. “Ready?” She asked.
“No.” Jimmy deadpanned, but Lizzie just snickered and kissed his cheek.
“I’ll tell Joel we’re good to go.” She said, stepping out of the room as he heard the door click shut after her.
He sighed, slumping against the cold walls of the Grimlands castle. Why couldn’t this stupid wedding happen in his own kingdom? Why did he have to travel all the way there just to marry the last man he wanted to be in the same room with in any situation?
Lizzie returned soon enough, and before he knew it, he was being walked down the aisle by her side, receiving a pitying pat on the back from an entirely too smug Joel, standing behind him as his best man. He could see Sausage just behind his soon-to-be husband, grinning smugly at him and miming kissing faces infuriatingly. As if Jimmy didn’t already have enough anger simmering beneath his scales, Fwhip had the audacity to look bored.
Alright, that settled it, he well and truly hated that guy.
~~~
Fwhip stood by the refreshment table after the ceremony, idly sipping on some wine provided by Sausage all the way from Mythland. Over across the dance hall was his new husband, smiling softly as he spun around a giggling Katherine, who immediately pulled him in for a less formal rendition of the dance the guests from across the Grimlands had started up.
“Hey there, Mr. Codfather.” Scott said teasingly, stopping by the table to refill his glass with a bottle, pausing to inspect the label before returning his attention to the Count at his side. “Enjoying your big day?”
“Not now, Scott.” Fwhip sighed, taking another small sip from his glass.
“Aw, didn’t realise you’d be so grumpy. Fine, I’ll go see how Jimmy’s doing, then.” The elven man shrugged, waving half-heartedly before turning to slink off into the crowd once more.
Fwhip rolled his eyes, staring down into the dark red drink in his hand. It wasn’t like this was the worst outcome available, right? Sure, he didn’t like Jimmy all that much, they were - until mere weeks ago - sworn enemies at war, but there were worse outcomes to end a conflict than marrying someone you don’t get along with. With any luck, he and Jimmy would just learn to go about their business and ignore each other. Maybe they could even be friends, eventually.
“Count Fwhip?” A voice brought him out of his thoughts, looking up to see none other than the Codfather himself, Prince Jimmy, standing in front of him, rubbing his neck awkwardly and tapping the tip of his shoe against the ground as though his shoes were loose. “Er, they’re expecting us to dance. I guess.” He said stiffly, stretching out a hand without looking at him.
“Oh, right, I almost forgot.” Fwhip was quick to take his hand, glancing around the room to see dozens of eyes on them. “It’s, uh, a bit of a tradition here. The newly betrothed share a dance to celebrate their new marriage.”
“Would’ve been helpful to know that.” Jimmy muttered, begrudgingly letting Fwhip take the lead since he wasn’t familiar with formal dancing.
“It totally slipped my mind. My bad.” Fwhip cringed, stepping to the beat slowly and nudging Jimmy’s feet with his own to follow suit.
“You’re not trying to make me look bad already, are you?” Jimmy asked, and from a friend it might have sounded playful and teasing, but judging by the frown on the fish man’s face, he wasn’t trying to convey either of those feelings with his words.
“What? No, of course not.” Fwhip scoffed, more than a little offended.
“Sure.” Jimmy said, dropping the topic as he turned his head to the side and nearly stepped on one of his dance partner’s feet.
Fwhip sighed through his nostrils, keeping his mouth shut to not retort. He glanced over to see his sister flashing him a grin and a thumbs up and shot her a glare back. Honestly, he didn’t understand why his friends seemed so adamant to think he found any enjoyment in his new…situation.
“When we visit the Cod Empire,” Jimmy began again halfway through the song, bringing Fwhip back into the moment. “Which we will, if I have any say in it, and I do,” Fwhip rolled his eyes but stayed quiet. “It’ll be my turn to lead you through a dance. Not one as stiff and boring as this, naturally.”
“Naturally.” Fwhip mumbled, earning a glare from his new husband before Jimmy glanced around the room.
“Is this song almost over yet?” He wondered aloud.
“Usually the dance between new spouses is meant to be the last official dance of the night, so it normally lasts around six-to-eight minutes.” Fwhip explained.
“Six minutes?!” Jimmy nearly tripped and sent them to the ground, only to be caught around the waist by Fwhip, who let go nearly immediately as soon as both of his feet became planted once more. “How does anyone walk in this place if you’re always on your feet?”
Fwhip snickered. “As opposed to, what, constantly using your arms and legs to swim?” He raised a brow.
Jimmy sputtered to respond before eventually glaring at him with reddened cheeks. “Most of my citizens have tails for that, actually.” He answered eventually. “Not that you knew that, I’m sure.”
“I knew that!” Fwhip said, anger deflating only slightly in the time it took to spin Jimmy in a turn. “Did you think I’d agree to a marriage without reading up on your kingdom?”
Jimmy was quiet.
“You did, didn’t you.” Fwhip deadpanned.
“Fine, maybe, okay?” Jimmy admitted. “You can’t really blame me for thinking you wouldn’t take this seriously, can you?”
“Are you taking this seriously?” Fwhip shot back, voice perfectly controlled unlike the man dancing with him, who was practically announcing his half of the conversation to those nearest them by that point.
“Of course I am!” Jimmy was red in the face, brown eyes pinpricks with anger.
“Looks like our lovely groom had a bit too much to drink at the refreshments table!” Katherine stepped in, speaking and laughing loud enough to easily be heard over the music. “Let’s get you some water, Codfather.” She shot Fwhip an apologetic grin before linking her arm through her friend’s and pulling Jimmy away before he could really cause a scene.
Gem sidled up to him after the pair walked out of the large room, wrapping an arm across his shoulders. “That went well.” She hummed.
Fwhip scoffed and fussed with her hair, pulling some of it free from its braid before she swatted his hand away, snickering. “If by well you mean terrible, sure.”
“He’ll come around.” Gem patted his back, ignoring his eye roll. “No one expects this to be an overnight adjustment, you know.”
“I’ll be lucky if he can stomach being around me after a year, let alone a night.” Fwhip sighed.
“Hang in there, buddy.” She said, ruffling his hair back in revenge before waving to Lizzie across the way and making her way over to talk to her.
As he stood alone, in the centre of the room, his own words echoed back in his mind. Would he and Jimmy ever get along?
~~~
Jimmy wasn’t sure what his first night alone with another man - let alone one he married - was meant to feel like, but he imagined the crawling feeling of awkwardness against his skin and scales was not the norm for most newlyweds.
Then again, most newlyweds were probably more than happy to share a bed the night of their wedding.
Jimmy breathed deeply, shedding his tight and suffocating suit jacket to discard over the back of a chair in Fwhip’s - and now his, though he wasn’t ready to consider thoughts like that yet - spacious bedroom. Everything in the Grimlands was obnoxiously large, a stark contrast to his cosy home in the Cod Empire, or even his room in his sister’s palace she kept for his visits.
“You really don’t have to sleep here, I can have someone show you to a guest room.” Fwhip said after a minute, sitting on the edge of the bed to take off his boots without even lifting his head in Jimmy’s direction.
Everything Fwhip said or did irritated him to no end today, it seemed. Why was he already trying to kick him out? Was he really that unwanted? Luckily the feeling was entirely mutual.
“Here’s fine.” Jimmy shrugged stubbornly, plopping down unceremoniously on the other end of the bed to kick off his own shoes as they clattered across the floor, stretching his aching feet with a sigh as he pressed them into the cold, hard floor. “I’ve seen the guest rooms, your bed looks bigger. Plenty of room to share.”
Fwhip stared at him in disbelief for a long moment before shaking his head and running a hand through his hair with a hum. “Fine, I don’t mind sharing.” He agreed, tugging at his tie without moving his gaze from his lap.
“Neither do I.” Jimmy said with a curt nod, letting the silence fill the large gap of space between them as he managed to free himself of his own tie without strangling himself, tossing it over with his jacket before crawling back onto the bed to let his cheek press into one of the other man’s many pillows.
Fwhip was slow to move at his side, the bed hardly dipping to tell Jimmy how wide the distance between them was without needing to glance over. He did so anyway, eyes flickering to catch fWhip already glancing his way before rolling onto his side away from the cod man.
“Goodnight.” He muttered, the word half muffled by his pillow.
“Night.” Jimmy said back after some hesitation, rolling the other way before falling uneasily into sleep.
~~~
Fwhip tried his best to go about his business after the wedding, giving Jimmy more than enough space to adjust to everything without setting him off like he seemed to be so good at doing. He only hoped that with enough time, Jimmy could grow to tolerate him enough that Fwhip would have to stop feeling like he was hiding around his own lands.
A few weeks passed, but eventually, it seemed like his wish was coming true. Jimmy would show up to meals while Fwhip was still eating, sitting across from him and asking what they were eating. Fwhip didn't mind the quick, straightforward conversations, he'd take any progress he could get if it meant Jimmy was starting to hate him - even a bit - less.
“Can I go for a walk?” Jimmy asked one afternoon, startling Fwhip from his tinkering as he lifted his protective goggles to glance over at the man in the doorway.
“A walk?” He repeated, slowly setting down the geared contraption he'd been working on.
“Yeah. Around town or something.” Jimmy shrugged, glancing out the window.
Fwhip nodded, rising to his feet. “Do you want a guide? I can ask someone who knows the area so you don't get lost.” He asked, partly for Jimmy’s sake but mostly for his own peace of mind as he noted the sun that would surely set soon.
Jimmy kept his gaze out the window a beat longer before glancing at Fwhip. “You'll do.” He muttered with a half shrug. “If you don't mind.”
“I don't mind.” Fwhip said, wiping his hands with a rag he kept nearby to get them somewhat cleaner and wiping the rest onto his already-dirty working clothes.
“Good.” Jimmy nodded and turned to leave, only glancing back for a moment to see that Fwhip was following after him.
“Is there anything in particular you'd like to see?” Fwhip asked as they made their way into the town centre.
Jimmy glanced around with a hum. “I just wanted to see everything. I hadn't visited much before, well,” He gestured between himself and Fwhip with a casual sway of his arm, “this.”
“Right.” Fwhip nodded in understanding. He glanced away before Jimmy started wandering from the path, turning his gaze back as he stepped quickly to fall back into stride beside him.
“Everything's so big here.” He heard Jimmy mutter, glancing up at the houses and shops around them.
“I'm guessing the Cod Empire isn't like that?” Fwhip gave a half smile, testing the waters of the conversation.
“No.” Jimmy answered, for once not looking defensive when Fwhip mentioned his home. “It's more…cosy. Close-knit.”
“Well, I can't wait to see it someday.” Fwhip said, easing a bit more when Jimmy just hummed in response. There was a lull in the conversation until Jimmy spoke again.
“Would you like to?” He asked without even turning his head in Fwhip's general direction.
“Like to what?” Fwhip wondered.
“Visit. The Cod Empire.” Jimmy asked, his tone unreadable and eyes refusing to meet the other man's.
Fwhip blinked, then blinked again. “I… Yeah, I'd like to.” He finally answered, and saw Jimmy’s shoulders untense just a bit.
Fwhip felt like an idiot for not noticing how homesick Jimmy must have felt until that moment, staying in their room most days writing letters to his sister in the Ocean Empire. The Grimlands was far from coastal, he probably felt suffocated being so far from water.
“And just for the record,” Fwhip added after a few moments to gather his thoughts, “You're welcome to travel back whenever you'd like. You're still the ruler of the Cod Empire, it'd be wrong of me to keep you from your home and your people.”
Jimmy looked at him, then, before just as quickly looking ahead again as they continued down the street. “Okay.” He said with a nod, before they resumed walking in a less-tense silence until they made it back to their room for the night.
“When can we head out?” Jimmy asked as he kicked off his shoes by the bed, a habit Fwhip found irritating but was slowly growing used to.
“I have some papers to look over involving a new architectural plan from the outskirts, but we can leave after I get that settled. So a few days or so?” Fwhip thought it over, already mentally plotting how to get everything squared away as quickly as possible.
“Alright then.” Jimmy said and laid down without another word.
Fwhip shrugged off his jacket and climbed into his side of the bed, lying down facing away from Jimmy like he usually did.
“Goodnight.” Jimmy said quietly.
Fwhip wasn't sure he actually heard it at first, but he glanced back to see Jimmy lying down facing him. “Goodnight.” He echoed, before watching Jimmy roll over as he turned to do the same, blanket pulled up to his chin despite the weather hardly being cold tonight.
~~~
Jimmy woke the next morning to find Fwhip already gone, something he was already starting to recognise as a normal pattern for the other man who seemed to be an earlier riser than his new husband.
He sighed softly and stretched, turning his body to stand from bed before his eyes drifted to a folded slip of paper on the nightstand beside him.
In it was Fwhip's fancy, ornate handwriting, telling him he'd be out for the day finding appropriate shoes to pack for their trip to the Cod Empire since the terrain there was more than his usual shoes would likely handle.
Jimmy felt a small smile creep onto his lips as he set the note down, hands resting on his knees.
It hadn't been his idea to invite Fwhip to his home - he had Lizzie to credit for that, much like her advice to set aside his stubborn anger with his new spouse to attempt a more civil approach between them - but he was glad to see Fwhip seemed excited for it nonetheless.
He sat at Fwhip's- their- desk and opened the book he'd been reading for a little over a week, one detailing various Grimlands customs and traditions that Fwhip had seemingly annotated and worn to the point of fading the ink in spots on some of the pages, a clearly very old and read book.
He'd realised his attitude at their wedding wasn't the way to start a marriage with the ruler of another nation, and had been working privately on doing what he could to learn more about Fwhip and his people before he made any easily avoided mistakes as a co-ruler.
He found that in some aspects, the Cod Empire held similar traditions to the Grimlands, and the ones that differed weren't all that hard to wrap his mind around the more he read about them. He should have taken this new role seriously from the start, but it was still early enough to learn before he was expected to help Fwhip make any decisions for the Grimlands and its people.
Fwhip would be a good leader for his citizens back in the Cod Empire, too, Jimmy thought idly as he turned another page. He was smart and knew how to talk to people well to get his point across, and he seemed to enjoy getting involved with the people. His people back home would like Fwhip, he figured.
Because his people were what mattered most about their marriage, of course. Their people, not himself or Fwhip. Their marriage was purely political. He knew that.
Of course he knew that. He didn't expect any more than that.
He perked up at a quiet rapping against the door to see one of Fwhip's attendants step into the room holding an envelope with the Ocean Empire's wax seal, taking it with a quick thanks before reclining back to read it over. He'd have to write her back after to let Lizzie know they'd be in the area, in case she could manage to take a day away from her own duties to stop by.
He carried on reading and writing back to his sister until the early afternoon, where Fwhip surprised him by balancing two plates and cups in his arms through the doorway.
“I uh, thought you might want some lunch.” The other man shrugged slightly, a hopeful look in his eye as he held out one of his arms in offering.
Jimmy took the plate and cup held out to him, setting them at the desk where he'd been sitting. “Thanks. You didn't have to bring this all the way up here.” He said, nodding towards the door where he knew Fwhip's study lay in the opposite wing.
“I wanted your opinion on something.” Fwhip admitted, setting his own plate and glass on the nightstand closest to Jimmy's side, nearest the door. Without any delay, he gestured down to his feet, clad in sturdy looking boots fit for the muddy, wet environment of the Cod Empire.
Jimmy examined them for a moment and nodded his approval. “Those should do, though I'm sure we can find you some once we're there if they don't hold up.”
Fwhip smiled, relieved. “Okay, good.” He breathed. “I don't get to travel to other climates very often. The Crystal Cliffs feel like a Grimlands winter year-round and Gilded Helianthia isn't very wet despite being so warm, and the Mythlands are so similar I never need to pack special clothes to make the trip.” He explained.
“I can help you pack.” Jimmy offered.
“That'd be really helpful.” Fwhip rubbed his neck sheepishly before turning to pick up his plate.
“You can stay.” Jimmy blurted out. “Unless, you know, you have somewhere you need to be.” He added, turning to start poking at his meal with a fork.
He felt Fwhip's eyes bore into him like fire until the other man turned and sat on the bed, hearing the mattress dip in the same spot where Jimmy slept as Fwhip picked up his plate and began to eat, too.
“Here's fine.” Fwhip said quietly after he'd already taken a few bites, and Jimmy couldn't fight the huff of laughter that escaped his lips as he continued his meal with his back to the Count.
Months ago, he wouldn't dare turn his back to Fwhip while he was defenceless like this, back when he was convinced Fwhip had it out for him, back when they were enemies.
Now? He could sit comfortably and enjoy a meal with the company of a kind, nerdy man without any worry.
He didn't mind that change, part of him hoping there'd be more changes between them yet to come.