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Nikandros slung Damen's arm over his shoulder, bent his knees and readjusted his friend's weight. "Come on," he sighed, "we're almost there."
"You are," Damen moaned as he wove his way back and forth across the graveled path, "such a good friend."
"I know," Nik said wearily. "You've been telling me. All night."
"You've always been a good friend to me," Damen went on earnestly. "You... you were always there for me. And now you're here, for me."
"Just concentrate on walking," Nik said, rolling his eyes.
"Do you know?" Damen said as they made their way up through the lower halls of the palace, "Do you know how the Veretians say Delfa?"
Nik waved a guard away. "Yes, I do."
"They don't call it Delfa. They say. They say Del-furrrr. Del-four. Del. Uh. Del-floor. And they do it. To everything. Laurent puts letters on the end of every word. But he never uses them. They don't. They don't use the t on his name in Vere. They just leave it off." Damen laughed. "It's, it's a wasted t. It's a lonely, abandoned t."
"It's there in spirit," said a familiar voice from the end of the hall.
Nikandros would later curse himself for not dumping Damen right there on the tile and leaving. Damen lifted his head, squinted, then surged forward, beaming. "Laurent!"
"Hello," Laurent said carefully, dodging the first swipe of Damen's big hands. He glanced up at Nikandros. "Is he all right?"
"Very drunk," Nik said. "Pallas bested him in the Okton. There was a lot of celebration. A lot of toasts. And griva," he sighed.
"I love you," Damen gushed, having finally succeeded in wrapping his arms around Laurent and planting a kiss on the man's forehead. "Laurent. Hey."
"Yes, thank you," Laurent said, pushing him gently away. "How did you manage to get him this far? He can hardly-- Damen, yes, I also think my hair is very pretty-- he can hardly stand."
"Slowly. At least it's cool out tonight, that man's like a furnace."
"Imagine having him snoring on top of you in the dead of summer," Laurent drawled.
"You are beautiful," Damen said to Laurent. "You are. The most beautiful person. That I have ever known."
Laurent tried to look annoyed, but a blush was creeping across his cheeks. "Let's get him into bed," he said, and Nik came forward to take Damen's arm again. It was a little easier to carry him with Laurent on the other side, but it meant that Damen had found a new object of his inebriated affections.
"You are honest," Damen said into the top of Laurent's head, "and true. And beautiful."
"Your breath smells like rotten grapes," Nik muttered.
"--And when we make love--"
Nik shut his eyes. "Damen, please," he said.
"Your sweetness and innocence and your tender hesit-- your hes-- your innocence--"
"I'll get the door," Laurent said, face red.
"--Make me want to stay inside of you forever," Damen finished, and then went down on his knees.
Nik caught him before he could pitch forward onto his face, but Damen was no longer interested in remaining vertical, and eventually Nik helped him lay down on the tile, face turned to one side, eyes still half open.
Laurent stood beside Nik, the pair of them staring down at their fallen king. "Maybe we should leave him there," said Laurent.
"In the doorway?"
Laurent shrugged. "I'm not certain either of us could get him upright again from that position. I spend a great deal of time trapped underneath this man, I know how hard he is to move when he's sleeping."
"I love you," Damen offered from the floor.
"Thank you, you're very kind," Laurent said.
"Let's at least try to drag him in far enough that we can close the door," Nik said. "I don't want him just laying where people will have to step over him, chiton hiked up. Then we can... cover him, I suppose, and wait until he's sober enough to get up on his own."
"Other people called you a cast-iron frigid bitch," Damen said, "but not me."
Laurent's eyebrows went up. Nikandros grinned at him. "One arm each, and we'll pull together. Ready?"
"One--"
"--Two--"
"Are we going somewhere? Let's take Laurent with us, he'll tell us the Veretian names for things."
"Pull, pull! Just a little bit more, get his feet in the door."
Nikandros fell back, panting; Laurent leaned heavily against a table. Damen rolled over onto his back, smiling upside-down at both of them.
"I'll get him something to lay his head on, and a bucket," Laurent said. "Thank you for getting him back safely."
"He'll want water and rest in the morning, after that much griva."
"Of course. You can find your own way back?"
"Probably." Nik nudged Damen with his foot. "See you tomorrow, eh?"
"Nikandros," Damen beamed. "I think I'm drunk!"