Cale stretched out, yawning loudly before collapsing back onto the plush bed he'd made a not-so-determined attempt to free himself from.

A low chuckle reached his years and Cale swatted at the culprit blindly. "Quiet you. This is your fault."

"You're the one who wanted to spend the night." Alberu laughed again, pulling the grumpy man into a loose hug and nuzzling into his neck. "And you're the one who said that just sleeping was 'too boring'."

Cale grumbled and squirmed in his arms but offered no defense.

Alberu smiled, trailing kisses along his neck lazily.

He could do with more mornings like this. It wasn't every day that he was able to wake up so warm and comfortable with the person he loved so comfortably fitted in his arms.

It just wasn't possible.

He was the crown prince and Cale was a noble of ill-repute. If their relationship ever became public, it would be disastrous.

They were happy this way though. Stolen moments and occasional nights where they did nothing but indulge in the peace they found in one another.

"Cale..."

Alberu wasn't sure what he was planning to say. The sound of his own voice shocked him awake and he was forced to sit there, staring up at the ceiling in startled disquiet.

He'd had that dream again.

Letting out a ragged sigh and running a hand through his hair, Alberu tried not to let it bother him that despite the plush feel of his mattress remaining exactly the same it felt colder and harder than it had in his dream.

He couldn't say exactly when it started because the first few dreams he'd dismissed out of hand. But it had been a few years at least since the first time he'd dreamed about the lout of Count Henituse's family.

He sighed, getting out of bed and wondering, not for the first time, why those dreams were so vivid that he believed they were real right up until the moment he woke up and remembered that he'd never even talked to Cale Henituse before, much less maintained a long term intimate relationship with him.

There was absolutely no reason that he ought to be having recurring dreams about just that very thing.

In his dreams, he really loved Cale. He shared all of his secrets and heard all of Cale's secrets in return. In his dreams, he was able to understand Cale implicitly. Years of love and companionship leading him to know all the little things. Like how Cale ran his hand through his hair when he was nervous or frustrated. Or how he could move so gracefully without a hint crassness or become a crude thug at the snap of a finger.

How he got shy around emotional sincerity but was able to express his emotions with his whole body.

And in real life... well, Alberu knew nothing. He didn't have any emotions for Cale Henituse, positive or negative, he was just another noble who Alberu hadn't met in person.

What a disturbing dream.

Alberu could swear that they were growing in frequency too.

He walked over to his balcony, staring down at the palace grounds as he uncharacteristically put off his morning training. It was getting out of hand.

He'd need to figure out the source of his dreams and make them stop. He was becoming more and more disoriented when he woke up, heart and body in a completely different condition than what he'd experienced in his dreams.

It was especially distressing when he considered the upcoming coronation.

All nobles of any repute would be attending. It was the day he'd been working to for most of his life. The day he'd finally prove his worth and lead his kingdom to greatness and overcome every obstacle that had stood in his way.

In only a few months, he would move away from being a crown prince and become the new king.

It was quite an achievement at his age. It was even more impressive considering he'd started out with no support in the court, no maternal family, and not even his fathers love.

He'd achieved something exceptional and he didn't have the time or energy to continue to be distracted by... whatever those dreams were.

The trouble was that to seek out help for the issue, he'd have to actually tell someone about the dreams and at this point the contents were embarrassing enough that he wasn't sure he'd be able to tell anyone at all.

In a weird way, he wished he could talk to dream Cale about it.

In the dreams, he was a person who Alberu could bounce any idea off of. Someone who wasn't free of judgment, reproach, or even critique but... his words meant something to Alberu. There had been a few dreams now where he'd talked to dream Cale about a problem he'd been struggling with in his real life, his memories seamlessly fusing the realities, and Cale's words had really helped him to find a solution.

Of course, sometimes Cale just said something to the degree of "that's fucking bullshit, you should punch that guy" and strangely that was enough to help him through it.

It was a shame he could never remember the dream problem within his dreams.

Alberu rested his chin on the palm of his hand and took in the early morning dew.

In a few months, he'd be coronated and become king.

But over the course of the next weeks, nobles from all over the kingdom would be traveling to the capital to prepare.

There were going to be events leading up to events and a staggered arrival for many noble families within the Kingdom to ensure that they could show at least some face to the soon-to-be king.

And Alberu knew, because of course he'd looked into it, that today was the day that Basen and Cale Henituse would arrive in the capital.

It wasn't that he had any special feelings for Cale. They were strangers. The man in his dreams didn't exist. He was possibly an illusion cooked up by magic at his most tangible but he wasn't the real Cale Henituse.

It was just that he couldn't help but be overly conscious of Cale Henituse.

Anyone would be, with such a strange connection linking them together.

"...this is going to be really awkward." Alberu let out a scoffing laugh and straightened up, heading back to his room to prepare for his morning training and then the rest of his day.

He'd figure out what caused the dreams and then that would be the end of it. He'd probably spend his entire life without ever having even a single one on one conversation with the man.

That was how it should be.

Any strange emptiness he felt was just a ridiculous echo from the non-reality of his dreams.