'Oh. He's thought up a new tactic. How cute.'

Cale was lounging in his increasingly luxurious jail cell as he watched Alberu approach, the determined set of his shoulders making it clearly apparent that he'd thought up a new way to get answers from Cale.

Progress was slow in the chasing down assassins business. There were apparently some suspects but the Cale Henituse has been kidnapped, presumed dead business was sort of clogging up the investigation. Especially since one of the primary suspects was a man who Cale had dragged to his room just a day before his disappearance.

They weren't wrong about the culprit. They were just conflating two separate crimes.

Cale thought it was all morbidly funny. He didn't enjoy worrying people but he'd always been an ends justify the means sort of guy.

Alberu entered the cell, which was new, and took a seat across from Cale.

Cale didn't bother to sit up, laying on his side and quirking an eyebrow at the prince disrespectfully.

He just really enjoyed how easy it was to ruffle Alberu's feathers in this world. Alberu wasn't a prideful enough person to want or need constant respect from strangers but he'd been raised as a prince so he'd come to expect at least some form of decorum.

"I'd like to hear about your fiance."

Cale laughed, loudly and boisterously, right in Alberu's face, slapping his hand against the pillow as though he'd just heard the funniest shit ever.

It wasn't actually that funny but Cale was definitely amused.

Alberu had accurately pinpointed a potential source for Cale's information, quite literally the source, and a clear weakness that Cale possessed and so he had made the logical decision to target it. That alone would have been pretty amusing to Cale but that wasn't why he laughed.

Alberu felt bad about it.

There was no other logical reason that he would forego his glib tongue and manipulative tactics for getting answers to instead ask Cale in such a blunt and forthright way that gave Cale every opportunity in the world to tell him to fuck off.

Alberu felt guilty about asking about the fiance for fear of hurting Cale's delicate feelings on the matter. It was almost as funny as the awkward way he was trying to hide his interest in Cale.

Alberu wasn't bad at hiding his attraction but Cale knew Alberu.

Cale was about seventy to eighty percent sure that he could seduce fantasy Alberu right now if he really wanted to. He'd been with Alberu for long enough to notice the interest no matter how Alberu tried to hide it. It was the way that Alberu would avert his gaze at awkward moments or the tiniest hint of pink at the tips of his ears. The dead giveaway was when Alberu tapped his finger against knee before crossing his legs.

Alberu was laughably transparent.

Still, Cale had absolutely no intention to indulge himself with the fantasy version of his fiance.

It wasn't that he wasn't tempted, Cale was definitely frustrated in more ways than one, but every time he seriously considered it he was left feeling... off.

Ultimately this was Alberu but it wasn't his Alberu and the thought made him far too bitter to feel horny.

Cale wiped a mirthful tear and looked at the frowning prince with a mischievous smile.

Well, what was the harm in teasing him a little?

"What's so funny?" Alberu asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"What a tactless asshole you are." Cale said, lying back and grinning at the ceiling. "You wanna know about that guy, huh? Alright. Let's call him 'Bob'."

"That's not his name?"

"You really would not believe his name even if I told you." Cale said with a snigger, holding two fingers about six to seven inches apart. "So he's about this long." He wrapped his fingers around empty air in a circular shape. "This thick–"

"...I wasn't asking about that." Alberu said the moment he realized what Cale was doing.

Cale grinned at him. "You need to be specific, your highness. I'm not a mind reader."

Alberu sighed, clearly counting to ten in his thoughts as he tried very hard not to rise to Cale's pravocations. "How did you two meet?" He asked, finding a question that might actually offer him some answers.

Cale's mirthful grin faded and he closed his eyes. That was a lot less fun.

He didn't have a good reason not to answer though so he found the words.

"...I was drunk and beat up. I asked for help. He helped me. Nothing all that meaningful."

But it had been meaningful.

Cale hadn't asked anyone for help in a very long time and the desperation he'd felt at that moment, the vulnerability and fear, was still enough to make him shudder. It had been one of the worst days of his life.

And anyone in their right mind would have turned him away.

He was lucky that Alberu was totally nuts.

Cale didn't much believe in fate or soppy nonsense like that but sometimes when he thought of that day he believed in it, just a little bit. And on the days when such a belief was impossible, he was just terrified of what his life would have been if chance hadn't introduced him to Alberu in that single pivotal moment.

"What happened then?"

Cale turned over to face the wall. Suddenly this 'game' wasn't quite as fun as it had been. Ruminating seriously about Alberu and his relationship only made the empty ache inside of him evolve into an insatiable desire to see him.

Not a man who looked like him and had none of his memories and knew nothing about their relationship with one another.

He was sure if he made a sincere effort to love this man the way he loved Alberu, he probably could. Ultimately, at their core, they were the same. Cale could tell by his reactions. His words. The way his voice had softened when he noticed how truly uncomfortable Cale was becoming.

Every little gesture.

But he didn't want to. He didn't want this Alberu. He didn't want to desire this Alberu. He wanted to go home. He was homesick and miserable and when he closed his eyes he could almost smell their home and see Alberu's face.

"What the fuck are you cooking today?" Cale's feet swung over the ledge of the kitchen counter, watching Alberu cook with a crooked grin.

Alberu paused in his journey across from the fridge to the stove to plant a chaste kiss on Cale's lips. "You'll find out."

"What if I want to know now?" Cale poked Alberu's side with a toe, delighting in the way Alberu glared at the appendage. It was a little known fact that Alberu was just a touch ticklish and Cale adored taking advantage of this knowledge.

"Then you'll live in disappointment." Alberu chuckled, resuming his work.

The memory hurt. The food they provided him was good but it wasn't what he wanted.

How many inane moments would he have missed if they'd never met? Or if Alberu hadn't been a crazy enough bastard to fall for him as well?

How much of his happiness hinged on a single moment in time?

"...after that I seduced him." Cale said, more to himself than Alberu. "Or he seduced me, who the fuck even knows. At some point or another he was all that I ever fucking wanted and he felt the same."

Alberu's face filled with joy and love as he held Cale close and spoke impossibly sweet words that the soppy bastard meant and made Cale feel like he could do anything.

Made him want to be a better man.

"He didn't give up on me no matter what wretched bullshit I did. He deserved way better than the piece of shit I was but he..."

He couldn't say it.

Alberu loved him? Wanted him?

What did any of that matter now?

Alberu could love him more than any person had loved another human and none of that would fucking matter because he was here and he might never see his Alberu ever again.

Why did he think it would be a fun game to share little stories about Alberu to the crown prince? He'd thought he'd tell a raunchy story or two and embarrass the bastard into leaving but he was the one who felt embarrassed and miserable.

He had to stave off the side of his soul that wanted to whine and give up, he was sick of that. He didn't want to be so pathetic.

"Where was he fro–"

"...get out." Cale curled in on himself, closing his eyes as the depression threatened to settle in on his thoughts and the negative thoughts took hold.

He would very much like to tell his stupid fucking therapist all about this bullshit and then ask the lousy bastard how he was supposed to stay positive in a situation like this. All that shit about being unable to control anyone or anything other than his own reactions and behavior.

Well. It was true. But Cale was also a manipulative sack of shit who could manipulate like a champion.

The villainous thought stabilized Cale's chaotic feelings. What could he use. How could he influence this situation.

Alberu would be sitting there stewing in guilt and unsure what to do with himself. He'd make a final attempt to pry open Cale's lips and then when he failed, he'd attempt to at least make Cale's stay more comfortable. Cale needed to plant an idea in his head that would benefit him ahead of time so that Alberu would consider it.

He opened his mouth, an idea already formulating, and froze.

'Haaa... even now I can't do it.'

Everyone had their limitations and Cale's line in the sand was a strange one.

He sat up and looked up at Alberu, really looked at him, seeing the crown prince of the kingdom and the man who wore a strange disguise to achieve his ambitions.

Seeing a man who was rarely honest. Who hid his emotions behind a smile and who had limited experiences with familial love.

"Tell me the list of suspects." His voice was cold and lacking in the emotions that nearly crushed him.

He wanted to finish this business and leave. He didn't want to stay a moment longer with a person who he couldn't influence, couldn't love, and couldn't hate.

Cale wouldn't manipulate Alberu. It was a silly line in the sand but he refused.

Of all the people in his life who he'd acted in front of in order to influence and inspire and change, Cale wouldn't touch Alberu. It wasn't even for a reason so 'noble' as wanting to keep their relationship pure or thinking of manipulation as a bad thing.

Cale just couldn't.

He instinctively felt as though something inside of him would really break if he did it so even now he couldn't do it. Tease him or bother him or even antagonize him, but machinations that forced Alberu to dance at the end of puppet strings were off limits.

Maybe it was because Alberu had always been forced to dance on puppet strings.

"I can't disclose–"

"Use me as bait then." Cale pressed. "If I know who all are potentially behind this, I could probably point to a likely party." Most nobles were people he knew from the modern world in some way or another, he could already guess who was most likely to enact such a despicable act but he needed to know who there was reason to suspect before throwing around accusations. "I'm a primary target."

"No." Alberu's voice was firm and Cale scowled.

"Then tell me the fucking list and I can tell you who to focus on. I can at least remember who I've pissed off before." Well, he'd be guessing who his other self pissed off but that wasn't a difficult feat at all. "You're clearly impatient to get your answers, that's why you're trying to wheedle it out of me by asking about him." Alberu cringed at the accurate assessment. "So utilize me to solve this and I'll tell you freely."

Not that Alberu would believe his answers but that was a problem for after he'd ensured the safety of his family.

"This isn't negotiable." Alberu said, standing up to leave and receiving Cale's venomous glare.

He had half a mind to assault his royal highness by sticking a brick up his ass because he already acted like there was one stuffed up there anyway.

"You look shitty with blond hair." Cale said to be petty, leaning back and clenching his fists. "I hope you know that, you insufferable vain bastard."

Alberu left in silence and Cale was left with his own thoughts.

It was harder than he imagined to maintain his composure under the situation. He sighed to himself and let the tension melt from his body.

"...I hope he feels self conscious every time he looks at a mirror today. Prick."

When he got home, he was going to make Alberu swear that he was never dying his hair blond.

And he was going to get home. He just needed to figure out how.