How To Fall From Grace [MxM]

Step 9: Fall in with servants (pt. 1)

Frey was drenched in sweat. He sat up in his bed with a gasp at the sound of knocking on his door and tried to focus his gaze. He'd fallen asleep with his clothes on. That would explain the sweating at least, he thought as he lay down again. After everything that had happened yesterday he sure didn't feel like answering the door, and he rolled over to face the wall instead.

Another knock, and Frey groaned.

"Go away, Hauke. You know I don't want breakfast."

"It's a bit late for breakfast anyway," Damien's voice said from the other side of the door, and Frey rolled his eyes.

"What do you want?" He knew he could have sounded nicer. Damien was one of few people Frey didn't yell at on a daily basis, but given recent events some hissing was to be expected.

"Your new clothes were just delivered. " Damien closed the door behind him as he entered Frey's room. "Thought you'd want to know."

"Good." Frey turned around to face Damien. "You're having Lucius pay for it I hope?"

"I figured I could do it, since Luna didn't mean to soak your clothes in blood and Lucius had no part in it either."

Frey rolled his eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm never letting anyone borrow my clothes again."

"I didn't assume that'd be a recurring thing anyway." Damien sat down on the bed and eyed Frey, much to the latter's annoyance.

"... Was there something else?"

"You disappeared yesterday. I couldn't find you anywhere."

Frey's shoulders tensed, and he looked up at the ceiling again. He'd rather be stomped on by a horse than admitting what had happened between Marius and him yesterday.

"The event bored me." He turned his head away, sweat still prickling his skin and his mouth had gone dry. "I had better things to do, so I called it a night."

Damien didn't reply at first, but Frey refused to look back at him in case his face would reveal something. He was a good actor, but Damien had known him for too many years to be completely fooled.

"So it wasn't about the whispering then?" Damien asked, and Frey's eye twitched. "I know you've heard them before, and last night was probably not an exception."

Frey closed his eyes and discreetly dug his fingers into the sheet.

"So? I'm used to it by now."

"Are you, though?"

He turned back to glare at Damien.

"It's been a year. Why would I—"

"A year isn't a lot," Damien interrupted. "Even for someone mortal. It's always fine to need more time when grieving."

Frey averted his gaze as Damien continued.

"You've always excelled at pretending, Frey, but having to put on a brave face while people are talking behind your back, as well as still processing your loss is a lot, and not even you are immune to the emotional toll. Especially since... You know, moving past how it all went down might prove even harder than other cases of grief."

"You mean watching my father be torn in half by a nightmare blight? Having his blood spatter all over me? Knowing our last conversation was the worst terms we'd ever been on?"

A moment of silence ensued, and Frey grimaced as he waited for Damien to speak again.

"... Yes."

Frey bit his lip and fought back those annoying tears. They'd really overstayed their welcome. He'd already had this talk with Marius. That very encounter was what had made him upset initially, but now Damien was clawing up that previous wound? Frey didn't need all that. Couldn't he just focus on one heartbreaking problem at a time?