"We go home tomorrow," Sage said as Taro buttoned up his waistcoat. "I requested it. I'm sick of having nothing to do."
"Is that your way of getting back to Mrs Beecham to question her about why she lied to you?" Taro asked with a grin.
Over the past two days, things between them had been smooth and easy. Sage asked his questions, and this morning was the first morning he didn't feel the need to stare oddly. He still stared at the plant oddly, but Sage had manners and did his best not to look at human Taro that way too. Human Taro? What the f-
"Should I pack for you tonight, then?" Taro asked, brushing down his shoulders and closing Sage's shirt sleeves with plain gold cufflinks.
"Yes." Sage wore smart brown shoes that matched his brown blazer. He had to look smart for his distant family who were attending lunch. He knew the day would crawl, but the thought of going home would fuel him. Sage didn't feel so scared about going back now that he knew about Taro, the rumour that his kind were once protectors of the Royals, and the fact that Taro slept in his room.
The night after their talk under the oak tree, Sage struggled to sleep with the plant sitting on his bedside table. He felt like every move was watched until he asked Taro to change back to his human form, so he could quiz him.
Sage had asked if Taro could see him in his plant form. Taro had said that he couldn't see him but could sense his movements by air movements, and he could hear him. He also went on to say how Sage talked in his sleep quite a lot. Sage had then rapidly told him to go back to sleep and watched again in fascination as he transformed.
Taro fitted a black tie around Sage's neck with a concentrated crease between his brows. "Thank you for accepting me," he said. "I know this isn't easy for you, and I know that in some ways I've added more stress to your already stressful life."
Sage's hazel eyes struggled to circle his face when Taro was close. He had slept well over the past two nights and felt brighter than he had in a while. "Thinking about your transformation has made my stressful life irrelevant. Thank you for showing me your true self. That can't have been easy, especially when it made me faint and throw up. I don't deal with shock very well."
"Now you just have to show me your true self too."
Sage rolled his eyes. I'm talking to a plant man... shut up, Sage. "Come on, we both have a busy day today."
As expected, the day dragged at a ridiculously slow pace. Sage checked his watch every hour. By dinner, he felt as though the day had been three whole days combined. Taro served him a creamy pasta dish with tomatoes and overbearing garlic. Sage ate until he was full and left the table quickly, wanted to ask Taro about his close family.
"Come to my room to pack for tomorrow. Come as soon as you're able."
Taro looked down at the table and said, "I can come now. Someone else can clear this." He walked towards the door, but Sage hadn't moved from his spot, so Taro paused. "Fine, I'll clean it."
Sage stopped staring sternly and surpassed him to the door. "Good," he said, but glanced back in time to catch Taro's eyes generously trailing him up and down. Taro froze again, grinned guiltily and hurried away to clear the dishes. Sage hurried away too, but his heart was thumping.
Sage had always been so cautious about how he looked at other men; he left little time to prepare himself for when men looked at him that way too. He locked himself in his bathroom until he heard Taro rummaging around. He fixed any frizzy curls and smoothed down his waistcoat, taking off his blazer because the heat of a lit fire warmed the bathroom too, and he looked better in just a waistcoat. He even thought about brushing his teeth after such a garlicy dish.
What am I doing? He's just my Valet. Sage stopped fretting and opened the door. Taro was busy folding Sage's clothes into a large suitcase. He looked up when Sage strode through the room, and his smirk formed a frown upon his brow. "What?"
"We've both been caught checking each other out. We're even now," Taro said, folding Sage's jumper against his chest and flopping it next to his folded jeans.
He faced away, so he could show the field below his blush instead. "Can I ask about your immediate family?"
"If you want to," Taro replied.
"Are they all like you? Are they all epip- epipren-"
"Epipremnum aureum species?"
"Yes, that."
"I have a distant cousin who is part olive tree."
Sage could only think of one reply, after he was quite visibly stunned. "I- what- really?"
"Yes."
"Do they grow olives?"
Occasionally, but not every year. And before you ask, not all olive trees are like me. My mum, my auntie, and me are the only ones who flower every summer in my family."
Sage spun on the windowsill with wide eyes. "Really?" he asked with all his enthusiasm.
Taro tilted his head. "Yeah."
"Do they show up on your tattoos?"
Taro smiled. "They do, and I get colourful highlights in my hair depending on the flowers I sprout."
"I didn't know Devil's Ivy houseplants grow flowers."
"Rarely, but I have wildflower blood, very distantly, but it's there every summer."
Sage crossed the room and knelt on the opposite side of the suitcase. "Shouldn't you still have flowers?"
"Yeah, but I-" Taro pursed his lips and continued to fold Sage's clothes. "I got attacked by that animal. It's too late into the year to grow them back now."
"I see." Sage watched Taro's hands as he filled up the suitcase. "Do your nails change when you... uh- bloom?"
"No." Taro chuckled. "I like that you're so interested."
"Well, you're very interesting all of a sudden." Sage crossed his legs, seeing that Taro still had two more drawer's worth of clothes to fold.
"Was I not interesting before you knew I could change into your houseplant?"
"Not really." Now Sage had a rare chance to smirk at Taro.
"With my good looks and perfect personality?" Taro shook his head sarcastically. "You're a hard man to please."
"Yes." I was raised to judge. As Sage watched his Valet pack away his clothes, he realised he was starting to trust him. They both knew secrets that could change it all. They were both entrusting in each other, and that meant that Sage had made some sort of lasting impression on Taro too.
Sage would have liked to know what Taro thought of the man next in line to rule a kingdom. The way he looked at Sage might have been enough for some, but Sage brushed that off as being just another man finding a man who liked other men attractive.
What if he does like me? Sage observed the way Taro stole glances at him every chance he got, until Sage forgot that he was staring so obviously.
"Something on your mind, Sir?" Taro rarely ever stopped smirking. When he did, he was smiling, or staring intently.
"Just, uh..." Think of something else. "What flower did you bloom this year?"
"Gorse. Looks like small yellow flowers, so the highlights in my hair weren't that noticeable, but they looked nice on my skin." Taro rubbed his forearm absentmindedly.
"I wish I could have seen you with flowers."
"You will, next year. I've been Gorse twice in a row, so I'm bound to be something different next year."
Sage smiled at the madness of their conversation. It still made him queasy. He was doing his best to ignore it. "What's the favourite plant you've bloomed?"
"Once, I was a purple autumn crocus. It's really toxic, so no animal would eat me, no cat would dare to pee in my soil, and no dog would nibble me. I was put on high shelves, thankfully out of reach. My mum hated it because in human form the flower made her sneeze."
Sage wanted to laugh, but another thought struck him. "I don't know how to word this without it sounding offensive."
Taro leaned forwards with interest. "Go on."
"Have other people, uh-" Sage scratched the back of his head. "Have other people owned you as a houseplant?"
Taro slowly leaned back on his palms. "You jealous?"
"No!" Sage said rather loudly. "I just, I wanted to know. It's when you said that you were put on high shelves. I just thought that, I don't know... I'm not saying that you're an object! I just thought that maybe others have-"
"Sage."
The prince clamped his mouth shut.
"I was joking." Taro's eyes circled his face and Sage dropped his gaze to the floor shyly. "And no, I've never been a houseplant for anyone else. You're the first, and I must say, it's nice being cared for by someone who wants to keep me alive, and not by someone who has a motherly obligation to water me every four hours."
"Wait so, your mother waters you and stuff? Is that who you lived with before getting the Valet job?"
Taro nodded. "We water each other when we can, it's just easier. Mum often sleeps through the day, and I prefer to sleep through the night. She's not on her own though, my stepdad now lives there."
"Can you also sleep in human form?"
"If I want to nap, then yes, but not the entire night. I'd have to switch back and forth."
Sage was getting deep into his interrogation. "Is your stepdad also a plant person?"
"Yes, but he's an Aloe Vera and loves to boast about it whenever he can."
Sage had to laugh at the bitterness in Taro's tone. "What about your biological father?" Sage almost forgot his manners. "I apologise if that was too invasive. Please don't answer if you're not comfortable doing so."
Taro watched him curiously. "You always suddenly turn polite and serious when you just start to get into your conversations."
Sage wasn't sure he liked being so closely observed. "I'm not used to talking like this with someone outside of my family."
Taro nodded, seeming to understand. "I don't have any friends outside of those who are like me. Now that I think about it, I suppose we're not too different. You just have more money than me, and a crown waiting for your cute curls."
Taro had a way with words that made Sage's heart flutter. His heart wanted to run and hide. Taro was only flirting, yet his words had started to make the hairs on the back of Sage's neck stand up, and his heart flutter, and his mind muddle.
Sage had to remember who he was when Taro's words were so sweet, but Taro, in a few simple days, was no longer just his Valet. Knowing his secret meant that he was more than just a member of staff, he was Sage's friend.
He also knew as they speedily approached a friendship, a spark was igniting. Among Sage's highborn friends, nobody had made him feel the way Taro did with a single glance, a single smirk, a single touch.
But Taro was also a plant person, a plant person. To fight the fact that he wasn't dreaming was a strength Sage never knew he needed.