W.R.E.C.K. - 2. Trouble

Revelin's POV:

As soon as I turned down the second hallway, I cooled off enough to think rationally again. Vianis had indeed caused us all heaps of trouble and heartache, by default, when he led us to believe that Itharos had become corrupted. However, the serpent had also caused the chain of events that forced Cyrus to finally trust me. As much as I hated to admit it, I owed him an indirect debt.

I continued to walk, lost in such thoughts, when a voice caught my attention. I could almost feel my pupils dilating as adrenaline shot through my body. In the distance, I saw a dark red scarf wrapped around red-orange hair that was floating behind the person that my body had identified as an immediate threat. His eyes were the color of gold wheat and he wore a layered shirt with several objects dangling from it and tight black pants tucked into long brown boots. It was Kazren. Kazren was running towards me. Why was Kazren even here? Fuck. Where did my partner go, and why wasn't he ever around when I needed to use him as an alternate focal point?

I must have still been well into my adrenaline rush, because I felt and saw everything in slow motion. I was startled when I felt a tongue that most definitely was not Cyrus's brush briefly against my own. I also caught sight of Cyrus's furious hazel gaze in and heard his growl in an extended form before the spike of adrenaline finally died down. I was able to step back fast enough for the blonde to have a clear shot at the redhead, and finally, everything began to run at normal speed again for me. As I gazed at Kazren, I couldn't help but feel grateful that I wasn't the one that Cyrus punched.

"And you!" Even though the low, menacing tone of voice wasn't directed at me, I still found myself cringing at the sound. "Don't you dare touch him without permission again you…just what are you, a pirate gypsy?"

It was only through sheer strength of will that I managed not to snicker at the interesting title that my partner chose to label my once 'friend with benefits.' "I'm sorry about that," I apologized to a stunned Kazren that was holding his cheek and gaping down at Cyrus. "In my defense, you should have waited for me to speak before trying to kiss me so suddenly-OW!" I cried when Cyrus's dexterous fingers quickly threaded into my hair and pulled. "Ow ow ow…I'm sorry, Cy. It won't ever happen again, I promise. Ouch! That hurts, damn it!"

"You should have thought about that before going around allowing some pirate gypsy to kiss you like that," Cyrus growled in my ear as he, once again, tugged mercilessly at my hair.

I don't know why, but I was becoming rather aroused. Not so much by his forcefulness, but by the fire behind his hazel eyes. It had been quite a while since I had seen that expression on my partner's face. Damn. I almost forgot how sexy he looked whenever he was angered. "Hmm, I think I'm going to need some thorough disinfection." I purred as I gazed at him through half-lidded eyes. "Very thorough."

The blonde finally let go with a soft huff, but he couldn't hide the slight pink that formed on his cheeks. I wanted him. I wanted to claim him right there in the hallway and-

"Hey, I'm still right here!" Kazren practically shrieked. I wondered briefly if he had recognized the look of lust on my face. "Honestly!" He straightened up to his full height, wincing as he touched his tender jaw. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

I rubbed the back of my neck in a nervous gesture as I looked at them both. "Kazren, this is my partner in absolutely everything, Wanderer Cyrus Kairos. Cy, this is Kazren an old…friend of mine."

"By 'friend,' I'm sure meant 'lover,'" Cyrus snorted as he gave Kazren a once over. "Never thought I'd come across a pirate gypsy, of all things."

"I am no such thing." Kazren hissed. "I am simply a Revolutionary."

"Keep telling yourself that," Cyrus replied in a snarly manner. "Since you genuinely did not seem to know that we were exclusive, I'll let this particular incident slide. But, be warned that I can best even Revelin when it comes to using Vim."

Kazren shook his head and sent me an incredulous look. "You always did prefer the more violent type, didn't you?"

I merely shrugged. "What are you doing here, anyway? You don't usually venture into this dimension except when forced, or in dire circumstances."

"Alexandra," Kazren replied. His expression hardened in a way that I had never seen on his face before. "There is something about her home dimension that I must tell her personally."

"She's at the entrance hall with Verity. You can't miss them, they have an arctic dragon with them." Cyrus informed him.

Kazren simply nodded in reply before taking off down the hall. He never once looked back.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I realized that Kazren must have brought back more trouble with him than I had originally thought. Before I had the chance to think about it any further, I felt my arm being tugged. I downright stumbled twice before Cyrus all but shoved me into our room. "For someone who doesn't like being handled, you sure-" I wasn't able to say anything more. Though I had teased about being 'disinfected' before, I didn't realize that I must have hit close to home. Cyrus's tongue was doing things inside my mouth that would have made a lesser man swoon. As it was, my knees were beginning to feel a little weak.

I needn't have worried, though, because the blonde deftly maneuvered me to sit on the bed and promptly straddled my lap. I was a goner. My groan of appreciation was lost within Cyrus's cavern. I made a mental note to try to get Cyrus jealous more often. When we began softly grinding in earnest, we heard a loud knock at the door. For a while there, both of us pretended not to have heard it, but then the knocking became thunderous.

With a hiss, I slid Cyrus onto the bed and stomped over to the door. "What the hell do you want!?" I all but bellowed. The universe's most annoying creature was shoved in my face. I wanted to trap him back in that damn jar for the rest of his unnatural life. "You couldn't keep him with you for just one night?"

"He talks too damn much. Group meet after the ceremony." Alexandra replied in an authoritative tone that I knew better than to try to argue with. I watched her walk away with Kazren in tow and frowned as her actions verified that trouble was certainly brewing.

"The ceremony begins in an hour, why are neither of you ready yet? Aren't you the bestmen-HACK!"

My hand subconsciously began to tighten its grip on the serpent.

"Help me Master Cyrus!" Vianis squeaked and Cyrus quickly came over to forcefully pry my hands open to free him.

"Revelin Eferize," The warning behind Cyrus's low growl meant that we were no longer going to be able to finish what we started. I let out a long sigh and pulled out our clothes from the closet.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

The ceremony was simple and went off without a hitch. As best men, my partner and I were in the perfect position to protect both royal couples from any incidents. But, it appeared as if the people of both kingdoms truly were tired of the wars of their predecessors. Everything was rather peaceful.

While I looked on at my charges as they began such heavy commitments, I realized that they had finally reached adulthood. A small wave of nostalgia hit me as I recalled how young Damien and Dandelion were when I was first hired to watch over them. Neither of them had quite hit puberty, so they were both the same height. They had always been smart, adorable, and full of trouble. Now, they knew enough to keep such trouble to themselves for the sake of others. Damn if I didn't feel proud.

When the end of the ceremony came to pass, I felt another feeling entirely as I gazed on the faces of joy and relief on the royal couples' faces. I would be lying to myself if I said I never truly thought about marriage in general. Why, it had only been a year since I even allowed myself to admit to the fact that I finally found someone that I wanted by my side for far longer than just a day. But, as my gaze settled on Cyrus, I couldn't help but imagine what being married to him could be like. Life with Cyrus was already entertaining enough as it was, marriage wouldn't change that…

However, the trust that we had built up until now would be amplified if we were ever wedded. And, maybe, some of Cy's remaining fears would be laid to rest if the ring on my finger announced to others that I was taken. I had never even thought about becoming an Idler before, but after sharing a lifetime with Cyrus? Cosmos, I think we'd retire as hard as we worked. I envisioned a peaceful retirement with him. A pleasant retirement. Was marriage truly such a horrible thing?

"If you keep staring at me like a lecher, the people will not take our vows seriously," I heard Duncan whisper to Damien.

The blonde prince let out a soft chuckle beside him. "I see that you are ready to take your responsibilities as king seriously."

"And you arenot?" Duncan countered.

"Aren't I technically the 'queen' in this union?" Damien teased. "Ack!" He hissed as Duncan stepped on his foot.

Right, I thought to myself. I forgot that one phrase that used to be my mantra. 'Marriage is not a word. It is a sentence...a life sentence.' In some cases, it gave the right for a betrothed to make and break their intended as they saw fit. I didn't think either of us would be ready for matrimony any time soon.

When the ceremony was over, Cyrus and I dumped our gifts onto a table at the reception and met with Alexandra, Kazren, and Verity on top of one of the towers of the castle when an aircraft that was very familiar to me approached us. Whenever children would see it in motion, they called it the "flying ice cream cone," and I never bothered to correct them. Why? The designer must have had desserts on his or her mind, because that was exactly what it looked like while in motion.

The top of half of the ship spun so fast that the panels seemed to merge into swirls, giving the top half the appearance of soft-served ice cream. The bottom half was quite literally in the shape of an upside-down cone with a pearl-like hue. I lifted my eyebrow as I noticed something new. Lights lined the top panels, castings soft colors onto the top half, making it seem as if the ship was Neapolitan in nature, shifting from vanilla, to chocolate, and strawberry. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Cyrus was becoming rather pale.

"Can't we travel by ground?" He whimpered.