Eryx doesn't speak after the slip. He just stares at Kael like something is crawling beneath his skin, then rolls his shoulders back, mutters, "Have never needed permission or a reason to go anywhere," and walks inside like the place is his.
He doesn't ask for permission.
He never has.
Kael watches him disappear through the doorway, jaw tense, every nerve on edge. He swallows the twist in his throat and follows him, because he has to.
Kael watches him push the doors open without waiting for permission, swaggering in with all the arrogance of a prince and none of the grace.
He even dares stops at the king's office wanting to navigate it, just as he's been doing.
"Are you serious?! You even want to enter that like it's some kind of a toilet?!" Kael says, sharp. "Is there something you are looking for?"
But Eryx's hand is already on the knob.
The door creaks open.
A muted breath of air escapes like something inside has been waiting. The room is still. Dimly lit.
Quiet in a way that feels heavy. The scent of something old jasmine, lingers in the silence.
Kael curses under his breath and rushes forward.
"Eryx, I said not this ro...!"
Too fast.
Kael stumbles on the edge of the rug. Eryx reaches out instinctively to steady him. Kael's hand flies out to catch something, anything, and instead, lands on Eryx's chest.
The fall never comes.
For a suspended breath in time, they freeze.
Skin on skin.
Heartbeat against heartbeat.
Kael's palm burns where it touches Eryx, and Eryx's fingers dig into Kael's arm like he's anchoring himself in a storm.
Their faces, so close. Too close. Kael can feel Eryx's breath against his cheek. Warm. Shallow.
Something pulses between them. Ancient. Unrelenting. Hungry.
Eryx doesn't blink. His brows draw in, confused, like he's trying to decipher something carved into Darien's features.
But Kael knows that look. He's seen it before, in another lifetime. In the moments before kisses that tasted like devotion.
And still… he doesn't move away. Kael's lips part slightly. His breathing is uneven. He's too stun to even react, he knows, or rather he has been telling himself that he hates Eryx, and all he wants is to humiliate him, and bring his ego down, him and his whole kingdom, but why is he still standing there like a zombie...
Neither Eryx is moving.
His mind screams that this is Darien. That he hated Darien. That everything about him should send him walking in the opposite direction.
But he doesn't walk.
He stares.
His hands tighten unconsciously, holding Darien like he's afraid if he lets go, the floor will swallow him whole.
Something about Kael feels familiar. Not in the way a face is familiar, but in the way music is.
Or a memory.
Or a dream you never realized you missed until you woke up gasping for it.
Or a feeling. Why would Darien make him feel like this?!
Eryx's chest rises and falls with shallow breaths. Kael swears his pulse is trying to punch through his skin.
His lips part slightly, a breath away from speaking, or from something else entirely.
Eryx doesn't look away. His mind is a furnace, his body burning from where Darien touched him.
All he can see is him. The shape of his mouth. His fair skin. The weight of the air between them. The throb behind his ribs, loud and demanding and relentless.
His eyes drop to Kael's lips.
Kael inhales sharply and then his breath hitches.
But then... comes the Footsteps.
Quick. Too close.
Kael hears them first.
His eyes snap toward the door, just as Harry appears in the frame.
Everything inside Kael drops.
Harry stops cold.
His face goes slack, then tightens all at once like something sharp has pierced straight through him.
His eyes usually calm, calculating, are wide, frozen, hurt. Pain. Unfiltered. Raw.
Kael sees it all.
He moves back like he's been burned, pulling out of Eryx's hold so fast he nearly trips again.
He knows it, he knows how much Harry loves Darien, and he knows he has been mad at him all these days for the same reason, and now...
Harry turns on his heel and walks out without a sound.
Kael follows him immediately.
Eryx doesn't move. Doesn't speak.