Shopping

Anaroth ate his breakfast in awkward silence. The seat next to him, the head of the house, was surprisingly occupied. Veridin had never eaten in the dining room before, and Anaroth hadn't anticipated him starting now. Anaroth couldn't help but be tense.

"You seem rather anxious. Were you thinking about sneaking out of the palace without telling me again?"

He forced a smile. "No. When did I do that?"

"I'm not sure. I remember the palace being in a general uproar yesterday when you suddenly disappeared. I pardoned the guards and servants on duty this time, after all, they shouldn't be punished for something that wasn't their fault right?"

"Ah, haha… That's right." Anaroth's eye twitched. Are you holding your own servants hostage right now?

"Are you heading out today?"

"No, I have nothing to do today." Anaroth gripped his silverware, subconsciously bending the metal.

Veridin narrowed his eyes with a smile. "You can help me with administration then. I have lots of work for you to do."

"Oh, but should you really be trusting me with that?"

"What do you mean? I distinctly remember you saying if I needed any help running a kingdom, I could just ask you."

"That's right, isn't it?" He forced a laugh.

"You'll help me right?"

Do I have a choice?! Anaroth just laughed and agreed. He didn't expect that Veridin would so blatantly prevent him from leaving the palace. How was he supposed to create a rift between the churches if he couldn't leave? Maybe, it didn't matter to Veridin if he worked with the saint or not.

Anaroth looked up from the papers on the desk in front of him and blinked. How long had he been doing this monotonous paperwork? He pulled out his stopwatch then glanced over at Veridin. He seemed to be focused on writing. It was midday now. They only occasionally spoke to each other, yet the silence wasn't stifling. It was calm and comforting. As Anaroth looked around the office. It was clean with sparse decorations. The bookshelves were filled with books on appropriate topics; literature, law, etiquette; but it didn't feel like a room someone owned.

"Do you have no hobbies?"

Veridin stopped writing and looked up. "You know that I read."

"I'm asking about the room. It feels lifeless."

"Does it?" He set his pen down and looked around the room.

Anaroth raised an eyebrow. "You don't think so?"

"I never paid attention to it before."

"You've been working here for more than a month now."

"Right… This place is mine now, huh?"

Anaroth paused, then sighed. "How about a paperweight? If you open the window, the wind could blow things around."

"I could just collect them again with magic." Veridin leaned on his hand.

"That's not the point. Don't you live here? You don't want to change anything from the way the palace used to be?"

Veridin stared at him for a moment. He capped the inkwell and stood up. "Why don't we go shopping together then?"

"Huh? Couldn't you just ask Raven to buy you something?"

"Why would I when you and I are talking about it right now?"

"You could just write it down…"

"Do you not want to go? I don't know the first thing about decorating a space, so I was asking you."

His eyes widened then he stood up with a huff. "Fine. Let's go."

A knock at the door made the two of them pause. "Come in."

Raven opened the door. "Will you be eating here or in the dining room?"

"Hm," Veridin glanced at Anaroth, "We'll be leaving the palace, so prepare a carriage and a few guards."

Raven bowed and slipped out of the room. Anaroth looked to Veridin. "You're thinking of dragging me somewhere strange again aren't you?"

Veridin smiled. "No. We're just eating lunch outside of the palace. Is that so bad?"

"Last time you did that it was strange."

"If you're worried, I can have Raven prepare something for us to eat outside. A picnic sounds like it would be interesting."

Anaroth pursed his lips. "Forget it." He didn't want to experience that with Veridin. Just imagining it made him uncomfortable.

"Should I? I'm a bit interested now." Anaroth let out an exasperated sigh. He didn't see it, but Veridin's smirk wavered for a moment. "But there's a place I want to go to so maybe not."

Anaroth glanced at him before walking over to the door. "Do what you want. That's what you've always done."

"Ah–" Veridin followed him out the door– "If you wanted to know where we're going, you could have just asked."

"Would you even tell me?"

"I would."

Anaroth stopped. He didn't need to turn around to know Veridin was telling the truth. He knew he was being unreasonable, but he was still annoyed. "You're still going to force me to come along with you."

There was a long pause. "We can go back if you want."

"Go back to the office you wanted to hold me in to prevent me from meeting the saint?" Veridin didn't respond. "Did you think I wouldn't put it together? You assume I'm smart enough to guess what you want, but at times like these you act like I can't understand anything. You never intended for me to convince the saint before the debutante ball. Isn't that right?"

"Alright," Veridin walked in front of him and looked him in the eyes, "I have been preventing you from meeting her."

"Why? And why do you still look so satisfied?" Anaroth's face contorted in anger while Veridin smiled gently.

"You're incredibly perceptive, yet you miss the most obvious thing."

"Then tell me what it is."

"Didn't I promise you? If you can't figure it out, then I'll tell you at the coronation ball. If you can't wait, then figure it out."

"Will you quit toying with me then? Let me meet the saint."

"I don't think you should."

"So that you can drag me with you?"

Veridin sighed softly. "Because the church has been preparing for something since the day that you left. You know that, yet you never told me."

"I didn't feel like I needed to tell someone who seemingly knows everything. Clearly I was right," He laughed mockingly.

"Why… Are you so mad at me?" Veridin's expression turned pained, but Anaroth ignored it.

"Do you think someone would be happy that you manipulated them? Forced their hand? Held them hostage? Used them for your own amusement?! Do you think I like being dragged around and used like a toy?"

Veridin opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. His gaze turned downward, avoiding the rage in Anaroth's scarlet eyes. There was nothing he could say. Rather, there was something he could say, but his pride kept him from saying it.

Anaroth watched him struggle. Veridin had lowered his head and couldn't seem to look Anaroth in the eyes. An odd sense of satisfaction welled up from the sight. Frustration mingled within it. Did he learn nothing from before?

"You… Don't have to go to the debutante ball. If you don't want to."

Anaroth scanned his expression. "I'll think about it, how about that?"

Veridin's eyes seemed to regain their spark, but their sharpness wasn't there. "Yes… Then, are we still going out?"

"Alright, but I'll be deciding where we go."

He hesitated before he spoke, "Okay. We'll go wherever you want."

"Good." Anaroth walked around him. "Oh and don't think I didn't notice that you can't seem to apologize to me. You'll have to tell me that too, at the coronation ball."

Veridin opened his mouth, then smiled slightly. "I got it."

Veridin quietly followed Anaroth, studying him as they walked. His silver hair flowed behind him as he moved through the palace quickly. His steps were faster and shorter than usual, betraying his anger. A warm, peaceful feeling spread through Veridin's chest. He smiled unconsciously. He didn't care where they were going anymore, nor did he care if this was supposed to be his "punishment." He was content with following Anaroth, no matter where they went. His smile wavered when a pang of guilt and longing tightened his chest.

They got into the carriage and, to Anaroth's surprise, Raven joined them. He sat next to Veridin in silence. Veridin leaned on his hand, looking at Anaroth.

"Am I allowed to apologize now?"

Anaroth raised an eyebrow then crossed his legs and arms. "No. If you can't tell me this secret of yours, I won't accept your apology."

"What a shame. Where are we going?"

"Ask Raven."

"Oh? I thought you were deciding."

"Do you think I know where everything is in the capital?"

He just chuckled and turned to Raven. "Well?"

"I told the coach to go to the Golden Eye Guild general store. They sell a large amount of general merchandise. They sell stationary and decorations as well."

Veridin's eyes narrowed in amusement. "Alright.

The ride to the store was silent. When they arrived, Veridin stepped off and offered Anaroth his hand.

"I thought I told you I don't need help." Anaroth stepped down and looked up at the store in front of them.

A large umber colored building stood in front of them. A large number of people were walking in and out of the doors, and even more could be seen inside. A woman followed by two men pushed her way through the crowd and stopped in front of them.

"I didn't realize you would be stopping by your majesty." She glanced at Anaroth and kept a professional smile. "It's a pleasure to meet the two of you. What would you be looking for today?"

Anaroth looked at her respectful expression, then smiled. "We're looking for decorations for an office space."

"I see. I hope you don't mind that the store is a bit crowded." She turned to the two who followed her. "Clear out the stationary and office section, give the people who were there a 5% discount on their next purchase. Now, shall we go?"

Anaroth glanced at Veridin who gave him a sly grin. "Lead the way then."

They followed the woman into the crowd. They barely realized they were inside the store when they entered. Despite their status, it was still a struggle to get through the mass of people. Anaroth carefully pushed his way through but couldn't tell where he was. A hand grabbed his own, accompanied by a familiar voice.

"Don't get lost."

"Ah–" Anaroth was pulled along, hand in hand with Veridin. His legs moved without a second thought. He couldn't say anything, or look anywhere else. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the golden strands shimmering under the bright lights of the store.

He finally had a chance to breathe when they reached an empty portion of the store. The woman from before was patiently waiting for them with Raven. She glanced down before gesturing for them to go inside the section.

"This is our office department. Please take as much time as you like looking around."

"Thank you," Anaroth spoke breathlessly. He flinched when he noticed the warmth from his hand. He released his grip but the hand intertwined with his didn't budge. He cleared his throat. "Should we start by looking at paperweights?"

"Alright." Veridin looked at him with a satisfied grin.

"The paperweights are over here."

The woman led the two to a few shelves full of paperweights of varying designs. There were glass ones with ornate patterns, or plain wooden or metal ones. There were ones that looked like animals, made in various materials. Veridin glanced over them.

Anaroth went to pick one of them up when he froze. He had raised Veridin's arm with his own. He chuckled in embarrassment before just pointing it out. "What about this one? It's simple."

"Hm… Maybe." Veridin looked over the shelf again. "How about we look at another shelf? There's more."

"O-Okay." Anaroth stumbled as Veridin pulled him along. He couldn't hide his embarrassment. Why was Veridin dragging him around like this? Unlike his usual attitude, his hands were surprisingly warm…

"This one."

"Hm?" Anaroth's eyes widened when he looked at it. "Really? That one?"

Veridin was holding a coiled up snake. It was pure white as if it were made of porcelain. For its eyes sat small rubies. Anyone could see the resemblance between Anaroth and the small carving in his hand.

"If that's what you really want…" Anaroth couldn't bear to look at him. He couldn't tell if this situation was meant to embarrass him, but it was working. Veridin wasn't lying to him or acting snarky so he couldn't even be annoyed.

"I'll get it then. How about I buy one for you as an apology? That one would be good, don't you think?" Veridin pointed to a gilded lion.

Anaroth flinched and looked away. "I don't need one."

"Really? That's a shame. What about a pen?" Veridin handed the snake off to Raven and dragged Anaroth over to the feathered pens on display. "You can take it back with you to the demon kingdom."

"Weren't we here to buy office decorations for you?"

"I picked one. Now I'm looking at other things."

"It's your money, buy what you want."

"Then I will." Veridin pointed out two pens. "These two. Pack a few extra nibs as well."

Anaroth glanced over curiously. The two pens were black and gold, and silver and purple respectively. They were quite beautiful. Veridin caught his eyes and grinned.

"Which one would you like?"

"Huh? Well, the silver one is nice."

"I think so too. It matches you."

Anaroth's mouth fell open and he glared at Veridin. When he looked in Veridin's violet eyes, he glanced back at the pen then huffed. "Are we done here?"

"Not yet." Veridin gave him a mischievous smile. A sense of foreboding ran down Anaroth's spine.