Interest

MARCH 24

For some time, it was quiet. A void of nothing with Dominic swirling in the middle, his mind clear and so unaware that he didn't even know if he was alive. From the silence came a soft humming, sounds of movement so distant that he wondered how it was possible to even hear them. In the soft humming was when he realized he was still breathing, a sharp intake of air softened into steady breaths. 

Then the darkness seemed to soften. From absolute nothing to a wavy vision which solid black colored the back but swarms of color flashed in front of his eyes and like bubbles popping and inflating, little circles at the corner of his vision seemed to zoom in and out. He could feel it. His eyelids. They were closed.

Soon after everything started to come back to him. In the lightness of the air around him, he started to feel the push of gravity down on his body and the sturdy hold of something beneath him. Then his finger twitched as it felt air touch its sides and to his surprise, a groan leaves his lips. Seconds later, a warm draft overcame his body. 

It was like an out of body experience. Knowing his body was there on earth, on something, alive but yet feeling like he wasn't at the center of everything, feeling like it wasn't his body. 

That was when he heard the shuffling back and forth beside him, an exchange of words at a volume so low it was barely audible and in a language incomprehensible to his scattered mind. 

His fingers twitched again and then time, his leg followed. 

He wanted to wake up. 

After several attempts to jolt himself back out of his confusing air, he managed to get his eyes open just a slit but enough to see in front of him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to being able to see through the tiny slits he managed to open but when he did, there wasn't much to see.

The room was dark, barely any light in the room and allowed him to make a quick adjustment. 

The ceiling seemed rather close to him and on top of him laid heavy blankets that covered him all the way up to his neck. Lowering his head just a little, he noticed the design on the covers and turning his head to the side, noticed the columns that stood up from the end of the bed and at the beginning to the ceiling above him. Around him, he was surrounded by drapes made of sheer material that hung down from the ceiling.

After a moment of disassociation, he came to recognize the object he was on and the room he was in. It was his room. Just... a little darker.

It was weird being in a place he rarely got the time to even sleep in. He had spent the last two weeks locked up in his office without even getting the chance to lay on a proper bed. His eyelashes flutter. It was warm and soft. 

He flinched when he noticed to the side of him that an area of the sheer drapes was darker than the rest. There was someone there. 

He sat there in silence, too pained to move until his body started to get more control than before. His eyes were able to open fully and his arms were now able to move. In that time, the figure sitting beside him also sat in silence, barely moving in the 30 minutes. They were occupied in a book. 

Dominic was to wait until he had full control of his arms and legs.

The silence was deafening and struck some kind of fear in him for whoever was behind the drapes. Through his clearer vision, he could tell that the figure had broad shoulders and quite a big frame. A frame bigger than his. He was going to wait until he had full control of his body before making any sign of him being awake. Just in case it was someone he had to escape from, he would be ready then.

To his alarm, the figure made their move before he did, their big frame standing up from their seat so abruptly that Dominic tightened his fingers into a fist to keep himself from making unnecessary movements.

They stood over Dominic for moments so long that his heart began to thump in anxiety. Then, they turned around and stepped farther away from him. Dominic let out a sigh of relief as he watched the figure's shape get farther away from him. It was a short-lived release of relief. The figure came walking back, this time with an object in their hand. 

'Circular... a bowl?' Dominic thought to himself as the figure sat back in their chair. 

He forced his eyes shut when the drapes began to lift, the figure lifting up the drapes and leaning closer to Dominic. A second of tension passed as the figure made no movement and Dominic laid with his eyes closed, ready to react to any rush of movements that would come at him.

That was when he heard it. A light chuckle from the figure beside him. A familiar voice.

"What a great act, your highness," said the voice, "what were you going to do next, somehow manage to dodge my attack?"

Dominic flinched, his heart skipping a beat at the sound. It felt different in that moment, lighter, soothing, the fact that his eyes were closed simply allowed him to hear the voice better. 'Deep...' Dominic thought to himself as his face heated. 

The figure's laughter slowed to a stop. "Are you going to sit there and pretend you're not awake?" the voice asked, "you'd be long dead if I was an actual killer."

Dominic sighed, his eyes slowly opening to look at the ceiling of his bed. His head turned to the side, his voice pausing when he looked at the figure beside him.

"There he is," Boris chuckled, "I can't believe you had me sitting here for about an hour since you woke up. Do you know how boring it is to sit there while the person beside you is pretending to be asleep?"

Dominic stared at Boris blankly, frozen for a moment as the scene registered in his mind. 

Boris pulled the drape over his head, letting himself into the darkness that surrounded Dominic and looking down at him. 

"Medicine," he muttered, lifting up the bowl in front of Dominic, "the doctor said you have to take it, so hurry up and take it."

Dominic continued to stare at Boris for a moment until Boris caught the emptiness in his gaze. 

"What is it?" Boris asked, cocking his head to the side, "are you dizzy? The doctor said you'd be like that for the first moments of you being awake. He made sure to reduce the light in the room so you wouldn't be affected by it the moment you open your eyes."

Dominic didn't reply, his eyes still stuck on Boris'

Boris groaned, his lips rising into a scowl. "What is it? Is there something you have to be staring-"

"Your smile," Dominic muttered. 

"Wha-"

"Do it again," Dominic pressed, "smile again."

Boris flinched. "What?" he asked, his face falling into a confused haze. "Why wou-"

Dominic pulled himself up in the bed and leaned into Boris, stopping mere inches from his face. "Your smile. Do it again."

Dominic peered at Boris' confused expression. He too was confused, he didn't know why he was reacting like this. But... He recalled it again, the expression on Boris' face, that small interval in which he got to see genuine laughter on Boris' face. For that moment, despite the room being dark around him, it seemed to light up, like a spark from his golden eyes lit up the room when he smiled.

His heart had frozen and as it watched the smile disappear from Boris' face, it was overwhelmed with the desire to see it again. 'Especially that...' Dominic thought to himself as the memory of brightness flashed through his memory. His heart skipped another beat. 'His dimple..'

It was captivating. Beyond captivating.

Boris' eyes glanced into Dominic's eyes with the intention to move away a moment later. It was stuck, lured into the anticipation in the emerald gaze, trapped by its brightness, paralyzed by its beauty. He felt it overcoming him, that moment that had kept him awake thinking at night, those seconds in which all he would see was green. 

His eyebrows furrowed and he turned his head away from Dominic. "Have you lost your mind?" Boris asked, his voice low and quiet at first before growing into a yell, "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!" 

He moved farther away from Dominic, the drape pulling back with Boris. It hung loosely over the empty space in front of Boris, the space he had once been sitting in.

Silence filled the air as Boris' voice echoed off the walls. It passed between the stare between him and Dominic, a stare that Dominic had kept pinned on him despite the fact that his eyes were filled with disgust. 

Boris's grip tightened on the bowl, his eyebrows furrowing further in anger, confused anger. There was something wrong with him, there was something wrong with the way he reacted and the gaze he was trapped in. Dominic continued to look at him, his eyes as bright as they were when he first sat up in his bed and still peered into Boris' eyes with the same confidence it had when he first spoke. 

There was something else there in his gaze, something that he couldn't look away from. 

His other hand tightened its grip on the spoon as he maintained his stare-off with Dominic. He could feel it, how he was being sucked into the stare, how he was being pulled into the bright green curiosity Dominic threw out him directly. His jaw clenched. 'Why...'

Dominic blinked, then as abruptly as he had first initiated the stare, he looked away, breaking away from Boris. 

"Ah... sorry," he muttered, lowering his head to hide his face. To hide the sheer shock he had for the way he had acted just moments ago. To hide the shine in his eyes he didn't know he had. 

Boris peered down at Dominic's head, his fist loosening in the slightest. 'Why...'

"I didn't- I don't want to force- I apologize for that," Dominic chuckled nervously as he played with his fingers. "Seemed to forget how much you hated even talking to me for a moment there," he laughed, looking up at Boris, "I understand if you're disgusted or m-"

His words trailed to a stop when he noticed the look on Boris' face. 

It was hard to see in the dimness of the room, but the way his eyebrows were furrowed together, his clenched fist, how his lips pressed against each other, and the glow in his golden eyes. It was unmistakable. He was...

Dominic tilted his head to the side, his eyes glowing again with such a strong interest he didn't even notice he had. "Are you?"

Boris avoided Dominic's gaze and handed him the bowl in his hand. "Drink it. It's medicine for you."

Dominic's eyes wavered to the medicine in Bori's hands and then back up to Boris' face. "But-" before he could say another word, Boris flashed him a warning glare and he took the medicine from Boris' hand. 

Boris watched as Dominic stared into the bowl of medicine. He looked away, sucking in a deep breath. It made barely any help to what Boris was feeling. He turned back to Dominic, his eyes landing on the golden waves on his hair.

Dominic looked up at Boris for a moment, their eyes locking for that second. Boris' eyebrows scrunched up again and Dominic turned back to the medicine in the bowl. 'What in the world is with these peek-a-boo glances?' Boris thought to himself as he let out a shaky breath. It didn't work. His attempt to overwhelm whatever he was feeling with anger didn't work. There was a strange inconsistency in his heartbeat whenever he looked into those emerald eyes. He didn't want to admit it. 

He was flustered. 

Dominic raised the bowl to his lips but right before drinking it, he paused and turned to Boris again, this time his glance asked a question different to the ones if had been asking before. 

"What is it?" Boris asked with an annoyed tone, "Are you worried it's poisoned again?"

Dominic shook his head, a smirk appearing on his face. "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it a while ago," he chuckled jokingly. He paused for a second as his comment resonated in his mind. 'Right... why didn't he try to kill me?' he thought to himself, 'it's been a few weeks, in that time he should have already planned a way to kill me...'

Boris rolled his eyes. "Then what is it?" he asked. 

Dominic looked up at him, slow to notice Boris' slight flinch. "What is this for? Did something happen to me?"

Boris stared at Dominic for a moment and then gained his composure back. He sat down in his chair. "Do you not remember anything that happened?" he asked. 

"No....? Was there something I was supposed to remember?" Dominic asked, "the last thing I can remember is talking to you, then leaving with Claudia to... a room, and then she left. I don't remember much from there on."

"A room?" Boris asked. 

Dominic chuckled lightly. "Yea... a room."

"For what?" Boris pressed, his face remaining stoic. He wasn't getting the answer he wanted. 

Dominic paused, a nervous laugh leaving his mouth, "Filled with curiosity aren't you?"

"No. Kalmin threatened me to get out as much as you remember from the incident as soon as you wake up."

Dominic nodded his head slowly, feeling a bit disappointed. "Ok then.." he looked at the medicine in the bowl for a moment before looking back at Boris. "Incident? did something happen?"

"You were poisoned," Boris replied. 

"Excuse me?" Dominic replied, an expression of disbelief plastered across his face, "how? I didn't go anywhere with anyone I didn't know that night. In fact, I didn't go that far at all I don't think. How would I get poisoned?"

Boris peered at Dominic, his eyes reading his emotions blankly before continuing. "It was food poisoning."

"Food poisoning? I don't think any of the food at the event was to blame though," Dominic muttered, in deep thought. 

Boris continued to observe him. He hated it. The way Dominic was avoiding mentioning more about what had happened that night, especially since he knew what happened. He groaned, his hands running through his hair. He was irritated. He had been that way for most of the remaining of yesterday and the morning of today ever since the night before. Ever since that conversation. 

He looked up at Dominic again, his piercing gold eyes keeping him well under his sight. He was still irritated to this moment. 'Why...?'

After watching Dominic another minute, he got sick of watching someone avoid a big part of their event simply because they didn't want to consider it.

"The food you ate when you went into the private room with Princess Claudia. It was poisoned," Boris spat out, his words cold and harsh, pointed. He wanted them to be like that. He wanted to poke holes at Dominic. 

"What?" Dominic mumbled, his voice low and weak, unable to believe the words he was hearing. "That's not possible."

Boris peered at Dominic for a moment before his lines pressed into a thin line. 'How annoying...' he thought to himself as he peered down at Dominic. 

"I don't know much about the incident myself, but the basic facts have spread about the palace like wildfire. None of the news has reached outside castle walls though," Boris sighed, standing up from his chair and walking closer to the bed where Dominic sat. He peered down at the golden waves again, his eyes catching a glimpse of Dominic's crestfallen expression. He gritted his teeth.

He looked away from Dominic's face and sat down on the bed, letting out a deep breath. "Don't take my words for it, if you don't want to but, I'm pretty sure of the news that I'm giving you right now," he muttered, "there's a meeting later today. You'll be getting the full detailed idea at the meeting."

Dominic didn't utter a word. His grip on his bowl tightened. Boris noticed. He sucked in a deep breath. 

"Gosh! sTOP STARING AT THE DANG BOWL AND DRINK THE MEDICINE ALREADY!" He snapped, turning to face Dominic, his hands reaching for the bowl in Dominic's hands and taking it from him. He looked down at the startled face of Dominic and his eyebrows furrowed again. "Open your mouth."

Dominic peered up at Boris for a moment. Boris groaned. 

"Are you going to sit there so dumbfounded and not even try and do so-" Boris began, his words trailing off when Dominic leaned forward, reaching for the bowl in Boris' hands.

His hands covered Boris' large hands and he pulled the bowl to him, drawing his body closer to the bowl at the same time. His head lowered and he pressed his lips against the bowl, his grip on Boris' hands tightening a bit as he lifted up the bowl, drinking the medicine as it lapped against his lips. 

Boris flinched, his eyes looking down at Dominic's golden locks of hair as his large hands grew warm from the hold of Dominic's smaller hands on top of them. They sat there for a few seconds as Dominic drank the bowl of medicine, his grip on Boris' hands tightening as the bowl raised higher until finally, he gulped the last bit of medicine and looked up at Boris, his emerald eyes locking with gold. 

He lifted one hand to wipe his lips which the other held Boris' hand and the bowl. "Done."

There was no movement that followed after. It was a repeat of a moment they were both very familiar with, one that sat in their memory untouched as a mystery, one that constantly popped up in their minds. It was repeating again. Right at that moment. 

It felt different this time. The pull was stronger, the moment felt tenser and heavier. Confused, flustered golden eyes stared into curious green once again, both feeling the slightest tug that came from a feeling both were unfamiliar with. Something felt more dangerous, more nerve-racking than the last time everything seemed to spin to a stop.

Boris looked down at his hands, his eyes glossing over the smaller, lean, and smooth hands of the one above it. Dominic's gaze followed Boris' down to their hands. In contrast to Boris' reaction, his gaze didn't hold any ounce of fright in it, in fact, it was more drawn to the hand below his. The roughness of the skin.

His index finger lifted softly and lowered to Boris' hands, brushing against the rough surface lightly.

He looked up at Boris who was still staring at their hands, his green eyes shone with curiosity. His eyes wavered back to their hands and his index finger rose again, hovering over Boris' hands before touching down on it again, brushing it with a shorter stroke.

Boris looked up at Dominic, his eyes glowing with panic. 'Wha-' he muttered as he gazed at Dominic's expression. It was calm, relaxed, yet at the same time, his eyes shone with some kind of interest that sent shivers down his spine. He watched as Dominic's finger rose again, this time looking at Dominic's face as he slowly brought down the finger on Boris' hands. it paused. His heart skipped a beat. Then slowly, it began to move, creating a longer stroke that ran do-

A spark flashes through Boris' eyes and he yanks his hand away, dropped the bowl, and stood up from the bed. 

He walked out from under the drapes and stood behind the drapes, staring at the dark figure of Dominic behind the drapes. "It seems that you're ok now. I'll go request a meeting for you for Kalmin and give them an update on your health," Boris muttered, his voice calm and steady as he hid his hands behind his back. "In the meantime, I think you should go ahead and get dressed, your highness."

There was no sound from Dominic. 

"Well then, I'll take my leave now," Boris bowed, turning around the bed and heading for the exit. His hand had touched the doorknob when a voice made him freeze immediately, a shiver running down his spine. 

"Make sure you dress nicely. You'll be coming along to the meeting," Dominic instructed absent-mindedly.

Boris nodded his hand. "Noted." Without a second word, he pulled open the door of the room and stepped outside. 

Silence lingered in the room after Boris' leave. The scent of wine lingered in the air. 

Dominic peered down at his finger and the bowl, his eyes locking in on the exact spot in which he had come into contact with Boris' hands. 

It tingled.