[ Inwardly, Will has begun to have the same concern: is he fouling up the plan by asking for access to Louis's private library? Heismay and Gallica should be on their way to infiltrate the man's quarters by now. If Louis takes him there right after the soirée... is he just putting his companions at risk of being caught?
...No, but he has faith. With all his experience in the Shadowguard, surely Heismay understands the necessity of getting in and then getting out, with an operation like this. Moreover, there's no guarantee that Louis will want Will to come with him right after this. Perhaps it can wait until the morrow... ]
...Yes. That's what I want.
[ ...A change in the music cues Will to dip Louis, instead. This startles some in the crowd, who did not expect to see their lord bend to the whims of the elda boy he's taken an unusual interest in, but Will pays it no mind. He thinks, instead, of the sheer pleasure he feels (he should not call it pleasure, should not take pleasure in it) when he slides his hand up from Louis's lower back, through the curve of his spine, up between his shoulderblades. The crowd cannot see this, this indulgent touch, for the way that Louis's cape conceals it from view. His body is so big, so solid, so warm against Will's hand. So real, and yet — so unreal. So like fantasy, like something borne of an author's pen.
This is hardly Will's first time thinking that a man is handsome — Strohl, certainly, is classically handsome, and even Alonzo is possessed of that bewitching beauty that all nidia (save, apparently, Jin) are said to have — but Louis Guiabern is dizzyingly, frighteningly attractive. Less like another mortal man and more like a creature crafted for temptation. The part of his lips as he's dipped downward — that alone could haunt Will's dreams and nightmares. ]
Tell me something that no one else in the world would know, Louis.
[ It's just something to say in the moment. Perhaps it's an idle flirtation. He needs Louis to think that it's the wisdom he seeks, and not knowledge of the prince, whom Will is afraid to mention in the moment, lest it prompts Louis to suspect that the young royal is still alive and poised to steal the throne from him. On another level, he is genuinely curious: what secrets does this man guard from the rest of the world? ]
no subject
...No, but he has faith. With all his experience in the Shadowguard, surely Heismay understands the necessity of getting in and then getting out, with an operation like this. Moreover, there's no guarantee that Louis will want Will to come with him right after this. Perhaps it can wait until the morrow... ]
...Yes. That's what I want.
[ ...A change in the music cues Will to dip Louis, instead. This startles some in the crowd, who did not expect to see their lord bend to the whims of the elda boy he's taken an unusual interest in, but Will pays it no mind. He thinks, instead, of the sheer pleasure he feels (he should not call it pleasure, should not take pleasure in it) when he slides his hand up from Louis's lower back, through the curve of his spine, up between his shoulderblades. The crowd cannot see this, this indulgent touch, for the way that Louis's cape conceals it from view. His body is so big, so solid, so warm against Will's hand. So real, and yet — so unreal. So like fantasy, like something borne of an author's pen.
This is hardly Will's first time thinking that a man is handsome — Strohl, certainly, is classically handsome, and even Alonzo is possessed of that bewitching beauty that all nidia (save, apparently, Jin) are said to have — but Louis Guiabern is dizzyingly, frighteningly attractive. Less like another mortal man and more like a creature crafted for temptation. The part of his lips as he's dipped downward — that alone could haunt Will's dreams and nightmares. ]
Tell me something that no one else in the world would know, Louis.
[ It's just something to say in the moment. Perhaps it's an idle flirtation. He needs Louis to think that it's the wisdom he seeks, and not knowledge of the prince, whom Will is afraid to mention in the moment, lest it prompts Louis to suspect that the young royal is still alive and poised to steal the throne from him. On another level, he is genuinely curious: what secrets does this man guard from the rest of the world? ]