homebound. (earinor & akira)

"I think I'd like to learn it!" There was many things he didn't know, many things he didn't want to figure out and now he kind of had to - there was no choice for him to decline any of it, even when Eddie offered him something like that. Cecil wasn't tired of it all just yet, as much as he hadn't figured all of this out for himself just yet and still, he was young and Edward was, too, which meant they both could still adapt to any given situation, as well as just figure out their time with one another. It might have been true that no matter what, they were only grasping at straws and all of this was nothing more than the inevitable culmination of many things, but they didn't even do anything, except stirring up the smallest of storms and causing a disrepancy in one of way too many royal families anyway. Was it even fair the call someone like him, someone that theoretically was the furthest thing from a king, a prince and also somebody that - who despite not knowing better - wanted to try his best regardless? No matter what, he still was only one person, as much as Edward was no different and therefore, he just flinched slightly when he suddenly heard a familiar voice next to him and stared at Eddie, as wide-eyed as he could possibly do. What was there to benefit from, to gain?

"Edibird, stop apologizing already!", he implored him instead. There he was, trying to wash himself, being handed a stool to sit on - one that he had sat on before - and while he'd taken it, he put it aside and stood there instead - he appreciated the gesture, but he also knew that he wasn't a feeble old man who was good for nothing except living his own delusions out to the fullest. Did he have to be so harsh on himself? Most likely not, but Cecil also wanted to amount to something eventually and the mere thought that he'd not be able to do just that, it spooked him to even think about. Without Edward, he was nothing - and with him, he felt as if he was nothing but a burden, so there weren't many choices he could make in the first place. That didn't get much better the longer he thought about it, but he continued to scrub the dirt off of himself and to wonder what it meant for somebody like him to leave behind a life of endless luxury and lavish, just to see what two painfully, childish eyes couldn't quite comprehend just yet. "Eddie, you really have to stop with the whole apologies", he mumbled the moment he had washed up and was drying himself off. This hadn't taken long, yet, he had used the soap Edward had handed him to scrub every part of his body free of dirt and the lakes water - it was somewhat refreshing, still, he was only now getting into his night clothes and once he walked out, he looked much more disheveled - his hair damb and all curled up again - than before, just like a tired, yawning sheep. "Do you want to play some games after you finished cleaning up? Or would you rather sleep?"

A comb, huh? Cecil could try to get through his locks, he really could, but there was more than one reason for him to not even try in the slightest - he'd look like a mess regardless and unlike any of the maids and butlers that sort of manhandled him in the morning, just to get his hair right, he didn't have the time or patience to when he had to be on his feet either way. It was true that he did enjoy the help and the amount of attention for detail that Eddie had, yet, that was very much most of it. He still took the comb and sat down on his assigned bed, which was obviously not as soft and an endless sea of pillows like the one in his home, but it was fine enough and he was not regretting a second of this, not up until now. Now that he sat here, hoewever, there were many things he could talk about, one more nonsensical than the other and the only person who - theoretically - judged him for it was Edward, who'd never really do something like that, Cecil was fairly aware of the predicament he believed he found himself in, even when said predicament was no such thing in the first place. After all, why would it be? There were many things that made no sense and this relationship that seemed to be quite the uncertain one didn't seem to be so indifferent from that.

"Hmm, you still have tow ork on your ability to answer questions", he chuckled, fiddling with the comb and guiding it through every white lock of hair he could find. What could one compare him to? A dozen of white flowers, to lilies, to roses, to daisies - whatever the case, he was nothing more than just a nice piece of decoration, something that people were supposed to marble at, not love, not cherish, not entertain. He was anything but swift, even when he wanted to be something or someone else and it was oddly enough something that he couldn't quite understand by his lonesome - he wanted nothing more than to play a plethora of silly games with Eddie, for as long as he could, but right about now, he actually felt content just falling asleep and not waking for a good few hours before he had to force himself out of bed the next day. Whatever or not, at least he felt somewhat refreshed. "Hm, you can if you want to. If you'd rather watch it, you can open it up and if you need help with that, I'd be happy to!" In the end, Cecil could always try something else with his poor friends hair and no matter what, it wasn't going to stick with either of them anyway - once they needed a good wash, or once the flowers died, the effort would be a waste either way. He glanced towards the fireplace. "Really, the choice is up to you. I won't hold anything against you if you take it out." Or something along those lines anyway.

"I will, but we are taking a break right now, might I remind you.", Cecil chuckled. They were, in fact, they were getting ready for bed and it wouldn't be before long until he fell asleep, almost like a stone, and would only rise when the sun shone right in his face or someone got him out of bed. That wasn't exactly the best trait to have, yet, he wouldn't have it any other way - he rested well and for quite some time, and whenever he found himself crawling out of bed, looking even more disheveled than the day before, he still felt as if he had gotten more than enough sleep and as if nothing would even change anything about that, no matter how dire the things were that could and would happen that day. "It will. No need to rush after all." Therew wasn't - his skin would take time to heal and Cecil was perfectly fine with giving it that, even if it was acting up over some minor issues that it didn't have to - namely the fact that no matter what, it was just trying to compensate for the lack of pigment, of color and instead of taking some on, it felt as if his skin wasn't doing the job it was supposed to do. Instead, it hurt, quite a bit at that, but it still wasn't something he wanted to bother Eddie with, not right now, especially when it only occured when something touched the patches of skin in question.

"We'd have to play something really silly that we don't need cards or a board for.", Cecil mumbled - he had spotted none of that over here, but he still got up from where he sat, over, towards the fireplace that they had wanted to light earlier. "That sounds like quite the idea, actually. Maybe I'll get a grasp on the card and the general directions then ... but before we do that, how about we try and light a fire?" That was the least that he could learn and even out there, in the wild, he couldn't put this kind of knowledge to much of an use. A fireplace came with a few things, namely no annoying twigs that one had to collect beforehand, still, teaching him in here would be worth something - in the end, nobody tried what one couldn't fail, it was always trial and error and no matter why or what came of it, it wasn't important as long as what resulted of it was usable. Therefore, Cecil only had to craft a usable fire, right? "I ... Eddie why would you do that?", he sighed, almost disappointed that Edward only thought of him, of his prince and not himself at all. This was absurd, so much in fact that Cecil couldn't help but wish he was a few centimeters taller so he'd be able to share his clothing with his knight. "I'm not saying you should undress, just wear something comfortable. Nobody knows who we are and nobody will try to come in here. I appreciate your concern, but you're fearing too much. Are you comfortable in those clothes?" They should buy some comfortable nightgown for Edward was well ...

"Would you like one?" If Eddie did, he only had to make up his mind and tell him - it couldn't be too hard, he doubted it and even if it wasn't, maybe he just hadn't figured it out for now. Whatever the case, hope was not lost and trying his best to get Edward to think for himself was still something that Cecil had to work on, lest he eventually had a knight that only lived by the principles that his master gave him and not by what he actually wanted him to do. "Why do you apologize for that? Geez, Edward, you really are helpless sometimes.", he chastised his knight and there wasn't much else that he could do about that to begin with. Cecil was sure that Eddie was only trying his best, that much he understood in the first place, but it also became apparent that he seemed to look out for nothing except that prince of his and that, in turn, would become much more of a problem in the future, as silly as it sounded. What would they do if there was a perfectly fine chance for Eddie to run when Cecil couldn't any longer? He was hopeless, just like a dog that spend the last days of an owners life by their side instead of getting help, just standing guard in case someone dared to approach them - he wasn't exactly the brightest creature under the blue moon, but neither was his prince.

"Are you? I admire your faith in me." That he did for sure, but there were plenty of things that he didn't quite understand - at first, not only was it unthinkable of him to do something that caused more people than just him excrutiating pain, but now he sat out here, crouched in front of a foreign fireplace and was hiding in a town that had not only seen better days, but also had no idea who either of their faces belonged to. Silly was, what all of this was and he looked at his servant, wide-eyed and unbelievably curious, as if he was missing something, whatever it was understanding or context for the situation at hand, still, he wanted to figure out all of this as fast as he could. "So, you need a feasible structure for all of this to work? As in, good groundwork for a house, just, that you're burning the house to the ground almost immediately either way." That was, what he gathered, but he watched as Edward handled the logs with much more understanding ofthe task than a pesky little prince like him could - it was almost as if he was doing his job, which, in theory wasn't wrong but it also showed just how helpless Cecil could be. "It's a nightgown, I'm not running around in more either. Why? I saw you shirtless already, there wasn't much that I didn't know yet, you know?" And that wasn't even wrong, either. Cecil had seen Edward take off his shirt, maybe because he had peeked out of the window a bit too much, but that was besides the point! Rules, especially those that kept Eddie from just trusting him and the process it entailed were stupid! "But I am ... also, you mean these?", he inquired and handed Edward what he had needed. How would they make fire, though? "I want to figure it out. You can't tell me your brother does everything for Garrett when they are on a camping trip!"

"You? What about me?", he simply asked, misunderstanding what had been meant on purpose. It was true that no matter what, Cecil would remain more optimistic than pesimistic, hoping that the people around him had good intentions and weren't really up to no good, yet, often enough he was handed the receipt for his actions, foolish as one might think they were and it only seemed to follow that he soon found another mistake among the pile of trash he had to go through just earlier. Truth be told, not a lot of what he had matched up with what he could fathom being his own mistakes as well and he was also doubting himself, questioning whatever or not he really was trying to make Edward his friend or just keeping him at an arms length, yet, when he thought about it just for a bit too long, none of this was actually all that important, either. "Sure did, but there is nothing much that I can spy with my little eye in here and I'm afraid that we are limited in supplies as well. Hm, let me think of something, I'm sure I can come up with something silly.", Cecil smiled, almost grinned and he wondered if one of the most childish games he could think of right now would do the trick. After all, he was no adult, though, he soon would be and even that confused him. Why, though? Nothing would change anyway.

"Hm, that sounds plausible at least." Fire needed air, needed to breathe much like them and if it didn't have that, it would cede doing so in the first place. Wasn't that much like all of them? They, too, needed air and without it, they were sure to become nothing but forgotten memories from ages past. "You guess? I am right, Eddie!", he chuckled. What one could spy with their little eye, others probably couldn't and Cecil had always been good at being somewhere he wasn't to be and he'd been even better at finding out things he wasn't supposed to know - like, how Eddie looked without a shirt for example, or that someone liked to mix alcohol into his brothers tea - this sounded silly and it was, definitely. "I doubt it. If he did, I mean, have you seen them when they come home? And besides, my brother hates nothing more than not being able to do something on his own." Garrett was a mess, a pest, for many people and yet he was all smiles, all the time - something that Cecil admired, just as much as Edwards current handiwork and the many questions that it seemingly raised. Why was he able to do that, yet Cecil struggled and why was all of this nice to look at, yet he couldn't figure it out for the life of him? Either way, this was worth trying, wasn't it? "Oh, yes!" He'd not been a stranger to singing something off, though, and the more he thought about it, the worse it got - it was embarrassing to say the least, and yet, he leaned forward and gave it a good blow, carefully at first and then a bit more - nothing much came of it, unfortunately. Except for the fact that there were some sparks flowing around for a second. "Uhm ... am I doing something wrong?"

"Is that so? At least you caught yourself before you did!" A dogs good behavior was to be rewarded with something, yet, Cecil had nothing for his dog in theory, even if he came up with something, it was nothing important - it was nothing Edward wouldn't have to get on his own, nothing fancy and nothing worth calling a reward in the first place. Therefore, this poor dog had to sustain himself on normal food and verbal praise alone - that was, what it had to be or rather what it ought to be, now that his master didn't have much to give him either. "No, no need to. Unless ... what do you want?", he earnestly asked once again. Was it so hard to voice ones opinion on some matters? Cecil was sure he had overheard his brother and Francis talking casually countless of times, and while he was sure that all of the Dryden family was dutybound to his own, he also was aware that no matter what, Eddie would protect him as long as he could. That deserved a reward, without being mentioned, but Cecil couldn't think of anything worthwhile right now - not a game, not a reward and he was sure he wasn't the first of his siblings that struggeled with creativity late at night, when nothing was really happening and everything came to an odd standstill that was even worse to explain.

"Eddie, please cross the word sorry out of your vocabulary. There is nothing to apologize for!" That was the truth and as long as there wasn't, there also was no need to think twice about it. Cecil was putting up with this because he liked Eddie, as a friend, nothing more than that, but also did because the knight seemed to be an easily guilttripped mess and he was sure that Xander would have a fieldday with him, were he his servant instead. The sole thought let him shiver - his brother could be a menace. "Yes, but still! And also, as if Garrett would let him do all those things. He is conceited at best and seems selfabsorbed, but I think he cares a great deal about your brother and therefore would want to help him." The crown prince wasn't selfless, he just wasn't helpless and whatever could leave a good impression on somebody, he did - it only followed that he only would want to impress that knight of his, somebody that was supposed to do all the work for him instead. His older brother wasn't like that, Cecil admired him for just that and wanted the same for himself, yet, he struggled at the easiest of tasks and could do nothing more than damn himself and hope that Edward would help him somehow, someway. "More air?", he just asked dumbfounded, but he leaned forward and tried to nurture said flame as he was told. Some things were easier than others, but this one was questionable at best. After a while, the small flame started to crackle and fed itself on the pieces of wood that it found ... it wouldn't take long until it got wholly warm. "Look! I did it!"

The two of them against the world hardly sounded like a fair battle, yet, it was the one that at least Cecil had chosen for the two of them and no matter what came toward them, what arose and threw them out of loop, it most likely wouldn't be as generous as it could be - in fact, he doubted it and the simple realization that, no matter what on earth was going to transpire, his choice wasn't going to change, hadn't yet transpired. It felt almost as if he was trying to take babysteps, to learn from the beginning, learn to choose what was between right and wrong and why the world only revolved around the little things that made no sense to anyone but himself. "Then think! Your father didn't just teach you to adhere to your prince, did he?", he genuinely asked. Sometimes he felt as if both of their fathers had lacked tact and understanding of delicate feelings, but Cecil was nothing more than questioning Edwards lack of definite choice-making, or the seemingly painful presence of something like a deeper understanding of a situation that was nothing more than the usual. Why was that, though? He couldn't quite tell, much like he couldn't quite say what his own word was worth in case they were found out, but there was no trial without error - that much was apparent, even to someone like him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Both isn't good. Just try and stop apologizing, please?", he urged instead. There was nothing to be afraid off, not in the slightest and then Cecil eyed Eddie for a second - keeping the flowers and not just washing them out sounded much like his things, always careful with the things he was handed and the white-haired noble couldn't help but chuckle ever so slightly when he thought about it. Who was he to decline an offer like that? "If you'd like that, I'd be more than happy to!" This was something Eddie asked for all by himself, which seemed like more of a rare occurence than anything and while Cecil wanted to see more of that - more of what could be - there also was no way of really knowing what would happen if he didn't try so hard to peel Edward out of his shell. Wasn't it a waste of time to just sit there and solemnly stare, to try and figure him out instead? "That isn't wrong, but out here I'm not a prince and you're my friend, not a servant. Therefore, I propose a peace treaty. You teach me things and I get to learn something, does that sound fair?", Cecil giggled, but he shook his head soon enough, without a verbal answer to follow. "Thank you!", he excitedly answered instead, just before he got up - grabbing Edwards hand in the process, and going to grab the bowl. "Can you sit down on your bed? It'll be easier that way, after all, you're a bit too tall for me to reach all the way up there."

"Yes, but you also have to think about yourself! Eddie, you're own person, not just mine and you know that!" Sometimes it got frustrating, but Cecil wasn't someone that was easily detered. Often times, he nagged Edward until it finally got into his thick skull and it was quite funny to even think about how much time he spend trying to figure this guy out - an open book to him and yet, he somewhat hoped that at least something lay underneath that perfect facade, a glimpse of human not of servant, and whenever it bubbled up for a second - briefly, if at all - it made Cecil want to dig even deeper, for even more reactions. Why was he so curious about who Eddie really was, below the layer of things he'd learned and been taught all his life? Was it just the understanding he lacked, or wanted to procure, or was it something else he wasn't able to grasp just yet? Whatever the case may be, Cecil wanted to be the one to figure it out before anyone else could. "Then try your best, that's the least you can do!", he reprimanded him, knowing that he might be too strict, too stern with someone as soft as his knight, but was he that? Soft? Cecil doubted it, in fact, he was sure that there was much more about Eddie than just being soft, or trying not to listen to his own prince, but whatever it was, he had to draw it out - it hadn't happened just yet, that much was for sure.

"I know and I'd like to always have you by my side, but you don't need to be my knight for that!" Eddie could be a friend to him, his best friend and Cecil wouldn't question it - he'd enjoy it, like he wanted to enjoy a bunch of things. And why? Because no matter what it was that he tried to think about, it always circled back to the two of them just having a nice time, making memories of their own and understanding that walls were just walls, obstacles in their way that they had to climb over - and Cecil would do it his damn self and drag Eddie right with him! "Why not? Is that not what friends do?", he then asked, with a sly grin on his lips. What about him wasn't pale? Nothing, not a single thing came to mind and while his eyes had an interesting color, the underlying issue wasn't that deep either - Edward was the one that was much more interesting! "No, no. The bed is fine." He grabbed the bowl and the comb that Edward had mentioned earlier and then got on the bed as well, prodding himself up on his knees to be the taller one - something he'd never be otherwise - and started combing through it. The lit fireplace offered quite a bit of light, not enough just yet, but it was doable, for something like this. Once he put away the comb, he started braiding again, thinking of a different way this time. "Actually, aren't you excited? We both haven't been many places in a long time."

Yes, always just yes, not one single no and even if it meant no, no wasn't no. Sometimes, being with Edward wasn't easy - it felt as if he was easily moldable, yet he wasn't and all in all Cecil didn't know what to do with him. Freeing him or anyone from their apparent suffering wasn't it, in fact, it had never been and the subtle realization that he had had along the way, well, it wasn't much to begin with. People changed, whatever they wanted to or not, but Edward didn't change much, especially not in terms of personality - he was simple, at least Cecil thought so and even when he wasn't, there also was no real way of knowing. "I want you to be my friend? You're not going to lose employment because I want a friend, stop being worried!" His father, Edwards father, wasn't the kings knight anymore either, not officially, and yet he stuck to him from time to time, much like two old and inseperable friends - Cecil wanted that for himself, but right now, he wouldn't just rid himself of the only thing that kept him at bay and forced him to remain there, lest he'd swim out into the metaphorical sea and be swallowed by the high waves that surrounded him at any given time to begin with. It was an uphill battle, but Edward was doing well.

"I'm sure they do, they can't take everything they get handed for guaranteed, or do they?" It was hard to tell when he'd never had many non-noble friends himself, actually, he didn't even have any. None of them thanked anyone for anything sincerely and it only followed that he wouldn't know either, even with the best of efforts it felt much like a stretch and unbelivably slow, like a crawl that he was going to endure. "We both don't know though, which kind of sucks.", he admitted as he tried to incorporate the flowers into the new things he tried - it didn't work too well and he didn't have much practice with stuff like this, but sometimes he liked to believe that Edward had kept his hair on the longer side just for this, just so that he could try to do something silly with it. "Company is always nice, whatever you need it for travelling or not! But I'm just glad you're here, I'd be completely helpless without you." He'd probably sit in a dark corner and cried over a sunburn that got even worse because he had no idea how to treat it. Actually, he'd crash and burn, he'd not even know how to use his money accurately and he was sure that even if he tried, he'd fuck up along the way and find himself in quite the pinch, whatever he wanted to or not. "I'm glad you're here ... and besides, if this trip turns out to be fun, I'm sure we can do some more in the future!" And with that, he finished up the simple braid he eventually had went for instead, undoing most of what he'd done before again - he still lacked practice.