#for the record: Cain is still quite young in this one
Text
Indecision
Rouge meets Azel’s brother, Cain, and Azel faces a dilemma.
Continuation of Office Date. Rouge belongs to the lovely @littlemoondarlingarts
Rating: G
Words: 2,004
Somehow, Rouge had let himself be roped into another dull day in the office. He sighed, looking down at the sketch he was working on and wondering how demons could stand such a dreary existence. He'd long-since given up on focusing with the deafening silence in the office. He didn't even have Azel there to keep him company, as the demon had vanished nearly a half hour prior, claiming he had to make an urgent call.
Rouge gazed out the window and scratched out a few more details of the cityscape. He wished he'd brought his paints so that he could capture the brilliant red of the mid-morning sky. Unfortunately, when he'd left the castle that morning, he'd tricked himself into thinking he'd be able to get a bit more work done. He frowned. Dracula would be displeased. Perhaps he should have refused Azel's offer, but he'd been so keen on spending time with him, he'd forgotten how dull this sitting around could be.
Just as he was contemplating tracking him down and asking to be taken home, or at the very least directed to the nearest opera house, he heard the doors open. He turned in Azel's chair, looking eagerly toward the hall, only to deflate somewhat when he saw an unfamiliar demon standing there instead of the one he'd expected.
"Whoa. You"—the demon pointed at him with both hands—"are not Azel."
Rouge sighed heavily. "So I've been told, repeatedly." He gave the demon a dull once-over. This one was ambiguous in gender, with dark hair and curved horns somewhat resembling that of a ram. He tried to remember if he'd seen them before. Perhaps among the indistinguishable masses of Azel's employees?
The demon cocked their head to the side. "Are you even a Scarlet?"
Rouge had learned enough from Azel to know that 'Scarlet,' in this context, referred to the group of demons the emperor ruled over through distinctly un-democratic means (much to his disapproval). "Er, no," he said.
"Uh…really weird Mauveine?" the demon guessed, drawing closer.
Rouge scooted his chair back toward the window, unsure of this demon's intentions. Azel had warned him that he had enemies, and demons were easily comparable in speed and strength to vampires. It wasn't out of the question that this stranger might mean to harm him, and he was out of his element in this unfamiliar realm. "Who are you?" he demanded.
For a moment, the stranger seemed surprised. Then, they took a step back and gave an extremely theatrical bow, so low that their long hair nearly brushed the floor. "Cain Desrosiers, at your service," they said, and straightened up just enough to wink at Rouge.
"You're Azel's brother," Rouge realized.
Cain popped back into an upright position, grinning. "That depends on who's asking and what they said about me. Anyway, who are you?" They danced forward, resting their elbows on the edge of Azel's desk. "You look way too cool to be hanging out with my brother, but this is his office."
Rouge wondered if he should say something in Azel's defense. He wasn't sure if Azel would return the favor if the tables were turned, though. "I am…a guest of your brother's," he said, remembering how Azel had described him to his office administrator, who often popped in at the most inconvenient times, keeping Azel frustratingly on task. "Although, seeing as I have been waiting for him to return for over thirty minutes, I'm beginning to question his hospitality."
Cain winced. "Oof. Yeah. Do you want my advice?"
"Not particularly."
Cain hopped up on the edge of the desk, swinging their legs. "Well, too bad. I feel like I've gotta warn you: unless you're some kind of important foreign dignitary, Azel's just not gonna have time for you. Sucks, I know, but that's my brother for you." They grinned over their shoulder at Rouge. "Now, if you want some proper company—"
Abruptly, there came a shout from the doorway. "Cain! Just what do you think you're doing?"
With a startled shout, Cain all but leaped off the desk, the fur on his tail spiking up in shock.
Azel was standing in the hall just outside the office, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed to dark, furious slits.
Cain audibly gulped. "Oh! Azel, there you are. I was just, uh—"
Azel didn't say a word, just pointed, glowering, at the hall.
Grin fading, Cain slunk toward the doors. "I was just—"
"Out," Azel growled.
Cain turned the corner and vanished into the hallway, Azel glaring after him until he was, presumably, out of sight.
Then, Azel stepped into the office, all but slamming the doors shut behind him. His tail was lashing, his ears pinned back in obvious annoyance. "If I have told that miscreant once, I've told him a thousand times—"
He took a deep breath and held it for several seconds, hands clenched tightly at his sides until, on the exhale, his stiff posture relaxed slightly. He turned to Rouge, the well-worn lines between his brows furrowed in an all-too familiar frown. "I apologize. I didn't intend to be away for so long, and I certainly didn't intend to provide my delinquent brother with an opportunity to harass you. Are you all right?"
Rouge felt a fluttering in his stomach. Azel was worried? About him? "Oh, well," he tittered, "quite all right, now that you've returned."
Was it just wishful thinking, or did Azel look relieved to hear that? Either way, he nodded. "Good. With any luck, that will be the last call I have to attend to today." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, in a gesture Rouge was rapidly beginning to recognize as an indicator that he was more stressed than he was letting on.
He rose for Azel's chair. "Why don't you sit, mon cheri? You look tired. I hope that call wasn't too troubling?"
Azel eyed the chair doubtfully, as if, in sitting down for even a moment, he might resign himself to laziness. Rouge made a mental note to talk him into a few more spa days. The effects of the first had clearly worn off.
With great reluctance and a quiet groan, Azel lowered himself into the chair. "No," he said. Then: "Well…"
"Well?" Rouge echoed, placing his hands on Azel's shoulders. He was as tense as ever, and only relaxed slightly at Rouge's attention.
"It was Skye Delacroix on the phone," Azel reluctantly confessed.
Rouge couldn't honestly say the name sounded familiar. "Oh?"
Azel winced as Rouge pressed down on a particularly stubborn knot on his back.
"Apologies, mon amour, but you are so tense," he murmured disapprovingly. "How did you manage this in just a few days' time?"
"It—ah—comes with the job, I suppose." Azel grimaced. "With the position, really. You see, Skye and I…well…I suppose you could say we were…intended for each other."
Rouge's only real surprise upon hearing this was that Azel hadn't brought it up sooner. He wasn't unaware of the pressures that positions such as Azel's brought with them. "You were," he emphasized carefully, "does that mean you are no longer bound, in such a way?"
Azel's gaze darted to the floor. "Well," he said, "not exactly." He leaned back in his chair a bit, folding his hands in his lap. "There's a bit of a complicated history between our circles, you see. There has been for some time, even before the war, but of course, that certainly didn't help matters…" He shook his head, as if he'd digressed too far in mentioning the conflict. "In any case, we've maintained a tentative alliance for the past few hundred years. This…engagement between Skye and I was more of a formality than anything, until—"
He sighed, leaning into Rouge's touch. "Well, with the tension with Fulvous and the rebellion brewing in Aureolin, the Rubine empire has been looking to ensure that we are allied, once and for all."
"And they intend to secure this alliance by forcing you to marry?" Rouge scoffed. "They can't be serious."
Azel's omnipresent frown deepened. "I'm afraid they're quite serious, and Skye…well, I don't know if she's enamored with me, or with the idea of having me, but…" His voice fell to a mumble. "I don't even like her." His shoulders bunched up, and it was really no wonder that he was tense if this was how he sat most of the time. "Um. Please, don't tell anyone I said that. I'm usually not so rude."
Rouge gave up on the massage. It was impossible while Azel was working himself up like this. He eyed the lesser-quality chair beside Azel's and decided to just stand. Of course, in his current mood, standing turned quite quickly to pacing. "I think you've every right to be rude about the prospect of being made to marry someone you don't love. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that you've even considering it. Just think about it for a moment: you'll be stuck with this woman for the rest of eternity, and suppose you have children—"
"Children?" Azel's eyes went wide with horror, as if he'd just now considered the possibility.
"Well, it's not out of the question that your new 'ally' would require it, is it? Then, if you ever even think about leaving…" He trailed off, thinking of his own two children. When his former wife had found out about the relationships he'd taken solace in throughout their loveless marriage, she had wanted to take his son away. He hadn't allowed it, of course, but the fact that it had been a possibility was horrible enough. Then there was his dear little Fran…he used to see him every week, but now they were restrained to video calls. Of course, that had nothing to do with his breakup with his former lover, Theodore, and everything to do with the presence of an old friend who hadn't yet learned to behave around others. He was just glad Azel hadn't met him yet.
"Well, she might try to keep your children from you. It could even start a greater conflict than if you'd simply refused to marry her from the start."
"I-I suppose I hadn't considered that," Azel said, obviously shaken. He leaned forward on his desk, bowing his head. "But what am I to do?"
Rouge hated seeing him like this. "You could simply…leave?" he suggested hopefully. "Come back to my realm. I'll find a place for you. If not in my own castle, then—"
"No," Azel said sharply.
Rouge flinched.
"I-I mean. Oh, I'm sorry…" Azel shut his eyes tightly, his expression pained. "I didn't mean to shout; it's just that this empire is my responsibility. These people are my people, and I cannot—will not abandon them to the whims of rebels and warmongers."
Rouge was torn. Even though his relationship with Azel was new and ill-defined, he did care for the man, and it pained him to see him this way. At the same time, he was loath to hang around and watched him destroy himself. "So…what will you do?" he asked hesitantly.
Azel shook his head, a small, defeated motion. "I don't know," he said quietly. "It just seems so…if my father were alive, what would he have said, to hear that I'm even considering refusing? The last thing Scarlet needs is to be at war with three circles. Though, perhaps the threat of Fulvous will be sufficient to—augh." He clutched his head in his hands.
Rouge hesitantly approached him. "Perhaps you should take a break. Some time to think on it could do you good."
He half-expected Azel to refuse. After all, he had a reputation of stubborn efficiency to uphold, but the fight seemed to have gone out of him for the time being. He gave a weary nod. "Perhaps," he agreed. He raised his head just so to look up at Rouge, and he looked desperately tired.
Rouge rested a hand on his back. "To the castle, then?"
Azel nodded.
#Azel#Cain#Rouge Rouge#love tagging that btw#for the record: Cain is still quite young in this one#and has not yet learned discretion in his flirting#if Rouge met modern Cain it would go very differently but I thought this worked fine for this story#Let Cain still be Azel's screw-up little sibling#Story#stories
2 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
