More FE8 fic
I actually finished this about a month ago, but didn't post it, since I was hoping to finish the sequel to this, as well... *sigh*
Title: "A Royal Request"
Series: FE8
Pairing: Ephraim/Forde/Kyle
Rating: R
This is the sequel to the Ephraim/Kyle and Forde/Kyle pieces I posted here, a while back. (I think it turned out pretty silly, but oh well...)
After sparring practice that day, Forde and Kyle returned to their quarters in the castle... Forde was the first to enter the room, followed by Kyle, who slammed the door shut behind him.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
"Where's what?" asked Forde, as he calmly pulled off his armguards and tossed them onto the nearest bed.
"Stop playing dumb!" stormed Kyle. "You know what I'm talking about." He pointed an accusatory finger at the other knight. "And you couldn't have shown it to Ephraim like you said you would, I had my eye on you the entire time."
"I noticed," replied Forde, raising an eyebrow. "You were practically suffocating me throughout the whole session, like a badly-fitted suit of armour." He gave his angry friend a wry smile. "Did you plan on relieving yourself at the same time I did, too?"
"If necessary!" growled Kyle. "Now, I'll ask you again: Where is that... That... Drawing?"
Forde sighed. "It's where you last saw it, of course... Still tucked away in my breastplate. I didn't exactly have the opportunity to pull it out again, thanks to you."
Kyle held out a hand. "Hand it over, then."
Forde seemed to mull this over for a moment.
"Umm... No."
Kyle glared. "And just why not?"
Forde crossed his arms before him. "It's my drawing. I think I have a right to show it to whomever I please, don't you?"
"Not if I'm in it!" Kyle protested.
"But Ephraim's in it, too," reasoned Forde. "Shouldn't he get a chance to see it, as well?"
"But it's scandalous!"
"Well... Yes, there's that," admitted Forde. "But I'm still not handing it over."
Kyle felt his hands balling into fists. "Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?" he yelled. Then Kyle sighed.
"If you won't hand it over willingly..." He cracked his knuckles. "Then you leave me no choice, Forde. I'll have to take it from you, by force."
Forde raised an eyebrow. "You'd actually go that far?" Kyle nodded grimly.
Forde shook his head. "Well, you know I'd never back down from a challenge from you, Kyle," he replied, with a grin.
Kyle assumed a fighting stance, while Forde did the same. "Let's see if you can best me this time!"
The two knights circled each other briefly, looking for an opening... Then, all of a sudden, Kyle lunged forward.
Forde had been half-expecting this, and had steeled himself for the attack; and as such, he wasn't bowled over by the impact of Kyle's charge.
However, Forde hadn't expected Kyle to use the close contact to trip his legs, ruining his stance, and allowing the other knight to push him over.
Fortunately, Forde had been standing with his back to the nearest bed, which cushioned his fall. Undeterred by this, Kyle climbed in after him, and grabbed his friend by the front of his armour.
As Forde struggled to break his grip, Kyle managed to shove a hand underneath Forde's breastplate.
"Hey! Do you mind?"
"It's your own fault!" snapped Kyle, as he tried to feel around for the roll of paper. "You should've just let me have it in the first place!"
"Er... Is this a bad time?"
Both Forde and Kyle froze, as they recognized a voice that belonged to neither of them. Simultaneously, they both turned towards the door... To find Prince Ephraim now standing in the doorway.
Ephraim cleared his throat hesitantly, as the two knights stared back at him.
"Uh... Sir Seth mentioned that you two seemed a little distracted during practice today, and thought I should have a word with you both... The door was open, so I let myself in..." He trailed off.
"Am I interrupting something?" asked Ephraim. Then he cocked his head to one side and gave them both a sly smile. "Or should I even ask?"
It was then that Kyle found himself taking stock the current situation.
He was lying on the bed with Forde, who was straddled between his legs; one of his hands was trying to pull off Forde's breastplate, while the other one was groping under his friend's armour... And his liege lord had just walked in on this.
It was quite easy to draw the wrong conclusion, thought Kyle, as he felt the colour drain from his face. The hard part was trying to explain what was actually going on.
Hastily, Kyle rolled off Forde, who looked far more amused about the situation than Kyle thought appropriate.
"Sire, this isn't what it looks like..." he began.
Ephraim chuckled. "Coming from anyone else, that line would be hard to believe... But since it's you, Kyle, I'll take your word for it."
It was then that Kyle realized that with Ephraim present, there was a way he could get rid of the incriminating drawing once and for all... Although it would mean he would have to swallow his pride, and tell the prince about it.
"Your Highness!" began Kyle, saluting as Ephraim looked at him. "I regret to inform you that Forde witnessed the, um... Scene... Between you and I in the stables earlier... And worse, has created evidence that could implicate you in a horrible scandal!"
Ephraim turned to the other knight. "Is this true, Forde?"
Forde sighed, and nodded reluctantly. "It's true, I'm afraid." He then gave a wry smile. "But I didn't expect Kyle to rat me out to you, of all people."
Ephraim held out his hand to Forde. "Let me see this so-called 'evidence', then."
Shrugging, Forde pulled out the sketch from his breastplate, and handed it to the prince. When he saw what was drawn on the paper, Ephraim raised his eyebrows.
Noticing the prince's expression, Kyle continued to speak, his face red from embarassment. "Sire, I humbly request that you destroy this drawing, to prevent word of this from spreading."
"Is that so...?" mused Ephraim, his eyes not leaving the drawing. "Forde?"
"Yes, Sire?"
"Is it true you drew this after watching Kyle and I in the stables earlier?"
"I'm afraid so, milord."
"And why didn't you say anything, at the time?"
Forde coughed. "You two seemed to be enjoying yourselves so much, that I didn't want to ruin your fun..."
It was then that Ephraim looked up, to stare at Forde. "'Ruin our fun', you say... Don't you mean your own?"
At this, Forde grinned guiltily. "Touche, sir."
Ephraim sighed, and rolled up the drawing. "Really Forde, you didn't have to draw this just to blackmail me." He then smirked. "You really should've just joined me and Kyle in the first place..."
It took a moment for these words to sink in, but when they did, both Kyle and Forde's jaws dropped.
"Sire...?" said Kyle weakly.
Forde cleared his throat. "Um... That being said, sir, I would've probably drawn that scene between you two, regardless... It was memorable enough for me to want to capture in a sketch."
"Is that so?" said Ephraim, with a sly smile. "Well then, I would like to request another drawing from you, Forde..."
"What did you have in mind, Sire?" asked Forde cheerfully, as Kyle felt himself flush in dread.
"Let's say... Something along the same lines of this sketch; only with the three of us this time, so that you won't feel left out. How does that sound?"
"Fine, sir." Forde couldn't quite hide the smugness in his tone. "But I'll need to see some preliminary poses... For 'reference', you understand. As I mentioned to Kyle earlier, I can't draw something that I don't see, in person."
"Is that so?" replied Ephraim, raising an eyebrow. "Then we probably should get started, then."
Both Ephraim and Forde then turned to look at Kyle.
Unnerved by their amused expressions, Kyle found himself shifting his gaze towards the door... Which Ephraim had just shut behind him, deliberately sliding the lock into place. At this, Kyle couldn't help but swallow nervously.
The first thought that crossed his mind then, was that he wished he had remembered to lock the door behind him, when he had first entered the room.
The second thought that crossed Kyle's mind was, I hope they let me top this time...
***
"Is he going to be okay?" asked Ephraim, as he finished strapping on his armour.
"He'll be fine," reassured Forde, as he put on a tunic handed to him by Ephraim. "Kyle's just a little sore about all this, that's all." He then coughed. "In more ways than one..."
Ephraim chuckled. "My apologies. Sorry I have to run off like this, but as you know, duty calls."
As he walked towards the door, Ephraim gave Forde a jaunty salute, then left the room.
As soon as the prince was gone, Forde strolled up to Kyle, who was still lying on the bed, with his back turned towards him.
"You are all right, aren't you?" he asked his roommate, in a concerned tone.
Shifting in his position on the bed, Kyle turned to face Forde.
"I am going to burn your sketchbook," began Kyle darkly. "And your canvases... And your paints," he added, as an afterthought.
"Well, you can't burn away the images in my mind," replied Forde cheerfully.
Kyle glared. "Don't tempt me."
"Oh, what are you so irritable about? You enjoyed yourself, didn't you?"
"That's not the point! It isn't appropriate. And you don't really mean to draw another sketch like that, do you?"
"Well, I can't exactly refuse a direct order from the prince... Would you?"
At this, Kyle turned away, muttering under his breath.
"Please tell me that you at least hid that other sketch in a safe place," he grumbled.
"Of course. I tucked it away in my breastplate again." Forde reached down to rifle through the rest of his armour, which had been left in a pile on the floor. His face then fell.
"Oh. Um... Hmmm."
At this, Kyle sat up, frowning. "What's wrong?"
"Er... You're not going to believe this, but the drawing appears to have gone missing..."
"What?!"
Forde shrugged helplessly. "I'm guessing Ephraim took it while we were... Otherwise preoccupied."
Kyle shook his head. "Well, that's just perfect... How could you be so careless?"
"What are you so worried about? I'm sure the prince would be far more discreet about this than either of us would be... Besides, he would have better means of hiding the drawing, anyways."
At this, Kyle settled down a bit. "I... I suppose you're right. But I can't help but be somewhat concerned..."
***
Ephraim strolled down the hallways of Castle Renais, with the rolled-up sketch tucked away safely under his arm. As the crown prince, he felt confident that no one would question him about carrying around any documents, and even if they did, all he would have to say was that it was classified information, and they would leave it at that.
He had to resist looking at the sketch in public, though... Ephraim didn't think his reputation would survive that.
But it really was an impressive drawing, he mused to himself. Forde had definitely outdone himself this time; it was an absolutely accurate depiction of his, um... Tryst with Kyle.
Earlier, Ephraim had managed to snatch the drawing from Forde's clothing, and had handed the knight his tunic, to cover up his crime... He was surprised Forde hadn't noticed.
Still, Ephraim found himself a bit relieved when he finally reached his quarters... It was rather nervewracking, carrying such an incriminating piece of paper around, out in the open. Now, all he'd have to do was go inside his chambers, and find a safe place to hide the drawing.
Inserting his key in the lock, he opened the door, stepped inside the room... And stared.
"Eirika..."
His twin sister stood up from where she was sitting on the bed, smoothed out her skirt, and smiled at him.
"Hello, brother. What have you been up to, today?"
*****
(For the record... Yes, the next part is het, and no, it's not twincest. XD)
Title: "A Royal Request"
Series: FE8
Pairing: Ephraim/Forde/Kyle
Rating: R
This is the sequel to the Ephraim/Kyle and Forde/Kyle pieces I posted here, a while back. (I think it turned out pretty silly, but oh well...)
After sparring practice that day, Forde and Kyle returned to their quarters in the castle... Forde was the first to enter the room, followed by Kyle, who slammed the door shut behind him.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
"Where's what?" asked Forde, as he calmly pulled off his armguards and tossed them onto the nearest bed.
"Stop playing dumb!" stormed Kyle. "You know what I'm talking about." He pointed an accusatory finger at the other knight. "And you couldn't have shown it to Ephraim like you said you would, I had my eye on you the entire time."
"I noticed," replied Forde, raising an eyebrow. "You were practically suffocating me throughout the whole session, like a badly-fitted suit of armour." He gave his angry friend a wry smile. "Did you plan on relieving yourself at the same time I did, too?"
"If necessary!" growled Kyle. "Now, I'll ask you again: Where is that... That... Drawing?"
Forde sighed. "It's where you last saw it, of course... Still tucked away in my breastplate. I didn't exactly have the opportunity to pull it out again, thanks to you."
Kyle held out a hand. "Hand it over, then."
Forde seemed to mull this over for a moment.
"Umm... No."
Kyle glared. "And just why not?"
Forde crossed his arms before him. "It's my drawing. I think I have a right to show it to whomever I please, don't you?"
"Not if I'm in it!" Kyle protested.
"But Ephraim's in it, too," reasoned Forde. "Shouldn't he get a chance to see it, as well?"
"But it's scandalous!"
"Well... Yes, there's that," admitted Forde. "But I'm still not handing it over."
Kyle felt his hands balling into fists. "Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?" he yelled. Then Kyle sighed.
"If you won't hand it over willingly..." He cracked his knuckles. "Then you leave me no choice, Forde. I'll have to take it from you, by force."
Forde raised an eyebrow. "You'd actually go that far?" Kyle nodded grimly.
Forde shook his head. "Well, you know I'd never back down from a challenge from you, Kyle," he replied, with a grin.
Kyle assumed a fighting stance, while Forde did the same. "Let's see if you can best me this time!"
The two knights circled each other briefly, looking for an opening... Then, all of a sudden, Kyle lunged forward.
Forde had been half-expecting this, and had steeled himself for the attack; and as such, he wasn't bowled over by the impact of Kyle's charge.
However, Forde hadn't expected Kyle to use the close contact to trip his legs, ruining his stance, and allowing the other knight to push him over.
Fortunately, Forde had been standing with his back to the nearest bed, which cushioned his fall. Undeterred by this, Kyle climbed in after him, and grabbed his friend by the front of his armour.
As Forde struggled to break his grip, Kyle managed to shove a hand underneath Forde's breastplate.
"Hey! Do you mind?"
"It's your own fault!" snapped Kyle, as he tried to feel around for the roll of paper. "You should've just let me have it in the first place!"
"Er... Is this a bad time?"
Both Forde and Kyle froze, as they recognized a voice that belonged to neither of them. Simultaneously, they both turned towards the door... To find Prince Ephraim now standing in the doorway.
Ephraim cleared his throat hesitantly, as the two knights stared back at him.
"Uh... Sir Seth mentioned that you two seemed a little distracted during practice today, and thought I should have a word with you both... The door was open, so I let myself in..." He trailed off.
"Am I interrupting something?" asked Ephraim. Then he cocked his head to one side and gave them both a sly smile. "Or should I even ask?"
It was then that Kyle found himself taking stock the current situation.
He was lying on the bed with Forde, who was straddled between his legs; one of his hands was trying to pull off Forde's breastplate, while the other one was groping under his friend's armour... And his liege lord had just walked in on this.
It was quite easy to draw the wrong conclusion, thought Kyle, as he felt the colour drain from his face. The hard part was trying to explain what was actually going on.
Hastily, Kyle rolled off Forde, who looked far more amused about the situation than Kyle thought appropriate.
"Sire, this isn't what it looks like..." he began.
Ephraim chuckled. "Coming from anyone else, that line would be hard to believe... But since it's you, Kyle, I'll take your word for it."
It was then that Kyle realized that with Ephraim present, there was a way he could get rid of the incriminating drawing once and for all... Although it would mean he would have to swallow his pride, and tell the prince about it.
"Your Highness!" began Kyle, saluting as Ephraim looked at him. "I regret to inform you that Forde witnessed the, um... Scene... Between you and I in the stables earlier... And worse, has created evidence that could implicate you in a horrible scandal!"
Ephraim turned to the other knight. "Is this true, Forde?"
Forde sighed, and nodded reluctantly. "It's true, I'm afraid." He then gave a wry smile. "But I didn't expect Kyle to rat me out to you, of all people."
Ephraim held out his hand to Forde. "Let me see this so-called 'evidence', then."
Shrugging, Forde pulled out the sketch from his breastplate, and handed it to the prince. When he saw what was drawn on the paper, Ephraim raised his eyebrows.
Noticing the prince's expression, Kyle continued to speak, his face red from embarassment. "Sire, I humbly request that you destroy this drawing, to prevent word of this from spreading."
"Is that so...?" mused Ephraim, his eyes not leaving the drawing. "Forde?"
"Yes, Sire?"
"Is it true you drew this after watching Kyle and I in the stables earlier?"
"I'm afraid so, milord."
"And why didn't you say anything, at the time?"
Forde coughed. "You two seemed to be enjoying yourselves so much, that I didn't want to ruin your fun..."
It was then that Ephraim looked up, to stare at Forde. "'Ruin our fun', you say... Don't you mean your own?"
At this, Forde grinned guiltily. "Touche, sir."
Ephraim sighed, and rolled up the drawing. "Really Forde, you didn't have to draw this just to blackmail me." He then smirked. "You really should've just joined me and Kyle in the first place..."
It took a moment for these words to sink in, but when they did, both Kyle and Forde's jaws dropped.
"Sire...?" said Kyle weakly.
Forde cleared his throat. "Um... That being said, sir, I would've probably drawn that scene between you two, regardless... It was memorable enough for me to want to capture in a sketch."
"Is that so?" said Ephraim, with a sly smile. "Well then, I would like to request another drawing from you, Forde..."
"What did you have in mind, Sire?" asked Forde cheerfully, as Kyle felt himself flush in dread.
"Let's say... Something along the same lines of this sketch; only with the three of us this time, so that you won't feel left out. How does that sound?"
"Fine, sir." Forde couldn't quite hide the smugness in his tone. "But I'll need to see some preliminary poses... For 'reference', you understand. As I mentioned to Kyle earlier, I can't draw something that I don't see, in person."
"Is that so?" replied Ephraim, raising an eyebrow. "Then we probably should get started, then."
Both Ephraim and Forde then turned to look at Kyle.
Unnerved by their amused expressions, Kyle found himself shifting his gaze towards the door... Which Ephraim had just shut behind him, deliberately sliding the lock into place. At this, Kyle couldn't help but swallow nervously.
The first thought that crossed his mind then, was that he wished he had remembered to lock the door behind him, when he had first entered the room.
The second thought that crossed Kyle's mind was, I hope they let me top this time...
***
"Is he going to be okay?" asked Ephraim, as he finished strapping on his armour.
"He'll be fine," reassured Forde, as he put on a tunic handed to him by Ephraim. "Kyle's just a little sore about all this, that's all." He then coughed. "In more ways than one..."
Ephraim chuckled. "My apologies. Sorry I have to run off like this, but as you know, duty calls."
As he walked towards the door, Ephraim gave Forde a jaunty salute, then left the room.
As soon as the prince was gone, Forde strolled up to Kyle, who was still lying on the bed, with his back turned towards him.
"You are all right, aren't you?" he asked his roommate, in a concerned tone.
Shifting in his position on the bed, Kyle turned to face Forde.
"I am going to burn your sketchbook," began Kyle darkly. "And your canvases... And your paints," he added, as an afterthought.
"Well, you can't burn away the images in my mind," replied Forde cheerfully.
Kyle glared. "Don't tempt me."
"Oh, what are you so irritable about? You enjoyed yourself, didn't you?"
"That's not the point! It isn't appropriate. And you don't really mean to draw another sketch like that, do you?"
"Well, I can't exactly refuse a direct order from the prince... Would you?"
At this, Kyle turned away, muttering under his breath.
"Please tell me that you at least hid that other sketch in a safe place," he grumbled.
"Of course. I tucked it away in my breastplate again." Forde reached down to rifle through the rest of his armour, which had been left in a pile on the floor. His face then fell.
"Oh. Um... Hmmm."
At this, Kyle sat up, frowning. "What's wrong?"
"Er... You're not going to believe this, but the drawing appears to have gone missing..."
"What?!"
Forde shrugged helplessly. "I'm guessing Ephraim took it while we were... Otherwise preoccupied."
Kyle shook his head. "Well, that's just perfect... How could you be so careless?"
"What are you so worried about? I'm sure the prince would be far more discreet about this than either of us would be... Besides, he would have better means of hiding the drawing, anyways."
At this, Kyle settled down a bit. "I... I suppose you're right. But I can't help but be somewhat concerned..."
***
Ephraim strolled down the hallways of Castle Renais, with the rolled-up sketch tucked away safely under his arm. As the crown prince, he felt confident that no one would question him about carrying around any documents, and even if they did, all he would have to say was that it was classified information, and they would leave it at that.
He had to resist looking at the sketch in public, though... Ephraim didn't think his reputation would survive that.
But it really was an impressive drawing, he mused to himself. Forde had definitely outdone himself this time; it was an absolutely accurate depiction of his, um... Tryst with Kyle.
Earlier, Ephraim had managed to snatch the drawing from Forde's clothing, and had handed the knight his tunic, to cover up his crime... He was surprised Forde hadn't noticed.
Still, Ephraim found himself a bit relieved when he finally reached his quarters... It was rather nervewracking, carrying such an incriminating piece of paper around, out in the open. Now, all he'd have to do was go inside his chambers, and find a safe place to hide the drawing.
Inserting his key in the lock, he opened the door, stepped inside the room... And stared.
"Eirika..."
His twin sister stood up from where she was sitting on the bed, smoothed out her skirt, and smiled at him.
"Hello, brother. What have you been up to, today?"
*****
(For the record... Yes, the next part is het, and no, it's not twincest. XD)