Gonna Make it Count Ch.3

Gonna Make it Count
Chapter Three: Trouble in town
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon wakes up with a foot on his back. Liam has healed remarkably well, which is to be expected with the medicine he gave him, and now that he is so much better he moves a lot more when he sleeps. The demon is fairly certain he has never seen anyone move so damn much in their sleep, it’s ridiculous. He sighs to himself and stares at the boy beside him.

Truth be told, Simon has always been attracted to Liam. When they met as children he had actually been flirting when he stole the berry from the younger prince, but Liam became so childish about it that Simon lost interest. Looks only go so far in his book, so he decided to just tease the boy for the rest of, well, his life. He doesn’t hate Liam or anything, but he does find him pretty bratty. Looking at Liam makes him simultaneously want to kiss the boy and smack him over the head.

“Oh my god, why are you staring?” Liam groans, moving away from Simon in disgust, “I can't sleep with your eyes drilling their hateful holes into me.”

“Maybe I'm trying to seduce you.” Simon teases.

“Oh please, you can seduce better than that.” The younger prince mumbles before tensing up, “B-but not with me.”

“Afraid I might succeed?” He smirks when Liam’s ears become a very noticeable red. One thing that Simon really likes about Liam is his honesty. Whether it’s vocalized or simply shown on his face, Simon knows where he stands with the other prince. Which will come in handy when they are married.

Liam shoots him a dirty look, one that’s more cute than threatening, and then turns to the large grandfather clock across the room from him. He lets out a long suffering whine that Simon keeps himself from laughing at. Nothing is more amusing than Liam’s whining.

“There’s no point in sleeping any longer…it’s almost noon.” The younger prince mumbles before burying his face in his pillow and groaning. “It’s so boring sitting in this hotel all damn day.”

“At least we have-”

“If you say each other I will hurt you.” Liam warns and Simon laughs a little.

“I was going to say books.”

“Oh, yeah, books are pretty great.”

It will never, ever be unamusing when Liam gets awkward. “How is this any different from what we would be doing if we were in our castle as newlyweds? Or did you have other plans for our honey moon week besides bitching about me and kicking me in your sleep?”

“Are you kidding?” Liam turns to face him, a faraway look on his face. “We were gonna go somewhere for our honey moon. Somewhere I’ve never been. I don’t care what you do while we are there, but I was gonna go around and look at everything, talk to strangers, do all the stuff I can't do locked away somewhere.” The bitterness is evident in his voice, and Simon feels sort of sympathetic. He was not locked away, but he was ignored by those not in his immediate family for the better part of his life. Everyone wants to escape the aggravations they grew up with, it’s only natural.

“We can go out.” Simon offers, watching Liam light up next to him.

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not? Just cover my eyes and we’ll be good.”

Liam jumps up from the bed and runs into the bathroom to get ready. It’s the fastest he’s moved and Simon can't help but laugh at the eagerness his normally uptight fiancé is showing him. His amusement is quickly erased when the bathroom door flies open and Liam looks at him in horror. “This isn’t…you courting me, is it?”

“What?” Simon asks, thoroughly confused. He seriously doesn’t understand how that idiot’s brain works. “Why court you when I am already engaged to you?”

“I-I just…don’t...want this ending in some awkward attempt at a kiss or touches or sex.” Liam stutters out and Simon can't help but laugh.

“Wow you are a seriously pig-headed kid. You know that?” Simon shakes his head, “You're cute, Liam, you are, but literally everything else about you makes me wants to hurt you.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes, it’s a strange combination that makes me want to punch you with my lips.” Oh dear god he did not just say that.

Liam raises a brow. “…That makes literally no sense.”

Simon nods, staring him down. “Whose fault is that?”

“Your messed up brain’s, clearly.” Liam huffs before he smirks at the older prince, “But if you ever figure out how to go about it I would be more than happy to participate.”

Simon laughs a little, “Oh really now?”

“I'm up for any form of punching you.” Liam explains, “And if my mouth is involved, my teeth can be too.”

“My, my, I have such a kinky fiancé.” Simon teases before grabbing a pair of contact lenses of a human color and heading into the bathroom himself.

They soon finish getting ready before heading outside. As soon as they step out of the building Liam is off. Like a child he is fascinated by everything. He stops at vendors to see what they are selling, in awe of their beautiful handmade trinkets.

“You made these yourself?” Liam asks in awe and the old man at the counter simply laughs.

“Well I don’t know who else would make it.”

The younger prince looks at the man and smiles, “You're amazing!”

Simon is taken aback at Liam’s quick change in attitude. Is it truly so amazing to be outside of a building? Just how sheltered was Liam?

“I will give you one for $100.” The man offers and Liam goes to reach into his pocket, quickly being stopped by Simon grabbing his wrist and pulling it back out.

“He’s swindling you. That’s not worth more than $50.” Simon explains, surprising Liam and the old man.

“And who are you?” The old man asks.

“I am his fiancé, clearly.” Simon answers, gesturing to Liam’s hand in his own.

“Such a strict fiancé.” The salesman muses, “You poor young man.”

Liam huffs, not removing his hand from Simon’s, “Tell me about it. He is a huge pain.”

“What?” Simon’s left eye twitches, “I just saved you $50 and I'm the huge pain?”

“Yes,” Liam grumbles, “Yes you are.” He smiles at the vendor and whispers something in his ear before receiving something in a bag and handing him money.

“What crap did you just buy?” Simon sighs and Liam shrugs.

“You’ll have to see later.” The younger prince says before looking to Simon annoyed, “So do you have to be here with me?”

“If I don’t want us to go broke in two hours, yes, I do.” Simon looks Liam over, “Besides, you're cute, small, and still hurt from your injuries. Leaving you on your own would be painfully stupid.”

“Fair enough…..but do people have to know we are engaged? I mean, would it kill you to go a few hours pretending we aren’t?”

Simon rolls his eyes, “You hurt me.” He must admit, there is no reason for people to know they are engaged. Sure, it would keep people from hitting on either of them, but simply sending them away works as well. It seems he is just not one for unnecessary lies. They are engaged, it’s a fact, why hide it?

Admittedly, it’s also a little bit of marking his territory. They don’t have engagement rings, and Simon can be rather possessive of things that are his whether he wants them or not. Mostly, though, he wants to keep Liam safe. There’s more weight to your words as a fiancé than as a friend or traveling companion. Liam is strong-willed and rude as all hell, but he is also painfully naïve. Simon kind of likes that about him. Sometimes.

“Hey, Sim-!” Liam begins and Simon quickly covers his mouth.

“Not our real names, you idiot.” Simon whispers in his ear, “No one outside the castle knows what we look like, but if you go saying my name we can be attacked.” He notices the bright red overtaking Liam’s face and wonders if the boy is listening. Over the past few days he has noticed that when he gets too close to Liam, there is a hint of lust in the air as he sort of goes into a daze and doesn’t hear anything Simon tells him. It pisses him off. “Call me anything else.”

“As you wish, jackass.” Liam hisses and Simon rolls his eyes.

“That’s great sweetheart.” Simon smirks.

“Y-you promised not to use those kind of words!”

“Hmmm? Did I? My bad, dear.”

Liam goes bright red, “You stop that right now!” He screeches and Simon winces.

“Okay, okay, just don’t make my ears bleed.”

With some effort, Simon gets Liam away from the vendors and sadly near the actual stores. Simon can actually see the moment where Liam decides to spend all of his money on useless shit, and it kills him inside. He rushes after the prince and follows him into a strange store that even he is confused about. Inside is dark and there are unusual stones of different colors all around.

Simon sees the owner behind a counter, draped in a red veil and tight clothing. He sees Liam eying everything in awe and decides to simply watch it all play out, so he leans against a wall where he can keep an eye on Liam no matter where he goes. As expected Liam looks at everything and asks the woman a myriad of questions. It turns out that she is trying to sell ‘magic’ or sorts. The stones were supposed to have specific healing powers, which they do not, the candles were as well and there were these cards that supposedly told you the future if read correctly.

Liam eats this all up and desperately wants to buy stuff, but Simon puts a stop to it. He grabs Liam’s wrist and yanks him over to the area Simon is standing in, far away from the woman. Ignoring the woman’s strange looks, he whispers in Liam’s ear, telling him that while such items exist, these are not them. This woman is a fraud using pretty trinkets to lure people in. There is no magic in this building, only the overwhelming feeling of greed.

The younger prince looks at him frustrated, “You are taking the wonder out of this world. You are aware of this, right?”

“I'm helping you, you stubborn little pain in my-!”

“Oh my, a lover’s quarrel?” The woman asks and Simon shoots her a dirty look. He hates those who mock magic.

“What would you know?” Simon huffs, surprising the woman and Liam.

“I heard what you said,” She says, glaring at Simon. “You have quite the audacity for a human.” Her eyes narrow as she examines his eyes closer, “You're a demon!” She gasps and Simon cringes. How could he be found out so easily be some damned fraud?

“No he’s not.” Liam says quickly, “He’s a magic nerd. Intensely so. What would a demon be doing here?”

“He is a demon.” She moves from behind the counter and goes towards him, “I can feel it.”

“A fraud like you can’t feel a damn thing.” Simon groans before Liam is pushed out of the woman’s way and she is backing him up against the wall. “Hey. Don’t touch him you little faux-witch.”

“Are you going to hurt me with your powers?” She asks, staring into his eyes. “I can see the red from behind your contacts.”

“You're hallucinating.” Simon counters, “Get away from me.”

“I. Won't.”

Liam groans and pulls her off of Simon, “Don’t be such a child, stop name calling him simply because he called you out.”

“You have nothing to do with this, boy, leave me and your little demon friend be.” She hisses, pushing him away and further pissing Simon off. If she touches Liam one more time he might have to set her and this building on fire.

“I have everything to do with this.” Liam counters, grabbing Simon and pulling him away from the wall. “This human is my fiancé.” He explains as he drags Simon towards the door. “We have to go.”

“Bye, you nasty fraud.” Simon hisses as they leave. He allows Liam to drag him a little further away until they are in a little park.  Once there, Liam bursts out laughing. “It’s not funny, you brat!”

“You got into a fight with a fraud! A fraud who managed to actually call you out!” Liam laughs, smacking Simon on the back, “How unlucky is that?”

“Don’t laugh at my misery, brat.” Simon grumbles.

“This is what happens when you are a dick, my dear.” Liam teases.

“Oh my, someone is getting cocky.” Simon smirks, moving closer to Liam, “There’s a lovely pond right over there, sass me some more.”

“I'm your fiancé, don’t you dare throw me in a pond.”

“What are you going to do? Withhold sex?”

Liam shrugs, “I could.”

Simon sighs and shakes his head, “You can’t withhold something you weren’t going to give.”
Liam looks at him with a small smile, “How would you know what I planned to give?”

“Oh my,” Simon smirks, “Someone put on his big boy pants today. Keep talking like that and I’ll take them off. With my teeth.”

“Pervert!” Liam gasps.

“At least I'm not a naïve little kid.”

“I am not naïve! Nor am I a child!”

Simon laughs, “You almost got swindled out of $50 and almost got swindled out of any amount of money by some fake witch.”

“Some fake who pegged you.” Liam teases.

“You're not being very cute right now.” Simon groans, pushing at him.

“Hey! Careful! This thing is breakable!” Liam scolds, motioning to the bag he received from the vender.

“You are acting like a tourist in your own country, I just want you to know that.”

“I technically am one, when you think about it.” Liam points out, leading them back to the hotel. “I have never left the castle walls, so all of this is new to me and I just want to take it all in…” He turns to Simon and looks down at the bag, “If something else happens and I end up locked away again, I just wanted some memories of my only time outside. I don’t care how much it costs or if it’s legitimate, I simply need memories.”

Simon stares at him in awe for a moment before groaning. Damnit, now he feels bad for actually being a good guy. There is seriously no way to win with Liam. “Come on, then. Let’s get some nice stuff.”

Liam’s eyes light up and he eagerly follows Simon back to the stores. They buy a few things, some clothing and a few items including a stiletto dagger that Simon makes him buy ‘just in case’. One can never be too careful with people after them. Simon then takes him out to dinner in a small restaurant that wreaks of booze and stale eggs. The food’s not too bad, though, and Liam absolutely loves it. By the end of the night they head back to their hotel, both exhausted and ready for bed.

Once they arrive, however, there is a large crowd of people surrounding the building. A mob.

Simon and Liam look to each other, dread in their eyes. It only doubles when they see the fake witch from before.

“There they are! The demon and his human companion!” She screams and the others ready their weapons.

“What do we do?” Liam whispers to Simon, his voice dripping with fear.

“Well,” Simon grabs Liam’s hand tightly, “We run.” He says, dragging the younger prince off before anyone can reach them. They have no idea where they will run to, and so they end up in the forest, only coming to a stop when the voices of the townspeople are no longer heard.

Liam lets out a heavy sigh, collapsing against a tree. “This isn’t what I meant when I wanted freedom.”

Simon plops down beside him, angry and tired and now without shelter. “I hate humans.” He hisses, watching Liam tense up beside him, “Oh calm down, not you. Just…those ignorant little-!”

“Watch it, Simon, such foul language is unbecoming of a prince.” A gruff female voice calls out before someone in a long dark purple cloak rides up on a beautiful tan horse, followed by two black ones. It doesn’t take either of the princes long to figure out who it is, and when she lowers her cloak, Liam smiles at her with a look of overwhelming relief. “It seems two idiotic little princes have gone off and revealed their selves.”  She teases as she brushes her dirty blonde hair away from her face, revealing her purple eye and eye patch.

“Damnit,” Simon groans, “Not Celie.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Damned by one woman and saved by another. Poor little fools~