faderift | [Open] Drinks with a King

WHO: Iskandar and whoever joins him
WHAT: Iskandar has been matching Thedas months to Earth months and is guessing this is around a certain time of year. So he's hear to hold a memorial of sorts.
WHEN: Beginning of Justinian
WHERE: The docks
NOTES: Talk of death and dying. Note this is not a suicide content warning.

This wasn't the Okeanos of his dreams but he felt it would satisfy the time. That was to say he'd been figuring out how the months of this world might line up with those of his own world and had come up with the fact that his might be around Earth's June. The very same month historians had figured out he'd died at the age of thirty-two. Much had happened since that time but he felt that this was a day to honor something. Not him, of course, he had plenty of that already. No today was for those who had died living under his rule.

So he sat at the edge of the docks with a number of wine bottles around him. A couple were empty already to mark how much time had passed since he'd come out here. Around his neck was a small cat who had decided this was his favorite location to sleep even when Iskandar wasn't wearing his cloak. It was just nice to have a solid place to snooze apparently. Also there was a mabari pup next to him, sitting there as if trying to mimic the man in being calm. Not well though considering he kept wiggling about.

Iskandar chuckled and looked over his shoulder, having become aware that he wasn't alone. "Hello there. Would you care to join me? I am honoring the dead with a little memorial of sorts. You are welcome to think of your own lost ones if you like."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was a fair point. He could have done exactly that, but he liked teasing the bigger man. It was one of his few true pleasures here in Thedas, and it was an even rarer occasion he could do so like this. He laughed when Iskandar reached for the bag, slapping at his wrist before rolling his eyes and instead turning Iskandar's hand palm up in his lap.

"I suppose this does save me the problem of wondering how to give them to you," he mused as he worked open the little bag.

Carefully he upturned it, and out tumbled a pair of earrings in gold. They were relatively simple in their design, though each plate was etched with a slightly different shaped star according to a design Kirk had given to the jeweler. If Iskandar turned the earrings to look on the inside, he would see a set of numbers inside of each of them.

Kirk glanced up to Iskandar's face, wondering what the other would think.

He looked at the things that tumbled into his hand. A pair of gold earrings. He blinked slowly and brought them closer to his face, picking one up so he could look at the details on it. Stars. And numbers.

"Do the patterns have meaning?" he asked as he watched how they looked as the light reflected off of them. Beautiful in their simplicity. He loved them honestly!

"If you hold the earrings together, the stars make the Earth constellation of Leo, the lion," he said, looking up at him. "I thought that best represented you, or at least how I think of you. And on the inside, the numbers? They're my personal call number. We don't know where those rifts might send us, so if you ever end up in my world - use that, and I'll come running for you."

His smile turned soft, reaching out to put his hand over Iskandar's wrist in a quiet show of affection atop of the gift.

"Do they?" He did just that and watched how the stars lined up. Beautiful. Of course he didn't tell Jim that he was certain they'd go to their own worlds again. No need to ruin the moment and there was a time and place for realism. This was not one of them. So instead he just laughed and went to put them on his ears.

"Well? How do they look?"

Oh, Kirk knew that most likely they would return to their own worlds. He was sure of it, in his own way. He had to be, to keep his own sanity, and because he needed to go back. He had family there, a crew to lead, a mission. Just like he knew Iskandar had his. The odds were astronomically against Iskandar ever ending up in his home world, but even so the tiniest ember of possibility remained, and he didn't have the heart to quash it entirely. That, and he thought it made a nice gesture.

"Beautiful. A handsome lion should always have a bit of gold," he smiled, reaching up to cup Iskandar's jaw before leaning up and kissing behind his ear.

"Mm. The lion is my family crest so it would make sense that I should be on."

Tilting his head, he made it easier for his jaw to be kissed then turned his head so he could pull him in for one to his lips. This beautiful man. So clearly head over heels but having such difficulties in saying so. He adored him. Denial and all.

"Heh, serendipity, that," he hummed as Iskandar kissed him, honestly relieved and happy that Iskandar enjoyed his gift. Not that he thought the man who had said something as crass as 'I hate it' to him, but it was still nice to know he had chosen well. If he was to say he had a weakness, gift giving would be one of them. He was honestly rather crap at it most of the time, so he was pleased and proud with this particular victory.

"Perhaps your nickname should have been Leo," he teased when they parted.

"Leo, hm? I rather like it actually."

He laughed then lifted a finger up to run it over one of the cuffs on his ears. He was really liking how they felt there and was eager to see how they looked on him when he had a chance to later. They were sure to only enhance his already handsome features.

"Would you like to call me that?"

Kirk was silent as he pondered that question. He called Iskandar 'Iskandar' since that was how the man introduced himself, despite knowing his real name. It seemed to be his preferred monicker, and it rather helped to keep him from fan-boying over the man to often.

But Leo? A secret pet name just between them? His heart fluttered a few beats faster and he laughed softly. Having a pet name for Alexander the Great? This was what his life was coming to.

"Leo, my lion," he grinned up at him, reaching to turn Iskandar to face him and giving him a proper kiss as if to seal a deal.

He returned the kiss easily enough then ran his fingers through that pretty hair of his.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." He rather liked it though. A pet name from one of his lovers. It was hardly a first in his lifetime but it was the first in a long while.

"Good. I like that."

"Suits you," he chuckled, tilting his head into his touch for a moment before leaning back and taking up another of the bottles of wine. He took a sip and then held it out to Iskandar. "A toast to your new name."

He shook his head slowly, the smile still there on his lips. "No. This wine will only be for those who have fallen. We can toast a new name another time."

"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry," he said, looking down at the bottle in his hand. Such an old custom, this. It was practiced still, it's own ways - he drank to Pike's death every year, on the anniversary, after all. One couldn't simply toss liquor about on a space-ship, and he would get mutinied against if he tossed whole bottles out into the ether.

"What were some of their names?" he asked, looking up at Iskandar as he gently cradled the bottle.

"Hephaestion, Roxana, Alexander, Perdiccas... Jim, there are far too many. If my Noble Phantasm still functioned the same way I would introduce you to a great many of them. As it is, my army is but an illusion when I summon it."

It was something he mourned but something he knew he couldn't change. He could only learn to live with it as it was.

He wanted to ask what a Noble Phantasm was, but now didn't seem the time. He stowed it away for later, instead reaching out and rubbing Iskandar's lower arm gently.

"No, it's okay. Just a few is good," he assured him. "I just thought if I was to help you properly honor them, I should know a few names is all. I don't want to sound insincere to them." Not that he believed they could actually hear him or see him or even cared about the wine, but Iskandar did and that was what mattered.

"I'd love to hear stories of them, if you ever want to talk about them," he smiled gently.

[Open] Drinks with a King

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