I Scored Myself A Mate

"You are hurt" he told him.

"Your words last time, hurt me more than these scars" Theseus told him, his face filled with sadness and Alex felt like his heart was about to stop. "Don't look at me like that. I did not give that order. Honestly I don't know why you believed that idiotic nobody. You didn't even give me a chance to speak." He continued but the green eyed boy kept avoiding his eyes. 

"I can't deal with the idea of people lying to me again and again. I was too quick to judge you and I am sorry for that but I can't trust people so easily, I shouldn't really" Alex confessed and looked at Theseus. His cheeks had turned red from the freezing cold, also the top of his small nose and his green eyed popped even more in the pale white scenery. Like a flower that had just bloomed, foretelling a new spring. 

"You can trust me" He said, his always low and raspy voice coming out as a whisper, as if he wasn't sure about saying it. If it was the right time. Alex's sad smile revealed it all. He still couldn't trust him. 

"I want to. I really do but this fear inside of me…sometimes I think it's greater than me, than what I can do." 

"We all have fears" He told him and began walking towards him. He bypassed the huge hole, Luke's body had created and approached Alex, who was sitting in the uncomfortable bench. His lips turning a slight purple. "I, myself have many but you see we shouldn't let fear stop us from moving forward. If we stay stuck in the same place forever, we will lose sight of the things we so dearly love" 

Theseus tended his hand, a gesture of help. He wanted to assist him in walking back to his room. The boy hastily took his hand and actually stood up a lot easier than the last time and now, as they walked through the snowy garden paths he needed much less support than he did. 

"You seem to be doing pretty well." He commented.

"Yes, my recovery has been…speedy" Alex said hastily. A miracle or not he was recovering a lot faster than he should. He couldn't help but wonder if it had to do something with his peculiar…nature. It seemed like he had yet to discover a lot of things but at the same time, he didn't know who to talk to or who to ask. There was always Theseus but still, he couldn't trust him blindly as to ask him if he knew anything about his past, about the Avgee prince, even though he believed he had heard him and others mention him from time to time he probably didn't pay any attention thinking that it didn't concern him. 

"Soon you will be able to remove that patch from your face too. I bet it's itchy. I hate it when my lover had to bandage my wounds" Theseus said with a bitter smile and his eyes wondered, in the endless garden. He seemed lost reminiscing moments Alex was not aware of. 

"Your lover and not a doctor?" He asked him surprised, ignoring the sting of jealousy. He didn't like hearing about that unknown person. Someone important in Theseus' life that wasn't…him.

"My lover…he was my doctor, my best friend, my companion in fights, my peace and my war. He was my soul link, after all" He told him filled with pride.

"Soul link?"

"Yes. It's our partner for all eternity."

"Oh, I see like the mate bond"

"No. It is nothing like that idiotic bond" Theseus said and stopped walking. He turned towards Alex and looked at him with his lavender eyes. "We get to choose. I chose him and he chose me. We do not get dragged around by a stupid word called fate" 

"That's…beautiful" Alex said feeling sad. Could he possibly have someone like that? The dark haired man, with the soothing voice. Was he…someone special to him? "About the patch." He continued trying to change the subject of the conversation "I probably don't want it off. There will be a nasty scar on my face" he said and laughed awkwardly. 

"So what??

"It will be ugly, this mark." Alex said, thinking about it. He would have to live with it forever. Looking at himself in the mirror and seeing his skin burned and destroyed. A mark of his misfortune, of his torture. 

"What are you talking about? Ugly? This is a sign of your survival, a mark showing how strong you are how can you say it's ugly? You are alive and you tried so hard for that. Don't forget it."

"You make it sound very nice." Alex said and laughed, his laughter echoing cheerfully in the empty space. It was like music to Theseus ears and he felt his heart warming up from it.

"Also you, dear Alex could never be ugly. Believe me"

"Well thank you. Won't your lover be jealous of you telling me that?" Alex asked him and he immediately wanted to slap himself. He had managed to avoid the subject so skillfully but for some reason his stupid mind had just commanded his lips to utter this words. Now Theseus' face was again sad and he had caused that, there was probably a sad story behind it, he was sure of that and he like a fool was scratching old wounds making him remember and taking the spotlight away from himself! Wait a minute, why did he need the spotlight? He wondered and his cheeks began turning a bright red color.

"I don't think so" Theseus said and chuckled like he had just asked a silly question. They kept walking and Alex found himself walking as slowly as he could to make the distance longer, he enjoyed talking to him. It always felt like his mind was at ease and he always ended up smiling. He had almost completely forgotten that they had left Luke, unconscious there. 

"So I heard there was another prince before you…did you know him?" Alex asked him. He wanted to see if Theseus would say anything to him about the elf history. He could learn a few things about himself and the past that he had forgotten, if only Theseus revealed some information. He seemed shocked at first with his question and then with a cheeky grin, looking almost like a very handsome teenage boy he looked at him, filled with excitement. 

"Are you interested in my people's history, little human?"

"Maybe I am…Is that a bad thing?" he asked him as they finally got inside the palace. The freezing cold was suddenly reduced and Alex felt his hands getting slightly numb before he could start feeling anything again. He didn't have to ask where they were going, he knew Theseus would only lead him to his room because he needed proper rest, even though he felt a lot better.

"Of course not I am honored and to answer your question yes I did know him. He was a great young man, a strong leader." He said. "What?" Theseus asked him when he noticed Alex was waiting to hear more. 

"Is that it? I guess you didn't know each other well" He teased him and Theseus began laughing. It was so loud and obnoxious but at the same time filled with so much joy Alex for a second was stunned. Small teardrops, fell from the corners of his eyes and Theseus wiped them still laughing.

"I don't know about that. But why does my relationship with him concern you? I mean…do you want to know about him, specifically?" 

"I mean…everyone talks about him…so I was curious I guess" Alex said trying not to sound too eager to know about it. He did want to know about the golden king, about who he was and how others perceived him but at the same time he should be careful. "I guess I would want to know what kind of person he was? You know…just out of curiosity" 

Theseus still smiling he opened the door to Alex's room, that enormous almost like a gate white door that led to the pretty icy room with the sparkling light. Alex could never stop looking at them, the way they shimmered imitating the dark midnight sky was mesmerizing. He almost tricked himself that this wasn't an actual ceiling but something else, something different that he couldn't explain. 

"You need to rest and I need to send someone to pick the dog up. Also I will make an announcement today at dinner. I expect you to be there around eight." 

"Wait! Can't you…stay with me? A little longer?"

The shy boy played with the edges of his shirt's sleeves, looking at the icy king with an anticipating look. He wanted to spent some more time with him, hear him talk more, laugh more. How could someone else's laugh be such a remedy to your long lasting pain? He couldn't solve this mystery but at least he wanted to taste the normality of just conversing with someone, hearing stories, relaxing together. Theseus even though he was a king he also seemed to be a very entertaining story teller.

"Hmm…should I?" Theseus asked with a devilish grin. 

"Yes"

"Then how about I tell you a very…spicy story about the Avgee Prince?" He told him and his smiled was almost like that of a sneaky devil. Alex swallowed a lump that had formed in neck and tried to calm his beating heart. He looked incredibly charming standing there on the doorframe with his arms crossed above his chest, grinning.

"Spicy?"

"Oh, Yeah…spicy."