in terms of carlos fighting imagine in gladiator au theres some sort of threat to the royal family (an intruder or something) and they try and get to jannik and carlos just goes absolutely feral and beats the shit out of them because how dare they try to hurt his jannik and then afterwards he's trying to be all forgive me jannik because he thinks that jannik doesnt like the violent gladiator part of him and jannik is just insanely turned on about it
jannik’s in his bedchambers and it’s night time and he’s been fucking with carlos a little bit because he invited him to his room so late and they are technically courting but this still definitely isn’t the polite thing to do by any means. so he’s sitting up in his bed while carlos stands by the door, sweating, clearly on the back foot as jannik flirts with him incessantly just to see him squirm a little bit when the door bursts open and a man rushes in. he’s armed and immediately zeroes in on jannik sitting there and he moves towards him without realizing theres a second person behind the door he’s just forced open and before he can even reach jannik someone’s grabbing him by his collar and throwing him into the wall so hard his head is ringing.
carlos punches him, once, twice, three times, until blood is running down his face and he’s barely moving anymore, twitching where he’s splayed out on the ground as carlos drops him unceremoniously. it takes a second longer for him to realize something else is wrong, the sharp spike of distressed omega taking a moment to cut through his own scent suffocating the air, dark and nearly oily in its rage. he turns around, panicked, and sees a second man standing over jannik where he’s cowering into his bedsheets, a knife pressed to his neck. to his mating gland.
carlos, to whom violence comes so naturally it almost feels like he was born with it, the hot pit that sits at the bottom of your stomach, hands that feel more at peace destroying than they ever could building anything. carlos, who knows violence more intimately than any lover he’s ever had, is almost shocked by the rage that moves through him, setting him alight, head spinning from the rush of savagery he feels, the need to rip this man in two, to pull him apart piece by piece. he knows the man is expecting him to barter, to hold his hands up and plead. they’d probably been hoping for some sort of ransom, had expected jannik to be alone when they had come in for him.
carlos does not meet any of their expectations. he moves so quickly that the man barely has time to see him coming, a fraction of a second between him realizing carlos is present in the room and having his arm wrenched back, a sickening crack echoing through the room and the sharp clatter of the knife being dropped. carlos hits him again and again and again until he’s nearly unrecognizable, blood covering his face, ribs cracked open. carlos feels unrecognizable, can barely remember who he is with this fury rushing through him, his knuckles split apart, blood pounding through his head. it takes a moment for him to realize there are guards rushing through the door, arms hauling him up and away from the non-responsive body.
he still feels out of control- gasping for air as he stares down at his blood soaked hands, ears still ringing as the captain of jannik’s personal guard pulls him aside with a kind but firm hand on his shoulder. ‘lord alcaraz.’ he says, which is still bizarre to carlos’s ears. ‘both of the men will be taken to the cells and interrogated tomorrow. i’m sure the queen will want to see you tomorrow but for now, please try and ease yourself. and if you can,’ at this he inclined his head respectfully in the direction of jannik’s bed, ‘ensure the young prince is alright. thank you.’ another respectful bow of the head to carlos, and then he’s gone, leaving nothing but a thick silence and a buzzing in carlos’s head.
jannik. he thinks despairingly. jannik. so many days spent trying to convince the prince he was not a savage, a bloodthirsty alpha controlled by his urges. so many days all worth nothing now, after he practically ripped a man apart in jannik’s bedchambers. in front of him. carlos is still facing the door, so his back is to jannik’s bed. he hasn’t heard a word out of him, except for the quiet murmur of him reassuring his guards that he was unharmed. he can’t even scent him right now, the room already brimming with the proof of his own anger and jannik’s former distress. he turns around, terrified of what he might see on jannik’s face.
jannik is looking up at him, the signature stoicness that is oft found on his face present. he is nearly expressionless, sitting up in his bed, duvet wrapped tightly around his waist. his hair being a little disheveled is the only indication of the chaos that has just occurred in his bedchambers only a few minutes prior. that, and carlos realizes with a new wave of dawning anger, a red nick right underneath his jaw. carlos walks over to him, nearly in a trance, tilting his head up slightly with a finger on his chin, a smear of blood left against his porcelain skin.
‘i asked them not to bandage it,’ jannik says evenly, no indication of how he feels about any of this in his tone. carlos is brought back down to earth by his words, and he feels the familiar feeling of shame rush over him. he looks down at the carpet, unable to meet jannik’s eyes, before dropping down himself, knees nestled against the soft fibers, the exact same place where he’d held a man down and nearly knocked the life out of him not ten minutes ago.
‘my prince,’ he begins, voice wavering, still unable to meet jannik’s eyes. ‘i understand that- that i may have acted unbecomingly today. i don’t- i am sorry if my behaviour has made you feel discomfort towards me or-‘ at this his voice dries up, and he has to continue after a short pause, ‘if- if you are afraid. i vow to you that i will never use force unnecessarily in your presence and could not even imagine- against- you. i’m sorry.’ he finishes his faltering apology and fights the urge to bang his head into a wall. ‘would never use force against you?’ if jannik hadn’t been thinking about calling off this courtship to find a noble alpha who hasn’t gotten his hands dirtier with anything more than an inkpot before he almost certainly is now.
carlos is still berating himself silently, head tilted down, when jannik touches his jaw lightly and moves his gaze upwards so he’s looking straight at him. carlos realizes with a shock, that jannik is looking down at him fondly, something almost disbelieving in his gaze as he runs a hand through carlos’s bristly hair. ‘lord alcaraz,’ he begins, and carlos is immediately filled with a rush of relief because jannik only calls him that when he’s teasing. ‘i am not angry, or discomfitted, or whatever other feelings you accused me of during that deeply unnecessary apology. or whatever that was. in fact,’ he announces, looking anywhere but at carlos’s face, ‘i think- i think it is quite impressive to have a mate who can immobilize two men for my protection.’
carlos watches, amazed, as a blush fights its way across jannik’s cheekbones. ‘but-‘ he starts off, feeling much less off-kilter now. ‘you were upset with me, no? your face- it was- you did not say anything.’ at this, if it’s possible, jannik blushes even deeper, red across his cheeks and nose, peeking through his fingers as he buries his face in his hands.
‘i hate you.’ he says, seemingly to himself, quiet into the space between his fingers, and before carlos can question that, he looks directly up at carlos and says, ‘i was. i was aroused. i am aroused. i thought you were able to- to smell it on me.’ any boldness he felt in saying it to carlos’s face dies down immediately after the words leave his mouth, and jannik looks shocked that he actually said them aloud, eyes wide, blushing so much now a flush is rising up the exposed skin of his collarbones from where his sleep-shirt is pulled down.
carlos feels like someone has hit him upside the head. actually no. carlos had just been hit upside the head less than ten minutes ago and this is not even comparable. maybe if every member of the royal guard came and hit him on the head with the hilt of their swords. and then for good measure ran him over with a carriage. he gapes at jannik uncomprehendingly for a few seconds, during which jannik just gets pinker and pinker, and when he finally he speaks his voice is so hoarse he watches jannik visibly startle. ‘you drive me crazy-‘ he says with a strained laugh, head pressed against the side of his mattress, the scent filling his head until he feels dizzy with it. ‘i have never wanted anything more in my entire life. you make me crazy janni. do you know that.’ and he looks up at jannik and his eyes must look wild, because jannik lets out a breath and slowly reaches out a hand to touch his face gently, like he’s taming a wild animal.
‘you can.’ he whispers, and then he’s jannik again, imperious and shy all at once, taking one of carlos’s hands in his own and moving it upwards until it rests on the soft pale skin of his thigh. ‘of course you can not- but you can- touch me please. a little.’
and carlos is done, he’s ruined. it’s not even a fair fight he thinks, semi-hysterically as he stares at his hand spanning the width of jannik’s thigh. ‘there is nothing to defend with. it’s all his. i am his.’ and then he listens to jannik, and moves his hand higher.
