Hi there, its me again~ I originally wasn't going to request sth a second time, buut the first little fic you wrote at my request was sooo good, and every single other one was, too, so you left me little choice here :) I will go with Blackmadhi, 100 this time, if you don't mind^^ Please stay awesome! PS: Its been a while now, but i'd still like to compliment you on your amazing Simon cosplay, you looked really good ;D
Ahhh, thank you so much for saying such lovely things ahhhfdhskjfds <33 I’m always v happy to hear people like my writings andeverything! And thank you! It was fun cosplaying him again thisyear (even if his outfit is kind of a bitch to walk around in, especially inthe heat)! <3
Now, onto the prompt!
100. A quote of your choice: “You’re so beautiful.” (70)
-----
WheneverSimon Blackquill stood next to Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, his already frighteningappearance seemed even more intimidating.
Howcould it not, when compared to a man who looked like that? With Nahyuta’s longsilken hair (never a strand out of its proper place, of course), his strikinggreen eyes, his flawlessly smooth skin, and his perfect posture…he looked otherworldly, as if some heavenlycreature had decided to grace the world with his presence. People who saw the monk for the first timewould often softly gasp (usually resulting in an eye roll from Simon, of course);they would open up to him somewhat easily because of his angelic features…eventhough a viper existed beneath them.
Simonnever really thought about his own appearance all that much; after so much timein prison, he stopped really caring, and just accepted the many flaws that existedall over his body. His hair, tangled andthick and already turning white despite his young age. The bags under his eyes; reminders of hisinsomnia and all those nights he cried after Metis was taken from thisworld. His skin, pale and callous and scarredin so many places holding memories of abuses he endured in order to survive.
Onceupon a time he had a face that would cause people to want to speak freely withhim as well.
Howlong ago that was.
Whenhe and Nahyuta first started hooking up, he sometimes wondered what it was thatattracted Nahyuta to him. Maybe it wasthe fact that Simon was one of the few people who would speak sodisrespectfully towards the monk; Nahyuta was so revered in his country andelsewhere that someone finally returning the insults he so often dished outmust have been somewhat exciting.
But,to the surprise of both of them, they each started developing actual feelingsfor each other, and became much less secretive about their newfoundrelationship.
Simonknew what the stares they received said: ‘how is that beautiful man with such afrightening person?’
Normally,it never really bothered him. It justbecame somewhat annoying. Especiallysince most of these people didn’t really knowNahyuta at all. They just assumed theydid because of his appearance. Usuallythey had this portrait in their heads: Nahyuta was this holy being, pure ofbody and mind and soul who could never say a bad word or hurt a fly.
Whatbullshit.
Itwas annoying to Simon when these strangers thought they knew more about Nahyutathan he did, simply based on their appearances.
Andwhen they were in Khura’in? It was evenworse.
Simonwould hear whispers about how the “convict prosecutor” seduced their belovedregent, as if he was some sort of predator who came for a defenseless Nahyutain the middle of the night. They wouldspeak as if Simon was the criminal he had pretended to be; how could he beinnocent when he looked like that,after all? Of course, no one would saythis directly to him; they were too afraid, most of the time.
Hedidn’t care what they thought of him, really. He cared more about what their opinions meant for his relationship withNahyuta. Nahyuta was a public figure – aroyal, no less – and he had to worryabout things like this, didn’t he? Ifpeople were constantly talking about how terrible the big bad ProsecutorBlackquill was for Nahyuta…would heneed to listen to their complaints?
Onenight, while visiting Nahyuta’s home, he must have been unusually quiet,because Nahyuta sat down next to him on the bed and asked him:
“Iseverything alright? You’ve been actingstrange.” Nahyuta had his hand on Simon’sknee, and squeezed a bit as if to reassure him. “Rayfa had a great quip about you at dinner and you barely reacted.”
“I’mfine,” Simon lied, trying to abruptly end the conversation before it had thechance to begin. Of course, Nahyutawouldn’t allow that to happen.
“Right,because you often allow insults against you to go by without some sort ofparry,” Nahyuta sarcastically replied with a smile. “What’s wrong?”
Simontook a few long seconds before answering. “I don’t like the way people look at us. Like I’m some monster who has stolen you away from them.”
Nahyutawas surprised. “I didn’t take you as thetype to care about the opinions of others so much, Panda.”
“Don’tmisinterpret,” Simon said sharply, as if the very thought was some slightagainst him. “You’re a royal,though. A perfect-looking royal whowants to do right by his people. Wouldn’tit make more…political sense for you to have someone by your side who was asregal as yourself?”
“You’reafraid I care about the opinions ofothers, is that what you’re saying?”
WhenSimon said nothing in return, Nahyuta took that as an affirmation, and hesighed. Part of him wanted to get angry –Simon really thought he cared about how others saw them? However, he took a deep breath, knowing thatthis was…insecurity wrapped up as something else.
Hebrought his hand up to Simon’s cheek, forcing the man to look at him. For a few moments, he said nothing, and Simonshifted a bit under Nahyuta’s intense gaze.
“You’reso beautiful.”
Nahyutaloved the blush that immediately crept up on Simon’s face. Beautiful was not something Simon was used tobeing called; it was unfamiliar to him, and to hear it from Nahyuta – the moststunning person he had ever seen – itwas…not a statement he knew how to react to.
Heended up just chuckling a bit.
“SadMonk, there’s no need to lie to make me feel better you know.”
Nahyutafrowned, suddenly appearing somewhat angered. Did Simon say the wrong thing?
“Whatmakes you think I’m lying? Do I need todescribe every little detail to you?”
BeforeSimon could answer, Nahyuta was continuing.
“Youreyes, firstly,” he said, taking a moment to brush some of Simon’s bangs fromhis face. “That color is rare in Khura’in,you know. They’re lovely and…expressive. Whether you realize it or not, they hold thetruth in them, even when you’re trying to hide how you’re feeling.”
Simonalways thought of his eyes as dull, personally.
“Yourhair,” Nahyuta said, while reaching behind Simon’s head to take said hair outof its ponytail, watching it fall and pulling some strands so they rested infront of Simon’s shoulders. “It’s fullof life. It gets tangled, yes, but it issoft and wonderful. Not to mentioncompletely appropriate for a samurai such as yourself, wouldn’t you agree?”
Simonagreed, but only silently.
“Yourskin.” Nahyuta softly kissed the scar onSimon’s face. “A story of where you havebeen. Although it’s not exactly a nicestory, it tells me of what you were willing to do in order to protect the onesyou love. How much you were ready tosuffer to make sure that they did not.”
Nahyutatook hold of Simon’s hands in his own, kissing them for a long moment.
“Yoursoul is the most beautiful, of course. I’vemet no other person with as lovely a soul as yours. I’m sure mine pales in comparison.” He laughed a bit. “If people knew that, they would say that youare far too good for me, you know.”
Simonstared at Nahyuta, unsure of what to do or say. Finally, he just decided to grab Nahyuta’s shirt and pull him into hisarms, embracing him tightly.
Hehad no reason to worry.
Nahyutathought he was beautiful and his was the only opinion worth a damn.
Nahyuta was visiting technically on official state business, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t also see Simon. Truthfully, he was hoping that he and Edgeworth could speak quickly so that Simon would then take him back to his apartment where they could spend some time together without the prying eyes of...everyone.
Since this was an official visit, the escort that he had was bigger than usual already. Coupled with the fact that the Chief Prosecutor was with him, walking through the city streets, they felt pretty well protected. Simon was also with them; both Edgeworth and Nahyuta had wanted him to accompany them, since Simon had now developed a good relationship between the two nations. Also, Nahyuta just wanted Simon by his side. He had missed him terribly, after all.
It had been a gorgeous day, so Nahyuta had suggested that they walk to their lunch destination rather than take any cars.
A mistake, he now realized.
Not too far away from them, a bomb had detonated.
Debris had fallen all around the group, and their bodyguards swarmed to protect them. However, it was Edgeworth and Nahyuta that they focused on. They grabbed them and stood around them, and Nahyuta frantically scanned for Simon, screaming at his guards in Khura’inese to find Prosecutor Blackquill. Unfortunately, however, they wouldn’t leave his side, and Edgeworth’s were rushing to get him into the nearby car that had pulled up for them. Nahyuta resisted his guards’ attempts to do the same, as he yelled for Simon.
They had all assumed that, if this was indeed a targeted attack, that it was aimed at either Nahyuta or Edgeworth. They were the two important political figures, so it seemed obvious that they would be the figures that people might want to attack.
Their second mistake.
Amidst all the chaos, they heard a single shot.
And when Nahyuta heard the horrid screech of a hawk and then the dropping of a body, his stomach had dropped and he screamed Simon’s name.
Dust cleared a little bit and he saw the outline of Simon’s body lying motionless on the floor. Even from where he was, still being dragged along by his bodyguards, he could tell that blood was beginning to quickly pool around Simon. No matter how much Nahyuta yelled for him, Simon wouldn’t move.
Was he...?
Police soon swarmed, and some grabbed the apparently lifeless Simon Blackquill to try and bring him to safety. Nahyuta watched them take Simon into the closest building and begin CPR. Taka was circling frantically, still screeching and clawing at anyone who tried to get close.
“We need to go,” Nahyuta heard someone say. What was the point of being king-regent if his guards wouldn’t listen to him in a dire situation such as this? Of course, he was telling them to leave him in that area, putting himself at greater risk, so it was no wonder that they would not listen to him.
Still, he resisted as much as he could before he was finally dragged away, and the image of a policewoman breathing into Simon’s mouth was burned into his memory.
-----
Figuring out which hospital Simon was taken to took far too long for Nahyuta’s liking. He had convinced himself of the worst, and spent his time in the waiting area, impatiently demanding answers that no nurse or doctor would give to him. Edgeworth had arrived not too long after.
“Have you heard anything?” Edgeworth was panting slightly, indicating that he had ran. Nahyuta shook his head.
“No one is telling me anything,” Nahyuta replied. He was fidgeting, trying to figure out ways to expend energy that didn’t involve screaming at people or crying out of fear of Simon’s fate.
“We think now that Blackquill was the actual target...and that the attackers chose now because they knew he would be traveling with us.”
“...And that we would be the ones everyone would be scrambling to protect because of our positions,” Nahyuta finished, hating himself more with every word. He was not more important than Simon, and yet because of his position, he was protected and Simon was left vulnerable and exposed. Exactly what his attackers wanted.
But who...?
“We’re thinking it was the Phantom’s organization.”
Fuck.
Highly trained international spies rarely missed their targets.
Nahyuta began shaking his head, trying to convince himself of anything other than the obvious.
It was several hours later before a doctor finally came into the waiting area to speak with them. Athena and Klavier had both called, saying that no one was letting them pass a certain area. Athena was almost arrested because she almost punched a cop blocking her from seeing her friend. Nahyuta told her that he would let her know once he heard anything.
The doctor said that Simon had been in surgery, and that it was successful.
“He’s...he’s alive?” Nahyuta couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, and he’s stable. He’s very resilient.”
Edgeworth asked if they could see him, and as soon as the doctor said yes and informed them of the room number, Nahyuta was running, not even bothering to wait for Edgeworth.
When he burst through the door, he saw Simon. He was bandaged up and seemed paler than even normal, lying down with his hair sprawled out on the pillows. He initially had his eyes closed but wasn’t sleeping, since they lazily opened as his head turned to Nahyuta when he had heard him enter.
“Sad Monk...” His voice was raspy and soft, and Nahyuta rushed to his side.
“I thought you were dead...”
Simon laughed a little. “It’ll take more than one sniper’s bullet to the stomach to kill me, Sad Monk.”
Nahyuta almost felt his legs collapse underneath him - the only reason he remained standing was because he wanted to make sure he memorized every detail of Simon’s face. It was a bit difficult, though, with the tears suddenly blurring his vision.
He held onto Simon’s hand, kissing it a few times as he let the tears fall.
“You...you almost...and if we had-” Nahyuta’s speech was interrupted by some small gasps. “I saw you on the ground bleeding and...and...”
“Hush, Sad Monk. I’m...well alright isn’t the right word, but I’m alive. So you need not worry.”
“I’m always going to worry,” Nahyuta fired back. How could he not worry about the man he loved almost dying? Being the target of an attempted assassination?
“I know, Nahyuta. I know.”
Nahyuta leaned over and kissed Simon’s lips, unable to tear himself away.
