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Turns of the seasons and turns of the weather brought lulls in communication between kingdoms, but it finally was high and time for there to be a connection made. Through trecherous winds the band traveled in deliverance of what was about to be the new high prince of the Gnomish kingdom through marriage. Erik, young and able and absolutely bored out of his mind was perhaps what you would call unprepared for this marriage into the kingdom, and though he was one of duty and devotion to his home they called the kingdom of fairies, he was truly trying to weasle his way away from his company. As they approached a swamp and kept their gaze and bodies closer to the prince, he could almost feel his breath squeeze out of him from the invasion of his personal space. Could he coax his horse to kick legs out? Unfortunately, he didn't think so. The swamp, for some odd reason with as wild as it looked, had a promising air to it, and though he was absolutely unexperienced with the sorts of flora and fauna contained in there, he was sure his expertise in such fields would prove better than his companies. This would lead him truly to an escape from the suffocation he had been dreading thus far.

The sound of horses and men had alerted the swamp and its inhabitants to their soon to be guests far before the party had ever reached the marshy mass. In the gloomy cover of trees waited a pale but delicate figure who watched the men as they entered his swamp. He was worried-he was always worried when people came in-but these men seemed study and knowledgable and had passed through earlier with ony small difficulties that Caspar had worked on remedying for them so as to not burden them overmuch. He'd given the horses tonic while the men slept to keep the beasts from taking ill from the water and grasses and slipped a small protective extract into the main water of the group so that the large insects that lived in the area wouldn't...well so they wouldn't eat the men alive. As he watched the group he frowned a bit because they appeared to have grown in number but that was alright, Cas was there to help them through regardless.

As the men of the company barked between each other tirelessly, the prince could feel his patience grind together like stones, slowing becoming pebbles and dust as they moved through the beginnings of the great marshy swamp. There was the faint ringing of boisterous noise always in his ears, and what the /hell/ was that pale thing in the corner of his eye? Every time he turned to blink it away or perhaps actually catch sight of something, it was gone! Nearly grinding his teeth as hard as stones, he tugged on the reins of his horse briefly and quietly, receeding while they were still distracted. The paths looked simple enough, he could navigate backwards away again and travel smaller roads to another place before they would even notice his missing, he was sure. As Erik's eyes squinted he pulled his horse to a stop and watched plain and simple as they continued on without him. He rubbed his face and surveyed around him, letting out a long tired breath and taking what appeared to him to be a smaller route along the swamp, though what lied ahead was absolutely unknown to him.

Oh. Oh no oh no oh no. Caspar saw one of the men stop and head off the main path and he was at an impass. Did he follow the group or the man? He waffled for a moment before taking off after the single rider with graceful and careful steps. He didn't recognize the lone man which meant he likely didn't know the swamp or that he was headed towards a patch of rough area ahead. Cas prayed that the man knew what he was doing but as always he was worried, and stayed just out of sight of the rider and watched his progress.

The pale thing still ebbed at his eyes, and Erik was absolutely sure he was going to drown himself in mud if he couldn't figure out what it was. Stopping every so often to rub at a corner of his eye rather than keep turning about, he brought his horse to a small trot as he was a fair distance from the rest of his company and breathed like he was weightless for a moment with nobody to bother him. Surely his mother wouldn't be pleased at his bailing but there was no way he could go through with it. Strange urges had otherwise taken him over lately, and while he was fine with such things, he was sure a thin line would become of her mouth if she heard he was ill fit to provide connections between kingdoms, as understanding as she may be. Getting lost and preoccupied in his thoughts, he almost missed a large pool of sorts breaking into the road. What an odd color, he thought just before being reared as his horse backed away from the oddity. Splendid.
See the pit, see the pit, see the-oh god. Caspar moved quickly to the side when the horse reared and hoped beyond all hope that both rider and horse would be okay but he worried heavily as the inky 'water' slid towards the pair.

Erik's conciousness only stayed a moment longer after hitting the ground. A slew of swears flitted through his mind, though the most prominent thing standing among them was, "Is that an angel?" His horse took spooked steps away from the inky substance before braying out, turning and galloping back away like he had left no baggage.

Caspar winced as the man hit the ground and once the horse had darted off he swooped in and pulled the fallen rider away from the inky mess which shuddered grumpily then slunk back into it's pit. The pale man looked over the other carefully to make sure he could move him before picking him up and taking him back to his home where he cleaned him as best he could and tucked him into bed before beginning to make dinner. Every so often he would stop to check on the man to make sure he was still breathing and hadn't taken ill from the swamp.
The smell of the dinner had invaded the prince's nose like a smelling salt, jarring him awake enough to slowly become aware of his surroundings. Somebody was moving to his side. Somebody pale. Giving the softest groan possible, he quietly--though much against better judgement--rose from his resting place to confront Caspar about where he was. He had almost made it, too, though he couldn't ignore his woozy head any longer. Rather than grabbing the wrist of the albeit stronger looking man, Erik settled to resting his head on his back involuntarrily, a soft and pained "Where am I?" escaping his lips.

Caspar squeaked as he was grabbed and froze, instict kicking to stay still lest he be hit. When no such blows came he relaxed every so slightly and tried to look at his injured guest. His voice was soft when he spoke-he wasn't sure how beat up the man had gotten during that fall-"Safe. You fell in the swamp so I brought you here. Please rest more though, you hit your head hard."

Erik rested his hands on the side of the man, willing himself to stop swaying a moment. "'m fine." He murmured. "Thank you..." He straightened once more, pulling himself together enough to release the man and ignore the tugging at the back of his brain to fall prey to sleep again. His eyes found the food and his gaze turned suspicious for only the briefest of moments. Truly, this stranger wouldn't be aware of who he was. He had nothing to fear.

Caspar chewed his lip a bit and watched his 'guest'. The sway worried him and after a moment he placed his hand on the other man's chest and gently pressed him back into the bed. "Lay still, I'll bring you something." Thank god the pale man had thought to make something easily eaten just in case the rider had woken up, as it was Cas poured a bit of soup into a bowl and tore off a hunk of bread before moving this way and that to find the spoon he knew he'd just had. After a moment of searching he found the thing stuck in a different bowl that was waiting to be filled and sighed softly before grabbing it and heading back to the injured man.

The prince's squint returned as he fell back, 'oof'ing dramatically and watching the pale man worm around. "You are kind." He observed as he sat up again to sip his soup and rub his forehead. "My name is Erik." Despite his worries, he relaxed and melted to the taste of the soup, not realizing how hungry he'd been. The pale man was entrancing as well. Like an eye floater you didn't want to blink away once you got a look at him.

There was a pause from the oof but Cas honestly didn't think he'd pushed hard enough to warrant it. He settled on the edge of the bed and checked the other man's temperature while he ate and gently touched here and there to see how the damage was. "My name is Caspar. Are you hurt anywhere other than your head? I wanted to wait until you woke up to check you over." No matter how he moved or shifted to examine Erik, Cas never once let one side of his face be seen. It was covered by the fall of his bone straight hair which was just as pale as the rest of him. The clothing he was wearing didn't help the unnatural seeming paleness that clung to him for it was a simple robe set whose only colour was to be pale off-white. A bleached colour perhaps or simply the shade of undyed cotton.

Though the touching was simple and the attractive man really wasn't /that/ close, Erik still felt his fingers tighten around his bowl, sighing quietly through his nose. "Beautiful like the rest of you." Another sip of his soup broke his sentence. "My lower back feels sore, but really I don't feel that bad. Thank you for your concern." He was absolutely unable to will his eyes away from the pale man. He truly was an angel. Why, he had to be. Erik's fingers ached with desire to run through the strands of Caspar's hair, to measure the length in his mind and memorize the way it fell across hi-What was he doing? Had he been leaning? Oh god. Erik straightened once more and tried to control himself again, busying with his soup and bread. Why did fate bring him an attractive man to nurse him in his time of sexual confusion? Can somebody say "slap in the face"?

A soft flush broke the monotony of pale as it flared across Caspar's face. He ducked his face to hide a smile and shook his head. "I thank you Mister Erik, but I am not. " He paused for a moment and thought silently before nodding, "When you are done would you help me get your shirt off? I'll make sure you didn't injure your back when you fell." He still had to track down that horse and find the men Erik had been travelling with, something Cas wasn't particularly looking forward to but he accepted he should.

With a snort and a nod, Erik set his almost empty bowl aside and was tugging his shirt off, wincing slightly from the stretching movement, but making jokes all the same. "Stripping me already? I guess I'm as handsome as you to others." Once the garmet was removed, he set to finish the last bits of his soup and nibble on his bread, allowing Caspar to work away anyway. It took only a moment or two for a heavy sigh to escape his lips as his thoughts wandered off a burning railroad into a bottomless pit, and up that shirt went to cover his lap without a glance anywhere but his bread. He almost choked on a bit of his bread when he remembered once again his previous situation. "Does my company know where I am?" He asked hurridly, a soft hopeful edge to his tone.

Caspar chuckled softly and moved around on the bed with careful steps before settling to examine Erik's back. There was some bruising but it didn't look bad. Soft and gentle hands pressed here or there to determine how badly Erik was injured before slowly starting to unknot muscles here and there that Cas thought were likely hindering Erik's ability to stretch. The pale man sighed softly before answering, his hands still moving along Erik's back. "They...they do not. You were unconcious and I wanted to make sure you were aright before I found them. It's been some time though, I'm hoping they are still in the swamp."

He stiffened more as Caspar massaged his back, letting a hiss out before blinking and grinning like a fool. "No. It's fine. They and I will be fine. No need to alarm them of my situation." Pleasure rolled across him right down to the tips of his toes, though from whether he was laphappy or giddy with freedom he wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry, am I hurting you? Your muscles were bunched and I thought that might be causing some of your discomfort I'm so sorry." Caspar pulled back his hands quickly and looked down at the bed. "I'll go looking for your horse at least shortly. It ws very spooked but hopefully it made it to a safe area."

"No!" The prince said a bit too quickly. "You're fine. You weren't hurting me. Don't be sorry." At last his bread was gone and he had nothing to fidget with but his fingers. "He's a smart one, I'm sure he's fine. Thank you, again, though, Mister Caspar."

"If...if you are sure." There was hesitation before those hands went back to Erik's back to finish what they'd started. "You don't have to thank me. Would you like more to eat?"

"Positive..." He breathed. "And no, thanks are very much in order. You've done a bundle for me already. I don't think eating any more will be so good with how dizzy I am, though. You are a wonderful cook, however."

Capar nodded and moved to let Erik lay back, stepping off the bed to the floor in a graceful motion that barely disturbed his hair. "Then I'll let you rest. Please sleep well Mister Erik."

The prince let out a soft hum and watched the much paler man stand again. Absolutely an angel. Look at that grace. "Bless your kindness." He uttered quietly, oddly reminding himself of his mother a moment before rolling back into the bed in a way to not show his frontal groin problems. It took only moments of relaxing to urge himself to sleep, and he was out like a light.

Caspar cleaned up the remains of dinner and washed out the bowls and things before slipping out. While he did find the packs and sadle Erik's horse had been carrying he did not find the beast nor the company of men the man had arrived with. What he did find was an old encampment where it looked as though the group had hunkered down and moved on. Caspar carried the things back to his house and started to tuck Erik's things away when a whinny from outside made him pause and he looked out to find Erik's horse eating a hunk of the grasses that ringed the building. After a small chuckle and a bit of whispering to that horse the pale man managed to get the beast into a makeshift stable. Caspar was tired but pleased by the time he made it back inside and he fell asleep curled up in his housechair with a thin blanket wrapped around himself.

The next time Erik would awake, he practically hissed at the sight of the pale man across the room, it finally dawning on him that he had taken Caspar's bed. He rose slowly, testing his strength and determining that he wasn't nearly as woozy, though his back was still sore, and crossed the room in an almost slinking motion. He was going to get that man in his own bed if he had to drag him. No need to be so kind in all the world. Pausing his hand just before reaching the paler man's shoulder, he heard a whinny outside and snorted. Even growing up spoiled in the walls of a castle, he had never been set with such genuine kindness such as Caspar had been showing him. Though Erik's intentions were to shake the man gently awake, when he saw the light catching Caspar's even paler hair, he puffed his cheeks out and raked at a small strand gently. God, he was beautiful. Unfortunately, Erik also had a sense of priorities, and he only allowed himself to stray as such for a moment before finally finding his shoulder. "Mister Caspar." He just above whispered, "Up, please."

Caspar jumped when something touched him, the movement revealing the other side of his face for a moment and the heavy scarring that marred it before the strands shifted back into place as extremely pale violet eyes blinked and looked up at Erik. His guest-he had a guest that was right-but why was the man out of bed?! Caspar unfolded from the ball he'd curled in with a slight groan and wince before standing. "Erik, you should be in bed still, please lay back down. Are you hungry? I'll start breakfast."

Erik froze at the sight of the scars, wishing he hadn't invaded the man's privacy for a brief moment before shoving the thought away. "I sensed something amiss and it looks as though I've found it. I'm not hungry don't worry. Just get in the bed." He felt bad for waking him up, but he looked exhausted, and sleeping in a chair wasn't going to help that.

A soft frown marred Cas's brow as he looked at Erik, the fog of sleep still draped over him like a cloud. "But you are injured. Are you sure you don't want me to start breakfast?" His sleepy mind was trying to reconcile why Erik would be up and shooing him into bed bu the only answer that was coming was that the man wanted to sit in his chair and Cas reallyw asn't sure that was a good idea at the moment given how sore Erik's back had seemed.

"No." The shorter man's lips curved in amusement. "Just off to bed with you. You're tired and I'm perfectly fine, thanks to you." The thought of crawling into bed with Caspar made him wonder if he would mind, but he figured for now that it would be best to spend a few hours awake to reorientate himself anyhow.

That frown grew as Erik explained and Caspar shook his head. "No, you should try to rest more. I'm sure your head still hurts and the chair isn't so bad to sleep in, just a little cramped. Oh! Your horse came back though so you dont have to worry about it."

"No." He repeated, even more amused. "I saw, thank you very much, Caspar." A hand of his own rested on the pale man's, contemplating yanking him up. "I'll be fine so long as I know he who houses me isn't sleeping out of his bed." His hesitation was brief and almost evanesscent. "We can share it if it would make you feel better."

"Oh.." Cas rubbed his face and started to argue the point further then paused and nodded, finally looking at Erik again. "Will that keep you in bed?"

Erik chuckled, nodding. "Yes, yes. Lets go so you can sleep again before you're fully awake." His hand left Caspar's again and he slunk back across the room, waiting for him to slip in first.

His frown replaced with a soft smile Cas followed, slipping out of his thin slippers once he reached the bed and then shrugging out of the overwrap of his robe and folding it gently before setting it down. left in a thin white shirt that stopped just past his elbows-the one side showing scarring leading up his arm-a slightly darker vest and white pants the same colour as his shirt Cas crawled into that bed with a happy sigh. He snuggled in against the wall to give Erik as much room as possible but pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow he was drifting off.

Erik's curiosity had the best of him, though he tried to be respectful, and as he climbed into bed he stayed close for two main reasons: Caspar was gorgeous, and those scars were entrancing. When he had studied the ones he could see long enough in his vision, and he assured himself Caspar was asleep, he linked hands with the man for a reason he couldn't understand and tried to will himself asleep again. This man was too kind and gentle to bear such scars.

It was finally a week or two before Erik would admit he had very much milked his welcome for all it was worth, and as he finally spoke to Caspar of his health, it was determined that on this day he would teach the prince some of the ways not to murder oneself in the swamp that surrounded them.

Even if Erik had been milking his injuries to stay longer Cas wouldn't have minded at all. As the tall pale man led the other through the swamp he was careful to point out to him how to see and stay on the solid paths as well as which paths may look safe but weren't and how to spot if you were travelling towards a bad end. After a while the pair made it closer to one of the muddy areas of the swamp and Cas pointed out how the plants around this area were different than the others and how this was the best way to know you were about to traverse into the deep mudpits of the swamp if you weren't careful. There was a path though, and Cas lifted the hem of his robes as he walked across it with calm careful steps.

Erik, being filled with grace and presence of a prince as he was, squished right through the mud like an old friend beside Caspar. He asked a gossiper's amount of questions, wondering on and off how his new friend hadn't tired of him a few times. The plants interested him the most, without a doubt, and he took care to look the closest at them. His mud trekking was straight to the small flora along the patches of wet earth.

Cas stifled a laugh as he watched Erik. His amusement was so great that he almost forgot about the hole under the muck that Erik was padding towards until right before he stepped into it. "WAIT!" he called as he flailed one of his arms-this is legitimately the loudest sound that man could make.

The prince's foot hovered in mid-air. Had he just yelled? Well, almost yelled. It counts if its the loudest sound you'd ever heard from him. "Where do I step to not die?" He asked calmly, amusment tinging his words. He expected the nature traps, and knowing Caspar had the swamp down like the back of his hand helped him find a jocose nature about it rather than worry.

"Back. Please step back there's a hole right where you're foot is about to go and I don't want you to drown in mud please." Cas slid out into the muck to pull Erik to the side and guide him around the hidden hole to the flowers he'd been headed to, the process getting the pale robes in the mud.

"Oh, wait don't do that." Erik set his feet where he was guided and tugged the bottom of Caspar's robes up again before laughing. He leaned down to take a bit of mud and reached up to plop some onto his nose. "Look at the colors how they fill your angelic face~"
Caspar blinked slowly as he realized what just happened then squeaked. He reacted on autopilot, scooping up a handful and plopping it on Erik's face. Horror dawned as he realized what he'd done and he just stood there in shock, stammering apologies.

His first reaction when mudded was to mud back? Beautiful. Erik almost sprawled backwards laughing, smearing the rest of what mud he had on his hands across Caspar's face. He reached down to scoop more up, it was a war now, that's for sure.

The outraged squeak that came after the smearing was met by Caspar tackling Erik into the mud without thinking. There was a 'bloop' as both boys disappeared under the mud before Caspar surfaced with a flail and a shriek. The muckmonster promptly started looking for his equally nasty companion.

Being sure to lay under as long as he could, Erik flung his arms out wide as he finally resurfaced himself, making sure to spray mud everywhere he was able. His laughter was almost toxic in the air, sharp and trying to be subdued.

The flail came back with a vengance and Cas tripped and flopped backwards into the mud.

As he was thinking to spread the wealth of wet dirt and filth more, Erik was right on top of the once pale boy, combing mud through his hair a moment or two because asking if he was alright through his mirth.

The formerly pale boy propped himself up on his elbows and spat out some of the mud that had gotten in his mouth. He looked up at Erik before wiggling and stickling the man, laughter bubbling out of him. "Do you know how hard it is to get white clothes clean in a swamp?!"
"Why do you posses so many celestial toned aspects~?" The prince countered, "White on white on white on white~ Gorgeous but you can't deny it's impractical." He perhaps used the mud as an excuse to touch his hair again, but all the same seeped another small handful into Caspar's long strands, subduing his laughter to mere snickers.

"There isn't any dye here! Of course everything I own is white!" Cas froze for a moment and touched his face where the scars were then relaxed again when he realized the thick mud covered them. All the same he wiggled under the other man. "Off me Mr. Muckman. Lets go wash before this dries on us and I turn brown for a week."

Erik's laugh commenced once more, wiggling right back against Caspar before rolling off. "You're one to talk. Can't you make dye from some of the wonderfully lethal plants surrounding your home?" He joked, gesturing towards some of the flora in question. Standing, he offered a hand to the taller man to help raise him from the depths.

"Wel....I could but that seems rather vain. I'd rather just stick with the white." Cas took Erik's hand and stood, the mud slurping off of him as he stood. "Lethal? Really? I just thought they were mildly poisonous since the deer won't eat them."

"I have less of a clue than you do." Erik shrugged, keeping his muddy hand without thinking on it. "I don't think it's very vain to dye your own clothes, though, especially if you're doing it for practicality purposes." He nodded.

His steps a little less careful thanks to the mud, Cas started to lead Erik back towards the house with a bit of a detour. "I would need a lot of chemicals though, It's just n ot worth it."

The prince rolled his shoulders in another shrug, mentally wondering if he should make the journey to bring Caspar such things just to be obnoxious about his new friend. "If you say so, Cas." His eyes wandered as they made their way down the paths, noting different interesting things he saw. After a long period of silence by his standards, he turned to his companion and asked, "Why do you live so far away?"

They were approaching a rocky alcove as Cas answered, "It...it's safer here." He kept a firm grip on Erik's hand to make sure the other boy didn't slip as they went up and into the rock face.

His curiosity of the rocks distracted him only a second or two. "Are you in hiding?" The second Erik asked he felt as if it were stepping boundries, though he made no addition to his statement to withdraw it.

Cas lead him along with practiced steps, a path quickly forming as they went deeper. His responce was very quiet when he did answer, "Yes." After another moment or two the pair stepped into a wide underground cavern with a large pool that had steam rising from it. On a ledge next to the water were bottles and soaps for bathing and towels could be seen peeking out from a rocky niche a little away from the pool as to be out of the steam.

As the cavern opened to them, Erik laughed a little, momentarrily forgetting Caspar's answer to his question. "What's next to appear in this swamp? A full castle?" Not waiting for an answer to his obviously oh-so-clever joke, he moved a bit more into the room of the steam pool and glanced more around.

"There are ruins to the east but no castle. I think they abandoned this area a long time ago." Cas wipped some of the mud off him as he hunted for the strings and ties to his clothes before just sighing and failing out of the layers. His voice was muffled as he stripped. "I have some spare clothes here so if you leave them I'll try to get everything washed later tonight or tomorrow."

He tried not to linger on his stripping friend, but ignoring the thin and tall man was hard. Erik finally tore his gaze and chuckled, moving to remove his own clothing. "Ever so kind, Cas." He commmented. The second he was naked, he plunged into the pool with perhaps a little less caution than he should have had, plying at his hair a bit before rising out of the water again.

Finally free of his clothes Cas slipped into the water slowly, a soft hiss slipping out as the hot water hit his old scars. The went up one full side of his body, front and back though by the time Cas had submerged to his shoulders his hair was covering the worst of the ones on his chest. His shoulder and it's burns however were still very much visible.

Watching Caspar from the corner of his eye, Erik followed the scars and studied them subtly. Against much of his thought to not mention them, he scooted towards his companion and washed some of the mud off of a higher point on his shoulders as gently as he could manage, feathering against the scar as he reached that point but being very sure not to stare. It was absolutely none of his business and he knew that, but he couldn't help but want his new friend to be comfortable with them. Hiding implied he was ashamed, but of what?

Cas glanced at Erik and smiled and started trying to scrub off the mud that was on his arms. He was so used to Erik being around at this point that it didn't occur to him that something was wrong right up until he saw one of the scars on his hand and gasped, sinking into the water up to his chin with a squeak.

His reaction to pull Cas back up was almost immediate, trying to meet his eyes in what he wouldn't realize was an almost intimate gesture. "You're fine. You don't have to hide anything." Erik said quietly, moving a hand from around the other man and brushing his fingers through a small section of his long hair, washing the mud he had previously combed into it.

Cas stayed quiet and stared at the water to avoid eye contact with Erik. He was shaking some though he wouldn't admit it and his voice came out as a strangled squeak. "I-I'm sorry."

Erik's other hand moved to brush mud gently from Caspar's face. "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong." His voice was distinguishable, though still quiet. His hair-embedded hand moved to brush his hair completely out of his face, slowly as to not startle his friend.

The taller man closed his eyes and stayed as still as possible, letting Erik look to his contentment. He knew he looked hideous, he knew it. But considering that death had been his other option Cas would take living alone as a monster then being caged or burned to death by the people who were supposed to have been his family and friends.

As the beautiful pale man's face was washed away of muck and filth, his hair was combed through by Erik and the only thing the shorter Prince could think to utter was a soft, whispering garuntee of "You're beautiful." His eyes never left their search for Cas's own, twisting the pale strands of hair in his fingers like he'd just found the perfect maze.

Hands still partially twisted in all the strands that were Caspar, he cupped the pale man's face and brushed under his eyes gently, frowning down at him. "I would never lie to you. You are the farthest thing from a monster, Cas. A mark of your trials doesn't define who you are."
A frown creased his brow then deepenend and after a moment Cas sobbed and hugged onto Erik tightly and hid his face in the other man's throat.

Erik's arms folded once more around the man. As his hands rubbed at his back softly, he buried his face against the top of Caspar's head and let a soft shushing sound escape his lips. Though he wasn't much good at comforting people, he could possess a gentleness when needed, and he knew the pale man was in need of comfort and company at the moment.

After a few moments Caspar's sobs settled some and he managed to straighten and give Erik a strained smile." I'm sorry. I haven't....really talked about what happened....ever." He took a breath and tucked his hair behind his ear, "I guess it still bothers me."

Returning the smile with one of his own sincerely, the prince shook his head and pressed his lips to the pale man's forehead for a brief and fleeting moment. "It's alright. You don't need to apologize for anything, remember that, Cas." He said still so quietly. "I'm here for you should you ever need me."

All Cas could manage was a soft laugh before he took Erik's hands and covered them with his own. "All the same, let me help clean you Mr. Muckmonster. I feel responsible for nearly drowning you in mud."

Hearing him laugh caused the prince to chuckle along. "Be my guest~" A grin adorned his face and he wiggled his fingers inbetween his companion's.

Description
Turns of the seasons and turns of the weather brought lulls in communication between kingdoms, but it finally was high and time for there to be a connection made. Through trecherous winds the band traveled in deliverance of what was about to be the new high prince of the Gnomish kingdom through marriage. Erik, young and able and absolutely bored out of his mind was perhaps what you would call unprepared for this marriage into the kingdom, and though he was one of duty and devotion to his home they called the kingdom of fairies, he was truly trying to weasle his way away from his company. As they approached a swamp and kept their gaze and bodies closer to the prince, he could almost feel his breath squeeze out of him from the invasion of his personal space. Could he coax his horse to kick legs out? Unfortunately, he didn't think so. The swamp, for some odd reason with as wild as it looked, had a promising air to it, and though he was absolutely unexperienced with the sorts of flora and fauna contained in there, he was sure his expertise in such fields would prove better than his companies. This would lead him truly to an escape from the suffocation he had been dreading thus far.

The sound of horses and men had alerted the swamp and its inhabitants to their soon to be guests far before the party had ever reached the marshy mass. In the gloomy cover of trees waited a pale but delicate figure who watched the men as they entered his swamp. He was worried-he was always worried when people came in-but these men seemed study and knowledgable and had passed through earlier with ony small difficulties that Caspar had worked on remedying for them so as to not burden them overmuch. He'd given the horses tonic while the men slept to keep the beasts from taking ill from the water and grasses and slipped a small protective extract into the main water of the group so that the large insects that lived in the area wouldn't...well so they wouldn't eat the men alive. As he watched the group he frowned a bit because they appeared to have grown in number but that was alright, Cas was there to help them through regardless.

As the men of the company barked between each other tirelessly, the prince could feel his patience grind together like stones, slowing becoming pebbles and dust as they moved through the beginnings of the great marshy swamp. There was the faint ringing of boisterous noise always in his ears, and what the /hell/ was that pale thing in the corner of his eye? Every time he turned to blink it away or perhaps actually catch sight of something, it was gone! Nearly grinding his teeth as hard as stones, he tugged on the reins of his horse briefly and quietly, receeding while they were still distracted. The paths looked simple enough, he could navigate backwards away again and travel smaller roads to another place before they would even notice his missing, he was sure. As Erik's eyes squinted he pulled his horse to a stop and watched plain and simple as they continued on without him. He rubbed his face and surveyed around him, letting out a long tired breath and taking what appeared to him to be a smaller route along the swamp, though what lied ahead was absolutely unknown to him.

Oh. Oh no oh no oh no. Caspar saw one of the men stop and head off the main path and he was at an impass. Did he follow the group or the man? He waffled for a moment before taking off after the single rider with graceful and careful steps. He didn't recognize the lone man which meant he likely didn't know the swamp or that he was headed towards a patch of rough area ahead. Cas prayed that the man knew what he was doing but as always he was worried, and stayed just out of sight of the rider and watched his progress.

The pale thing still ebbed at his eyes, and Erik was absolutely sure he was going to drown himself in mud if he couldn't figure out what it was. Stopping every so often to rub at a corner of his eye rather than keep turning about, he brought his horse to a small trot as he was a fair distance from the rest of his company and breathed like he was weightless for a moment with nobody to bother him. Surely his mother wouldn't be pleased at his bailing but there was no way he could go through with it. Strange urges had otherwise taken him over lately, and while he was fine with such things, he was sure a thin line would become of her mouth if she heard he was ill fit to provide connections between kingdoms, as understanding as she may be. Getting lost and preoccupied in his thoughts, he almost missed a large pool of sorts breaking into the road. What an odd color, he thought just before being reared as his horse backed away from the oddity. Splendid.
See the pit, see the pit, see the-oh god. Caspar moved quickly to the side when the horse reared and hoped beyond all hope that both rider and horse would be okay but he worried heavily as the inky 'water' slid towards the pair.

Erik's conciousness only stayed a moment longer after hitting the ground. A slew of swears flitted through his mind, though the most prominent thing standing among them was, "Is that an angel?" His horse took spooked steps away from the inky substance before braying out, turning and galloping back away like he had left no baggage.

Caspar winced as the man hit the ground and once the horse had darted off he swooped in and pulled the fallen rider away from the inky mess which shuddered grumpily then slunk back into it's pit. The pale man looked over the other carefully to make sure he could move him before picking him up and taking him back to his home where he cleaned him as best he could and tucked him into bed before beginning to make dinner. Every so often he would stop to check on the man to make sure he was still breathing and hadn't taken ill from the swamp.
The smell of the dinner had invaded the prince's nose like a smelling salt, jarring him awake enough to slowly become aware of his surroundings. Somebody was moving to his side. Somebody pale. Giving the softest groan possible, he quietly--though much against better judgement--rose from his resting place to confront Caspar about where he was. He had almost made it, too, though he couldn't ignore his woozy head any longer. Rather than grabbing the wrist of the albeit stronger looking man, Erik settled to resting his head on his back involuntarrily, a soft and pained "Where am I?" escaping his lips.

Caspar squeaked as he was grabbed and froze, instict kicking to stay still lest he be hit. When no such blows came he relaxed every so slightly and tried to look at his injured guest. His voice was soft when he spoke-he wasn't sure how beat up the man had gotten during that fall-"Safe. You fell in the swamp so I brought you here. Please rest more though, you hit your head hard."

Erik rested his hands on the side of the man, willing himself to stop swaying a moment. "'m fine." He murmured. "Thank you..." He straightened once more, pulling himself together enough to release the man and ignore the tugging at the back of his brain to fall prey to sleep again. His eyes found the food and his gaze turned suspicious for only the briefest of moments. Truly, this stranger wouldn't be aware of who he was. He had nothing to fear.

Caspar chewed his lip a bit and watched his 'guest'. The sway worried him and after a moment he placed his hand on the other man's chest and gently pressed him back into the bed. "Lay still, I'll bring you something." Thank god the pale man had thought to make something easily eaten just in case the rider had woken up, as it was Cas poured a bit of soup into a bowl and tore off a hunk of bread before moving this way and that to find the spoon he knew he'd just had. After a moment of searching he found the thing stuck in a different bowl that was waiting to be filled and sighed softly before grabbing it and heading back to the injured man.

The prince's squint returned as he fell back, 'oof'ing dramatically and watching the pale man worm around. "You are kind." He observed as he sat up again to sip his soup and rub his forehead. "My name is Erik." Despite his worries, he relaxed and melted to the taste of the soup, not realizing how hungry he'd been. The pale man was entrancing as well. Like an eye floater you didn't want to blink away once you got a look at him.

There was a pause from the oof but Cas honestly didn't think he'd pushed hard enough to warrant it. He settled on the edge of the bed and checked the other man's temperature while he ate and gently touched here and there to see how the damage was. "My name is Caspar. Are you hurt anywhere other than your head? I wanted to wait until you woke up to check you over." No matter how he moved or shifted to examine Erik, Cas never once let one side of his face be seen. It was covered by the fall of his bone straight hair which was just as pale as the rest of him. The clothing he was wearing didn't help the unnatural seeming paleness that clung to him for it was a simple robe set whose only colour was to be pale off-white. A bleached colour perhaps or simply the shade of undyed cotton.

Though the touching was simple and the attractive man really wasn't /that/ close, Erik still felt his fingers tighten around his bowl, sighing quietly through his nose. "Beautiful like the rest of you." Another sip of his soup broke his sentence. "My lower back feels sore, but really I don't feel that bad. Thank you for your concern." He was absolutely unable to will his eyes away from the pale man. He truly was an angel. Why, he had to be. Erik's fingers ached with desire to run through the strands of Caspar's hair, to measure the length in his mind and memorize the way it fell across hi-What was he doing? Had he been leaning? Oh god. Erik straightened once more and tried to control himself again, busying with his soup and bread. Why did fate bring him an attractive man to nurse him in his time of sexual confusion? Can somebody say "slap in the face"?

A soft flush broke the monotony of pale as it flared across Caspar's face. He ducked his face to hide a smile and shook his head. "I thank you Mister Erik, but I am not. " He paused for a moment and thought silently before nodding, "When you are done would you help me get your shirt off? I'll make sure you didn't injure your back when you fell." He still had to track down that horse and find the men Erik had been travelling with, something Cas wasn't particularly looking forward to but he accepted he should.

With a snort and a nod, Erik set his almost empty bowl aside and was tugging his shirt off, wincing slightly from the stretching movement, but making jokes all the same. "Stripping me already? I guess I'm as handsome as you to others." Once the garmet was removed, he set to finish the last bits of his soup and nibble on his bread, allowing Caspar to work away anyway. It took only a moment or two for a heavy sigh to escape his lips as his thoughts wandered off a burning railroad into a bottomless pit, and up that shirt went to cover his lap without a glance anywhere but his bread. He almost choked on a bit of his bread when he remembered once again his previous situation. "Does my company know where I am?" He asked hurridly, a soft hopeful edge to his tone.

Caspar chuckled softly and moved around on the bed with careful steps before settling to examine Erik's back. There was some bruising but it didn't look bad. Soft and gentle hands pressed here or there to determine how badly Erik was injured before slowly starting to unknot muscles here and there that Cas thought were likely hindering Erik's ability to stretch. The pale man sighed softly before answering, his hands still moving along Erik's back. "They...they do not. You were unconcious and I wanted to make sure you were aright before I found them. It's been some time though, I'm hoping they are still in the swamp."

He stiffened more as Caspar massaged his back, letting a hiss out before blinking and grinning like a fool. "No. It's fine. They and I will be fine. No need to alarm them of my situation." Pleasure rolled across him right down to the tips of his toes, though from whether he was laphappy or giddy with freedom he wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry, am I hurting you? Your muscles were bunched and I thought that might be causing some of your discomfort I'm so sorry." Caspar pulled back his hands quickly and looked down at the bed. "I'll go looking for your horse at least shortly. It ws very spooked but hopefully it made it to a safe area."

"No!" The prince said a bit too quickly. "You're fine. You weren't hurting me. Don't be sorry." At last his bread was gone and he had nothing to fidget with but his fingers. "He's a smart one, I'm sure he's fine. Thank you, again, though, Mister Caspar."

"If...if you are sure." There was hesitation before those hands went back to Erik's back to finish what they'd started. "You don't have to thank me. Would you like more to eat?"

"Positive..." He breathed. "And no, thanks are very much in order. You've done a bundle for me already. I don't think eating any more will be so good with how dizzy I am, though. You are a wonderful cook, however."

Capar nodded and moved to let Erik lay back, stepping off the bed to the floor in a graceful motion that barely disturbed his hair. "Then I'll let you rest. Please sleep well Mister Erik."

The prince let out a soft hum and watched the much paler man stand again. Absolutely an angel. Look at that grace. "Bless your kindness." He uttered quietly, oddly reminding himself of his mother a moment before rolling back into the bed in a way to not show his frontal groin problems. It took only moments of relaxing to urge himself to sleep, and he was out like a light.

Caspar cleaned up the remains of dinner and washed out the bowls and things before slipping out. While he did find the packs and sadle Erik's horse had been carrying he did not find the beast nor the company of men the man had arrived with. What he did find was an old encampment where it looked as though the group had hunkered down and moved on. Caspar carried the things back to his house and started to tuck Erik's things away when a whinny from outside made him pause and he looked out to find Erik's horse eating a hunk of the grasses that ringed the building. After a small chuckle and a bit of whispering to that horse the pale man managed to get the beast into a makeshift stable. Caspar was tired but pleased by the time he made it back inside and he fell asleep curled up in his housechair with a thin blanket wrapped around himself.

The next time Erik would awake, he practically hissed at the sight of the pale man across the room, it finally dawning on him that he had taken Caspar's bed. He rose slowly, testing his strength and determining that he wasn't nearly as woozy, though his back was still sore, and crossed the room in an almost slinking motion. He was going to get that man in his own bed if he had to drag him. No need to be so kind in all the world. Pausing his hand just before reaching the paler man's shoulder, he heard a whinny outside and snorted. Even growing up spoiled in the walls of a castle, he had never been set with such genuine kindness such as Caspar had been showing him. Though Erik's intentions were to shake the man gently awake, when he saw the light catching Caspar's even paler hair, he puffed his cheeks out and raked at a small strand gently. God, he was beautiful. Unfortunately, Erik also had a sense of priorities, and he only allowed himself to stray as such for a moment before finally finding his shoulder. "Mister Caspar." He just above whispered, "Up, please."

Caspar jumped when something touched him, the movement revealing the other side of his face for a moment and the heavy scarring that marred it before the strands shifted back into place as extremely pale violet eyes blinked and looked up at Erik. His guest-he had a guest that was right-but why was the man out of bed?! Caspar unfolded from the ball he'd curled in with a slight groan and wince before standing. "Erik, you should be in bed still, please lay back down. Are you hungry? I'll start breakfast."

Erik froze at the sight of the scars, wishing he hadn't invaded the man's privacy for a brief moment before shoving the thought away. "I sensed something amiss and it looks as though I've found it. I'm not hungry don't worry. Just get in the bed." He felt bad for waking him up, but he looked exhausted, and sleeping in a chair wasn't going to help that.

A soft frown marred Cas's brow as he looked at Erik, the fog of sleep still draped over him like a cloud. "But you are injured. Are you sure you don't want me to start breakfast?" His sleepy mind was trying to reconcile why Erik would be up and shooing him into bed bu the only answer that was coming was that the man wanted to sit in his chair and Cas reallyw asn't sure that was a good idea at the moment given how sore Erik's back had seemed.

"No." The shorter man's lips curved in amusement. "Just off to bed with you. You're tired and I'm perfectly fine, thanks to you." The thought of crawling into bed with Caspar made him wonder if he would mind, but he figured for now that it would be best to spend a few hours awake to reorientate himself anyhow.

That frown grew as Erik explained and Caspar shook his head. "No, you should try to rest more. I'm sure your head still hurts and the chair isn't so bad to sleep in, just a little cramped. Oh! Your horse came back though so you dont have to worry about it."

"No." He repeated, even more amused. "I saw, thank you very much, Caspar." A hand of his own rested on the pale man's, contemplating yanking him up. "I'll be fine so long as I know he who houses me isn't sleeping out of his bed." His hesitation was brief and almost evanesscent. "We can share it if it would make you feel better."

"Oh.." Cas rubbed his face and started to argue the point further then paused and nodded, finally looking at Erik again. "Will that keep you in bed?"

Erik chuckled, nodding. "Yes, yes. Lets go so you can sleep again before you're fully awake." His hand left Caspar's again and he slunk back across the room, waiting for him to slip in first.

His frown replaced with a soft smile Cas followed, slipping out of his thin slippers once he reached the bed and then shrugging out of the overwrap of his robe and folding it gently before setting it down. left in a thin white shirt that stopped just past his elbows-the one side showing scarring leading up his arm-a slightly darker vest and white pants the same colour as his shirt Cas crawled into that bed with a happy sigh. He snuggled in against the wall to give Erik as much room as possible but pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow he was drifting off.

Erik's curiosity had the best of him, though he tried to be respectful, and as he climbed into bed he stayed close for two main reasons: Caspar was gorgeous, and those scars were entrancing. When he had studied the ones he could see long enough in his vision, and he assured himself Caspar was asleep, he linked hands with the man for a reason he couldn't understand and tried to will himself asleep again. This man was too kind and gentle to bear such scars.

It was finally a week or two before Erik would admit he had very much milked his welcome for all it was worth, and as he finally spoke to Caspar of his health, it was determined that on this day he would teach the prince some of the ways not to murder oneself in the swamp that surrounded them.

Even if Erik had been milking his injuries to stay longer Cas wouldn't have minded at all. As the tall pale man led the other through the swamp he was careful to point out to him how to see and stay on the solid paths as well as which paths may look safe but weren't and how to spot if you were travelling towards a bad end. After a while the pair made it closer to one of the muddy areas of the swamp and Cas pointed out how the plants around this area were different than the others and how this was the best way to know you were about to traverse into the deep mudpits of the swamp if you weren't careful. There was a path though, and Cas lifted the hem of his robes as he walked across it with calm careful steps.

Erik, being filled with grace and presence of a prince as he was, squished right through the mud like an old friend beside Caspar. He asked a gossiper's amount of questions, wondering on and off how his new friend hadn't tired of him a few times. The plants interested him the most, without a doubt, and he took care to look the closest at them. His mud trekking was straight to the small flora along the patches of wet earth.

Cas stifled a laugh as he watched Erik. His amusement was so great that he almost forgot about the hole under the muck that Erik was padding towards until right before he stepped into it. "WAIT!" he called as he flailed one of his arms-this is legitimately the loudest sound that man could make.

The prince's foot hovered in mid-air. Had he just yelled? Well, almost yelled. It counts if its the loudest sound you'd ever heard from him. "Where do I step to not die?" He asked calmly, amusment tinging his words. He expected the nature traps, and knowing Caspar had the swamp down like the back of his hand helped him find a jocose nature about it rather than worry.

"Back. Please step back there's a hole right where you're foot is about to go and I don't want you to drown in mud please." Cas slid out into the muck to pull Erik to the side and guide him around the hidden hole to the flowers he'd been headed to, the process getting the pale robes in the mud.

"Oh, wait don't do that." Erik set his feet where he was guided and tugged the bottom of Caspar's robes up again before laughing. He leaned down to take a bit of mud and reached up to plop some onto his nose. "Look at the colors how they fill your angelic face~"
Caspar blinked slowly as he realized what just happened then squeaked. He reacted on autopilot, scooping up a handful and plopping it on Erik's face. Horror dawned as he realized what he'd done and he just stood there in shock, stammering apologies.

His first reaction when mudded was to mud back? Beautiful. Erik almost sprawled backwards laughing, smearing the rest of what mud he had on his hands across Caspar's face. He reached down to scoop more up, it was a war now, that's for sure.

The outraged squeak that came after the smearing was met by Caspar tackling Erik into the mud without thinking. There was a 'bloop' as both boys disappeared under the mud before Caspar surfaced with a flail and a shriek. The muckmonster promptly started looking for his equally nasty companion.

Being sure to lay under as long as he could, Erik flung his arms out wide as he finally resurfaced himself, making sure to spray mud everywhere he was able. His laughter was almost toxic in the air, sharp and trying to be subdued.

The flail came back with a vengance and Cas tripped and flopped backwards into the mud.

As he was thinking to spread the wealth of wet dirt and filth more, Erik was right on top of the once pale boy, combing mud through his hair a moment or two because asking if he was alright through his mirth.

The formerly pale boy propped himself up on his elbows and spat out some of the mud that had gotten in his mouth. He looked up at Erik before wiggling and stickling the man, laughter bubbling out of him. "Do you know how hard it is to get white clothes clean in a swamp?!"
"Why do you posses so many celestial toned aspects~?" The prince countered, "White on white on white on white~ Gorgeous but you can't deny it's impractical." He perhaps used the mud as an excuse to touch his hair again, but all the same seeped another small handful into Caspar's long strands, subduing his laughter to mere snickers.

"There isn't any dye here! Of course everything I own is white!" Cas froze for a moment and touched his face where the scars were then relaxed again when he realized the thick mud covered them. All the same he wiggled under the other man. "Off me Mr. Muckman. Lets go wash before this dries on us and I turn brown for a week."

Erik's laugh commenced once more, wiggling right back against Caspar before rolling off. "You're one to talk. Can't you make dye from some of the wonderfully lethal plants surrounding your home?" He joked, gesturing towards some of the flora in question. Standing, he offered a hand to the taller man to help raise him from the depths.

"Wel....I could but that seems rather vain. I'd rather just stick with the white." Cas took Erik's hand and stood, the mud slurping off of him as he stood. "Lethal? Really? I just thought they were mildly poisonous since the deer won't eat them."

"I have less of a clue than you do." Erik shrugged, keeping his muddy hand without thinking on it. "I don't think it's very vain to dye your own clothes, though, especially if you're doing it for practicality purposes." He nodded.

His steps a little less careful thanks to the mud, Cas started to lead Erik back towards the house with a bit of a detour. "I would need a lot of chemicals though, It's just n ot worth it."

The prince rolled his shoulders in another shrug, mentally wondering if he should make the journey to bring Caspar such things just to be obnoxious about his new friend. "If you say so, Cas." His eyes wandered as they made their way down the paths, noting different interesting things he saw. After a long period of silence by his standards, he turned to his companion and asked, "Why do you live so far away?"

They were approaching a rocky alcove as Cas answered, "It...it's safer here." He kept a firm grip on Erik's hand to make sure the other boy didn't slip as they went up and into the rock face.

His curiosity of the rocks distracted him only a second or two. "Are you in hiding?" The second Erik asked he felt as if it were stepping boundries, though he made no addition to his statement to withdraw it.

Cas lead him along with practiced steps, a path quickly forming as they went deeper. His responce was very quiet when he did answer, "Yes." After another moment or two the pair stepped into a wide underground cavern with a large pool that had steam rising from it. On a ledge next to the water were bottles and soaps for bathing and towels could be seen peeking out from a rocky niche a little away from the pool as to be out of the steam.

As the cavern opened to them, Erik laughed a little, momentarrily forgetting Caspar's answer to his question. "What's next to appear in this swamp? A full castle?" Not waiting for an answer to his obviously oh-so-clever joke, he moved a bit more into the room of the steam pool and glanced more around.

"There are ruins to the east but no castle. I think they abandoned this area a long time ago." Cas wipped some of the mud off him as he hunted for the strings and ties to his clothes before just sighing and failing out of the layers. His voice was muffled as he stripped. "I have some spare clothes here so if you leave them I'll try to get everything washed later tonight or tomorrow."

He tried not to linger on his stripping friend, but ignoring the thin and tall man was hard. Erik finally tore his gaze and chuckled, moving to remove his own clothing. "Ever so kind, Cas." He commmented. The second he was naked, he plunged into the pool with perhaps a little less caution than he should have had, plying at his hair a bit before rising out of the water again.

Finally free of his clothes Cas slipped into the water slowly, a soft hiss slipping out as the hot water hit his old scars. The went up one full side of his body, front and back though by the time Cas had submerged to his shoulders his hair was covering the worst of the ones on his chest. His shoulder and it's burns however were still very much visible.

Watching Caspar from the corner of his eye, Erik followed the scars and studied them subtly. Against much of his thought to not mention them, he scooted towards his companion and washed some of the mud off of a higher point on his shoulders as gently as he could manage, feathering against the scar as he reached that point but being very sure not to stare. It was absolutely none of his business and he knew that, but he couldn't help but want his new friend to be comfortable with them. Hiding implied he was ashamed, but of what?

Cas glanced at Erik and smiled and started trying to scrub off the mud that was on his arms. He was so used to Erik being around at this point that it didn't occur to him that something was wrong right up until he saw one of the scars on his hand and gasped, sinking into the water up to his chin with a squeak.

His reaction to pull Cas back up was almost immediate, trying to meet his eyes in what he wouldn't realize was an almost intimate gesture. "You're fine. You don't have to hide anything." Erik said quietly, moving a hand from around the other man and brushing his fingers through a small section of his long hair, washing the mud he had previously combed into it.

Cas stayed quiet and stared at the water to avoid eye contact with Erik. He was shaking some though he wouldn't admit it and his voice came out as a strangled squeak. "I-I'm sorry."

Erik's other hand moved to brush mud gently from Caspar's face. "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong." His voice was distinguishable, though still quiet. His hair-embedded hand moved to brush his hair completely out of his face, slowly as to not startle his friend.

The taller man closed his eyes and stayed as still as possible, letting Erik look to his contentment. He knew he looked hideous, he knew it. But considering that death had been his other option Cas would take living alone as a monster then being caged or burned to death by the people who were supposed to have been his family and friends.

As the beautiful pale man's face was washed away of muck and filth, his hair was combed through by Erik and the only thing the shorter Prince could think to utter was a soft, whispering garuntee of "You're beautiful." His eyes never left their search for Cas's own, twisting the pale strands of hair in his fingers like he'd just found the perfect maze.

Hands still partially twisted in all the strands that were Caspar, he cupped the pale man's face and brushed under his eyes gently, frowning down at him. "I would never lie to you. You are the farthest thing from a monster, Cas. A mark of your trials doesn't define who you are."
A frown creased his brow then deepenend and after a moment Cas sobbed and hugged onto Erik tightly and hid his face in the other man's throat.

Erik's arms folded once more around the man. As his hands rubbed at his back softly, he buried his face against the top of Caspar's head and let a soft shushing sound escape his lips. Though he wasn't much good at comforting people, he could possess a gentleness when needed, and he knew the pale man was in need of comfort and company at the moment.

After a few moments Caspar's sobs settled some and he managed to straighten and give Erik a strained smile." I'm sorry. I haven't....really talked about what happened....ever." He took a breath and tucked his hair behind his ear, "I guess it still bothers me."

Returning the smile with one of his own sincerely, the prince shook his head and pressed his lips to the pale man's forehead for a brief and fleeting moment. "It's alright. You don't need to apologize for anything, remember that, Cas." He said still so quietly. "I'm here for you should you ever need me."

All Cas could manage was a soft laugh before he took Erik's hands and covered them with his own. "All the same, let me help clean you Mr. Muckmonster. I feel responsible for nearly drowning you in mud."

Hearing him laugh caused the prince to chuckle along. "Be my guest~" A grin adorned his face and he wiggled his fingers inbetween his companion's.