How To Fall From Grace [MxM]

Step 21: Fall out of favour

Getting out of bed that morning had been torture. Sure, Marius' bed was smaller and less comfortable than Frey's own, and the room being void of heat made any desire to abandon the warm covers and set foot on a drafty floor sound ridiculous, but it had to happen.

Marius had already left anyway. After starting a fire to keep Frey warm for at least a while he'd left for his workday, which turned out to begin much earlier than Frey would have dreamed of. He'd been kind enough to let Frey sleep. All night, actually, which seemed a little strange to Frey. Not that Marius should have tried anything just because they shared a bed, but at the same time Frey had, without admitting it of course, expected it to at least some degree. Just an inappropriate touch or two. They were already more or less pressed against each other, so why hadn't he taken the chance? Probably because of common decency and respect, but Frey decided to be disappointed regardless.

As he set foot on the grounds with a wish to make it to his room unnoticed, he wondered if that's what Luna felt like all the time. Being in circumstances where it'd be preferable to not get caught, though he doubted his situation paled in comparison to the disasters she tried to hide on a daily basis.

It went smoothly though, to his delight and surprise. There was a chance some people noticed him but chose to stay silent because, well, it was Frey, but other than that he managed to avoid interactions all the way through the garden and up to the mansion's second floor.

Where he ran into Noah.

Not the worst encounter, Frey supposed, but he could still sense the imminent Hargreaves nosiness.

"Morning." Noah smiled, but a slight frown gave his attempted neutrality away. "You've... Been outside? Already?"

There it is.

"I've been giving early mornings a try, just to see what the fuss was about." Frey shrugged it off. "I don't care for it."

"I'm not much of a morning person either," Noah agreed, sighing. "But I had a geography lesson this morning so I thought I'd come by here to pick up some books afterwards."

"How admirable." Frey faked a smile. "I, myself, will be taking a nap."

"Actually, Lord Carrigan was looking for you," Noah said, making Frey's mood drop in an instant. "He said the earlier today the better."

"Why are you talking to him?" Frey masked a scowl, only then remembering about the big meeting later that night. "He's more than three times your age, and if you're going to learn from someone, why not ask Damien instead? He's far more experienced and actually tolerable on some occasions."

"I heard you never talked to people your age when you were younger either," Noah countered. "Besides, Damien is older than Carrigan."

"But he's your family." Frey did not want to tell Noah about his past with Carrigan. How intriguing he could be, especially to inexperienced young men, but Frey would never condone it. There were too many reasons why he couldn't. Noah was still too young in the first place and unlike Frey it was debatable whether or not he could set boundaries accordingly. "And despite his flaws we both know you can trust him."

"Trust who?"

Frey closed his eyes with a sigh before turning around to face the new addition to the conversation.

"Lord Carrigan." He smiled as though they'd never had a drop of bad blood between them. "I heard you were looking for me."

"Indeed." Carrigan nodded to Noah, who took it as a cue to give them some privacy. "It's about tonight's meeting."

He paused in front of Frey, forehead wrinkling as he leaned forward to inhale a breath through his nose.

"You smell... Different."