Bad Guy (CARZIGER ROYALTY AU)

♚ chapter four: lost connections ♚

(quick author's note, i just wanna say thank you to all of y'all who are commenting. i probably would've stopped updating this 2 months ago if i thought nobody was reading it. anyway, here's an update. spoilers: it features two new vv good boys 👀)

When the brown-haired spy awoke the next morning, he was quick and silent to whisper an unnoticed goodbye to his blond friend who was still sleeping soundly in his bed. He did this as he slipped out the door and ran back through the halls and down some stairs, all the while thoughts of last night's activities bounced around in his busy mind. His drowsy brain pictured Maxx skipping beside him gleefully in the corridors, giggling and holding his hand as they outran guards or stray people who happened to be walking about in the night, threatening to interrupt their good times.

Their friendship seemed to be placed in uncharted territory, and Cody wasn't used to be treated with this level of kindness and respect in a long time. It felt strangely odd and familiar at the same time, but with that brought comfort and past memories resurfaced of times when he was much younger and much more happier with his decisions and way of living.

Of course, he was still filled with joy when not around Maxx, but the looming threat of the all powerful government monitoring his every move was just something he couldn't shake. At some point, he would have to find the poor, unfortunate prince and slit his throat in his sleep. Whoever that boy may be was unknown to the peasant and he internally wished the knowledge to never reach his mind nor the ones of the government.

What took his mind off the grand scheme of all this was working, or rather, working with his friends. Two other boys who lived in the castle were also peasants, and Cody often helped them with their chores and took time to get to know them, which is where he found out their names were Zach and Dan.

Zach was the tallest of the three of them, with pale skin and dark hair. He would crack jokes from time to time, and always knew how to keep things interesting. Dan had short, black hair and tan skin. He also had an ear piercing. The boys had made a game out of who was taller between Cody and Dan, and it seemed to change every day. They kept things light-hearted and comfortable, and soon the three of them became very close friends, despite only knowing one another for a week or two.

Today, the castle halls seemed emptier than usual. The indistinct chatter and shuffling of feet was gone, and what held its empty place was a silence that hung in the air, swinging back and forth with the 'tick' of a clock. When people strolled past him in the corridors, he swore he could hear their whispers and their judging glances weren't exactly hidden from plain sight.

Cody told himself it was all in his mind, but his friends proved that theory to be false. He had arrived in one of the storage rooms, where he, Zach, and Dan met each morning and afternoon to grab or put cleaning supplies away. The two other boys were already in there when he entered that morning, and waved hello with a cheery smile on his face. It was quickly dropped, though, when he saw their unreadable expressions.

"Hey, what's going on?" He frowned and gathered up all his cleaning supplies. The trio walked out together and down the hall, into the kitchen where they started sweeping, mopping, and dusting everything in sight. Along the way, Zach and Dan had chatted back and forth about some news that had been circulating around the castle. Cody finally found out what the news was when he was dusting off china on a shelf in the corner of the room.

"This is some top secret shit, but apparently, the royal family has another kid," said Zach as he looked over at the brown-haired boy. To Cody, this meant nothing since the news had reached him far before even the beginning of his "mission". But to everyone else in the castle, it seemed to be a big deal. Dan guessed the reason why everyone was staring was because they're all trying to figure out who the other royal kid is.

To an outsider looking in on the situation, this might have meant nothing to the peasant boy turned spy, but it spelled bad news for him. Well, his moral codes, that is. Eventually, the news would leak whoever the prince was within the castle walls, and Cody would have to kindly off the boy under that name in a hopefully peaceful way. He didn't want this, but the government of his birth kingdom had threatened him and given him a mission he had to fulfill.

With a tired and stressed out brain, the male decided keeping his distance from Maxx would be the best decision. So, no more trips to the roof or nighttime adventures for him awaited. No more sneaking glances at the blond boy in hopes that he would look back and they could smile at one another. He had to assume every man he met within the castle walls could be a candidate for the prince's spot, which meant Maxx, unfortunately, was on his very long list.

This went on for two weeks, until Cody finally cracked and climbed up to the castle roof, not to find the other boy, but a note. He picked it up with delicate fingers and his eyes were drawn to the signature at the bottom. He could make out the letters 'm' and 'a' followed by two x's. Maxx hadn't told him his name was uniquely spelled, but then again he had never asked in the first place. Now, staring at the signature at the bottom of the slip of paper, one 'x' in his name didn't feel like it properly suited him. Just one letter couldn't contain how great the other male was.

His eyes skimmed over the writing on the parchment, reading the message his friend had left for him. It had been raining all day, but the paper was dry so he deduced Maxx had come up onto the rooftop not too long ago. The message read, "Cody, are we still friends?"

It was short, yet sweet. He smiled and nodded to himself, then picked up the pencil which the shorter male had placed on the roof next to the paper and proceeding to write just one single word. No more, no less. One was all he needed, because it somehow, even through the paper and lost connections, conveyed exactly how he felt. The word?
"Yes."