("Can I do this?" "No." "Cool because I already did it.")
He hums quietly, fern eyes sweeping over the various different landscapes and presentations the gardeners created. "Do you have a rose garden?" He inquires, standing on his tip-toes to try to see over a massive hedge. "Or a lake with more aquatic flora?"
(Will: can we get a cat?
Kaz: no
Will, holding up a cat: too bad his name is simon)
He nodded, taking a step back along the gravel pathway. "We have both, yes. Which would you like to see?" luckily, he didn't have any meetings for another few hours. And even if he had, well. He was the emperor. If he decided that the meetings weren't going to happen, who would tell him no?
(aldkks Will simply cannot be stopped)
"Whichever one's closest," He answers swiftly, his smile already blossoming into a larger one. To think forty-eight hours ago he was busy thinking about how to avoid the village loudmouths on the way to the bakery. Twenty-four he was debating homicide over a breakfast he hardly touched. His stomach rumbles just thinking of the meal. (If Kaz was going to kill him, he would have already done so. The fact only proves to Will that the Snake's in this life for the long run.)
(Will gets everything he wants bc even if Kaz says no he does it anyway, and what's Kaz gonna do about it? kill him? 'n all the servants and court people think Will is super super spoiled, but no it's just bc he doesn't listen (but he's also spoiled))
"That would be the rose gardens. The pond is on the outskirts of the gardens." there were a few water features throughout the gardens, but the pond was on the outskirts, out of the way of the other garden areas. He heard Will's stomach rumble, and raised his eyebrows faintly. "Do you want lunch first?"
("sire… why do you keep spending so much on your concubine?" "oh I dont. he just takes what he wants.")
"No, I want to see these first," Will shakes his head and presses down the gravel path. Lunch can wait, especially with the promises of rose gardens and ponds. He ignores his internal cuckoo clock (it resembles his favorite one his father made when he was a child) telling him its been nearly twenty-four hours since he last ate.
("Your majesty, your concubine is entirely too spoiled" "Have you tried telling him no?")
"Alright, darling." he replied, leading Will along the pathways as they wound through the gardens until they reached the roses. They could smell the roses before they could see them, and they soon rounded a corner and the roses came into view, blooming and beautiful, in a multitude of colors. Some of the colors were of an impossible tone, a type never seen in Will's home world.
("W- I uh- I could try-" "If you say no to William, you will lose your head.")
As soon as the roses come into view, Will halts, all the breath leaving his lungs at once. "Oh my god-" He whispers before breaking off down the path to the garden. Butterflies flutter past his hair and beautiful briars lace through his fingers. "How do you get this coloration?" He muses, entirely in awe of the vibrant fuscha rose in his hand.
(no one but Kaz is allowed to tell him no but Kaz rarely tells him no anyway–)
He smiled faintly, watching his partner and wishing that they could stay just like this. That their relationship could stay just like this, soft and less guarded. But eventually they would grow bitter and angry and someone would have to die. He could see it, even now, the Martyr's bodies over the eons, bloodied and dead and always, always his fault. He shook himself, and shrugged. "I don't really know."
Will glances up at the Snake, his eyes wide with wonder. "I think it's magic…" He looks back down to the rose in hand before bringing it up to his nose. It smells sweet and heavy, like a dense, vintage perfume and causes him to blink rapidly. "Smells magic–" He observes quietly. Before he can forget such a fantastical detail, Will gently trades the rose for his sketchbook. There's a page somewhere near the front cover dedicated to his mother's white roses outside their small house. (The sight causes his heart to lurch.) With his favorite fountain pen, Will signs the notes in quick, looping cursive crammed in the bottom corner of the page.
Kaz watched, smiling faintly. "It probably is." he replied, stepping over to some roses whose petals were a shimmering silver, gently running his fingers along the petals and watching as the morning sun glinted off the metallic colors, sending small flashes of light everywhere. Further along, other roses in all sorts of colors glittered and shone and caught the light in beautiful sprays of color.
Brushing the hair out of his face, Will finishes his notes and looks over to Kazimir. The glimmering roses frame him… quite poetically. He looks like the stained glass window in the village cathedral in the morning light. Light shines from his pale hair and skin; the vibrant petals glisten. "How much do you know of the roses?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, cocking his head faintly as he studied Will. His movement was sharp and quick; he had slowed down a bit while interacting with Will, but his movements and mannerisms were still, at their core, that of a Fae. Sharp, quick, dangerous. A predator in every way.
"How long have they been there? Old roses are often… Sweeter smelling and stronger." He trails off, refocusing on the rose. They're truly beautiful and, to be frank, Will wouldn't mind spending hours sitting amongst them. "And were they crossbred for the color? Is it a fertilizer, a water, magic even?" He stops his rambling. The chance Kazimir actually has information is… slim.
Kaz just blinked at him, very clearly having no idea how to answer Will's questions. "I do not know, darling." he replied, shrugging his shoulders faintly. "But there is very likely a good degree of magic involved in their coloration." he brushed his fingers against the petals of a silvery rose.
"Magic roses," Will says aloud, more for the confirmation than anything. Of course he knew such a thing was possible, but he never thought he'd be seeing them with his own eyes. "Can we see the pond now?" He flips his sketchbook closed and tucks it beneath his arm.
Kaz hummed faintly, and nodded, leading Will out of the rose garden and along the paths, winding through the gardens until they came to the pond. It was of a good size, with various aquatic plants growing in and alongside of it. Turtles sunned themselves on rocks, along with other, less recognizable creatures.
Similar to the rose gardens, Will pauses to take in the sight. From the glistening water to the weeping trees to the small creatures that decorate the sun-warmed rocks– "What's that?" He asks, leaning into Kazimir to point out a fuzzy little thing lingering near the bushes. While Will has always favored the flora of the world, he can't help but admire the fauna from time to time.
Kaz smiled softly. "It's a Salgan." he replied. "Harmless. They do bite, but they're generally harmless." he watched Will quietly, watching as Will took in the sights around them, as the human took in the pond and all the creatures and flora that were in and around it. It was a lovely area, it really was.
"Can I hold it?" Will inquires though not waiting for an answer as he slowly approaches the critter. He slowly extends an arm and crouches in the soft grass. When the salgan doesn't move away, Will shuffles even closer until he can brush its nose. "It looks like a hedgehog–" He observes. "But without the quills." As he gently strokes the salgan's head, it begins to chitter.
Kaz watched as Will approached the creature, suppressing a smile as it chittered at the Martyr. "It does." he agreed with Will's observation. He was not sure if the creatuers were related to Hedgehogs; it was not a topic he had devoted a lot of thought to, really.
Without waiting any longer, Will scoops the small salgan into the palm of his hand. "Are they mag–" He cuts himself off as he catches sight of a short man with a well-trimmed white beard a little down the path. "Kazimir–" Will nods his head in the direction of the man.
Kaz frowned at the sight of the man, recognizing him instantly as one of his advisors. One of the more insufferable ones, at that. The man was Fae, but of a slightly different sort than Kaz, hence the short stature.
"Your majesty, I am here to remind you that you have a meeting in only 5 minutes, and you have yet to make any official appearance for the day." he said, gaze flashing to Will for only a moment before returning to Kaz, giving the emperor a quick bow.
Kaz frowned. "I am quite busy. Reschedule the meeting." he flicked his hand in a dismissive gesture, already turning back to Will.
There were a few moments of silence, and then the advisor cleared his throat. Loudly. "This is an important meeting, your majesty, and pardon me for my bluntness, but you shall have plenty of opportunities to ravage your newest concubine. There are far more important things than a human…toy." his lip curled in faint disgust, and the look he cast over Will was full of judgement and self-righteousness.
Will blinks. His eyes move from Kazimir to the advisor to the salgan in hand. A human toy–? "Excuse me, what did you call me?" If he wasn't holding a precious little creature, Will's fists would be balled at his sides. Damn it, he endured enough insults with the humans, will it just happen all over again with with Fae? And with the reputation of nothing but a whore no less…
Kaz turned back to the advisor, glaring at him. "You will not refer to William in that manner ever again." he said, voice low and furious. "If you want to keep your life, in any case." he took a step towards the man, still glaring. "Now get out of here and reschedule that meeting. I don't want to see your face again."
Will watches as the advisor's face turns bright red before he stutters out an apology, scurrying down the path. "You should get to that," Will supplies quickly and quietly, averting his eyes to the salgan. He swallows. The creature chitters; Will sets it down on the rock. "Could be important."
Kaz shook his head, stepping towards Will. "Nothing, in any lifetime, will be more important to me than you." he replied softly, reaching out to cup Will's chin in his hand, touch light and gentle. "I am sorry that he felt like he could speak like that to you. He had no right to say those things about you."
Will's eyes never meet Kazimir's. They stay locked somewhere along the pond's shoreline. "It's alright." Will jerks out of Kaz's touch, sitting down on the edge of the bank. Not anything I'm not used to, He wants to say, but leaves it unspoken. With a careful hands, Will bends some of the reeds to swirl in the water, watching intently as they break the clean reflection and send ripples spiraling across the surface. "You have a country to run. It's not like I'm going anywhere."
"And in the next lifetime I will have something else." he responded. "As I already said: nothing I ever encounter, in any lifetime, will ever be superior or more important to me than you are." he didn't move towards Will, letting the human have his space.
Will nods, already knowing these lines from faint memories of prior lives. No matter what, the Snake always runs into some barrier, Will's taken priority and– "Alright." Even when he shares what Kazimir wants, his bones itch to argue. It's always in his nature–to oppose the Snake. His hair glints in the rising sun as he turns to look at Kazimir. "Do you know what lives in the pond?"
Kaz exhaled softly, looking over at the pond and contemplating it for a long moment. "I do not. Fish, I suppose. Other things that like the water." he didn't know much about the gardens and the denizens of it, really. It simply was not something he had ever been overly interested or invested in, though…perhaps for Will's sake, he should learn a little bit more about it all.