Prism Chapter 4

Some years and some place far away, there is a home. It is significantly smaller than the castle, nestled away in a forest accessible by a dirt road. It is only two levels tall, and white with many windows. There is a porch in the front, and a rather plain door. The first floor consists of a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a laundry room and an office, in which there is a door nestled in a dark corner. It leads to a bright bedroom with its own bathroom. There are stairs at the end of the single hall, next to doors that lead outside. Upstairs there are four rooms, one of which is a very green bathroom.

It is Black and White’s home. It is a very monochromatic home.

And it was full of unopened boxes. Every single room. On each and every table, in corners, stacked upon each other…
Florian had no clue where any of the contents came from. Fabio knew, but he decided not to share with him. There had been a lot of things that Fabio decided not to share with him.
That was fine. Florian had things he didn’t want to share with the other. They had come to accept it, and understand that it was just for the other’s protection or happiness.

He found that out a long time ago.
The book burned to a crisp, but the information still existed. Certain people knew. All he had to do was ask.
Black was created by Jed as an Anti-White. He was supposed to kill White. And that was why Fabio didn’t tell him. It was not a past to be proud of. And he decided not to tell Fabio that he knew. It was for the best.

The best happened to be their new home in Alzure, where Florian had been called to work in order to help run the country. Fabio tagged along, mostly because he had to. Joshua had gotten married a while ago and, when he left, Florian was assigned to be Fabio’s personal guard.
It wasn’t as bad a position as it sounded. Florian loved going on adventures with Fabio, and they both had very much in common. It was an honor to continue living with him.

Fabio did most of the unpacking. He hummed while he did so, placing everything wherever he wanted it. Florian was in his office, attempting to set things up there so he could get to work as fast as possible… but the cords to the mouse and keyboard of his computer were a tangled mess. He fumbled with it for a while before finally untangling them, only to find that the rest of the cords were also quite jumbled.  With a sigh, he started to untangle it. Fabio chuckled at him.
“Hey, I can’t reach the top shelf. Can you put these books on it? And I’ll untangle it for you,” he suggested with a smile. Florian nodded and walked over to the bookshelf.
“It’s better this way,” the Prince pointed out. “Picking up where the other falls short.” He laughed, and it took Florian a moment to understand why. He laughed too.
“You are pretty short, Fabi.” Fabio simply nodded, and in a matter of moments, he had untangled the cords. He started setting them up while Florian put the books away. When he was done that, he made his way into the kitchen.

The dishes in the boxes were dusty from being in storage. Fabio frowned and put them in the dishwasher. While it ran, he put the dry foods away that hadn’t yet been put in their place, and he took out some chicken to make supper later. After a while of doing this, Fabio finally saw the time. He wondered if that clock had been set and checked his phone.
It was correct. With a sigh, Fabio made his way into the office again. It looked like Florian had set everything up how he liked it.
“Flor, are you hungry at all?” he asked.
“I haven’t stopped to check. But I’m sure I’ll be whenever you start cooking,” he answered, without even looking up from what he was doing. Fabio laughed and went back to the kitchen. This time not to put away things, but to cook.

“It’s really starting to look like someone lives here,” Florian pointed out happily. Fabio had made quick work in setting up the kitchen. He could hardly tell that they’d just moved in.
“The bedroom should be next. So we can have a place to sleep. I bet it’ll be an early night,” Fabio said. He was already feeling exhausted. But he knew himself well; he could not sleep in a barren looking room. The boxes needed to be gone. It needed to look full of life. And Florian needed to be there. Fabio just couldn’t sleep without being afraid of waking up in that room again, even though it had been seven years. Florian didn’t mind it anymore. Sometimes he was afraid, too. And it was nice to have a friend who could literally ease your mind.
It was the only time Fabio’s mind control magic was useful, and the only time he used it.

“We should get a puppy,” Fabio said, after a little while of comfortable silence. He had been thinking of it for quite a while, but hadn’t dared bring it up. His sister lived with a very nice young man not that far from the castle, and they had a pet wolf as a house guard. A wolf seemed a little drastic, but it had been Eufemia’s friend for quite a while and, apparently, their father had gotten it for her. Fabio figured a dog would be good for them. There was tons of space for it, and it would make a good alarm if anyone tried to break in. Dogs were loyal and fluffy and very fun to play with. Fabio had always liked them. But this was as much Florian’s house as it was his. And if Florian didn’t like dogs? Then they would not get one, but it was worth asking.
“No. They jump and they bite and I don’t want it hurting you,” he said sternly.
“Not if you train them not to. We can train it to be a good puppy, Besides, I’m not fragile. I can deal with a few scratches and nibbles,” the prince said, giving Florian, ironically, puppy eyes.
“ And while we are training it, it will be bad.”
“My mind control works on animals, Florian. I can just mentally train it.”
Florian went quiet, and Fabio knew that he had won.
“Fine. But I want a big, fluffy dog,” he said, and then grumbled something about always having wanted a dog.

Fabio couldn’t have been happier. He shouted “I’m getting a puppy!” every so often, just to prove it.