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“They’re throwing a gala to celebrate my 21st birthday, I was hoping you’d accept an invitation to come,” Octavio said in place of a greeting as Craig walked into the courtyard they normally met in. “The council is letting you invite me? I thought those jerks thought I was too ‘common’ to be your friend.” “They allowed me to invite one person of my choosing. I choose you.” “Sneaky, though I can’t imagine being able to only choose one person coming to your own birthday party.” “Most years I don’t really get to choose anyone. Not since Father died, though he was just as distant a guardian as the council.” “Are you okay?” “Yeah, why? I go pale or something?” “Nothing, nothing. But yeah, I’ll come. I was just gonna invite you to try to sneak out and get some drinks or something, this sounds a lot fancier though. “A lot less fun though. But, enough about that, tell me about your week, I haven’t gotten to see you.” “Happy Birthday, your highness,” Craig said with a bow, ignoring the glare of the pair of council members behind him. “Thank you, and thank you for coming, I…” Octavio was interrupted however, by the council members forced their way forward, trapping the prince in a conversation. He glanced back and forth between the two, eyes wide, before watching as Craig was forced away, slight frown visible on his face. It ended up taking twenty or so minutes for Octavio to get away from greeting guests and dealing with the surprisingly overbearing council members, most of whom barely cared what the prince was doing most of the time. By this point Craig had been dragged into the crowd and found his own problems. “Craig, there you are. Sorry for not being able to greet you properly, you know how the council can get.” Octavio smiled, despite the obvious irritation in his voice at the actions of his technical guardians until whatever point they finally let him be crowned. “Oh it’s…” “It’s not too big a deal your highness, we’ve been keeping him company, haven’t we girls,” A tall octoling woman interrupted, as her two friends behind her began to giggle. “You know, I’ve never seen an inkling before, are all your kind this handsome?” “Have you been to an occasion like this before? Or are we at your first?” “Do you have a partner? Or can I take you home with me?” Octavio tried to be a good host, however the guests would quickly look at him, before hurrying away. Octavio instead spent the time, not spent talking to the few nervous guests that would speak to him, glaring over at the three women currently hanging all over Craig. Octavio’s arm shook, where he was currently gripping the fabric of his dress pants with the effort to ignore his desire to march over there and tear their heads off for flirting with his boyfriend. Probably not the best idea when your guardians barely tolerate you being friends with the man in question. Octavio was torn from his internal rantings by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Craig, looking more than slightly flustered, and, before he could speak, Craig grabbed his hand, and began to drag him off through the crowd. “Sorry about dragging you off like that. I was starting to get concerned that if I stayed any longer those girls were gonna tear my shirt off or somethin’. Only managed to get away by saying I was gonna get a drink.” Craig dropped Octavio’s hand once they reached the familiar courtyard, they been in when Octavio had invited him in the first place. “Hey, is everything alright? Your face is purple.” “Fine!” Octavio turned to the side suddenly, looking at the gravel on the ground. “I’m fine!” “Okay now I know something is up. Tell me.” Craig put a hand on Octavio’s face to try to gently get him to look at him. “Please.” “It’s stupid. It’s not a big deal, really.” Octavio continued to look anywhere but at Craig’s face, face still flushed purple. “Tavi, babe, your thoughts an’ feelings ain’t stupid. No matter what those old jerks on the council say.” “I didn’t like the way those girls were hanging all over you! You’re my boyfriend, they can’t have you!” Octavio stomped his foot, not even pausing for breath before continuing. “I spent the last half hour wanting to just scream and tear them off of you, but I can’t because if the council knew the truth, they’d never let me see you again, and I don’t know what I’d do, and…” Octavio stopped abruptly as Craig began to snicker. “Babe, I’m sorry, I ain’t laughin’ at you, it’s just… I dunno, This whole situation I guess. Plus, you’re really cute when you get jealous. Hey, how long do you think you could be away from the party before the council notices?” “Honest,” Octavio said, blushing even more purple at the jealous comment, “now that the party is in full swing? Probably a good hour or two.” “Then come on, I got a surprise for you,” Craig took Octavio’s hand again, before beginning to lead him through the courtyard, before they reached a large willow, besides a glass covered pond. He reached out, pushing the tree’s branches out of the way, revealing a picnic blanket, with a lantern and a few bottles resting on it. “Craig, I. How did you?” “Got one of the kitchen staff to help. I knew you don’t like these sorts of parties, so I thought I’d surprise ya. What do ya think?” “I love it. I love you,” Octavio drew Craig into a kiss, before tugging him over to sit on the blanket with him. When the couple finally made their way back to the gala, Octavio found himself enjoying himself much more. If only for the expression on the three women’s faces when they saw Craig return with a fairly obvious mark on his neck. Even if it was a bit mean.