Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I think you know what this is about,” a tall, lanky man said simply from where he stood in front of one the four kings. The king of spades sighed; his back still turned to his adviser. 

“I don’t think I do Rouxls,” he responded, pretending to be busy with something or other. 

Rouxls pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please, you were just as aware of what happened as I was,” he huffed, annoyance filling his voice. “Avoiding it in your private chamber with only me around isn’t going to help either of us.” 

The king turned to face him, his usual temper starting to show through. “What is there to talk about, then? What we both agreed not to speak of? What we both agreed was nothing but circumstance and too much to drink? What we both assumed was-” 

“I am with child, Spades.” Rouxls cut him off. Words heavy and simple as they hung between them. Spades stared; eyes wide at his adviser. His broad shoulders slack as he glanced between Rouxls’ still flat belly and the serious expression on his face. 

Spades’ mouth moved but no sound followed, only the stunned silence of what was just stated. “You heard me perfectly well,” Rouxls’ voice was defensive when he spoke again, brows furrowed as he moved an arm to vaguely cover his middle, drawing the king’s gaze back to his eyes. 

“I don’t-” Spades barely stuttered before Rouxls cut him off again. 

“Don’t play the fool with me, your majesty,” the shorter man snapped, stepping closer. “Either you help me figure out what to do with this child, or you have a scandal and an illegitimate heir on your crown.” 

A heavy silence hung over the room, only broken by Rouxls’ heavy breathing as he glared into Spades’ eyes. They stayed like that for a good moment before Rouxls took a step back, allowing his breathing to even out slightly. 

“I... Are you sure?” Spades’ voice was quiet, his question holding little skepticism but hope that maybe, maybe , Rouxls didn’t know himself. 

Rouxls let out a long sigh. “Yes. I’m more than sure even,” he turned away slightly, briefly thinking back to that night. That night of celebration and too much to drink. That morning of waking up in a chamber he barley recognized, tangled around the king of spades himself. 

Spades took a few slow steps back, slumping down into a conveniently placed chair. He ran a hand over his head, eyes still wide with shock. “A child...” 

“A child,” Rouxls’ repeated, voice low. 

“Our child...” 

“Your child,” Rouxls corrected. That seemed to snap Spades out of whatever shock he was in. The king met his adviser's gaze, searching for any hint of hesitation in his eyes. There was none. 

“I want to be rid of this child, Spades,” Rouxls answered simply, though no question had been said aloud. “I want nothing to do with it. Barely even letting myself carry it. But... I know full well the courts have been pressing you for an heir.” 

“Right...” Spades buried his face in his hands. His adviser watched him closely. Spades had never really been good at this kind of stuff. Yes, he was good at strategizing attacks, and dealing with weaponry, but outside of that? Well... that’s why he had Rouxls. 

“You need an heir and here one has presented itself to you,” Rouxls muttered after a few moments. “But the courts can’t know I mothered it,” he continued, his gaze fixed on the floor. He hated that he had to describe himself like that.

“Then...” Spades started, borrow furrowed in thought. “We don’t tell the courts who it’s mother is,” he finished, as if it was as simple as that. Rouxls looked at him with a raised brow, but Spades continued before he could comment. “I mean, Clubs had Clover a few years back and didn’t tell anyone who her mother was, the courts didn't have a problem with than then, don’t see why they’d have a problem with me doing the same now.” 

Rouxls thought for a moment, gaze shifting slightly from Spades as he folded with arms across his chest. “I suppose that would work, but...” Rouxls trailed off a bit, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. “Hiding that one is... expecting.... is difficult in the long run. Especially for one with my build,” his grip tightened a bit as he finished. He knew full well his tall lanky frame would do him no favors in the months to come. 

Spades hummed, face scrunched with concentration as he rubbed at his chin. “We could... try to stage something?” The king didn’t sound all that confident. “You wouldn’t have to hide your... expectancy but at the end... we could say you miscarried!” Spades face lightened a bit as he spoke the idea, seeming a bit too enthusiastic for what he was talking out. “Then we wait a week or so with you mourning and I introduce the child to the courts as my heir!” 

Rouxls blinked. It was... not a bad plan by any means. The courts tended not to question deaths when they are mentioned, even if they are skeptical about it. It was odd to see Spades so... excited about something though. Usually, he was stern and indifferent to most everything. That or just passively angry at everything.

The king cleared his throat, returning to his usual gruffness. “If that’s alright with you, of course.” 

Rouxls shook his head, refocusing himself. “Y-yes, yes. That's... almost perfect honestly,” he refolded his arms behind his back as he spoke. 

“Then it’s settled then,” Spades stood and stepped closer to his adviser, holding out a hand to the shorter man. 

Rouxls stared at it for a moment before meeting the king's gaze and shaking his much larger hand without hesitation. 

Chapter Text

Rouxls straightened a bit from where he stood beside Spades in one of the smaller meeting chambers in the castle. There weren’t many there, only the four kings and each of their respective advisers, talking about... something. Honestly, Rouxls wasn’t pay as much attention as he should’ve been. He was mostly focused on trying not to look as utterly exhausted as he felt. 

He’d been plagued with morning sickness all the past week, including just before this meeting. And despite how exhausted he felt, sleeping was getting difficult. Now though? He was hyperaware of all the smells in this room. Particularly how unbearably strong the king of hearts’ perfume was. 

“Any input on this matter Rouxls?” a voice brought him back to the conversation. Rouxls blinked, meeting the king of diamonds’ gaze. 

Rouxls cleared his throat. “I apologize, but could you repeat the matter at hand, sire?” 

“The northern border has been having trade disputes and general challenges for land. Do you have any input on how it should be handled?” Spades repeated for the other king, sounding a bit exasperated, if not annoyed. 

Rouxls straightened his poster a bit more before speaking. “R-right, right. Well, depending on...” the rest of the meeting followed in a similar caliber, talking of general kingdom wellbeing, Rouxls chiming in when he can though not nearly as much as he used to. 

Once they had come to an end agreement and started funneling out, Spades lead Rouxls away from the others. No where in particular, just walking out of ear shot. 

“What was that?” The king’s voice held more accusation than it seemed he intended, but he didn’t correct himself. 

Rouxls kept his hands folded behind his back as he walked beside the king. “What was what, your majesty?” He knew better than to call him Spades in public, gives them a bad image, especially so if Rouxls starts to show more. 

“You nearly fell asleep standing in there!” Spades hissed, keeping his voice low, but his tone was no less frustrated. “Do you want them to find out?!” 

Rouxls squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, doing his best not to snap right then and there. “I’m three months into this, Spades. I would have assumed the king of spades knows what being with child does to oneself, but it seems I may have been mistaken,” a bit of himself dripped off his chin, but he kept his voice low. 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Spades responded with a low growl. 

“They’re going to find out eventually, Spades!” Rouxls snapped, stopping in his tracks now that they’d reached a quieter part of the castle. “Hiding something like this would be completely impossible and you know it!” His chin dripped again. 

Spades had stopped a few feet ahead of his adviser, turning slowly to look at him over his shoulder. He didn’t say anything. 

“What happens when the swelling starts? When it’s too obvious to ignore? What happens then, Spades?” Rouxls had stopped trying to keep it together in that moment, letting whatever emotions were running through him out. 

Spades turned to face him fully, but he stayed silent. His eyes had drifted to Rouxls’ middle again, like he was trying to imagin what he’d look like with a bump that big. How out of place it would look on his thin frame. 

Spades silence settled between them before Rouxls’ broke it. “Exactly,” the thin adviser stated with a scowl. His chin dripped again. It was starting to get annoying. He turned away, reaching up to touch just under his eye. His skin stringed between his fingers and his face as he pulled his hand away. He’d started crying. He hadn’t even realized... 

He glanced back at Spades for a moment. The king hadn’t moved an inch since he turned. With a sigh Rouxls started off toward his chamber. 

... 

Rouxls slammed the door to his room once he’d gotten there, thoroughly frustrated with both Spades and the fact that his skin would not. Stop. Sticking. To. Itself. It wasn’t that it was stopping his movement, hardly so, it was more like when you pull extra melty cheese apart. And it always got EVERYWHERE. It was just so... grrrr!! He grumbled to himself as he started unbuttoning his coat that was now covered in his own blue meltiness. 

“Looks like someone had a rough day,” a familiar, slightly raspy voice sounded from around the corner. Rouxls barely needed to glance up to see Seam leaning by his desk that the court magician infamously uses instead of getting his own. 

“I do not want to talk about this,” Rouxls grumbled, pulling off his now soaked through coat and placing it in the basket by his bookshelf. This was why all his clothes were the same color as him. 

Seam had a much too smug look on his face for what he was watching. “You  sure? You seem a little... riled up, if you will,” his tail flicked against the stone floor. 

“I’m. Fine.” Rouxls replied through clenched teeth, pulling off his boots. It’d been months since he’d gotten this bad, let alone while in front of someone. Why now? What was so different that now his body decides it doesn’t want to stay together? 

Seam’s ears twitched a bit, still looking much to smug for his own good. “Pregnancy hormones finally getting to ya?” His tone was teasing, not meant to be condescending in any matter. 

Rouxls snapped around to face the older cat, “Don’t. You. Start.” He sneered, almost growling as his face scrunched further. “I said I don’t want to talk about it and I meant it.” He dripped again, a noticeable puddle having formed where he’d been standing, a few thin strings of himself connecting them still. 

Seam blinked, staying silent as Rouxls turned back towards the wall, attempting to scrap some of his goop of his arms. He could feel the older cat’s gaze on him as he scratched at himself, trying hopelessly to get the melting to stop. 

“You’re gonna hurt yourself if you keep trying to scrap it off,” Seam’s voice was much softer now, less teasing and more concerned. Rouxls glanced over to see he had stepped beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You remember what happened last time?” 

The taller of the two glared at Seam for a while longer before his shoulders slumped with a long sigh. “I hate it when I get like this,” Rouxls muttered, his voice low but not a whisper. 

“I know,” Seam murmured, leading him toward the middle of the room again with a hand on his elbow. “Why don’t you take your things off while I grab you a towel, huh?” he was already heading toward the bathroom. 

Rouxls grunted in response, pulling at his shirt that was now sufficiently stuck to him. He didn’t want to deal with this. Not with his stupid body, not with the subtle swell of his stomach, not with Spades bullshit, none of it. Reluctantly he pulled off his shirt, letting it plop to the ground with a soaked squish. He’d deal with that later.

He glared down at himself for a long moment, face still scrunched with annoyance. He gave a long sigh as he pushed the heel of his palms into his eyes. This was going to be a long few months wasn’t it?