A stone slid under his heel. Laurent turned. For a moment, Laurent looked at him wide-eyed, young, and then the look in his eyes changed, as though the universe had fulfilled an ineluctable promise. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘perfect.’
Look, I’m not saying that for a split second Laurent thought it was Auguste, but I am 100% saying he thought it was Auguste. The fact that it’s at Marlas compounds the pain a million fold.
Part three of the continuing saga chronicling my descent into Captive Prince hell.
Coming from a country whose dress customarily exposed much of one’s body, Damen never thought he would become flustered over the thin skin of an inner wrist, or the elegant curve of an ankle bone. Yet, as with most things involving Laurent, Damen found himself helpless in the face of a suitor whose form was perpetually shrouded in no less than five layers.
thinking about how, if damen hadn’t done it at marlas, the regent would have killed auguste like he killed aleron. and not only that…. he would probably have used laurent against him.
1. before marlas, there were three men in between the regent and the throne. at marlas, the regent successfully plotted to take out the king, and it just so happened that auguste died in battle, but either way the plans were already in motion and the regent would have had to systematically kill auguste and laurent to become king
2. the regent knew that laurent and auguste were close. there is no way that he would have ignored the very useful fact that the two people in between him and the throne were also each other’s greatest weakness (auguste would do anything to protect laurent. what would he do if someone put laurent in danger? probably something that could get himself killed)
3. the regent DID use auguste against laurent in canon, even after auguste died. he twisted the narrative about their relationship, compared laurent to auguste to weaken his reputation, and used laurent’s grief and his anger against damen to provoke him into making mistakes
so yeah, I am 100% sure that the regent would have used laurent against auguste to kill him if auguste had survived marlas
Bro attaching your tags bc I’ve never thought of Laurent almost using this alternate reality as a way to make peace with Auguste’s death
How many times do you think Jord was sent to tell Laurent something and then saw he was in a mood was like “nope, uh uh, I don’t get paid enough for this, no”
Jord: “ight, I’m just gonna go, uhhhhhh, get damen for this.” Damen just walks into Laurent’s tent and goes: “ ‘sup, fucker. you’re needed for something.”
Summary: Coming from a country whose dress customarily exposed much of one’s body, Damen never thought he would become flustered over the thin skin of an inner wrist, or the elegant curve of an ankle bone. Yet, as with most things involving Laurent, Damen found himself helpless in the face of a suitor whose form was perpetually shrouded in no less than five layers.
Chapter Two, A Taste of Patras, here on AO3.Excerpt below:
It was difficult, having an extended courtship that precluded any physical intimacy.
It was strenuous when one’s suitor strolled into a room full of visiting royals and dignitaries and courtiers, having traded his already customarily tight clothes for an outfit that challenged any sense of decency.
Surely Damen had never seen someone so fully dressed be so exposed; none of the materials Laurent wore were transparent, like a pet or slave’s, yet each layer cleaved to his form with a familiar longing.
A bright yellow jacket, barely able to close over the span of Laurent’s chest, was held closed by a measly thread that left the rest of the jacket’s material spilling outward. The curve of his sides, from his ribs, down his cinched waist, and to his hips, were profanely concave. His chest and stomach were concealed by a blue shirt too light to be a part of Laurent’s own wardrobe, yet seemed scandalously exposed. Coral-pink laces trailed where only eyes dared, and Damen’s fingers twitched hopelessly to unfasten them. At another time, Damen might find such colour choices offensive.
The smooth lines of Laurent’s legs were graced by the strangest pants Damen had ever seen — a feat, given his continued bafflement at the concept of pants. These hugged Laurent’s thighs so tightly, the flex of muscles was visible with each step he took through the silent court. A thrilling intimation of strength under his soft outward appearance.
But the strangeness came from the trousers’ length: they stopped just above Laurent’s knees before giving way — it was convenient Damen was currently seated — to stockings such a shade of white they looked, at first deceitful glance, like naked flesh. And they may as well have been, for the way the silk stretched over Laurent’s shins and around the curves of his calves, concealing absolutely nothing save for the exact hue of his skin.
Familiarity was found only in the haughty lift of the young prince’s chin as he strode toward the royal table, gaze refusing to settle on any person. Even his gait, with which Damen was intimately familiar, was unusual this evening. The permanent insouciance that eased the grace of his limbs was replaced with a stiffness befitting the moniker of “frigid” that Veretian courtiers quickly learned to never use in Damen’s hearing range.
It must be the footwear, he realised. Though heeled footwear was customary to Veretian men, Laurent’s usual boots were swapped for shoes that did not reach above his ankles. They were as tight as the rest of his ensemble, almost disproportionately small, especially against the overlarge bows that flopped forward over his toes.
The top of each foot was left uncovered by the shoes. With the sheerness of the stockings, one could easily imagine Laurent’s legs were exposed from his knees to the tops of his feet.
Third artist to thank from the Ycon7 in Paris last week-end: @ junie-junette ♥
They saved me from the terrible enemy of my life: the choice.
That was again so unexpected but that made my day at the very end of the convention♥ I keep this gift preciously (and admire it too much haha) Thank you so much!!
And SERIOUSLY, their art of Captive Prince is sooo perfect! Plus there are very few artists that draw this fandom and even less of them are french! (so that I can buy their art ehe)
This is a re-post of a revised version of this art. A couple of people have pointed out that Damen looked too white, which was a fair point, so I wanted to revise it.
Damen actually started out much darker when I first began drawing, but I got too wrapped up in the act of drawing itself, as well as adjusting for overall colour balance etc. that I didn’t even notice the end result until Anon pointed it out! Definitely a case of needing to take a step back from my own work than anything intentional. As someone with an Asian heritage, whitewashing is the last thing I’d do. Hope that clears everything!
The idea is to have composer!Damen and singer!Laurent reluctantly working together (and then form romance coughs) Thank you @winmance for indulging me!!
if I could draw I’d do a picture set at a bar (modern au) where in the foreground are damen and laurent eyefucking intensely over their drinks and damen is just starting to reach out to cup laurent’s cheek and under the bar you see their knees are barely brushing and laurent is reaching for damen’s thigh but not touching it quite yet and you hold your breath because you can tell that’s what they’re doing, too, waiting and watching each other and anticipating
and in the background pallas is doing body shots off lazar
hey remember those two “alaunt hounds” that were mentioned running up to greet Laurent at Chastillon? what’s their history? what happened to them? what are their names? do you think sometimes when everything and his uncle became too much Laurent used to go down to the stables to visit the horses and nod off against the wall with both dogs (puppies, then) curled up in his lap for warmth and safety? professor pacat I want answers please
