Andrey was in the bathroom taking a bath. His hair was covered in soap foam and he was washing his face when a hot breath landed on his cold neck. He didn't pay much attention to it before a hand landed on his shoulder and another wrapped around his waist. He was startled and immediately poured water on his head.
Andrey turned around to see General Lucas standing there staring at him with a smirk on his face. He was stupified. What the actual heck?
"Don't do that, my Lord, it's rude to invade a fellow human's privacy" Andrey scorned him as he left the bathroom
General Lucas turned to look at him "And it's not rude when you don't keep your word? You said that I don't have to ask before touching you"
"When did I ever say that?" Andrey wrapped himself with a blanket
"The day you woke up. The day I asked you to serve me" The General rested himself against a wall, arms crossed against his chest
"That was your mistake. You don't know me and you don't ask a stranger to your bed" Andrey sat down to dry his hair with another cloth
"Then I might as well have your head then"
"My head would be of no use to you" Andrey held his head calmly backing off in fear of General Lucas actually being serious of having his head
"I could shove my d*** in it. That way, I won't have to listen to your ranting after satisfying myself with it"
"You're a sick person" Andrey hissed
"You make me sick"
"If I do then, let me go already and stop being a prick" he stood up in front of him
"No"
"Why?"
"Because I want you to stay and you will stay" he stomped his foot on the ground
"For the time being. I'm gonna leave and you'll never see me again. You can go back to being the lonely as***** that you were before you held me captive. I don't need your permission to go. I came unexpectedly, I leave unexpectedly. You won't see it coming" he said more to himself than to General Lucas
"If you hate me that much just say it right to my face"
"I don't hate you. As a matter of fact, I love you and I appreciate you. You are a fellow brother, we both speak Latin, you protect people, I don't have a problem against you. Instead I have a problem with your clothes. They are not my style"
"Then don't wear them" General Lucas said in a calm voice and walked out of the room
"Fine, I won't. I'll go get my own clothes which you have no authority over. I am my own person, I don't need you bossing me around telling me what to do" Andrey sat himself down.
'What the heck is wrong with me? Why did I just have an outburst? Am I having a mood swing? No! Not here! Please'
General Lucas came back into the room with a surprise in his hand. Andrey's clothes
"Derrick brought this while you were asleep. I'm guessing your clothes are inside" He threw his previous clothes at him " These are the ones I took off you when you were wounded, I had them washed for you"
Andrey felt guilty. He had just spoke rudely at the guy
"You didn't have to"
"No no, it's surprisingly easier to wash than most clothes"
"You're being so nice all of a sudden, why?"
"Well it's too much of an emotional reason to tell"
"I don't mind knowing if you want to talk about it"
"Of course. It's something you said. Even though I'm just a tough General, I still have a soft spot. When you said you loved me, it reminded me of when I spoke with my mother. She was very greedy"
"Okay?"
"She would always say she loved me because she wanted to encourage me to become the General of great Rome for her benefits"
"Why did that make you calm?"
"She was killed in Susa when the British empire waged war against the Persian empire. They thought she was a Persian born. Her body was pierced with a hundred arrows in her head and fed to pigs. Only her heart and head was spared. I didn't even know which one was hers but I did bring her head back home and buried it.
It pains me because she died because of me. I didn't want to become a General in the first place so, when I heard that she had gone to the king to make me one, I was furious. I chased her out of Rome with threats. Little did I know that I'd led her to her doom. I only realized that everything she did was for my own good after she had died"
"That's a very sad origin story" Andrey stood up and hugged him by the waist. "I'm sorry I said that. I didn't know it'll make you feel bad"
"You crying makes me feel bad"
"Then, I'll stop. You don't need my pity"
General Lucas wiped Andrey's tears off with his thumb. "Can you not go, please? I've gotten used to you"
"Of course you are. I've been here for almost half a year now". Andrey was touched. He decided to speak the truth. "It's not like I want to leave" he let go of General Lucas' waist and turned his back against him "I just want to settle down and have a life with someone who can be with me and take care of me forever. But, I can't do that with you, you're the General of the Roman empire for crying out loud. You can't settle down with a man like myself. You'll need children which only a woman can provide for you. I can't stay here for too long"
"I don't want children. I hate those little things"
Andrey turned to face him "How can you hate them? They are the most admirable. You used to be one"
"Yeah and I was a menace. I don't want to feel the way my father felt towards me to my child. If I do, he would die at a young age. But that's not the point. No one cares about having children anymore, even the Emperor hookup with men more these days. Do you know how many times he tried to convince me to sleep with him? I never agreed though. I didn't want to ruin the friendship"
"Yeah. You'll also be your friend's stepfather" Andrey laughed
"That would not be a joke. Thank the gods I never agreed"
General Lucas saw the change in Andrey's expression. He wondered why he was sad all of a sudden. "What's wrong, Andrey? You look troubled"
"It's nothing. I just remembered my parents. They died in a car accident"
"What's a car?"