Sophie was dancing with a certain blasted, teal-eyed boy of hers for the fifth time. And the two of them seemed equally reluctant to be pulled away from each other.

     Keefe had been lurking near a dark corner of the spacious ballroom after the honey-brown eyed girl had made it clear that she would not be taken away from her fiancé, and Fitz from his fiancée. Even now he could see Sophie's blond locks flying out behind the maiden, her rose-pink lips parted in an unheard giggle as Fitz seemed to lean in and give her a small peck on her powdered cheek. Keefe turned away, averting his formerly fixated on the young lady; there was no point in torturing himself even more. He caught a glimpse of a strawberry blond head disappearing into the crowd.

     Might as well find a girl -or boy, either one would work for him- to get himself lost in for the next few days or so to pull him out of his misery. His eyes followed the girl- or was it a boy?- with the light red curls as best as he could, grinning involuntarily when he saw the seemingly handsome person tip their head back in a silent laugh of amusement. Heck, maybe he should drink himself into a drunken stupor. It wasn't like it'd take much fizzleberry wine to get him intoxicated, or that he'd never been drunk before. Or even perhaps-

     "Keefe? Keefe. Keefe Sencen." The blond turned to his right to be met by a familiar brunette and smiled just a tad bit ruefully.

     "Hey, Biana! You... look great tonight." And the Vacker princess truly did, dressed in a silky lavender-pink gown trimmed with delicately woven indigo lace. Biana exhaled a sigh and put her gloved hands on her hips.

     "Look, no point in avoiding it- we're both, well, unhappy about this situation," Biana said, stressing the word 'unhappy'. Keefe studied the glass of wine in his hand- wait, when had he gotten that? It didn't matter. He tipped his head to the side and smirked.

      "Well, I happen to be very good at avoiding situations," said he, draining the wineglass of the last drop of alcohol.

     Biana frowned at him as the young prince drew out the word 'situation' for much longer than necessary. "My dear lord, are you drunk, Keefe?"

     Keefe grinned, the edges of his lips pulling up and out. "Heh, what makes you think that?"

     "Keefe, how many glasses of wine have you had? You're slurring your words." Biana gracefully snatched the drink -was it his second or sixth?- out of his hand and studied the gentleman carefully. "You okay? Geez, I never took you for a lightweight."

     "Look, I'm not drunk!" Keefe said, raising his voice and causing several dancing couples to look over. He ran a hand through his already-mussed hair. "I'm not-"

     "Biana?" A crisp voice cut through the din of conversation as a distinctly male tone made its way to the ears of Biana and Keefe. "I thought I heard shouting?" Keefe groaned inwardly as he mentally prepared himself to apologize to whatever foreign prince that Biana had hooked, turning around full circle.

     Keefe was not expecting to be met with the redhead he had seen earlier. Nor had he expected to be met with such a beautiful face.

     The boy had high cheekbones, prominent under his eyes set with gleaming periwinkle irises, the dark pupil surrounded by visibly brighter purples, blues and grays. However, the young prince noted that the cheekbones' outstanding quality was partially due to his slightly too-hollow cheeks, but that was forgotten as he continued. His cheeks were dusted with a blush of pale rose- not too obvious, but still there, under the light freckles that dotted the young man's fair skin. And to top it off, perfectly arched ginger eyebrows, thick stubby eyelashes, and a really soft-looking coral pout of a mouth. All of a sudden, the room felt way too hot for Keefe, underdressed in his blood crimson suit as he flushed and probably stuttered something stupid at the other male, who seemed to be concerned at Keefe's lack of coherent words. Your name, dummy, your name!

     "M-my apologies. Prince Keefe Sencen. Pleasure to meet you," he introduced, hoping that he wasn't slurring his words too much. The strawberry blond blinked and narrowed his eyes before catching himself and grinning, the faux smile plastered onto his features.

     "Sir Dexter Dizznee."

     "Ah - a-" Keefe caught himself having to swallow- "a lovely name. He felt his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he blinked at Dex. "I, um, didn't realize that there were to be nobles at this, erm, p-party."

     The boy smiled in amusement before Biana leaned over and whispered something in his ear, wiping the grin clear off of that beautiful face of his. Keefe watched in curiosity as he nodded and Biana gave a small bow followed by a quick, "May I see you again, your highness."

     "Prince, might I suggest we go somewhere a bit more private?"

     Keefe's insides did a few flops. He mustn't have heard that right. There was absolutely no, no fucking way the other could have said that.

     "Please, just for a moment. I do believe there is a vacant room which you might find comfort in in your current, ah, state."

     Keefe decided to choose that moment to lean in and put his mouth to Dex's ear. "You know, you're really pretty," he mumbled, his lips brushing the soft cartilage of the other's ear.

     He watched, amused, as Dex's cheeks colored pink at Keefe's statement. "Ah, um, thank you?"

     "Those periwinkle eyes of yours? I could get lost in them forever."

     Dex made a sound as he seemed to mutter to himself under his breath. "He's drunk, Dex. He's drunk, he's drunk, he's drunk and he won't remember anything in the morning."

     "Excuse you, I'll be the one that decides whether I remember this or not in the morning."

     Dex blushed even more -if that was possible-, coloring up to his ears as he pinched himself on the bridge of his lightly freckled nose. "Prince, please, let me escort you to my room."

     "Your room?" Keefe questioned. Dex narrowed his eyes as Keefe shook his head, his blond locks falling into his ice-blue eyes. "Ah, shit, forget I asked. S-sorry."

     "Just let me lead you to my fucking room, godamnit!" Dex spoke, cursing breathlessly as he hit his shoulder on the wall, attempting to pull Keefe along.

     "Oh, so you get all dirty-mouthed when you're frustrated. Adorable, if you ask me."

     Dex stopped with a sigh.  "Just please. We don't want to make fools of ourselves out here and the you from the morning might like it if I call the physician."

     "Pft. I won't need a physician," Keefe fought back, finally allowing himself to be dragged along.

     The two walked to a pair of golden crested doors he hadn't been bothered to notice before. The guards eyed them suspiciously, but nonetheless they allowed Dex and Keefe passage. Past the doors was a long hallway of which seemed to have so many twists and turns as the two stumbled down the corridor Keefe became dizzy. After what could have been an hour or five more minutes- Keefe wasn't entirely sure- Dex pulled the pair to a halt.

     "This is it." Dex announced as he leaned Keefe against the wall to open the door.

     The prince smiled to himself. Who would've thought he'd be lead to a beautiful boy's room after the terrible night he'd been having?

     "That's the bed, you can - actually, you probably should lie down. I'll go get you some water... and a bucket in case of later. Stay here." Dex ran a gloved hand through his mass of strawberry blond curls- his beautiful curls- and sighed quietly. "Just, try not to get into any trouble. Please."

     "Tr'ble's  my midd' name." Keefe slurred as the other stalked out of the room.

     He took the chance to study the room - see if he could learn anything about the gorgeous stranger. Deck's - that's what his name was, right? - walls were painted a simple white with golden trimming running across them in intricate patterns of lillies and swirls. As for his bed, the plain teal comforter matched the curtains, hanging from four posts, surrounding it. The last notable thing, of which was hidden in a corner, was a desk littered with what Keefe could only assume were some sorts of weapons.

     Other than that the room was... boring. Too plain for Keefe's liking. He'd have to fix that sometime.

     "You're still not laying down," an upset voice noted, causing the blond's head to whip around back towards the door.

     "Geez," Deek mumbled. He set down a bucket by the nightstand along with a cup of water. "No need to be so jumpy."

     "Sorry, Derek, I'm jus' not used to things mov'g so quickly."

     "It's Dex," the other said slowly, "and my bad, your highness. I didn't realize you're used to being privileged enough to vomit on the floor before you are forced to escort yourself away from the party."

     "I don't know if it's so much as privileged as lack of care." Keefe murmured.

     "Excuse me? I'm afraid I didn't hear you."

     Keefe shrugged, suddenly deciding that lying down sounded very, very inviting. "Nothing."

     The bed was both horrifically comfortable and horrifically uncomfortable. It was as if Keefe were the princess in the tale his mom had once read him about the princess who slept on ten thousand mattresses, but could still feel the pea at the bottom. He always figured that if he were in her position, he'd just shut up and sleep, though now that he was living it, he too wanted to request as many more fluffy things as the castle stored.

     Dex kept his eyes on him until Keefe had tucked himself under the covers and, without saying a word, he dimmed the lights, closing the door behind him as he walked out.

     Keefe's last thought before drifting off to a blank and peaceful slumber was this:

     Having Dex was impossible. The mere concept was as unreal and distant as the fleeting hope of having Sophie to himself and Fitz calling off the wedding. The idea was too elusive, too much of a fantasy for it to ever be real, in any dimension, at any time in the universe.

    At least it was nice to savor the thought, like a young child, if patient enough, might savor a small piece of chocolate or candy, Keefe thought before falling asleep.