backyardbbq | LUCA AND NAVEEN'S RAD ADVENTURE

Prince Naveen was many things. Jazz lover, lady killer, ukulele aficionado... And, of course, the crown prince of Maldonia.

But above all, Prince Naveen of Maldonia was deceased.

Six months prior to now, Maldonia's era of peace and prosperity was interrupted by an invasion of English forces. Not through English troops, but a group of tenacious, determined English diplomats. They came with news of France, recently "liberated" and "improved" by the guiding hand of English policy. Maldonia was many things, but a military power it was not. England's wish to expand that same guiding hand into Maldonia's borders was one that the royal family could not contest.

Naveen might have made a case against it were he there, but while his father reluctantly shook hands with the conquering English forces, he was out with a girl. Two girls, actually. All three oblivious to the fact that their king was in the process of signing the country over to England in all but name.

By the time he returned to the palace, hung over and buzzing with the music from the dance hall he'd left only hours earlier, his parents were already packing.

To the summer house, they said. Just for a month or two, so they could work out terms with the English government through the nearby French embassy (for all anything French was truly "French" anymore). Naveen was expected to join them, to be an active participant in the discussions. He was to be king someday, his parents reminded him for what must have been the thousandth time, and a future king shares responsibility with the current king.

Naveen didn't have much interest in being a future king or a current king, but he wasn't in a position to dispute either. Besides. The summer house was one he remembered as a boy, and one that he remembered much better and more fondly as a teenager with money to spend and a keen interest in sneaking out after dark. With Raj left behind at the palace for his studies, Naveen got on the ship with his parents and said goodbye to his little brother for what he didn't know would be the last time in a very, very long time.

And for his parents, it would be the last time.

The night of the fire, Naveen snuck out for the sixth time in so many days that week. England's enforcement of curfew put a limiter on things, but there were still a few clubs where the French youth population went to enjoy music, drink, and dancing until dawn. At twenty-two, it was impossible for him to resist that kind of temptation.

And it was that lack of self control that ultimately kept him from burning in the blaze that consumed his parents and life as he once knew it.

The papers ran the stories immediately -- Royal Family Dead, Save 6-Year Old Prince -- with the same family portrait on the front page of every paper. Maldonia was draped in black for a week, France mourning lifelong allies, and the people of Europe wondering in private corners how accidental that fire truly was.

Naveen was getting drunk in the privacy of his latest paramour's apartment -- she was at work, of course, a concept that eluded him -- when solitude turned suddenly to surprise.

"Faldi faldonza!" He shouted, cringing back with surprise and considerable fear. After all, it was impossible to ignore the rumors of how the fire got started and what it was meant to achieve. Naveen was a little too preoccupied with his own grief to consider them too closely, but was enough to startle him onto his feet. Sheets made for terrible clothes, but at least they covered the important bits.

"Who are you!?"

If this weren't a life-or-death situation, Luca might have taken a moment to appreciate Naveen's looks. He really was easy on the eyes, and while Luca wasn't really one to be blatant about his attractions- not without a little booze in him, at least- he could still silently appreciate a handsome man.

But at that moment, Luca was still pumped full of adrenaline from running for his life for the last half-mile. He felt like his chest was going to explode, and the panic was still in him, so much so that he almost missed recognizing just who Naveen was. Thankfully he didn't though, as he probably would have torn off through the house, leaving poor Naveen behind to be discovered by the soldiers.

"It's you," Luca said, pointing a finger at Naveen in an almost-accusing manner, "You're the prince!"

It was hard not to recognize Naveen, even naked; his face had been all over everything for the last few days. Even here in France people were mourning the death of the Maldonian royal family, as the countries had always had close ties.

Before he could say much more, he heard the shouts of the men running down the street. They were getting closer, and if Luca didn't move, he would soon be discovered. But if hejust left Naveen here, he would be found instead of Luca, and it was Naveen that the soldiers were after in the first place.

It took Luca all of two seconds to decide what to do. Even when he was worried about his own life, he couldn't leave someone else to die in his place.

Luca shut the window he had dove through, twisting the lock on it. It would only be a minor delay to the soldiers, but it would buy them time. Then he looked around on the ground for anything Naveen could throw on quickly (a naked man would draw even more suspicion, and Luca wasn't articulate enough in French to come up with lies quickly). He settled for a pair of pants and a long coat, and he grabbed them and threw them at Naveen.

"Put these on," he said, speaking in English. He wasn't sure if Naveen knew Italian or not, and he wasn't confident enough in his own French skills to be able to explain what was going on. "And shoes, if you have them. We need to go, now."

The only thing stranger than a stranger diving through your lover's window was the same stranger frantically trying to dress you without explanation.

"Excuse me?" Naveen answered in English, surprised to hear it out of the man's mouth. Nonetheless, he started pulling on a shirt. "Who are you, where did you--where is it we must go?"

"Somewhere that is not here," Luca said quickly, and then he was off, looking for Naveen's shoes. He assumed they would be by the door, so he went that way.

About five seconds later, soldiers ran by the window, shouting in English about how 'they just saw him' and 'he couldn't have gone far.' Since the window was closed, they ignored the house Naveen was in entirely, not even looking inside. But it was definitely English soldiers, their uniforms were English.

It took Luca about a minute to actually find shoes that looked like they could be Naveen's, what with it being dark and there being another occupant to the home. But hopefully by the time he found them and came back, Naveen would be dressed and ready to go. If not, well, Luca was not above yelling to get him moving.

The flurry of activity invigorated Naveen's sense of spontaneity, or it would have, on any other night. He dressed himself diligently, mind buzzing with possibilities. What did the man have to gain from this? Why did he pick this place, of all places, to come looking for him?

Or did he intend to look for him at all? The rumble of English soldiers -- here, in France, even with the occupation... -- made his blood boil. Part of him wanted to jump out and chase them down with questions, but what little good sense he had funneled into pulling up his trousers.

By the time Luca returned, Naveen was dressed, albeit a little rumpled.

"If I go with you, you must tell me why once we've reached safety. Yes?"

Luca was more than a little on-edge, mostly from being shot at and hearing those same soldiers run around outside. Each second that ticked by was one less second for them to make their escape, and if they waited too long, then the English would sniff them out before they set one foot out the door.

The question wasn't unexpected, and Luca probably would have answered it right then and there, if he hadn't heard the sounds of dogs barking in the back alley. Dogs were even worse than soldiers, now they would have to find a way to cover their scent too.

"I promise," Luca said, offering the shoes to Naveen, "Just stay with me, and please trust in me for at least a little while."

A second later, Luca heard a door being kicked in. It wasn't one to the house they were in, thankfully, but it was close. They couldn't risk going out the front door. "Ah...does this house have roof access?"

If Naveen took the time to think about it, this man could have been an English soldier himself. Perhaps an assassin. Some sort of kidnapper. Any number of bad men out to grasp what little remained of the Maldonian royal family for themselves.

Any number of threats were possible. But at the sound of a door kicking open, Naveen realized that he didn't have it in him to care. Cautiousness was never his policy, and while the painful memory of his parent's home burning before him was enough to instil a sense of self preservation, the scales were tipped in Luca's favor for the moment.

After all, the man wasn't trying to kill him at this moment. As long as that remained true, the details didn't matter much.

"Ah... it depends what you mean by roof access." Naveen didn't pause to explain himself, motioning for Luca to follow. "Hurry!"

The 'roof access' in question was a single window upstairs, opening out onto the neighbor's roof... provided they could jump the several foot distance.

Well, close enough, given the circumstances. That jump wasn't looking too promising, though. Even accounting for the height differences between the buildings, it would be a bit of a leap, and without a running start too.

"Please tell me you have a sfeer," Luca said, looking back to Naveen. A sfeer, the ability to extend one's own boundaries and do magic, might be able to help them across. Or, well, it could get Naveen across, at least. Luca would still have to make the jump, but the last thing he needed was the crowned prince dying from a fall while trying to run away from the military.

The look on Naveen's face answered the question even before he spoke.

"I am sorry, I do not--no, no, I don't." He looked down at the road below, then back to Luca. "But I can throw you. Come!"

He gestured to himself and his larger arms, ready to assist in whatever misguided way he could.

Luca quickly held up a hand to stop Naveen. "No, no, that is not necessary!" The last thing he needed was to fall and break his neck because he was too much of a wimp to try and jump.

"Here, I will go first," he said, and he climbed up onto the window, stepping just outside of it. Then he used his feet to push off of the side of the building and hope for the best.

Thankfully, most of himself landed on the roof with a dull 'thud', so he only had to scramble to turn and get his legs onto it entirely. Then he stood up, and he held a hand out to Naveen, to hopefully get him to go next. "Come now, I made it across, so surely you can as well."

At that same time, the door to the house Naveen was in was suddenly kicked open. Though they might not be visible from where the men are, a pair of soldiers have entered the house and are searching the first-floor rooms.

LUCA AND NAVEEN'S RAD ADVENTURE

gonna prose it up for my own sake, but feel free to jump back to brackets!

Nah, brakets didn't quite work for me, gonna prose it up too :3

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