Chapter 352: Chapter 352: Perfect pair
For twenty minutes Benjamin had been basking in Lucas’s brilliance, sipping champagne like it was nectar while mentally drafting bets for how soon a pregnancy announcement would appear in the Gazette. Alistair, less dramatic but no less entertained, leaned beside him, murmuring dry commentary whenever Lucas made another courtier laugh or blush.
And then Trevor moved, stepping into conversation with the same calm, magnetic ease. A single tilt of his head, a steady violet gaze, and the small cluster around him straightened as though they’d been rehearsed.
Trevor said very little. That was the genius of it. A polite word to a general, a dry comment to a minister’s aide, and suddenly people were hanging on him the way they had been on Lucas minutes earlier. He smiled once, once, and Benjamin nearly spilled his drink.
"Oh, gods above," Benjamin whispered, hand clutching Alistair’s sleeve. "He’s doing it too. The Fitzgeralts are doubling down."
Trevor’s smile was subtle, his posture impeccable, but there was no mistaking the ripple it caused. Someone laughed too loudly at a remark that hadn’t been funny. Someone else actually touched his sleeve like he was a talisman.
Alistair stared, then huffed a laugh. "Lucas was bad enough. Now they’re both glowing like they’re on magazine covers."
Benjamin’s eyes were shining. "This... this is art. I must document this."
He slid his phone out in a perfectly fluid motion, as though snapping photos at a state dinner was the most natural thing in the world. A few quick angles: Lucas’s smile across the table, Trevor’s answering curve of his mouth, and the way the crowd leaned toward them both like flowers to sunlight.
Alistair caught him mid-shot. "You’re sending those, aren’t you?"
Benjamin only smirked. "Darling, of course. Glass Crackers 2.0 must witness this drama in real time."
Alistair blinked. "Glass Crackers? What in the hell is that?"
"The group chat," Benjamin said, already typing furiously. "Mia, Chris, Dax, Lucas, Trevor, Sirius, Serathine, Lucius, Cressida..." He winked. "And now, yours truly. Thanks to a modest but well-chosen bribe to Sirius. A ring. Exquisite, of course. He caved instantly."
Alistair gaped. "You bribed the Crown Prince with jewelry to get into a group chat?"
Benjamin sent the photos with a flourish, his grin wicked. "Not just any chat. The only chat that matters. And now, so will you."
Alistair raised a brow, half-appalled, half-intrigued. "...and what exactly do I have to bribe him with?"
Benjamin’s eyes glittered like a cat with cream. "Leave that to me. By the end of the week, you’ll be in. Glass Crackers 2.0 will never be the same."
Across the room, Lucas and Trevor finally ended up side by side, twin smiles carved into dangerous perfection.
Benjamin snapped one last shot, beaming. "Oh, this one’s going viral."
—
Benjamin: [Photo: Lucas, dazzling smile, champagne in hand]
Caption: Your favorite omega is outshining the chandeliers. ✨
Benjamin: [Photo: Trevor mid-smile, violet tie sharp, courtiers leaning toward him]
Caption: And his husband just joined the war.
Mia: WAIT. WHY IS HE SMILING LIKE THAT?
Mia: Trevor does NOT smile like that in public.
Benjamin: Darling, I did nothing. This is pure Fitzgeralt glow.
Chris: ... Oh gods. THEY’RE BOTH DOING IT.
Chris: Lucas looks like he owns the room and Trevor looks like he’s auditioning for a cologne ad.
Chris: I hate this dinner and I’m not even there.
Dax: [seen 21:03]
Chris: Ignore him, he’s glaring at the screen like it insulted him.
Serathine: 👀
Serathine: A matched set, finally. Took them long enough to coordinate.
Cressida: About time Trevor used that face for something other than intimidating staff. Lucas, keep him on task.
Lucius: Benjamin, you bribed Sirius to get in here. We all know.
Sirius: And I have no regrets. The ring was exquisite.
Benjamin: Worth it, darling. Look at this glow.
[...sends another shot of Lucas and Trevor standing close, both smiling in perfect tandem.]
Alistair: ... what the hell did you drag me into?
Benjamin: The only drama worth watching. Welcome to Glass Crackers 2.0.
Mia: [photo of wine glass] I need this just to survive my own subplot.
Chris: [photo of his coffee mug] SAME.
Benjamin: Lucas, Trevor... keep glowing. I’m betting on a pregnancy announcement before the year is out.
Cressida: Seconded.
Serathine: Thirded.
Lucius: ...idiots.
Lucas: [seen 21:18]
Lucas: You do realize Trevor and I are IN this chat, right?
Trevor: [seen 21:18]
Trevor: Reading every word.
Chris: ...oh shit.
Mia: I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A BAD IDEA.
Benjamin: [typing...]
Benjamin: Darling, everything I do is a good idea. Besides, you’re glowing. Consider it free publicity.
Lucas: If I see one of these photos on the front page tomorrow, I will personally drown you in the ornamental lake.
Trevor: And I’ll hold you under.
Benjamin: ...noted. (but worth it)
Alistair: [snickering emoji]
Cressida: At least they’re united in their threats. That’s marital progress.
Serathine: Yes, but I want the photos too. Forward them, Benjamin.
Lucas: Absolutely not.
Trevor: No.
Benjamin: [already sent them]
Chris: I LOVE THIS CHAT.
Mia: I hate all of you.
Lucius: You’ll survive.
—
The dinner had unfolded into that strange rhythm Lucas always despised: the rise and fall of silverware, the soft hum of conversation, and the way every laugh carried just a little too long. And yet, tonight it didn’t seem to touch him.
Because tonight, Trevor was beside him.
Violet silk at his throat, the dark line of his suit cutting sharp against the candlelight, he looked like he’d been carved straight from shadow and polished with steel. Every time he leaned in, whether to murmur something in Lucas’s ear or to refill his glass, half the table stole glances, drawn as if by gravity.
Lucas, for his part, smiled like the room already belonged to him. The green of his eyes caught the light, his platinum ring flashing whenever he lifted his fork, his laugh just warm enough to be inviting without ever straying into carelessness. Together, they weren’t just a married couple at a table, they were a matched set, a pair too rare and too perfect to ignore.
Benjamin had abandoned all pretense of subtlety. He sat opposite, chin propped on one hand, phone abandoned beside his plate, his other hand fluttering with delighted emphasis whenever Trevor or Lucas so much as looked at each other.
"This," Benjamin declared in a stage whisper to Alistair, "is better than theater. Look at them. If the Empire had any sense, they’d charge admission."
Alistair, patient as ever, sipped his wine. "You’re insufferable."
"I’m right," Benjamin countered smoothly.
Lucas’s fork stilled mid-air, his gaze sliding lazily to the two men across from him. "We can hear you," he said, voice dry as salt.
Benjamin only beamed wider. "Darling, that’s the point."
Trevor’s mouth curved, slow and deliberate, as he set his hand over Lucas’s on the table. "Let him enjoy himself," he murmured, cedar calm beneath his words. "He’s not wrong."
Alistair set down his glass with a faint snort. "God help us. You’re encouraging him."
Lucas leaned into Trevor’s shoulder just enough to be felt, his smile sharp now. "That’s because he already knows he’s winning."
Benjamin’s delighted gasp drew another round of stares from the table at large, but Lucas didn’t care. Not tonight.