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Alex continued to stare. He had expected something spartan, something one would feel appropriate to a busker. What confronted him was a large room, almost opulent in its decorations. Alex couldn't place many of the decorations. They certainly weren't English or American. They weren't anything he really recognized. The room was all done in red, which he didn't as a rule even like, but it worked well. There were red curtains with inlaid golden threads covering the wall in places. There was a four-post bed which seemed anachronistic, yet paradoxically in place at the same time. The chairs were old, wooden chairs in the King Arthur style. The floor was carpeted with persian-style rugs, yet the designs were clearly different patterns than was normally seen.

There was some sort of incense burning, because Alex caught the scent of it as he continued to look around. Each time he scanned the room, he noticed something different. The delicate marble top on the night stand, the intricate decanter on the mantle, the fireplace for that matter. Alex continued to stare and Nicky just sat there on the edge of his bed and watched.

"Wow," Alex finally said, amazed at everything he was seeing. "Nice place. Amazing place. Palatial place. You could be Prince Nikolai, ruler of the underground," joked Alex. Nicky made a very odd face, and Alex suddenly felt very uncomfortable, out of place. He felt that way often, so this wasn't unusual by itself. He felt almost like he was in another world, but in a way different than what he usually felt.

"It's not much, but it's home," said Nicky absently.

"Not much? You're kidding. You could call it 'The Red Palace' or something. It's fucking amazing. You must be loaded." Alex stopped himself realizing his gauche faux pas.

"You probably have a lot of questions," replied Nicky ignoring Alex's comments. "I can answer many of them but I'm going to warn you the answers may end up leaving you with more questions. I don't want to lie to you, so I may not answer some of your questions at all." Nicky absently picked up his flute from the felt covered table and gently rubbed the well-worn wooden shaft. The flute was heavy and felt good in his hands. He'd had it as long as he could remember and took it with him almost everywhere he went. He put the flute to his lips and played a snip of a recent Beatles tune without even thinking. Alex knew this song well and the words echoed silently inside his head.

Would you believe in love at first sight? Yes, I'm certain it happens all the time. What do you see when you turn out the lights? I can't tell you, but I know it's mine. Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends. Do you need anybody? I just need somebody to love....
"You play really, really well, Nicky."

"Thanks. I just have this need to play sometimes. It's not the money, you know. The money is just something people throw for appreciation. I'd do it for free. I'll just get a tune in my head, pick up the flute and start to play. It seems like the more I play, the better the flute sounds. It's like a fine wine, and gets better with age. 'Cor I guess I should quit stalling and get to the part where you ask your questions cos if I don't I'll put it off forever."

"I guess," said Alex the apprehensiveness welling up in him. He wanted to do this and still he didn't. He vacillated rapidly back and forth. The famed and cliched moment of truth was upon him. "I must admit, I don't know where to begin. Why am I here? I don't mean the simple answer, I mean why did you want me here?"

"Bollocks, you don't start with the easy ones do you? I can answer that, but it's a difficult thing you ask me to answer. Though after my fine speech, I guess I shouldn't hold out now," Nicky said with a unhappy smile on his face.

"You don't have to answer. I'm here of my own free will. I don't know why I came, but I felt like I needed to."

"'Cor, there you go again. You're smart, you know that? Well since you've said that, let's start there. You said you felt like you needed to come. You ever wonder where that feeling came from? I bet you've had a feeling like that before. Many people do. Most of them, though, are afraid to follow their feelings. They stop, think about it, and then it's too late: the moment passes."

"I know what you mean, but I don't follow what that has to do with my question."

"Right, then. Have some patience will you? It's not exactly easy on me telling you this. Anyway, I've had these feelings on and off my whole life. I sometimes follow them and sometimes I question them. When I first saw you, I got a strong feeling that I had to know you. It was intense like I've never felt before. It was like all of a sudden I knew you had to be part of my life. I realize this probably sounds lame to you. It sounds sort of pathetic to me too. I don't usually follow through on these types of feelings, but it was so strong and undeniable, I had to figure out how to meet you. So I spent a good portion of your trip following you about, trying to work up enough courage to interact with you in some way. It took awhile before I got it, and when I did I messed it up terribly. I don't really have any friends, not close ones anyway. I never thought I had use for them."

"Well we have that in common. I mean about the friends. I don't have any either. But I'd honestly have to say I did want them. I just didn't know what to do. So after a few failed efforts, I pretty much gave up." Alex wanted to say more, say how he felt, but he felt stupid enough saying this much. He wasn't in the habit of opening up to strangers, but here he was. He'd already said too much. He was surprised Nicky hadn't run him out already.

Nicky struggled. There was so much more he wanted to say, but he'd already messed things up and he wanted to try to fix things. If he said too much he'd drive Alex away. He didn't want that. "Now that you're here, I don't even know what to say."

There was more uncomfortable silence. Alex broke first. "I can't take it anymore Nicky. This isn't necessary. We can just take things naturally. Why are we trying to force things to go somewhere? We don't even know where somewhere is. At least I don't. Yeah, I think it's a bit weird, but fuck it. Part of me really thinks this is the right thing to do. So I'm here even if you don't tell me anything." Had Alex stopped to reflect he'd have realized it was the longest speech he'd ever given from inside his heart.

Nicky got a silly little grin on his face. He picked up his flute and absently played some melody Alex thought he recognized as a classical piece but he couldn't quite place it. Alex was sitting next to Nicky's on the bed, where Nicky also sat, their feet dangling off the edge. Alex laid back and drifted slowly into sleep with the music ringing in his head. Not long after, Nicky lay down his flute and also dozed off.

Alex woke with a start as there was a loud knocking at the door to Nicky's room. Nicky jumped out of bed and went to answer the door. Alex wondered to himself, how did I ever get any sleep with that incredibly beautiful boy sleeping just inches from me? I'll never know how, but I did. I slept like a rock. A strange saying that. Just how do rocks sleep?

Nicky closed the door and came back. Alex began thinking to himself. What did I just say to myself? What the fuck is going on? "Nicky, I have to go," pleaded Alex.

"What's wrong? You were fine before your nap. Did you have a nightmare or something? Dreams aren't usually real. Just relax. You'll be fine."

"No, it's nothing," Alex lied. "I've just decided I've got to go home."

"Why are you lying to me? You're a really bad liar. Did you know that? Your brow furrows up tightly when you lie. If you want to go, go you shall, but please what's wrong?"

"You want the truth? OK, I'm having all these emotions and feelings I've never had before. I can't handle it. I'm going back to my life. I'm going to forget this trip ever happened. I'm sorry." Alex felt so miserable and he wanted someone to turn to, but there was nobody. That was the price of being a loner.

"So be it," said Nicky with a crushed look on his face. "I really wanted to show you this world and maybe make you part of it. You really belong here. If you didn't, you could never have come here."

Nicky sighed. He looked like he was fighting back tears. "Do you want to have dinner with us before you go?"

Why the hell do I always get into these situations? I don't need this kind of complexity in my life. I'm a fucking teenager, and I feel 60 years old already. Life isn't fair. "Yeah, ok. I'll stay for dinner."

Nicky perked up immediately. "Great! We'll take you to the meal and after that we'll get you to the airport." Nicky secretly hoped Alex would change his mind.

"Come on, it's time to go to the dining hall."

They wandered down a few corridors. Alex felt foolish carrying his luggage, but Nicky had insisted so they wouldn't be late to the airport after dinner.

Nicky had called it a dining hall. Alex thought it was more like a banquet hall from an Arthurian legend. He supposed it was somehow appropriate, since after all, this was England, but he still didn't know what to make of this whole situation. He was beginning to feel calmer about his unexpected thoughts from earlier, and thought he might change his mind yet again. Of course if he did, Nicky would think him a flake. After all they were his thoughts. Nobody knew them, heard them, or felt them. And, more importantly, that meant nobody could hate him for what he felt or thought.

Nicky led them to a table towards what appeared to be the front of the room. They sat down. Their table appeared to overlook the other two or three tables. Others were filing in and finding their seats. Apparently this really was a banquet hall because off in the wings there were clearly people who were servers.

There were perhaps sixty people there at this point and then the doors swung shut with a loud thud. Simultaneously with the thud, two heralds stepped forth from the wings. One came in from the left and another from the right. They presented a trumpet and sounded an eight note sequence. Alex thought this was odd Ð almost right out of old history. At the flourish, everyone stood immediately. Alex hastily got up when Nicky nudged him in the side.

"His Royal and most Exalted Majesty, King Vonamoor," announced the herald as his majesty came in from behind the large curtain on the back wall to thunderous applause. The king approached the table where Alex and Nicky sat, and took a seat at the center of the table. He sat and spoke, "We hereby commence this feast." With that, everyone sat down and the usual noises of a large dinner party began.

"Good evening, Nicky," said the King.

"Good evening, Father," said Nicky in reply.

Alex just stood there with his mouth open.

"Who is your friend with the mouth stuck in the wide open position?" inquired the King of his son good-naturedly.

"An outsider. He's my friend."

The king got a very irritated look on his face and all trace of good humour left his countenance. "Nicky, we don't allow outsiders here. Ever. You know that. What are we going to do with you? This is very serious."

"Father. He was drawn to the music. He's safe. Trust me. Please?"

"Very well then, we shall discuss it later. You haven't been wrong before on this. We shall allow it for the nonce."

Alex sat there, still unmoving with a stupid expression on his face. Nicky looked over at Alex and began to giggle uncontrollably. Alex finally realized he was the object of some amusement, and he managed to shut his mouth a bit and sit up straight in an effort to maintain what little was left of his dignity.

Alex sat there in silence, thoughts racing about in his head, as what he assumed were pages began to bring the food in. Finally he spoke, "Nicky, don't you think that this was a detail you might want to mention to someone as it seems to be a bit important?"

"No, I wanted to see if you and I were going to get along as people. Once you know who I was, I couldn't be sure of why you liked me. I had to know if we'd be friends before I told you."

"Are you even sure I like you? How do you know? I've not told you."

"I am sure now."

"Do you always eat like this? It's so, um, formal," said Alex deftly changing the subject before it strayed into uncomfortable territory.

"No, this is a special banquet. It's my sixteenth birthday today. This is my birthday party, my coming of age party, and all that good stuff. I am, so they say, a man today."

"That's right. My son becomes a man today," interjected the King. "He will be feted, and then he shall be given a deed to perform to prove he is worthy to inherit the throne."

Nicky sulked in silence at the mention of his deed. Alex sat in silence in awe of the opulent feast taking place about him. There were musicians, dancers, and food enough for an army.