Aleksei: EDIT

Zoya Haeth kept her son isolated. Rumor had it that a seer foretold he’d become an orc-fucker, so she away from any influences that might corrupt him. Yet rumor also had it Mishka was beautiful: sweet, delicate, and impossibly pretty, with soft golden hair and warm hazel eyes.

The rumors were true. Mishka Haeth *was* beautiful. He was quiet, too, and shy. Aleksei accidentally spilled a drink on him at a state dinner.

Aleksei frantically grabbed a napkin and tried to mop it up. Mishka jerked back, face pink. “Don’t-- don’t touch me, I have it,” Mishka said, wiping himself clean. “I don’t-- like being touched.”

Aleksei ignored him. “I’ve got a spell for that--” He rested a hand on Mishka’s shirt and cast mending with a thought. With a wave of yellow light, the winestain disappeared.

Mishka’s face twisted in anger. “I said don’t touch me,” he snapped, batting Aleksei’s hand away. And he turned on his heel and left.

Aleksei watched Mishka go. Mishka really was beautiful. He wished he could-- edit the moment, somehow. Go back in time and alter what had happened. He would spill the wine on Mishka, and he’d gingerly wipe it off, and Mishka would let him, leaning into the touch, pink-faced.

Yes. That would’ve been a nice first meeting. An embarrassing accident. Aleks had, admittedly, spilled the wine on Mishka on purpose to gain his attention. But the problem wasn’t Aleks spilling the wine on Mishka; the problem was that Mishka had reacted wrong. Mishka wasn’t supposed to get mad.

It was a pity Aleksei couldn’t just-- control him. Cast a spell and edit reality. Force Mishka to act the way he liked.

Ah well, he thought.

#

There was an old spell in Aleksei’s family. Modify Memory. He found it in an old book.

“Huh,” Aleksei said. He studied it for a long time.

#

Aleksei started visiting Mishka a lot. Zoya Haeth seemed pleased. A nice, rich, normal, high-born noble boy like Aleksei taking interest in her son.

Mishka seemed less pleased.

That was okay, though. He’d come around eventually.

#

One day, Aleks sent Mishka an invitation summoning Mishka to his house. When Mishka arrived, he looked nervous and isolated, which pleased Aleks.

He’d invited Mishka to his home-- rather than going to Mishka’s house-- deliberately. Doubtless it made Mishka feel out of his element, particularly since Mishka rarely left the house. Aleksei liked that. Made him easier to control.

He invited Mishka to the garden, then took Mishka’s hands. Mishka didn’t like being touched, but Aleksei had discovered if he forced the issue hard enough-- if he touched Mishka often enough-- then Mishka eventually gave up and stopped protesting. “I want to try a spell on you,” he said. “I’m just curious about how it works. I promise I’ll undo it once I’m done.”

“A spell?” Mishka said.

“A neat memory trick.” Aleks hummed a few bars to a song. Mishka’s eyes widened, then clouded over almost immediately.

“You had a lovely visit with me,” Aleks said. His voice was oversweet, almost saccharine. “You were nervous when you got here, but as soon as you saw me, you felt relieved and happy, and you realized you actually really like me. You decided you want to come over here more often.” Then Aleksei added, “You don’t remember me casting a spell on you.”

He was curious whether it would work or not. The book said it could change events, but… could it change feelings as well? If he told Mishka *you were happy to see me*, would Mishka **remember** being happy to see him?

Mishka blinked, and his eyes came back into focus. He smiled at Aleksei sheepishly. “Sorry-- I must’ve zoned out for a second. What were we talking about?”

“Oh, nothing,” Aleksei said. “You were just telling me how happy you were to see me.” He watched Mishka’s face carefully.

“Yes, sorry,” Mishka said. “You know-- could I come over next week? I suppose I-- I must like you more than expected."

He said it ruefully, as if it were half a joke. Aleksei laughed.

#

Changing Mishka’s memory was really fucking convenient. Aleksei started doing it more and more often: when he accidentally hurt Mishka’s feelings, when he and Mishka got into an argument, that time he accidentally punched Mishka in the face. Every time Mishka pushed him away and said no, Aleksei would simply alter his memories. *We got into a fight, but you were wrong, and you apologized, and I forgave you. I didn’t hit you, you fell.*

 Mishka seemed surprisingly weak to mind control magic. Even when the spell didn’t quite work-- even when he failed to change Mishka’s memories-- it put Mishka in a dazed and pliable state, and Aleksei would gently talk him down and reassure him that everything was fine.

Even without the spell, Mishka was pretty fucking easy to manipulate once you knew him well enough. He was a sweet kid, desperate to please people. He loathed conflict. The moment Mishka became difficult-- or the moment Mishka became sad, or upset-- Aleksei would rip into him, and Mishka would back down.

Mishka never fought back, just shut down and walked away.

When they had fights, Mishka brought him flowers to apologize.

#

The edits became more elaborate over time.

He could only change up to ten minutes of time. But it was fucking fascinating, how much he could change in ten minutes. Once, he slept over at Mishka’s house and gave him the memory of a horrific nightmare so terrifying he clung to Aleksei for the rest of the night.

Another time:

“We’re engaged,” Aleksei said. “Your mother told you today. It was a brief discussion. You’re turning sixty soon. She’s marrying you off as soon as you’re legal. You’re upset, but it’s okay, because at least you’re marrying me and not someone else.”

That particular edit was fucking daring. Aleksei was really fucking pushing it now, he knew. If Mishka complained to his mother about being engaged at such a young age, she’d be confused, and the jig would be up. But even then, what did it matter? They’d think Mishka was insane, or making up stories. No one was going to guess Aleksei was tampering with his memories. **Mishka** didn’t fucking know Aleksei was tampering with his memories.

Aleksei was a high-ranking noble. Aleksei was a prince. Nobody cared about Mishka Haeth. Nobody.

Mishka was fucking perfect. He was beautiful, and he was sweet, and he loathed conflict. He never hit back. But Aleksei's favorite thing about him, his very favorite thing, was that Mishka was alone.

#

Aleksei toyed with their fake engagement for a while. He considered the idea that maybe he’d try casting a spell on Zoya; make her believe she’d agreed to marry Mishka off.

As it turned out, though, he didn’t have to. One night, Mishka climbed into his room through the balcony. Aleksei sat up in bed, wide-eyed, as Mishka explained the plan.

Mishka was going to run away.

Aleks crawled out of bed after him. “Wait,” he said. “Hang on. I mean—don’t you want me to come with you?”

Mishka looked a little taken aback. He wet his lips. “Well. If you want to follow me, you’re welcome to.”

“But do you want me to?” Aleksei said.

Mishka looked away, grimacing, torn. “No,” he finally said. “Aleks, I think I’d-- I think I’d… like to go… alone, maybe…” He backed towards the balcony.

But Aleksei hummed a few bars of song, and Mishka’s eyes went vacant, and his face went slack. Aleksei cupped his face. “You let me come with you,” Aleksei whispered frantically, implanting the memories in Mishka’s brain. “You feel really fucking guilty, because I’m obviously in love with you, and you don’t love me back. You owe me. You fucking owe me, Mishka--”

Mishka’s eyes were wide, absorbing every detail.

“--I give you so much. You must be defective if you don’t love me back--”

Mishka’s mouth twitched, like he wanted to say something, but he was too deep under the spell. Aleksei shoved more magic into him, forcing the words to stick.

“--there’s something fucking wrong with you. I am the only fucking person who’s ever loved you, and you can’t even love me back. You can’t love anyone. There’s something wrong with you. There’s something fucking wrong with you,” Aleksei said.

Then he caught his breath, and he calmed down. “You agreed to take me with you,” Aleksei said, more quietly. “You need me. You feel guilty.”

Mishka’s expression cleared after a moment, and he stepped back, as if a little startled by Aleksei’s proximity. But he looked guilty, and Aleksei thought, *Yeah. Fucking yeah you feel bad. You almost left me behind.*

 But not now.

Aleksei had edited the story. Mishka agreed to take him. And now they were going to leave together alone. Aleksei had full control of the story now. It was unlikely anyone in Alabaster would notice him fucking with Mishka... but out there, in the big broad world? No one would know. Not ever.

“Ready to go?” Mishka said, turning to the balcony. “I guess it’s just you and me now.”

"Yeah," Aleksei said. He stared at Mishka a moment, then went to throw a few quick things in a bag. Clothing. Gold. And his spellbook, full of spells, with the *modify memory* and *dominate person* spells highlighted and underlined.

"Just you and me," Aleksei said.