Aligned For You

Chapter 10

Caius didn't actually realize he was awake for a long time.

He stared at the room in mostly baffled confusion. Where...was he? Had they stopped at another inn instead of camping out again? If so, this was a nice-ass inn. Probably the nicest one he had ever been in. How much gold had they spent on this??

Also, holy shit, everything hurt.

Ah well. At least Alonne and MacKenzie were both here.

MacKenzie was sitting up, leaned against the headboard, daggers still gripped in hand even as her chin softly pushed against her chest, snoring softly. Alonne, in turn, was curled up into a bowl on Caius' other side, entirely quiet, but drooling heavily. Which was super gross, but not surprising; he always drooled when he slept in that position. And, he also only slept in that position when...he felt unsafe...

WHO THE FUCK HAD INTIMIDATED HIS SIDEKICK!?!

As Caius sat up, the movement of his body caused him to notice several things at once. The first thing was that he had definitely broken a rib at some point. The second was that MacKenzie also looked beat to hell and back. And third, based on the cracks in the walls, there had definitely been a fight in this room at some point. What had happened??

Caius closed his eyes and tried to think through his migraine. What had happened. What had happened? Think, Caius! Something had happened to his friends! Oh, also, someone had fuuuucked him up. Had he gotten drunk? Caius couldn't remember the last time he had gotten blackout drunk, but then, maybe it was the Dicean wi-

OH FUCK!

"Oh my god, Tua save me!" Caius said, his panicked flailing waking up his two companions, who sleepily glared at him. "Did I get blackout drunk at the wedding announcement!? Oh no!"

His father was going to kill him. Head Secretary Ezar was going to kill him! The General might actually, physically kill him! Prince Felix--!!

...

Fuck...he probably embarrassed Felix...

"MacKenzie, kill me," Caius said, as MacKenzie rubbed the sleep from her eyes, at ease in her certainty that no one dangerous was in the room. "I got drunk at my wedding announcement. I'm a terrible fiancé. Marry Prince Felix in my stead."

"Yeah, no," MacKenzie said. "He's not my type. Make Alonne do it."

"He is kinda cute," Alonne muttered, stretching out from his ball and wiping his mouth. "But he's pretty intimidating. I think I gotta say no too. Also, Caius, you didn't get drunk."

Caius frowned, looking between his two friends. "Well, then...what happened?"

-

Felix laid awake in his bed, hoping every second that Denji wouldn't barge in. Thankfully or not, nothing had happened at the dinner--that was related to sabotage, anyway. Instead, it was filled with people coming up to him to offer their congratulations, to gush over how cute the proposal had been, how lucky he was to have someone like Prince Caius marry him. The congratulations were fine, but the rest was just infuriating.

He'd tracked down both Waku and Naomi, asking innocently if they'd had a good time--he didn't think either of them thought too much of it. Well, maybe Waku thought he was checking on how she was doing, which he sort of was too, but still. Neither had seen anything nefarious, much to Naomi's disappointment, but he was treated to her excited rambling about how barbaric the Luminaries were. Very confidence-boosting considering he was marrying one.

...fuck, he was marrying one. In three days.

Groaning, Felix covered his tired eyes, rolling over in bed. He should get up, get ready as quickly as possible so he could check in on MacKenzie and Alonne--he'd managed to slip a note under Caius' door, something subtle, a ‘Hope you're feeling better, dinner was boring :o)’ that would tell them all they needed to know. But he didn't want to get up. Maybe for the next year.

With a sigh, though, he did anyway, just in time for the royal stylist to stride through the door.

And, hair pulled and tugged and pinned back into obedience, a little more makeup today to cover the bags under his eyes, Felix took a meandering path to breakfast, hoping to intercept the, ugh, trio today.

-

"Caius, if you don't hand over the long-bristle brush soon, I'm going to break your fingers," MacKenzie threatened, having been trying to comb her hair with a short comb for too long that morning and losing her patience as she waited for her vain prince to get his bangs just right. "My hair is five-thousand times longer than yours, and your hair is already brushed!"

"MacKenzie, please hold still, re-stringing your corset is tough enough without you squirming inside of it." Alonne sighed, having had to replace the last string after the fight had snapped it under her dress. "Also, you need more conditioner before you use that brush. You barely put any in."

MacKenzie pouted before, reluctantly, going back to the conditioner, running her fingers through her stupidly long hair. Still, she was right, Caius' hair was done. Giving her an apologetic smile, Caius placed the brush next to her, before going back to look at the note, having been re-reading basically since they found it.

"Hope you're feeling better..." Caius said aloud, frowning, nerves swirling in his stomach as he tried to imagine what talking to Felix was going to feel like today. "And a funny little smiley face… What did I say to him again?"

"Some stuff about him being a coward and that his kingdom was better off without him or something," MacKenzie replied, undisturbed as Caius groaned at this answer. "He seemed to take it in stride. It was impressive."

"Yeah...?" Caius said. "I...I literally cannot think of a worse thing I could have said. Which is probably why I said it when I did. Just wanted to hurt his feelings. I don't... I mean, I don't actually feel that way..." Did he?

No! No of course he didn't! ...Well...maybe when he was angry he thought it... a little bit...

But he wouldn't have ever told the prince that!

...an uncomfortable memory of calling a kid he barely knew a 'disappointment' resurfaced, and Caius groaned again.

But he had been angry! Certainly angry talk didn't count! People did all sorts of stupid shit when they were angry! Lashed out at friends, picked fights with strangers, start… fifteen-year wars...

"...I need to be better, guys..." Caius said.

"Better at what?" Alonne asked, finishing up the corset and then doing a quicker job of tying MacKenzie’s dress up. Then he put on his cap and was ready to go. MacKenzie was just putting up her pigtails, but she would be ready in a moment too. "Not being poisoned?"

"Not being a dick to my fiancé," Caius said, a determined fire in his belly, "I get married to this guy in three days! I don't want to marry a guy who hates my guts, but I have to marry him for the good of everyone! So!" Caius stood up, hands on his hips as he turned to his friends, who looked at him warily. "We have two vitally important missions for the next three days! Mission one! Find the traitor! No problem. Mission two! Woo Prince Felix and get him to fall in love with me!!"

"That sounds a little more difficult than mission one," Alonne pointed out.

"Can we just aspire to make him tolerate you instead?" MacKenzie sighed.

"Let's go! We have a lot to do and not much time to do it!! I need everyone on their A-game!" Caius said, deciding to ignore his friends' protests. The three, finally ready, headed out to breakfast.

Bright side! He did see Prince Caius and his escorts before making it to breakfast! Dark side. They were just a quick walk away from it, and there were far too many ears around to talk. With his note, they had all the information they could get at the moment, but he was still left in the dark!

Felix had tried to do his own ruminating during the night, having gotten a list of everyone in the Luminary Party from the housing plans, but...it really was of no use to him. Other than the advisors, Alonne, MacKenzie, and Caius himself, Felix didn't know any of these people. If he could figure out who was guilty just from seeing their name and occupation, maybe magic really did exist.

"Good morning!" he chirped to the trio with a little wave. "I hope you all had a good night, despite everything yesterday. I've heard sleeping in a new place can be daunting, but you've all been on the road for ages, so I don't think that really applies."

With a little giggle and a look that was sharper than anyone on the outside would be able to tell, he addressed Caius specifically. "We don't typically have alcohol with breakfast, so I'd hope you can make it through at least one of your first meals here, Prince Caius."

Caius twitched. What was that? Was this pipsqueak trying to imply he was an alcoholic!? Little shit, Caius was going to-!

No! Nooooo! Bad Caius! Felix wasn't like his friends. He couldn't just...fight him when he was annoyed. Their relationship didn't work like that. He had to keep it cool. Besides, he knew the official story was he had gotten drunk yesterday, so it made sense for Felix to comment on it! Hahaha!

Made! Perfect! Sense!

Taking a great, deep breath, Caius collapsed onto the ground, his knees tucked under him, palms down on either side of his head as his forehead hit the floor. Caught off guard, MacKenzie and Alonne quickly followed suit, Alonne embarrassed and flustered by his prince's theatrics, MacKenzie looking around at the hallways around them, increasingly nervous. There were people here. They were staring! What was Caius thinking!?

"Prince Felix, I wish to formally apologize for my terrible behavior yesterday!" Caius said, not caring at all as some servants started whispering to each other and one of the Dicean guards called out if everything was alright. Pressing on, he said, "I never should have touched the wine on our first meal together. It should have been enough for me to be in your presence! I will forever regret the missed opportunity to escort you to our wedding date announcement dinner! I am-" Caius gripped his fists, digging his nails into his palms. "-so sorry!"

"Prince Caius?" General Yuu said, who had just turned the corner, being escorted by two of his own security team. There was an edge to his voice as he called out, "What are you doing on the floor, Your Grace!?"

Felix flinched as Caius dropped to the ground, worried that he'd...like, had a relapse or something?! But the others did it too and... W-what were they doing? Felix didn't know how to react so he just stood there, a bewildered and slightly disturbed expression on his face.

Caius was...apologizing. Was this some sort of Luminary custom? He'd never read about anything like this--bowing, sure, but laying oneself on the ground? It was just...uncomfortable. Why would anyone do this?

"U-uh..." How do you respond to that?! Especially with...was Caius making fun of him?! Saying the sort of things he'd been told the night before, insinuating he was only good to look at, that he needed someone at his side.

Felix's hands only curled into fists for a moment before another voice rang out and attuned him to the general murmur of the, you know, dozen or so people looking in on the spectacle. With a steadying breath and a covert glance around--god, the gossip was going to be awful today--Felix approached the trio on the ground.

"What...whatever it is you three are doing, could you stop? If you wanted to apologize, you could've just told me." Under his breath, he hissed to the prince, confident the white noise around them would hide the words. "You're making a scene, get up."

Caius looked up at him, looking genuinely puzzled as he whispered back. "But...if we had done it in private...how would you know I was really sorry? If I wasn't willing to be humiliated?"

As they whispered to each other, the General finally managed to get to them, grabbing Caius by the collar and hurling him to his feet, keeping his grip on the collar as he drew the prince close to him, whispering furiously in his ear, "My prince, what are you thinking!? How dare you tarnish your family name like this! If I ever see you doing the submission bow again..."

The General glanced over at Felix, remembering his audience again, before reluctantly releasing Caius' collar, saying through gritted teeth, "You and I are sparring after breakfast, my prince. It will be good to get your blood flowing after your indulgences yesterday. Ten. Don't be late."

The General continued on into the dining room, grumbling to himself the whole way as Caius looked on after him, disappointed. "Aw, man," Caius sighed, "That's gonna be rough."

"Actually, that's fairly fortunate. I was planning to ask you to spar today too," MacKenzie said in a low whisper, standing up and brushing herself off, Alonne doing the same next to her. "We can get it all done at once."

"What? Both you and the General? Uggghh." Caius sighed, looking over at Felix and remembering that there was still a job to do. Frowning, his brow furrowed upwards as he said to the prince, "Thank you for your help yesterday. According to my escorts, you were invaluable in containing the situation. I'm in your debt."

...what? Well, that didn't answer anything. Gave him more questions, actually. Why would remorse be anything but internal? Why would it ever be tied to humiliation, why draw attention to it? Why was curling up in a ball on the ground held to a level of humiliation?

Fuck the Luminaries were weird.

The General's behavior wasn't any less baffling, if a little...envy-inducing, honestly. That Caius was trained to use a sword, and likely other forms of combat too. That it seemed expected of him. No wonder he took one look at Felix and decided to have him be the butt of a cruel joke.

Felix's expression fell from confusion into something more neutral at that thought, used to keeping anger hidden underneath. Though...genuine gratitude cooled it a little. Just a little.

Felix shrugged a bit, half-turning to usher the others towards the dining room. "I did what I needed to. Just put your efforts into solving the bigger problem, and we'll be square." That's all he wanted, really. For things to go without a hitch, then...spend the rest of his life making sure his husband wouldn't send the kingdom into ruins...easy-breezy...

Sighing, Felix tried to draw himself up again. No time for rest.

"If you two will be occupied after breakfast, then, Alonne? If I could bother you at that time, I have some questions about Luminary customs I was hoping to ask someone. Unsurprisingly, our books aren't exactly updated on the shifting trends from the past fifteen years." While finding somewhere private would be inappropriate, maybe...they could watch the sparring matches off to the side, the fighting parties too focused to hear anything they said.

Alonne bowed. "Of course, Your Grace. With my prince's permission, it would be an honor to assist you."

Despite the wording, at no point did Alonne actually look to Caius for permission, nor did it even occur to Caius to add anything to the acceptance, instead deep into his own thoughts. He wasn't thinking about the poison thing all that much; he knew that MacKenzie and Alonne were already working on it, and other than just generally supporting them, there wasn't much more he could add to the discussion. He'd let them lead on that. But for mission number two!

Hmm...what...would actually woo someone like Felix?

Think, Caius! Every meal was another opportunity where Felix HAD to interact with him! That made the meals his best chances for the next few days! He had to focus! Strategize! Improvise! Be the hero in Felix's story! What would a hero do!?

Be gentlemanly!

Caius turned to Felix, offering up an elbow. "My prince," he said, doing his best to give a sort of charming, royal smile. "May I escort you to the table? I'm certain we'll be seated together again. And if not-" he winked, "-I think we should insist."

Alonne lowered his cap, suffering from second-hand embarrassment as MacKenzie just rolled her eyes. Caius really should have stopped reading those old-school love stories. What a mess.

Okay! Information dissemination set in place! Hopefully, Alonne and MacKenzie had narrowed down the list somewhat--if it was a reasonable amount of people, then... Ah, well, he already had the housing list. Figure out where their rooms were, break in to look for evidence, simple enough. A bit harder if their suspect decided to carry the pollen on them, though. Trail them for a bit, see if there's anything off...questioning them directly only as a last measure. Couldn't let them know that--

Felix was broken out of his thoughts and looked up at Caius blankly, before being just a beat too late to fully cover a disgusted expression with a flattered one. Commit, dammit, commit! Give everyone hope for this treaty! You can hold a monster's arm for a few seconds for that!

Forcing his arm up to gently slip his hand in the crook of Caius' elbow, Felix smiled up at him. "People are usually free to sit where they like, but I would be honored if you would like to be at my side once more. I might be able to provide more insight on any foods that seem unfamiliar if it pleases you."

Dammit. At least he wasn't expected to be flirty, even if that was the path Caius was taking. He might actually throw up if he had to force sweet nothings to the monster.

"Please, lead the way, Prince Caius." All three feet forward.

The table was packed with platters of various foods, people gathered around filling their plates. Usually, the staff (and anyone who decided to wander into the castle for a meal) sat in the hall, filling it with chatter and community but, considering the customs of their guests, Felix caught a few guards waving to his father as they took their food elsewhere. How lucky.

Gently, Felix steered Caius towards an area of the table nearest to a still-tall stack of fluffy pancakes, a small pitcher of syrup right next to it.

Okay! Prince Felix seemed flattered! Solid start!

As they came up to the seats that his betrothed seemed set on, Caius gently shook off the hold on his arm so he could take a step ahead of Felix, pulling out his chair for him. Across the table, Secretary Ragna giggled at Caius's theatrics while the General, who sat next to her, just frowned, unimpressed, especially when considering Caius' earlier humiliation.

Secretary Ezar, who once again sat at the second head of the table, watched all of this with the same pleasant expression he watched everything with but made no comments.

"Ah, good morning, Fe, Prince Caius." There was something amused in Aiichi's gaze as he regarded the two princes warmly over a cup of tea. The boys were putting on a good show if nothing else. Nice to see them taking this seriously still.

"Morning, Aiichi; good morning, everyone," was Felix's light, but slightly distracted response. He didn't waste much time sliding a pancake onto his plate, internally debating how much syrup he could get away with without any looks. Less than he wanted, surely. Maybe he could...pretend to overtip the pitcher, 'accidentally' getting much more syrup than intended.

At that moment, Lake entered the dining room with her usual cape back in place, giving everyone a bright smile and a “Mornin', folks!" though it was much more subdued than her usual greeting. Different types of communication, and all that--gotta be respectful. Still, Felix gave her a wave, and Aiichi didn't let the present company alter his schedule too much.

"Good morning, Lake. I apologize again for giving you work off duty."

The woman laughed and waved Aiichi off. "Nahhh, it's my pleasure, boss--anything I can do to help! 'zumi got all excited too; she said the garden has all the flowers that were on your list, so you can leave the arrangements up to her! Oh!"

She turned to the princes, a hand up as she remembered something. "She wanted me to ask--Fe, did you want some of your flowers for your ensemble? There's enough for Prince Cai too, if you two wanted to match!"

Felix looked up in slight surprise, cheeks full of pancakes, and the guard chuckled, taking a few steps back, her plate somehow filled during all of that. "Sorry, sorry, no business during breakfast--you know where to find me when you decide. Have a good day, everyone!"

With a wave from the boss, she was out just as quickly as she came in.

The Luminary Advisors watched this exchange quietly, saying nothing until the servant(?) had finished her business and moved on. Once she was gone, it was Secretary Ragna who looked over to the king, concerned. "Your Highness," she said, bowing her head slightly in respect, "I apologize if this comes across sounding naive. I know customs differ across borders...but is it truly okay here for the staff to interrupt nobles at their meals? She was quite...brazen. If it's about maintaining a friendly reputation, I could have one of my people take her aside and speak to her. The correcting wouldn't appear to come back from you, and it always seems to come across better when another staff member reminds them of proper etiquette, after all."

Caius glanced at the secretary and then the king in slight concern, but honestly was more worried about Prince Felix, watching as the little guy seemed to be trying to choke himself on his breakfast. Caius was worried, looking over the food, looking for any signs of the white pollen mixed in, but of course, it was impossible to tell. He was picking mostly meats for his own meal, hoping that it would be harder to contaminate them without it being noticed, and he wasn't touching his drink at all.

Oh! But okay, that was a new thing to learn about Felix! He liked sweets! Add it to the list!

What else did he like?

He...seemed to like Caius' stories, when they had first met. And he liked books! And trashy novels! Okay, what else...what...what else?

Caius frowned, poking at his ham. He...really didn't know that much about Prince Felix, did he? Sweets, books, travel stories. That's it...well, okay! Caius would just have to pay attention! Learn his betrothed inside and out! He was determined!

Aiichi shook his head with an easy smile, and though there was nothing in his expression that suggested otherwise, Felix went still, an ingrained response to seeing...well, something no one else saw. Something that meant his father had seen something that clashed with his ideals.

"I appreciate your offer, Secretary Ragna, but Lake's behavior was perfectly normal. Our friends are always welcome to come speak to me at any time--truly, I appreciate her updating me to the knowledge that the flower arrangements for the wedding are taken care of. Miss Hijiri is this year's head gardener and she truly has a knack for it--I look forward to seeing her arrangements." Aiichi happily took a sip of his tea.

They'd been prepared for it, but the Luminaries really were rather cold. Snooty, was a word, acting like they were so much better than other people. Unlike some, Aiichi didn't plan on enforcing his culture onto foreigners, but he would not put his people's comfort at risk either. He was prepared for the subtle debates.

Felix sighed quietly through his nose, things apparently okay for the time being, and he swallowed his latest mouthful. Only to immediately replace it, but even if his father had new people to play with, he didn't want to stick around to see it. A pity Aiichi always managed to ruin such good food.

However, it wasn't just about him. Would it be too rude if he left without Caius? The prince was poking at his food, though that was pretty understandable. It sucked being poisoned once. If it happened again? No good. But, the same with the spread at dinner the night before, everyone ate from the same source. It would be risking poisoning half the castle if their culprit went for it.

Sopping up the last of the syrup pool on his plate, Felix nudged Caius' foot with his own, giving him a heads-up warning for whatever his plan would be.

Caius was still thinking heavily, trying to work out how he could impress Felix with his limited knowledge base about him. Maybe he could get Felix a book as a gift? But it would have to be a book from around here, meaning that if it was available and Felix didn't have it already, that probably meant he hadn't wanted it in the first place. Maybe he could send out a carrier to find something distant? Did he have any books himself that weren't too dog-eared to give away? Mayb-

Caius stiffened, something patting against his foot. Not sure what to think it was at first, Caius glanced down and saw nothing that was there that could have brushed against it...except for maybe...

Oh my god.

Was...

Was Felix playing footsie with him!?

Caius' face went bright red as he glanced over at Felix, whose mannerisms were as unreadable as ever. When… Was Felix just being flirty as a tease, or...maybe...well, what could have changed his opinion of him that fast? Certainly it wasn't just being nice to him this morning. C-could it have something to do with last night? But he had been monstrous last night! Unless...

Oh man, was Felix turned on by murder rampages!?

Shit! Shit! Should he footsie back? Wouldn't that be weird!? But wouldn't it be cruel to just let Felix do it by himself!? Tua give him strength, maybe if he just...did it a little...!?

Nervous, Caius gently tapped Felix's foot back, his face beet red as he stared fixedly down at his breakfast.

...what did that mean. What did that mean? Maybe an okay? Felix glanced over at Caius, the flush taking over his face...well, that could mean anything and nothing that Felix was privy to. Probably for the better that he wasn't.

Internally rolling his eyes, leaving weirdo monsters to their weirdo ways, Felix rose with a quiet, "If you will excuse me," aiming to make a clean exit. He would take his plate to the kitchens like everyone else, but it was kind of hard to do that when he wasn't allowed in. ...damn saboteur. Maybe they'd be willing to share the secret of sneaking into the kitchen once they apprehended them.

So, plan for today. Find out where the sparring was going to be happening, and get caught up on the situation with Alonne. Maybe they'd even get around to some theorizing. Then, investigate the people of interest. The Luminaries were encouraged to enjoy the capital city in the time before the wedding, so hopefully most people would be out and about and not in their rooms. That did leave everyone in the city in danger but...there would be reports of sudden fevers and strange behavior. That there were Checker Pollen poisonings in the city at all would strain things, but only to the Luminaries. Felix only knew what it was because he'd read every book in the library as many times as his boredom provoked.

Then, if they found evidence...subdue the traitor. Give them over to Luminary authority? What did they do with prisoners, anyway? ...something about that didn't sit right with Felix. Anyone who would gleefully prolong the war was no friend, but...they were still a person. Had to have a reason. Would need help adjusting to a peaceful life.

Felix was already in deep thought by the time he was pushing open the door, not noticing the glances aimed between him and Caius.

He was leaving! After playing footsie with him, now he was just getting up and walking away! WHAT DID THAT MEAN!?

OH GOD WAS CAIUS SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW HIM!?

What if Felix had started the footsie game, but when Caius footsied back, Felix had gotten overwhelmed and needed space from him? Well, then Caius should respect that need for space and not follow! But, what if the opposite was true?? What if Felix was so turned on by bumping feet that he was trying to put themselves in a situation where they could be alone together! Then Caius should follow him!

B-but then what!? Would it be a conversation!? More flirting!? If Felix was trying to find them privacy for, ahem, 'specific' reasons, should Caius allow that!? Caius was by no means inexperienced, but he had a feeling he was supposed to wait until the wedding night when it came to Felix!

AND EVEN STILL if Felix was just turned on by almost being murdered by Caius last night, THERE WERE PROBABLY ISSUES WITH THAT TOO!

Oh no. He couldn't handle a future where he had to almost murder his husband every time they wanted to spice things up in the bedroom. He just...didn't have the constitution for it! Was it too vanilla to not want to attack his spouse with a sword!? He hadn't even known that was a thing!!

But! If Felix did want to do all that stuff, who was Caius to make Felix feel weird and alone by NOT following!? He could just imagine Felix, hurt and embarrassed as he went out to the hallway, only to realize that Caius had not followed, had not reciprocated his feelings! The tears! The tragedy!

Fuck!

Okay! Okay, he'd go, and just play it by ear! That would be best. Standing up, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Thank you so much, please excuse me!" before leaving his plate behind without much thought, following Felix outside, shoulders squared and tense and face still painfully red as he tried to consider what he would do depending on how Felix advanced this. Was this a good thing? It was probably a good thing, right!? He was so nervous!

Aiichi watched the boys exit with a watchful eye, the gears in the elder Oswell's mind tick-tick-ticking away. Felix had startled the moment he saw Prince Caius, gone to run as he always did when he felt overwhelmed. The foreign prince, in turn, had stuttered in the performance, looking in...awe, perhaps, right at his son. The two had been muttering to each other at lunch, and, of course, the grand gestures Prince Caius had been throwing Fe's way at every opportunity. How fiercely Fe was trying to keep up his reserved mask.

It was all too easy for the leader to imagine a scene, the two princes walking together after lunch, able to talk above quiet mutters. Prince Caius, nerves soothed and courage bolstered with drink in his system, being a bit too forward for an unwed couple (at least, a couple meant to be wed and having the propriety of two different nations on their shoulders). Them both agreeing to shove it under the carpet until he'd sobered up, Fe covering for him, omitting a few details.

Softly, the boss chuckled to himself. "What a nice surprise."