“I’m dining with two kings? Oh, don’t I just feel giddy!” Lay exclaimed sardonically in Exolian as he entered the private dining room with Tao. He realized, with an amused glance, that the other was setting up barriers on the closed door behind them. Not like I can escape, he thought, but said nothing else.

            “You could at least try to be respectful,” the tall, lanky one from before mumbled—if he remembered correctly, from what Tao told him on the walk here, this one was Chanyeol.

            “If I did that, you’d have one less thing to hate me for, and that just can’t happen,” Lay replied easily, ignoring the glare he got in response. He followed Tao to two seats on the side of the dining table, as he noticed how everyone else was seated already—the Moon King at one end of the table, to the left of Lay, the Sun King, at the other end to the right of Lay, and the other three—Chanyeol, Xiumin, and Baekhyun, if he recalled correctly—across from Lay and Tao. Once they sat down, Lay noticed how all the food had already been laid out.

            A minute later and everyone was eating, except for Lay, who chose to lean back in his chair and observe. He looked to his direct right, where Tao was slowly nibbling on his food with a blank stare. He looked exhausted, but that could just be an offset of those deep under-eye dark circles that he had. Next to him was the Sun King, sat elegantly at the end of the table. His posture was rigid, his back completely straight as he nimbly cut around his food and ate. Even when he was dining, this guy couldn’t loosen up. Besides him, there was a round-faced one—Xiumin. He seemed quite relaxed, though he appeared to be spacing out quite a bit. Lay frowned when he noticed the other’s eyes were a bit puffed. What happened? Was he okay? Why did Lay care? Shaking his head slightly, Lay looked to the one next to Xiumin, Chanyeol, only to notice that he was feeding the other one, Baekhyun. They appeared quite… lovey-dovey with each other, giggling to themselves despite the company they were in. He shrugged, figuring it was none of his business, and turned his head. He looked to his left, only to see the Moon King staring right at him.

            He couldn’t help the small, nearly inaudible gasp that left his lips from surprise.

            “You’re not eating?” the Moon King asked, and Lay swore he could hear some emotion in his voice: something akin to… concern?

            “You aren’t either,” he pointed out, glancing down at the other’s filled plate and unused utensils. Really, he wanted to answer, to say that he had no interest in eating, to tell them to move past these odd formalities and give him explanations, but it’s not like he could say any of those things in this situation, nor could he just stay silent.

            “True, though I’d like to think I know why you aren’t,” he replied easily, and Lay just shot him an amused smirk.

            “Oh really? Enlighten me, Little King.” Lay noticed the mentioned man’s eyebrow twitch slightly at the nickname, and his smirk widened at the thought of getting under the king’s skin.

            “You find it pointless,” the Moon King responded, his voice as steady as before, without even a hint of annoyance laced in it. How dull. “And you find it misleading.”

            “How so?” The Moon King was right, but there was no way Lay would give him such an easy time. He noticed that by now, all of the other occupants of the table had paused their meal to watch on.

            “‘What’s the point in giving a prisoner special treatment? Why let him live in comfort and easily for even a few hours when he’s the one you’re supposed to be wary of? Why spoil the one you captured? Why care for the one who stirred trouble? If this is some sort of interrogation technique, it’s quite idiotic.’” The Moon King paused. “Those are the thoughts going through your head right now, no?”

            “And if they are?”

            “Then I’ll gladly request you eat, for you’ll be in for quite a ride for the next few days or so.” And with that, Suho looked away, turning his attention to his own meal and, in all essence, ignoring Lay’s presence.

            ing royals.

            The rest of breakfast was a quiet affair, the only noises being the clattering of cutlery against plates, some whispered small talk that Lay couldn’t make out most of the time (his Exolian wasn't perfect, after all), and occasional coughs and rustling noises and whatever other natural bodily sounds there were. He didn’t bother to speak any more times, nor did he look around too much. He even ate, albeit with great hesitancy, his reluctance caused mainly by the discomfort he felt as he was being stared at, or more, as his mask was being stared at. He wasn’t willing to remove it just yet, so he simply opened a slot through the mouth, just enough to eat through.

            To try and ignore the eyes on him, he pondered the Moon King’s words. It felt as though they all knew something he didn’t, and the tension of it all felt as though it was choking him. Still, he knew not to press, considering the situation he was in now, and that he’d get his answers soon enough.

            Now, it was just a matter of hoping ‘soon enough’ wouldn’t be too late.

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            Suho hated the word interrogation, hated the very idea behind the term. The thought of questioning someone while pressuring them so much, more, more, and more, until they finally cracked in a desperate plea for life, or died trying to stay silent, brought shivers down the Moon King’s spine. Yet, in his position, he had no choice to pursue interrogations when necessary. He often wasn’t the one carrying out the procedure, and he could simply look over the process from far away, reading over reports and approving methods, but there were times when that wasn’t enough and he’d be forced to sit in, to watch on as a man or woman slowly lost their sanity to the simplest of torture until they betrayed what they considered their home, their life, or lost everything in their silence—by stubbornness, in some spectators’ eyes, and by heroism in others.

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