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Duncan wasn't a violent person, sure he was a knight, now for the heir, Prince Baelor and by proxy, Prince Valarr, but he wasn't violent, it's why he let Aerion yield when he could've easily killed him. Instead of sending him to Lys like Maekar had originally planned, Baelor suggested letting Ser Duncan take a crack at correcting his behavior. He swore to all the gods that he wouldn't harm him, that physical pain wouldn't even be considered. Maekar compromised and gave him a month, if there was no progress or any form of mistreatment, he'd ship him off to Lys, but if whatever he was doing seemed to be working, he'd allow it to continue. Aerion already felt humiliated after the trial of seven, the feeling only amplified when Maekar informed him of the arrangement. The arrangement began after they were both fully healed, Duncan entered the prince's room alone, dismissing everyone, saying it wouldn't work if Aerion was constantly thinking about appearances. His bed chambers were completely trashed and dark, he now understood why one of the servants had a bruise on his jaw, probably caught by a stray object.
"My Prince?" Duncan called out, looking around the room, trying to find him.
"Get out you cretin, haven't you humiliated me enough." He snapped, Duncan following the voice to find him in the corner of his room. He was curled into a ball, staring at the floor, when his eyes adjusted he could see the blush on his cheeks, obviously still feeling the effects of the humiliation he endured during the trial.
"Your Highness, you've been informed of our arrangement I've been told. I am not leaving until we begin. There is no one here to hear or see you, I had them dismissed. It's just us." Dunk explains lowly, placing his stuff down in the unoccupied corner. Aerion attempted to rush Dunk after hearing that they were alone, but he was ready for him, he knew he would attempt that eventually. Duncan let him think his sneek attack worked for a second, then spinning around, catching him by his biceps, slamming him against the wall with a bored expression.
"Are you done?" His thick irish accent coming out more, the deeper his voice was. Aerion squirmed, thrashed, kicked, and just straight up fought for a bit, grunting frustratedly when it clearly didn't have any affect on Duncan in the slightest. Eventually he had reluctantly gone limp, having somewhat tired himself out.
"Relax, I swore to all the gods in front of your family that I would not harm you in any way. I had a different idea, though I did not share it with them. It will be our little secret." Aerion growled, barring his teeth at the 7 foot knight.
"You are wasting your time Hedge Knight! No matter what you do, it won't work. I won't allow it."
"I am the heir's knight now Your Highness, I am no longer a hedge knight." Duncan effortlessly lifted Aerion by his arms, practically tossing him onto his bed. Attempting to scramble backwards on the bed, Aerion heaved in surprise, clearly trying to anticipate his next move.
"What are you doing? You dare put your hands on a dragon?!" Duncan scoffed, snatching his ankle, yanking him flat on his back. He straddled his hips and held him down by his shoulders.
"I have full permission from your father and uncle, you can whine like a bratty child all you like, it won't change anything." Aerion attempted to swing at Dunk, only to have his wrist caught an inch from his face. Duncan pinned both his wrists above his head, the dark room making it a bit hard to see but they both knew Aerion was blushing.
"I think you need someone to manhandle you a bit, put you in your place. You act like you can do whatever you want, be as cruel as you please, all because you're the grandson of the king. I've been employed to teach you that you cannot." Aerion grunted, hating that he couldn't do anything and that his efforts did nothing to Duncan, not even even the slightest movement, and worse, Duncan looked bored.
"Get off of me! I could have your head for this!" Aerion could feel the heat of his blush crawling down his neck, his muscles burning from how long he had been trying to free himself from Duncan's pin.
"No, you could not, because again, your father and uncle sent me to do just this." Aerion felt Dunk's knees squeeze his hips a bit and press his wrists a little deeper into the mattress. He watched Duncan pop his knuckles and flex his fingers on his free hand, His father and uncle couldn't have sent him to beat him up again... right? Aerion found himself unable to look at his giant hand, squeezing his eyes shut, bracing himself for some sort of strike.
"My mission is to remove that cruel, entitled attitude from you, we have a month to show progress, unless you'd prefer exile." Was the last thing Aerion heard before feeling Duncan's borderline bear paw covering the entire right side of his ribcage, squeezing pulses like a heartbeat. Aerion's eyes flew open in surprise, a half shriek half confused noise tore from his throat, his thin velvet shirt doing absolutely nothing in his favor.
"WHAHAHAHA?!" Well this was a sensation he hadn't felt in a while. The only person that could/would make it this intense was his older brother, Daeron, and it had been years since he'd experienced that.
"Ah, excellent! This should be more affective than I anticipated, I'll need to thank Egg for the information." Oh that boy! His youngest brother, undoubtedly got that information from Daeron, gifting it to the knight he squired for.
"GEHEHEHET THEHEHE FUHUHAHAHAHA!" He squealed as Duncan's squeezes slid down, catching his hip. Aerion's feet drumming quickly against his mattress, occasionally knocking his knees into Dunk's back.
"I'm going to teach you a phrase that needs to enter your vocabulary. Repeat after me Your Grace, 'I'm sorry'" Duncan says slowly, crawling his hand back upward, pausing just under his underarm, just holding the pressure, biting back a smirk at Aerion's twitches and panicked breathing.
"Come on, I'm waiting on my apology." He prompted with a slight shake to Aerion's top ribs.
"Go fuck yourself..." He panted, trying to worm his wrists out of Dunk's grip. Duncan shrugged, readjusting his grip to hold Aerion a bit more firmly.
"You're funeral." Dunk dug into Aerion's armpit, squeezing his hips between his legs so he couldn't twist. His shrieky cackles were as loud as Duncan had anticipated, he sighed dramatically, letting go of his wrists to scrub his knuckles up and down his left ribs like a washboard. Aerion's laughter went silent for a moment, coming back even louder somehow before rapidly tapping Duncan's bicep. Dunk pause with a firm hold on his entire ribcage, listening to his lingering giggles as he flinched occasionally. He took in Aerion's bright red face, his white hair stuck to his skin, tear marks going down his temples into his hairline.
"Got something you want to say to me?" Duncan crooned, pulsing his fingers a bit.
"AH! I- I'm sorry!" He gasped out, holding his hands out in a surrender position, wet eyes staring into Duncan's, pleading.
"Much better, we've got a whole month of this My Prince, the quicker you fix your behavior, the quicker I leave you alone." Duncan slowly moved off of Aerion, making a big show of wiping away his tears and smoothing his hair back. Dunk lit some of the candles to light up his room a bit, Maekar and Baelor both opened the door as Duncan was making his exit, he bowed respectfully to their heir and his brother before walking around them.
"Aerion?" Maekar called out, gaging how their first session went. Neither knew what the sessions were, they just knew that it wasn't harmful. Duncan shot a warning look to Aerion from over Maekar and Baelor's shoulders, flexing his fingers in his view.
"I apologize for my previous behavior father..." Aerion mumbled softly, casting his eyes down to his hands in his lap. Maekar's eyebrows shot upwards while Baelor gave Duncan a nod of approval before sending him on his way.
"Until next time Your Highness."
