The First Couple: Bade and Orinakin

[SilverMoon28]

I either can't find a thread we might have started for Bade and Orinakin, or one was never created... so, just in case, here is a new one.

I'm rereading ITL, and having fun with it.  I had a weird craving for it while I was at work today, and almost asked Liz to copy and paste chapter 2 in an e-mail for me.  Anyway...

Now that we're in the Rainbow Book, we're all used to Bade and Orinakin being soulmates.

I just stumbled upon a little phrase in chapter 3 where you see Orinakin starting to think about Bade, and I thought it so cute, because it's the first stirrings... the feelings that make one think of endless possibilities, except that in this case, Orinakin thought that Bade was going to marry Kudorin.

His problem was, even after he’d closed his eyes, he could still see what he didn’t want to see.  Those soft, red lips.  Those dark blue eyes.  The light blond stubble on-

I think that's adorable.

What Bade/Orinakin moment do you like the best?

Vani

[LilacMajesty]

My personal favorite doesn't actually technically involve Bade.  It was when they had the Satacon where they ended up discussing Orinakin and Bade.  That STILL cracks me up every time I read it.

[SilverMoon28]

I'll get to that part later =)

[SilverMoon28]

Still from chapter 3...

“Bade is more open,” Orinakin said.  “They’re very much alike, and I hated to separate them, but there’s something about Bade that pulled on me.”  That tended to be how he chose Kudorin’s suitors; he went with his gut, with his instinct, with the sense that there was something special, something unique, within these men.  He’d felt that very strongly with Bade.

Yep, I definitely love these parts...

Oh, oh oh!  And this!!!  Because, of course, Kudorin just *knew* that Bade and Orinakin were destined to be together!!!!!!  Had Xio Voe been there, he would have burst :

“There is something different this time,” Kudorin said.  “The timing feels more delicate.”

            “Why?” Desin asked.

            Kudorin shook his head.  “It isn’t for me to say.”

Vani

[SilverMoon28]

Yes, I'm still on chapter 3.

He was somewhat disappointed; he’d hoped to speak directly with Prince Orinakin, with whom he thought he’d feel more comfortable.

It's so *obvious* now, isn't it?    I must say, Matthew, you're a genius.  The only books I've analyzed like this are the Harry Potter books (not counting the stuff I did in school).

Vani

[SilverMoon28]

Maybe I shouldn't have started this thread... lmao.

Chapter 4

Bade’s devotion and frustration humbled and inspired him.  He seemed to have both his brother’s passion and his father’s stubbornness.  Orinakin had never wanted to embrace someone, or slap him, more.

[...]

He had felt that there was something special about Bade from the first time they’d met back in Nosupolis.  He’d sensed something behind those respectful smiles and lovely blue eyes.  He’d wanted to draw Bade out, to learn his private thoughts and aims.  There was an innate sense of curiosity in Bade, a natural interest in people, in helping and learning and giving and doing.  Bade wanted to contribute something to Nosupolis, and wanted to know more about Orina Anoris.

I'd forgotten how much Bade cared about his country and *showed* it in The Purple Book.  And I'd almost forgotten how much Orinakin admired him for everything.

Feel free to add more!

Vani

[Mountie]

Will do Vani 

[SilverMoon28]

Okay, I'm now on chapter 7 (having so much fun with it I keep obsessing over it at work), and I stumbled upon this:

It looks so perfect, it looks so smooth, it’s like delicate cream, there isn’t even the tiniest mark, and the hair is so fine, if I touched him it’d be so soft, but it doesn’t look feminine soft, it looks taut and smooth, it has to feel - - but is it that way all over?  Everywhere?  What would it feel like to-

            Flushing, Orinakin quickly yanked his sleeve back down.

            Bright red, Bade coughed, backing away.

I  it.

Okay, so I'm still on chapter 7 and I love how Orinakin is thinking about Bade when eh's supposed to be entertaining the other suitors:

Surely Kudorin saw how wonderfully handsome Bade was, how interesting, how special.

[CourtneyLee]

One of my favorite O/B moments was nearly the whole of chapter 21 when they'd each decided that they were going to confess their love and were so giddy with it. Here are my favorite snippets:

Orinakin watched the back of Bade’s head, admired those pretty blond curls, admired the breadth of his shoulders, admired Bade’s firm, nicely rounded ass.  Those snug leather pants, those laces crisscrossing up his legs, those boots, how could such a sexually repressed country allow its men to dress like that?

...

And then their eyes met, and Bade looked so happy to see him, so happy with life, so happy with him, that Orinakin’s breath was stolen, his heart swelling, and for just an instant, Orinakin could feel, “I love you,” panting to roll off of his tongue, if only here in front of everyone he could open his mouth, if only he could speak freely, if only he could move toward - - and then someone distracted Bade’s attention, and those lovely, dark blue eyes looked away, and Orinakin could breathe again.

He’d rather not breathe at all, if he could have Bade’s attention back on him.

“I’ve never done this before,” Bade said, his gaze roaming Orinakin’s face, drifting to Orinakin’s ear.  Lust was rising, rolling off of Bade, almost tangible in the air.  “I,” he was so close that Orinakin felt Bade’s boot brush the edge of his sandal, “I need to do this, I can’t think about,” Bade bit his lip and made a soft, needy, pained sound, his gaze on Orinakin’s neck?  Shoulder?  Hair?  “…anything else,” Bade breathed, one hand rising at his side seemingly of its own accord.  “I couldn’t bear it if,” Bade’s gaze traveled, lighting on Orinakin’s mouth, and Orinakin couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, “this ruined everything between us, so please,” a flicker of blue and their eyes met, “forgive me,” and then Bade kissed him.

[SilverMoon28]

Yessssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!  I love that part!!!!! 

[blondiechic0]

I love the two notes from Ch 37 and 38:

Sighing, he rolled over and noticed a note.  Picking it up, he smiled at the sight of Bade’s small, precise script.

            The first few lines were in Anorian.

            You have work to tend to, and a festival to prepare for, and parents who must be looking forward to seeing plenty of you.  If I’m here when you wake up, I’ll try to initiate sex (I owe you thanks for inspiring me to do that), which would prevent you from tending to those other things.  Therefore, I shall make myself scarce.

            Since I won’t be there with you, you won’t be able to feel this pumping out of me at the inordinate rate it’s flowing from my heart right now, so I’ll put it down on paper:

            In Nosupolin, now:

            I love you with a deep and abiding passion.

            Anorian, again:

            Admire your eyes in the mirror for me.  I can’t see them properly when they’re closed.

            Bade

            Sitting up, Orinakin read the note again, smiling and loving Bade and feeling a pleasant ache in his heart.

            It was hard to be mature and rational about someone as special and beautiful and perfect for him as this.

   Halfway through undressing, he noticed a note on the bed.  At first glance, he thought that it was his own, from that morning; then he noticed the elegant script.

            Using dark purple ink, Orinakin had written, in Nosupolin:

            You’d better be right there beside me when I wake up tomorrow.  There are only two blond, blue-eyed, curly-haired, leather-wearing, Nosupolin princes in the palace right now, and yours are the furry shins I like to rub my toes against.

            I’ve wakened in my palace, your castle, King Ouia’s guest room, and a Kelan hut.  I’ve wakened on slippery silk, fresh cotton, and soft furs.  I’ve wakened to the sound of my name, the sound of birds, and the sound of a gong.  One of my favorite memories of waking, is waking up to you.

            I plan to say this to you in person, but I’d like to write it down here, for both of us to see:

            In Anorian:

            I love you, and your furry shins, and your times tables, and your curiosity.

            In Nosupolin again:

            Kiss me the next time you see me.

            Orinakin

            Sitting down, he read the note over a few times.  It only served to reinforce his love for Orinakin, and his growing appreciation of the fact that what he and Orinakin shared was something to be treasured.

 

[Mountie]

  Love & Bade too these are perfect.

[SilverMoon28]

Aweee, this is so sad I could cry!!!!

Chapter 16

Selorin felt Orinakin’s suffering pierce his heart.  “You always have my love,” he said, as if the point could ever be in question.  “But my love cannot be enough.”

            “I came across Prince Bade almost by surprise,” Orinakin said.  “I am sure that, someday, I shall meet someone else of unparalleled charms.”

I forgot just how much he suffered!!!!

Vani

[CourtneyLee]

I keep thinking of how they both suffered after they got together, how they were on borrowed time and had to make the most of every moment, how desperate they were those last few days at Satatunin. On my first reread, even though I knew they ended up married and ecstatic with each other, reading those parts got me near tears with how hard it was for them to be so in love and knowing they couldn't keep it. I'm getting all inside right now just thinking about it.

[blondiechic0]

Speaking of suffering:

CH41:

One of the immense banquet halls had been set up for a dinner for the royal family and special guests.  After Kudorin set the sun and torches were brought out, Orinakin and Selorin and Bade came to Vade and told him to come inside for dinner.

            As they all walked into the palace, veering off into the family wing, Vade made Bade explain why belas were allowed among the commoners at festivals, while Orinakin and Selorin discussed something else that he wasn’t listening to.  He heard, however, Selorin ask, “You and Bade aren’t dining together?”

            “We’re all dining together,” Orinakin said.  “We’ll just be at different tables.  It’s all in the same room, so we’re hardly separated.”

            “Eating at different tables sounds separated to me,” Vade said.  That wasn’t right.  It was their last night.  “Where are the two of you sitting?”

            “Bade will be at Remin and Extra’s table,” Orinakin said, “and you’ll be with me and Anikira.”

            “We could switch,” Vade suggested to Bade.  “I could take your place and you could take mine.”  It wasn’t like anyone would notice.  Out-of-town dinner guests wouldn’t be able to tell him and Bade apart.

            “Could we?” Bade asked Orinakin.  “I don’t mean, we don’t have to lie about it, but I could eat with you and Vade could eat with Remin.  Does it matter which one of us is where?”

            “I wouldn’t want to throw off Anikira’s plans,” Orinakin said, but he put his hand on Bade’s back, like he wanted to be close while he still could.

            “You sure that you want to dine with Remin tonight?” Selorin asked, grinning at Vade.

            Vade was still mortified and might prefer to avoid Remin for the rest of the night, or possibly the rest of his life, but he didn’t want to prevent Bade and Orinakin from sharing a last dinner together.  “Anikira won’t mind, will she?” he asked, to avoid directly replying to Selorin’s question.  His heart twisted weirdly at the way that Bade was already moving in close to Orinakin, turning his face against that gorgeous fall of purple hair.

            “Of course not,” Selorin said.  “She wouldn’t deny Orinakin such a simple courtesy on his birthday.”

            It was a stupid hindrance to have to worry about them sitting at the same table tonight, when tomorrow they’d be separated for the foreseeable future, and they were probably thinking the exact same thing, because Orinakin was embracing Bade, like he couldn’t take another second without Bade in his arms.  Returning the embrace, Bade rubbed Orinakin’s back, but if that was meant to be reassuring, it didn’t work.

            “I don’t think that I can do this,” Orinakin whispered, his hand sliding up into Bade’s hair.

            “It’s okay,” Bade said.  Frowning, looking worried, Selorin put a hand up like he wanted to touch Orinakin, but ended up putting his hand on Vade’s shoulder, instead, like he didn’t want to interrupt.  “It’s okay.”

            “I’m not going to be able to do this,” Orinakin said.  He sounded kind of scared, like he didn’t want the words to come out of his mouth.  “I can’t let you go yet.  I’m not ready.”

            “We’ve had a good time together,” Bade said quietly.  Vade was kind of surprised by all of this, because he’d expected Orinakin to have to coax Bade to leave.  Seeing Orinakin be the weaker one and Bade do the consoling made him wonder if he’d underestimated Orinakin’s love for Bade, or maybe underestimated Bade’s strength.  “We didn’t mean for it to happen, and we didn’t expect it to be forever.”

            Vade wondered if he should go, to give them privacy, but Selorin was staying put, and they weren’t making any effort to have this conversation in a less open place.

            “I’m just not ready,” Orinakin said again, like it really worried him.  “I can’t let you go yet, Bade, not yet.  It’s too soon.”

            “I have to go home,” Bade said gently, in the tone of voice generally used to break bad news to children.  “You know that I want to stay here, vinga, but I can’t.”

            Vinga?  How did Bade think that he could get away with using a word like that with someone who spoke Nosupolin?  Orinakin was upset, but he still knew how to translate; Vade had heard him make a small noise at the sound of that word.

            “I just found you.  I can feel your pain and your love inside my bones.  How do I let go of that?” Orinakin asked, his arms wrapped so tightly around Bade that Vade wondered if it hurt.  Of course it hurt; everything hurt.  “You can’t leave yet, I can’t let you leave.”

            “We can do this.  We have to do it,” Bade said, and Vade was amazed that Bade had kept it together this long, because right now, he sounded like his heart was breaking.  “It’ll be okay, we’ll be okay.”  His voice cracking, his fingers shook as they combed through Orinakin’s hair.

            “I know…”  Orinakin turned his face towards Bade’s neck and took a deep breath.  “Right now, it’s just dinner.  I don’t know what to do about tomorrow, but tonight is just a dinner like any other.  We can do that.”

            “We can do anything,” Bade said, but neither of the moved out of the embrace.

            “Come on,” Selorin said softly after a moment, plucking at Vade’s sleeve, tugging him back.  “Come on, we’ll go change a few place cards.”

            “Yeah,” Vade said, blinking back tears and blindly following Selorin, a raw wound in his chest where his heart belonged.  What was he going to do, how was he going to get Bade through this?

            “What does vinga mean?” Selorin asked as they walked through the palace.

            Vade cleared his throat to make sure that he could talk.  “It’s, um,” what was the Anorian equivalent?  “Deepest partner of my heart.”

            “Soul mate?” Selorin asked.

            “Is that your term for that?” Vade asked, never having heard those two words paired before.

            “Yes,” Selorin said.

            “Then, yeah, soul mate,” Vade said.

            “There’s no chance Bade uses that word lightly, is there?” Selorin asked.

            No, and that was the worst part.  “I’ve never heard him say it.  Not until just now.”  They’d developed passing crushes on various men, and they’d engaged in sexual liaisons with various men, but serious, deeper feelings had never entered into it.  “I’ve never seen Bade like this.”

            “I’ve never seen Orinakin like this,” Selorin said.

            He sounded concerned about it.

            That didn’t give Vade a lot of hope.
            Tonight, they would dine at the same table.

            Tomorrow night, they’d dine in different countries.

            Bade’s fingers trembled as they slid through Orinakin’s hair.

            “I’ll come to see you,” Orinakin whispered.  “You’ll be the first and last stops on my trip.”

            That wasn’t enough, wasn’t nearly enough.  It also wasn’t geographically intelligent.  It wouldn’t last.  They’d never have anything like this again, they’d never be this close again.  It would all fall apart from here, until it dwindled into nothing, until Bade was in love with someone he never, ever saw.  But this love, his love, would last forever, and he couldn’t take that.  “We can’t continue this.  We have to finish this now. If we end it then maybe-”

            “No.”  Orinakin’s arms tightened around him, and Orinakin’s voice was the angriest he’d ever heard it, shockingly furious.  “That is not an option.”

            Stunned, Bade closed his mouth.

            At least now he knew that the idea of breaking up was at least as intolerable to Orinakin as it was to him, if not more so.

            He hadn’t expected that.

            He wondered if he’d underestimated how much Orinakin loved him, how much he truly mattered, how much it all meant.  He’d assumed that because Orinakin was more experienced and more sophisticated, this experience, this relationship, was subtly, in a few ways, more important to him than to Orinakin.  Not that Orinakin didn’t love him, or that this was of no consequence to Orinakin, but he’d suspected that there were quiet differences in the weight of their feelings.

            He might have been wrong about that.

Kill me every time.

[blondiechic0]

Oh, and this:

(Ch 42)

            Sitting on the arm of the sofa, Tiko looked at Bade.  “If you want to stay here for two more weeks, address the point to me directly.  For a number of reasons, you shouldn’t let Vade make your arguments for you.”

            Yes, Tiko and I’m sorry, Tiko flashed across his mind, but what came from his mouth was, “I have to stay here.  Orinakin wants me to be with him, and I can’t turn that down, I can’t, it’s too important.  Nothing like this has-”

            “I know,” Tiko said.  “I expected you to come to me with this earlier.  I’m surprised that it took you until the last second.”

            “You knew?” Bade asked, taken aback.

            “You give me no credit,” Tiko said.  “Of course I knew.  I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way that you look at him.  I wasn’t sure what my response would be, because I wasn’t sure of the terms with which you’d approach me.  But two weeks is reasonable.”

            While Bade stared, too shocked to form an actual thought, Tiko folded his arms across his chest and sighed.  “I’ve given this whole situation a lot of thought.  I’ll never be able to have a girlfriend, and this may be your only chance to have a boyfriend.  I want you to enjoy it.  When you return to Nosupolis, such things won’t be allowed.  Since Father sent you off to court the pharaoh, he’s been thinking about marriage alliances more than ever.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he has you and Vade engaged within the next year.  I think that this experience is good for you, and there won’t be a better time later on.  I’ll allow it, and I’ll let you have Vade, too, but be sure to bring him home with you in two weeks’ time.  No more extensions.  Are we agreed?”

            “Yes, Tiko,” Bade said, emotion surging forward as he gave his brother a tight hug.  He’d been granted a reprieve!  He was grateful and relieved to have Orinakin, to have Tiko, to be loved and understood.  “Thank you, Tiko.”

            “Bade,” Tiko said, patting his back.  “I want you to be happy.  I want you to have the best of life.  Trust me to know when to be your ruler and when to be your brother.

Makes me love Tiko. Among other things.

[blondiechic0]

And Rini's gift kills me too.

Ch 43

            “You can still have them,” Rini said.  “They’re so that you can remember your time together, even once you’re apart.  I wanted you to have something to remind you of all of this,” he told Bade, “and I wanted you to, you know, have something to remind you of Bade,” he told Orinakin.  “So the purple one’s for you,” he handed it to Bade, “and the blue one’s for you,” he handed it to Orinakin.  “It’s not a perfect match for his eyes, but it’s close.”

            “Thank you,” Orinakin said, as they accepted their gifts.

            “Yes, thank you,” Bade said, looking touched.

            It was so like Rini, to provide the right present at the right moment.  Anosanim couldn’t believe that he hadn’t thought of that, himself, but of course Rini had.

            “Here,” Rini said, smiling and handing Anosanim a piece of candy.  “Just so you aren’t standing here empty-handed.”

            “You’re so sweet,” Anosanim said, taking it.  “Open your gifts, please,” he urged Bade and Orinakin.  “I simply must see what’s inside.”

            “Of course,” Orinakin said.  He and Bade unwrapped their presents, untying the pretty bows and opening the boxes.

            “It’s a moon,” Bade said, shifting aside a scrap of protective cloth and uncovering the gift.

            “It’s both moons,” Rini said, as Orinakin looked between the boxes.  “They fit together.”

            “Oh, Extra, how breathtakingly romantic!” Anosanim exclaimed.  What a perfect gift!  Each one of them had a flat ceramic moon on a stand; placed upright and stood side-by-side, they would fit together, to look as they did when the two moons began to cross each night.  Around the edge of the first moon, Bade’s moon, were the opening lines from a classic poem about the Maiden and the Wanderer; around the edge of the second moon, Orinakin’s moon, were the next lines.

            The Maiden and the Wanderer, the two moons, were a perfect gift for Bade and Orinakin.  The Maiden remained forever steadfast, patient, trusting, waiting; the Wanderer returned to her each night, only to move on again, leaving her behind.  Moon crossing was a notoriously romantic time of night, when lovers met, echoing the glorious but temporary moment when the notorious Wanderer returned once more to his loyal Maiden.
            “I asked Tiko, and he said that your culture has a story about the moons, too,” Rini said.  “The same thing with different names.”

            Bade was gazing at the moons, running his fingertips slowly over the groove where they fit together.  “Yes,” Orinakin said, “the tale of Brandel and Grekkis.  He steals her heart every night, and as he leaves she slowly wastes away into nothing, blending into the morning sky, hidden from all who search for her, until the next night when Grekkis is reborn, bright and beautiful, and Brandel is helplessly drawn to her again.  They share perfect bliss, united as one, and their love shines for all to see until Brandel leaves once more, taking her heart and leaving his behind to die with her each night.”
            Anosanim thought that was lovely.  Judging by Rini’s expression, he didn’t agree, but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.

            Still looking at the moons, Bade murmured something, then hugged Rini.  “Thank you,” he said, in a voice heavy with emotion.  “Thank you for putting into two boxes everything that’s been in my heart.”

            “You’re welcome,” Rini said sincerely, rubbing his shoulder and stepping back.  “If I’d known that you were staying, I would’ve waited until later, but now you’ll be able to keep them together for two weeks.”

            “They’re so perfect, it breaks my heart,” Anosanim said.

            “You always know just what to give,” Orinakin said, embracing Rini.  “Thank you so much.”

            “You’re welcome,” Rini said, kissing his cheek.  “You two enjoy your time together.”  He hesitated, grinning.  “Everyone else doesn’t know yet?”

            “No, not yet,” Orinakin said, smiling at him.  “If you hurry, you can probably spread the news before anyone else does.”

            Still grinning, without another word, Rini took off.

            Holding the moons together, their bases locking into each other, the moons overlapping, Bade studied them.  “It’s so perfect, it’s beautiful.  I love how perfect it is, and I hate it.  I hate how accurate this is, I hate that I’m Grekkis, wasting away without you, cold and alone.  I hate that they get to be together every night, and we won’t have that luxury.  I can already see myself, back home, staring at this in my room during the day and obsessing over you, gazing up at the moons at night and missing you.”  He raised bleak eyes to Orinakin, his smile a failure.  The sight broke Anosanim’s heart.  “It’s funny, how the moons are separate, but we always think of them as a unit.  They’re a pair, a set, and yet they spend more time apart than together.  You don’t see someone once every twenty-eight hours and think of that person as your other half.  That’s like a servant you pass every day in the hall on your way to lunch.”

            “Don’t do this,” Orinakin whispered, hugging him, eyes closing over naked misery.  “Don’t do this to us, please.  We have more time, we have our two weeks.  This is our time, let us have it, let me keep you with me while I can, and not think of a time when I can’t.”

            There went Anosanim’s make-up.

[Mountie]

 

[CourtneyLee]

Those passages totally made me need to cry. 

[SilverMoon28]

From chapter 18... I love this...

The music was slow and hypnotic, a beautiful melody with a sensual beat.  Slowly, gradually, easily, naturally, together, Bade and Orinakin closed the gap between their bodies.  Now they were chest to chest, hip to hip, and Bade felt Orinakin’s temple rest intimately against his, heard - - felt - - Orinakin release a long breath.  He felt Orinakin’s body relax in his arms, languidly swaying to the music and following Bade’s lead.  Bade closed his eyes, and the rest of the world drifted away.  There was only the music, and the intoxicating movement of their bodies.

 

[SilverMoon28]

Okay, so, now that I'm better-versed in the Bade & Orinakin Story, one could say that everything is obvius... but I absolutely love how, when leaving the Adanotu Festival, Bade receives a map!!!!  It's perfect, because he thinks that it's guiding him home, when it's really guiding him through the travels he will go on with Orinakin!!!!

Yes, yes, Matthew is a genius, we knew that 

Vani

[blondiechic0]

Okay, so, now that I'm better-versed in the Bade & Orinakin Story, one could say that everything is obvius... but I absolutely love how, when leaving the Adanotu Festival, Bade receives a map!!!!  It's perfect, because he thinks that it's guiding him home, when it's really guiding him through the travels he will go on with Orinakin!!!!

Yes, yes, Matthew is a genius, we knew that 

Vani

And don't forget the phrase book Orinakin got. Totally meant for Bade.

[Mountie]

i am rght in the middle of Orinakin admitting his love for Bade to himself and Bade faces he can not marry Anosukinom because Bade doesn't love him.  Bade has not faced the fact he loves Orinakin yet but he is admitting to himself he can't stay as Kudorin's suitor.  This is an hard part of the story for me.  It is exciting to.  Will they admtt their love or wil they let this opportunity pass them by/  Will Kudorin step in, will Bade go home.  Even though I know the answers to these questions I still can't stop myself from being worried.  I know this feeling will not pass those three words are spoken and returned... I love you. 

[dragonsdy]

I am so in love with Bade and Orinakin. Their last two weeks together had me crying. I knew it had to work out. Now that they are planning to get married I am worried about Bade's family's reaction. His father in particular. I can't wait for the marriage ceremony.

[Shanghi]

It was a nice ceremony wasn't it. *gets warm fuzzies*

[SilverMoon28]

Oh, it was.  They're beautiful together  .

Now I can't wait to see this second wedding we're all anxious for!

Vani