Blake

"So are you going?"
Blake scoffed and pushed some of his blonde hair back behind one ear.
"Of course I'm going. It's my family. You think I have a choice not to go?" Blake exhaled in annoyance. "Although I wish he had told me earlier. Six days to a press-ready event?" he ran a hand through his hair. "What am I going to wear??"
The pretty, bronze-skinned carrier beside him grinned and shook his head.
"Blake...babe..." he drawled out, amused with his companion, "I wish I had your problems."

~:~

"Hi, Blake!"
Lee Worthing, Blake's carrier stepmother, was of course the first person to greet him when he entered his parents' familiarly ornate mansion. The carrier, ten years younger than his father, and looking twenty, waved an agitated hand as he floated down the hallway.
"Put those bags down, Blake! Someone will get them - that's what we pay them for. And you shouldn't be lifting like that! Not a carrier of your age! What if you injured something?" Lee smiled hugely as he came closer to Blake and enveloped him in a large hug. "My darling." he cooed, and Blake smiled as he caught a whiff of wine on his breath.
"Come," Lee continued, taking his son's hand, "everyone has been expecting you."

~

Everyone turned out to be his father, several cousins, and three of his uncles and their carrier wives. His brothers, both out of town on business, wouldn't be attending. And naturally, the guests for the evening hadn't arrived yet, so the house felt generally quiet. Taking advantage of the break, the family had gathered in the library to chat and make plans for the night. They all smiled and looked up when they saw Blake, greeting him with warm smiles, open arms, and a lot more attention than he was used to getting.

After an hour's worth of conversation, Blake caught sight of a clock and gasped.
"It's nearly seven! I've got to go get myself together." he said, anxiously. "I wasn't sure what to wear - "
"I'm sure anything you select will be fine, Blay." his father interrupted, a kinder smile than he was used to rising on the old man's features. "Just run along with your mother and get ready."
Blake wrinkled his nose briefly, but knew better than to show doubt to his father's face. Besides, if Lancaster Worthing was in a particularly good mood, who was he to question it?
"OK. Thanks, Father."
Lancaster Worthing smiled and generously reached out to pat his middle son's shoulder.
"My handsome, perfect son." he smiled, before turning back to the conversation at hand.

~:~

It was a joke. It had to be a joke. It felt like a joke, but it wasn't. It was sick and wrong and terrifyingly real. This wasn't a gala, this was a goddamn press conference. To announce the engagement of Blake Stonely Worthing to Thadderson Emmanuel Warner.

Blake sat in his chair beside his stepmother and fair shook with his anger. They had engaged him? To Thad? With what? No warning, no discussion...not even any disclosure. They had lured him here, tricked him into coming and he hadn't even known...he hadn't even had a chance to tell his friends goodbye. What if he never saw them again? What if Thad wanted him to move from the CEC right away, and -
Blake stopped himself before he could become overwhelmed. The last thing he needed was to hyperventilate and make himself look like even more of a weak carrier stereotype than he already did.

But what the hell was he going to do?

~:~