Alexei’s lowered head came back up when the door opened again, his face twisting up in all sorts of fear and confusion at the reaction of the prince, understanding the word no, but not much else. For a moment, he was afraid that Celio had changed his mind about Alex being in the carriage at all, and was going to make him walk behind, but then he pointed at the seat. What? He wanted him to sit on the seat? The fear in his face turned into utter, slack-jawed disbelief, tears welling in his eyes once again. Such a simple gesture, really, but the fact that Celio was actually treating Alexei like a person and not just some sex toy was shocking to the point he thought he was going to have a heart attack. Either the prince was exeptionally kind (which was possible), or, and this was the more likely reason, the rest of the world didn’t treat people like him like fucking animals. That realization seemed so small in the grand scheme of things, but if left Alexei breathless and frozen in shock to the point that it took him a long moment to move even after he understood.<br/><br/>Reaching out with a trembling hand, he touched the edge of the velvet seat and pushed himself up, the cloak falling open for the moment that it took him to carefully sit down and draw it back around himself. He sat at the very edge of the seat, as stiff as a board, looking at Celio worriedly, still afraid that he had misunderstood and he was about to be punished for rising above his station. Even so, he couldn’t stop running his fingers over the seat next to his thigh, relishing the feeling of being on the same level as everyone else again.