strawnilla

But that’s fine. This is totally fine.

Yesterday’s event might have been a major setback for Advent, but it doesn’t mean that he’s giving up. On the contrary, he’s more interested than ever!

Which is why he’s cornered the green-haired cutie this early in the morning.

They’re in the hallway, but because it’s so early, there’s not that many students yet. Advent’s not so sure why the cutie is here at this hour, though he’s not complaining! His meeting with the newspaper club can wait.

“Good morning!” Advent greets, smile wide.

The green-haired cutie glares at him, and if looks could kill…

“What are you doing?” the other asks, his voice sharp.

“I’m giving you a greeting, that’s all.” Advent tilts his head all innocent. The other probably doesn’t buy it for one second, but that’s okay. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I caught your name. I’m Advent!”

“I never threw it.” The cutie bites back. Because he’s shorter than Advent, it doesn’t take much for him to duck under Advent’s arm and speed away. “And I don’t care!”

As he watches that head of green hair disappear into the distance, Advent can’t help but wonder if he’s going crazy.

Because that was the hottest thing he’s ever gone through.

 For the days following, they keep this game of cat and mouse going like an endless Saturday morning cartoon. Advent would approach, the green-haired cutie would either retaliate, or run away before the blond even gets a word in.

No one has ever resisted Advent for this long.

And it’s starting to get exciting.

Cheesecake, of course, notices his good mood immediately.

“I see what you’ve been doing with the new kid.” She says as they have their lunch together.

Advent swirls his food. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” she clicks her tongue. “You look like you’re having fun.”

Advent grins. “Of course, he’s cute.”

“You’re obsessed.”

“Eh?” Out of all the things he expected his sister to say, it definitely wasn’t that. “You say that like it’s a bad thing?”

Cheesecake swallows her food. “Because it is. That guy, you’re making him uncomfortable.”

A brick falls on Advent’s head.

“Eh?!”

 And that is how, the next day, Adventurer is cornering the cute boy again—but this time for an entirely different reason.

"I'm sorry." Advent says.

The cute boy seems dumbfounded. He's actually frozen in place, his stance the furthest thing from aggressive.

Advent trudges on. "I realized I made you uncomfortable with my advances ever since you moved here," he frowns a little. "I'm really sorry, so I'll keep my distance from now on, okay?"

And with that he turns to walk away, expecting to see less of the cute boy, from a far away distance.

But a hand holds his wrist.

Advent turns around, eyebrows raised in confusion.

The cute guy is grumbling something under his breath. He sighs, and says, “You weren’t that much of a bother… sorta.” More grumbling. Then, he looks into Advent’s eyes. “The name’s Kiwi. Kiwi Biker. Don’t forget it.”

He lets go of Advent, spins on his heels, and disappears around the corner.

Ah, he can’t wait to hit the hay with his beauty mask on.

“Good night Keith.” Hunk says to the red paladin as he walks past him, the greeting more of an unshakeable habit than an actual time-teller. But he barely gets a glance in return—just a curt nod of the raven’s head.

Lance raises his eyebrows as the doors shut behind Keith.

“Hey, don’t you think Keith seems a bit off today?” he approaches Hunk and Pidge, who look at him skeptically.

“I don’t know, he seemed pretty normal to me.” Pidge says. Hunk nods in agreement.

“What about you, Coran?” Lance turns around to face the gorgeous man. “Do you think Keith’s acting weird today?”

“Number four? I can’t confidently say I do, Lance. Why? Did you notice something peculiar?”

“Well, it’s just…” Lance starts wildly gesturing with his hands. “He seemed way too quiet during the meeting just now, and… I don’t know, more tense I guess?” Here Lance crosses his arms and makes a frowny face, as if imitating the Keith that he noticed. “Like more uptight and brooding and junk. Shouldn’t we be worried?”

“I’m sure he’s fine, Lance.” Allura cuts in, still at the castle’s main control panel, flipping through some holograms here and there. “It’s possible he’s been distracted by his thoughts. A lot has happened, after all.”

“Yeah, what with Shiro being gone, and him having to pilot the Black Lion till he comes back… that is, if he comes back.” Hunk says, a solemn note to his voice. “Not to mention he’s probably still thinking about having Galra DNA in him and finding his family and junk.”

“Okay, point.” Lance agrees. “But shouldn’t we check on him? See he’s doing okay?”

“Your kindness is admirable, Lance.” Coran says. “But perhaps for now we should let him on his own for a while. Maybe he’ll perk back up like usual once he gets some sleep. Speaking of sleep, you should really get some, Princess.”

“I’m fine Coran, I just need to…” Allura starts, but with one wave of the gorgeous man’s hand, the computer shuts down all holograms.

“I’m sorry princess, but I have to insist this time.” Coran says as he escorts the obviously tired yet stubborn Allura out the door. “That goes for all you paladins too. Have a good sleep everyone.”

“You too Coran.” Lance calls out as the door closes. Bidding goodnight to Pidge and Hunk as well, the blue paladin makes his way towards his room.

The halls are dimmed to give that nighttime effect, but after the Alfor AI incident, Lance wishes they’d leave the lights bright all the time. The path to his room suddenly feels doubly long and spookier; the goosebumps are crawling up his skin.

For a split second he considers running back and bunking in with Hunk or at least get Hunk to accompany him to his room, when he notices the back of a figure in a darker part of the hallway.

The alarms rise in Lance’s head as he considers the possibility of an intruder—but he diminishes the thought almost instantly when he realizes, Oh, it’s Keith.

“Hey, Keith buddy, you okay?”

Keith doesn’t respond. He seems frozen in place, his shoulders hunched and against the wall. Lance takes a step closer, his brows furrowing. It’s not like Keith didn’t hear him, right?

“Keith?” Just as Lance says his name again, the raven falls to his knees.

“Keith!” Lance is by his side almost immediately. He holds onto Keith’s shoulder and realizes that the red paladin is gasping for breath hurriedly, almost as if he just got out of drowning, as if his lungs are failing him. His eyes are wide and unfocused, and he’s hugging himself and digging his nails into his arms hard enough to leave marks on his jacket.

Lance’s own eyes widen as he realizes what’s going on.

The first of many tears falls from Keith’s wide eyes, and the Castle of Lions shakes.

“What the—!” another tremor, harder than the one before, almost topples Lance off his feet despite him crouching. A lion’s roar echoes throughout the ship.

“Oh quiznak!” Lance dodges a fallen ceiling piece, and he shields Keith from some smaller debris with his body.

Keith himself is against the wall of the castle, his sobs louder now and his fingers pulling hard at his hair.

Allura’s voice booms through the castle. “Paladins?! Where’s Keith?! Why is the Red Lion attacking us?! Oof!”

Another hit seems to throw Allura off balance as she grunts.

Lance looks at the quivering body under him. He sets his jaw as determination fills his eyes.

♡

Allura is understandably distressed.

She was almost to her room when the attacks started, and ran back to the control room as fast as she could, her fear of the Galran Empire finding them or another enemy attacking their castle energizing her.

Finding out it was the Red Lion attacking her own hangar was not what she was expecting.

“W-What’s going on?!” Hunk shouts as he runs in with Pidge, the both of them suited up in full paladin armour.

“The Red Lion? What do you mean it’s the Red Lion? Where’s Keith?” Pidge asks in rapid succession as she jumps into her station.

“While we’re on the matter, where’s Lance? Has anyone seen Lance?” Hunk adds, going to his own place and seeing what he can do.

“That’s what I hoped you two would know, but I suppose not.” Allura says, gripping onto the controls as the castle shakes once again, even harder this time. The roars of the Red Lion almost feels deafening.

Coran comes running into the control room, ash and soot covering him. “Her hangar’s completely on fire, Princess! She wouldn’t let me in!”

“This is crazy! Again, where are Keith and Lance?!” Pidge shouts, her fingers flying over her computer. “If the Red Lion keeps this up, she’ll melt off her part of the hangar!”

Almost as soon as she said that, the tremors stop, and everything is quiet. No more roars are heard, and no more attacks are felt.

The control room and everyone in it is silent as they find themselves pondering, what just happened?

Static echoes through the speakers. “—rincess? Guys?”

“Wait, wait, what’s that? Is that Lance?” Hunk taps something on his computer and a screen pops out on the main display, showcasing Lance’s face.

The brunet instantly looks relieved. “Oh thank God. Is everyone okay?”

“Lance!” Pidge exclaims, noting the slight ash on his face. “Dude, you look like you just walked through a fire pit.”

“Lance, we’re fine, but where are you?” Allura cuts in.

“I’m… kinda in the Red Lion?”

“You’re… what?”

“Look, I can’t explain right now because I have to take care of him as soon as possible, but I’m going to take Red back to Blue’s hangar. This place is a hazard and needs some serious cleanup. Oh, and Keith’s with me at the back, so don’t worry. I got him.”

“Lance, what do you mean?” Allura sounds understandably more confused than before. “Did somebody attack him?”

Lance, in his white-blue shirt and with his jacket missing, shifts some controls and gets the Red Lion out the castle and back. “No, no, Princess. We’re fine. Nobody attacked Keith. Hunk will explain it to you.”

“What? Me? I literally don’t know anything about what’s going on here right now—”

“Hunk. It’s pineapples.”

Hunk immediately stops talking, a look of realization crossing his face. Allura, Coran, and Pidge have never looked so confused in their lives.

“Dude… like, in a cake?”

“Yeah, in a cake.”

“Gotcha. You go take care of him Lance. If you need anything from me, I’ll be here.”

Lance grins. “Thanks bud.” And he signs out as soon as he lands Red in Blue’s hangar.

“What the quiznak is a pineapple in a cake?” Pidge exclaims, once the hologram screen disappears.

Hunk looks at the other three people in the room and takes a deep breath. “Okay, so, back in The Garrison, Lance and I, we… kinda have a system.”

“What kind of system?” Allura prods gently when it seems that Hunk is hesitating.

“Well… we kind of take care of each other’s mental health, y’know? And Lance… he gets panic attacks a lot.”

A small gasp comes from Pidge. Hunk continues on when nobody else says anything.

“And because he can’t address it when it’s about to happen and he doesn’t want anyone to see him having one, we set up a system where he can hold my arm really tight, and I ask him, ‘pineapples in a cake?’ and if he nods, I take him back to his room and just… be there for him.”

“Wait, wait, so you’re saying Keith’s having a panic attack right now?” Pidge says and when Hunk nods, she slumps in her seat. “That might explain why Red suddenly started attacking us…”

“I’m sorry paladins but… what is a panic attack?” Allura asks, with Coran beside her looking just as curious.

Hunk and Pidge look at each other, and then begin to tell the Alteans what it all means.

♡

Lance sits in his seat for a while once Red landed, feeling her hum in worry for her paladin. He places a hand on one of her controls and pats. “It’s okay, girl. I’ve got him. Just don’t go attacking the castle again, got it?”

When the brunet feels like he’s got an agreeing hum from the overprotective lion, he turns around in his seat to face Keith.

It was no easy feat getting him to the Red Lion’s hangar, Lance’ll admit that. He almost burned himself thanks to Red’s flames. But seeing Keith slumped against the wall of the cockpit, Lance’s jacket wrapped around him as he rides out the attack, his eyes shut tight, and the occasional sob echoing in the small space, Lance thinks he’d probably be willing to do it all over again.

Lance sits down by Keith, and gently pulls the other down so he’s lying in his lap. He pats Keith’s hair, running his fingers down the length of the mullet and back. After another moment’s silence, Lance begins to sing softly.

He doesn’t know what’ll help calm Keith down, but he hopes at least this is enough.

He racks his memory for any and all the gentle songs he knows, from the typical lullaby in English or Spanish, to the ridiculous self-written songs of his childhood. Once in awhile, a soft love song he remembers from the radio would come into play as well.

He loses track of time with his whisper-singing, unsure of how long he’s been here with Keith occasionally letting out a sob before finally stilling with slow breaths.

Ah, he’s asleep…

Lance’s own eyes close, resting his head against the wall of the cockpit.

Maybe he’ll sleep for a bit too.

♡

When Lance wakes, it’s from being jostled around by a waking Keith.

Lance opens his eyes, realizing he’s still in the exact same position when he fell asleep, and sees Keith trying to push himself off his lap.

In a hushed tone, he asks, “Hey Keith… you okay?”

Keith visibly flinches. His hair hangs and covers most of his face from this angle, so Lance can’t read his expression.

“I…” Keith starts. Lance sees his hands are trembling. “What… happened?”

“You had a panic attack. You don’t remember it?”

Keith shakes his head. Lance’s jacket is still secure around the raven’s shoulders.

“Is this your first time?” Lance asks, just to make sure.

For a moment Keith is silent. But then he shakes his head, almost hesitantly.

“I don’t know… But I think I went through something like this… back in the Garrison… when they told me that he… that Shiro…” Keith doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before another tear hits the ground.

Lance pulls the other into a hug gently, letting Keith cry in between his neck and shoulder. “It’s okay,” he says as he starts humming. “It’s okay.”

Things aren’t really okay, and he’s aware of that. But for now, for just one tick, he needs things to feel okay. At least for a little while.

Keith isn’t actively sobbing this time, his tears silently trailing down his cheeks. Lance plays with the other’s hair again, partly for something to do other than sing, partly for the hope it can help ease Keith’s worries.

It takes a bit for Keith to stop crying and for him to pull away, wiping his face with his shirt.

The raven slides around to sit beside Lance, their shoulders, hips, and legs touching. His mouth opens and closes, as if trying to figure out the words to say to Lance.

“I’m… sorry you had to see me like this.”

Lance places a reassuring hand on the other’s knee. “Don’t be. It’s okay to fall apart sometimes,” with a little smirk to ease the tension in the atmosphere, he adds, “Even for little mullet paladins like you.”

The raven snorts, but Lance spies a small smile, so he takes that as a victory.

Keith raises a weak hand, as if to gesture at everything. “Thanks… You know, for…” he trails off and his hand falls.

“No problem.” Lance says. And he means it. Gently, he bumps the other’s shoulder with his own. “I’ve got your back man.”

Keith smiles at him. His eyes are red and puffy, and there are still tear stains on his cheeks. Without another word the raven leans his head against Lance’s and closes his eyes, curling in on himself.

Lance raises his hand to play with his hair again.

She doesn’t know where her chest plate has gone to ever since the clasps snapped. Blood is dripping from her waist, trickling down her thighs. Her armour is mismatched and missing pieces here and there from the beatings she endured, but she has to go on.

She has to go on.

A war cry from her left startles her into motion, a sword missing her by inches as she spins to her right. She hits the man on the chin with the end of her staff hard, shocking him, before sending him stumbling back with a kick to his gut.

His weapon is discarded onto the sand as he lands into a lump.

She doesn’t hear the joyful cries of the spectators—her mind too focused on staying alive.

Running forward, her staff held in a deathly grip, she avoids two women fighting their way to her, and jumps over the fallen lifeless body of another.

She halts to a stop as an arrow flies past her, hitting one of the women fighting earlier just as she claims victory over the other one with a sword through her chest. They both topple to the ground, unmoving.

Another arrow embeds itself into the sand, so close to her feet, and she starts moving again. Her vision, though distorted by the strands of her long hair, searches for the archer intent on taking her down.

She runs and runs, her body moving solely on adrenaline, her mind jumping from one survival method to another. Her eyes search, and search, and she doesn’t see the flying arrow before it’s too late.

It lands in her left arm, and her cry of pain is the only thing she hears.

Tears mix with her sweat and dirt on her face. She would take cover for a moment if she could, but the ground of the arena is open, and there is no place to stop and rest.

She rips the arrow out of her arm and runs again.

For a moment she wonders if the arrow is poisoned, but she will deal with that later. Or not deal with it at all, if she’s lucky.

Flitting in between other fighters, other gladiators, other warriors, other prisoners, and other criminals, she spots a hooded figure with a bow running parallel to her—an arrow already knocked, pulled back, and ready to be let go.

She dives for the dirt to avoid the shot, her arm flaring on fire from the earlier arrow, and quickly makes her way towards her opponent.

Alarmed upon being found out, her assailant runs away from her. Undisturbed by this, she rips out a knife she sees protruding out of a dead man’s head, and without a drop of hesitance throws it towards them.

The knife punctures the hood, and the figure falls over the other bodies.

She doesn’t take a moment of celebration though. She can’t take a moment to breathe.

Another war cry echoes in her ears, and before she knows it she’s sent tumbling across the ground from a hit to her face.

Her staff flies out of her hands, and she has no other weapon to fend herself with from the oncoming onslaught of fists and kicks. She can’t see who’s attacking her, but every hit chokes her, every blast of pain paralyzes her and makes her scream.

A violent stomp on her hand smashes her right wrist, and white hot searing fire blinds her vision. Her voice doesn’t function anymore. Her throat is too dry and overused to make any other sound.

Numbly tying to pull herself out of her suffering, she spots at the blackened corners of her eyes her staff, and desperately reaches out to it with her left hand.

Her fingers grab hold of it tightly, and just as she takes a kick to her stomach, she whips the attacker across the face with her staff.

The other warrior stumbles, not by a lot, but enough for her to painstakingly raise herself to her knees. She brings her right arm close to her chest to ease the violent shaking from the shattered bones inside.

Her staff is warm in her left as she glares at the other warrior, much bigger, and much taller than she is. Her heart sinks a little, but her determination keeps her gaze strong.

The warrior glares at her as well, as if offended she dared to live. As if appalled that someone like her is still fighting and breathing, while many other greater fighters had failed.

She knows she might not make it out of here alive.

But she’ll at least god damn try.

Their land is at peace again, but there is still a lot to do. There are deceased to mourn, ruined buildings to clean, peace treaties to be signed, and much, much more.

But tonight, the night the final battle took place, is a night of resting.

Hikaru has always waited for this day to come. The day the Dark Lord is finally defeated, and they can live happy again. But the assassin didn’t think that it would be like this.

The people are joyful, yes, but they are also subdued. Calm. Quiet.

He used to expect bonfires, festivities, and vibrant life, but the people... they’re just hugging friends and family and crying tears of relief, completely grateful that they are no longer under the influence of the dark.

Climbing up the last steps of the hill that overlooks the city and its grandness, Hikaru finds exactly what he’s looking for.

Rather, who.

Sena Arata, the hero.

The redhead seems to not notice him, or pretending not to, as he continues to gaze upon the stars, his legs swinging back and forth over the cliff.

Hikaru watches the moonlight encompass the idiotic redhead that saved them all like a silver blanket of magic, before he nestles himself right beside him.

Casually, without a single twinge of hesitance, the blond entwines their fingers together, and rests his head upon the other’s shoulder.

Arata doesn’t say anything, but he welcomes the touch by leaning into Hikaru as well, breathing deeply as he does so.

It feels like the silence stretched all the way to the moon before the redhead finally speaks.

“We lost a lot of good people today.” Arata whispers, his eyes still on the stars.

“We did.” Hikaru replies, just as softly.

Silence again.

“What are you going to do now that all of this is over?” Arata asks.

“I don’t know...” He answers truthfully. What is there to do when all your life you have been trained for this moment, but then a hero comes along and takes all the glory?

Arata tightens his fingers around Hikaru’s. He turns his head towards the blond, his mouth pressed into a thin line. Hikaru sees something in the other’s violet eyes, and he understands.

There’s no simpler way to say it. His limbs are heavy, his moves are sluggish, and his mind feels like it’s trying to solve abstract picture puzzles that don’t even exist.

And he’s really not up to deal with his boyfriend.

Arata has been... overly attached, lately.

Don’t get him wrong. He loves the attention from his boyfriend. He loves their talks late into the night, sneaking and sleeping in each other’s dorm rooms, texting each other when they’re not together, and spending time working on their homework with one another in the common room.

He loves when they help each other, when one of them is feeling down and the other cheers him up, when they have each other’s backs when it feels like the world isn’t

But lately it seems like every night Arata sleeps in his room, every day they spend either in front of the TV, working on LBXs, or walking around the Shopping District together.

With all the work Takeru has lately for his platoon, Arata is... suffocating him, for lack of better phrasing.

He realizes he never even had the chance to miss Arata, with how much time they spend glued to the hips.

So, he tells Arata they should take a break. From each other. Not officially break up, God no, but... they should spend some time apart, at least.

Arata seems to be taking it well, nodding his head in understanding. But Takeru really sees how he’s not fine when they’re in the Second World.

His redhead isn’t as vibrant in the field as he used to be, he can tell. Arata follows everything that Haruki seems to be telling him to do, and even then he seems to do them a bit slowly. He doesn’t fight with as much energy as before, and only wins because he tries his minimal best.

It’s breaking Takeru’s heart.

But, this is what they need.

In the dark of the night, as Takeru pulls the covers over himself because it’s so cold, he comforts his mind to distract from the lack of another’s body heat behind him.

He had been gone on an important trip for work for a couple of days, and honestly he didn’t think it was such a good idea in the first place.

Especially since Kyu’s finals are in a month.

Unlocking the apartment door, Ven is hardly surprised that it’s so dark and quiet. And the place doesn’t look that messy... which is a good thing? Ah, but the kitchen being spotless is something of concern...

Well, at least he had called Kyu earlier when he was stepping off the bus, and his boyfriend sounded relatively alive—even if he was mumbling something about pancakes and organisms.

“Kyu...?” Ven calls out as he slowly opens the door to the other’s bedroom (that acts more as a study really, since Kyu only ever sleeps with him).

Just as he thought, Ven finds his boyfriend on the study desk with nothing but books, papers, a laptop, some empty bottles of water, empty mugs of coffee, and a table lamp that’s probably been left on for a longer time than it should be..

Kyu seems to be furiously mumbling something as he writes it all down from a textbook, and doesn’t even turn around at the sound of Ven entering the room. It’s not like he’s even trying to be discreet.

The taller man can only shake his head.

“Okay Kyu, when was the last time you ate?” Ven asks, dumping his bags on the floor to stand behind Kyu’s chair.

For a moment, Kyu jolts wildly like a startled cat, before he relaxes and slumps over the table again. Ven caught sight of dark eye bags and he frowns.

“I don’t know... It doesn’t...” here Kyu yawns, “doesn’t matter...”

“And the last time you slept?”

“Don’t know either...” Kyu says. Reaching for one of the mugs of coffee, Kyu waves Ven off. “Now go away, Dream Ven... I need to get back to studying...”

Ven stifles a laugh. Dream Ven? Don’t tell him Kyu thinks he’s a dream apparition now?

Sighing fondly, Ven holds Kyu’s shoulder and pulls him away from the books. “Come on, Kyu. You need some actual sleep.”

But Kyu is stubborn, and he grabs onto the desk with surprising strength for someone so tired. “Nnooooo...” is all that comes from his mouth though.

Deciding he’ll probably get nowhere like this, Ven wraps his arms around his small boyfriend and easily picks him up.

Kyu screams in a soft voice, still holding onto a pen in one hand and onto the table with the other. “Nnnoooooo! Don’t... tear me away... from nirvana...!”

“Yes, yes, your nirvana’s not going anywhere, Kyu.” Ven adjusts his boyfriend in his arms, so that Kyu’s head is on his shoulder and that his legs are wrapped around his waist.

Kyu’s still grumbling, a frown etched on his face, but his eyes are closed and he snuggles closer into Ven’s neck, his hair tickling his chin. Ven laughs, carrying his sleepy boyfriend to their shared room.

Ven tries to place Kyu on the bed gently, but now the stubborn little man won’t let go of Ven, and it causes him to fall over into the bed with him.

The jostle wakes Kyu a bit, and he looks right up into Ven’s face.

Kyu blinks, and squints.

“Wait...” he yawns. “You’re home...?”

“Been home for a bit now, thanks for noticing.” Ven grins. He kisses the top of Kyu’s head and decides to settle in beside his boyfriend. “You didn’t sleep at all last night, huh?”

Kyu instinctively nestles himself closer into Ven. His eyes closing again, he closes his fingers around Ven’s shirt and manages a chaste kiss on Ven’s neck. “Mmm... Had dreams about you... I really... missed you...”

Ven’s heart does a double take at Kyu’s display of honesty. But Kyu is already off to dreamland again, if his slow breathing and stillness any indication. Ven feels his chest swell up, and he can’t help his smile.

(And the only reason he plays well in the first place is because of Sidus and Carnis’s support, and that playing in a stadium in front of a crowd feels no different than dancing on a stage in front of an audience.)

He likes to dance the traditional elven dances for the people, he likes to practice the contemporary modern moves, and he even likes trying the classical human dances just for kicks.

He especially likes the dances he has with his friends.

(Because they oh-so-easily create symphonies within his mind.)

When he dances with Carnis, he hears sweet bass and fast drumbeats in his ears. Their steps are quick, wild, their hands and arms flying everywhere and on each other as they twist and turn so fast it feels like their necks are breaking. And the laughter. God, the laughter. It echoes in every inch of his bones, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake, and it follows him long after they reluctantly separate to each of their homes.

(Dancing with Carnis is like running with the Sun in a garden full of tulips and roses.)

When he finally manages to coax Sidus to dance with him, he hears soft flutes and a strong piano, with the occasional vibrations of a cello. He decides to teach the shorter elf the human dance of waltz and, as expected, his toes get stepped on a lot and they trip a few times too many. Sidus keeps apologizing and asking him to just stop this ridiculousness. But Aeron is stubborn. He continues to lead and teach, and occasionally laughing together with Sidus over a particularly bad blunder, which makes flowers grow inside his heart and and in-between his fingers—where they hold onto Sidus’ own tightly.

(Dancing with Sidus is like floating in an empty lake, the waters gently holding you and only occasionally a wave will come to disturb the calm, but it never truly bothers you.)

So, dancing is his life. He lives to entertain the crowd, to make people happy with his fluid or sharp moves. He lives to follow the rhythm of the music, of hearing the symphonies. He likes to live it with his friends, with the people he cares about the most, and find joy in it with them.

But then... Carnis disappears.

For a time, his symphonies are silent.

Aeron tries to dance, to relieve the stress of playing soccer, of being the ace striker, or missing Carnis and of wanting to make Sidus proud.

Except for some simple moves (an arch with his arm, a twist of his neck and hips) he can’t make his limbs follow his routine. His hands land on empty spaces, his feet refuse to lift from the ground, and the space around him feels so unnaturally cold.

He stops dancing for a while.

He focuses on soccer. He focuses on practice, practice, and more practice. He perfects his shoots, his passes, his goals. He pushes himself hard enough there are days he can barely move and finds himself asleep on the pitch.

And then, Carnis comes back.

For a moment, he’s ecstatic. He swears he hears trumpets, harps, and violins and any other magical instrument he knows that make beautiful music when he sees her, safe and well.

Then, he tries to get ‘Carnis’ to dance with him.

And that’s when he knows.

This isn’t Carnis. Not really.

His hands find their usual place around her, their bodies fit perfectly together, but her movements are not the same, not quite. From an outsider’s point of view, they look like they are dancing like they usually do. But Aeron can tell it’s different. He should know—he’s the one who has danced with her all their lives.

Dancing with this... new Carnis, makes him hear war cries and crashing drums. There are moments where he’s in control, and there are moments where he’s only made to feel in control, and moments where he is not in control at all. They twist, they turn as they usually do, but it’s more forceful, more provoking and much less casual. There is no laughter. There are smiles from her, but it’s different. It feels... darker. Her grip on him leaves bruises on his skin, and his on hers, and they continue this thing he refuses to call a dance until they are both no longer moving.

(Dancing with Tonneli is like going against against a tsunami. Aeron tries to fight, tries to hold onto his ground, but sometimes... sometimes he decides to let this being inside her body sweep him away. Sometimes he hopes it drowns him.)

Maybe one day the symphonies will be the same again. Maybe they can practice it to make it work. Maybe it won’t take too long, maybe it won’t hurt as much anymore.

But Aeron knows his dances will never be the same again.

He is not here to be attracted to the violin instructor, he is not here to be attracted to the violin instructor, he is not here to be attracted to the violin instructor.

The instructor smiles at him and damn it, Advent melts.

Mint Choco is said to be one of the best violin players and instructors in town, and really, Advent had no idea he looks this good until the blond actually met the man. He just randomly picked the name he liked the most when his manager presented him with the list of instructors credible enough to teach him how to play the instrument for his role in his new film.

Now, the famous actor is kind of suffering and also kind of enjoying himself.

“Wait, sorry, I kind of zoned out there for a sec,” Advent smiles sheepishly at the other man, “do you mind repeating that?”

Mint Choco smiles softly and shakes his head. “Of course not. Now...”

Advent tries to listen, and he kind of succeeds, because Mint’s voice sounds heavenly, but he’s pretty sure none of that information went into his head. Uurgh.

When his time is up with the instructor, Advent can’t help but to stick around. Maybe today will be the day he gathers enough courage to invite Mint Choco out to dinner.

Then he met a child by the name of Peppermint.

The little kid is sitting on one of the benches in the garden outside the house slash learning center, clad in a sailor suit and holding onto a conch shell.

Curious, and because he does have a soft kid for children, Advent sits beside the child and smiles at him.

The boy notices him, but doesn’t really return the smile.

“Hey, kid.” Advent tries again. Maybe he’s shy. “I’m Advent. What’s that you’re holding?” Advent points at the shell. “It looks pretty neat!”

The child’s eyes seem to sparkle a little bit, and Advent whoops in joy inside.

“I’m... Peppermint. This is my conch shell. I love it because my dad gave it to me when he took me from the orphanage...”

“Really?” Advent keeps smiling, but his heart goes out to the person who adopted this pure child. “Why did he give it to you?”

“To play with when I feel lonely...” Peppermint looks at Advent for a brief moment, and the man can see the shyness in the little boy’s eyes. “I... I can call on my friends with it...”

“Oh! What kind of friends?”

“There’s a whale... and a lot of dolphins...”

Advent continues to talk to the boy, asking him question after question and entertaining him with wild stories of his own (which is easy, considering he acts in a lot of sci-fi and classic Indiana Jones-type of adventure movies).

Eventually, the boy is comfortable enough with him that he’s chatting more animatedly, and even plays his shell for Advent (surprise! He can actually play a tune on that thing. Advent gushes about how cool that is).

They’re both in the middle of laughing over a joke Advent made when the door opens and a familiar voice calls out, “Peppermint!”

“I’m here, dad!”

Advent feels his heart skip a number of beats when Mint Choco walks into the garden to see him with... oh God, Peppermint must be his son, isn’t he?

“Oh, Mr. Advent! I didn’t realize you were still here.” Mint Choco says with a bright smile. “I see you’ve kept my son company.”

“M-Mr. Mint Choco! Ahaha, oh, why yes, he’s such an angel!” Advent stutters, feeling a blush rise up his cheeks.

Peppermint jumps off the bench and runs to hug Mint Choco’s long legs. “Dad, can we invite Mr. Advent over for dinner? He’s funny! And... and... he doesn’t make fun of my sea friends!”

Something flashes in Mint Choco’s eyes before he looks back at Advent. There seems to be surprise, and a tad bit of admiration if Advent wasn’t imagining things...

Mint Choco smiles so softly at him, unlike all the professional smiles before, and Advent feels like he burst into flames.

“Of course he can, Peppermint. Mr. Advent, if you’re free today, would you like to join us for dinner?”

That’s pretty much common knowledge among his friends and peers. So, they often try to introduce him to various fun and exciting things! He likes all of them, really, like the roller coasters, the cosplaying, the fashion and everything in between.

But so far nothing has been able to beat the excitement of LBX battles. And he’s okay with that, because LBX battles are special to him.

That is, until Jin kissed him when they were 16.

It was soft, gentle, with Jin’s hands holding onto Yuuya’s own. And much too short, when Jin pulled back and looked away, his face bright red just like Yuuya’s.

Yuuya, in a daze, wrapped his arms around the other teen and pulled Jin back in for another kiss. And another. Each one lasting longer than the one before, and each one tasting better and better with each brush on their lips and each pull of their hair.

By the time they’re both positively gasping for breath, Yuuya can hear nothing but the beatings of his heart in his ears and feel nothing but the racing of his heart and the butterflies frolicking in his stomach.

Jin smiles, lips bruised and eyes in a trance. “I think I woke up a kissing monster.”

Judging from the murkiness of the water, and the human wastes he occasionally (always) sees as he glides through the currents, it isn’t a far off possibility.

He supposes it is his own fault, for straying from his usual swimming path. But then, is it really his fault if he had caught sight of a beautiful Helios fish, rare and bright in the ocean? What sane merfolk would pass up an opportunity to witness the Helios fish as it shines its gorgeous pale yellow light when the sun sets?

And yet, the sun still has not set, and the fish is nowhere in his sights.

The merman sighs, resting on what he assumes to be a relatively clean boulder. He frowns at all the trash surrounding him, and at the few fish that swim by, feeling a tinge of sympathy for their living conditions.

Humans are quite awful, aren’t they? It’s no wonder his ancestors used to lure them to their deaths with songs.

Kantera catches a twinkle of light at the corner of his eye, and he swims towards it in an instant. A small smile reaches his face as he sees the Helios fish, swimming around something.

It doesn’t take him long to realize that that ‘something’ is a bait. A fishing bait. And the Helios fish is right about to take it!

Kantera tries to save it, but he’s too late. The line is already getting reeled back in pretty quickly, and all he can do can do now is follow and hope for the best.

He swims as close as he possibly can near the edge of the water, watching with a close eye as a man wearing green pulls on a fishing rod.

The Helios fish breaks through the surface of the water, and Kantera considers it a lost cause. The human will surely realize the sea creature is a rare specimen (and sacred to merfolk) and would keep it for himself.

If the human is dumb enough, he might even try to cook it.

Sorrow fills Kantera’s heart at the thought, and how he can’t possibly save it, not without comprising this place with rumours of a mermaid lurking about and having more humans come to desecrate the place even more.

He swims ever closer, however, in hopes that maybe there is something he can do after all. The dark waters help hide him, and so do the shade from the tree surrounding.

Kantera watches as the human man unhooks the Helios fish, and seems to be staring perplexed at it. From this close, he can see the human’s blue eyes and pursed lips—he looks like he’s considering what to do with it.

At last, the man with the bright blue eyes slowly lowers the fish back into the water, a soft smile on his face as he watches it disappear from sight.

Kantera’s eyes are wide when he realizes that the human is letting the rare fish go. The Helios fish swims right past him in a hurry, its tail beginning to glow yellow—a sign that the sun is just beginning to set.

The merman continues to watch the curious fisherman as he packs his things, cleaning his little spot up so there’s not a trash to be seen. When the fisherman walks away and is gone behind some trees, Kantera finds himself wondering when the human will return.

It takes a while, long after the sun has set and the waves are high, before the merman finally shakes out of his thoughts and dives back into the water to swim home.

A white ceiling is moving, fast.

He knows he’s moving, he can feel it, but how isn’t quite registering in his mind. There’s something soft under him, that’s for sure, and he hears the distant echo of squeaking wheels overlapped with voices talking that sound muffled.

His brain is clouded and none of his limbs move to his will. He’s grounded to whatever thing he’s on, under the mercy of whoever these people are. The tiredness comes back to him like a gentle wave. He decides he doesn’t have the strength to fight and he lets himself be pulled into a world of black.

“Gao!!”

   ☪ ☀

The next time he opens his eyes, the white ceiling greets him again. Except this time, they’re not moving.

He grumbles; his muscles are sore and tired and even though he’s awake he can feel the reins of sleep on him again, pulling him back into slumber. This time he fights, he fights because he wants to know what exactly happened to him and where he is.

It doesn’t take him long to realize, to be honest. He’s smelt this same odour when he was younger, the melancholic memory making way into his exhausted mind. The word takes some time but eventually it forms in his head—hospital. He’s in the hospital.

He groans painfully. There’s a throbbing on his neck, like a knife is stuck in there. Instinctively his hand reaches up, holding the hurting spot. He finds that he’s not touching his skin, but a rough cloth. Surprised, he discovers that his neck is wrapped with the stuff.

The door opens. At first he sees nobody, but then he realizes he doesn’t see anyone because the said person who entered is too short for him to see properly.

It’s Drum.

The dragon doesn’t notice anything but when his eyes lock with Gao’s, it’s the moment he shouts in surprise. “Gao! Gao!! You’re awake!” Drum comes running up beside him, the widest of dragon grins on his face and giant tears in his eyes. “Oh man, I can hardly believe my eyes!”

Gao couldn’t help a chuckle. But his neck is still hurting, badly. He wants to get out of this bed. He wants to get out of here and… and…

What does he want to do?

The first image that comes to mind is a boy with blue hair and red eyes. The second is the fangs. A tremble quakes his body. He remembers. He remembers everything that happened. How he hissed in pain when the fangs penetrated his skin, how the feral glint never left the red eyes and how helpless he was as the beast above him drank away, whispering sweet lyrics and promises in between licks.

Gao gulped and bit his lip at the memory. His hands shake—something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Drum. The dragon’s happy smile immediately turns into a frown of worry. “Hey kid, are you okay…? What happened to you? When I found you, there was… there was blood everywhere. I shouldn’t have let you go alone, should I? Urgh, I’m so stupid, I can’t even protect my Buddy when he needs me most…!” the dragon rambles on without pause, the tears flowing down his cheeks evident.

The boy slowly reaches out, placing a hand on Drum’s head. “Hey, hey Drum, listen to me man. It wasn’t your fault. I’m… I’m fine. I’m okay now, aren’t I?” he says but Drum is still crying.

The dragon wipes away some tears. “But… But…” he hiccups. “You really had us worried, okay?!” Drum says, still wiping more of his tears that are falling. “Your mom even flew back from America!”

“Mom is here?” Gao says, only now realizing how raspy his voice sounds like. But it almost doesn’t matter to him because his mom is here? How did she fly from America so quickly? That’s like halfway across the world.

Drum looks like he had some sense knocked into him. “Yeah, and I really should find her to tell her the good news!” the dragon says with enthusiasm, traces of crying almost gone. “I’m going right now!” with that exclamation he scurries off to the door before Gao can stop him.

The boy is left on his bed, confused with his jaw dropped. He doesn’t understand. Why did his mom have to come back just for passing out in the streets, and so quickly at that? It’s barely been a day since he passed out, he thinks. Is he really that hurt?

He winces. Of course he’s hurt. He had… a vampire drink his blood. A vampire named Tasuku, nonetheless.

He’s not let to dwell on the thought for long. Apparently his mom—and family—must’ve been close because footsteps approach his room and the doors slide open to reveal the entire household entering with elated and surprised expressions on their faces. Drum is almost squished in between their legs.

Hanako runs up to him and gives him a tight hug around the neck and he winces. She’s crying but she’s also grinning and he supposes she’s really happy to see him so he doesn’t have the heart to tell her to let go.

“Gao Mikado, you had us worried sick!” his mom, Suzumi, says as she gives him a tight hug too, squishing Hanako in between them.

“G-Good to see you too, mom…” Gao tries to speak but he finds it difficult. Not only that, he’s struggling to breathe now too. “U-Uh, c-can you guys l-let go? C-Can’t breathe h-here…!”

They back away and he takes deep breaths, grateful for the space. He doesn’t know why, but it felt… wrong, to be that close to them. Which is weird, he’s never had any problems with his family hugging him before. Everything is so weird now. He still feels like he wants to get out of this bed and run. He just can’t tell to where.

His mother caresses his cheek, his father standing behind her and Hanako clinging onto him with teary eyes. His grandma stands by Hanako, a hand on the child’s head, looking relieved and pleased. “Gao, please, tell me what happened to you.” Suzumi looks concerned, something he’s not surprised by.

What he’s surprised by is his inability to explain the truth. He opens his mouth, tries to speak, tries to tell them what happened—about Tasuku, about the fangs, about the words the vampire had whispered to him—but he can’t. He can’t.

His family sees the distress in his face and they don’t question him anymore. His mom pulls him into another hug and his dad pats him on the shoulder. Hanako scrambles for another hug too; apparently she’s relieved she wasn’t going to lose another brother.

He understands how that feels. He wouldn’t want to lose her either.

Drum comes next to him on the other side of his bed, looking anxious and worried. He sniffs. “I’m so sorry, kid.”

Gao chuckles. He looks at Drum softly. “I told you, it’s not your fault…”

But whose fault was it really? Him, for going out alone at night? Or Tasuku, the one who attacked him? But… was it really Tasuku’s fault? What happened to him when he was missing? Where has he gone to now? Gao wants to know. He needs to know.

“Police Commissioner Kisaragi would want to speak with you once he knows you’re awake,” his mom informs. “He has some questions for you.”

Gao looks at her incredulously. “Zanya’s dad…? What kind of questions?”

“Well,” his dad starts, “he says he believes you’re the first ‘victim’ to a series of killings around the city…” he can see the solemn look his dad is giving him. “But he’s not 100% sure. I think he just wants to confirm things first, since it’s been one week you’ve went into a coma.”

Gao feels his heart jump. He gulps. A series of killings…? Coma…? That explains why his mom is here.

Everything after that feels like a blur. The doctor comes, ushers his family out for a moment and checks on him with a bunch of nurses. They even take off the bandages and when he looks into the mirror, he see two puncture holes at the side of his neck. Fang bites. He gulps again. They look deep… and they’re itchy too, like any other wound he’s ever gotten. He catches himself scratching without meaning to. He wills himself to stop it.

The doctor tells him and his family that he seems stable for now, but they’ll keep him under the monitor as a precaution. His neck is all wrapped up again, as if trying to hide away his big secret. His family lingers in the hospital room until visiting hours are over and when he’s all alone… he finds himself unbelievably relieved.

But his peace is short-lived when his fingers twitch and he groans. His neck stings out of the blue and he holds it, trying to get the pain to go away. The pain grows stronger and he grits his teeth to endure it. He wants to scream, to let it out, but even his voice is missing, gone. He chokes, coughs and hacks and he can’t seem to make it stop.

He grips the sheets of his bed and it’s like he’s trying to cough out his lungs. His throat feels raw, dry, and his neck stings even more. What is happening? What’s going on? This hurts too much. It hurts!

Gao swings his legs over the bed and stands. He wobbles for a moment or two, and grips onto the bedside table for stability with one hand. The other is gripping his throat tightly. He tries to speak again, but all he hears are his raspy breaths.

He doesn’t know what he should do. His hands are shaking too much for him to open the sealed bottle of water.

That’s when he notices a dark figure standing by his window. The pain lessens then, fades away into oblivion as the dark figure stretches out a hand to open the window.

Gao can’t tell what he’s more surprised about. The pain decreasing, or the fact that he’s pretty sure his room is at a high floor of the hospital building—or that it’s Tasuku that’s climbing in.

By the time that Tasuku’s complete inside, the pain is gone—like it never happened, and Gao is left to stare in awe and surprise. At the back of his mind, he barely registers that he feels relieved at the sight of Tasuku in his hospital room.

Tasuku isn’t wearing his tattered Buddy Police uniform anymore. He has a navy blue hoodie that’s at least one size too big for him, black pants, and worn out shoes. Though Tasuku isn’t looking at him, Gao can tell that there’s a pained expression on the red-eyed boy’s face.

He doesn’t want Tasuku to have that kind of look on his face.

Gao takes a step towards him, an arm outstretched and voice hoarse once more as he calls out the other’s name. “Tasuku…?”

But Tasuku immediately steps back, closer to the window, as if he’s ready to flee at any moment. “Don’t, Gao. I’ve… I’ve hurt you enough.”

Gao pulls back his hand, feeling something wrench in his chest at the rejection. They stand in silence, the sun disappearing behind the horizon as time ticks by. Gao wants to say something, anything, but his mouth is clamped shut, even though he has so much to ask.

It feels like forever before he hears the rustling of clothes and Tasuku is turning to look at him.

Something in his chest lifts.

“I… I’m sorry… about the other night...” Tasuku says, looking concerned. “I tried to control myself, but I…”

“It wasn’t your fault, Tasuku. You tried and that’s—”

“But I could’ve prevented it, Gao!” Tasuku looks down. “I could’ve stopped all of this from happening… I could’ve…”

Gao steels his resolve then. He makes his way towards Tasuku, wrapping his arms around the older boy, squeezing tight with no intention of letting go. Tasuku immediately freezes up upon contact, body stiff with the surprise. He squirms, trying to pull away. Gao doesn’t let him.

“It’s all in the past, alright?” Gao says. “Whatever it is that happened, all we can do now is to fix it.”

Tasuku stops resisting. Just as Gao thinks everything is okay for now, Tasuku holds him by the shoulders with shaky hands and pushes him away.

There’s an alarmed look in his red eyes, his face is bright red, and his fangs are protruding out of his closed mouth. He tries to say something, but no words come out. In the end, silence is all there is between them, with Tasuku still looking worried and Gao still looking determined.

At last Tasuku finds the strength to say what he wanted to say. “Gao, I know you mean well, but I can’t let you risk yourself for me. Not when I…” his eyebrows furrow again as he trails off. Gao is about to interrupt, but Tasuku doesn’t let him. “The point is, I’ve done something to you that night, and it’s unforgivable. I can’t let myself be near you any longer.”

Tasuku lets him go, turning away towards the window, but Gao latches onto his wrist. He’s not letting him disappear again. “You sucked some of my blood, so what? That doesn’t mean I—”

“That isn’t it.”

“Then what is it?!”

“You wouldn’t understand!”

“Because you wouldn’t let me understand!”

“I didn’t just suck your blood, Gao!” Tasuku says, exasperated and at his limit. He looks like he’s about to cry. He takes a deep breath, and says, “I marked you!”

“You… what?”

“My instincts went wild, I lost control of myself, and I… I marked you, Gao. With those bites on your neck.” Tasuku says, his voice trembling and going soft. “I claimed you as mine.”

Gao’s mouth is agape, not entirely sure what to say. He doesn’t realize the grip he has on Tasuku’s wrist has loosened as he tries to process what he’s been told. “What… what do you mean? Claim me…?”

Tasuku isn’t looking at him. His fists are clenched and his shoulders are hunched up. “It… It means that you’re mine now.”

“Like… a slave?” A vampire’s slave? is what Gao wanted to say, but he’s not entirely sure if Tasuku would appreciate being called a vampire just yet.

“No, God, heavens no.” Tasuku looks at him, alarmed. His face is even redder too. “It’s… something else.” He brings up his other hand, trying to cover how red he is. Gao finds that he likes the sight of a blushing Tasuku. He realizes that Tasuku isn’t trying to leave either. That’s good, right?

Gao gives what Tasuku said a thought for a while. “Well, if you claimed me as yours… that means I’m connected to you?”

Tasuku nods. “Yeah. That’s why you were… in pain earlier. That was my fault. I… hurt you again. I’m sorry.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because they were touching you!” As soon as he says this, Tasuku looks alarmed again, and he quickly clamps his mouth shut.

“But they were my family. And the hospital staff.”

“I know.” Tasuku looks exasperated now. His hand moves up his sky blue hair, pulling it. Gao thinks that’s a bad habit that Tasuku should stop. “But I can’t control how I feel, Gao—especially now that I’m like this. That’s why I need to stay far away from you.”

“How you feel?” Gao echoes, and suddenly, everything slowly connects in his mind. “Tasuku, are you saying that you… like me?”

Tasuku’s blush is up to his ears now, but he nods nonetheless.

“Is that why you came looking for me the first night you were back?”

“Yes…”

Gao’s heart soars into the sky. He can’t stop the grin from his face and he laughs. “This feels like a dream.”

Tasuku blinks. “Why?”

Gao smiles softly. “Because I like you too.”

Instead of blushing like Gao was expecting him to, Tasuku frowns. “No, you don’t.”

“What?”

“You don’t like me. You only think that you do because of the stupid vampire marking ritual I did to you.” Tasuku finally pulls Gao’s fingers off of his wrist and walks towards the window. The sky is dark now. The sun is completely gone. The only light on in the room is the bedside lamp. “It’s all in your head, Gao.”

“That’s nonsense!” Gao is getting frustrated now. “Tasuku, I’ve liked you long before you went missing!”

“I don’t believe you!” Tasuku is at the window now. He has one foot on the sill, ready to leave. “I’ll go far away from here, and you’ll see your feelings are just an illusion. You’ll forget me.”

Gao doesn’t want that. He knows he can’t allow that.

Before Tasuku can jump off, Gao grabs onto his clothes and pulls him back in his panic. It results in flailing limbs and bodies tumbling together on the floor. Gao hurts his elbow, he hears Tasuku yelp, and then they both stay still.

Tasuku recollects himself and squirms to get up. But Gao acts fast and has his arms around Tasuku, pulling him back down to the floor.

“Gao! What are you doing?!”

“Tasuku, please…” Gao buries his face into the other’s shoulder. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

“Gao…” Tasuku says his name gently. He feels a hand in his hair and knows that Tasuku’s comforting him. “You… don’t really mean that.”

Gao pushes himself off the floor and brings himself over Tasuku’s body, trapping the older boy on the ground. Tears are collecting in his eyes, and one drops onto Tasuku’s cheek. Gao forces a smile. “I don’t know what hurts more, Tasuku. The fact that you want me to forget about you, or the fact that you don’t believe my feelings are genuine.”

Tasuku’s lips quiver. There’s a regretful look in his red eyes. He forces a smile too, his white fangs gleaming, and says, “All I ever do is hurt you, huh?”

“Then stop pushing me away.” Gao says.

The vampire beneath him trembles, letting out a shaky breath. He closes his teary eyes and slowly nods. “…Okay. Okay.”

Gao grins wide. Tasuku looks up into his eyes and smiles as well, the worry finally leaving his face. He raises one hand to play with a strand of Gao’s hair. “I hope you’re ready, Gao.”

The golden-eyed boy rubs his thumb against Tasuku’s cheek. Tasuku relaxes into the touch, letting Gao caress him. He leans down and presses his lips softly on Tasuku’s own. Gao pulls back and kisses him again, a little longer this time. He smiles.