#nerofau

"Nero," Faust turned to look at the wizard, his blue hair illuminated by the moonlight was a sight that took his breath away. He almost forgot his words for a moment when his eyes landed on the bottle of wine in Nero's hands. "Do you really think drinking is a solution to everything?"

"Oh calm down, Teach, I'm just tryna help you and here you are lecturing me. Don't you know when someone helps you, you usually say 'thank you' or something like that?" Nero chuckled, sitting down on one of the chairs on the balcony as he set down the bottled wine on the table. " 'Sides, Shylock gave this to me as thanks for helping me out the other day. I didn't wanna drink alone so I came to find you – fortunately enough, you're wide awake just as I am."

"Fortunately…? You're thankful that I'm awake at this ungodly hour? What a strange thing to be grateful for." Faust replied sarcastically, but being with Nero was slowly easing away from his worries into oblivion. A strange sense of comfort whenever he's around, an unexplainable feeling rising in his chest whenever their banters would end with silly little remarks that could easily be misinterpreted as something different.

"It just means I get to talk to you more like this." Faust doesn't know how to interpret those words that came out of Nero's mouth, and it frustrated him a little – their silly little back and forth banters were something he wanted to label but was not ready to do so. Affection? Admiration? Amore? The bubbling feelings inside his chest were making it hard for him to deny it any longer.

Nero poured wine into the glass, urging Faust to sit down with him. "Come, come. Drinks are better when you have company." Faust sat down across him, taking hold of the glass with translucent wine inside – giving a vague reflection of himself and the moon. Nero gulped down a glass hastily, earning a grimace from Faust.

"You're not supposed to drink wine like that. It's not just some booze you can drink in one gulp, you have to savour it slowly." Faust lectured him as he took a small sip from his own glass. Nero just laughed, propping his elbow on the table and placing his chin on the palm of his hand. Faust raised his brow, "What's so funny?"

"Nothin'... Just thought that maybe if I did something stupid it would get your mind off things."

"Charming," Faust replied curtly, but there was no denying that his heart leapt a little at his words. His hands felt a bit shaky, each second he spent with the eastern cook made his heart fall and fall – enough to the point that maybe this was really what love is. "You were right, though, it did get my mind off things. It seems like you know me a little too well."

"Do I? Maybe you're just a bit predictable, Teach."

"Is that an insult?"

"Nah, it's just me saying that it's easier for me to get closer to you this way. You always have a wall surrounding your heart and shutting everyone out, so I'm glad you decided to let me in."

Faust paused.

"I don't mind letting you stay there forever."

"What? Like in the corner of your heart or something? Gee, thanks."

"No, you can take up as much space as you want. I'll let you stay, and I'll let you take over, even." Faust was embarrassed to say such words. And Nero was even more embarrassed when his cheeks suddenly flushed red at the realization – but maybe that was just the wine talking.

"Hey, hey… What possessed you to say that kinda stuff? Damn… Caught me off-guard." Nero cursed, burying his face into the palm of his hands. A futile attempt to hide his bashful expression, he was incredibly happy upon hearing those words but he was the type to not let it show so easily.

"What, so now you're the one who's embarrassed?" Faust teased, the smallest smirk gracing his expression – a little tipsy from the wine Shylock gave Nero. "Maybe Shylock infused the wine with some sort of magic, who knows? Western Wizards tend to be pranksters after all."

"Aah, shit. You've got to be kidding me." Nero ruffled his hair, his hair was now dishevelled and his expression was short of nothing but embarrassed. The moonlight did nothing but make him all the more ethereal and didn't bother to cover up his face with the night's darkness. He stood up from his place, stepped closer to Faust and leaned over until their faces were only centimetres apart.

"Hey, Faust, don't make me say it out loud. It's embarrassing enough."

"I'm not asking you to say anything though, that's entirely on you—!?" Faust was cut off when Nero crashed his lips against Faust's, the kiss was slow and gentle despite the rough way Nero initiated it. Faust could taste the wine on his lips and couldn't help but heat up at the sudden development of events. He melted into the kiss, much to his disappointment. He fell right into love's trap.