Sien watched Ritt carefully as he ambled down the castle’s halls. Having been sent away by the Duke after Ritt’s unusual behavior, Ritt now found himself being carried by the shorter man. His legs, which hadn’t even failed him during all the experiments he’d suffered through, were suddenly not listening to him correctly. He felt bad for inconveniencing Sien in such a way, especially in his current cmmy and sweaty state.

  “I’m sorry for this, Sien…”

  “Huh? What are you even apologizing for right now?! Just shut up and let's get back to my room already, okay?”

  Ritt’s somber face turned a shade more glum. He knew that Sien was just saying what he was out of worry, but in his currently poor state of mind, he couldn’t help but take them at face value.

  “Okay…”

  It was hard for Ritt to not feel ashamed of himself for suddenly showing such a poor side to Sien. None of it made any sense to him; He was certain that he’d never once forgotten how monstrously strong and terrifying Sien was. Of anyone, he should have been the one who was the most aware. But as he looked at Sien, who was supporting him to the best of his ability and clearly worried about him, and thinking about all the kindness that he’d been shown ever since he’d come to this country to meet with him… Perhaps it was only natural that he’d slowly been forgetting the bothersome truth of things.

  He wanted to trust Sien- did trust Sien. Surely even if he upset Sien too much, the man who had shown him such infinite kindness during their time together wouldn’t just immediately kill him; And even if he did attempt it, it most likely wouldn’t be in the same gruesome way that he’d been killed before. But still, the idea of Ritt losing Sien’s favor pained his heart greatly, for more reasons than just the possibility of death.

  “Sien…”

  “What? I told you, shut up and let me get you to my room! We’re almost there, so just tell me whatever it is that you need to once we’re there, alright?!”

  Ritt weakly nodded, immediately sewing his mouth shut. He’d already felt angsty and disheartened, but hearing Sien snap at him made Ritt feel even more grim. It was like his heart was sinking further and further into despair with each step that they were taking. The 3 minute journey to Sien’s room might as well have been hours long to Ritt.

  By the time Sien carefully sat him down onto his bed, Ritt couldn’t contain himself anymore, and the question that had been weighing on his mind practically burst itself out.

  “Sien, do you hate that I’m unnatural?”

  “Woah what? Where did that come from?!”

  Sien pulled back comically in surprise and scrunched up his face, but when he saw how serious and unflinchingly Ritt was staring at him waiting for an answer, he crossed his arms and let out a small confused huff.

  “Really, why would you ask me that…? Of course I don’t hate it. If anything, I like it, even.”

  The tips of Sien’s ears turned slightly red, and his voice grew a bit more quiet as he uttered out the word ‘like’, but the relieved Ritt registered none of it. In his angst, he found the far too convenient answer hard to truly believe.

  “...But that can’t be true. Didn’t the Duke say-”

  “Ugh, don’t bring up what he said again, will you?! I remember it all just fine! But I’m a half-Fae, Ritt, only half! Who cares if I hate lying like they do?! That doesn’t mean I hate you somehow, too!”

  Sien’s fiery, almost yelling words, made Ritt close his mouth. He still wasn’t willing to be fully convinced, but even he, with his social awkwardness, could tell that he’d be digging a pit for himself if he continued to pester Sien more.

  After a few moments of silence, Sien slightly turned away with a sigh, taking his gaze off of Ritt.

  “...Besides, what kind of hypocrite would I be to dislike unnatural things when I’m one of the most unnatural things out there?”

  The words had a clear tone of self deprecation to them, even with the perfectly neutral look on Sien’s face as he said it. Ritt couldn’t help but frown and stand up, practically jumping to defend him.

  “Huh? But I don’t think you’re unnatural at all though, Sien!”

  “Aw c’mon, it’s obvious. I’m the only half-human Fae out there, so doesn’t that make me unnatural?”

  “Mmm... But you were still born perfectly normally, weren’t you? So then-”

  “That doesn’t really mean much when it comes to the Fae though, Ritt. I mean, they can have kids with literal rocks, so I don’t think what they do can really be called being born ‘normally’.”

  “...But isn’t that normal for them then? And weren’t you born the way you are from your mother, just like everyone else here?”

  “Yeah well, you might be right, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m abnormal. Otherwise why would there be a prophecy warning against 'half-Fae’s like me? The only reason I wasn’t hunted down like the rest of them by now is just because I’m unnaturally strong compared to the others. …And I guess because my mom was quite strong, too…”

  The longer the conversation went on, the more Sien’s face began to crumple and darken. He looked like he was in pain, like the words were hurting him more and more. Ritt, whose eyes were trained on him the entire time, witnessed it all. He’d never expected his silly anxious question to ultimately come back to hurt Sien in any way. He felt bewildered and ashamed for what his moment of weakness had caused.

  Confused, desperate, and unable to think of what to say that could salvage Sien’s feelings, Ritt’s body sprung into action to do the only thing that it could think to. He lunged forwards at explosive speeds, his hands reaching for Sien’s face and grabbing hold of his cheeks. And as Sien’s eyes and mouth opened wide in surprise, Ritt’s mouth crashed down onto his.

  It was a deadly kiss, one accompanied by the sound of cnking teeth and falling bodies.

  Sien stayed still for a moment in shock, pressed under the weight of Ritt’s body. However, after a few seconds had passed, he finally came back to his senses and burst out giggling.

  “Ha, what, what the heck was that about?”

  Ritt’s face blushed profusely at the impulsive move he’d made and the compromising position he’d put the two of them in, but seeing Sien ughing made all of it worth it.

  “...I remembered what you said about kisses being used to console someone.”

  Sien paused his giggles for a split second in surprise as he realized what Ritt was referring to, and then burst out ughing once again.

  “But that was supposed to be on the cheek, silly! On the cheek!”

  “Oh… I suppose you’re right.”

  Ritt had slightly forgotten about that particur part of it, so desperate to make Sien stop saying bad things about himself.

  The ughter coming from Sien only seemed to grow as he watched Ritt’s embarrassed face. Ritt had willingly resigned himself to staying there and listening to Sien’s ughter for as long as it took, but was caught off guard when Sien’s hands suddenly came up to grasp his head. Before he knew what was happening, a much less disastrous kiss was pnted on his lips, short, but very very sweet.

  Sien’s smiling face came away with a bit of blood on his lips, which he seductively licked away without seemingly a thought. Ritt hadn’t even noticed that he’d busted one of his lips in his risky move; It was already healed, after all. Perhaps his suddenly pounding heart would take a bit longer to heal, though.

  Through half-lidded eyes and a familiar smile, Sien lowly purred out his words, all while his hands began to comb through Ritt’s long hair.

  “I don’t mind it at all, though… If you want to kiss me, I mean.”

  Ritt’s face practically lit up in a blush, unable to take what was happening. His body froze in pce like he’d become a statue, absolutely unsure of what to do. And yet his eyes were stuck wide open, unwilling to look away from Sien.

  Of course, seeing Ritt become like this set off Sien’s ughter once more.

  “Okay okay, I’ll leave it at that, so get off me! Unless you want to be carried to the bed, that is~.”

  Ritt’s previously frozen mouth began to fp, desperately trying to form words. He tried to move his arms and legs, but for some reason they weren’t replying correctly to him. In the end, all he could do was nod, prompting yet more ughter from Sien.

  _____

  AN: Sorry for the super long wait! I got super sick! And I'm still nice and sick, so I've decided I'm gonna go on a break and come back on January 20th. See you then!