“Mmngh…”
Sairek’s eyes squinted closed more shut as he was forcefully being roused from his sleep. He let out a grumbling grunt of displeasure at being shaken and he moved to roll himself from his side onto his back, flopping his arm over his eyes, hoping that was a sign he didn’t want to be roused any further and that he wished to sleep for a bit longer.
“You’re definitely not a morning person…” Cyial sighed.
“A ‘lil longer…” Sairek mumbled under his breath as his breathing began to become lighter again, once more already dozing off.
Cyial, who sat on the outside of the bed studied Sairek for a moment. He began lowering the blankets down to around Sairek’s tummy. The Prince growled at the air in the room soon cooling his skin that was now exposed.
Then, he felt fingers brushing along the underside of his arm and towards his armpit. Cyial’s attempts were to tickle him in a way, but he blinked in surprise when Sairek barely made any motion at all but a small twitch.
“Huh…” Cyial hummed aloud. He continued to gently graze his fingers along Sairek’s body, his sides, his chest, his tummy… though, making sure to keep his hand well above the waist. Sairek let out a small little exhale in response here and there, but his reactions otherwise were fairly mute and void. “You’re not very ticklish at all?” Cyial questioned him.
“Should I be…?” Sairek mumbled, with his eyes still covered with his arm.
“Most people are.”
“Oh well…” the Prince yawned, shifting where he lay before shuffling slowly and settling back fully into the bed to attempt to doze off once more.
Cyial frowned at his response and reached a thumb and finger to his right nipple before pinching it between the two.
“O-Ouch!” Sairek hissed, jerking to sit upright as his left hand slapped across his breast and his attacked nipple to shield himself from Cyial’s assault.
“Sensitive there though.” Cyial grinned coyly at him, smiling at Sairek's mop of brown hair having been ruffled by the bed in his sleep. It looked... just adorable, in a way.
“Oi…” Sairek huffed grumpily.
“Come on, you know if I let you sleep Fuyiki would punish you. You wouldn’t want to do more laps around the town walls would you?”
“No…” Sairek groaned before letting out a long sigh. “I’m not a morning person already, yet he takes pleasure in making them much worse…”
“I’ll suffer through the morning routine with you, if you want.” Cyial offered with a tilt of his head.
“Huh…?” Sairek let out in confusion. “Why?”
“Well, if it’d make you feel better... suffering through something with someone else makes it not as bad, right?” Cyial questioned him.
“Like I said to Nayleen, I’m… not sure that’s how it works.”
“Regardless, the fact is that I could probably use a bit of muscle, too…” Cyial admitted as he looked down at himself, in nothing more than their undergarments just like Sairek. “What I have is only because of being a demon, but uh… it seems to mostly be just for show and nothing much else.”
“...What do you mean? You managed to beat me twice, you know…” Sairek muttered at him.
“I think I have more endurance than you, but I think you beat me in raw strength.” Cyial reasoned. “By the time we finish, you’re always breathing much harder than I am, but you manage to pin me a lot more often until you tire out.”
Sairek merely shrugged.
“Anyway, let’s get ready, shall we? I’d rather go before a lot of people wake up and get breakfast downstairs…”
“Oh, alright…” Sairek sighed, pulling the blanket down to his waist before he hesitated. “Uhh… can you look away, please?”
“Huh?” Cyial blinked. “Why?”
Sairek blushed a little, averting his gaze slightly.
“O-Oh. I understand. Just like at the Shamira, apparently…” Cyial said, turning himself around to give Sairek some peace of mind.
“How do I make it go down, then?” Sairek grumbled. "Apparently a cold shower works if Laure is to be believed, but we don't have that here."
“Usually by relieving your bladder or just leaving it alone… except when… w-well, you don’t need to worry about that, for a while, probably…” Cyial muttered sheepishly, much to a confused Sairek.
“I’ll uh, just uh... try the toilet option.” Sairek reasoned as he scooted himself out of bed and went for his pants. He grunted a little bit in discomfort at the more than usual tightness. He looked down and frowned that his problem was a little noticeable…
“It’ll soften up some by the time you’re dressed.” Cyial commented behind him, causing him to jump in startlement.
“Ack! I said not to look, Cyial…!”
* * *
“Uhh-gh…” Sairek grunted out, collapsing onto the floor in an exhausted heap.
“Still can’t do thirty, eh?” Fuyiki tsked in disappointment.
“Oi…! It’s not even been two full days yet…!” Sairek protested with a wheeze.
“Oh hush, I’m just teasing. Now, Cyial…” He began, glancing towards the demon that sat right next to the panting Sairek.
“...Yes?”
“Are you uh, sure you want to do this in your robe?” Fuyiki asked him with a raised eyebrow.
Cyial momentarily glanced over to Sairek, who was already sweating in his student’s uniform, before looking back down at himself. “I… uh, wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing something like that.” He tried to say as respectfully as he could. "The tail is... a sensitive topic."
“...If you say so.” Fuyiki shrugged.
Sairek pushed himself slowly onto his bottom, leaning against an arm behind him as he tried to recover his stamina, looking at Cyial who moved in the same position he had just been in moments before, hands planted on the floor and legs outstretched with his toes touching the floor. Cyial took a deep breath before he began doing push ups at a firm controlled speed. “One... two... three... four... five…”
Half a minute, Sairek thought “Oh dear…” in his head, when by only seventeen push ups, Cyial was really struggling to maintain it together, one of his eyes closed and teeth clenched in effort, as he grunted out his eighteenth push up. His arms were already shaking badly and he struggled to do his nineteenth, shaking as he was breathing hard, struggling to push himself back up to complete the motion.
Gently, Sairek crawled himself over in front of Cyial, watching him, not saying anything, but his eyes looked into Cyial’s single open one.
The demon looked at him, smiled gently despite the winded and struggling expression he wore, and with a final heave, grunted out “N-Nine...teen…!” Before letting out a gasp and collapsing back on the ground, panting hard, a light film of sweat coating his eyebrows.
“You did good.” Sairek encouraged him, moving over to help sit Cyial up, who momentarily leaned his weight against the prince as his body failed him for the moment.
“Well, don’t feel bad about not making it. As weird as it is, your kind just matures much slower than humans do. So with your young age, your muscles haven’t even begun to properly develop yet.” Fuyiki informed him.
“Yeah, I figured that…” Cyial breathed. “I’m maybe a year old than Sairek is, but he still looks a couple years my senior…”
“Not that you shouldn’t exercise, just make sure not to overdo it. Working out too much while you’re still young can stunt your growth. Same goes for you, Prince.” Fuyiki warned.
“Oh, so it’s bad for me to do this then?” Sairek said with a hopeful expression.
“You wish. I’m talking about the course of several months to years. A week won’t make you stay the midget that you are.” Fuyiki sniffed.
“Darn... W-Wait—Hey! I'm not that small!”
Cyial chuckled gently, pushing away slowly from Sairek to support his own weight, sitting on his knees.
“Well, that was push ups, ready for the next one?” Fuyiki asked them.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose…” Sairek grumbled.
* * *
Sitting right beside Sairek, Cyial watched, or rather, studied him closely, watching any signs of the Prince possibly being successful in his meditation. Aside from his breathing and his closed eyes just briefly for the slightest amounts of time, tightening more closed before relaxing once again.
Cyial silently shifted his position, looking back ahead of him as he thought. After a few moments of deliberation with himself, he too closed his eyes as he tried to repeat what he had managed to do last—
“Oh…!” Sairek let out suddenly, causing Cyial’s eyes to fly open and glance back over towards Sairek, the experiment in his head already forgotten about for the moment. Sairek's expression was one of surprise and shock, which quickly transformed into a wide, giddy grin.
“You did it, didn’t you?” Cyial asked, grinning slightly himself.
“I did!” Sairek hissed excitedly. “It was just like you said, I was trying too hard last night. It’s like… it’s like you just have to find a balance to it, err, well I guess you said that last night too sort of, but, but still…!”
“Hey, do you mind if we try something together?” Cyial asked him.
“Huh?” Sairek let out, looking back over to the demon, his excitement washed over with curiosity.
“Fuyiki said that you can connect to the world around you. I know we’re struggling to maintain that state and I would find it difficult to connect to the world but… what about other people?”
“Huuuh…” Sairek drawled out as he carefully scanned over the implications of what Cyial was saying, then it was like a light clicked on his head and his eyes widened a bit. “Is… is that possible?”
“We’re part of the world too, right?” Cyial asked.
“Maybe we should ask Fuyiki about it?” Sairek asked.
“Being told everything isn’t fun. We should be learning and experimenting on our own, too.” Cyial reasoned with him. “It kind of gives us a mini goal to work forward to, right?”
“I guess that means you’re meditating with me, too?” Sairek asked.
“Well, er, I sort of practiced a little last night while you were asleep. I wasn’t very sleepy and it became nice and quiet inside the inn, so I figured I may as well. It takes me a bit of time still, but I can sort of do it on demand now. Only for a brief amount of time, though, and well, I still can't connect to anything but I can keep that state of mind.”
“Wow, already…” Sairek mused.
Cyial shook his head. “It gets a lot easier the more you do it over and over pretty quickly. The first time really is the hardest one. It gets easier and easier after that, and less surprising too, so you can begin to expect it coming and not be surprised out of it.” He explained. "When you start getting surprised less, that's when you should practice trying to connect to something, I think."
“Well, we’ve only been here for half an hour or so, let’s keep going.” Sairek grinned.
“Uh-huh.” Cyial agreed with a curt nod.
Over the next two hours, Sairek managed to succeed over a dozen times, each success getting closer and closer together until he was finally at a point where he could maintain it for at least a few seconds. At this point, Cyial began trying with him.
Finally, as Cyial maintained his connection with the world, he felt a connection he hadn’t felt before right next to him. He immediately struggled to reach out and grab for it, finding it easier than anything else so far, though that may be because the connection was right next to him.
Sairek felt it too and of course instinctively reached out as well. Their two minds connecting towards each other...
...Only for the both of their connections to die out before they could make contact.
"Was that... Was that you?" Sairek asked.
"Was that you?" Cyial answered Sairek's question with his own.
"Yeah. I think so."
"It feels... kind of similar to everything else, doesn't it?" Cyial asked. "I only noticed it was you because you are right next to me and you just kind of... opened up."
"That means we should be able to, right? It's totally possible! Let's keep trying." Sairek suggested.
Over the next twenty minutes, they both simultaneously tried to meditate together in sync, then trying to reach out while holding out long enough to make a connection before they lost focus. They kept trying, and trying, until finally, there was a spark.
The both of them suddenly gasped as to the both of them, a whirlwind of swirling and foreign thoughts were rushing through each of their minds. Surprise, confusion, panic! At this point, they were sitting across from one another and they both glanced at each other with widened eyes, Cyial's garnet, and Sairek's emerald ones, seeing what the other was seeing through an unfocused rush of imagery.
It worked?! One of them thought.
D-Did it really?! The other thought in response almost simutaneously.
Cyial looked at Sairek and Sairek looked at Cyial as the other’s thoughts swirled through each other. Feelings, emotions, as well as the feelings of realization of what was happening and then unintentionally not trying to probe the other’s secrets, but it happening anyways. They were learning and understanding more about each other at a rate they were both fairly uncomfortable with. Sairek’s doubts, Cyial’s doubts, Sairek’s concerns, Cyial’s concerns, how they both felt about each other. It was causing an arrange of expression on both of their faces as realization, shock, or embarrassment was crossing their faces several times a second.
In a panic before this got out of control for much longer, Cyial fought through the shock and through that thought, Sairek got the same idea too. They both worked together with immediate understanding, ironically through the connection that they were now trying to undo. A few seconds later, there was yet another shock in both of their heads and they both gasped as all of the noise went blissfully silent. They both breathed quickly through the adrenaline, looking at each other, both soon blushing as the realization of some of their deeper secrets had probably—no, had definitely been revealed with each other. Though of these, it was Cyial who had been the most breached and knowing this, he quickly looked away, hugging himself and averting his eyes towards the forest floor.
“I…” Sairek began.
“I... I can... um…” Cyial let out at the same time.
“I didn’t—” Sairek tried again. “—didn’t… know you... f-felt that strongly about me…” He mumbled under his breath. Suddenly a lot of Cyial’s behavior, especially when it came to sleeping arrangements, made sense to him...
Cyial looked away quickly, burying his face in his gloved hands in shame, his voice muffled and cracking some underneath it. “I've been trying really hard to hold myself back, I swear…! I'm—”
“Hey, hey, I’m not mad…!” Sairek anxiously tried to reassure him, moving over to Cyial and pulling him into a hug. “I… just don’t know how to process it right now… I-I’m a Prince, so… y-you know…” He muttered. “A-And a boy like you and… you’re a demon and I’m a human I just—”
...He was not making this sound any better, was he?
“Just… don’t be upset, okay? I’m not mad, I promise…”
“But it’s so taboo, Sairek… I really… I really shouldn’t be feeling this way towards you… but I do, and—and…” Cyial sniffed.
“Come on, do you really think I care if something is taboo or not?” Sairek tried to reassure him, rubbing his back with a hand in an attempt to calm him down. "I literally praised you for telling off my maid who I've been with for as long as I can remember. I think we're past that point."
Cyial mournfully chuckled. “You not caring doesn’t really matter in society’s eyes… there’s strict rules to follow… as much as I hate to say it... she's not wrong...” Cyial mumbled as he removed his hands from his face, holding Sairek tightly in the hug, though he was shaking still through small, silent hiccups, trying his best not to sob, half in shame, half in embarrassment.
“Who I keep in my company is nobody’s problem but my own.” Sairek said matter of factly. “If anybody has a problem with it, then that’s on them. I’m not going to change my mind with who I decide to be with…”
“B-But…”
Sairek pulled himself out of the hug and Cyial allowed him to go, resting his hands still on Sairek’s shoulder as he listened to the Prince speak. “Half of the people it seems are already against you and I just being in company with each other, simply because you’re a demon and I’m a human.”
“I-I know, that, but it's not just because I'm a demon Sairek, it's the type of—” Cyial began.
Sairek shook his head slowly, interrupting Cyial’s protests. “I guess… uh, since I accidentally erm… ‘found’ your secret, it’s only fair if you know that I uh… w-well, I don’t know for sure myself to be honest but… I… might like you, too?”
“Huh…?” Cyial let out with a slow blink.
Sairek looked sheepish, blushing in embarrassment as he averted his eyes downward. “I don’t know, I haven’t loved anyone... like that... before. So I don’t know what it feels like to be sure… at least... at least not in that kind of way, s-so…”
“I— uh…” Cyial stammered out incoherently.
“It’s uh… different than how I feel about Nayleen, that’s for sure, so uh… c-can we do a test, maybe…?” Sairek asked quietly.
Cyial blinked his eyes slowly at Sairek’s words. “Test? What do you—mmn...!”
His words were silenced when he felt Sairek push his lips onto his own abruptly—yet still gently. His eyes widened in surprise and he almost pulled away in shock but resisted against it. The most euphoric and peaceful feeling washed over him and after his first few seconds of surprise, he returned the gesture, his eyes fluttering closed softly for a few seconds until Sairek pulled away what felt like too soon. The Prince, now blushing even deeper and embarrassed at what he had just done. The realization dawned on Cyial and his face suddenly flushed as well. “S-Sairek, did you just—”
“I… uhh…” Sairek meekly let out, before giving a curt nod, which ended with him looking downward to try and hide his embarrassment. “I uh, wanted to see if it felt… right.”
“...Did it?”
“It did...”
“Th-Then… can we do it again?”
“A-Again–!?” Sairek squeaked.
“You surprised me that I wasn’t able to concentrate on how it felt much at all and you pulled away so fast that—”
“Okayokayokay...!" Sairek stopped him. "Th-then…”
Taking a deep inhale, then exhale, and then inhaling again, he looked into Cyial's eyes, his heart beating fast nervously. He gulped before he leaned forward again, repeating what he had just done. A second later, he heard himself hum gently in his own throat, embarrassing himself further, but closing his eyes, trying to gain himself more confidence, he pushed a little deeper into the kiss proper, instead of being shyly gentle.
It felt right, indeed...
* * *
When Fuyiki opened the door for them, he noticed both boys were smiling widely and he arched an eyebrow at their giddiness. “You both seem very happy. I take it today was productive.”
Sairek tried forcing the color that was starting to flush into his face again back down. He was only partially successful. “Very.” He answered simply.
“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear.” Fuyiki said cheerfully, not seeming to notice Sairek's change.
“There was a question we wanted to ask, though…” Cyial began.
“Yes?”
“Aside from connecting to nature… wouldn’t it be possible for two people to connect to each other in the same method?” Sairek asked.
“Oh, right, yes it’s possible to connect two minds to one another. I wouldn’t recommend doing it, though until you have had more practice.”
“Why not?” Cyial pondered out loud with a small frown.
“You’ll share secrets you don’t want to with the other person. Your consciousnesses become intertwined with one another. What the other person thinks, you’ll think and vice versa. Feelings, emotions, all of that sort of thing. It can be difficult to unwind the connection that way too. Connections are… sticky. They don’t like to let go. Sort of like you two holding hands right now.”
Cyial and Sairek glanced down between themselves to look at their hands and then back up at Fuyiki. “You mean like a bond, right?” Sairek asked.
“Sure, that works. It’s hard to let go.”
“Aside from hearing each other’s thoughts, is there any use out of doing that?” Sairek asked.
“Well if you’re well trained enough, you can block out most of your thoughts and let the other person only hear and see what you want them to see. So you can use that to communicate without making a sound.” Fuyiki began. "But aside from that, there is. You could in theory weave your ethereal into another person. This is kind of like how magic healers work. It's a very difficult job, though, and pretty inefficient to traditional medicine. Still, it can save someone in a pinch."
“That sounds neat.” Sairek said.
“Its uses are limited. You have to be fairly close to each other. There’s nothing stopping someone else from just butting in either, unless you’ve practiced defenses against it.”
“To tell you the truth, we’ve already tried it…” Sairek admitted, looking away.
“Eh...? You what?” Fuyiki stumbled.
“It was my idea, I’m sorry.” Cyial apologized. “I just was trying to help Sairek. I thought having me as the closest connection would help him as a first step; you know, someone and something familiar, right next to him, but it had a whole different effect than I thought. It was a big surprise.”
“Well I bet it was! Yet... you two seem to be closer now than you were before, so at least nothing horrible came of it, it seems.” Fuyiki mused, rubbing the bridge of his nose in thought. “Well... I guess you kids are too innocent yet. You probably both understand each other a lot better now though, that's for sure.
Sairek and Cyial quickly exchanged quick glances of brief amusement at each other, but neither said anything. They did however nod in agreement.
"...That is why you should be careful though." Fuyiki continued, unaware of the brief exchange. "It turned out nice this time, but experimenting with magic without instruction can have devastating consequences. Please do not do it again.”
“We understand, we won’t do anything without asking for instruction, first.” Sairek said seriously with a nod. Cyial followed with a nod of his own as well. "But since we've already done it... is it okay to practice meditation that way with each other?"
“Hmm, I suppose there's nothing wrong with it other than what I already told you. I’ll hold you both to your word. Now, who’s ready for some dinner?” Fuyiki asked.
Cyial slowly turned his head to look at Sairek who let out a long, exasperated groan in response. “You uh… don’t need to be so obvious, Sairek…”
“Aha, you groan in disappointment, but today, I’ve mastered the best way to cook food!” Fuyiki claimed in a triumphant tone, rubbing his hands together with glee.
“Oh really...?” Sairek asked in a tone suggesting he wasn’t buying what Fuyiki was claiming.
“Yes. And that method is—” Fuyiki paused dramatically, studying both of them in a serious manner. “—to get someone else to cook it for you! I picked up food for us tonight.”
“Oh Sweet Lands.” Sairek breathed in relief with a hand on one knee and bending down as if he had just ran one of Fuyiki's marathons while he still held Cyial’s hand in his other one. Such was the extent of his relief.
Cyial for his part, just glanced back and forth between the both of them and blinked once with an arched eyebrow.
* * *
“...Hey Sairek? When is your birthday?” Cyial asked him when they finished undressing and were both sat on the bed together at the inn.
“Huh? That’s strange.” Sairek mused.
“It’s strange?”
“Nayleen asked the very same thing about… oh, I guess she asked on the first or... second day of our journey?” Sairek said.
“Well?”
“Uh, let’s see.” Sairek began, counting with his fingers. “We left... came back, left again... met you... Lamen... Balgira... the... er, 'incident', we left... Doran, Shamira, mhmmn... There's three days to go—starting tomorrow morning.” Sairek finally answered.
“Oh, it seems Nayleen is going to miss it.” Cyial frowned.
Sairek shrugged. “I’ve never been too fond of my birthday, anyway. Everyone makes it a grand celebration at the castle. In reality, it’s just means I acquire even more responsibilities than before and more is expected of me of accumulating responsibilities I have to deal with every year.”
Cyial frowned. “That’s no good. It should be a day of celebration for you, not of concern. I’ll try to think of something.”
“Cyial, there’s no need to—”
“Shush, you.” Cyial smirked, poking him in the chest teasingly.
“Oof…!” Sairek exaggerated as if he’d been punched hard instead of poked by a single finger, collapsing on the mattress of the bed with a big flop.
Cyial giggled playfully and took initiative this time tonight, rolling on top of Sairek as they began another fit of playful giggles in yet another match of roughhousing together.
“I’m gonna beat you this time… I swear!” Sairek grunted as he rolled on top of Cyial.
“We’ll see about that…!” Cyial taunted back, rolling Sairek back over again.
Sairek did not win the round tonight yet again.
* * *
“Phew…” Sairek sighed as he pushed himself up onto his feet after failing yet to meet the goal of pull ups, landing on his feet with a stumble. "It’s like I’m not even making any progress…”
“Don’t say that, now. Training isn’t quick boy. If you expect to see results in even several weeks, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Physical training can take months to even begin to see real development, or even years. It’s not a hobby. It’s a lifestyle, but one that is very good for you.” Fuyiki explained. “It’s hard work and is obviously not very comfortable, but the rewards it yields are all worth it, I can promise you that much. Makes you attract a lot of ladies, too.”
Sairek blushed at that comment, and made a quick glance towards Cyial who was watching them both before he quickly averted his gaze back to Fuyiki. “I’m uh, not really interested in girls that way... yet. Besides, it doesn’t seem like you should be giving me relationship advice.”
“Got that right…” Fuyiki winced. “Might be best to just stay single for as long as you can." Sairek heard Cyial chuckle behind him just quiet enough that he barely even heard it. He tried to hide his own amused grin. “Reality is that you’re probably too young to even be concerning yourself with that kind of thing anyway. You’re what, nine?”
“... I'm basically twelve—Hey… cut it out!” Sairek huffed, annoyed.. “First Nayleen makes fun of my weight and now you’re making fun of my height! Some of you people are just impossible to please.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well, you seem to be getting used to the training pattern, so once your friend gets out of her cell, the three of you will probably be well on your way. So don’t get too used to staying here.” Fuyiki said.
“Really? Isn’t there anything else I should be doing?” Sairek asked with a frown.
“I mean, later, sure. For now, no. You should be doing this for months, maybe even a year. Mastering the basics and fundamentals is pretty important. You can’t hope to do the harder stuff if you lack both the basic knowledge or even the capacity to do it.” Fuyiki said. "Some advanced magic can be fairly exhausting. There's a reason some of the big spells requires multiple people combining their power together to even perform a single spell."
“What about your actual classes, then?” Sairek asked.
“Boy, I teach students even younger than you sometimes. I’m just putting you at where you should be. What I’ve been doing is less teaching, and more like coaching.” Fuyiki answered.
“What about that thing where you can just make objects appear?” Cyial cut himself into the discussion.
“Ah, that’s way too advanced. You won’t be able to do that for years probably. Well, maybe with that staff, a bit sooner. It’s actually not hard to do once you know how to do it, but it’s tricky to understand at first, and messing it up can be pretty… bad. To give you a taste of what it’s like though, it’s kind of like how you store the items in that jewel of yours. Except without the jewel.”
“What? How do you store items without a magical object and enchantment to store them in…?” Sairek pondered out loud.
“Who knows? Come back in a year or two and maybe you’ll have progressed to the point that I will teach you. Of course, I’ll want to actually get paid this time.” Fuyiki smirked.
"Mmph..." Sairek let out with a small wince.
* * *
“This meditation stuff really does work. I feel a lot less worn out already.” Sairek said aloud.
“I wish I could do it with you.” Cyial frowned. “You’re already able to do it while talking to me at the same time.”
“...Almost. I’m kind of switching my attention back and forth still…” Sairek said after a small pause. “I’m trying to get to that point though, so in that regard, you’re still being a big help!”
Cyial laughed a little at that response. “You should still pace yourself though. Take a break on your birthday, at least.”
“Don’t have to ask me twice, I still hate having to wear out all of my muscles out in the morning. If only there was a way to recover my body like if I was meditating.” Sairek huffed.
“I think that’s called ‘sleeping’, Sairek.”
“You know what I mean.”
Cyial laughed a little again, though his face turned a little serious shortly after. “There’s uh, something I do want to give to you for your birthday, but…”
“But?”
“I’m not sure if you’ll accept it, to be honest.” Cyial gulped. “But.. well, I guess I’ll see when the time comes.”
“Huuuh…?” Sairek pondered out loud, cutting off his meditation and looking at Cyial. “Come on, you can’t leave me hanging like that! You have me all curious and stuff now…!”
“Sorry, but it’s a secret until the end of your birthday.” Cyial stated firmly.
“Mm, fine. I guess I’ll find out sooner rather than later, won’t I.” Sairek resigned.
“Yup.”
“It still feels weird to me. Twelve is when we’re considered adults here, even though that’s not really true in the strictest sense.” Sairek grumbled.
“It’s when we officially can start working. That’s when I began working at the monastery in full capacity, anyway… Well, I don’t know my actual birthday and my age is still considered in human years, but…” Cyial waved his hand dismissively as he trailed off, starting again with a new topic. “Nayleen had told me that’s when she began hunting with her parents in full, too. Though she was kind of learning all of the skills before that, of course.”
"When did she tell you that?" Sairek blinked.
"When I was teaching her about the herbs back in Lamen." Cyial answered him.
"Ah, right... I guess that's why you weren't surprised she can cook so well, too."
"Hehe, yup."
“Working at a job hasn’t even crossed my mind yet. I guess if I wasn’t a Prince, I’d work at a library or something. I do like books and that is where I spent most of my free time at the castle. There wasn’t much else to do in there, though.”
“Aside from sneaking out and being a glutton for punishment?”
“Yeah.” Sairek said bit absentmindedly, as he tried to reach for another thread connection again. They were quiet for a few more seconds.
“Uh oh. We should head back.” Cyial said abruptly.
“Huh? Sairek blinked and then winced, as the connection he was seeking slipped through his grasp. “Why?”
“Looks like it’s about to rain.” Cyial said, looking up towards the sky.
“Aww.” Sairek whined, glancing up at the sky as well. “Oh wow, it really could pour down at any moment. It’s really hard to see the clouds here but... I just thought it was getting dark.”
“It’s unfortunate to have to call it early, but we should really hurry on back.” Cyial suggested, sitting up and pulling Sairek to his feet, who didn’t give much protest and who began to follow Cyial back towards the town with the demon holding his hand the entire way.
* * *
“Well, you two look like you just took a dive under the water.” Fuyiki mused as he stood in front of the doorway.
“Yeah… thanks… Can we come in, now, please?” Sairek grumbled as the rain poured down on them.
Fuyiki sighed, stepping away from the door to let them in, which they both quickly shuffled in and closed the door shut quickly to close out the downpour that was happening outside right now.
“Ugh… my robe is soaked through…” Cyial sighed. Thankfully the book he always carried was waterproof thanks to enchantments, looking completely dry even as he held it in one hand. It looked several sights better than either of them, right now.
“I think your clothes are a bit soaked through, Fuyiki…” Sairek also agreed, looking down at himself.
“You’ll both catch a cold like that, I’ll get some towels and run a hot bath for you both.” Fuyiki said, stepping away from the two to do what he said he would.
“...You’re not going to be shy this time, are you?” Cyial asked quietly when Fuyiki was gone.
“I’m going to try not to be…” Sairek mumbled. “It’s not much different than showering together like in the monastery, right?”
“Well, yes. Except probably touching each other because most tubs are the size for one adult person and even the two of us are bigger than that.”
“Er, yeah…”
They halted their conversations as Fuyiki was quick to return, tossing a dry towel to each of them. They both thanked him, before doing their best to at least stop themselves from dripping water everywhere and wringing out their wet clothes as best as they could. Sairek by the end was beginning to shiver a little bit as being soaked through was starting to really drain his body heat.
As dry as they could be given the circumstances, Fuyiki checked on the bathwater one more time before giving them the go ahead. They made their way into the bathroom where they pried their wet clothes off until they were down in their undergarments.
“Ready?” Cyial asked.
“Um…” Sairek hesitated at first, took a deep breath and then exhaled it, then nodded in confirmation. “Ready…”
Stripping down completely at nearly the same time, Sairek blushed bashfully and was quick to move himself into the tub and put his lower half into it to at least obstruct the view. Cyial chuckled, watching him. Unlike Sairek, he casually walked towards the bowl, where he too sunk himself down. Sairek was watching him like an eagle the entire time, at least until his lower half was below the water, too.
“You know, it’s not nice to stare like that, especially if you're not going to give me a chance to stare back.” Cyial chided him teasingly.
With what was starting to become a theme today, Sairek’s face flushed with even more color. “I—Sorry… It’s… just… I’m not used to seeing... seeing another one, still…” He mumbled.
Cyial tilted his head slightly in thought, studying Sairek for a moment. “Are you still hung up on what happened, with… those three?” It was a question he already knew the answer to, thanks to the 'incident' they had last night.
“...A little bit.” Sairek admitted.
Cyial frowned at that. “They can’t hurt you anymore, Sairek.”
“I keep telling myself that, too. It doesn’t help.”
“It doesn’t help because in reality, you’re not convinced, I think.”
“Also true.” Sairek admitted again.
“I…” Cyial began, then paused.
“...Yeah?” Sairek urged him.
“...No, nevermind.” Cyial shook his head.
“Huh?”
“I said nevermind.” Cyial repeated again, trying to keep his sternness in his voice void, but a little bit of it went through.
Sairek blinked at him confused, but he dropped it nonetheless as he allowed himself to sink deeper into the water.
The two were touching limbs together, as the size of the bowl made contact inevitable. Cyial noted this, glancing down at Sairek again, before looking back up to him. “It seems you're only bashful when people see you though, not when it comes to contact.” He observed out loud.
“Well… err… there's not much choice..."
"So being like this is making you uncomfortable? We can take turns if you really want to." Cyial suggested.
Sairek shook his head to stop him. “To put it simply, unless it’s when you’re bathing, being naked or... uh, 'making a hier', being naked is generally frowned upon majorly in royalty. It’s not socially proper, after all.” Sairek explained. "If there's 'no good reason' then it's unacceptable, and so..."
“Ah. Basically, you’ve been forced into the mindset that nudity is bad unless absolutely necessary.”
“Or, at least that it is majorly embarrassing.” Sairek said. “Though, what happened with those three didn’t help. Now I just feel embarrassed and vulnerable—even when I know I'm alone. I think I'm getting a little better, though.”
“You seemed fine when we slept at the inn before Lamen, though.”
“I was changing into sleeping wear, that’s different. And I still had underwear on.” Sairek argued. "And it was before... that."
“Ah, I guess that’s true.” Cyial agreed.
“Lands… this is such a weird conversation to be having while in the tub with someone else…” Sairek grumbled in embarrassment.
“Sorry, we can stop talking about it if you want. I just wanted to make sure everything is okay with you. It could just be because of the life style difference, but you’re just… much more bashful than most, at least from what I’ve seen.” Cyial noted out loud. “For example… if I offered to wash your back for you, how would you respond?”
“...Are you actually offering?” Sairek blinked.
“Err, the thought honestly hadn’t passed my mind, was more asking for the question… although, yes, if you want me to.”
“Well… Laure used to wash me when I was very little, so I guess I’m used to that. I told her to stop after a while though. I’m not that helpless, after all.” Sairek answered as he shifted in the water to turn himself around, offering his back towards Cyial in silent consent.
Cyial began cupping water in his hands and pouring it along and down Sairek’s back, beginning to wash Sairek as the two sat in silence until Sairek turned his head around and gave Cyial a sidelong glance as spoke again. “...You know, we may as well just wash each other completely.”
“Except certain parts?” Cyial questioned as he cupped water into his hands once again.
“Except certain parts.” Sairek repeated in agreement with a small nod.
“Okay then.” Cyial agreed.
Then Cyial moved the handful of water he had over Sairek’s head and dumped all of it down on top of him suddenly, causing the Prince to sputter and squirm a bit in surprise. “Y-You jerk…!” He cried out, before laughing a little as he turned himself around in the bowl, splashing water back at Cyial, who quickly moved to shield himself with his arms, laughing himself and attacking Sairek again by slapping the water in his direction.
Before long, the two of them were in a full splashing fight, laughing and giggling loudly. It was no surprise that Fuyiki soon heard them, barging into the bathroom with an angry scowl which turned into horror as he looked at the floor to see the water everywhere. “Hey! Hey–!” He shouted in an authoritative tone.
“A-Ack…!” Sairek yelped, immediately covering between his legs with his hands and blushing furiously as he looked up meekly at a scowling Fuyiki. Cyial shrank down a little bit as well, but did not exhibit the same amount of shyness as Sairek did.
“What in the Lands do you two brats think you’re doing to my poor floor?!” Fuyiki scowled, glaring at them.
“We… We, err…” Sairek stammered.
“He seemed fairly upset…” Sairek mumbled as he snuggled into the Inn’s bed with Cyial.
“It was my fault. I started it.” Cyial admitted.
“You didn’t have to clean up the mess yourself, though. I contributed to the mess too.” Sairek frowned.
“It’s okay, I don’t mind. Such tasks were very common in the monastery, so I’m used to them. Besides, you’re the one who got punished with needing to run laps again.”
“Please don’t remind me. I’m going to have nightmares tonight.” Sairek blanched.
Cyial snorted a laugh, moving closer to press gently against Sairek.
“How come you’re going to bed with your robe on tonight, anyways?” Sairek asked.
“Ah… w-well… I’ve been sleeping too much lately. I’m not actually tired tonight at all.” Cyial said.
Sairek’s frown deepened. “You’re just going to lay in bed awake all night? Isn’t that boring?”
“When I’m with you, I enjoy it. I feel very at ease. It’s, um, very nice…” Cyial mumbled. “Besides… I’ll probably manage to doze off sometime later in the night.”
“You can always wander around the city or… something. I don’t want you to just lay here bored.” Sairek offered, but Cyial shook his head.
“I’m really not comfortable being alone in an unknown city at night by myself. I’m sure it’s probably very safe, but I still wouldn’t have anything to do. So I’d rather just stay with you.” Cyial expressed.
“I’m flattered.” Sairek said in a joking tone, but there was still sincerity behind the words.
Cyial smiled gently, snuggling himself under the covers. “Just two more days, left.”
“Two more days for what?”
“Until your birthday, silly.”
“Ah, right. I almost forgot.” Sairek chuckled before letting out a yawn. The Prince settled into the bed himself, one arm outstretched along the pillows, where Cyial gently settled his head upon, glancing up at Sairek before closing his eyes.
“Good night, Sairek.”
“Good night, Cyial.”
As slow, quiet minutes passed, Cyial listened, hearing when Sairek’s breathing slowed and deepened, until eventually it was nothing more than a light, gentle snore. Cyial's own gentle expression fell away as he opened his eyes again, turning slowly on the bed to face Sairek. The expression on his features growing more and more into a grimace. Cyial lifted a hand and pressed it onto his forehead, as if he had a headache, teeth clenched, glaring at Sairek with feral looking eyes for a few moments before they too squeezed shut. He reopened them again a handful of seconds later, their look now becoming soft and gentle once again, but the grimace on his face still remained as he fought against an internal struggle...
“It’s getting worse… it’s getting so much worse… I’m close—so close to a solution, just… just a little longer, please… I can’t lose myself, don't do it to him... not to my dear friend...! Please, just stop...!”
Still, no matter how much he pleaded and begged inside of his head, the voices of the hungry beast did not stop for nearly the entire night.
