“It’s nice up here, right?” ZaiWin suddenly asked, turning to look back at him, and Snow blushed embarrassedly, since he’d just been thinking about him.
“Mm,” he simply replied, averting his gaze, his heart beating harder against his chest. It wasn’t only the city or the scenery that looked more beautiful when bathed but the golden light of the setting sun. ZaiWin too, Snow grunted in his thoughts, his black hair taking on reflections of fiery gold, his pale skin looking warmer, his blue eyes taking on a strange orange color. It was almost unfair!
“I … think I have the answer to your question …” Snow muttered so low that he was sure ZaiWin wouldn’t be able to understand what he had said.
ZaiWin just stared at him for a moment, completely frozen in place. He had heard what he thought he had heard … right? He must have, he concluded, watching the way Snow was blushing adorably, his dark eyes looking everywhere except at him.
“Don’t you mean your question?”
Snow gritted his teeth at his clear provocation and stared angrily at him.
“Fine! My question!”
ZaiWin smiled. He just loved it when Snow got angry because he didn’t know what else to do with himself.
“And?” he led him on and Snow’s anger immediately dissipated, leaving him looking like a small, sacred animal again.
“Hmm … you … hmm …” he hesitated, his gaze roaming nervously all over the place, and ZaiWin couldn’t help but smile when even his ears turned red. “You … must love me …” he finally whispered, pursing his lips in a deeply frustrated expression, and ZaiWin’s smile widened.
Snow cringed when a large hand landed on his head. He had regretted saying those words the instant they had left his mouth.
“Good boy!” ZaiWin sang, rubbing his head, almost dislodging his scarf, and Snow slapped his hand away, glaring up at him.
“Stop making fun of me!”
ZaiWin’s eyes widened in shock, but the smile he carried on his lips made it all look very unconvincing.
“I’m not making fun. I’m honestly congratulating you!”
“You’re making fun!” Snow growled back accusingly, but then his chin was being grabbed by a warm hand, forcing him to tilt his head back, making him lean against the tree trunk. Blinking, Snow couldn’t help but look up, look up at him, at those glowing blue eyes, at that dangerous smile that always made his heart beat faster.
“I’m not making fun,” ZaiWin stated, one word at a time, and Snow swallowed nervously.
Okay. So he wasn’t making fun of him. Fine. That established, could he let go of him …?
“Since you’ve brought that up, am I to understand that you want your reward?”
Reward? What was he talking about? Anyways, it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it sounded too dangerous. And so Snow quickly shook his head.
“No? Are you sure …?” ZaiWin practically breathed, leaning closer to him, rubbing their noses together, and Snow felt his legs about to fail him, forcing him to urgently hold on to him. The hand on his chin gently caressed his cheek, his fingers lightly tracing the line of his ear, making him feel even more flustered and weak.
“You are right, you know?” ZaiWin whispered practically against his lips, and Snow shivered at the feeling of his breath against his skin. “I do love you. With or without this link, I still love you. And because I love you I really want to kiss you, and touch you, and make you completely mine. I want to chain you up and never let you go, no matter if you like it or not. I want to lock you up somewhere where no one else will ever be able to see you, much less touch you. I want you all to myself. But you already know all this … right?”
Snow looked up at those scary, burning eyes and nodded. Now that he more or less understood what that kind of love meant, he could also easily perceive what being loved by someone like ZaiWin would mean. Because Snow knew him. And even though ZaiWin could smile gently, and joke playfully, he was still that dark, scary monster he had first met, back at the Fortress. That devouring monster. That monster that would probably destroy everything around it, if ZaiWin were to loosen up its chains a bit.
As if that simple nod had lifted a heavy weight from his shoulders, ZaiWin closed his eyes and sighed, his hand still lightly caressing Snow’s face.
“So … can I kiss you …?”
Snow’s heart jumped at that. Was he asking for his permission? How embarrassing was that? He had never asked for his permission before! Always selfishly doing as he pleased! Always grabbing him and pushing him down whenever he felt like it! Even that morning! He had just grabbed him and tou-tou-touched him like that! Even though he had begged him to stop! That arrogant, self-centered man! Constantly changing his mind! Constantly making him feel flustered and embarrassed! He really wanted to hit him! He also really wanted him to kiss him!
Grunting in frustration, Snow nodded, and that annoying smile immediately took over ZaiWin’s lips, before he leaned a bit forward and kissed him.
Even though ZaiWin was barely touching him, lightly tugging at his parted lips, Snow immediately melted against him, allowing him to do as he pleased. They had kissed many times, by now. And Snow had kissed many other people. But he had never felt anything like this, the warm, tingling sensations in his mouth vibrating through his entire body, leaving him wanting for more.
A warm tongue licked his lower lip and Snow instinctively opened his mouth, inviting him in. Heat flooded his mouth and a soft moan of pleasure escaped ZaiWin’s throat, his heavy body pressing against his, his knee sliding in between his legs, making Snow grunt in protest. And yet, ZaiWin’s kiss remained slow and gentle, as if he were taking his time exploring his mouth and simply tasting him. And the thought of that made Snow’s head swim as he desperately held on to the man in front of him. He knew it was strange, but he had really missed the feel of those hot lips against his.
Softly pulling back, ZaiWin slowly licked his gasping lips one last time and finally released him, wrapping his arms around him instead, allowing Snow the time he needed to catch his breath.
“We have to go back,” he simply announced and Snow blinked, free from his daze, wishing he could hide his flushed cheeks against ZaiWin’s chest a bit longer. It was getting dark now, he noticed.
“But before that, since you were so good at finding the answer for that question, I have a new question for you,” he declared, and placed a light kiss on the top of his head.
Snow didn’t want to know of any more questions. ZaiWin’s stupid questions only made his head go around and around, made him feel frustrated, lost, and confused.
“You now know why I want to kiss you. The question now is why do you want me to kiss you.”
Snow went immediately stiff at the sound of those words. What?! What was he talking about? In fact, why would he want him to kiss him in the first place? How more pretentious could he get?
Warm hands flanked his face and made him look up at ZaiWin, and he was immediately lost in those blue eyes again.
“Think you can try and find the answer for that?” he asked, his voice sounding so gentle that Snow stupidly simply nodded in reply.
“Oh. Another thing,” he added, a strange, disturbing victorious smile on his lips. “Your eyes. They are the color of water again.”
Snow’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“What?”
“I told you they would go back to their initial color, didn’t I?”
Snow blinked in confusion.
“But why? How?”
ZaiWin chuckled, looking annoyingly pleased with himself.
“You can add those questions to the one I just gave you, if you want to.”
Language:
ZaiWin: Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos).
