*Liethein, Fourth Realm City*

The noises of the bustling city echoed throughout the streets and alleyways of the town of Liethein, a small merchanting town that was frequented by mid to high level players for the traffic of rare and powerful items that flowed through the town. The town, which was situated on the border of a rather difficult dungeon that supplied a healthy amount of high quality components for the craftsmen that lived there, was also the home of our two heroes.

"Shiloh!" A voice called from the shop in the front of the small building. "We've got another order! I need a longsword, level 43 or lower okay?"

"On it!" Shiloh, a small and slender, rather curvy, feminine bodied boy with blonde hair stood in front of a forge, pulling out the glowing hot ingots from the furnace with a pair of metal tongs. Drawing the hammer from a loop on his black smithing apron, he proceeded to move the ingot to an anvil where he hammered it with strong, powerful strokes. The metal slowly took shape, becoming longer, slimmer and sharper. Suddenly, the glowing hot imprint of metal glowed a bright blue, and reformed into a slender, shimmering sword. Picking the blade up, Shiloh took it into the shop.

"Here it is!" Shiloh burst into the shop, pushing the wooden door open with enough force to slam it against the wall. Facing two people, a taller, black haired adolescent with a youthful air, and a younger man wearing plate armor and a round shield, Shiloh handed the blade to the tall, black haired boy.
"Th-thank you Shiloh!" The boy stuttered, smiled wide, and then handed it to the man. "Here it is...Is it okay?" The man proceeded to swing it testily, checking it's weight and speed. Grinning, he replied: "This will do. Is 24,500 enough?"

The tall boy nodded and smiled. Receiving the money, he shook the man's hand. "Thank you, please come again soon!" he called after the man as he left.
Shiloh walked up to the taller boy and hugged him tight. "Casey!" he exclaimed. "Hurry up so we can work on our project, okay?" He got on his tiptoes and kissed Casey on the cheek. "I really need your help for this one, I can't do it alone..."

"O-Of course!" Casey exclaimed quickly. He put the money away in the chest, which was magically locked to only allow access to him and Shiloh. He then turned and followed Shiloh into the back room, feeling the wall of hot air hit him as he entered the forge.

Shiloh began shifting through the chest, searching for the appropriate ore for the task at hand. Pulling out various chunks of metal from the chest, he deposited them on the floor until he had four or five good sized pieces. "Do these look okay to you?"
Casey picked one up and examined it. "I think this is fine, the metal isn't very resistant, so I think I could enchant it rather easily." He replaced it and examined another one. "I think...I think its fine. Go ahead." He smiled and handed Shiloh the ore. Shiloh proceeded to insert the ores into the furnace, smelting them into ingots for smithing. Casey began rummaging through a box and pulling out little pouches. Choosing a pouch, he pulled a tome from a shelf and began pouring out the contents of the pouch in a wide circle. Black sand flowed out of the pouch, and soon a double layer circle was complete. Casey opened the book to a page, and began murmuring something under his breath. Shiloh then pulled the ingots out of the furnace and hammered them together on the anvil, this time using all his strength to smash the metal together into a large, wide bladed sword. The metal glowed once more, this time a deep red. Shiloh silently prayed for the successful smithing of the blade. The blades glow finally faded, and a black bladed greatsword lay on the anvil.
Shiloh clapped his hands in glee, and picked up the heavy blade. "L-Look Casey! I did it!" He smiled wide, his face a reflection of absolute happiness. Casey opened an eye slightly and smiled, not stopping his murmuring and chanting. Shiloh carefully stepped over the black sand circles, and laid the massive sword in front of Casey, careful not to disturb him. Then, with equal if not greater care, he stepped out.
Casey placed his hands on the blade, chanting softly and slowly. Magical energy drained from his mana, amplified by the circle of black ash in the circle around him, and flowed into the greatsword. The blade glowed purple this time, and the sword grew sharper, stronger, the metal denser. Finally, the magical energy slowly disappeared and the sand faded into dust.

Casey collapsed to the side, drained of energy. Shiloh hurried over to him and caught him, holding him close. "C-Casey! Are you okay?" Casey simply nodded, not opening his eyes. "Tiiiiiired."

"Let's go to bed." Shiloh glanced out the window at the darkening sky. "It's late." Picking Casey up (His strength level was rather high), Shiloh brought him upstairs into the bedroom, laying him gently on the bed. Slipping in with him, Shiloh wrapped his arms around Casey, pulling him closer and nuzzling his soft skin at his neck. Casey's breath deepened, and he fell deep asleep. Shiloh smiled as he hugged Casey's sleeping body and felt his body warmth seep slowly into his tired, weary body.

*The Next Day*

Casey's eyes was greeted by a gentle trickle of sunlight coming from the window, the shine dimmed slightly by the curtains that hung there. Raising his arm and rubbing his eyes and yawning, he tried to sit up. But the clingy body of Shiloh prevented him from getting up, for Shiloh had a sort of deathgrip on the thin, somewhat lanky body of Casey. Smiling, Casey gently lay back down until Shiloh too awoke and yawned.
"Mmph...Wh-what time is it?" Shiloh yawned again, rubbing his face into Casey's shirt. Casey checked the time on the display. "It's 9:34."

"Moooore sleeep thank yoouuuu." Shiloh buried his face back into Casey's side, sighing and inhaling Casey's scent. Casey gently nudged the sleepy teen until he turned his head to look at him. "Whaaaaat?"

"Wake up." Leaning down and kissing his forehead, Casey smiled and poked Shiloh. Shiloh groaned and sat up, rubbing his face blearily and sighing. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." Poke. Shiloh groaned one last time and swung his legs out over the bed. Tentatively poking the ground with his foot, he quickly withdrew and curled up under the blankets.

"What's wrong?" Casey threw an arm over the bundled mass of warmth and hugged it close. The voice of Shiloh came muffled from within.
"Its too cooooold!"

Casey smiled and reached down for his shoes. Pulling them on, he got up. Shiloh's face popped out from the side of the bundle. "Wh-what are you doing? Don't leave me!" Casey leaned forward again and kissed him on the cheek. "If you wanna have me, you gotta come out."

Shiloh pouted. "No." And he retreated inside his burrow. Casey sighed and went downstairs to the kitchen behind the shop, putting some water on to boil. If Shiloh was going to be slow to wake up this morning, he knew exactly how to remedy it. Pulling a ceramic jar from the cupboard, he began spooning some powder into two mugs. Pouring the boiling water into the mugs, he smiled and turned to another chest and opened it, feeling the cold leak out from the inside. Retrieving a jug of milky sweet cream, he poured it into the half-way filled mugs and then replaced it in the freezing chest. Finally, he took the mugs back upstairs into the room.
"Shiiiiloooooh...I have a surprise for you..." He laid a mug on the bedside table, letting it's scent waft through the air.

"Is that...hot chocolate?"

"Mmhmm...but I guess you don't want any."

Shiloh sprang out of bed, tumbling and falling out of bed, limbs splaying out in all directions in a mad attempt to snatch the mug from the bedside table. Finally managing to grab the mug (and spilling quite a bit in the process) Shiloh took a deep sip and sighed in ecstasy.

"Casey?" Another long sip.

"Yes Shiloh?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." Casey sat down next to Shiloh, tangled in the blanket, gently took his chin in his hand, directed his face up and kissed him. Shiloh let one of his hands drop from the mug and snake itself around Casey's waist.

They parted, smiled, and kissed again. After all, it was a bright new day.