In the Eye of the Raiju

Set after Chapter 123.

"What are you doing?" Hak leaned over the princess's shoulder. Smack!

"Owwww." Hak blew a few strands of bright red hair out of his mouth as pain split through the side of his head.

Instead of ignoring him, like as he had expected, or moving away before turning, like any human with average coordination, Yona had jumped, slamming the back of her head into his skull.

"Hak!"

"How... Does your tiny brain pack this much of a wallop?" he growled, plopping down into the grass.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, kneeling down next to him. "Should I get Yun?" Hak groaned, grabbing the side of his head.

"No, just… let me sit here for a moment." Her small fingers brushed over his, and he looked up into her shining eyes. "Wow, Princess…" He chuckled. "You almost look worried." She blushed.

"I hit you, so-" She stopped when he wrapped his arm around her to touch the back of her head. It brought them closer together, and Hak resisted the urge to move any further. He had promised to stop making her feel uncomfortable- "playing jokes," as she called it.

The first time she called it a joke, he had been both amused and a little hurt. Hak supposed he should be glad that she always gave him that excuse, the cover of a prankster. Someone who is always kidding around… It had given him a little more leeway, a little more nerve- until she had asked him to stop. She could probably write off almost anything he did as a joke. Almost anything.

"And you don't feel anything back there?" he murmured, twisting her soft curls through his fingertips. He looked into her eyes, and his heart skipped when he noticed she was blushing even more. Almost as if…

"N-no, I r-r-really don't-"

He had promised. Promised, promised, PROMISED not to tease her. Why did she have to make it so appealing? She had never not been fun to tease. Since they were little, the sight of her flushed face drew him in- the fire in her eyes stirred something deep within him, commanded him to respond in kind.

"Are you sure?" he asked, unable to suppress a tiny smirk. "I think I feel a little bump here-" He moved his fingers gently around the back of her head, massaging lightly, struggling to keep the gesture as innocent as possible.

"Mmmm- th-that's always there."

"Is it really?" Hak supposed that could be true. "Huh." He kept the motion up, running his hand through her hair, rubbing her head, looking up at the sky, unable to meet her eyes. Worried what she might see in them. He had been having trouble, recently, hiding that wretched mix of feelings he had whenever they touched. Not that he had much faith in her observational skills at this point. All of the dragons seemed to have figured it out, and they had accompanied them for only a short few months. The princess had had years to notice.

When she moved her head away, he snatched his fingers back, not wanting to give away his desire to linger. She stood up. Am I scaring her again?

He waited for a rebuke, or an innocent remark that would make him want to claw his eyes out and beat her over the head with the obvious. She was remarkably good at both of those.

A moment passed by. Silence. He still was not sure he wanted to look at her just yet.

"Priiiiincess," he drawled, letting his eyes trace constellations above them slowly. "Don't be creepy." He heard her smile. She stepped around behind him. "Pri-" She touched his head. His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?" She paused, her fingers entangled in his hair. "You're coming after the rest of me, now?"

"I… was returning the favor." Staying away from the place she had already inflicted damage, she scratched his head gingerly.

"Princesses don't need to-"

"Hush, before I change my mind," she snapped.

What the hell, Hak thought. It felt good. Really, really good. Besides, how often was it that she wanted to touch him? He could enjoy this, guilt-free.

"Never be it said that I disobeyed a direct order from Her Highness." He grinned cheekily as Yona scoffed.

"You're disobeying right now," she murmured, grabbing a handful of his hair and tugging roughly. A slight groan-surprised, aroused- escaped Hak's lips.

Shit.

She stopped. Shit, shit, shit.

It was not fair. He had been the perfect gentleman, hadn't he? He had backed off, given her space- and she always managed to close that gap. By pure accident.

He must have been a very bad person in a previous life.

"Hak?" Her tone was completely indecipherable.

"Yeah?" His voice nearly cracked. His throat was dry.

"You okay?"

"Besides you yanking my head around?" Because that had provoked several other responses in addition to the groan. "You really are trying to finish me off."

"Hehe." She patted his head vigorously, jarringly different from the sensations a moment before. Hak did not mind- he really needed a mood-killer now, for his personal sanity. "Sorry. I better go before I get myself in trouble."

Hak let her retreat first. When he was sure she was gone, he leaned over, fists clenched.

He really needed to stop bumping heads with her.