Author's Notes; Royal AU. Shounen-Ai. ZeroX heavily implied. Time for a little plot and lots of fluff..and if I remember right, a warlock is a male witch..Plus, I've already jumped Chapter 3..Enjoy..
X awoke the next morning to King Light's grinning face. "Good morning, son, looks like you've got a visitor." The brunette slowly stretched and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Light was right, there was Zero fast asleep in a nearby chair, writhing a little as he slept, arms folded against his chest and wings around himself. X raised his eyebrow as he walked towards the sleeping blond. "I wonder why and how long he's been here..." Light shook his head. "He was here when I came in." X sat in front of the blond, his hair cushioned his seat and his legs were crossed. Bass peered in, noticing Zero. Light looked to X. "Bass said that he seemed interested in you." "That's exactly it." Bass said, coming into the room. X looked at Bass as he sat down near Zero. "Zero only has regal status because I convinced Wily to adopt him when I was 9 years old. From what he told me, he lived with his mother until she died from an illness of some sort. Supposedly, she was a blacksmith and some called her a witch because of her red hair. She crafted this armor for him when he was only 5 and there's evidence that she really was a witch. The picture in his room shows that this isn't the armor's original size, meaning its been expanding and adapting to his body over the years. She died when he was only 7 years old and I frequently saw him struggling on the streets in town, I felt sorry for him honestly." X looked back to Zero, the blond was still sound asleep even as X took the edge of his long mane and plucked a hair from it for the keepsake. "Clearly, the armor causes his hands to change into demon-like hands and both pairs of wings are indestructable. You'll rarely see him without this armor, likely because of his mother. The fact that he's asleep proves he's nocturnal, but I don't know how that happened. He wasn't like that as a kid."
The older brunette shook his head at the blond. X looked at Zero's hands and claws. "So, if his armor is magic to some degree, then he's really a warlock.." Light looked at Zero's peaceful face. "Hmm, a real warlock..but that also means that he's dangerous. Maybe its best if you avoid him." Bass shrugged. "Maybe even an actual demon...Who knows. He is dangerous, but its easy to see that once someone has his interest, he won't let them fall." X grinned a little. "Wait, how did you get him to talk? He won't speak to me." Bass rolled his eyes and shook his head. "He won't speak to you until he feels like he's ready to trust you. Until then, his actions will do all the talking. That's how it was with me. He's such a hardass that way, that's why everyone thinks he's rude." X looked down a little at Zero's left foot. "So that's what Wily meant." Light nodded, turning back to Bass. "I see. Anyways, we should get to the dining hall, our breakfast is probably cold by now."
After breakfast, X brought some books up to his room from the library, he was going to read them later. First, he wanted to see if he could wake Zero up. He tried everything, from poking and rubbing him to touching the sensitive spots on his underarmor. Nothing seemed to work on him at all, but he wondered about Zero's limping. Bass hadn't mentioned that, but he had remembered there was an attack here recently by the infamous Usurper Sigma and his army a few countries over. Maybe Zero had been injured somehow in that mess. X soon gave up and went to the bed and books. He had been intrigued by what Bass had said and had some books on mythological creatures, including warlocks and demons. "Too wild..." He said, looking back to the sleeping blond. "A real warlock.."
Later X came back from dinner, stretching and yawning a little. He had stacked his books neatly and found a way to unlatch the armor from Zero's right leg, bandaging it earlier. He left the armor piece off so it would heal, finding that Zero's ankle was sprained. The brunette turned on the lamp near the bed, sitting down and giving Zero one more look before lying down, clicking the lamp off after a while. When the lights were off, Zero's head and chest crystals began to light up as he woke. He noticed the bandages on his ankle and that it felt a little better. He put the leg piece back on and rose from his seat, stretching his arms and wings quietly, he could see X on the bed. X was half-asleep and didn't hear Zero's movements. Zero moved towards the other side of the bed and flopped himself next to X, making X bounce a little and waking him. The brunette turned the lamp on and looked around. Nothing there, but he noticed the chair was empty and that another presence was close to him. He slowly turned onto his other side, nearly screaming in surprise when he realized Zero was behind him. "Geez, you scared me." Zero's face was once more emotionless and silent. He reached his right hand to X's face slowly, seeing X shudder. The blond gently rubbed X's left cheek, being careful with his claws. X was surprised at how gentle Zero was, blushing a little. "Y-Your name is Zero, r-right?" The blond nodded deeply in response. X managed a nervous grin. "M-My name is X, pleasure to meet you." Zero cracked a small grin, revealing part of his fangs. X found himself enjoying Zero's touch, he wasn't scared of him, only nervous. Zero seemed so kind in comparison to yesterday. Inside, the blond was a little nervous too, he could feel his heart fluttering again. "I want to thank you for saving me and I bandaged your ankle. You sprained it somehow." X continued. The blond looked down at his legs, remembering seeing the bandages. X caught a glimpse of writing on Zero's helmet, reading it aloud. "Absolute Zero. Is that armor..magic?" Zero slowly looked up at him and shrugged a little. He opened his mouth and a cold breath escaped him and revealed how long his fangs really were. X nearly thought he was going to talk, but Zero's breath hit his neck, making him shiver and blush more. Zero tilted his head, shifting his hand to X's neck intrigued. X watched him for a moment, staring at his fangs. "Do you drink blood?" Zero shrugged, wagging his hand a little to say 'now and again'.
X talked to the black-clad prince until he fell asleep. The blond grinned a little, covering X with the duvets. He gently rubbed X's head, watching him sleep. Curiousity eventually got the better of him, he wanted to taste X's blood. He wouldn't have to bite him, he could taste traces of blood under the skin. X's blood was very sweet to him, he managed a small taste without waking him. 'He..He helped me..I haven't seen such kindness in a long time..' He thought to himself. 'He still shivers at my hands though..He's still scared of me..but what was that reaction of his..?' Zero stayed in the bed, watching him sleep. He was starting to feel comfortable around X.
The next morning, Bass went to remind Zero that it was his turn to go to market. He was surprised to see Zero in bed with X. "Well, well." Zero looked back at him slowly. Bass chuckled. "Getting cozy with a guest, huh? Just wanted to tell you that its your turn to go to market." The blond rolled his eyes and slowly got up, trying not to wake X. He folded his wings as he went out the door and towards his own room. Bass saw X waking up and grinned. "Rise and shine." X opened his eyes slowly. "Where'd Zero go?" "He's getting ready to go to market, we alternate going to market each week. Did you want to go with him?" X nodded, getting up quickly and grabbing a change of clothes. The red-eyed boy nodded. "I'll tell him.
Bass walked to Zero's room, closing the door behind him. "Hey, X wants to go with you." Zero paused, having just finished tying on the black mask he wore whenever he had to go to town. "Why?" Bass shrugged. "Maybe he needs something, who knows. Or maybe you could take that time to learn about each other." Zero shook his head slowly. "It's no use, he's scared of me..He shivers at my hands.." Bass tutted. "That's no excuse..He's curious about you and seems just as intrigued as you are. Just do it...Mama's boy." The blond lowered his head, that nickname brought back memories of his mother before her death, but he never knew his father. Bass smiled, leaving the room as Zero dug out and counted out some money.
At the front door, Wily had made a list for Zero. X and Bass soon joined, just as the blond was within sight. His mask covered just his nose and mouth, he looked like a bandit sent from hell itself. Wily handed Zero the list and the blond looked it over. Apples, oranges, bananas, mangoes, and anything X wanted, it read. He shrugged and put the list in the left arm compartment of his armor before walking to Light and X. Light grinned at him and so did X. That grin of X's melted Zero's heart, guess Bass was right. He slowly turned around, bending his knees to lower himself down for X. "Get on his back and hang on tight, you've seen how swift he is." Wily instructed. X nodded, slowly climbing onto the blond's back, between his wings and gripping his body. Everyone followed him outside and watched as Zero immediately started to run, flapping his wings a little before bending his knees and leaping into the air, gaining altitude. X clung to Zero tightly before looking around at the clouds. "Wow, we're getting really high up." The blond looked at him over his left shoulder as he moved his left arm over X's arms, feeling him shiver.
After a while of flying, Zero slowly descended into the marketplace. The townspeople saw him, starting to raise a commotion, many of the women and children hiding behind corners. X looked around, wondering why everyone had hid from them. Zero landed gently, bending down to let X off. X's eyes met Zero's when he looked back at him again. "Would it be ok if I stayed on your back?" The blond shrugged, straightening himself out. Murmurs of the townspeople could be heard from everywhere, things like, 'That armor must be witchcraft.', 'He's got a hostage on his back.', and 'Danger.'. Zero tutted, searching out the right vendors as he got out the list Wily gave him. 'He can read too?', 'He's definitely not one of us.' came more murmurs. X shook his head, hearing the murmurs. "What's wrong with these people? You're just different, ahead of your time. Don't mind them." He pet Zero's hip as the blond walked, making him blush under his mask. 'No one's ever tried to comfort me this way before...Not even Bass...' He thought to himself before reaching the vendors, paying for a few apples and mangoes. X turned his attention towards the stands of bananas and strawberries. He always did like strawberries. Zero took his bag of apples and mangoes, moving aside before catching wind of X's stare. He grinned under his mask and went to the vendors, paying for a bag of bananas and another of strawberries, putting the bags in his armor compartments. X was surprised when Zero got the strawberries, it was as if the blond could read his mind. The reality was that Zero was rewarding X's kindness towards him.
Back at Wily's castle, Wily had called Light and Bass into the throne room to discuss an important issue; Preparing for Usurper Sigma's next move. Based on info from Wily's spies, he was several countries over, trying to take control of it and since it was another allied country with King Cossack at the throne, they needed a plan of attack. "Zero was recently promoted to Captain of the Royal Knights after the last fight. When he comes back and if he's not tired, we'll discuss a plan to thwart Sigma's takeover before he tries to invade my country again." Light looked at Wily in concern. "I hope you know what you're doing, having a potential warlock with that status." Wily chuckled. "He's never been the type to crave more power. He'll be fine."
Soon, the front door opened as Zero and X came back inside the castle, letting X off before going to the kitchen to drop off the groceries. X followed him there, he realized what Zero had done in town after leaving and now found it hard to stay away. Wily caught up them and showed Zero a map, explaining the situation. Zero moved his mask and took the map, rubbing his chin a little before heading to his room to come up with a plan of attack. He yawned a little, showing sharp fangs and hardly realizing that X was still following him. The blond went into his room and sat on the bed, observing the map. He noticed X at the door, gesturing for him to come in. X came in, sitting next to him on the bed. "They need a plan of attack, huh? I hate fighting...It shouldn't have to happen.." Zero looked towards X for a moment, then back down. He'd never minded fighting, but had never thought of it that way before. He set the map on the nightstand, deciding he'd sleep on it and picked up the picture of him and his mother, letting X look. X looked at the picture, it showed a red-haired blue-eyed woman with freckles on her face holding Zero in the air happily with his newly crafted Absolute armor. Bass was right, the armor was much more round and both wing pairs were far smaller. "Bass told me and my father about you and your armor...It really is adjusting and changing to your body. Was she...really a witch?" Zero nodded deeply, setting the picture back in its place before lying down on the bed. X looked at him as he unfastened the mask and put it away. "Don't despair, she'd be proud of you." Zero blushed softly, grinning a little as he made room for X. The little brunette laid down next to him and let Zero's wing cover him. "Can I ask you something?" Zero looked to X attentively. "Can we be friends?" The blond felt his heart race a little, knowing that now he was getting somewhere with him. Zero nodded, pulling X close and soon falling asleep.