This is yet another pre-game! (Hands a cookie and popcorn to Rike, Besotted's most loyal reviewer) Bear in mind that this chapter takes a while to get started. Warnings: Minor lime. (To Rike: Sorry, couldn't resist :p)

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"In Ur, everyone is surrounded by goblins. This is a fact. And in a random season each year, unfairly powerful monsters migrate to eat the goblins, because they are fodder and thus easy pickings. This is also a fact.

At first, people in Ur were dying left and right in this Dreaded Season, until someone finally gathered some brains and figured out a solution. It was quite simple really. Since it took practically a lifetime to get stronger while killing goblins, they decided that they needed to train, but goblins wouldn't help. And because all anyone could kill was goblins, if they went away from the village to train, they'd get killed. How unfortunate.

So, this guy who saved the day (we'll call him Dweeb, shall we?), he suggested that people train on each other. Naturally, the only way to get experience points from someone was to kill them, so this seemed like a damn stupid idea since they'd basically be killing themselves off. So Dweeb was executed, and that was the end of that.

Only, after a while of being driven to near extinction and having to multiply like rabbits to keep population up (seriously, there was a law saying that females capable of being pregnant had to be pregnant at all times. they even figured out a way to turn males into hermaphrodites, just to keep up their numbers) someone got supremely pissed off, and remembered Dweeb. And this person (Who we'll call Ponce) went on a killing spree because he was so pissed off. And when people tried to execute him, he killed them too. So eventually, they gave up, and Ponce stopped killing people.

Then, when the Dreaded Season came and people were forced to mass-multiply again (and the males were real shits about it, they didn't like giving birth. Never mind the fact that they'd been letting the woman do it for god-knows how long), and lots more people were killed. Ponce got pissed off again, and went on another killing spree, getting even stronger. Eventually, the elders told him to go to the village Kazus and scope it out. No one had ever done that before, becuase monsters killed them, but Ponce was too dumb to remember that so he went.

Imagine how surprised all the gits back home were when Ponce returned, stronger than ever. Turns out he'd been strong enough to kill the monsters away from Ur, and had therefore survived. No one knew what to do. But then, after the next Dreaded Season came Ponce's annual 'get pissed off and go on a killing spree' moment. It was at that time that two young mages (Who we'll call Prat and Twat) put a binding spell on Ponce and killed him, getting rid of the eternal shit that plagued Ur every year with his temper. And there was a bonus in it for the little twits; Prat and Twat found themselves each half as strong as Ponce had been."

"So then, Prat and Twat went on an expedition to Kazus. They killed a few hundred monsters and got stronger than Ponce ever had been. Then, when they came back, tons more people learned from Prat and Twat's example, and went into mobs. These mobs were made of three or four people each, since they didn't have enough people who weren't toddlers to make the mobs bigger. And so, each mob killed either Prat or Twat. They got stronger, killed out-of-town monsters, then got even more strong. Then, when the Dreaded Season came, some of the mobsters survived, but not many. The survivors killed the people who were near death, and got even stronger. They eventually got so strong that people had to form mass mobs to kill them. These mass mobs held around six to nine people. The original Survivor Mobsters were so strong that every Mass Mobster became as strong as Prat had been after killing Ponce."

"And the circle went on, with more and more people getting strong, and more people surviving the Dreaded Season. In the end, there came a few people who were stronger than anyone else before. These people were surprised as hell when the Migration Monsters killed them, but then they came back to life. After tons of thinking, they figured out that really strong people came back to life when they were killed. They tested the theory by allowing people to kill them over and over, and they kept on coming back to life. The people who killed them still got experience though, and so they got as strong as the people they were killing."

" When the Dreaded Season came again, the newbies that had been killing the strong ones also came back to life when they were killed. It should be noted that when you die, you come back to life with a massive headache. So it ain't reccommended. But anyways, after they proved their theory, they allowed themselves to be killed by the weak people until everyone was strong. And so they defended Ur from the Migration Monsters without many people dying at all. That was how Ur was saved. Any questions?" The woman who'd been saying it all had been illustrating on the blackboard with chalk. Her illustrations for Ponce, Dweeb, Twat, and Prat were certainly...interesting.

A kid at the back of the classroom put up his hand, and answered. "What has this got to do with Graduation Day?" The woman sent him a dirty look. He seemed unaffected.

"This is Fighting School, brats. We've been training you on how to kill the teachers while getting as little injuries as you can. It's got everything to do with Graduation Day, because some of you lowlifes are fuck-up weaklings who can't even come back to life yet. We teachers are fed up with you shits, and we ain't gonna 'teach' you more than the years we hafta. Two of you have to get a mentor, meaning one of the strongest people in the village. This mentor will be giving ya extra training because ya can't even some back to life. Jaika, Ryiin, I'm talking to you." A boy with aburn hair in the second-from-back row and a boy with dirty blond hair in the second row scowled. "Now, this mentor will probably be taking a friend with him, probably that mage he's so fond of. You should consider yerself lucky- you'll be taught by this guy in his teens, strongest person in the village. Dunno how he managed that, he's so young..." The teacher exited the classroom, muttering. She didn't bother to dismiss the class.

A minute later, Elder Topapa walked in.

"Good afternoon Elder Topapa." The class chanted automatically, the chorus bored and utterly devoid of any enthusiasm.

"Good afternoon, children. Now, what must we always remember about the Circle of Teachers?" He asked, smiling.

"The Circle of Teachers is instructed to allow us to kill them over and over, and so they are put in very bad moods from constant exposure to migraines." The class spoke in unison, verbatim.

"Good. Now, what must we remember about the language of the Circle of Teachers?" Elder Topapa asked again.

"The Circle of Teachers is prone to swear and curse every other sentence due to their bad tempers. No matter how interesting the words sound, we are not permitted to swear until the age of fourteen." The way every student said the sentences in perfect unison gave an air of a routine long practiced to perfection. They'd evidently had this hammered into their brains since day one. Suddenly, the orderly manner vanished from Elder Topapa's eyes, and a strange glint appeared in them.

"What must you remember about the Council of Elders?" There were collective sighs from the rest of the room.

"The Council of Elders are trusted with the records of the village, and understand how bad the Times of Dread were. Despite the village's constant prosperity, the Council are paranoid with regards to population, and so will do everything in their power to pair up each and every one of us." They said this in a monotone. Monotony did not seem appropriate for what they were saying.

"Good! Now, Fighting school is officially finished for your class. Please feel free to procreate like a brood of rabbits. Questions?" Jaika raised his hand. "Yes, Jaika?"

"We are thirteen. Are you sure that's an appropriate age for us to be procreating at?" He deadpanned. Elder Topapa smiled cheerfully.

"As long as both parties are physically mature, then why not? When nature gives us gifts, we must make the best of them!" The head elder did not miss the smirks exchanged by Jaika and Ryiin. "Anyway, class dismissed! Good luck! Oh- Jaika and Ryiin, stay behind." The class stampeded outside with foghorn voices, all cheering. Aside from the two boys who waited to be talked to. "Now, as you two cannot resurrect upon dying, you have been assigned a mentor who is incidentally the strongest in the village, despite his youth. It is up to him to decide how he trains you. He will probably have you camping just outside of the village, heading out from its safety every day for training. If supplies are needed, his friend will probably go back to the village and get them. Friend, meaning a companion that your mentor scarcely goes anywhere without. Understood?"

Jaika grinned, nodded, then turned to Ryiin. In a second, he'd tackled the other boy to the floor, hugging him cheerfully. Ryiin seemed alarmed. "We're gonna be so strong by the end of this!" Jaika bragged. Ryiin pushed him up, looking livid.

"Jaika, you idiot! No displays of affection in public!" He hissed. Topapa watched the exchange with confusion, which quickly morphed to full-faced delight.

"Oh, but you're gay!" Elder Topapa exclaimed, sounding delighted. Both boys froze, donning a deer-in-headlights look. They were clearly expecting something bad. "This is brilliant! there aren't enough gays in Ur nowadays- in the Times of Dread, half the village was gay. It's brilliant to see gayness re-emerging." The elder declared. the boys blinke din astonishment. "Now, boys. I have something important to tell you. If you discover any more gays, tell them too." The elder paused dramatically. "The teacher informed you of how men became hermaphrodites in order to populate the village?"

"What's a hermaphrodite?" Jaika asked in confusion.

"Someone with both male and female parts." Elder Topapa replied cheerfully, continuing despite the bulging eyes of those in front of him. "Now, this was done by some intensely skilled mages. I believe their job level was over sixty for every type of magery- truly impressive. But anyway, they created an aura upon this village that changed men in certain ways. However, it would only happen to a man who considered Ur his home. Any such man would become a hermaphrodite, so that if he were gay, he'd still be able to bear children. And so would his gay partner. And due to you two being residents of Ur, you are free to procreate like anyone else would." The elder grinned, then happily dismissed himself.

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"I can't believe I was dumped with apprentices!" Luneth complained to Arc. "Why couldn't someone else do it?" Luneth seemed to change opinions in a split-second, becuase he didn't even wait to be answered. "Ah, whatever. I'm not letting those kids kill me unless they can do it while I'm going all out. Otherwise, I'll just have them beat the crap out of various monsters. That should do the trick."

Arc wanted to ask a question, but didn't dare.

"The little buggers should be around here somewhere- hey, you! Are you apprentices?" Luneth pointed at two boys who were resting casually against a tree. they blinked.

"Yeah. Why'd you ask?" Asked a red haired one.

"I'm Luneth. And this is my best friend, Arc." Luneth pointedly did not notice his companion blush at such a simple thing as being called a best friend. "I'll be your mentor." Both boys stared.

"Holy shit, they weren't joking. He really is young." The red-haired one muttered to the blond one.

"Jaika, you're not supposed to be swearing until you're fourteen." The blond one reminded him.

"Who cares? If we're old enough to breed, I say we're old enough to swear." 'Jaika' shot back. Luneth cleared his throat. Both snapped their attention to him immediately. "Oh. Sorry. I'm Jaika, and this is Ryiin. Luneth shook hands with them. Arc timidly followed, being eyed curiously by the boys.

"Pleased to meet you. Now, boot camp starts now. We'll go to the edge of Ur's forest and camp there." Luneth decided.

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They did exactly that. Jaika and Ryiin observed with admirable perception the level at which Luneth and Arc worked. They'd obviously been camping many times before, otherwise they wouldn't have been so quick in setting the tents up. Both were large tents designed to hold two fully grown men, so there was plenty of space in there.

Luneth later had them fighting such bloody evil monsters that they were exhausted at the end of the day. But both boys were unnaturally observant, and so they noticed how well Arc and Luneth worked together. They also noticed how Arc blushed at nearly anything favourable from Luneth, and how Luneth looked at Arc. How Arc looked at Luneth, too. Though Arc's looking was mostly glances, for fear of being caught. Luneth seemed to have no such qualms, and tended to stare at Arc until he was spotted, at which point he'd look away seeming quite flustered.

And so, the boys had reached a conclusion. Their mentor and his friend were in love with each other, but neither knew it. They intended to resolve that.

Naturally, neither boy was very subtle, so while eating a few rabbits cooked over a fire, they were caught in the act of staring at Luneth over the fire, contemplating various plans.

"What?" Luneth snapped, seeming very irritated. They continued staring, though their faces twisted into a thoughtful expression.

"You're gay, aren't you?" Ryiin observed unexpectedly. Luneth had not been expecting that. He promptly became very flustered, mouth opening and closing silently like a fish. Arc was staring at Luneth in astonishment, though a heavy blush covered his features. Luneth proceeded to turn slightly pink when he cast nervous glances at his friend. "It's nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. We're gay. What's more, we're gay together. And Elder Topapa all but ordered us to create children at the first oppourtunity." Luneth's face twisted in a strange way.

"You're boys. You can't make children." Luneth declared, disgruntled.

"Incorrect." Jaika chirped cheerfully. He'd successfully caught the attention of every male around the fire, so he continued. "Didn't you know? Every male who has reached maturity in Ur is capable of bearing children."

Arc made a squeak/eep noise, bright red and wide eyed. Luneth, looking extremely flustered, asked the question that was undoubtedly on their minds. "Every male?"

"Every last one. Well, anyone who isn't still a kid, anyway. Elder Topapa told us himself after he found out we were gay. Apparently, the effect from the Times of Dread still hasn't faded. Males having children was originally a last resort tactic, but nowadays whent he danger is long past... it revolutionises gays!" Ryiin proclaimed happily.

Luneth blinked. "Oh." He seemed to think for a second. "...How did you know I'm gay, anyway?" Identical devious smirks appeared on the faces of both boys. Their eyes flickered evilly from Arc to Luneth, then came to rest on the latter.

"We made certain...observations. Let me tell you, there couldn't be anything more obvious from what we've noticed." Ryiin cackled. Luneth reddened in the first proper blush anyone had ever seen on him. Arc stared, wondering what was capable of making Luneth blush.

"Tell anyone, and you'll be conveniently killed by a land turtle. I know just where to find one, too." Luneth threatened firmly. Jaika and Ryiin exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Whatever. We'll give you a week to say it yourself. I don't think we'll be able to live in the midst of the tension." Jaika drawled, making it very clear what sort of tension he was implying. Luneth snarled. Arc blushed, still completely oblivious.

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"You sure you can pull it off?" Ryiin questioned, concerned. Jaika grinned.

"Trust me! If there's one thing I can do well, it's prank spells. If things get too difficult, I'll use those matchmaking spells my mother tutored me on."

"Matchmaking spells? What do they do?"

"Nothing much. Just small things- like increased cuddlyness, less control over one's urges." Jaika replied casually, and Ryiin cackled with glee.

"Brilliant! Though I don't want to be around when you perform the latter- it'd probably end up in something quite drastic."

"...Huh? What do you mean, 'drastic'?" Jaika asked, completely oblivious.

"I mean that our mentor seems to be a complete pervert as well as gay." Jyiin explained. "Granted, some of his staring was directed at Arc in general, but a good amount of it was directed at his ass. I'd watch mine, if I were him. Who knows what would happen if that pervert's restraint was partially spelled away?"

"What would happen, do you think?" Jaika asked, curiously.

"Well, you obviously know that the spell version is a lot less powerful than an Impulse potion. If our dear mentor wants to molest his friend, but restrains himself, then your spell will probably make him incapable of not molesting, though he'd have partial restraint that would allow him to prevent himself from going too far." Ryiin replied distractedly. "Oh, and unlike with the potion, he'd remember everything." Ryiin added as an afterthought. "I did some research."

"Ah." Jaika smirked deviously. "Well, that'll be our last effort. Before that, we'll merely inspire some fluff. Agreed?"

"Agreed." They shook hands on it.

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Arc had a problem. He felt faintly sleepy, despite having had a full night's sleep. He had no idea why he'd feel so tired. It certainly made life harder for the day, but things got stranger after dinner. He and Luneth were by the fire. Luneth was daydreaming, staring at the stars, and Arc was reading. The apprentices had disappeared somewhere. It was a few seconds after realising that that Arc felt himself shuffling closer to Luneth.

...Why had he done that? Arc mentally shrugged. Ah well, couldn't really hurt, could it? He shuffled a little closer. And closer. Luneth didn't appear to notice until Arc was comfortably snuggled right against him, watching the fire with a contented sigh. What are you doing, you idiot?! His mental voice screamed. If Luneth thinks anything funny's going on- it's over! He'll never speak to you again! For the first time, Arc ignored that voice in his head. He was comfortable. It was nearing winter and it was chilly. Luneth was warm. Arc smiled slightly in affirmation of this thought, and proceeded to snuggle a bit more.­ Luneth was staring at him, but he didn't really care. Luneth wasn't pushing him away, was he? Granted, he was tensing a bit...but...still.

"...Arc?" Luenth questioned quietly. His voice had a slight faint tone to it. That small, contented smile still gracing his features, Arc didn't move.

"You're warm." Arc told him, voice soft and content. Luneth felt himself pinken slightly, but he didn't say anything. Arc didn't move...that was, until he collapsed agaisnt Luneth's chest a few minutes later, clearly asleep. Luneth hesitated, before pulling the cloak-like coat that he wore around Arc. Guess i'll be sleeping like this. Luneth thought to himself, shifting slightly so that he could lay back onto the grass comfortably, Arc not awakening. This certainly isn't helping my inhibitions...but what the heck. I'm not complaining. Luneth masterfully restrained himself from taking advantage of the situation, and fell asleep by the fire with a tightly snuggled Arc held protectively within his coat.

In the bushes, Jaika had to restrain himself from making a cooing noise. They were so cute! Instead, he turned and high-fived Ryiin.

"Good job, mate. Snuggle spell and sleepy spell combined. Brilliant."

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To say Arc was surprised when he woke up would be an understatement. The first thing he comprehended was that he was strangely warm. The second was that everything was dark, despite the birdcall he could hear. It was only a second later that he realised he was hugging something that was the source of the warmth. He appeared to be half on top of his organic heater, and being half-hugged securely by an arm complete with coat. Arc didn't take long to identify Luneth. Immediately, he tried to find a way to escape without waking Luneth- he'd probably be angry. Slowly, Arc remembered how the situation had been initiated. He blushed. What had he been thinking. Arc tried to shift, test the defenses of his enclosure of arm. The arm tightened ever so slightly at his movement, and Arc turned his eyes sidewards to notice one of Luneth's looking at him; half-lidded and sleepy.

Luneth gave a small smile. "Dun'need t' move, Arc..." Luneth told him, voice sleepy and rather muffled. "Stay." Luneth's hand, connected to the enclosing arm, gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, gently pulling Arc into closer proximity. Very close snuggling. So close that Arc's head was resting in the hollow of Luneth's neck. Arc was blushing rather badly. Why would Luneth willingly cuddle with him? The most ordinary of people, too plain to be liked. Arc most certainly liked the closeness, but why was Luneth putting up with it?

Arc didn't take things for granted, no matter how unlikely they were. Feeling a strange peace of mind that he hadn't had since falling in love with Luneth, Arc drifted back to sleep comfortably. He faintly heard Luneth saying: "Day off today...go do whatever y' want..." Probably to the apprentices.

Luneth couldn't have known what a snuggle monster he'd inflicted on himself. He didn't see Jaika cast another snuggle-spell on Arc. And Arc promptly acted of his new urge to cuddle by doing exactly that, pressing himself closer to his love than he'd probably ever dare to be without sleepiness and a spell helping.

Luneth was personally glad that Arc was asleep before he got any indication of his problem. It tended to happen when snuggling so close to your undeniably hot beloved. He took deep breaths, and slowly managed to calm down. Damn. Luneth cursed himself. Why do I have to be such a pervert?

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When Luneth deemed it time to get up, he gently laid Arc down, and lit the fire to compensate for his abscence. He promptly left to go hunting and find the brats. He found them- and quickly left. They were taking the bloody elder's advice far too seriously.

x

A few days later, and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. At the fire side after dinner, Arc and Luneth had a tendancy to lean against each other, and once, acting on a hesitant burst of impulse, Luneth hauled Arc onto his lap and held his arms around his waist. The poor boy was hopelessly embarassed, though seemed very comfy once he got over it. Luneth was thankful for certain body parts to have behaved.

Luneth was dreading the end of the week. Those little brats were too confident for their own good, he had no doubt that they'd live up to their threat. And despite the recent chumminess with Arc, Luneth wasn't willing to risk losing him. So he couldn't bring himself to say anything himself.

Luneth had no idea that the apprentices wouldn't be telling Arc. No, they'd be casting a rather resourceful spell on Luneth instead. And naturally, a snuggle spell for Arc.

Ryiin and Jaika had fully accepted their status as perverts, and were therefore looking forward to Thursday night.

Come Thursday, Luneth was a nervous wreck. He had no idea what to do, other than sit by the fire in his usual area, pretending to daydream normally. He was not prepared for Arc to act as snuggly as he'd unusually been a few days ago, only he didn't fall asleep this time. Arc was simply snuggled against Luneth for a while, until said silver-haired boy relaxed, his nervousness evaporating slowly. It was when he was no longer on-edge that something bad happened. The urges that he restrained practically every minute of the day were suddenly much harder to restrain. You can do this! He told himself savagely. Don't you bloody dare take advantage of him!

It was not to be. The unfortunate urge amplifier snapped some of the restraints on the less...demanding ones. Feeling his body possessed by the impulses, Luneth dreaded what would happen, but naturally anticipated it quite a lot. He cursed his inability to control himself and he pulled Arc onto his lap, ignoring the sudden squeak from the teen. Feeling that inevitable lust rising like a black tide within him, Luneth struggled and failed to prevent being swept away. With a low growl, Luneth lightly nibbled the skin of Arc's upper neck, feeling the boy freeze up, utterly dumbfounded. Lust didn't care. Lust never did. The small kiss-nibbles continued around the boy's jawline, and spurred on by the shivers, Luneth gently pushed Arc's face towards him, capturing the startled fighter's lips in a full kiss.

Arc didn't understand what was going on. One minute he'd been pulled onto Luneth's lap, and next that precariously gentle nibble on his neck! That was when he froze up. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to think? All he could get around his confused knot of a brain was that Luneth was doing things to him, and they felt good. However muddled, Arc's brain was capable of recognising a kiss, and when Luneth did exactly that, Arc's brain went into overdrive. Possibly, best scenario, Luneth returned his feelings, and this was his way of saying it. But why would he suddenly come onto him like that? It was a bit...abrupt.

But who cared? Arc was reveling; this sort of thing had only happened in his dreams. He intended to take and appreciate everything that Luneth gave. He didn't know why it was happening, he didn't know how it was possible for such light touches to cause such reactions, and he had no idea what would follow. Luneth seemed to be fully intent on answering his last question, though. His hold became hungry, ravaging every inch of his prey without mercy. Arc shivered, gasped, and groaned quietly into the touches, lost in a strange bright haze of passion. Luneth's touch ran down, down...

Bloody hell. Was he really...?

Arc's shuddering gasp answered for him. Yes. Luneth most certainly was. For the first time, Arc saw something adamant behind the lust in Luneth's eyes. Guilt. "I'm sorry." Luneth whispered, completely sincere. "I don't know why...my inhibitions are tearing down. I can't control myself. I'm...sorry..." Arc blushed. He'd been so...busy...that he'd forgotten to blush.

"I-It's okay." Arc whispered, his voice changing pitch in strange ripples. "Y-you s-shouldn't be s-sorry...I...like..." His voice trailed off, becoming breathless. A strange gint appeared in Luneth's eyes.

"Like it?"

"Y-Yes..." Arc avoided saying anything else in favour of a gasp. Arc identified the now predatory gleam in his love's eyes.

"Then you won't mind if things go a little...further?" Luneth whsipered into his ear, voice a sensual hiss.

Arc studied the look in Luneth's eyes. God, it didn't matter if he'd mind or not- it was practically compulsory for things to go 'further', as Luneth had said. Good job he didn't mind in the first place.

"No."

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While anyone else would have left at that point, Jaika and Ryiin were far too peverted to even consider it, and so stayed for some 'inspiration'.

Yes, there were three very happy perverts that night.