RaiFen had, against her will and much to her dismay, fainted in Dilandau's arms briefly after their first kiss. Though considering how quickly she regained herself, 'fainting' may be a bit of a strong term.

Dilandau caught her doll-like form, and no sooner than he had set the two of them on the edge of his bed, her eyes fluttered open. "Dilandau-kun, I-" He forced her to stop, like so many times before, with one of his fingers pressed gently to her lips. But this time, it was different... This time, there was a softness in his touch... In his eyes, that wasn't usually there.

"Shh... I know you're going to apologize for your..." he smirked a little, but without even a hint of cruelty as he looked her over. "...Weak knees... But you must know I'm used to that by now. No more apologies... when we're to ourselves, alright?"

"Hai, Dilandau-kun..." she answered a little slowly, not because she was against the idea, but because she had realized she wasn't exactly sure how they'd gotten to his bed. Not to mention she wasn't sure if they had actually kissed a minute ago or not.

"Good." Dilandau followed this simple statement with a smile the likes of which Rai had never seen before. He looked so kind... even his eyes looked soft... like muted embers in a far-off hearth. After taking off a glove, he stroked Rai's cheek with the backs of his fingers. It seemed to Rai that he was shaking, just a little... and the way he touched her so lightly, as if suddenly afraid she might break...

Rai nuzzled her cheek into his palm, kissing the tiny bit of wrist peeking out of his uniform. Their eyes locked for a moment before Dilandau closed the distance between them, kissing her again. He kept his eyes open at first, but they both quickly lost interest in looking, as the joy of discovering feeling crept over them.

Of course neither of them were naive, but neither of them were particularly well experienced. Rai had been attacked, not only on the Vione, but previously in the streets. All Dilandau had was... well, whatever he actually had, not that anyone besides him knew the realities of it. (Asking would be worse than pointless: It'd be a giant 'Kick my ass!' sign on your forehead.)

Still, there was a need to be gentle... slow... as if memorizing every moment...

Granted, it was all very romantic, but most of Dilandau's reasoning revolved around the fact that if she fainted again it'd be another, probably longer, delay. He was perfectly willing to take his time to ensure that the whole afternoon was put to good use. Not to say he wasn't enjoying himself in the process... He could feel Rai's fingers tracing little lines of fire all across his chest... his back...

RaiFen, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the strange feeling she got from the two of them touching so much. It was like some new kind of drunk, and it beat the hell out of vino. Her hair tried desperately to get in her way as often as possible, but she managed to fight it back in spite of its best efforts.

Now, their uniform jackets may have been a large pile of black, red, and orange armor forgotten on the floor, but they were the only thing down there as yet. Dilandau pulled back from Rai's kisses and brushed some wayward hair from her face, looking down at her nestled amongst his pillows. "Do you really want this...?" he whispered. He was uncertain for the first time in his life, and his voice trembled. "Do you want...me..?"

Rai's eyes welled up, and she tried not cry. She didn't understand why... why he would feel that he needed to ask... why he didn't already know the answer... Her voice trembled back to his, "More than everything else, Dilandau-kun... I want you..."

Only after this brief little conversation did the rest of their clothes join the jackets on the floor. Though neither of them took off his new diadem...When the dinner bell rang, Dilandau rose his head drowsily off Rai's chest to look at his clock. He made a series of strangled noises and half-spoken words as he shifted to lay next to her. "Should we even bother to go?" He asked dramatically, stretching a little as he spoke. His mind was made up, but he was curious about how she'd take to his idea.

"You know full well that we should. I think a better question is, are we really going to leave your room?" Rai stretched just a little and rolled over to snuggle against Dilandau's side. She reached up to trace the line of the diadem on his forehead, wrapping her legs around his.

He smiled and kissed her forehead before grabbing her hand to kiss her fingers. "I think I should just tell one of the boys to bring us something," Dilandau sort of sighed as he spoke. Rai nodded her agreement, but she started going for the pile of clothes. Of course Dilandau was in no mood for that yet, so he jumped and straddled her. Smirking, he leaned in to whisper by her ear, "I think we should leave our clothes exactly where they are when we're served dinner in bed."

Rai blushed fiercely, squirming a little beneath him. "I don't think that's wise, aijin." She couldn't help but smirk a little as she ran her fingers over his sides. "Fun as it may be, there are already rumors-"

"You know I love to fuel any fire... What could possibly be better for morale than the knowledge that the Commander and his most Prized Soldier are in good spirits?" He winked as he spoke, then playfully bit at her neck. He didn't really intend for anyone to see them this way. But he hadn't remembered to voice-lock the door, and although the 'Slayers needed permission to enter...

"So, I finally bother to leave my room in attempt to be sociable, and you're in here-" Folken had been rubbing his eyes while he spoke and entered the room. He stopped speaking as soon as he opened his eyes and registered the scene. Sighing heavily, he closed his eyes again and rubbed his forehead very hard with his good hand.

"At least I didn't walk in at an even more inopportune moment," he grumbled, almost under his breath.

He was barely heard, at best, over Dilandau shouting. "Gods damn you and your timing Strategos! Perhaps that's why they took your arm so long ago – to make up for all the foolish decisions before and after that moment!" As he spoke he quickly turned to a sitting position, careful to keep the majority of their bodies under the sheet.

The air was heavy with the combined, horrified embarrassment of the three, and none of them quite knew what to do next. They were all well aware that Folken would be within his rights to call guards, have them thrown into a military prison, have them thrown out of the military altogether, and so on. After what seemed like an eternity, Folken opened his eyes and looked them over.

The young pair were blushing deeply, trying to keep their faces expressionless, even as they held hands so tightly it was clear all the blood had left the girl's fingers. And the way her arm wrapped around his... Even though he was barely toughing her, Dilandau was obviously trying to shield her... Perhaps through sheer will, Folken mused.

Dilandau's eyes were fixed on some point, and it was the only time Folken heard those tones, or those words from Dilandau. "Please, Folken-sama..." It was all he could manage to say.

He'd already seen how much they needed each other. Folken sighed, and did the only thing he could. "Just lock the door from now on. And don't lecture me about leaving my room anymore." That was all, and he left just as suddenly as he'd come.

Rai made a strange little gasping noise as she fell against Dilandau, holding him tightly. "Oh Dilandau-kun, I was so afraid I'd lose you." He wrapped his arms around her, and they trembled against each other while shock and fear died down.

"I know, kotori... I was worried too," he had calmed considerably, but she still trembled against him ever so slightly. He nestled his face in her hair and smiled. She really was as nervous as a little bird, he mused as he rocked her gently. He was already secure in the knowledge that Folken wouldn't say anything to anyone, much as it rankled that Folken now had something he could hold over him. "It's already over," he soothed.

Rai still needed to get used to the idea, but she was aware that Folken had agreed to silence. She nodded against Dilandau's chest. "I know it is," she sort of sighed as she steadied her breathing. Not too long after she finally stopped trembling, though she didn't loosen her grip on him.

This time there was a knock on the door. "Dilandau-sama," Migel's voice questioned in a slightly worried tone. They drooped against each other with weary frustration.

"This is a less than ideal moment, Migel. RaiFen fainted, again... Just get Gatti and bring us some dinner." His tone was testy, but not overly so. He didn't enjoy being dishonest with Migel, but he wasn't actually lying. Rai had fainted... earlier. Briefly.

Still, it was better if no one else knew about them, especially since Folken had wandered in. All three of them were in shock about that, and would be for quite some time. Migel didn't need to be similarly traumatized.

"Hai, Dilandau-sama, right away," came the mildly startled reply. It had been his experience that Rai only fainted under stressful circumstances. And he was no fool, by any means. Unfortunately, knowing Dilandau the way he did, this caused him to worry that the Commander had been taking out his frustrations in a negative way.

When he returned to the dining hall he went straight for Gatti, grabbed the shorter boy by the shoulders and picked him right up out of his seat. "Hey! What the hell's that for?! You almost made me slice open my glove..." Gatti protested feebly, getting more uncertain and quiet until he trailed off. Something in Migel's eyes seemed off. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, and that's why I didn't want to waste any time getting your attention." He set the other boy down, a bit rougher than he'd intended to, and Gatti stumbled a bit.

"What're you on about now? Didn't you just go... to check on..." It didn't take Gatti long to catch up with Migel's train of thought. "He hasn't... hurt her, has he?" he asked in a conspiratorial whisper as they moved away from the table of 'Slayers.

"I told you, I'm not sure. He said she fainted again, and told me to get you and bring them food. So I'm getting you, and we're taking them dinner. We can see for ourselves how she looks when we get there."

Neither of them was in a particularly good mood when they reached Dilandau's door, but they tried their best not to look angry. Migel knocked by way of kicking the door lightly. "We're here with dinner, Dilandau-sama," Gatti called uncertainly.

"Enter," his voice opened the door for them, and they came into the room warily. But nothing looked particularly wrong. Dilandau and Rai had taken off their jackets, Rai's on the back of a chair and Dilandau's on the floor. And their boots, which seemed a little odd to Migel, but escaped Gatti's notice entirely.

Rai was sitting on the bed, stifling a yawn, but she still smiled at them as they came in. Migel went straight to her, so Gatti went nervously to Dilandau as he paced by his window. "Are you alright?" Migel asked barely above a whisper.

"Oh, I'm fine Migs... I'm just still more light-headed than I thought." Rai grimaced at him as she leaned in and added, "I hadn't realized that you could stand up too fast until I tried it a few minutes ago," she lied. It was a horrible feeling, keeping a secret from the boy she considered to be her best friend. But it had to be done, certainly while she was still in the room with Dilandau. Perhaps later she could tell the both of them the truth. Sometime when she'd figured out what the truth could possibly be.

As it was, Dilandau soon dismissed the two other boys, and he and Rai ate in awkward silence for a while. Dilandau was the first to break the silence, with a question Rai would never have expected. "You don't regret it, do you?"

Rai was so shocked that she almost launched a forkful of food across the room when she dropped it. All she could think to do was throw her arms around him and kiss him deeply, to which Dilandau responded in kind.

When they pulled back, Dilandau smiled. "I'll take that as a 'no', then," he said, and almost giggled as he spoke.

"Oh Dilandau-kun," she sighed as she held him tightly. "I could never regret us making love." Rai sighed a little differently, through her nose with a hint of exasperation. "However, I do regret Folken's little visit..."

Dilandau laughed and hugged her tightly. "I think all three of us regret that one." He kissed her forehead. "Don't worry about it too much though, I'm sure he won't breathe a word of it to anyone. Of course, it may be good to get him to speak of it..." Rai looked up at him in horror, and he laughed some more. "Only to make him die of embarrassment, little bird! I'm only joking."

She hit his arm lightly. "Don't scare me like that!" Then she laughed at herself as she said, "I almost said that's mean of you, but you're always mean, ne onii-sama?" She pretended to cower from him, and he grinned at her wickedly. Slowly, he moved the trays off his bed so as not to make a mess, now or later.

He climbed back into the bed and pinned her again...

...and when they got up this time, now that it was well after lights out, Rai had some strange wounds to tend to on her shoulders.