Once out the sight of their guests, Izumi stumbled up to walk beside Ryouma instead of lagging behind. The blue raven was still walking briskly through the halls of the castle, further and further away from the hustle and bustle of the hall and other populated sections of the castle. He followed in silence for a few beats before opening his mouth to speak. He sucked in a breath, as he was half jogging to keep up with the taller prince, and began to speak.

But before he could ask his fiancé where they were going, why they had left so suddenly, or what had gotten into him, Izumi was thrust up against the stone walls of the corridor they were traveling by Ryouma's cool hands. On impact, all the air in his lungs gust out in a large breath, and before he could inhale properly, the biting chill of Ryouma's lips covered his mouth.

He stood there in the shadows of the corridor, on the tip of his toes straining to maintain balance at the height Ryouma drew him. His hands had instinctively clutched Ryouma's when the raven had shoved him to the wall. Caught up in the moment, Ryouma had fisted the collar of his blouse so roughly, the two top buttons had popped, leaving Izumi's collarbone exposed to the night's air. The acidic smell of alcohol was burning his nose as he absorbed Ryouma's rough and welcome assault on his mouth. The raven's tongue probed against the blonde's lips until he gained entry, and once he had bypassed Izumi's defenses, he explored every crevice and corner of the prince's mouth. Izumi moaned weakly around Ryouma's tongue and moved his lips in sync with the other man's.

He was enjoying this extemporaneous moment, the unpreparedness of his first kiss, and the emboldened way Ryouma finally claimed him. No drunken words would have been sweeter than his inebriated and graceless stumble into Izumi's body. Ryouma's authoritarian advances had broken the facade of indifference Izumi had built, and disintegrated his will to save face if anyone would see them as Ryouma thrust his body harder against the younger prince. The raven grunted into Izumi's warm mouth as the blonde's lower half slowly ground against the hardened appendage between Ryouma's legs.

He doesn't know what he is doing to me, Ryouma thought, happily grinding against the smaller prince in return.

He released Izumi's collar, allowing the boy to drop down to his normal height, before lowering one hand to Izumi's crotch. He hooked the other hand behind the blonde's neck, holding him still as he lowered his head to meet the blonde's heated kisses again. Izumi's body shook at Ryouma's clumsy touches against the fabric of his pants.

"P-please," Izumi pleaded, voice quivering and weak from the sensation.

Ryouma pulled back slightly to ask the blonde what he wanted Ryouma to do to him, but then two voices drifted from around the corner. Two servant girls emerged, carrying linens towards the royal chambers, in the direction Ryouma was dragging Izumi before he couldn't restrain himself from touching the blonde anymore They had frozen the moment they heard voices down the hall; Ryouma had closed the minute distance between them again, muffling Izumi's lips with his, and pressed his and his fiancé's body into the shadows further, thanking the massive column's shadow that masked their presence.

"Oh, the foreign prince is so lovely. You should have seen him dancing throughout the night!" One girl squealed.

"Ugh. I was stuck chopping vegetables in the kitchen," the other girl replied, "but I would've loved to see his Highness. He is so dreamy and handsome!"

The first girl giggled in response, obviously agreeing. They continued chatting as they passed the princes and disappeared down the corridor into the night. Ryouma smiled against Izumi's hot lips, and resumed the torturous slow kneading of Izumi with his hand.

"You're so popular," he whispered, and Izumi groaned incoherently in response.

He continued massaging skillfully and relished how Izumi twisted and moaned to his touch. He had touched many people in this way, but the enjoyment of touching Izumi was thrilling. He rubbed the blonde in the same way he would please himself at night thinking of touching the foreign prince.

But actually doing it was much better than he imagined.

He would always wonder how Izumi would feel against his body... what the blonde would do to him when they were married. The thought was too much.

He withdrew his hand, and Izumi waited a few beats, expecting him to resume. Then the young prince stopped kissing the raven back, and nudged Ryouma back to look in his eyes.

"We have to wait." Ryouma's groggy tone was annoyingly resolute.

"For what?" The exasperation in Izumi's tone caused Ryouma to wince.

"I'm not a child."

The defiant offended Izumi Ryouma had met was back in his drunken stupor, and the attitude made Ryouma hesitated before replying.

"W-we have to wait until I'm your husband and-"

"I'll be your husband," Izumi said suddenly and hotly.

"Not wife."

Ryouma deserved that.

He knew it, albeit the timing of the confrontation was inconvenient. They were in a compromising position, both visibly aroused and half-drunk off honeyed-wine and pent up desire. The last anyone had seen them, Izumi was being dragged away by Ryouma. Anyone stumbling upon this scene could only speculate what they had been up to… although he had stopped them from grinding themselves together until completion. That would be too brazen, soiling their clothes publicly before their wedding.

He blinked sheepishly at Izumi's statement, remembering his misstep so many months ago in Luxsolis, offending his fiancé and believing he had ruined it with the beautiful man who was now standing before him, wanting Ryouma to continue pleasing him. He pulled Izumi to him, wrapping his arms around the shorter prince.

"I'm sorry."

"I forgive you " Izumi said and blushed, pulling back his head from the other man's chest and glaring up to him. His cheeks were dusted with a slight shade of pink as Ryouma reached up to thumb his checks.

"Good," Ryouma said, hiccupped, and quickly covered his mouth with one hand, mortified at the undignified sound he made.

Izumi guffawed at the other prince's embarrassment, alerting several guards to their presence. Within seconds the two princes were no longer alone in the shadows as guardsmen swarmed the corridor for the royalty that had slipped from their watch. Izumi was still giggling crazily against Ryouma's arm when they came and Ryouma stood between Izumi and the rest of the corridor, shielding their arousal from view.

"I want to sleep in your room," Izumi muttered to himself, resting against Ryouma, "but I'm too scared to ask."

"You're drunk," Ryouma whispered, amused as Izumi's breathing evened out, and the gold prince stood up independently.

Despite his initial composure, Izumi giggled the whole way to Ryouma's chambers that night, filling the halls with his giddy joy while several of both princes' guards marched behind them.


When Izumi woke, it was not a sudden realization that he had slept in Ichijou Ryouma's bed chambers.

No, he had first felt the smooth silk of the raven's sheets against his bare skin before he realized. He twisted and rolled deeper into the plush oasis that was the thick, cool mattress and abundance of pillows before opening his eyes. When the blurriness of morning dissipated, he found where the raven was and watched him silently, hoping no one noticed that he was no longer asleep.

Ryouma was by the windowsill, instructing a servant with a small tray of plates in one hand and a pitcher in another over to the bed. When he and the servant glanced over to the bed, his dark blue eyes immediately found Izumi's bright ones. The servant placed the tray and pitcher down on the night table beside Izumi's head, bowed to the blonde prince, and exited the chambers.

"Hello," Ryouma said, smiling.

He approached the bed and sat, back facing Izumi. He turned his head and looked back into Izumi's eyes.

"Hi," Izumi's response was barely a whisper.

He clutched the duvet to his chest, nervous. His cheeks felt hot. He couldn't remember much of the night before, but waking up in another man's bed.. his fiancé's bed, felt compromising. He was bare-chested, too; luckily, he felt the fabric of pants around his waist under the blankets. But the pants were too breezy to be the fancy britches he wore at the dinner. Someone must've changed him, and that someone had to have see him naked to have done do. He buried himself deeper into the blankets.

So did we? He thought, frantic for a moment.

Was he the one to change me? Did he call servants instead?

How many people know I did not return to my chambers? Nao, certainly.

Sagara Rei? Half the castle?

"Are you hungry? I had breakfast prepared for us here," Ryouma explained, and Izumi froze under the cocoon of blankets.

He knew the raven couldn't see him, but he still felt shy. Trying to collect his disarrayed thoughts, the blonde peeked from the top of the bundle covering him. Near-midnight eyes were still watching him. The calm and controlled regal composure of Ryouma was something Izumi envied about the prince. He broke the staring contest and looked at the tray of hot oats and fruit with toast and honey on the stand a few inches from his head. The smell of cinnamon and baked apples drifted throughout the room; even his fortress of silk and cotton couldn't protect him against the effects on his stomach. The groan of his empty stomach betrayed him. Ryouma chuckled.

"Uh... uh... eh... uh... eh..."

Izumi lip trembled as his eyes darted from the tray to Ryouma to the door. He had so many questions. How did he end up here? Were they intimate? Was he a sufficient lover? He really didn't know… He had never been with someone in that nature. Surely, his anxiety constricted his ablility to form coherent sentences. And it wasn't helping that Ryouma's eyes were locked on him, lazily roaming his face, shoulders, other places seemingly through the fabric of the bed..

He pushed himself into a sitting position on the bed. Ryouma adjusted himself to accommodate the avalanche of blankets between them.

"Are you feeling well, my prince?"

Ryouma lead over the mountain of sheets and closer to Izumi, feeling the younger prince's cheeks and forehead. After noticing no fever, he stood and leaned over more, resting his forehead against the blonde's. Panic time.

"I have to go!"

The blonde jolted from the touch and quickly scampered to his feet, swinging the covers away from him and launching him to the other side of the room. He found the nearest bundle of clothing on the floor and plucked his party attire from it.

He was moving so quickly that Ryouma was at a loss for words, watching wordlessly as his fiancé jumped into his ripped blouse from last night and lucked his shoes under his arm. Izumi couldn't find his trousers so he opted to wear the ones he was currently wearing and have a servant fetch his original pair later. When he was safely in his room, behind the large timber doors that separated him from the rest of the embarrassing world, he could send someone for them.

He ran from the room faster than lightening could strike. The sound of Ryouma calling to him echoed throughout the hall. The two guards posted outside the prince's chambers jumped to attention when he ran past them, sending them apologetic smiles each. They looked at each other, confused, as the sight of their soon king's fiancé running away from the chambers looking quite disheveled was not a common sight to behold.

Izumi hurried down the corridor, praying to himself the broken collar wasn't too noticeable during the few minute trek to his chambers. He also prayed to not run into any gossiping maid or inquisitive scholar. If he were home in Luxsolis, his brother would have heard about this incident before he stepped foot outside. Luckily for Ryouma, Shougo wasn't here to beat him.

And he was happy for that, too.

He knew in his bones that Ryouma did not take advantage of his drunkenness, the gentleness of his gaze this morning showed as much.

In his rush, memories flowed back to him.

The raven had lead him to the king's suite, and Izumi immediately made a beeline to the massive bed at the end of the room. He had thrown himself into that paradise of comfort while Ryouma sent for a change of clothes and refreshments for them both. He had said he wanted to talk to Izumi about his feelings, but when he had finished changing into his nightwear and blowing out each candle in the room, Izumi had fallen asleep, his last memory of the night was Ryouma pulling a shirt over his toned chest.

Izumi feared his confession this morning, and he feared his own reaction. He feared telling Ryouma how much he thought of him, and how seeing him last night at the event sparked the match sticks of desire, longing, and admiration inside him. Seeing Ryouma cast his light over the room like the moon among stars brought his buried and neglected wants for him to the forefront of his mind. And tasting his sweet and refreshing lips for the first time ensured the Izumi could not face the raven without slipping out everything and without asking him to love Izumi the way Izumi felt he may starting to love him.

He kept his head down, hoping to hide the love marks over his body. Blotchy pink and light purple bruises decorated the prince's neck and collarbone. He cursed himself when he rounded the corner and there stood Sagara Rei. The older man was studying a map when the blonde stopped n front of him.

"How are you, Your Highness?"

Rei's tone did not denote any knowing, but Izumi wouldn't put it past the man to have known every happening of last night. Izumi glared daggers as he slowly sidestepped the adviser, who raised his eyebrows once he absorbed the prince's appearance.

"I take it last night went well," Rei said, most pleased. He wasn't expecting this progression for a few months or years even. But could there be hope for this union?

"You have your answer," Izumi spat, brushing past the adviser and disappearing around another corner.

Ryouma adjusted his bifocals on the bridge of his nose and changed his course to the study, planning how he'd inform the Luxsoli royal family and council members of the more immediate wedding plans.