Author's notes: Oops! Is it a greater sin to constantly misspell the name of a character you made up than a canon one? Thanks for pointing it out, Misura, I'm about to go fix it now! How it turns out with Javon the rest of you will just have to wait and see. We're at the halfway mark now, only six more chapters to go! This another one of those fairly short chapters that exists simply to show things such as passage of time and various developments that may seem mundane but are important in the sense that they need to actually happen before … other stuff … can occur. Yes. Other stuff. I have the vocabulary of a five year old. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, the next chapter will possibly be out tomorrow, as while it is longer in length than this one, I was not happy at all with this chapter when I wrote it and had to do more editing with it than I've had to do with other chapters.


Kiss: Our Distance and That Person. News/Letter.

To Kai-stern,

It has been two months since you left, and upon hearing that you were to be based in Sandi for the next month and a half, I decided to attempt to send you a letter, delivered by the hands of a band of traders heading in your direction. I doubt this will reach you, as while I paid them a fair price to 'guarantee' the delivery, my faith in vagabonds has always been … well. You already know.

If this does reach you, then I hope it finds you well.

Yours Faithfully,

Alfeegi.

-/-

Dear Alfeegi,

I must admit I rarely ever get mail on my travels, partly because my schedule is somewhat erratic, I suppose. This is a nice change, however! Don't get me wrong! Everything here is as wonderful as it could possibly be, and I'm not saying that merely because everything into and out of the city is censored. I might have to spend a little longer here than intended, but I'll be sure to send you something when I'm about to move on. The beer here is fabulous, not that I'm ever buying it myself, of course.

Vagabonds are the ones you should ALWAYS trust, Alfeegi. It's the diplomats that you have to be wary of!

Always,

Kai-stern.

-/-

To Kai-stern,

After a horrendous day where no-one seemed to understand the concept of deadlines, it was admittedly rather nice to receive your reply. While certain parts of your letter were blacked out, I managed to catch the overall idea of the letter, and I am glad to find that you are working hard.

Everything here is as usual. I am, naturally, the only one doing any work, to the point where I am beginning to suspect that you and Ruwalk have started to rub off slightly on Rune, of all people. Really, the two of you have such a huge influence over others that you should both be more careful with the examples you set. The last thing we need is for the youngsters at Draqueen to focus on the less than stellar points that you two offer, especially as you are both almost decent at your jobs when you properly apply yourselves.

Yours Faithfully,

Alfeegi

-/-

Dear Alfeegi,

Apologies for the delay, I realize that it has been almost two months since my last letter, but the situation in Sandi became such that outside correspondence was not really all that feasible. We managed to sort out the mess somewhat, but what the city really needs is some rebels to come overthrow it and get rid of the monarchy. Not that I am promoting anarchy, naturally. But sometimes it seems like diplomacy is far too slow, and that innocent people suffer as a result. Shiona is far more advanced politically, and I'm finding I can breathe slightly easier here.

Although, that said, the beer is not quite as good. It is a tad too bitter for my tastes. I suppose you can't have everything, right?

Always,

Kai-stern.

-/-

To Kai-stern.

I'm going to pretend that you have not mentioned beer in almost every one of your letters, if only because I think you are doing it to deliberately rile me. If I do, however, find out that you have been spending money set aside for your mission on such pointless beverages – and in large qualities at that – be warned that there will be punishment served upon your return, and Ruwalk will not be able to save you.

Speaking of Ruwalk, he sends his best wishes, as does Javon – he suggests checking out the natural caves in the region if you have time, as they are supposed to be stunningly beautiful. Naturally, I told him that of course you wouldn't have time because of a little thing called 'work' you had to first attend to. Rath would also like for it be noted that he knows that you are going to Monia next, and that he would very much appreciate it if you were to bring back some maps of the area for him. I have no idea why.

Yours Faithfully,

Alfeegi.

-/-

Dear Alfeegi,

Tell Rath that the maps have been bought and sent off to him separately, and let Ruwalk know that I am as naïve as he is subtle, and that I have indeed remembered to pick up two bags of the sweets he loves so much. He, however, can wait until I get home before he can have them, which is only another four or so months.

Send my wishes to Javon, also. I'm glad he is still around, although I am rather surprised that you haven't managed to scare him off with your dreadful temper yet.

Always,

Kai-stern.

-/-

Dear Kai-stern,

Ruwalk is sulking in the corner as I write this, which on one hand is rather appropriate, but on the other is rather annoying to have to deal with. If he bemoans his fate one more time, I swear that I will turn my supposedly 'dreadful temper' on him. Really, the only reason I ever get angry is because all of you seem set on infuriating me.

Yes, my relationship with Javon is still … progressing. I am most certainly not going to go into the kind of details I KNOW you want in a letter, in fact, I doubt I would go into them in person with you, either. You are often far too nosy for your own good, Kai-stern – especially considering that I cannot recall the last time you went out on a proper date, yourself. You are hardly one to talk.

Yours Faithfully,

Alfeegi.

-/-

Dear Alfeegi,

You wound me! Have I ever enquired into the personal nature of your relationships with anyone? Wait, strike that. Have I ever enquired into the personal nature of your relationships with anyone without having your best interests at heart? It is not so much that I am nosy, as I am … no. You're right. I am completely and utterly nosy. It's Ruwalk's influence on me, I swear.

You do not need to concern yourself about my own relations, if it makes you feel any better there are many attractive Monians here, and I have hardly been all that reluctant when invited out for a drink or two. Naturally, as I am not as virginal and pure as you are, dear Alfie, the progress I make on my dates is far greater than anything I'm sure you've even thought about doing with Javon.

And, yes. That is a very subtle attempt to goad you into revealing whether he has ever had the opportunity to stay the night, yet. You have been seeing Javon for almost a year now, after all.

Always,

Kai-stern.

-/-

Sometimes, Alfeegi wanted to remind Kai-stern that while the human was experienced in a whole variety of ways that one really shouldn't mention in polite company, Alfeegi was still almost a hundred years older than him. Once upon a time Alfeegi had in fact been somewhat youthful, and while he perhaps lacked the eternal youth that Kai-stern sometimes seemed to own, he hadn't always been quite as serious and uptight as he was now. After all, the only reason why he was ever got remotely uptight (or so he liked to argue) was because of the stress of having to work far too hard as a result of his incompetent workmates.

And, really. Alfie?

Kai-stern was going to find that he had a whole heap of paperwork to fill out once he got back.

Still, Alfeegi couldn't help but smile fondly as he folded Kai-stern latest letter and placed it away safely in his top drawer. It had been almost eight months since Kai-stern had left on his latest round of travels, and Alfeegi was finding that he was actually missing his friend more than he had expected. He'd never really thought that Kai-stern would take the time to reply to his first, impromptu letter, but Kai-stern had proven to be a dedicated pen pal, even if there were times when correspondence was almost impossible.

Kai-stern would be back in a couple of months or so, if everything went well. Rath was sure to be pleased, and it was always nice when Kai-stern was back at the castle, although strange things seemed to have a habit of happening whenever Kai-stern was around. Although, he thought wryly as he remembered how Kai-stern had talked about the various Monians that he had gone on 'dates' with, it appeared that things happened wherever Kai-stern was in general. Alfeegi couldn't imagine getting intimate on any level with someone he had just met, and occasionally the casualness with which Kai-stern took bed partners made him feel a little concerned. Kai-stern always laughed that concern off, more often or not turning the conversation back onto Alfeegi in some manner. The human had a way with playing with words as though it was all some sort of game, but Alfeegi had begun to learn that it was one of Kai-stern's most vicious defenses.

"I'm working." Alfeegi protested as arms suddenly wrapped around his shoulders from behind, distracting him immediately from both his thoughts and his work. He had to hold back a smile as Javon began to drop kisses down the back of his neck, gently brushing away the aqua hair that fell in the way.

"I can leave if you like," Javon murmured quietly, never stopping with his soft kisses.

"I think you should." Alfeegi would be damned if his voice didn't hold just a hint of husk. "And to make sure that you go straight back to your room and don't assault other, poor workers, I shall accompany you."

"I have a habit of escaping if left unsupervised." Javon pulled away, but only long enough for Alfeegi to rise to his feet and put away the rest of his papers.

"The things I do to protect the people of Draqueen." Alfeegi said it was a slight smirk before gently pressing his lips against Javon's. It wasn't as though he wasn't used to having to supervise the other man, anyway.

After all, Alfeegi had been 'sleeping over' for almost a month now. While Alfeegi was known as something of a prude by most people, it was more that he preferred to keep his relationships as private as possible as opposed to some recessive gene that disallowed him any sort of romantic or lustful thoughts. His progress with Javon might have been slow by others standards, because of Alfeegi's own reluctance to get too deeply involved with anyone, but there had still been progress – and that progress had ended up in the bedroom a couple of weeks ago. It had been strange at first and Alfeegi had almost feared rather pathetically that he would be out of practice, but that night had gone wonderfully well, as had the nights that had since followed.

It helped that Javon was very good at everything he did, without exception.

Kai-stern would be proud.

-/-

Dear Kai-stern,

I refuse to justify such a perverted question with an answer. I will see you in a couple ofmonths – keep yourself safe.

Always,

Alfeegi.