A week after Sion's birthday ceremony, Nezumi and Sion planned their first date. They decided to start simple and go star gazing. Sion cooked up a snack in the kitchen; then waited in his room for Nezumi to sneak him out. Around 11:00 Nezumi showed and whisked the prince away. They were now lying on a blanket under the endless starry sky.

"And that one is Orion the Hunter" Sion said pointing up to the constellation.

"I feel like I heard about him before." Nezumi muttered as he looked to where Sion was pointing.

"You probably read him in a Greek myth." said Sion.

"Ahh," Nezumi said. "Where did you learn these?"

"I had to take classes on Astronomy when I was younger" Sion said propping himself up on one elbow to face Nezumi. Sion still remembered the hours he spent staring through a telescope while his Astronomy teacher droned on. He had hated those classes. The sky didn't hold to much interest to him. It was too far and distant. Now however he was thankful for the long hours spent learning about the sky. It gave him something to show Nezumi.

"I see." Nezumi propped himself up on one arm to face Sion. He reached forward and took the prince's hand. Sion giggled shyly and squeezed the dark-haired man's hand.

"You know." Nezumi said nonchalantly. "I should show you a way to get in and out of the castle yourself. That way I don't need to keep picking you up for dates." Sion perked up excitedly.

"Really?!" he gasped. Nezumi snorted in amusement.

"Yeah, yeah," he said waving a dismissive hand, sitting up. "And speaking of future dates, you get to choose what we do next time." Sion sat up as wel and tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"You don't want to be near people since that might clue them in that we're dating." Sion said slowly.

"I don't mind being around people as long as no one can recognize us."

"Hmm" Sion said thoughtfully "Maybe we can get a boat and sail around the coast."

"That'll work" Nezumi said "I haven't been on a boat before."

"Really?" Sion said mildly. "So, did you come to this country by land." Nezumi raised an eyebrow.

"Who said I wasn't born and raised in this country." He asked. Sion gave him a look.

"My men searched the whole country for anyone who knows your history. Other than Cinderella you are unknown to everyone else."

"Ah," Nezumi said softly. Sion waited a moment, but it didn't seem like Nezumi was going to answer him.

"You're so secretive." The prince muttered. Nezumi gently put his arms around him.

"Don't be so sulky your highness." He said. Sion rolled his eyes and leaned into Nezumi's arms. Nezumi hesitated before pulling the prince closer. He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the white-haired man's head. Sion closed his eyes and buried himself deeper in Nezumi's arms. The dark-haired man smelled good, like ink and paper. It almost made Sion feel like he was in a library.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me." Nezumi said pulling Sion back a little.

"I wasn't going to." Sion said taking the actor's hand and softly planting a kiss on his knuckles. Instantly Nezumi froze up. Sion pulled back to look him fully in the face. Nezumi's expression hadn't changed but his whole body was tense and on alert.

"You don't like it when I kiss you." Sion observed.

"It's not that. I'm…. just not used to it."

"Don't people kiss where you come from?" Sion asked surprised. He had never heard of a place that didn't using kissing as a form of romance.

"Mouths are for eating or biting. I never head of kissing until I was here. I really don't understand it." Nezumi frowned. "Why would you trust someone to put their mouth so close to you? What if they bite you?"

"Why would someone do that?" Sion asked.

"Same reason people hit and push during fights." Nezumi noticed Sion's surprised expression turned away. "I guess that sounds strange to you."

"You don't seem to have a problem kissing me." Sion pointed out.

"I've had practices during plays." Nezumi scolded. "I didn't have a choice there." Sion observer him. He didn't realize that Nezumi grew up in such a different culture then him. The dark-haired man always seemed to fit in well. Sion thought of it for a minute before remembering when he first met Nezumi. The dark-haired man had acted extremely strange. Sion now saw that it was probably because of his different upbringing.

"Alright, so you don't want me to kiss you." Sion concluded. "And you don't need to kiss me if you don't want to." Nezumi bit his lip and looked up at the sky again.

"I do want to kiss you." Nezumi admitted. "And you can kiss me…. but not on my mouth, throat, chest, or stomach."

"Why those places?" Sion asked curious.

"Because I don't want you to bite my tongue off or rip out my throat or stomach." Nezumi said dryly.

"Do you think I'm going to do that?" Sion asked.

"Probably not, but if you try to kiss me in any of those places my instincts will kick in and I'll punch you."

"Right, so no lips, throat, chest, or stomach." Sion checked them off his fingers. Anywhere else?"

"No…" Nezumi said slowly. "I'll probably still tense up when you kiss me. I'm still not used to it." Sion moved forward until he was only a few inches away from Nezumi's face.

"Do you want me to help getting used to it?" the prince asked in a low voice putting a figure on Nezumi's cheek.

"Was that your attempt at being sexy?" Nezumi asked raising an eyebrow. Sion pulled back blushing.

"Did it work?"

"Hmmm." Nezumi looked Sion over a smile on his lips. "Maybe." He leaned forward and kissed Sion's cheek. Sion giggled.

"Just so you know you're allowed to kiss me anywhere. I mean I suppose not my lips since I would have to kiss yours then, but anywhere else."

Nezumi looked at the white-haired ma solemnly.

"That's to much trust Sion." He whispered, "You're not my mate-…I mean you don't know me that well."

"I trust you." Sion said softly. Nezumi hummed and leaned forward hesitantly before giving Sion a quick peck on the neck. The dark-haired man pulled back looking extremely satisfied with himself. Sion felt a warm sensation in his chest as he watched Nezumi. The prince wasn't sure where the dark-haired man came from, but he found Nezumi fascinating.

"Kissing you is oddly satisfying." Nezumi muttered has he pulled Sion close to him again.

"I'm glad you hear it." Sion laughed. They lay there for a while, enjoying each other's company. They were interrupted by a protest from Sion's stomach.

"Sounds like you're hungry." Nezumi said as he sat up. Sion blushed again.

"I brought a snack." The prince pulled away and rummaging in his basket. He reemerged with a small cherry pie. "I made this."

"You made it?" Nezumi said raising an eyebrow. "I didn't know you knew how to cook."

"My mother cooked as a hobby. When I was younger, she taught me how to make pastries and sweets." Sion beamed. "Try a piece." He pulled out a small knife and two plates. He cut Nezumi a slice and handed it to him. The dark-haired man took it and bit into it chewing slowly. Sion watched him nervously. He didn't know why but it mattered if Nezumi liked the pie or not.

"It's good!" Nezumi said sounding surprise. Sion relaxed as he took a piece himself.

"I'm glad you like it." He said his mouth full of pie. They ate in silence for a few seconds before Sion said softly,

"You know, my dad used to love cherry pie. He died when I was very little. My mom used to make it every year for my birthday but…" Sion looked down at his plate. "I guess she just got busy. We don't cook together anymore. We barely talk to each other. Sometimes I wonder if things would be different if my father was still alive." Nezumi had put down his plate and took Sion's hand.

"I'm sorry." He said, "Were you close to your father?"

"I don't actually remember him." Sion gave a little laugh, "It's strange isn't it. Missing someone you don't remember."

"Not really." Nezumi said. "When you get attached to someone it's hard to completely forget them." Sion surveyed the dark-haired man's face.

"Is that why you don't like getting close to people."

"Part of the reason." Nezumi shrugged. "I also just don't like people."

"I noticed." Sion laughed. Then he paused. Usually Nezumi didn't like talking about his past, but he was opening up tonight more than usual. Sion decided to take a chances. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Depends on the question." Nezumi said stiffly.

"Do you miss your family?"

Nezumi stared at him for a couple of seconds before relaxing.

"Of all the questions that wasn't the one I was expecting" Nezumi snorted. "No, I don't miss them." He cocked his head thoughtfully. "We weren't close at all…" he smirked. "my parents kicked me out of the ne-house as soon as I was old enough to fend for myself." Sion's mouth fell open in shook.

"That's terrible!" he gasped. Nezumi laughed.

"Not really. Where I came from that was normal."

"Your country sounds like a hard place to live." Sion said. "No wonder you don't like people."

"I wouldn't really consider them people…" Nezumi took another bite of pie. Sion looked at him confused but Nezumi didn't elaborate so he continued.

"Do you have sibling?"

"Plenty. Don't like them ether. I fought with my sisters and brothers over food." Nezumi looked up at the stars "I wasn't very popular, so I ended up getting kicked out of the colony. It's fine though, I rather be on my own."

"So, you're from one of the colonies?" Sion asked trying to hide his excitement. Nezumi glanced over at him amused.

"Trust me, that information isn't as useful as you think it is." Nezumi batted Sion's arm playfully. Sion laughed as he made a mental note to research more about the colonies. No matter what Nezumi said he thought that information could be useful.

A soft breeze blew, and Sion shivered a little.

"It's getting late maybe we should head bac-"

"No!" Sion cried. He didn't want the evening to end. Nezumi sighed.

"Alright then." He took off his jacket and wrapped it around the two of them. Sion snuggled in closer. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly listening to the sounds of the night and Nezumi's heartbeat. It was a beautiful evening. Sion was happier at that moment they he had been for most of his life. Here he wasn't Prince Sion; here he didn't have responsibilities; here he didn't need to be anything. He was just Nezumi's Sion.

.

.

"Hey Sion."

A finger jabbed the prince in the stomach. "It's time to wake up." Sion groaned and leaned in close to his heat source. The finger moved up and poked at his ribs.

"Stop." Sion mumbled.

"Not until you get up" Nezumi's annoyed voice rang out. "My arm's fallen asleep and it's almost three in the morning." He pushed Sion off of him. The prince gave a squeak of protest and pulled Nezumi's jacket closer around him. "You're exhausted. We should go back."

"No, I'm good, I was just resting my eyes." Sion yawned trying to blink sleep out of his eyes. Nezumi looked unconvinced.

"You look ready to pass out again." Nezumi said.

"I'm wide awake." Sion flopped forward on Nezumi's lap. The dark-haired man clicked his tongue in annoyance. After a moment the dark-haired man started to get up. Sion fell out of his lap and rolled in the grass.

"Nezumi!" he complained.

"Come on let's go." Nezumi's unsympathetic voice rang as he pulled Sion to his feet. The prince staggered for a moment before getting his balance.

"Does this mean our date is over?" Sion's voice came out pathetically quieted.

"Yep." Nezumi noticed the sad look on Sion's face and added "but we'll have another one soon."

"Really?"

"Really."

Promise?"

Nezumi leaned down close to him and ran his fingers through the prince's hair. Sion closed his eyes at the contact.

"Promise."

Sion nodded tiredly and let his body relaxing into Nezumi's shoulder. His added weight dragged both of them back to the ground.

"Hey wake up." The finger was back again, poking him on his cheek. Sion mumbled but couldn't muster the energy to move his head.

"I'm not carrying you back." The finger poked hard moving down to his stomach. Sion mumbled again and pulled his legs up to protect his belly. Nezumi sighed.

"You're such a baby. What am I going to do about you?" He grumbled. Sion felt Nezumi stand again and then felt himself being lifted up. "Come on. You need to put a little effort in." Sion stumbled as he took a staggering step forward, leaning on Nezumi for support.

.

.

When Sion next woke up, he found himself in his bedroom. Morning light was streaming through his window causing the prince to blink in the sudden brightness. He was still wearing the same outfit as he was last night. It took Sion a few seconds to realize that Nezumi was gone and their date was over. He felt a twinge of sadness. Now that the night was down, Sion was back to his normal life. With a groan the prince pulled himself out of bed. As he did, he noticed his basket was sitting on a side table. Lying on top of it was a note.

Next time we're leaving earlier. I'm not carrying you back to your bed again. I took the rest of the pie as compensation. If you need to find me, I'll be in the library.

-Nezumi

Sion smiled softly as he read the note. This was only the first date. There would be more to come. They had only had one date and he was already looking forward to the second one. The prince flopped back on his bed and hugged his pillow, his happiness returned.

.

.

Dating Sion was more fun than Nezumi originally thought it would be. The dark-haired didn't know much about how humans found a mate but from the stories and plays it seemed like a lot of drama and mouth kissing. Date Sion didn't have either of those things. Since they kept their relationship a secret there was no drama and the prince respected his request to not kiss on the mouth. Sion always tried his best during dates so Nezumi tried to open up to him a little more. Without directly telling Sion the truth (he was still not ready for that) he gave bits and pieces of his history. For some reason this always made Sion very happy. To the prince, dating was supposed to be fun. It meant sneaking out of the castle and trying new things. Then after that they would sit back and chat while snuggling. The hardest part of dating Sion was ending the date. Sion did everything in his power to make dates go on as long as possible. If Sion ended up falling asleep, he was impossible to wake. If woken he would become a child and Nezumi would have to carry him to bed.

After star gazing, the next date was a boat trip around the coast. Then after that the they went hiking around a nearby forest. Soon they were trying all sorts of things such as fishing, secret baking sessions, and long walks through towns. Nezumi even convinced Sion to go into a cave with him. The last one was an entertaining experience. The prince panicked halfway down the long dark winding tunnel claiming they were lost. Nezumi explained that he could see where they were going and new exactly how to get out, but Sion would hear nothing about it. The dark-haired man ended up bring them back to ground level. After that he mocked Sion ruthless for chickening out.

Nezumi and Sion also started exploring the nearby towns. They had to be more careful when they did this. Even with disguise someone still might recognize them. They went to all the bookstores and libraries as well as small shops and restaurants. Nezumi even convinced Sion to go to a tavern once and have a drink. He would never make the prince drink again. After one drink Sion was so intoxicated that he started making stupid love poems on the spot about Nezumi. It was embarrassing for both of them and nether would bring it up again.

Nezumi never thought about all the things he hadn't tried before. As a rat he just existed. It didn't matter if he tried something new or not. With Sion however he found himself eager to learn more about the world around him. Sion's excitement was contagious. After an hour of fishing and listening to the prince's excited comments about each fish they caught, Nezumi found himself enjoying fishing. Anything that he did with Sion was their thing. Nezumi liked that he didn't need to share Sion during these times with anyone else. This was a side of Sion no one else knew about.

When they weren't dating, or when Nezumi wasn't at work, they hung at Sion's library. These times were more peaceful then their dates. Sion would sneak into his library and snuggle with Nezumi. They rarely spoke, they didn't need to. Sion would just patter in and place himself against Nezumi. Then the dark-haired man would pull the prince into his arms and continue reading. He like that the prince could show up any time of the day or night and just stay with him.

Although no one knew they were dating, their actions didn't go unnoticed by the staff and Sion's family. Nezumi heard the maids and knights, whispering among themselves. The rumors ranged from Nezumi sweet talking himself into an important role like an advisor to Nezumi trying to steal the royal crown. Sir Williams thought Nezumi wanted to murder or kidnap Sion. He made his suspicions clear when he corned Nezumi one day and demanded to know what he was plotting. The knight threatened that if Nezumi put a hand on Sion or hurt him in any way, he would see the actor hang. Nezumi found the whole conversation amusing. It was hard to keep a straight face after that "chat". He had already lay a finger on Sion, more than a figure actually. If Sir Williams knew their relationship, he would blow a fuse. It pleased Nezumi to know that he had this secret with Sion. He was still feeling smug when he returned to the library where Sion as reading. The prince noticed right away.

"You seem awfully smug today." The white-haired man closed his book and observed Nezumi. "What happened?"

"Nothing important." Nezumi shrugged. He didn't think it was a good idea to tell Sion about Sir William's threat. He still remembered how well the prince took the last time the knight and Nezumi had a confrontation.

"Hmmmm," Sion said unconvinced.

"What are you reading?" Nezumi asked changing the subject. Sion shot him a look.

"It's a book of short stories. Right now, I'm on The Little Mermaid."

"Ahhh." Nezumi smirked. "Tell me when you finish it." Sion narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Why? How does it end?"

Nezumi's smirk grew into a full fledge smile.

"It ends badly, doesn't it." Sion said tonelessly.

"I didn't say that." Nezumi said mildly.

"I'm guessing she doesn't end up with the prince?"

"Hmmmmm I wonder." Nezumi sat down and pulled over another book.

"Fine don't tell me." Sion huffed opening the book again. Nezumi hummed and went back to reading his own story. After another ten minutes Sion gave a groan of despair.

"That's horrible!" he cried. "Not only does she not marry the prince, but she ends up dying?! Why?"

"Because life isn't fair." Nezumi looking up from his book to find Sion stared at him with a grumpy pouty face. It was too much for Nezumi who felt his heart flutter. He closed his book and gave Sion his full attention.

"She should have found a way to tell him the truth! She was the one who saved him from the shipwreck. It's not fair that the other woman got the credit."

"One's a human and one's a mermaid. One belongs to the sea and one belongs to land. They're different. Naturally they wouldn't end up together,"

"But why? Just because one had a fin and one had legs."

"It's more then that." Nezumi scooted closer to Sion. "They grew up in completely different worlds. The sea has no kingdoms, only mermaids living free. This means she doesn't understand some of the basic rules of land. Even if she wants to be human, she will eventually regret becoming one. The human's world is extremely restrictive with too many rules and laws. She wouldn't be free. And the prince doesn't even know she's different. How is he supposed to understand her? He would probably be horrified to learn that she wasn't the same species as him until only recently,"

"I still think they could be happy together." Sion muttered. "It shouldn't matter what she used to be."

"How would you feel if someone close to you turned out to be a different species?" Nezumi asked. Sion thought for a moment before answering

"I would be surprised but it wouldn't change my feelings about that person. I mean who they are now is more important than who they were." Sion turned to Nezumi. "Would it matter to you if someone close was a different species?"

Nezumi's heart pounded. Even though it was a hypothetical question Sion's words made him happy. It was nice to know that Sion would not hate him if he ever decided to tell him the truth. At that moment Nezumi wanted to kiss Sion. No on the cheek or forehead but on his mouth. It was strange how his human side desired something so weird. Despite his desires he knew he couldn't act on them. If Nezumi kissed Sion, he would punch him out of instinct. It was frustrating. The only person he kissed on the lips was an actor for a play. After socking the man, he learned a staged kiss that allowed him to appear as if he was kissing without doing so. Right now, though he wanted to really kiss Sion. There was something about the prince's lips that drew Nezumi in. Kissing Sion in general turned out to be more fun and pleasing then he first thought it would be. He only kissed Sion at first to make the prince happy. Now it was something he enjoyed. There wasn't a single area on Sion's body, excluding his mouth, that Nezumi hadn't kissed. Sion had respected Nezumi's wishes and did not kiss any area that made him uncomfortable. Instead of feeling relived the dark-haired man felt aggravated. He wanted Sion to claim him like he had claimed Sion.

"Nezumi?" the prince' voice broke through dark-haired man 's thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't answer the question. Would it matter to you if someone close was a different species?"

Nezumi looked at Sion. He looked at the human that he wanted to take as his mate. He looked at the human he wanted to claim him as his own.

"No, it wouldn't matter."

"See!" Sion exclaimed. "Therefore, the mermaid and the prince should end up together!"

"Yeah." Nezumi mumbled only half listening. He knew that if he truly wanted to kiss Sion on the lips, he would need to work through his problems. To do that he would need to rewire how he viewed mouth to mouth contact. It would be difficult, but Nezumi knew over time he would be able to do it.

Then he would kiss Sion.