p class="MsoNormal"He could hear him running down the halls to get to his room. It was a wonder how he hadn't awoken anyone else in the building. The footsteps came to a stop right before his door./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Koschei/em!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"His whispers weren't even quiet. Why couldn't he ever be quiet?/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Koschei! /emYou awake?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He rolled his eyes and got out of bed. Said boy moved quietly towards the end of the room and opened the door. On the other side, the blond boy put on the biggest toothy grin he could./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"knew/em you were awake!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei rubbed his eyes annoyingly./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I wasn't, you dipshit. It was you who woke me up."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta completely ignored him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Well then, come on! Grab a coat and follow me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei tilted his head, confusion written all over his face./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""A… coat?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta answered enthusiastically as Koschei connected the dots./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Like… to go outside?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, yeah! What else for?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Isn't this… you know… em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"super/em illegal?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, absolutely."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He put a hand on his face, wondering why in Hell's name had he ever agreed to be his friend on the first day of the Academy. As he recalled the answer to this question, he sighed and turned around to go to his closet./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Just a second."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"How could he em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"hear/em Theta's excitement?!/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""And be em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"quiet/em for Rassilon's sake!"/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;" /p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta had always been a better runner than him and em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"definitely/em louder, while Koschei had always been more serious and quiet. Their teachers always said that Koschei would make for a much better Time Lord than Theta, but the black-haired boy thought the opposite. Theta's grades were poor because he didn't find motivation in the subjects, but he was so curious, so innately crafty and wanted to learn so much about how the TARDISes worked it was both worrying and adorable. They were polar opposites but maybe just like magnets, this is how they had ended up being friends./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Apart that they both were socially awkward and didn't know how to interact with other people./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta lead him fast through the halls while Koschei tried to keep them as silent as possible. Soon they were outside, coming out through a secret corridor and hatchet that Koschei had had no knowledge of. They moved under the dim light of Gallifrey's night sky. There, they could laugh as much as they wanted and push each other and tumble over the uneven ground. They ran far, farther than they had run before, up onto the red fields of Mount Perdition until Koschei pushed Theta a bit too hard and both of them fell./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"They rolled onto the ground, playing a game of who would tire first, who would end up victorious on top and loser on the floor. In the end, Theta won, both of them still laughing. Koschei stopped as soon as he realized he was pinned to the ground by his best friend, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"the/em friend who he might have some feelings for. His cheeks flushed bright red and luckily for him, Theta, who was as oblivious as ever, didn't notice the change of colour or tension on the body beneath him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei thanked the Lords when the blond boy rolled off of him, still with a smile on his face. Koschei, still dumbstruck by his crush's beautiful smile and face and eyes and everything else, accentuated by the soft light, kept his eyes on him. Theta, on the other hand, looked up and when his hand raised to the sky, Koschei followed the line his arm had created./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm gonna see them all."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""All those stars."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei looked at him again. He could see his eyes shine bright, as bright as their two suns. He had the same look every time he talked about space, about what he would do when they were older. Theta voiced his thoughts./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm gonna leave this planet and visit every single star. With a TARDIS, I'll be able to see all the stars that there were, are and will be. I'll see them being born and I'll see them die."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's permanent smile seemed to illuminate Koschei's whole life./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Why?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Is there anything more beautiful than that?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"You are/em, he wanted to say, but Koschei knew better. They were too young for that class, but his parents had already told him. If he said this out loud, he would become an outcast by society, punished heavily, he would never make a Time Lord./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You seem to have planned everything ahead. I don't know what I'll do after the Academy."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's genuine confusion had him more confused./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean with 'what do you mean'?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You'll come with me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's smile seemed to have never left./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You'd let me?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course! We are best friends, that means we gotta stick together, be there for each other."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It felt so weird to him to hear that, hear that someone cared for him, hear that someone lo-./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Promise?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Promise."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He couldn't say it. It was outlawed. He would never be able to act on his feelings. He looked down and saw Theta's hand. He chose to ease the pressure on his chest with putting his hand on top of him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Then it suddenly happened./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A mix of images and emotions run into his mind. He recognized them as if they were his own, as if they had been his since forever, but they couldn't be. Those weren't his feelings. Those weren't his memories… because he could see himself in them. Memories he had already created with Theta… but now he could see them through em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"his/em perspective./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He pulled away his hand as fast as he could./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"But the damage was already done. They both turned to look into each other, Theta's eyes filled with wonder and Koschei's eyes filled with terror./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""wHAT WAS em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"THAT/em!?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't answer him. He didn't even feel himself pant heavily, anxiety kicking in. He didn't dare look at Theta./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""KOSCHEI, WHAT HAPPENED? WHY DID I FEEL SO WEIRD?!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He answers him, although he could also have been talking to himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""We… We connected. Telepathically."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It was very difficult and rare for someone their age to even try to reach contact with another older and experienced Gallifreyan, let alone how easily and involuntary it had happened. The first time someone connected to another mind, they usually had to concentrate, use all their mental power to achieve so, left feeling exhausted and hurt like hell. There were a many years ahead of them of training before they would be taught how to attempt to do it in the Academy, and they had just done it by pure accident./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta also knew this and started rambling. Maybe about how awesome they were, maybe about how cool it had been, but Koschei was more preoccupied by another fact. Psychic links worked both ways, if one could look inside the other, the same could the latter do to the former. If Koschei had been able to look at their relationship through Theta's point of view, that meant that he had also done the same. The problem was that he knew that Theta wasn't going to stop talking about it, and being as naïve as he was, if he had seen himself from Koschei's perspective and talked about it to the winds, things were going to go em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"bad/em./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""…What did you see?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta stopped rambling and looked at him, the stars above them were in his eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I- I saw me when we first met! And then I saw me now, just moments ago, when I was on top of you!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Oh no, Lords./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I also felt something!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Oh Gods no, please have mercy on him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Something weird to describe, it was warm, and tingly and earnest… it was pleasant."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Panic settled over him. He tore his eyes away from the other. He had seen it all, he had felt it all./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Koschei, what was it?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"There would be no point in hiding now, his secret was out./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It was love."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He raised his head and looked at the blond./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I love you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It was peaceful, quiet, almost nice, not at all how he had imagined it. His hearts kept beating and the world kept turning./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""At least I think that's what it's called."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Silence fell over them as he tore his eyes away from the other's. He looked back at the hand that had made their connection possible. He cursed everyone he could think of./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What's 'love'?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's voice resonated in his mind. Of course he wouldn't know it yet. He fought back tears./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It means I want to be with you forever and never leave your side. I want you to be happy and will do anything assure so. It means…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't want to say it, but he couldn't risk Theta asking other people about it./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It means I want physical contact with you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He felt dirty and impure and unwanted and wretched and-/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It means I shouldn't be with you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't see Theta's concern on his face./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Why?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""BECAUSE IT'S em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"ILLEGAL/em!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He only saw Theta's scared face as he yelled at him. He felt the tears fall, his lips tremble too much for his liking and his breathing quicken the pace./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Love was banned generations ago! It's indecent, it lowers us to basal animal needs! We are Gallifreyans, we em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"will /embe Time Lords! We have to be above that!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He wrapped his arms around his now raised legs. Maybe if he was small enough he could just disappear, he could just fade away./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He wanted this all to end./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You should leave."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Instead, Theta moved his body closer to him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't want to."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's voice was calm, no longer happy nor excited./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Why?! I'm broken! I'm damaged! I'm em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"flawed/em! I'll never be as good as they expect me to be!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You don't have to be."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""And why's that?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Because I love you too."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He looked at him and found no lies in his eyes. He found warmth in those eyes, he found comfort, he found Theta. Koschei pushed him down onto the grass, but this time he was the one on top of the other. Theta's eyes widened. Koschei smiled sincerely and bent down./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Their lips met and their minds merged together./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Koschei/em!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"His whispers weren't even quiet. Why couldn't he ever be quiet?/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Koschei! /emYou awake?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He rolled his eyes and got out of bed. Said boy moved quietly towards the end of the room and opened the door. On the other side, the blond boy put on the biggest toothy grin he could./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"knew/em you were awake!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei rubbed his eyes annoyingly./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I wasn't, you dipshit. It was you who woke me up."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta completely ignored him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Well then, come on! Grab a coat and follow me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei tilted his head, confusion written all over his face./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""A… coat?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Yes!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta answered enthusiastically as Koschei connected the dots./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Like… to go outside?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, yeah! What else for?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Isn't this… you know… em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"super/em illegal?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, absolutely."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He put a hand on his face, wondering why in Hell's name had he ever agreed to be his friend on the first day of the Academy. As he recalled the answer to this question, he sighed and turned around to go to his closet./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Just a second."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"How could he em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"hear/em Theta's excitement?!/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""And be em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"quiet/em for Rassilon's sake!"/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;" /p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta had always been a better runner than him and em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"definitely/em louder, while Koschei had always been more serious and quiet. Their teachers always said that Koschei would make for a much better Time Lord than Theta, but the black-haired boy thought the opposite. Theta's grades were poor because he didn't find motivation in the subjects, but he was so curious, so innately crafty and wanted to learn so much about how the TARDISes worked it was both worrying and adorable. They were polar opposites but maybe just like magnets, this is how they had ended up being friends./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Apart that they both were socially awkward and didn't know how to interact with other people./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta lead him fast through the halls while Koschei tried to keep them as silent as possible. Soon they were outside, coming out through a secret corridor and hatchet that Koschei had had no knowledge of. They moved under the dim light of Gallifrey's night sky. There, they could laugh as much as they wanted and push each other and tumble over the uneven ground. They ran far, farther than they had run before, up onto the red fields of Mount Perdition until Koschei pushed Theta a bit too hard and both of them fell./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"They rolled onto the ground, playing a game of who would tire first, who would end up victorious on top and loser on the floor. In the end, Theta won, both of them still laughing. Koschei stopped as soon as he realized he was pinned to the ground by his best friend, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"the/em friend who he might have some feelings for. His cheeks flushed bright red and luckily for him, Theta, who was as oblivious as ever, didn't notice the change of colour or tension on the body beneath him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei thanked the Lords when the blond boy rolled off of him, still with a smile on his face. Koschei, still dumbstruck by his crush's beautiful smile and face and eyes and everything else, accentuated by the soft light, kept his eyes on him. Theta, on the other hand, looked up and when his hand raised to the sky, Koschei followed the line his arm had created./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm gonna see them all."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""All those stars."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Koschei looked at him again. He could see his eyes shine bright, as bright as their two suns. He had the same look every time he talked about space, about what he would do when they were older. Theta voiced his thoughts./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm gonna leave this planet and visit every single star. With a TARDIS, I'll be able to see all the stars that there were, are and will be. I'll see them being born and I'll see them die."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's permanent smile seemed to illuminate Koschei's whole life./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Why?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Is there anything more beautiful than that?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"You are/em, he wanted to say, but Koschei knew better. They were too young for that class, but his parents had already told him. If he said this out loud, he would become an outcast by society, punished heavily, he would never make a Time Lord./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You seem to have planned everything ahead. I don't know what I'll do after the Academy."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's genuine confusion had him more confused./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean with 'what do you mean'?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You'll come with me!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's smile seemed to have never left./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You'd let me?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Of course! We are best friends, that means we gotta stick together, be there for each other."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It felt so weird to him to hear that, hear that someone cared for him, hear that someone lo-./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Promise?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Promise."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He couldn't say it. It was outlawed. He would never be able to act on his feelings. He looked down and saw Theta's hand. He chose to ease the pressure on his chest with putting his hand on top of him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Then it suddenly happened./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A mix of images and emotions run into his mind. He recognized them as if they were his own, as if they had been his since forever, but they couldn't be. Those weren't his feelings. Those weren't his memories… because he could see himself in them. Memories he had already created with Theta… but now he could see them through em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"his/em perspective./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He pulled away his hand as fast as he could./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"But the damage was already done. They both turned to look into each other, Theta's eyes filled with wonder and Koschei's eyes filled with terror./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""wHAT WAS em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"THAT/em!?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't answer him. He didn't even feel himself pant heavily, anxiety kicking in. He didn't dare look at Theta./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""KOSCHEI, WHAT HAPPENED? WHY DID I FEEL SO WEIRD?!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He answers him, although he could also have been talking to himself./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""We… We connected. Telepathically."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It was very difficult and rare for someone their age to even try to reach contact with another older and experienced Gallifreyan, let alone how easily and involuntary it had happened. The first time someone connected to another mind, they usually had to concentrate, use all their mental power to achieve so, left feeling exhausted and hurt like hell. There were a many years ahead of them of training before they would be taught how to attempt to do it in the Academy, and they had just done it by pure accident./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta also knew this and started rambling. Maybe about how awesome they were, maybe about how cool it had been, but Koschei was more preoccupied by another fact. Psychic links worked both ways, if one could look inside the other, the same could the latter do to the former. If Koschei had been able to look at their relationship through Theta's point of view, that meant that he had also done the same. The problem was that he knew that Theta wasn't going to stop talking about it, and being as naïve as he was, if he had seen himself from Koschei's perspective and talked about it to the winds, things were going to go em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"bad/em./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""…What did you see?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta stopped rambling and looked at him, the stars above them were in his eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I- I saw me when we first met! And then I saw me now, just moments ago, when I was on top of you!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Oh no, Lords./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I also felt something!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Oh Gods no, please have mercy on him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Something weird to describe, it was warm, and tingly and earnest… it was pleasant."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Panic settled over him. He tore his eyes away from the other. He had seen it all, he had felt it all./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Koschei, what was it?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"There would be no point in hiding now, his secret was out./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It was love."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He raised his head and looked at the blond./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I love you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It was peaceful, quiet, almost nice, not at all how he had imagined it. His hearts kept beating and the world kept turning./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""At least I think that's what it's called."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Silence fell over them as he tore his eyes away from the other's. He looked back at the hand that had made their connection possible. He cursed everyone he could think of./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""What's 'love'?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's voice resonated in his mind. Of course he wouldn't know it yet. He fought back tears./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It means I want to be with you forever and never leave your side. I want you to be happy and will do anything assure so. It means…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't want to say it, but he couldn't risk Theta asking other people about it./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It means I want physical contact with you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He felt dirty and impure and unwanted and wretched and-/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""It means I shouldn't be with you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't see Theta's concern on his face./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Why?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""BECAUSE IT'S em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"ILLEGAL/em!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He only saw Theta's scared face as he yelled at him. He felt the tears fall, his lips tremble too much for his liking and his breathing quicken the pace./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Love was banned generations ago! It's indecent, it lowers us to basal animal needs! We are Gallifreyans, we em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"will /embe Time Lords! We have to be above that!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He wrapped his arms around his now raised legs. Maybe if he was small enough he could just disappear, he could just fade away./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He wanted this all to end./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You should leave."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Instead, Theta moved his body closer to him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""I don't want to."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Theta's voice was calm, no longer happy nor excited./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Why?! I'm broken! I'm damaged! I'm em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"flawed/em! I'll never be as good as they expect me to be!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""You don't have to be."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""And why's that?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Because I love you too."/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He looked at him and found no lies in his eyes. He found warmth in those eyes, he found comfort, he found Theta. Koschei pushed him down onto the grass, but this time he was the one on top of the other. Theta's eyes widened. Koschei smiled sincerely and bent down./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Their lips met and their minds merged together./p