There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 196 - 190. Fairy Tale

Chapter 196: Chapter 190. Fairy Tale

Before the door of the dormitory room even closed completely, Bassena had found himself in Zein’s grasp; lips slotted against each other, moving like they were trying to rob each other’s air.

Their hands were everywhere, shedding each other’s coats and letting them fall into the foyer, tripping and stumbling as they got out of their shoes until Bassena fell to the couch and stared at the beautiful face above him; the sparkling eyes, the reddened cheek, the glistening lips that were smiling lovingly.

And as he stayed still, stunned by the reality of their newfound relationship, Zein kissed him again, straddling his hips and stroking his neck.

There was one thing he realized about the guide; Zein wouldn’t always indulge his advances, but when the guide did, or initiate something, it was aggressive. And much more now.

"Do you want to continue where we left off this morning?" Zein asked, in a sultry voice that almost made Bassena squirm like a virgin. Rough hand trailing the edge of his lapel, playing with his button, and almost made the esper hiccup.

This--this was Zein being decisive. This was Zein in a relationship.

Bassena had to take a deep breath to be able to speak without stuttering. "No," he said under his breath.

Zein tilted his head, staring at the esper inquisitively. After all, it was Bassena who was asking for ’more’ this morning.

"I just want...umm, to spend more time with you," Bassena said, feeling unexpectedly bashful beneath that stare. He was used to pursuing Zein and when the guide was being assertive, it felt weird.

But in a wonderful way.

When Zein arched his brow, Bassena added swiftly. "I mean, like...just talking, or..." he shrugged, finding himself mumbling like a boy on his first date, gripping Zein’s waist nervously.

Except that Bassena never stuttered on his first date, or during his first sex. Never got this blank under someone’s gaze.

"Hmm..." Zein ran his thumb across the esper’s lips. "Like watching one of those romance movies?"

"Y-yeah?" Bassena had no idea why, but he gulped.

Zein chuckled, a wonderful sound that Bassena was sure would haunt his best dreams. "You’re getting cuter, Bassena Vaski," the guide whispered, and Bassena had never thought his name could sound that good. Zein kissed him, softly this time, before standing up.

Ah, too bad. Bassena liked having the guide straddling him.

"You pick the movie, go ask Reina or something," Zein said on his way to the bed, leaving Bassena exhaling long on the couch.

"You’re sure we can take her recommendation?"

"It wasn’t that bad really, just need a trigger warning," Zein shrugged while opening his nightstand drawer.

Bassena raised his brows, blinking in surprise. He never thought he could see Zein talking about the things that almost sent him into a panic attack this lightly just in a few days. He bit his lips, hiding the curl of his lips as he typed on his commlink.

"Never thought you’ll like the genre," Bassena laughed, and proceeded to ask Reina to send him some links to home-rent rom-com--or anything that would either make Zein laugh or cringed miserably.

He was so focused that he didn’t realize Zein was already in front of him again, until he heard a clicking sound of something being put down on the table. He tilted his head to look past the hovering screen and found a box above the table.

"Looked familiar," Bassena commented. Plain, black, with a thin silver edge, and an almost invisible emboss on the corner; Seven Ether.

It was almost identical to the box containing the bracelet he gave Zein not too long ago. Almost. This one was slightly bigger in size. Bassena spent some time staring blankly at the box before snapping his gaze up, staring at Zein in surprise.

"I can’t say this is a birthday gift, since I got it made without knowing about your birthday," Zein said, as Bassena swept the screen to the side and touched the box in front of him.

"You got this made...when?"

"After we came back from the cemetery, when you were, hmm...getting away," Zein rubbed his neck, taking his mask off.

He was feeling guilty, feeling like an asshole, and missing his esper. The next thing he knew, he asked Jock to take another route on their way to Mortix, facing a grouchy but kind old man to make something for him--for Bassena.

The order came a few days ago. An unfortunate time when Zein was deep inside his void. So the box was chucked inside the drawer, forgotten. Now, it felt like such a great coincidence.

Bassena blinked and slowly opened the box. There, laying on a black velvet cloth was a necklace, with a small pendant in the shape of a snake. A gleaming light blue aetherite was in the place of its eyes, gazing at him brilliantly.

"I had wanted to find something that resembles your eyes, but the old man told me there was none in stock, so I just used the aetherite that I saved for myself."

Bassena stared at the necklace, unconsciously holding his breath while his ears were filled with the sound of his breathing heart.

"I know this is not exactly a birthday gift, but--"

Zein stopped when Bassena grabbed the necklace and shoved it in front of his face. The amber eyes sparkled brightly, wide, with an almost child-like innocence. The esper looked at Zein wordlessly, eagerness printed all over his face.

When Zein only looked back confusedly, Bassena shook his arm, and the necklace with it, as if the man wanted Zein to take it. When the guide finally took the necklace, Bassena lowered his head, exposing his neck, and Zein couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Yes, yes, Young Master," he laughed and put the necklace right away, ending it with a light kiss on the crown of the platinum head.

As soon as the pendant touched the skin above his chest, Bassena touched the cool metal, rubbing the aetherite eyes, and slowly looking up at the guide’s smiling face.

"There," Zein said, stroking the esper’s cheek. "My adorable snake."

Amber eyes flickered, Bassena grasped the waist in front of him and pulled Zein forward, pressing his face on the guide’s abdomen. "Thank you," he said, voice slightly shaking.

Zein stroked the esper’s hair lightly, twirling the platinum chain on the bronze neck. He could see the reddened tip of the esper’s ears, and couldn’t help but rub it. The arms around his waist held tighter, and Zein could feel the shoulder trembling a little bit.

"Are you crying?" the guide tilted his head and took a half step back, grasping Bassena’s face and tilting it up. He could see the amber eyes glazed, and Bassena immediately pursed his lips.

"Why? I can’t?"

Zein arched his brow, and Bassena added again with a frown and a blushing cheek. "I’m just happy, okay?"

The esper pouted and Zein laughed in response, dropped himself to the esper’s lap and kissed the damp skin under the amber eyes. "Yeah, you really are cute," he pinched Bassena’s cheek, tapped it gently, and stroked it after. Each movement was done with affection. "Happy birthday."

Bassena bit his lips and pressed his face to the guide’s shoulder, hugging the waist above his lap and letting out a long sigh. "This is truly the best birthday."

Zein took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he kissed the platinum hair. He felt relieved that he got out of his messy head just in time. What would happen if he didn’t? If he kept drowning inside the rotten pool of his heart?

The thought of filling Bassena’s birthday with his awful act was dreadful. He could only imagine what it was like when Bassena was just losing his mother, and had to face his own birthday by himself a month later. Could the boy even think about his birthday? He was probably being indoctrinated by the Golden Serpent at that time, who most likely didn’t even know his birthday. And when he thought about it, Bassena’s cousins also tried to kill him around this time five years ago.

And he almost turned Bassena’s birthday into another awful event.

Ah...what had he done to this adorable soul?

Zein caressed the hair beneath his palm, gazing at the sturdy back that held a lot of expectation. That back was also covered with scars, something that he could feel when he embrace the bare skin. Traces of abuse, traces of effort. Traces of endurance.

That back was strong, mighty, and powerful. But it was also young, innocent, vulnerable. Just the back of a human who happened to be born with great power. Just a man. Just a lover.

His lover.

Zein smiled, lowering his head, and whispered in the slightly reddened ears; "So, what about that movie?"

"Ah, I’m waiting for it to finish downloading," Bassena cleared his throat and pulled away, summoning the loading screen to hover in the air. They could watch it together on the television, which was conveniently placed across the couch they used now.

"Hmm...alright," Zein shifted his body, somehow managing to turn his figure around to snuggly seated between Bassena’s legs, leaning back so his head was laying on the esper’s wide shoulder. "I’m going to tell you a bedtime story while we wait."

Bassena looked down, wondering which one confused him more; Zein casually sitting on his lap or the ’bedtime’ story.

"What kind of story?"

Zein crossed his arms and sighed. "A story about an awful man who touched a nasty crystal ball and got cursed with nightmares."

"Is the genre horror?"

Zein replied with a smile. "And then a wonderful knight came to free the man from the curse,"

"A fairy tale?"

"Yes," Zein widened his smile. "It’s almost like a fairy tale."

"Does it end with ’they live happily ever after’?" Bassena asked, to which Zein chuckled before replying.

"You tell me,"