Piper: The Gods of Dansarun (TPM #1)

21 | Nao-Zai

Kai-Se was huffing when he made it to Nao-Zai's side. All around them, the crowd had broken apart and started doing their own things. Some hauled broken trees into random piles for people to sit on. Others started building campfires and bringing out stringed instruments Nao-Zai had never seen before. In short, it was a festive event.

Nao-Zai didn't realize it, but they had started walking side by side, him and Kai-Se. "Congratulations on that successful story-telling," he blurted before he could stop himself.

Kai-Se chuckled, the sound of it settling something in Nao-Zai's gut like sheets being smoothed. "You know, I couldn't have done it without you," the prince said, tucking his hands inside his wide sleeves. "I couldn't have done a lot of things without you."

The tips of their feet stopped in front of one of the fallen logs. Without even needing a glance at each other, they sank against it. For a person trained to sit on velvet cushions, Kai-Se wasn't complaining when the rough and uneven surface of the log dug against their rears.

A creature with a doe for a head passed them by, bearing a tray filled with cups of something. She winked at Kai-Se and Nao-Zai before shoving cups into their hands without them asking for it. Before Nao-Zai could make her take his cup back, she sashayed away, delving into another group of soldiers who welcomed theirs with a lot more gusto.

"We've come a long way, didn't we?" Kai-Se said, stealing Nao-Zai's attention back to him. He turned to find the prince staring deep into his cup, watching the liquid slosh inside it.

Nao-Zai did the same and noted the thin consistency and the almost transparent nature. It was thinner than wine and thicker than plain water. Tea. It had to be tea. Why was it cold, though? Never mind that.

"If you mean we're a long way from Dangrao, then I agree," Nao-Zai said, taking a sip from his cup and discovering it was a little like winkle rose tea.

Kai-Se flashed him an annoyed look. "That's not what I meant."

"Hmm," Nao-Zai sipped from his cup again, enjoying the faint but calming taste coating his tongue.

"Don't just 'hmm' me!" Kai-Se huffed and dunked his drink in two gulps.

Nao-Zai took another swig and raised an eyebrow. "Not so fun when you're being the rear end of a joke, now, was it?" he said. "Imagine how I feel whenever you take the piss out of me. Almost drove me insane."

Kai-Se snorted. "What makes you think you're not insane now?" he asked.

"I'm still here, that's what," Nao-Zai answered, not thinking about what he was saying at all. Maybe it was the tea's effect. Or something. "Anyone would be crazy enough to leave you."

Kai-Se, to his credit, didn't seem to glean a deeper meaning in Nao-Zai's words. "Oh yeah," he said, chuckling to himself like a giddy kid during the Moon Festival. "I forget. You won't get paid if you ditch me."

Nao-Zai finished his drink with one last gulp. "Yeah, that too."

" 'Too'?" Kai-Se knitted his eyebrows.

Nao-Zai could definitely feel the wooziness creeping in his mind, loosening the tight screws of his mouth and his head. "Come on," he said. "You're not as insufferable as you make yourself to be. You're passionate, smart, and a bit wild. But in a good way! It's other people's loss if they didn't get to know you."

Kai-Se blinked. Then blinked some more. Did something get into his eyes? Should Nao-Zai do something about it? Instead, the prince cleared his throat and smoothed his hair off his forehead. His skin looked as pale as the large moon shining upon them. His eyes looked a little haunted and empty but they sparkled like polished marble when he smiled at Nao-Zai.

"I didn't know you're capable of blurting those words," Kai-Se said.

Nao-Zai's lids drooped. He felt some sort of waves lulling him to sleep. "And I never thought you're capable of blushing, Your Highness."

"What--- I'm not blushing!" Kai-Se drew his hand back and slapped Nao-Zai on the shoulder. The force pushed Nao-Zai to the edge of their log. The earth's pull gripepd his body and his world upended. Kai-Se lunged and his hands closed around Nao-Zai's wrist. Just then, Nao-Zai's legs jammed against the log. A strangled cry burst from Kai-Se's lips as Nao-Zai's weight pulled the prince down. They crashed to the ground, the impact driving the air out of Nao-Zai's lungs.

It was the fall that turned him breathless. Certainly not the fact that their noses were inches apart. Never the fact that Nao-Zai could feel Kai-Se's breaths tickling his lips or how the prince's weight pressed against his gut and his legs.

Oh, Paekdora Nao-Zai was suddenly wide awake now.

"Sorry," Kai-Se said. Nao-Zai couldn't ignore the fact that the prince's hands settled on his shoulders and the strands of his dark hair shielding most of his sheepish gaze, turning his face even more docile. "It was the tea. Maybe."

Nao-Zai managed to get his bearings. He gripped Kai-Se's shoulders and guided the prince back to an upright position, taking extra care to not touch the bruises he knew to be blossoming along Kai-Se's arm. "It was definitely the tea," he agreed. "Sitting on the log is dangerous. Shouldn't have done that."

"Yeah," Kai-Se bobbed his head a little too vigorously. The prince looked at everywhere but at Nao-Zai. "Yeah. Let's not do that."

"I guess I'm doing a good job until that part," Nao-Zai quipped.

Kai-Se snorted. "No kidding," he said. "It wasn't everyday your charge gets restrained and imprisoned by the gods."

"Hey, I'm not the one who removed me against my will," Nao-Zai countered. "Besides, I came back. And I won't be leaving you alone until we get back to Dangrao. It's my job but I feel like it's more than that now."

They locked eyes then. Nao-Zai made sure his voice reflected the sincerity roiling in his heart. "It's a promise, Kai-Se," he said. "I'll bring you home as soon as you're ready. Even if it's the last thing I do."

Oh, Najizaki Kai-Se was definitely blushing.

"Come on, then," Kai-Se picked himself up and dusted his trousers. He returned Nao-Zai's smile and it made his face a billion times kinder. He extended a hand towards Nao-Zai like he wasn't a prince of an Empire and Nao-Zai wasn't a soldier meant to serve it. "Let's go home."

Well, what of it? Nao-Zai didn't care if Kai-Se was a nameless piper flitting in the streets. He wouldn't trade the time they spent together for nothing.

So, he took Kai-Se's hand, noting how soft it was against his callous palms. "Yeah," he said. "Let's go home."