Allured

Ch. 2

Raul felt the light hitting him from his window through his closed eyelids. Groaning at the strong wave of pain in his temple, he turned away from the light and ran into something. Frowning with his eyes closed, he reached out and touched something warm, but it felt like skin. He paused. Didn't he go to bed alone last night?

Swallowing with nerves, he slowly opened his eyes and gaped. "Ah!" He shouted in surprise as he shoved himself away so hard that he fell off the bed. The sheets entangled with his legs as he fell. Gripping his forehead, he glared furiously. 

"Banu! How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my bed!" He shoved a finger at her, who finally sat up to rub her sleep away from her eyes. There was also the fact that she was naked. Her dirty blond hair fell from her shoulders and fell accurately at her chest.

"Sorry." Banu yawned loudly. "I must have snuck into your bed while I was drunk." She was totally unbashful about her appearance.

Raul covered his eyes with his hand, groaning as his headache grew worst. "We are no longer children. Stop sneaking into my room at night when you're drunk. I swear this happens a lot more often than it should. It's disgusting."

She laughed. "Only you would find it disgusting." Banu pointed out, amused, grabbing the sheets from Raul to wrap herself into them. "I can't control my drunk self. You're the only one I trust not to do something strange to me."

"Can you not rub in the fact that I'm not like most of the men here?" Raul grunted as he got up to rubbed his head. Thank Odin that he kept his pants on when he passed out last night. "Can you get dressed before my parents get back from checking the livestock? The last thing I need is for them to get a bright idea of marrying me off to you."

"All you do is complain about this or that." She responded, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I don't find it a big deal. If you move to the West instead of the opposite of us, you can have all kinds of partners. It doesn't need to be women either."

Raul's jaw dropped. "I don't need to hear this."

"What? I know things." Banu responded, insulted. "I figured it out a long time ago that you never got excited around women. Maybe men will? I don't know, but I'm fine with it. I only care that you're happy."

The pounding in his head began to finally ebb away when he grabbed an herb quickly to swallow down. He needed a moment to think. "You haven't... You know... told anyone?"

"Of course not." She answered, grabbing her clothing to put back on. "We've been friends since birth. It's too bad though."

"What do you mean?" Raul asked, feeling wary. Was this going to be a spiel that he should not be the way he was and pretend to be something else?

"Because I wouldn't of minded being married to you." Banu mused, throwing a wink at Raul as she put her last clothing item on, which was her shirt. She began to braid her hair. "I've always loved you but I know it doesn't mean the same to you."

"Ah, this is an awful conversation to have." Raul stated, furrowing his eyebrows. "How am I supposed to respond to that?"

Finishing her hair, she patted his shoulder. "You don't." Banu smiled at him. "I only stated a fact. You'll always be someone in my heart is all I'm telling you. But let me know if you can't get rid of your innocence as I'd be happy to have it as well as give you my own."

Raul blushed harshly into a bright red tomato. "W-Wh—"He stuttered, eyes wide, "No!"

She laughed. "We're like twenty now. We are both way past our due dates." Banu pointed out with a smile. "If our parents weren't so lenient, we would have gotten married at sixteen or younger."