Notes: This chapter was a bucket load of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Reviews make me update sooner, lol.

Dedications: To Feel The Waltz, Dramatizer, Crimsonoaks, Ascended-Demon, Coco Bean Cake, GhettoBread and anonymous. Your response make me all fussy and cuddly –smooches-

Eight – Spontaneous in the dark

Everything was blissfully and blessedly quiet in the office.

In fact, it was so quiet that Maurice was starting to feel that there was something jinxed about it, and the unease refused to leave him. On the wall above the door the clock was ticking time away; tick tock, tick tock. His eyes kept being drawn to the little arrows that showed the time, without fail, every third minute.

Just as he thought he had gotten a grasp on his concentration something slammed so hard into his desk that he gasped and broke the pen in his finger from sheer surprise. Wide eyed he looked up, finding Gilligan returning the stare, and the clock ticked another thirty seconds away before the blonde raised his eyebrows and scoffed. “A bit twitchy today, are we?”

“No-“

Gilligan did not look convinced.

“Alright, yes. I might be a little twitchy. But that is unimportant. I see you finished answering the questions?” The folder that had forcefully been put on his desk contained several sheets with questions, all related to Gilligan in one way or another, to his thoughts on matters and his background information. It was a formality that had to be done, but he’d admit, he was curious to read what the blonde had written. Who knew, he might even get some answers that he dreaded asking for.

“They bored me to death,” he complained and crossed his arms over his chest, lips pursed in what was probably meant to look like dignified sulking but came across as childish pouting.

“I doubt that. I haven’t moved an inch” Maurice smiled slightly, only to regret it the second Gilligan raised a hand to the bridge of his nose, pinched it and moaned unhappily.

“You have the worst sense of humor I have ever come across, hands down,” came the lament.

The insult wounded his pride, but he quickly swallowed it down and tilted his head to the side, puzzled at the reaction his little comment had gotten. “Well, I’m sorry that my sense of humor does not fit your tastes.”

“Don’t both-“

His words were cut off as the office door came crashing into a bookshelf, thanks to having been torn open without consideration for the inventory. Maurice shrieked in a most undignified manner and rose from his seat, concerned for his precious books. Good lord, the door had rattled the shelves so badly that they nearly fell down! It was one thing to come crashing in like a thunder storm, but to hurt his books? Oh, mercy…

“Maurey! Ya gotta hide me!” Loke’s familiar voice whined.

The Norse Deity stood frozen in the doorway, blue eyes wild with panic, blonde curls tangled and messed up from whichever prank he had been pulling before he fled in this direction. At the sound of heavy footsteps he seemed to finally react and proceeded to throw himself in Maurice’s lap with such desperation that Death hadn’t seen its like for years. The boy crawled onto his knees and pulled the long robes over himself, though it was a poor attempt of a vanishing act.

Gilligan and Maurice stared funnily at one another, both of them confused as hell as to what was going on. Though, the question answered itself as Morpheus appeared in the doorway with anger just about radiating from his tall form. His beautiful features were twisted, the mouth that usually smiled and teased set thinly. Maurice actually felt Loke cower and tremble on his lap. He owed the boy no favours, but he put a protecting arm around him, if only because he had never seen Morpheus quite that pissed off before.

“Give him to me, Hades,” the man growled and crossed the room in two long strides. His hands were slammed down on the desk much the way the folder had been a little earlier, but at least he was prepared for it this time (that didn’t stop him from jumping in his seat). “Give the bloody brat to me. Now. I won’t take no for an answer.”

Gilligan cleared his throat and came to stand behind the desk. He faced Morpheus without the slightest ounce of concern for his own well being. “Excuse me, but you can’t come barging in this way and demand things. Ever heard of, oh, I don’t know- being polite?”

“I have business with the mongrel.”

“Maybe we do too,” Gilligan said calmly and leaned forward just a little without ever breaking eye contact. “Don’t go barking up the wrong tree. Are you sure you’ve got the right person in the first place?”

Morpheus laughed suddenly. “Trust me- no one but Loke can make that much mischief in such a short amount of time. Now, hand him over.”

This time Loke really had gotten himself in deep trouble, and Maurice was not so sure it was his his place to get the boy out of it. Then why was Gilligan so set on going against Morpheus? He was so young and inexperienced, there was truly a lot for him to learn about working relationships in Underworld.

“Won’t do. Sod off.”

“Do something about your lapdog, Hades,” Morpheus sighed and rubbed at his forehead in a clear display of frustration. “Make him back down. Loke has some serious punishment waiting for him after what he did.”

The word ‘lapdog’ made the blonde stiffen, and Maurice’s only thought was uh oh. Best he solved the conflict before it got out of hand and Gilligan attacked the man with his bare fists. He raised a hand, intending to hush them both, and surprisingly it worked. “Calm down, the two of you. What has he done this time?”

“He stole my dream powder and used the whole lot of it on my assistant. I swear, she is going to be asleep for the next two months, which leaves me to do all the work myself. Just imagine what you would do without Galen for two months straight,” Morpheus grumbled, and Maurice felt for him. It didn’t matter which position you held in Underworld- they all came with unseemly amounts of paperwork.

“Yes, I see your problem. But you know that Loke can’t help the mischief he does, Morpheus. It is in his nature to cause trouble for the rest of us, just as it is in your nature to seduce and give the humans pleasant dreams.”

“That’s a poor excuse.”

“That might be, but he does not deserve your wrath.” Mauice was going to regret this at some point. With his luck the boy would come running straight here every time he got in trouble. “I shall scold him for you and administer a proper, peaceful punishment. Don’t worry, I will make sure he understands the severity of what he has done.”

There, situation resolved without violence.

Morpehus’ sigh was heavy, but he nodded and took a step back from the desk. “Fine, I’ll back off this time. But if he pulls another stunt like that I promise he won’t be able to run and hide behind you.” He paused. “Or on you, as seems to be the case.”

“Thank you.”

“You better be thankful, brat, because next time you won’t be so lucky.” Morpheus pointed a threatening finger at the huddled lump under Maurice’s robes before raising his chin, again his calm and august self as he turned on his heels and left.

The door had barely closed behind the man when Loke popped his head out with a big, fat smile on his face. All of the previous panic was gone, thanks to him, but he had no intention of letting the boy off easy. “Thanks, Maurey. Ya’re a good fella.” When he made a move to climb down Maurice seized him by the neck, pinching to keep him in place, and cleared his throat.

“And where do you suppose that you are going?”

“Err, out?” Loke smiled so sweetly that any girl would have swooned and gotten a big sister complex just from seeing it. “Ya know, since Morpheus is gone ‘n all.”

“Young man, you aren’t going anywhere until the two of us have had a little chat.” He tried to be strict, really, but none of the other two were taking him seriously. If anything, Gilligan had both eyebrows raised and was giving him a funny stare for even trying. “You need to stop this, Loke. I won’t always be here to solve your conflicts, and though I am well aware that you don’t have ill intentions I think you need to learn how to take responsibility for your actions.”

“Awww, man, c’mon!”

“He won’t learn.” Gilligan’s hand closed over his own, his skin warm and dry and incredibly soft. His fingers pried Maurice’s from the boy’s neck and released him, and Loke was halfway across the room in a single second, trying to guilt Maurice into letting him go by making googly eyes at him. “Just let him go.”

Now, this was an interesting turn of events. Since when had Gilligan made even a tiny effort to protect or be nice to any of his co-workers, including Death himself? The confusion must have showed on his face, because Loke quickly blurted out some whimsical nonsense that suspiciously felt like covering up something that Maurice was not supposed to understand or know.

“Gilligan’s actually a nice guy, huh? Who’d have thunk?” Loke stuck his hands in his pockets and did his best impression of an adorable puppy.

Oh well, he’d get a headache if he was to deal with Loke any longer.

“Very well. Get going then, shush. I don’t want to see you in my office for another month, understood?”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. See you, boys!”

Just as suddenly as he had arrived he was out the door, and the silence that followed was a gift from above. The boy even remembered to shut the door on his way out.

“His puppy dog eyes have gotten to you too, have they now?” he asked and looked up at the blonde. “Which is perfectly understandable. That boy can get away with murder, if he tries.” Of this he had no doubt, but Gilligan shrugged and appeared to be uninterested in his theories.

“We were supposed to pick up something for me today, weren’t we?”

“Yes, that’s right.” He had been about to suggest that they get going when Loke interrupted their conversation, which had chased the thought from his mind, and Galen was off running an errand and not present to remind him. Thankfully, his assistant’s memory seemed to be sufficient. “A charm so that you can pass through things too. It should be finished by now, I assume.”

“Why does the lot of you have such inconvenient or lame names? White Tiger, what kind of name is that?”

“I’ll have you know that it is his title. I respect him, which is why I use it. You would do well do show him respect too. He is a fine man.” Maurice rose from the chair, smoothed out his robe and motioned for Gilligan to walk with him.

“So he is a man, not a tiger? Go figure. I’d never have guessed that the Easter Bunny looked like a human either.” His tone was dry and mocking. “Whoever names you people sure has a knack for misleading titles.”

Maurice had lived far too long with only Galen as his company, he realised. Things like these were clear as the sky to every single person he worked with, but Gilligan had no clue. The boy might be a natural, he might be talented or chock full of knowledge, but Maurice wished he had bothered to find out more about the workings and staff of Underworld before he applied for the job as Death’s assistant.

“Most of us also go by regular names. The titles happen to be a convenient way for others to know to whom you are referring when you talk. The White Tiger’s name is Yao, as I am sure he will inform you when you shake hands.”

Were they having an actual conversation? Yes, they were…weren’t they? Gilligan was not insulting him and he was not trying to escape the blonde’s presence so this must qualify as a conversation. The corners of his mouth tilted upward in a pleased smile and of course that did not go by unnoticed.

“What are you smiling for?” Gilligan looked suspicious, as if he was under the impression that something bad would happen if Death smiled. Granted, it did not happen often, but it was perfectly harmless.

“Us. Listen to us.”

“…..”

“We are talking, Gilligan. We are having a chat, just like normal people.”

“And this makes you grin like a doofus because…?”

He was not grinning, but oh well, he had no intention of starting an argument. “I was worried that we wouldn’t get along at all. You don’t seem to like me very much.”

Silence.

When he sneaked a glance at Gilligan the blonde was frowning deeply, and Maurice felt his own smile falter in response. So it was true then? Maybe it was because he had no backbone? Or because he was whimsical? His mood dropped like a rock.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gilligan huffed. “You would know if I didn’t like you- trust me. I don’t mince my words, and never when it comes to people I can’t stand. Just because I’m rude it doesn’t mean that I dislike you.”

Then he sure had a strange way of treating the people he did like, Maurice thought. He wondered whether Gilligan was rude and cold to his own mother too. It didn’t seem entirely unlikely, judging from the time he had spent thus far with him. Had he been this way as a child? There were two ways to answer that question, but his curiosity was not bothersome enough for him to take the necessary steps to find out. He could either talk to Gilligan’s mother or go dig up information about his past, but both options were rude, in his opinion. What business was it of his?

“We are here.”

Gilligan’s steps came to a slow halt, then a full stop.

“He lives in a…forest? How on earth did a forest pop up here in the first place? We are indoors. I know the place isn’t exactly your average office building, but this is just weird.”

“Not a forest. Think of it as a park.”

The air smelled cleaner and fresher here, right outside the White Tiger’s doorframe (the door itself had disappeared sometime last year, and the plants had claimed the doorway since then). Green vines stretched along the floor and walls, some with fruit hanging from them that looked delicious but was more likely to be poisonous and send you straight to Noise’s office if you took a bite. Flowers had popped up between the floor tiles along with weed and grass, and looking at it from the outside it did indeed look like you were headed into a forest. The sign above the door had long since been consumed by wild flowers, beautiful and vivid in their colours, the kind you’d think only existed in dreams. But then again, the things that existed within this building tended to be a little unusual by human standards.

“Let’s go inside. He is expecting us.” Maurice went ahead.

Inside it was dry and quite a lot warmer than he was used to, thanks to the many plants that required high temperatures. The office the exact same size as his own, but the greenery made it seem considerably smaller. The only pieces of furniture in the room were a table, some chairs and an oven, mostly for the sake of visitors, but it was cosy. If the heat wasn’t so insufferable Maurice would have liked it here.

Something growled, and Gilligan went stiff.

“What was that?”

“Don’t worry. We aren’t allowed to keep dangerous animals.”

Gilligan snorted. “Oh yeah? Then what was the thing in Noise’s office? Their saliva can kill a human.”

“Oh, but those are tame. You need not worry,” he assured him.

A little tiger cub padded into the room. One of its brothers and sisters followed and threw itself onto the other cub, biting it playfully in the ear. The fussy baby animals rolled around on the grass, pawing at one another while making little noises.

“Oh sure, because tigers aren’t the least bit dangerous,” the blonde commented sarcastically.

Maurice kneeled down and reached out a hand to have the cubs come to him, but they were skeptical and stared at him with their cute, fussy faces without daring to come closer. “These aren’t.”

“He’s right.” The White Tiger himself emerged from the room that connected to his office. Right away he came to shake their hands, first Maurice’s, then Gilligan’s, and his smile was infectious. “I’m Yao. I’m peeved that he didn’t bring you along earlier, Gilligan. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Yao was a short man compared to the two of them, but he wasn’t bothered by the fact that he had to bend his neck to look either of them in the eye. He was dressed in a white tunic embroidered with dragons in silver and wide, black pants. Instead of shoes his feet were wrapped in white linen bandages, not because he was injured but because of some tradition, as far as Maurice knew. His skin was tan and easily gave away his Chinese heritage. Today the long hair was pulled back in a ponytail tied with a large ribbon, and it fell forward to rest over one shoulder as he bowed at them.

“Nice to meet you…too,” Gilligan reluctantly said and pulled away his hand. His eyes were on the cubs that were playing a bit too close to his feet for his comfort, and when Yao noticed his insecurity he laughed and picked them up. The cubs whined, but curled up in his arms.

“My daughters are harmless, so don’t worry, Gilligan. Taking on human form for more than a couple of minutes is too exhausting for them.”

“Daughters,” the blonde repeated and looked baffled. “So you really are a tiger then.”

Yao blinked, unsure what to say, but burst into laughter and nodded his head. “Of course I am. This human form is not what I was born as. I was born as a tiger, just like my girls. Here, want to hold one of them?” He gave Gilligan no time to protest before he’d put a baby cub in his arms.”She isn’t made from glass.” You’d think it was from the way the blonde was holding it. “Tao is more adventurous than her sister, Ming-Mei, but she won’t bite you. They may be tigers, but they are just as smart as human children.”

Seeing Gilligan try to adjust to holding the cub was both amusing and sweet. His spine was rigid, maybe from fear of being bitten, maybe because he had never held a baby of any kind before. Maurice was smiling before he knew it, and he figured he might as well save his assistant from more humiliation, so he gently took the cub and cradled it against his own chest. The little animal curled up, purring, with its eyes closed.

“You’d never think Maurice was good with babies, huh? Big guy like him looks more like one of those types that is scared of kids, don’t you think?”

Gilligan shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

“I suppose you two came for the charm, not for chatting with me, hm? I’ll get it right away.” His smile was apologetic, and he disappeared into the other room without a sound after putting down the cub. Now it sat on the floor, mewing at the two of them to be lifted, but Gilligan made no movement to pick it up.

“Are you afraid of all animals?”

“What? No, I’m not afraid,” came the quick reply. A bit too quick to not be denial, Maurice thought. “I just don’t like animals that can kill you, however silly that must sound.” Ouch, that voice was dripping sarcasm again.

Maurice bent to put down the cub he held, and the two sisters right away tumbled together in another playfight. Watching them put him at ease. “But these two couldn’t harm a fly.”

“When they get older they can. Tigers are carnivores.”

“Well, yes, but these children are human too. They won’t hunt or kill when they grow up, like wild tigers do.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Arguing was no use. But how anyone could not be charmed by such fussy, little animals was beyond him. The effect they had was similar to the one Loke had when he made use of his innocence. Maurice was too busy watching the sisters to be uncomfortable with the silence, and he didn’t notice how Gilligan was observing him from the corner of his eye.

“Here you go- one Materia charm only for you,” Yao grinned as he returned and put the object in the blonde’s hands. It was different from Maurice’s charm, as expected, because no two charms were identical. Despite never having met the person that was going to use the charm, Yao was good at creating something unique to the user. Gilligan’s had the shape of a small, blue flower that hung from a necklace. It was nearly see through, and Maurice saw that the flower itself was made from a white type of stone. It was the liquid inside that made it look blue.

It was a beautiful piece of handiwork.

“You put it on for him, Maurice. I’m too short.”

Maurice took it and undid the clasp. Gilligan was silent and empty eyed while the necklace was placed around his neck, clasp locked, and once Maurice pulled back the blonde touched the flower while something akin to awe passed over his face.

“He’ll teach you how to make use of it. It’s not difficult.”

“Thank y-“

The lights went out.

The five of them were left in blinding darkness, and the cubs voiced their anxiety loudly and began to crawl onto their father’s shoes to be comforted.

If not for his perfect night vision, Maurice would have been helpless in the thick, blackness that filled the room. It took a moment for his vision to adjust, but soon enough he could see well, though not as well as he would in daylight, and Yao looked just as concerned as he felt. The Tiger had night vision too, thanks to his heritage, but his cubs were too young to have developed a proper ability to see in the dark. He petted their furry heads and mumbled reassuring words in their ears.

“What the hell? Someone turn the lights back on.”

Maurice saw the blind panic on his assistant’s face.

Of course, he can’t see a thing. It must be frightening for him.

Gilligan jumped when he reached out for his hand, but he took it and squeezed it hard, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Actually, we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because the place doesn’t run on electricity,” Yao answered. He moved away from the two of them and bent to pick something up from the floor, which Maurice realised was a flashlight. “Here, take this. Everyone is probably having a huge panic attack right now.” The sharp light stung his eyes. “I need to stay here with Tao and Ming-Mei. You two better head back and check out what happened.”

“We will. Be safe, Yao.” Maurice tugged at his assistant’s hand and lead him from the room. To have the flashlight seemed to calm Gilligan a bit, but he was still twitchy and jumped at every sound. Somewhere ahead of them people were moving, talking in hushed, scared voices.

“What does this place run on, if not electricity?”

“A special type of energy that can be converted into electricity. Or anything else, really. The Lovers are the ones who make it.”

“The Lovers?” Gilligan repeated in disbelief. “You get your energy from someone living?”

“Yes. No one remembers their names, hence the title. Something must have happened to them…We haven’t had a blackout for fifteen years now.”

“What happened last time?”

Maurice frowned. “The girl came down with a bad flu. The lights were out for three days. You wouldn’t believe the chaos it resulted in. Not to mention it was in the middle of the winter, and with the heat gone this place is freezing cold.”

The sudden laughter from the other startled him. “So because someone got sick you were freezing your asses off for three days?”

“Um…yes?”

It must seem ridiculous to Gilligan who hadn’t grown up within these walls, but he still thought it was rude to laugh at something so problematic. The two of them came to the very center of the building, and people had gathered there to discuss what they should do. Gasps sounded when Maurice showed up with the flashlight, and he squeezed Gilligan’s hand harder as they began to gather around him to be closer to the light. Bodies pressed into him from all around, touching him without meaning to, and the close proximity was making him really uneasy.

“Does anybody know what happened?” he asked the crowd.

A girl he didn’t recognize shook her head. “We checked the generator. The Lovers have disappeared, and we have no idea where. The East section is being searched, and there are some people in the West one too, but no one has found them.”

“We need to split up and search the other two sections too,” a gnome said in a squeaky, high pitched voice. “They can’t have gone far, because the lights just went out five minutes ago!”

“Here, I’ve got candles,” another girl said. She began to hand out the candles she had in her jacket pockets (everyone was too stressed to wonder why she carried candles in the first place), and a boy supplied a lighter. Soon soft light illuminated the large, circle shaped room they were in, cast shadows on the faces and walls, and people were calmer now that they could see.

“Okay, half of you search the North section while the rest of us go South. Just split up as you see fit, it doesn’t matter if the number is even.” The guy that had appointed himself as the leader of the crowd began to lead his group South.

Maurice and Gilligan looked at each other.

“We need to look too, huh?”

“I’m afraid we do. It could be serious, like last time.”

“You know, your bosses really should consider to use regular electricity instead,” he sighed. “Then stuff like this wouldn’t happen.”

“But it would cost too much money to keep Underworld heated that way.”

“It always comes down to money. Let’s go North.”

Searching their own section was far more reasonable than to get lost in one of the others, so Maurice nodded and began to walk in the direction of their office. All around there were mumbles and candles and footsteps, and people called out for the missing couple. The dark did not bother him, not when he could see as well as he did, but not all of the others shared the ability, so they might bump into him. His black robe did little to make him more visible to lost, confused employees.

Warmth pulsed in Gilligan’s fingertips, steady and strong, and the hand felt good in his own. They were almost the same size, but Maurice’s wasn’t nearly as soft and pliant. One finger slipped between his own and curled around them in a grip that reminded him of a girl holding a boy’s hand, but he did not mind. On second thought, it was quite nice.

Finding their way back to the office was easy, even in the pitch dark at the end of the corridor. Maurice could always find his way back because he was drawn to his office no matter where within the perimeter of the building he was, and Gilligan seemed to have the same ‘sixth sense’ at hand.

“I doubt they have hidden in our office though,” he commented.

“I need to take off my robe. The thing is heavy.” Gilligan looked at him. “I don’t get how you can stand to wear it all the time.”

“It feels familiar.”

“Security blanket, huh? Didn’t peg you as the scaredy cat type of guy,” he said dryly. “Death isn’t supposed to be scared of anything.”

Again with the expectations humans had of him. Why shouldn’t he have phobias or things that made him anxious, just like everyone else? Just because he was Death it didn’t mean he was a cold, unfeeling creature.

Gilligan found his way around the office with ease even without the flashlight, and Maurice waited patiently in the doorway, eyes focused on the floor under his feet. Once the robe was discarded the blonde joined him, though he didn’t reach out for his hand, and the two of them began a slow search in the nearby offices and rooms. Like the other three sections, North also had a peculiar amount of small corridors that lead to the strangest places, and Maurice had once taken the time to walk them all, but his memory failed him when he tried to remember the intricate system.

A hand brushed his own as they came through a doorway to what appeared to be a storage, and Maurice jumped from the contact. The sudden jerk made Gilligan pause to stare at him, but the blonde shook his head a moment later, smirking, and motioned for him to go ahead.

“They aren’t here,” he murmured. “They give off too much light to be able to hide well.”

“Shame.”

“We should-“

The words died on his tongue.

Gilligan had a hand fisted in the front of his robe, and he was pushing him back, up against the door they just came through. Dear lord, his heart was already picking up speed and headed for full blown pounding in his ribcage. Confusion flickered in his eyes. The flashlight fell to the floor, its batteries knocked out from the impact.

“Gilligan…? What are you-“

“Shut up.”

And he did, though mostly because he had no idea what was going on, and his vocal chords felt like they had tied themselves in a thick knot. Soft, hot hands found his own, clammy palms pressed flat against them and moving up so the long fingers could curl around his wrists.

“You are so oblivious, Maurice,” Gilligan whispered sharply, eyes narrow and emotional despite that he couldn’t see a thing now with the flashlight broken. “So utterly and completely oblivious.”

He leaned in and kissed him.

Good god, what was happening? One moment they were out looking for the missing source of energy, the next Gilligan had him up against a door while kissing him.

The lips felt good on his own, quivering and slightly wet while they moved, and Maurice felt himself go boneless when Gilligan raised his hands to bury them in his hair. The fingers pressed into his scalp, massaging and rubbing and pulling lightly at the brown strands. It tingled pleasantly. He went red in the face when he realised that he’d moaned out loud, but Gilligan refused to give him time to be embarrassed. Their chests were pressed together and one of the blonde’s jeans clad legs slipped between his own and stayed there, locking him in place.

Maurice returned the kiss, hesitant and slow and pretty much an inexperienced kisser, and he was afraid that Gilligan might swallow him down the way things were going. Inside his stomach something was fluttering and moving and tickling him badly, and the feeling worsened when he put his hands on Gilligan’s cheeks.

What am I doing? What is he doing?This isn’t the time. Why is he kissing me in the first place?

Gilligan broke the kiss, but his head stayed right where it was, noses touching, their shallow breaths mingling with one another.

And just as suddenly as the lights had gone out they were back.

It stung his eyes, but not half as much as it did Gilligan’s. The blonde cussed and let go of him while rubbing furiously at his sensitive eyes. “That’s one hell of a timing,” he mumbled sourly.

Whatever had passed between them was gone now, had vanished the scond the lights came back, but Maurice was dazed, almost out of it because of their kiss. He swallowed nervously. “Gilligan…? What were you-“

“Let’s go.”

Gilligan didn’t wait, and Maurice had to run to keep up with him. His mind felt so empty, yet full at the same time, and he couldn’t stop thinking about what happened there. He probably should. It must have been an act in the spur of the moment from the blonde’s side.

They were back where they had parted with everyone else.

“They’re back, they’re back!” a girl cheered, clapping her hands with enthusiasm. Relief was evident on the faces of her companions, and they had all gathered in a circle around the couple that was the source of their worries. The Lovers were holding hands, fingers entwined and holding on tight. Their skin glowed softly silver with the energy that existed inside their bodies, and though you could tell them apart by the shapes of their bodies they were otherwise identical. Their expressions were guilty, but happy, and Maurice saw that the girl was holding a big box of chocolate ice cream in her free hand that obviously came from a human store.

“We’re sorry for poofing on you, everyone,” the boy said. “It’s our birthday, you see, and we merely wished for some ice cream so we could celebrate it.”

“Will you forgive us, everyone?” the girl cooed and reached out to pat the head of a child that stood nearby. Her smile was so beautiful that it was impossible to stay angry.

“Of course we will,” people agreed. “We didn’t know that today was your birthday. Next time, tell us and we’ll go buy you sweets, okay?”

“Alright.”

Maurice’s attention was drawn to Gilligan when the blonde turned on his heels and walked away.

Everything would be alright here.

He followed and caught up with him.

“They put us in this mess because they wanted ice cream?!” Gilligan growled and shook his head. Okay, clearly someone were unaffected by the girl’s smile. “That’s incredibly selfish.”

“Yes, but…” He closed his mouth. “Why did you kiss me?”

Gilligan slowed down, but only enough that he didn’t have to jog to keep up with him, and he was his usual arrogant, smooth self as he replied. “I told you, didn’t I, that you’d know it if I didn’t like you?”

“Friends do not kiss like that.”

“I don’t want us to be friends.”

Oh. Oh, damn.

Artemis was right.

-

Note: I guess that was a little unexpected?