[event] prince charming take my misery away

"Green tea frappe then." Deith moved on to ordering their drinks, and he made sure to ask the dude behind the counter to be quick. His face got rid of its tension quickly, turning a little bit so he can pull Lei under his arm again. This time he wrapped it over his shoulders.

And he heard then words he never wanted to bring up come out of Lei's lips. He masked the suddenly growing uneasiness in him by putting on a thoughtful look and humming as he scanned their surroundings once more.

"I have business outside the island, trading of information and such," he shot Lei a grin. He wasn't going to speak of the existing Fight Club in the slums of Manta Carlos. "Does that sound a little shady? Don't worry, it's all clean investigation shit."

It wasn't clean at all. He didn't just trade information, he made deals with mafia and other gangsters and did independent jobs upon requests. They all like how he never gets caught, and he always catches whatever they needed caught.

Maybe that was worse than Fight Club after all.

The conversation made Deith a little anxious, but he shook it off quickly and realized that this was the first time they were talking about things like this. Lei might have been wanting to know more about him, and he realized there were things he didn't know about Lei as well. He unconsciously clicked his tongue, while not getting rid of his wide smile.

"Getting curious now, aren't you?" Their drinks were done after a moment, so Deith paused to pay and get them. He took his iced coffee, and gave Lei his green tea frappe. "What else do you want to know? And later maybe you can tell me what I want to know?"

Deith saw it; he easily picked up Lei's suspicion, and he responded by first trying to be defensive, and then by "admitting" to what ever he could admit to sate Lei's suspicion. "What?" he asked, and then he put on a smile, a sheepishly guilty one as he shrugged. "Alright, alright, maybe it's not always clean. Sometimes I also... accept transactions under the table."

Now that that's done, he listened intently to whatever Lei had to say. He grinned. The things Lei mentioned all flashed back to their first meeting, which was still very memorable to him. "Yeah, that's right. I love cafes and homemade dishes. Let's see... I paint, too, but just for fun. Not like my friend Eve Willows who's a pretty known artist. Tell me what else you want to know."

He laughed at the mention of Enrique Iglesias. He didn't really mind, people would always have someone to idolize, and Enrique Iglesias was a popular dude who had a wonderful voice just like his father. "That's okay. Alright then, let's start with... What do you usually do for pastime in school?"

The jail joke was honestly not very funny, but it was adorable, and Deith actually felt sorry if that would happen to them. He chuckled, gently kissing Lei on the nose. "Not gonna let that happen, sweetheart."

...

Holy shit he just called him sweetheart. Deith flinched, his past lover flashing back before his eyes. And he had to take a moment to close his eyes and breathe and forget.

But even paintings reminded him of the past. He tried not to look too baffled, but his eyes were wide and they looked like they were staring at the most disturbing thoughts.

"I burn them. Right after they dry, I burn them."

A tensed smile. He'd sip from his iced coffee and follow Lei across the crowd, and he'd sit down beside him and try to be comfortable.

"I... uh... only stayed a year in college. Shit happened so I couldn't stay... Didn't matter though, I was just taking up fine arts anyway." Deith was being as careful as he can be with his stories; he didn't want to lie but there was no way he'll tell Lei about his dark side. Especially that he's been to an asylum for the criminally insane. Lei would leave him in an instant. And he can't let that happen.

He was able to find back his laughter imagining Starlight Academy. Lei made it sound fun, and he actually did miss going to school. He ruffled Lei's hair in an adoring manner before he shifted closer to let his sweetheart hold onto his arm.

"Fashion Club, huh?" Now there's something he really liked. He loved elegant fashion, and fashion in general, even though he wasn't entirely aware of it. If he'll only stare at his closet though, he'll realize it soon enough. He grinned. "Usually dress shirts, or simpler shirts, but I love all kinds of clothes. I'd show you my closet if only we were at home. So what clothes have you made already?"

"Told you, shit happened way back when. They're not good memories. And when I paint, I remember. But sometimes I just can't help myself."

That much was true about why Deith burned his paintings. But what that 'shit' was, he wasn't willing to let Lei know. It included his deeds of killing people-- but that's only because he loved them and he didn't want them to leave ever— and the death of his dear sweet Haku. Haku was the only person who stayed with him until death, without being killed by him, but Deith just had to live again and spend his whole life alone, with Haku's necklace and his soul inside as a memento--

But he had Lei now, he quickly reminded himself. He had Lei, and they had the possibility of becoming something wonderful.

Deith's face relaxed as he listened to his adorable ocean fighter, about things he do and love doing. "I agree, dresses seem easy to work with. And you can make so many designs for--" He choked on his own breath with the next few words from Lei. And now they were both blushing. "That's... exaggerating things a bit, don't you think..?"

He tried to stop coughing by drinking up his cold coffee. For a few good seconds, he tried to sip it all from the straw. He finished it just as the crowd suddenly... stopped? Right, fireworks! They were such beautiful things when they light up the sky. Deith, too, suddenly seemed excited to see them, standing up immediately when Lei started to pull on him.

His eyes were glimmering with excitement, even though his smile was kept elegantly small. "We DEFINITELY need to see them! Alright--" being the taller guy, Deith quickly scanned the area to see where the fireworks might be coming from. They would need to stay where no infrastructure or crowd would ruin their view. After that, he firmly held Lei's hand and led the way to an area free of other people. He glanced up, and just as he wanted, the view of the sky was clear from there. And they wouldn't have to look up directly and then hurt their necks afterwards.

"Is this a good spot for you?" he asked, grinning at Lei now.

The fireworks lit up the evening sky and spread colors, and the crowd cheered for it. Lei was Deith's own fireworks tonight. His kiss was an explosion of warmth across his face, and his embrace made Deith feel like he, too, was in some sort of fairytale. He embraced him back. He wrapped his arms around Lei's shoulders, not letting him go for even just a second as they both watched the sky and the story being told through it.

It was a happy ending. And it made Deith wonder if such a thing was really possible in real life.

He's had that ending before. Once upon a time with a pure soul named Haku. But there was that epilogue that contained a painful decline, ending with death. That was the true ending. And Deith was thinking everything else would end that way, too.

But death, a second death, would be worth it if the journey through life was bright and full of love. Deith was hoping he can have such a journey with Lei. Lei was bright, cheery, colorful. He was dark and dull and lonely. Maybe they could have a chance to a future like the sky tonight? He was unsure of many things, but the light and happy feeling that filled him now wasn't one of them.

He smiled as the colors in the sky faded, then turned his eyes to the colors he had in his arms. He leaned down, held Lei's cheek, and pressed their lips together just when Lei told him to kiss him. It was a light kiss, lasting a few seconds. And then Deith slowly pulled away, looking Lei in the eyes. "I love you."