---
The night after the conflict had been strangely quiet. Even the winds that usually howled through the mountain ridges of Rael's state seemed to pause in reverence. Ren, curled up beneath a thick quilt, let his body finally relax. The emotional storm of the last few days had worn him thin.
Then—tap. tap. tap.
Ren groaned in his half-sleep, rolling to his side.
Tap. Creak.
His brow furrowed. He blinked his eyes open lazily—only to sharply inhale when the window slowly creaked open... and Shinomi's familiar figure slipped through with alarming ease.
Ren closed his eyes again.
No. No way. This must be a dream.
When he opened them once more and saw the same face, now grinning like a mischievous child caught stealing sweets, Ren sat upright.
"You—! What are you doing here? Didn't you just meet me yesterday?!" Ren hissed.
Shinomi, shameless and smug, stepped closer and sat right on the edge of the bed. "Yes. It's already been hours. I missed you."
Before Ren could retort, Shinomi crawled onto the bed and laid his head directly over Ren's chest, sighing contently as if this was his personal pillow.
"Shinomi—"
Without a word, Shinomi began unbuttoning Ren's shirt.
Ren grabbed his wrist immediately. "What the hell are you doing?"
Shinomi pouted dramatically, then smirked and smoothly pinned both of Ren's wrists above his head. "Taking my sweet time. Don't interrupt," he said, voice low and playful.
He leaned down and pressed a slow, warm kiss just below Ren's collarbone, his tongue following in a teasing circle.
Ren turned red from his ears down to his neck. "Y-You—!"
Shinomi lifted his head and looked at him with fake innocence, blinking once.
Ren was glaring daggers, but that only made Shinomi's grin wider. Then suddenly—pinch!
"Ah—!" Ren yelped as Shinomi pinched his nipple through the fabric.
Knock knock knock!
Ren froze.
"…Ren? Is everything okay?" a voice from outside the door called out.
Shinomi went still like a guilty child.
Ren's eyes widened in panic. He shoved Shinomi off him, who tumbled with a low thud to the side of the bed. "Hide!"
Ren scrambled to fix his shirt, quickly tucking it in as he rushed to the door. Shinomi, not in the least bit sorry, crawled behind the bed curtain and disappeared into the shadows like a gremlin on the run.
Ren opened the door just a crack, his hair messy and his face still flushed. "Y-Yeah. Sorry. Just had a nightmare."
The servant gave a hesitant nod. "Would you like some warm tea?"
"No, no, I'm fine now. Thank you."
When the door shut again, Ren pressed his back against it, sighing in exhaustion.
From the curtains came a whisper, "Told you I missed you."
Ren marched toward the curtain with a pillow in hand. "You're going to die tonight."
Shinomi poked his head out with a gleam in his eyes. "Worth it."
---