Once Nikolay and Raine had partially reconciled, their journey became much more bearable. Even Rascal, who usually liked to fool around in her boredom during long trips, learned to be grateful of the mundanity.
Thankfully, their next destination wasn’t far from the Shrine of Restoration. According to Irideis, the second artifact was in Lake Litchmere, west of Veritas. The guide recommended seeking out diving gear from the nearby locals, so Nikolay marked a village on the map to head towards.
But the temple and artifact were still a future problem. Right now, they were faced with an arguably much more pressing problem.
“Remind me…” Raine muttered. “Why you said ‘a single bedroom’ to the motel receptionist when there are two of us?”
Nikolay and Raine stared at the aforementioned single bedroom, the key still placed inside the doorknob of the open door.
Nikolay stonily replied, “I’ve been booking a single bedroom for all of our previous times. It was muscle memory.”
Already resigned to their fate, Nikolay took the key and moved into the room with their bags.
“H- Hold on!” Raine said, standing out in the doorway. “Don’t you think that the room is a little too small for both of us?”
Nikolay turned to face Raine with an exasperated look. “We’ve slept together before. It’s merely a matter of being in different bodies.”
“WH- WHAT?!” Raine quickly shut the door behind him. “Don’t say it like that! And especially not that loud while the door is open!”
“Your interpretation of my words is of minimal concern to me,” Nikolay brushed aside. “We should address the space issue first.”
“There is no way we’re both fitting on that tiny bed,” Raine said firmly. “One of us is sleeping on the floor.”
As he said this, a horrifyingly large cockroach scuttled out from under the bed. It quickly crossed the room, making skittering sounds as its tiny legs clattered against the wooden floor. Within seconds, it dove into a hidden crack in the walls. Raine and Nikolay stared wordlessly at the space that the cockroach had just been.
“Not it,” both said simultaneously.
“In that case, we’ll share the bed,” Nikolay huffed, clearly annoyed. “Don’t suggest something that you wouldn’t even do yourself.”
“Alright, whatever,” Raine rolled his eyes. “Don’t complain if you end up on the floor either way.”
“You’d barely be able to move me,” Nikolay scoffed as he hauled their luggage onto the desk.
“Sure, whatever you say,” Raine replied flippantly.
They each went on to complete their respective tasks to set themselves up for the night.
When silence enveloped the room, it was a relief to know that it wasn’t nearly as frigid as the previous bouts of silence. At the very least, it was nice to have some banter going again, even if it was at the cost of their unfortunate situation. To think that they would need to spend yet another day in each other’s personal space, right after finally being separated.
The last thing Raine wanted to do was get into the bed first, so he stalled for as long as he could. Raine actually finished unpacking a while ago, but he busied himself with acting like he still had something to do.
And given Nikolay’s brutal efficiency, he had probably finished even earlier than Raine. To make things worse, Raine also knew that Nikolay was more than likely thinking the exact same thing as him.
In hindsight, Raine would actually rather sleep on the cockroach-infested floor than suffer the awkwardness of sleeping in the bed. It wasn’t too late to change his mind, after all.
Ah, who was he kidding? He sure as hell wasn’t going to fall asleep on the hard wooden boards without a pillow or a blanket.
“Fine,” Raine muttered to himself.
After a quiet sigh, he climbed into the bed first. It wasn’t as if he was keen on staying up all night either, so he might as well get comfortable.
He waited for Nikolay to follow suit, but instead, he heard the rustling of paper.
“A… leaflet?” Raine asked, turning around. “Where on earth did you get that?”
“The motel had a couple on the wall,” Nikolay replied curtly. “You should be getting some rest. I’ll sleep later.”
Raine obliged, shifting his body back to face the wall.
It felt like a long time before Nikolay finally turned off the lamp. Despite Raine’s best efforts to fall asleep, he was still partially awake when it happened.
Nikolay let out a heavy sigh, gently lifting the blanket just enough for him to slide underneath. It was clear that he was trying not to disturb Raine. Which was quite unfortunate, because Raine couldn’t fall asleep to begin with, let alone wake up from Nikolay’s movement.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Now that they were underneath the same blanket, it was impossible not to ignore the other’s presence.
Nikolay smelt faintly like the antiseptic he put on his arm. Clean, with a hint of the lemon lime that always accompanied any cleaning product.
Raine pulled a face when he realised what he was doing. While trying not to move the blanket, he buried his head in his hands.
Dear god, there is something severely wrong with me.
Homosexuality itself might not be a sin, but shamelessly sniffing a prophecy-bound partner definitely violated something. He hoped that the gods weren’t watching him.
Oh no, they probably were. Shit. Well, hopefully they didn’t care enough. Otherwise, he probably would’ve been struck down by divine lightning by now.
--
Nikolay awoke before the sun rose, as always. It was still pitch-black outside, and the moon provided minimal light to the room.
There was something soft touching his face — not the pillow, because it was too fluffy to be fabric. Still drowsy from waking up, Nikolay instinctively pushed his face further into the pleasant sensation. He reached up to touch the strange object, then quickly pulled away once he realised something important.
Hair? Who—
Ah, Raine.
Nikolay frantically blinked several times, adjusting his eyes to the darkness. Sure enough, he saw the faint outline of Raine in front of him. Not only was Raine close enough to have his hair touching Nikolay’s face, but their legs were also tangled together because of their proximity. Thankfully, Nikolay hadn’t moved an inch — barring his left arm — since he woke up.
Another realisation stopped Nikolay in his tracks.
They were spooning.
A small, distant part of him disapproved of the illogical nature of their positions — Raine was taller, so it would make more sense if he were the big spoon. This part of him was very quickly shut down by the fact that this should not have happened to begin with. And because he would never willingly be the small spoon.
Nikolay shook his head to ward off any further thoughts from continuing down that path. He needed to focus. On something that wasn’t Raine, preferably.
With vigour and determination that had never accompanied previous mornings, Nikolay set his mind wholly on the list of tasks that needed to be done before Raine awoke, which usually signalled the start of their day.
Clearly, Nikolay was too efficient when he focused, because he completed everything in about half of the time it usually took. This would normally be a cause for celebration, if not for the fact that Nikolay had absolutely nothing else to do.
Well, he could always stay and watch Raine for a few more minutes.
Nikolay swept his gaze across the room for any objections. After seeing nothing important to address, he gently sat back down on the bed.
If the world was insistent on it, he might as well. But only as a last resort, of course.
Time flowed languidly around the two, only discernable by the brightening window and retreating shadows. Outside, each animal was slowly awakening after a night of slumber, insect whirring and birds chirping to begin their own daily routine.
In contrast, the room inside was completely motionless, save for the rise and fall of Raine’s chest. For a moment, Nikolay wished time could stand still in their small, dingy motel room. Then he could make these moments last forever, immune against the inevitable erosion that came to take its eternally unpaid debt.
Alas, no matter how much Nikolay dreamt about changing fate, all good things had to come to an end.
Raine awoke by kicking Nikolay’s side with a stray leg and letting out a fatigued yawn, despite having slept for at least 2 more hours than Nikolay did.
“Ow- Oh, sorry. I thought you were a wall,” Raine mumbled, moving his leg out of the way.
Nikolay stood up. “No need. I shouldn’t have been obstructing your sleep.”
Raine vaguely waved his hand at Nikolay, only to completely miss. “Come on, no need to be so formal this early in the morning.”
“It’s 9am. I would hardly consider it ‘early’.”
“Early enough for me. Do we have breakfast packed somewhere? I need something to wake me up.”
Nikolay raised an eyebrow. “Without brushing your teeth? Maybe I shouldn’t have taken care of our personal hygiene in the morning for you, if I knew you were going to get used to it.”
“I brush my teeth, idiot,” Raine groaned into the blanket. “Just after I eat.”
“Brushing your teeth straight after eating is actually harmful. It degrades your enamel.”
“Then wait a couple of minutes before you brush your teeth,” Raine exclaimed. “Anyway, we’ve been arguing for too long. Let me get some clothes to change into.”
Nikolay yielded to Raine’s request, stepping away to make room. Respectfully, he appeared to busy himself with some other tasks while Raine switched clothes.
“Hey, Kolya,” Raine called over his shoulder. “Can you pass me the hairbrush?”
Unconsciously, Nikolay reached for the hairbrush without question.
Nikolay started, “Ye-”
Raine hadn’t even blinked, and there was already a shimmering blue blade dangerously close to his throat.
Nikolay stared at him with hardened eyes. They were wholly unfamiliar, no longer aloof and veiled, but actively piercing Raine’s soul with murderous intent.
Suddenly, images of flashing blue light and crimson red blood resurfaced. A cold command, a voice silenced forever, a person killed right in front of his eyes.
It was as though the heat rushed out of Raine’s body, leaving him shivering and bare. Like a lamb ready for the slaughter, his body froze completely still in front of a looming death sentence.
“What did you do to Raine?” Nikolay demanded in a flat tone. “If you hurt him, I will make you regret everything you did.”
Even though Nikolay’s intent was clearly to protect Raine, it was ironic to see the complete opposite happening. If the action hadn’t dredged up unpleasant memories, Raine might’ve even choked out a sardonic laugh.
“I- It- It’s me!” Raine stammered in panic, too scared to move a muscle. “I found a phone in the bag that Irideis gave us, and was searching up stuff. I saw that Kolya was a common nickname for Nikolay. Sorry if it overstepped a boundary.”
Nikolay’s face softened ever so slightly, and the blade dissolved into wisps of smoke. “No, it’s fine. I was just… surprised to hear you call me that.”
While the immediate threat was no longer visible — though Raine knew better than to think Nikolay was vulnerable — traces of the tense atmosphere still lingered in Raine’s mind, leaving indelible imprints. However, looking at the concern appearing on Nikolay’s face, Raine tried his best to act relaxed.
“Surprised?” Raine teased. “It sounded more like you were worried about me.”
“I was more concerned about having to find you, actually,” Nikolay replied with an unconvincing annoyed look.
Raine didn’t need to look in the mirror to know a shit-eating grin was on his face. “Very believable, Kolya.”
Nikolay looked away with a slight frown. “It sounds so weird coming from you.”
“Great, I’ll be sure to keep calling you Kolya from now on.”
“You…” Nikolay sighed. “The more I try to refute it, the worse it’ll become.”