This Strange World Needs A Kicking! Ch. 18
By Laura S. Fox
Copyright © 2021 Laura S. Fox
All Rights Reserved
Gay Romance
Intended for Mature Audiences Only
This story will contain graphic depictions of sexual intercourse, strong
language and it is not meant for readers who are less than 18 years of age.
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Chapter Eighteen The
Person Inside You
"What happened to your
hair?" Milo asked him the moment he set foot out of the building.
He was dressed in an
oversized t-shirt and shorts, so Sebastian took a moment to admire the young
man's muscular legs. Too bad his arms were partially covered, but it looked
like Milo enjoyed wearing comfortable clothes.
Sebastian ran one hand
through his hair and stared, all puzzled, for a moment, at the thing he
extracted from it. Apparently, it was a bay leaf. "We tried to cook."
"You and Tani?" Milo asked and gave him a cursory look. "That
explains why you look like you just left a construction site. It must be flour
on your clothes."
Sebastian looked down at
his clothes and gasped. When had he become such a slovenly person? He was known
for his impeccable manners and attire as the Prince of Ifigia.
"I must go change."
"Not yet." Milo stopped
him with a hand on his shoulder. "Why didn't you pick up?"
He had to be talking
about those calls. Sebastian kept his face away. "I was busy. It was quite a
demanding dish, and I couldn't abandon what I was holding to answer your call."
He winced at the end of that terrible lie.
"Hmm," Milo said instead
of a proper reply. "That's pretty cringey, dude. I
can tell you're lying."
Sebastian groaned before
realizing that he should have kept that to himself. "How can you tell?" He
turned to face Milo.
The green eyes twinkled.
What right did he have to be so handsome and have such expressive eyes? This
boy would be his doom, without a doubt.
"You're avoiding me, and
I want to know why."
"We just haven't talked
for several hours. I am not avoiding you," Sebastian argued.
"Are you being weird
about what we did last night?" Milo moved closer.
Sebastian wanted to take
a step forward and meet him halfway. No, he needed to take a step back.
He just froze in place.
"Why would I do that?" he asked, but his voice didn't sound collected and cool
as he desired.
Milo shrugged. "Dunno. But I'd like to find out."
"Please, just give me a
couple of minutes to get changed, and I'll be right back with you," Sebastian
said curtly.
He needed to get away
from that scrutinizing stare that was making his stomach feel strange.
"Okay. But don't make me
come after you," Milo said playfully and offered him another gorgeous smile.
He just nodded and
hurried back into the building. A few minutes were everything he got to be able
to come back with a proper and credible lie that wouldn't end up hurting
anyone, and especially Milo.
***
He looked far more
presentable when he faced Milo again. The young man surprised him by hooking
one arm over his shoulders and making him walk side by side. "I thought you
wanted us to go job hunting for you this Saturday."
"Oh, right, right, of
course," he mumbled.
There had to be something
particularly strange about the natural rules governing this world because
Milo's arm felt slightly heavy on his shoulders, and yet his feet were light,
and he was sprinting over the sidewalk.
The silence stretched
between them. "Milo," he began.
"Was my
cum weird?" Milo asked him at the same time.
"What?" Sebastian didn't
know what he meant by that until he remembered some rather bawdy titles of
videos he had watched. "No, as I told you, it was quite... tasty."
"You hesitated," Milo
pointed out.
Not for the reasons he
imagined. Sebastian was just struggling to find more commonly used words so
that he could sound more like Kai.
"I'm telling the truth,"
he countered. "I haven't tasted others', but yours was truly good."
"You're just saying,"
Milo replied and moved his head away.
Once again, a delicious
shade of pink was coloring his handsome cheeks.
"I certainly am not,"
Sebastian protested. "I would like to have it every day, that good it was."
"For real?" Milo stared
at him.
It was hard to meet his
gaze, but Sebastian wanted nothing more but to make it clear to this wonderful
boy that his seed was the most fantastic thing he had tasted in his life. "Yes,
for real," he said with determination.
"Ugh, you're driving me
nuts," Milo huffed.
How could he not be happy
with that answer? Sebastian began pondering whether some other reply was
actually expected of him when he was suddenly pushed into an adjacent narrow
alleyway between two high buildings.
And then, his back met a
wall, and warm lips came hard on his, crushing them gently. Milo's hands were
soon in his hair, and they were kissing like they had only moments left to
live. Even the way Milo kissed was so different from everything Sebastian
remembered. How frustrating it felt to have so much experience bedding men and
yet feel inadequate in relation to this young man.
Yet, even this
frustration had a sweet tone to it, a gentleness he couldn't fight, his arms
heavy against the stream of dark honey pouring through his veins.
Milo interrupted the kiss
shortly and breathed hard while pressing his forehead against Sebastian's.
"Ever since I confessed, everything's so different," he whispered. "Did my
words change you into someone else? Did I change?"
Sebastian caressed Milo's
face and then dropped his hands on his strong shoulders. "You're wonderful," he
said, lacking the right words to blurt out the truth. Milo would just think he
was lying.
"Oh gawd,
you even know what to say to make me feel..." He stopped and shook his head
slowly. "Argh, I don't know what the hell I'm saying."
"Try, nonetheless."
"I never... I never
imagined you saying corny stuff like how I'm wonderful and stuff. Or that you
could kiss the way you kiss. Did I know you so little before?"
"You couldn't have
foretold how I would be as a lover," Sebastian struggled to offer an
explanation that could make sense. Milo was right, on all accounts. But, on the
other hand, Kai, the real Kai, would have reacted completely differently.
Sebastian was doing a
poor job at being someone else, and he couldn't resist, not for a moment, when
Milo embraced him and kissed him like that. His entire body, no, his entire
soul, wanted nothing but to make him happy. And he was not in the least in any
position to do so, for the simple fact that he was who he was.
"Yeah, yeah, you're
right." Milo laughed. "It's just that you're so different now. But I guess
we're both different. Love changes people, right? Oh, damn, I'm saying corny
stuff again."
"Is it bad?" Sebastian
asked while caressing Milo's shoulders. "That I'm different? Would you rather
have me, the one from before?"
Would you rather have your friend?
He was just grabbing at
straws like a mad drowning man.
Milo shook his head
again. "No. If this is you now, heck, how can I complain? I mean, you went down
on me --" He pursed his lips and blushed again.
"Just because of that?"
Sebastian asked, dissatisfied about being reduced to that.
"No. Oh, fuck, you'll
think I'm a pervert, now, only thinking about that. But you're so hot, you
know? I mean, I'm so glad no one knows you're like this on the inside. Anyone
looking at you, they wouldn't suspect, not for a moment. You know, that you can
kiss like this, or touch like this, or have that kind of look in your eyes. I
think I'm in love with the person inside you, Kai. Does it make any sense?"
Sebastian buried his
fingers into Milo's shoulders and looked down. A new strange feeling was
growing inside him, so overwhelming that he could no longer speak or
breathe.
"Kai, are you all right?"
Milo's worried voice
brought him back to his senses. He looked up. "I think I'm in love with you,
Milo Bennett." He couldn't keep the astonishment he felt as soon as his words
left his mouth.
Milo snickered. "Are you
that surprised about it? I mean, come on, just look at
his wonderful guy here." He pointed at himself. "What's not to love, right?"
Sebastian nodded. It was
true. He felt drained, a bit empty, but happy and light in a giddy way that was
not himself at all. Was he changing into Kai Martin? Was he losing himself? He
tried to stop the bubble of laughter swelling in his chest but to no
avail.
He snorted in the most
inappropriate manner as he struggled against it. But then he was laughing. It
was so beneath him to express emotion in such an unbridled manner, but it was
beyond his power to hold it in anymore.
"Hey, I was expecting
another compliment, you know?" Milo scolded him playfully. "Not to be laughed
at."
Sebastian stopped and
kissed Milo one time hard on the lips. "I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing
at me."
Milo grinned. "If you say
so, dude."
They were about to kiss
one more time when something cut through the air with a swish, and Sebastian
felt something hard hitting his temple. He brought one hand to his head, and
when he put it back down, he noticed the blood.
Milo let go of him and
broke into a run. At the end of the alley, rushed steps and someone yelling
insults could be heard.
"Are you okay?" Milo
returned to him as it seemed like he couldn't get a hold of the
assailant.
"It's just a small cut,"
Sebastian concluded.
If that had been an
assassination attempt at Prince Kai's life, the one to carry it had to be a
simpleton. He picked the stone that had been thrown and was now on the ground.
He examined it and sniffed itno sign of poison.
"Are you sure?" Milo
asked, prey to a heightened state of agitation.
Sebastian took out his
handkerchief and wiped the blood from his hand. Then he pressed it against his
temple. "Yes. Why are you staring at me like this?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong,"
Milo started hesitantly, "but as much as you fight monsters and whatnot in
video games, you're pretty squeamish when it comes to your own blood."
"Squeamish? About a
little thing like this? Look, the bleeding already stopped." He turned his head
so that Milo could see.
"Yeah. Still, we need to
take you somewhere to disinfect it."
"Your place?" Sebastian
said promptly.
He felt somewhat vexed
about having his big moment with Milo being interrupted like that. He couldn't
understand his own feelings, but he surely desired to have the time to explore
them at length.
"Yeah, sure. Let's go,"
Milo said and took his hand. "You sure you're all right?"
"Stop worrying so much."
"How could I not? I can't
lose you now that you just confessed to me," Milo said in a theatrical voice.
Ah, he was making fun of
the situation. So that was quite all right. And Sebastian was now eager to be
back at Milo's house where they could kiss, and maybe the beautiful young man
would tell him again those incredible words.
***
Where could he go to find
some food? He should have taken advantage of Pepin no longer being mad at him
and ask about it, but he had missed his chance. Who knew where the servant was
now? He most probably had better things to do than just be at His Majesty's
beck and call all the time. Not that Kai minded all that attention. He had only
been there for days, and he was getting used to the good life.
He wandered into the
castle. He needed to have on his order of business to map the place so that he
finally knew where he was going. The last time he had wandered around like
that, an assassin had almost ended up killing Conrad.
Kai shivered and
grimaced. That wasn't so nice, weird-looking people trying to kill him. Well,
maybe they had their reasons since Sebastian was a pretty ruthless guy, but
still, they were on the side of evil, and he on the side of good, so, in a
nutshell, they shouldn't be able to succeed.
Of course, there was
still the matter of him being trapped in some kind of game, although he hadn't
noticed any possibility to level up or stuff like that. That was disappointing;
he had completed a pretty huge quest, getting the dragon's tear and all that.
He stopped in front of a
large wooden door. He sniffed around. There was no way that was the door to the
kitchen. It smelled nothing like food. However, it smelled of something else,
but Kai couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was only one way to find
out, and it didn't look like a forbidden door or anything like that. No ominous
runes were written above the door, and no ominous smoke came from underneath.
It was okay, he decided,
as he pushed the door open. For a while, his eyes struggled to adjust to the
low light in the room.
"What brings Your Majesty
to me?" A female voice came from the darkness. "I thought you were quite
displeased the last time you visited."
"Um," Kai started, not
really sure what to say.
The room was filled with
books, he noticed, and in the middle, there was a table that appeared to be
covered by some velvety cloth. On it, what was that?
He walked closer. "Is
this a real crystal ball?"
The woman laughed and
finally emerged to make herself seen. She was tall and broad-shouldered,
dressed in a long gown of a dark color that appeared to have no decorations of
any sort. She sat at the table and stared at him.
At least, that was what
he assumed, as he still couldn't see much. "Can you make some light? It's
pretty spooky in here."
A sudden clap of the
hands surprised him, but right away, the room was scalded in a pleasant light.
He couldn't tell its source as much as he turned on his heels and looked
around.
"How can I be of
assistance, Your Majesty?"
Finally, Kai could take a
good look at the woman. She couldn't be older than thirty, and her face was
impressive, just as her stature. Good thing she was sitting, or he would have
felt dwarfed by her presence. Her hair was black and fell in waves on her
shoulders, and her eyes were deep, hypnotic green. She gestured for him to take
a seat, and only then he noticed that there were other chairs in the room. He
grabbed one and sat primly.
"Sorry to bother you, I
actually got here by accident," he began. "Is that really a crystal ball?" he
asked again and pointed at the object on the woman's table.
He was dying to ask her
who she was, but he didn't need yet another person wondering if Prince
Sebastian had truly gotten a serious hit to the head. Which meant he probably
shouldn't be asking stupid questions about crystal balls, either. Maybe it was
better if he made for a hasty retreat.
"Nothing happens by
accident," the woman said while examining him with keen eyes. "If your steps
took you here, today, Your Majesty, it must be for a very important reason."
He waved. "I doubt that.
I was just walking around, looking for some food --" He was talking too much,
and he sounded weird.
The woman smiled again.
She let her hand hover over a small bowl and whispered something. A small
parfait-like mini cake appeared.
"Wow, nice magic," he
said without thinking.
"I know it cannot
compare to the culinary delights Your Majesty is accustomed with, but please
accept this humble nourishment."
Humble, right. In the
real world, probably only millionaires indulged in stuff like that. He made a
move to take the offered bowl. "Ah, it looks like you don't have a spoon," he
said and pulled his hand back.
He was in a magical
world, and he had been about to eat magical food offered by a magical lady. Now
that was pretty reckless on his part.
The woman whispered
again, and a spoon appeared inside the bowl by the parfait.
"Ah, I should cut down on
sweets," he argued. Then he patted his belly. "I'm getting fat."
"I've never known you to
refuse my creations," she said slyly. "After all, it has always been a reason
for you, Your Majesty, to wander off into Luna Celeste's humble quarters."
Ah, so her name was Luna
Celeste. The name fit her as her pleasant face was round and white, just like
the moon.
"Maybe just a small
bite?" Luna challenged him.
He fidgeted in his chair.
That parfait was making his mouth water. "All right," he gave up, "maybe just a
small bite."
If it were some nefarious
magic, Sebastian's strong body would fight it, without a doubt, he convinced
himself. Plus, why would the prince keep a dangerous witch inside his castle?
It wasn't like her door was locked or anything, either. With all those
arguments in mind, he began gobbling down the mini cake. He expressed his
delight through small noises of pleasure and smacked his lips once he was
done.
If it was magic, it had
to be the good kind because he felt pretty invigorated and like he could take
the world head-on.
Luna seemed quite pleased
with his reaction. "So, have you thought about our last conversation?"
"Hmm, nope, I can't say
that I have," Kai said, feeling apologetic on account of Sebastian. That conversation
couldn't have been a pleasant one, as Luna appeared quite anxious to learn of
his opinion.
Luna leaned back in her
chair and examined him some more.
"What? Do I have
something on my face?" Kai asked and wiped his mouth with the cuff of his costly
coat. After the deed, he stared at it a bit uneased. Pepin would kill him if he
got any stains on that.
"It's happening," Luna
said and clapped her hands gleefully. "That means that the moment is near. Your
dear mother will be so happy when she hears."
"What? What is
happening?" Kai asked.
"You are falling in love,
Your Majesty. Ah, I could feel it," Luna exclaimed and threw her arms to the
ceiling as if finally, her longtime prayers were answered.
"Am not, geez, I just
kissed him and traded lollipops --" Kai swallowed his words. First of all, that
was way too much info, and second of all, was he admitting to having done pervy stuff to an attractive woman like that? And an older
one, on top of that? At a stretch, she could be his mom!
Luna seemed not to have
heard his protests. She caressed the crystal ball as her eyes wandered as if
she was trying to figure out something. Kai threw a stricken look at the
crystal ball. Could it be
"Did you watch me and
Pepin doing that thing?"
Luna stared at him, perplexed.
"How would I do that, Your Majesty? I don't understand what thing you are
talking about."
"In your crystal ball,"
Kai insisted and pointed at the object.
Luna looked just as
flabbergasted at the item. "It's made of glass, and I bought it at a fair down
in Afrar years ago."
Oh, phew, Kai thought.
"What kind of witch are you?" He bristled. "You don't even have a crystal
ball."
"Witch? I'm not a witch,"
Luna Celeste contradicted him and stiffened in her chair. "I'm a charming
lady."
"You are," Kai agreed.
"I deal with charms."
Ah, that was what she
meant by charming. Well, she was both, then. "Wait, did you put some charms in
the parfait?" He pointed at the empty bowl. Now he was starting to have certain
regrets about gobbling down all that. What if Luna's charms were not all of the
good kind?
"Just my good wishes for
Your Majesty. Are you falling in love with Pepin, after all?"
"I'm not," Kai protested.
"And what do you mean, after all?"
Luna Celeste examined him
again and began tapping a finger against her lips. "It is your mother's wish."
"Well, she cannot wish a
thing like that. I'll fall in love with whoever I want," Kai said. "Not that
I'm falling in love or anything right now. And Conrad is just the concubine. I
don't use him!"
Gosh, the things that
kept leaving his mouth. But it looked like he couldn't stop. What the hell had
Luna put in that delicious cake?
"The change is
happening," Luna said, although it looked like she was mostly talking to
herself. "Without a doubt."
"What do you mean by
that?" Kai asked, feeling all the more suspicious of the charming lady with
charms in front of him.
"Love changes people,"
Luna said matter-of-factly. "But if it's not Pepin..." She began rubbing the
glass ball with her palm.
Kai leaned forward,
straining his neck.
"I see something," she
said while thinning her eyes.
"Hey, you said it wasn't
a crystal ball!"
"No, it's made of glass,
I told you," Luna said and waved like he needed to keep quiet.
What would Sebastian do
if he were there, in his rightful place? Probably he wouldn't take kindly to
being dismissed like that even by a charming lady. But Kai had no idea how to
act royal and arrogant without risking insulting Luna and come across as rude.
"Who is Milo?" Luna
suddenly raised her head and looked Kai in the eye.
"Milo? Milo's my best
friend!" Kai clamped his mouth shut, but it was too late. How could Luna know
about Milo? So she was a witch, after all.
Luna threw him a confused
look and stared into her crystal, no, glass ball some more. Kai didn't see anything
in there. "What country is he from? His attire is quite unusual."
Kai jumped to his feet.
"That's it, I'm going. The parfait was great, but I need to go now."
"Wait!" Luna called after
him.
He was in big, big
trouble. Nonetheless, he stopped. "What?"
"Remember," Luna said,
"the Shimmering Cavern is where you must go to complete the ritual."
"What ritual?" Well, he
was curious.
"To make your soul whole.
Take your friend Milo," Kai could bet Luna was laughing a little as she said
that, "there, and complete the ritual together."
"What's that supposed to
mean?"
Luna shook her head like
she couldn't believe he was this uninformed. "Your soul, Sebastian, must
combine with his, there."
"And what will happen
after I do that?" Kai asked, his ears all perked up.
"You will return home and
live happily ever after."
Just like in fairytales,
Kai thought. Then, right away, something crossed his mind. "You mean, if I do
the ritual, I'll return home?"
Another puzzled look from
Luna was the reply.
"Ah, so this is it. But
what happens if I go with Pepin?"
Sebastian's mother's wish
was for him to unite with Pepin to become a single soul or whatever. The
Shimmering Cavern had to be a portal of sorts, and if he went there,
Sebastian's soul would finally travel back to his body and Kai's soul to his.
That was the answer he had been looking for! What Milo had to do with all that,
he had no idea. It was probably because Milo had confessed right that moment
Whatever, he got it now.
But, unfortunately, he was so lost in his internal scheming that he missed what
Luna was asking him.
"Why would you go with
Pepin?" The lady repeated the question.
"Isn't he the one mom
wants for me?" Kai said airily.
"What about this new
friend, Milo?" Luna asked, the same quizzical look in her eyes.
Kai waved. "He really is
just a friend. Pepin, on the other hand, has the sweetest lips ever. Gotta go, bye." He hurried out the door before Luna had a
chance to question him some more.
That was it. Sebastian
needed to combine his soul with Pepin, obviously, and that meant that the
moment Kai would be at the Shimmering Cavern, the switchback would occur.
Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy.
"Your Majesty," he heard
himself called. Pepin was rushing to him. He stopped and bowed a bit
excessively. "I forgot to get breakfast for you! Please, forgive me."
Kai felt pretty good
about solving the quest regarding how he would return home. He grabbed Pepin,
straightened him up, and kissed him on both cheeks. "Don't worry. Luna gave me
a parfait. It was quite delicious."
"Luna Celeste?" Pepin
asked, his voice a bit high-pitched. "She was here?"
"What do you mean, `she
was here'? She was in her quarters. I just happened to wander about and
stumbled upon her."
"She appears only --"
Pepin choked on his own words for a moment. "Your Majesty, did she remind you of
the Shimmering Cavern?"
Kai puffed out his chest.
"Of course."
Pepin was the one
squeezing his arms now while looking at him wide-eyed. "Who are taking there?"
"Who? Really, Pepin, how
can you be so silly?" For once, Kai knew something the servant didn't. That was
one great reason to feel good about himself. "You, of course."
He yelped when Pepin
threw his arms around him and kissed him hard on the lips. Kai had a mind to
protest, but Pepin's lips on his were way too pleasant to do that.
"Well, I had no idea you
wanted to go that much," he said once he was allowed to breathe.
Pepin began laughing. He
didn't let go of his neck and kept staring Kai in the eyes. "There's nothing
else I've ever wanted more."
Once they went there, he
and Sebastian would switch back, and Pepin would be happy, on top of it all. It
was totally a win-win situation. Only that, Kai thought, maybe they wouldn't go
right now. First, he wanted to have a little more fun with dragons and whatnot.
"Well, we'll arrange
something, but maybe not this month, okay?"
"All right," Pepin
agreed, a bit hesitantly. "Is there a reason why you want to postpone it?" His
eyes were turning sad.
Right, he was selfish for
only thinking of how he wanted to play the prince a little longer. "Don't
worry, we'll go. And I just want to get to know you a little better, first.
We'll be united and stuff, right?"
Pepin nodded, and a
small, secretive smile caressed his lips. "As you wish, Your
Majesty."
TBC
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