Chapter Text
The first thing Albafica saw when he opened his eyes was the breath-taking mountain views framed by the window in front of the bed he was sleeping in. Completely bewildered, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
He did not recognize the simple bedroom, which was cool and airy, thanks to the large windows which allowed in a fresh morning breeze. He looked down and saw that he was wearing a light kimono, which was loosely tied, showing his chest down to the chiselled navel.
Suddenly he started. There was someone else in bed: a bare-chested young man with silver hair all over his eyes. The stranger was sleeping peacefully. But how could the man stand his poisonous body?
Albafica brushed the hair away from the stranger’s eyes, and looked intently at the handsome face, trying to remember. If they were sharing a bed, he must know the man well.
His memory slowly returned. Shion, the girl, and…
Minos.
Albafica gasped, jerkily drawing back. The sudden movement woke the other, who slowly opened his eyes, and then smiled sleepily at him.
Albafica sprang out of bed, his eyes glaring with hatred.
The silver-haired man propped himself up on one elbow, yawning. “What’s the matter?” he asked languidly.
“I have killed you,” Albafica said vehemently. “I saw you dead with my own eyes, before I... died…” his voice faltered in confusion.
Minos sat on the edge of the bed, and then said lightly, “I see you’ve had a bad dream.”
Dream? Albafica’s eyes fell on the man before him, unconsciously noting his well-built, warrior-like body. Minos reached out for his hand. Utterly confused, Albafica did not try to avoid the touch.
“Come here,” Minos said, gently drawing Albafica into his lap. This time, Albafica resisted and pulled his hand away, again glaring at the silver-haired man with a mixture of suspicion and hatred.
Minos rose from bed, approaching him, and Albafica summoned his Cloth, but nothing came. A shiver ran down his spine as he realised that he could not gather his Cosmo either.
Albafica involuntarily winced when Minos lifted his wiry hand, bracing himself for a blow, but the latter only caressed his cheek with his calloused fingers, while his other hand circled Albafica's slender waist, pulling him closer.
Minos was several inches taller, and Albafica realised with dread that Minos's strong arm could easily crush his waist. But the pain never came.
Instead, he found the touch to be pleasant. No one had ever touched him before, except his master, and certainly not like that.
“What was your dream about?” asked Minos, tucking a loose strand of blue hair behind Albafica's ear.
“I was a warrior,” Albafica stammered nervously, as he felt Minos's hand, which had stopped fussing with his hair, meander on the back of his neck, “and you were my enemy.”
Minos laughed, and stopped caressing Albafica's neck. “What an imagination,” he said, gently putting his palm on the top of the other’s head instead. This time, although still bewildered, Albafica did not wince.
“No, we are only simple fellows living in the mountain,” the silver-haired man continued, patting the other’s head, as if to comfort a terrified child. “I'm a hunter, and you a gardener. You tend your roses from morning till night. When you come home, I’m always here, waiting for you.”
Although not utterly convinced yet, Albafica felt a curious relief creeping in. So his sad, lonely life was only a dream?
He stole a glance at Minos’s face, which he remembered to be cold and sadistic. But the handsome face was nothing but patient, with no trace of cruelty or animal lust he had witnessed a moment before in his dream - if it was really a dream.
“In the dream,” Albafica stammered, “you bound me.”
“It was only a dream.”
“In the dream,” Albafica continued, and his entire body trembled in the recollection of the strings, "you were torturing me."
“It was only a dream,” Minos repeated, and then caressed Albafica's cheek once more. “I will never hurt you.”
"Never?"
"Never. I love you."
Something stirred deep inside Albafica. He had thought – or wished, rather – that it would be Shion, but of course Shion had eyes only for Dohko. Albafica remembered perching alone on the balustrade of his own Temple far above, watching the two other Saints from afar. They were sparring and laughing, as if oblivious of the world around them. Was it a dream, too?
Something soft touched his lips. The other had bent to plant a soft kiss on his mouth. Albafica had never been kissed before, and thus did not know how to respond. Besides, he was suddenly overcome with weakness, and could barely keep his eyes open.
But how comforting it felt, to be touched. To be kissed. And to be loved.
“Sleep well, my friend,” he heard the man whispered gently in his ear. Sleep? Didn’t he just wake up? Nevertheless, he obediently closed his eyes.
A moment later, strong arms picked him up swiftly. Albafica gave a resigned sigh, letting himself to be carried to wherever the man wanted him to be.
It was only a dream, he said to himself, resigning to the man’s protective arms, as his consciousness was steadily ebbing away.