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Ran lied on his bed, staring up at his ceiling for Dream knows how long. He wouldn’t lie, he was exhausted, but he really didn’t want to sit through another meeting with the council tonight. He idly wondered how long he could go without another meeting, before he just passed out.
His eyes flew open a few minutes later, sighing as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He hasn’t been asleep long enough to enter the REM stage, but it was riskier than he wanted. Ran threw his too-long legs over the side of his bed and stretched before he got up. If anything was going to keep him awake, hopefully walking around the castle would do.
It was weird, seeing how still and quiet the castle was in the dead of the night. There weren’t servants bustling around to and fro, there weren’t orders being shouted left and right, and there weren’t footsteps echoing around every corner. It was nice, it was peaceful.
Not paying attention to where his feet were taking him, Ran found himself right outside the castle’s kitchen. He stopped walking, looking around for a moment. Why did I come here? Was I hungry? Before he could continue asking himself, he noticed the faintest flicker of a candle underneath the kitchen door, and he decided to just turn around to walk elsewhere.
However, the door had other plans for him, his ears flicking as the door creaked open. Ran froze, worried about being caught, about being interrogated for being free in the castle without announcing anything. The faint glow of the lone flame grew closer, directly behind him, before coming to a stop.
“Ran? What are you doing up this late?”
Ran turned around to face the owner of the lone flame, who he now recognized as the General, as Jackie.
“Wanted to avoid another nightmare,” he admitted. Would it even count as a lie if meetings with the Council felt like nightmares to him? “What about you?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Jackie shrugged easily, quirking an eyebrow up with a small smirk as he continued, “you alright with a midnight snack?”
Not having any plans to return to his room any time soon, he simply nodded and followed Jackie back into the kitchen. It was big, for what it’s worth, just like everything else in the castle. He had no idea how anyone could find anything in here, there were countless cabinets and shelves. Though, he supposed, he also never really came in here to begin with.
“What types of nightmares are you having?” the General asked as he put together a plate of… something, Ran wasn’t sure what it was.
Ran leaned against the counter next to Jackie, looking down at the smaller human as he considered his answers.
“Nightmares like…” Like what, exactly? Like being told he was on a mission? And that he had no choice but to kill the most enchanting, beautiful person he’d ever met? “... Being forced to do things I didn’t want to do.”
Jackie hummed, hanging Ran a plate of fruit slices as he jumped up on the counter to sit next to him. The candle holder sat on the kitchen island across from them, illuminating the two of them in a dim, warm glow.
“What sorts of things are you forced to do?” He popped an apple slice in his mouth before he continued, “if you’re alright sharing, that is.”
“Being forced to-” to complete the mission, to eliminate Subbin’s General, to kill the boy with the brightest smile, with the cutest dimple, the boy with the sun-dyed hair and eyes like the ocean, to kill Jackie.
“Forced to hurt people I’ve grown to care about,” Ran carefully decided on. Not too specific that it raises any red flags, but not too vague that it sounds made-up.
The boy that was sat next to him let their shoulders knock together before hopping off the counter. Ran frowned slightly with the lack of warmth that had been next to him.
“I think I know how I can help.” Jackie smirked as their eyes met, leaving Ran to only stare back in confusion.
“And that would be…?”
“Do you trust me, Ran?” Jackie’s smirk softened, holding a hand out to Ran.
Ran raised his eyebrow at this, no longer leaning against the counter as he stared at the hand outstretched towards him.
“Of course I trust you.” He reached out, taking hold of Jackie’s still-waiting hand. His cheeks warmed at the contact, and he instead opted to look back in Jackie’s huge, curious eyes.
Ran was led to the middle of the kitchen, away from any counters, before he felt his left hand carefully picked up, before being promptly dropped onto Jackie’s right shoulder. As soon as Ran’s arm was situated, he felt a shy, soft hand carefully hold his waist. The warmth in his face spread through the tips of his ears.
“Tell me, Ran,” the two began to messily step together, no music to give them any sense of speed or rhythm. “Have you ever danced before?”
Ran thought, for a moment. He has danced before, sure, but never like this, never this close to another person, and certainly never without any music. He however, decided to opt for an easy answer.
“Not like this.” He chuckled breathlessly, like he couldn’t believe what was happening, as he accidentally stepped on Jackie’s foot. “And shouldn’t there be music when people dance?”
And Jackie giggled, a small but visible dimple appearing before he settled for a truly content smile.
“Just follow me lead, okay?” His voice was just barely above a whisper, and eyes lidded as he continued to lead this musicless dance.
Instead of rebutting, Ran closed his mouth and just followed Jackie’s lead. Eventually, the two found their rhythm in the joint beating of their hearts, of the rise and fall of the candlelight illuminating just enough of the kitchen, of their breathing being in sync.
They held each other impossibly close, keeping each other just far enough that they could still see the other’s face. Their nonsense dance eventually gave way into twirling each other at any given chance, though Jackie spun Ran around more. Being in this kitchen, dancing together, alone, Ran wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Ran was preparing for one more spin, not prepared for when he suddenly lost all balance. His grip around Jackie tightened, the blonde breathing heavily as he made sure not to drop his dance partner. They drank in each others’ presence, breath hot on Ran’s face.
After what felt like ages, he noticed Jackie carefully leaning closer and closer, giving Ran plenty of time to get up and leave, back away, but he didn’t. He stayed there, allowing Jackie to get as close as he dared.
“Ran,” Jackie murmured, his voice impossibly low and soft and caring- “I think I finally figured out what they meant when they said those with green eyes would bring the end to the world.”
“Is that so?” Ran whispered, afraid of breaking this fragile moment between them.
Instead of waiting for an answer, Ran closed the distance between the two of them, allowing their lips to meet. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to fully indulge in this moment. Allowing himself to just be held, to be safe, as he clung to the boy above him with tight arms, desperately not wanting to be let go or lose his grip.
He didn’t know when they moved to standing, he didn’t know when arms holding him from falling found themselves in Ran’s hair, didn’t know when his own grip on the back of Jackie’s shirt only tightened.
Once an eternity passed between them, they slowly, painfully, pulled away. Ran reseted his head against Jackie’s, not wanting this moment to be lost, not wanting this moment to end.
“Wow,” Jackie chuckled breathlessly, half lidded eyes looking at Ran once more.
“Wow,” Ran agreed, his face a full dark green.
Without another word, Jackie leaned in once more, kissing Ran with even more care and tenderness than before. And Ran melted into it, allowing himself to be completely in the moment, forgetting for the night his mission.
The candle on the counter was fully melted, a sign of how long the two stayed up dancing and laughing and loving. If he made the Council furious by avoiding them in order to be held in Jackie’s arms, then it would be worth it. He could handle anything the Council threw his way, as long as it meant he could spend just a little more time with Jackie.