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Bambi was always there, every time he could. He always delighted in sitting at the edge of the meadow and watching the herd of deer run in circles and spirals. That sight had always calmed him, and if his eyes focused more closely on a certain deer, that was when he gave free rein to his heart to decide for him.
He couldn’t help it.
Bambi had been feeling so, so strange around Ronno for a while now—he didn’t know how to act normally when he talked to Ronno, or simply not to stare so blankly when they did. Every time Bambi got lost in those moments, being captivated by Ronno and only Ronno, it was something he needed to define however he could.
Bambi found out shortly after that he was in love with him thanks to Flower.
From then on, Bambi blushed more than necessary when Flower brought it up, just between the two of them, as if it were a secret being carried away by a breath and a heartbeat. Bambi’s was for Ronno.
He knew it then, and he knew it now.
Bambi lowered his ears and sighed dreamily, following with his gaze the recognizable figure that was Ronno among so many deer. Watching him run, with those determined eyes, that mischievous face and that smirk always on him, did things to Bambi. He imagined trotting towards him when the race was over, he imagined licking the little drops of sweat from his fur, and finally, he imagined nuzzling him lovingly after a long day. All of that, reciprocal. All of that, nothing more than a daydream.
Bambi sighed again.
“Uh, Bambi, what are you doing?”
“Huh?” Bambi blinked a few times and raised his ears. He looked away from the blur of deer and looked down at Thumper, who had appeared next to him and spoken to him. He also came accompanied by Flower. “Oh… I’m watching the herd run?”
Thumper looked up at him and raised a suspicious eyebrow, somewhere between confused and amused, “Why are you answering with a question?”
Bambi quickly lowered his ears again and blushed. Flower laughed charmingly to himself, taking pity on Bambi.
“Thumper, I think it’s obvious he’s watching the herd run. But you have to see who he’s really looking at.”
Bambi swore he was going to burn with his blushing and embarrassment. Flower wasn’t taking pity on him—they had both come to tease him. Thumper moved something in his hands that Bambi couldn’t see before his best friend stood still and opened his eyes to the sky.
“Oh my God he’s coming this way.”
“What.” Bambi looked back at the herd and began to panic when everyone had stopped to rest. Ronno was approaching them and Bambi’s heart hurt from beating so many times in a row.
“Here.” Thumper placed the object he had been holding in his hands in Bambi’s mouth, and patted Flower three times with his front paw, urging him to leave. “He’s—run, Flower!”
And they ran away with soft giggles. Bambi wanted to kill them, seriously. He didn’t know how he was able to catch Thumper’s object with his mouth, but when he looked down at said thing, he realized that it was a water-filled fruit split in half. Bambi put it down on the grass in the meadow just as Ronno appeared in front of him.
Bambi’s jaw dropped a little.
“Seeing something to your liking, Prince?” Ronno asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking at him.
“Yep.” Bambi answered without thinking, and when he did seconds later, he jumped up and began to go into another mini panic. “I-I-I mean—”
Ronno laughed. Bambi stood so still and captivated by him once again that he watched with interest as a drop of sweat made a long, slow journey from Ronno’s head to his snout. The sweat from the effort made Ronno’s fur look much darker than usual, much shinier in the sunlight, and much, much more beautiful. Bambi refrained from sighing enthralled, not realizing when Ronno had lowered his head to drink the water from the fruit.
Thumper was very smart. He knew that would happen. But Bambi couldn’t think clearly. He just acted, impulsively as always, and he did it—
He licked the sweat from Ronno’s forehead. Not once, but twice, like he’s done it a million times before. Like it was normal between them. Like it wasn’t part of a daydream. Bambi hadn’t realized that Ronno had gone completely still until he walked away and saw him.
Oh, no. None of that had been normal between them.
Ronno raised his head and a slow grin began to form on his mouth, without taking his eyes off Bambi.
“Bambi, you’re always so—”
Bambi held his breath, because the grin that Ronno was now showing him was one that made Bambi feel like the most special being in the world.
“I am what?” Bambi spoke, as impulsive as ever.
“Pleasing to the eye.” Ronno answered him without further ado, with a clear shine in his eyes. Ronno glanced at the herd of deer and then back at Bambi, who blinked a lot at the unexpected compliment.
It took a while for his brain to react. That’s when Bambi realized that he hadn’t been as subtle as he thought he was.
Bambi blushed even more. Ronno had noticed him, every moment, always watching him run. He had noticed that Bambi followed him with his eyes every day, and every day he tried not to put his heart in his mouth and give it to Ronno.
Something in Bambi fluttered like the flight of a butterfly and he decided to take the step. But as always, it was his heart and his heart alone that did it.
“Can… Can I see you more?” Bambi asked Ronno, swallowing hard. How nervous he felt began to be reflected in determination, and for once he wasn’t acting like an idiot in front of his first love. “When you run with the herd and—well, um—outside of it too?”
Ronno stared at him, half caught off guard and wanting to hear more. He let out a soft, disbelieving laugh that made Bambi feel lost and excited at the same time, moving his ears back and forth.
“Are you asking—?” Ronno didn’t get to say the whole sentence. He always kept it on his lips, the implicit meaning between both deer.
They both knew what they were doing, however.
Bambi breathed softly, “Yes… If you want.”
Ronno was silent for a while, searching Bambi’s face for anything that Bambi couldn’t decipher. The wait was killing him.
“I’ll accompany you home.” Ronno finally said. His voice was like a soft summer breeze that caressed Bambi’s soul, and what followed was like a ray of sunlight in the morning, “I want you to never separate from me, my dear Prince.”
Bambi’s ears perked up. Ronno had not refused. He had agreed to go out with him, see each other more, meet more and hanging out more. He had accepted Bambi’s heart, and now they both beat in unison as one. Bambi’s grin was radiant as could be, and he laughed as charmingly as his joy would allow.
Ronno smiled fondly at him, rolling his eyes a little, and they walked together into the thick of the forest.
Bambi could have imagined a million scenarios before. But that one, always, always, was going to be the best of all.