Chapter 8: New Feelings

Detention so far meant nothing else but more studying, so Sebastian felt more and more intrigued by the punishment system in this world. Maybe it was cruel enough that his phone had been taken away, so the powers that be didn’t intend to crush his spirit any further.

“Hey, don’t worry,” a girl from his left whispered. “He’ll give us the phones back once detention’s over.”

“Oh,” Sebastian said. Now that was a refreshing thought. While the history book in front of him was quite interesting, he couldn’t stop sighing and burying his face in his hands from time to time. He straightened up in his chair. “So what’s the real punishment, then?” he asked the girl.

She appeared to be a slave of sorts and possibly a much-cherished one by her master, he thought, as he observed the amount of jewelry she wore. She even had a ring piercing her eyebrow, while her ears were entirely covered by intricate designs. However, she wore black clothes, so she could also be a carer for the dead. An ominous skull adorned her shirt, and she wore a necklace with crossed bones around her neck. There was still so much he had to learn about the customs of this world, and he didn’t have his phone.

“Punishment?” she laughed. “Other than let us be bored to death?”

“How can you be bored?” Sebastian wondered.

“How can I not be?” she shot back.

The teacher in charge of them seemed very much absorbed by his phone, and Sebastian envied him. However, that also meant that he could whisper with the girl without being shushed all the time.

“Here,” Sebastian pointed at a line in the history book he was reading, “did you know that, in Ancient Rome, the closest relative had to give the dead a last kiss and close their eyes?”

The girl stared at him, expecting something, and then she grinned. “Really? That’s pretty hardcore, man.”

“I thought you would say so.” He had no idea what she meant by that. “It is your area of expertise, after all.”

“What’s that? Ancient Rome?” She grinned again.

He pointed at her shirt. “No, the dead.”

This time, she burst into laughter.

“Quiet,” the teacher ordered, but without ungluing his eyes from his phone.

“You’re cool, man. I’m Beatrice, but everyone just calls me B,” the girl whispered.

She pushed one hand toward him, and Sebastian debated how he would manage to kiss her hand – she was, most probably, not a slave – or if it was appropriate at all to have any physical contact with a carer for the dead. He eventually took her hand, and she shook it shortly before releasing it.

“Kai,” he said promptly. It was strange to use another’s name, but he was getting used to it.

“So, what are you in for?” she asked.

“In detention?”

She nodded.

“I said that my math teacher was a witch.”

“For real?” Her eyes glinted. “So hardcore.”

That was surely a term he would have to ask his phone about later when alone. Remembering what he had last searched, he asked, “Are nerds hardcore?” Before Milo had dragged him along, he had managed to read the definition of the term used by that pig-like face young man from before. He was convinced that he had been insulted, although he saw nothing wrong with enjoying one’s studies. Of course, he took offense at being accused of having no social skills, but otherwise, he couldn’t understand why the word was used as an insult.

“You are,” the girl pointed out. “Hey, do you have any plans on Friday night? You should come see us play.”

“Play what?”

Beatrice grinned. “Music for the dead.” She stretched her shirt so that Sebastian could read the two words above the skull.

“Edible Insanity,” he said slowly. “Is nourishment included?”

Beatrice snickered. “You’re a frigging riot, man. Do you see that guy?” She pointed at a young man two rows in front of them. He wore the same black clothes and had his hair styled in a strange arrangement. The sides of his head had no hair, and the orange top was braided. “That’s Cain, our drummer. And that’s our growler,” she added, pointing at another girl to their left who stared at them with a scowl. Her jaw was moving with bored lassitude; then she blew into a small balloon that came out of her mouth until it popped. That startled Sebastian for a moment, but then he relaxed. Most magic in this world appeared to have no purpose and no sense. Or rather said a mundane one.

“You are a group of musicians,” Sebastian concluded. “What’s your role?”

“You talk so weirdly, it’s so cool,” Beatrice said with a snicker. “We’re a deathcore band. But we’re not all for labels, you know? A bit of thrash, noise, all that.”

“Thrash? That sounds ... quite upbeat,” Sebastian said, now intrigued with what kind of music that could be and why it was considered a good fit for celebrating the dead.

“You’ll see. Bring your friends, too.”

“I don’t have friends,” Sebastian replied. “Only a boyfriend.”

Beatrice winked at him and smiled. “Bring him. I bet it’ll beat reading about Ancient Rome.”

“If you say so,” Sebastian said. He highly doubted it. Attending funerals had always been an obligation and not something to be enjoyed. But his role in this world had to include getting accustomed to its customs, and going to a funeral had to be done sooner or later.

“How was detention?” Milo welcomed him with a broad grin. He wore short pants that let his strong legs show and a sleeveless shirt.

Sebastian looked him up and down without a word. His weakness chose to act up at impossible moments. Just now, a vision of letting his hand wander along Milo’s lean and shapely thigh took over his mind. “We are invited to attend a funeral on Friday night,” he said matter-of-factly.

“A funeral?”

Beatrice tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t forget about Friday, okay? Is this your boyfriend?” She gestured at Milo.

“Hi, I’m Milo. Whose funeral are we supposed to go to?”

Sebastian watched as Beatrice and Milo shook hands. That was a custom he needed to remember.

“Your boyfriend is awesomely weird,” Beatrice said. “We’re playing at The Pit. Free entry.”

“Cool,” Milo said. “We’ll be there.”

Beatrice waved them goodbye and joined her group of performers.

“So, ready?” Milo hooked one arm over his shoulders. Sebastian was starting to get used to the familiarity. And it was difficult to deny the pleasant sensation spreading throughout his entire body when Milo held him close like that. If he didn’t pay the proper attention, his knees would end up buckling under him.

It wasn’t fair that handsome men could have such a devastating effect on him. He would have never taken Conrad as his royal concubine otherwise. It was a dangerous move on his part to invite an enemy to his bed. But as the fight had raged on, with every occasion he had been presented to take down Conrad for good, he had hesitated. In the end, he had just restrained the beautiful man and forced him into slavery.

There was no need for that with the young man walking by his side. Milo was astonishing if he thought about it. As far as Sebastian could tell, he was an innocent, but he was daring too, in the most natural and endearing way. He spoke his mind, and he walked with his head high, without being arrogant or phony.

He watched Milo as he talked animatedly. What a handsome young man, Sebastian thought, feeling the familiar warmth and pleasant slight dizziness that came to him each time he lost himself in admiring an attractive male.

“Hey, do you even listen?” Milo laughed as he stared at him curiously.

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m afraid I’m a bit famished,” he said instead of admitting the truth.

“You still didn’t tell me how detention was. I see that you made new friends.”

“Yes, the musicians,” Sebastian replied. “They perform for the dead,” he added.

“Should we paint our faces and go as zombies, then?”

What were zombies?

Milo pushed against him, not too hard. “Admit it,” he whispered, “you weren’t paying attention because you were fantasizing about me.”

Sebastian felt rightfully annoyed with having been discovered so quickly. “How could you tell?”

Milo burst into laughter. “For real? I was just pulling your leg.”

“Pulling my ... And what of it? You are the one enticing me with lewd imagery.”

“What’s that?” Milo asked. “Ah, by the way, you still have to tell me why you kept it a secret that you knew so much math and French. That means that you will have to tutor me from now on.”

“Do you need it?”

“Yes, and not only that,” Milo said and winked at him. “I need a lot more from you.”

Demands didn’t bother Sebastian at this point. It would be all for the better if Milo started to take the initiative.

“Did you take a shower?” Sebastian asked, anticipating disappointment. The detention had robbed him of his phone and also of watching Milo’s delightful body under that artificial waterfall, water slushing down those muscles ... He bit his lip fiercely in an effort to dominate his own response at the fantasy his mind was conjuring.

“Yes, the practice was pretty intense,” Milo replied.

“Too bad I didn’t get to watch.” Sebastian was acutely aware of the strained sound of his voice.

“Hey, what do you sound so deflated for?”

“I wanted to see you shower,” Sebastian said petulantly.

“Well, that was kind of a bad idea, to begin with.” Milo chuckled.

Sebastian hated him a little. What right did he have to look so enticing, with those plump limps stretched in a smile? It was like he knew of Sebastian’s weakness and took advantage of it.

“I mean, I suppose I can take another once we get home. You know, just for you,” Milo teased him. He looked around and kissed him on the cheek quickly.

Sebastian was surprised. “What was that for?”

Milo’s chuckle now sounded endearingly embarrassing. “I don’t know. I just think you’re cute.”

Cute? Cute?! He wasn’t...

But, of course. He currently inhabited a different body, and Kai Martin surely didn’t have a princely body or a princely face. Nonetheless, the correct assumption was that, indeed, he could be called cute.

And it was a compliment.

“Thank you,” he said primly. “And I think you are very handsome.”

“You do?” Milo smirked.

“Yes.” Sebastian frowned slightly. “I can’t entirely tell when you’re wearing clothes, but you appear to have quite a well-proportioned body.”

“Our bus is here,” Milo said.

He had been caught up in admiring Milo and conversing with him that he had failed to notice that they had reached something called a bus station. This time, he wouldn’t travel underground, and Sebastian tried hard to repress a new sensation of excitement at being able to watch the scenery going by fast from inside one of those shiny contraptions.

Unlike him, Milo didn’t live in a high building. His family had a house built close to others similar in design. Sebastian had to reconsider what he had so far thought of Milo being a commoner. His home was considerably larger and had more rooms. The yard was extremely small, but at least his family had one. It was far from being anything like a mansion, but it spoke of a level of wealth Sebastian’s current family didn’t own.