Lynne:
I was so relieved when Clay finally woke up. When I finally had him in my arms. He was shaking so hard; I was scared to ask what his nightmare was about. We stayed there for a few minutes. The minutes ticked by slowly, but not slow enough. I wanted him to stay there forever.
But all good things come to an end.
He pulled away and took a deep breath, stumbling back to sit on the bed. His eyes shifted around, his face starting to turn red. "Ah… thanks," Clay muttered. I didn't like that look on his face. Like he was ashamed that he had gone through something so horrible.
I sat down next to him, trying to keep a pleasant smile on my face. "I don't need to be thanked," I told him, but that only made him tense.
"Do you think… you could stay here a little longer?" He asked, his voice tight.
That made my heart swell.
"Of course," I replied, sitting down next to him on the bed.
I didn't know if he wanted to talk about his dream or not. I didn't know how to bring it up without sending him spiralling again. So, we sat in silence for a pretty long while.
"I… met your father." Clay suddenly brought up, his eyes cast away from me.
I sat up straight at the mention of my dad. "What did he say to you!?" I snapped, though I didn't mean for my voice to be as harsh as it came out.
"Just, the classic. I don't belong at the school and whatnot." Clay said. Though there was something off about his description. He was leaving out details. I knew he was.
"Why the hell did he have to leave his hole to tell you that?" I grumbled, digging my nails into my thigh.
"You spoke to him once, and you already hate him." Clay scoffed. I pressed my nails harder into my thighs.
"Well yeah. The guy ditches me when I was born, then takes me away from my life and drags me here to do his bidding." I grumbled.
"I guess your life in the other world was a lot better than here." He said, his voice flat.
"That's not what-"
"What was your favourite thing about the other world?" He asked before I could defend myself. Throughout this entire conversation, he had never looked me in the eye.
"My favourite thing?" I pondered. There was so much. The fact that there was no slavery for one. There was no war, no fighting. Fencing was just a sport, my only worry was passing my next exam. I always had an abundance of food. Anything I wanted to eat, I could have. Any item I wanted was mine if I only asked. New game systems, new streaming services. Anything. I found it strange how much I took all that for granted before. I always knew how lucky I was… but I could have never fathomed just how privileged I really was. I was too isolated before to understand.
"Yaoi anime." I finally answered.
"What…?" Clay looked bewildered. He finally looked my way, but still not directly in my eyes.
"In my world, there were these moving pictures." It felt strange trying to explain it in such basic terms. "Someone draws something and then draws the same thing slightly differently. Then it moves." I was debating if that made any sense. From that thousand-yard stare I was getting, I assumed it didn't. "Anyway." My eyes shifted, and I chuckled. "People draw guys kissing… and doing other stuff…"
I have no idea what his expression was supposed to be. Vacant maybe. Confused. Weirded out. I couldn't tell. Honestly, I said yaoi expecting some form of reaction from him, but now I just felt awkward for even bringing it up.
"So… boys liking boys, isn't unnatural?" Clay asked, with strange bewilderment.
I grit my teeth together so hard I could hear them grind in my ears. "Who told you it was?"
He stayed silent. I could tell by the way he shifted. He wasn't sure how to answer that question. "The king said… something like that," Clay admitted.
I was about to rip a hole in my pyjama pants. "He said what…?" I could barely steady my voice.
"That it's well not normal, to be attracted to somebody whose the same gender as you." Clay paused. "You wouldn't be able to have an heir."
I didn't know what else to do other than release a deep sigh. I guess a medieval fantasy land also comes with medieval customs. "Where I come from, what my dad just said would be considered homophobic." Clay obviously didn't understand that terminology, and I felt a little stupid for thinking he would. "Um. Never mind… all you have to know is that he's wrong. People have been liking the same gender for as long as the earth existed."
Clay scoffed. "As long as the earth existed? That's a statement… how would you know? Are you gonna tell me you're actually millions of years old?"
I couldn't help but laugh. "Totally! I just use superb moisturizer!"
Another confused look. "You're definitely making up half the words you say." Clay pointed out. All I could really do was scratch the back of my head. Of course, he didn't know what moisturizer is… I had to shove my foot in my mouth at least once every time I spoke to him.
"I'll take you back to my world and I'll show you all the weird stuff I've been mentioning," I said with a smile.
"So… you want to go back?" Clay's voice was low and flat.
"Well… I dunno. That's what most main characters want to do when they get sent to another world." I muttered to myself. "But here… even under my father's rule. I feel free."
"Free..." Clay echoed. I could tell by the way his voice whisked past his lips that the word held a heavy meaning to him. "In your other world… were… were you in an arranged marriage?"
I paused. "How-"
"Your father. He told me you can't like me… 'cause of an arranged marriage." Clay revealed.
"Well… I've only met her once. The girl I'm supposed to marry, that is. But, it was so long ago I have no idea what she even looks like. I don't even remember her name. I also don't know why they even arranged it if my father was planning to drag me into this world all along." I explained.
"Do you want to marry her?" There was a sharp edge to Clay's tone.
"It's… just part of my reality," I admitted. "Makes dating pretty hard if I'm engaged." I chuckled to lighten the mood, but Clay wasn't laughing.
He finally looked me straight in the eyes for the first time in this conversation. There was a long silence, like he was trying to figure something out. His eyes were burning with intensity, but my cheeks burned even hotter.
"Are you in love with me?"