Kai sleepily opened his eyes a few hours later, his boyfriend still tucked against him, dead to the world. Kai enjoyed a few moments of merely holding the prince, his cool bare skin a nice contrast to his own burning hands. It was nice to have a few peaceful seconds, the usual worried expression replaced with neutrality in slumber. Kai took a moment to glance around, taking in the décor of the prince's room. Dark, ornate furniture lined the walls, old paintings of previous families looming overhead. On the far wall was another painting of the latest family, but this one was more relaxed.

Zane was reading a book, eyes intent as he sat next to his parents, who were holding hands as they laughed together, sharing a joke that Kai wasn't aware of. The Fire Ninja blinked. For a second, the couple that had ruined the prince's life seemed almost human, and it made Kai tighten his grip a little on his boyfriend. Kai froze as Zane shifted under his touch, rolling into him more and sighing in his slumber, eyebrows furrowing only for a brief moment before they settled back down.

With the covers half thrown off in their sleep, Kai had a clear view of the scars littering Zane's chest. The jagged cuts had mostly faded, but some still remained, a terrible reminder of his parents' fates, and what could possibly happen to the prince if Karen wasn't taken care of. The heir's breathing was slow, and the gentle whistle of his breaths made Kai's fall in sync, threatening to send him under once more.

The Fire Ninja fought the urge, and sat up slowly, being careful to replace himself with a pillow to prevent Zane from noticing his absence. The prince whined in his sleep as the heat was replaced, a soft sound that was almost inaudible. Kai smiled and ruffled his hair slightly as he rose from the bed, taking this quiet moment to poke around the room. A bottle of clear polish stood on the desk, obviously unopened and left for Zane.

A quick glance in the drawers revealed mostly dress pants, ties, and underwear, all standard for palace life. A check of the closet revealed countless button-down shirts and black shoes, along with the occasional blazer or suit jacket. A glance in the bathroom revealed all sorts of scents, hair products, and bits of makeup lying around, and Kai was unsure whether it was for the prince or if it was leftover from his mom.

Just as he was about to start checking out the shower, a shifting from the bed made him turn around. Zane was sitting up sleepily, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands to try and clear away the tiredness. When he glanced up through spotty vision to see Kai, he extended an arm, silently pleading as Kai walked over. As soon as he was close enough, pale arms were wrapped around the Fire Ninja, Zane's head buried into his chest.

"We gotta get food, Zane. We haven't eaten since this morning."

At that, the prince shook his head minutely, eager to resume his slumber with his boyfriend, trying his damndest to temp Kai into returning to bed.

"You may not be hungry, but I am," Kai exclaimed, and that made Zane look up, blue eyes still clouded over with drowsiness. "Is there some sort of palace room service I could call or something?"

Zane drew his arms away reluctantly, picking up his phone from the bedside table and unlocking it, handing it to Kai with the messaging app open to Karen. Kai nodded silently, and began typing.

Zane: Hi, this is Kai. Is there any way we could get food up here? Zane's still denying that he wants to eat but I'm pretty hungry.

It took a couple minutes, she responded nonetheless.

Karen: Food's on its way up. I sent up some extra, just in case you can convince Zane to eat something. Hopefully it's to your liking.

And that was that. Kai sat on the bed, lightly running his fingers through Zane's hair as the blonde curled up against his leg. When there was a knock on the door, Zane rolled away from it, embarrassed to be seen in such a state by one of the guards. Kai thanked the delivery person, and the door shut softly, Kai returning to the bed to sit cross-legged, balancing the tray he was given on his lap.

"Do you want anything?" Kai asked despite already knowing the answer, which was confirmed when Zane shook his head dejectedly. Kai, however, ate his steak and potatoes happily, glad to be given a simple meal as his introduction to palace cuisine.

Sounds of faint chewing filled the silent room, Kai trying not to focus on the perceived awkwardness surrounding the pair.

"So," Kai said after swallowing a hunk of potato. "I take it you're not feeling much better?"

Zane gave an affirmatory hum, blinking up at Kai with glassy eyes.

"Alright, alright. After dinner, I'm gonna take a shower, and I might need your help with the controls if it's anything like the rest of the palace."

Zane was silent still, this time shifting to rest his head on Kai's knee as he ate, eyes shut. As much as the Fire Ninja wanted to cuddle the prince, his hunger took over and he finished chowing down on his share of food, setting the leftovers aside just in case his boyfriend decided he was hungry.

"Any reason why you aren't talkin', Zane?" He rested a gentle hand on the prince's hair, lightly scratching his scalp. Zane shrugged, opening his eyes and meeting Kai's gaze. "Well, it'd be a bad idea to bring you out there with you being so anxious. Probably not a good image."

Zane sat up and cuddled closer, not quite crying, but Kai got the vibes that it could start at anytime.

"Hey now, you know you can tell me anything, right? That's part of this whole relationship thing. I know you're scared, but you can trust me. It's okay."

Zane blinked, and straightened a little, no longer leaning on Kai.

"I- I know that my coronation's being planned pretty soon, and once I'm crowned king, I can't stop," Zane explained quietly, voice no more than a whisper. For some odd reason, a grin was growing on his face. "I have no plan. I don't know how I'm going to rule. I wasn't supposed to be crowned for a long time, but here I am being crowned at seventeen."

Zane launched into a hysterical giggle fit, running a hand through his own hair to push it back, and Kai felt his own stomach jump nervously. He was only two years Zane's elder, and the thought of being given the key to an entire country made his skin crawl. Also, his boyfriend's behavior was weirding him out big time. Despite that, he tried to play it cool, nodding in agreement.

"Y'know, this is the flaw in the whole system," Kai pointed out. "To be honest, even if you were the most educated and wise teenager ever, no seventeen year old is fit to rule an entire country."

"Very true," Zane agreed, his laughter dying down momentarily. "Everyone keeps saying I'll be better than my parents, but so far the most leadership I've displayed was earlier today sitting on the throne."

"Who knows what's gonna happen next," Kai wondered, resting his chin on his hand, Zane instead getting up to pace.

"Can you imagine it, Kai?" Zane flourished, his dress pants wrinkled from his sleep. "Me, up on the throne, staff in hand, barking out orders?"

Kai just stared, unsure what to do before Zane launched into another hysterical laughing fit. "Because I can't. What am I going to do?"

"Zane, I-"

"I have no idea! And it doesn't help to know that if I mess up, Karen will just organize a revolution to have me beheaded," He couldn't stop himself from cackling at the thought. "As much as I hate this life, dying isn't quite on my agenda yet."

"Zane-!"

"And to top off the whole thing, I don't even know how to talk to people because I was never allowed to! You all were the first friends I ever really had, and now I've left most of them behind to live in practical isolation with my boyfriend!"

"Zane!"

That made the prince stop, halting his rambling to look at Kai with dazed eyes.

"You've got to get a hold of yourself! This isn't like you! You're going from being nonverbal to hysterics in the blink of an eye," Kai leapt out of bed, grabbing Zane's face in his hands. "What's going on?"

"I'm stressed out of my mind," Zane couldn't help but release a little giggle again, his stomach muscles visibly twitching with laughter. "I've been on the verge of an anxiety attack ever since I got here and I don't know what to do."

"Well, whatever this is isn't you," Kai contended, dropping his hands. "It seems like you're feeling a bit better, though. Did the weird rant thing you did help at all?"

"I think so," Zane quirked his mouth into a weird smirk, nodding after a moment of thought. "It did seem to lessen the pain a little."

"I'd rather not see you break down like that again, if I can help it," Kai admitted, and Zane nodded in agreement.

"I can imagine why. Now, you mentioned needing to shower? I can help you with the functions if you need."

"Actually, I'll try and figure it out. You need to either eat something or go back to bed, you're not in a good mental state right now."

"But I-"

"Actually, go find Mrs. Glamore. I don't really think you should left alone when you're so keyed up, and unless you intend on showering with me, I can't watch you."

"I'm not leaving the room."

"Fine then. You're coming in the bathroom with me."

"Kai, we just kissed for the first time earlier today. I'm not-"

"Shut up," Kai grumbled, cheeks flushing red as he took his boyfriend's hand and dragged him into the bathroom, Zane smiling cheekily all the while. Once in there, Zane closed his eyes while Kai shed his clothes, and only reopened once Kai had safely shut the cloudy glass door behind him. A blanket of silence fell over the two, neither one really having anything to say for a while. Eventually, Zane lifted his head up to look at the glass.

"Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for everything, really. I don't know how I would've survived all of this without you."

"That's what I'm here for, Frosty," Kai answered, and Zane could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "But about what you said earlier, remember our plan. Everything's gonna be ok, you don't need to worry about Karen now that I'm here."

Zane hummed in acknowledgement, and the silence became a lot more bearable. The running shower and the sound of water running of his boyfriend filled Zane's ears, providing a nice distraction for his brain to focus on. All too soon, the water turned off.

"Right, close your eyes again."

Zane complied, resting his chin on his knees from his position on the floor. As Kai passed, he ran a wet hand through Zane's hair jokingly, making the prince mumbled in playful indignation as he attempted to smooth it back down.

"Uh, I'm just realizing a problem."

"And what would that be?"

"I don't have any clothes or anything. I didn't come prepared to stay."

"Can I open my eyes?"

"Sure."

And with that, Zane moved out of the bathroom, and Kai stood in the middle of the bedroom with a towel around his waist.

"I'll have some guards go buy some clothes for you tomorrow. Your wardrobe needed an update anyway."

"But what about now?" Kai asked, not completely liking the idea of sleeping naked.

"Maybe you could fit into some of mine? I know I'm a few inches shorter than you, but it shouldn't be too tight."

After trying on countless shirts, pants, and anything in-between, they finally found pants that fit, and Kai decided to accept the same fate as his boyfriend and settle in for a shirtless night. Kai was just about to comment on how awake he was when Zane yawned, covering his mouth with his hand to muffle the sound.

"I'm not that tired, so I'll hold you while you try to sleep, yeah?" Kai offered, and Zane nodded gratefully, and the two crawled back into bed with content sighs.

"Kai," Zane mumbled, his words overwritten by another yawn. "I love you."

The Fire Ninja pressed a light kiss to Zane's hairline, one arm supporting his boyfriend while the other pulled out his phone. "Love you too, Zane."