Arthur felt amazing. Better than amazing. Everything was so completely perfect because he was going to leave his boring life behind for the wonders of the human world and get to stay by the side of the most gorgeous, kind, and fantastic mate in existence. For so long he had resigned himself to living a lonely life, watching each and every one of the fellow Naga in his age group find their life partners and move on. He had been left by himself, left to be the outcast of the clan.

Although, he mused, getting a human mate wasn't exactly a good way to stop being an outcast. It didn't matter. He had Alfred and the very next day he was going to run away with him and they were going to be together. He felt alive with apprehension and excitement as he slithered quickly and quietly through the woods and back into his clan boundaries.

The best part (okay, maybe not the best part, but it sure as hell was nice) was that he had gotten away with everything. He could scarcely believe his luck, as things never seemed to go his way, but he had successfully snuck away to meet with a human multiple times—once even being gone the entire day—and only Francis had an inkling of what he had done. He was almost regretful that he was planning on leaving quietly because he would've loved to see the look on everyone's faces when they discovered that he, Arthur Kirkland, loser of the clan, had not only duped them all, but had also mated with a human.

The thought had him grinning to himself the entire way back to his den.

Really, he was looking forward to spending the majority of the day curled up in his bed with his blanket and catching up on much needed sleep. As incredible as the entire night had been, it had exhausted him. He would get some sleep, wake up and find something to eat, and then talk to his mother. Then, in the morning, he would leave for one last time and begin the rest of his life. These were the thoughts that were on his mind as he pulled back the flap covering the entrance to his den and made to go in.

His entire thought process froze upon seeing that there was already somebody inside. It didn't take long to realize exactly who it was, for he would recognize that mane of kempt, golden hair anywhere. Francis was coiled up in the center of the room, clearly eyeing Arthur's empty nest with disappointment. He hadn't noticed Arthur yet and Arthur wondered if it would be a better idea to turn around, act like he had seen nothing, and hide until he could escape the clan. He felt his stomach drop in dismay, knowing that no matter what he did, there would likely be no getting out of this one.

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Arthur," Francis said suddenly, still turned partially away. "But I do deserve to know where you have been all night."

Arthur started, not having been expecting Francis to speak. Upon hearing his words, he gulped and looked down at the ground. At a loss for what he should do, he reverted to his tried-and-true habit of hurling insults.

"Been stalking me, have you?" he said shakily.

"I don't understand," Francis continued in a flat tone. "I know humans aren't nocturnal, so what the hell could you even have been doing out there? Surely there is nobody to watch at this time of night."

"You're not my bleeding father," Arthur snapped. "You're barely older than me and it's none of your business where I was."

Francis jerked his head around to look at him full on. "This is no game!" he shouted angrily. Arthur flinched from the force of the volume and quickly moved forward into the den in the hopes that Francis would not continue to shout and potentially wake up the rest of the clan. "Arthur, I told you what would happen if—"

Instead of the angry lecture Arthur had been anticipating, Francis cut himself off sharply as his face twisted into a look of pure confusion and horror. Arthur had gotten within a few feet of him, but stopped his approach upon Francis falling silent. He looked at the other Naga, wondering just what it was that had made him stop his lecturing and got the ominous sense that he had overlooked something vital.

"No…" Francis whispered, staring at Arthur intently. Arthur's feeling increased. "That's not…"

"Um, Francis?" Arthur asked hesitantly, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive gesture. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I asked you and you said there was no one!" Francis said as he suddenly closed the distance between them. Arthur fought the urge to back away as the other leaned towards him and sniffed the air. He felt emotionally whiplashed from the strange turn in the conversation and didn't have a single clue what was happening.

"What's wrong with you? Get away from me!" Arthur said indignantly as he tried to shove Francis away.

"Arthur, who is it?!" Francis said, tone growing frantic. "Why did you lie?!" He seemed to be on the verge of panic, as if he knew the answers to his questions but was desperate to prove himself wrong.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur continued questioning. He was now almost certain that he had forgotten something.

"Who have you mated with?" Francis growled. Arthur froze in shock.

"Wh-what?" he stammered.

"You heard me!" Francis lashed out and grabbed ahold of Arthur's shoulders. Arthur was too surprised to struggle against it. "Who is it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Arthur insisted stubbornly.

"Don't be stupid! You stink of mating scent!"

Shit. That's what he had forgotten. After a Naga mates for the first time, their sense of smell expands to include picking up if other Naga are mated. It had something to do with knowing who to go to in case a babysitter figure was needed, but Arthur had not paid a whole lot of attention during the lesson, which was probably why he had forgotten. And now that he focused, he realized that things did smell a little differently. Francis, instead of the usual flower musk he reeked of, carried a kind of soft underlying note that reminded him of Angelique.

"Arthur," Francis said, growing tired of waiting for Arthur to answer. "Arthur, oh please. Please, please tell me you have fallen for a young Naga and were too ashamed of the age difference to announce it to the clan. You snuck off somewhere to mate with them in secret, yes? This is all just a great love story."

Arthur looked into Francis' worried eyes and felt his resolve harden. He was, essentially, out of options, as Francis had biological proof that he had mated with someone and there was no one in the clan he could pretend to have mated with. Besides, he was getting very tired of hiding.

"No, Francis," he said firmly, feeling the hands on his shoulders clutch him a little bit tighter in an attempt to stop the truth.

"Then there is a neighboring clan that none of us knew about? Imagine that! I can't believe you were the one to find it and fall in love with a Naga there," Francis said with false mirth, offering Arthur a way out.

"No," Arthur repeated.

"Arthur, please don't tell me what I think I'm about to hear," Francis practically begged.

Arthur could feel his entire body shaking from a combined lack of sleep and the emotional turn of events, but ignored it in favor of lifting his chin and putting on a brave face. "His name is Alfred, but he likes it when I call him Al. I met him a few weeks ago and yes, tonight he became my mate."

"And Alfred must be a Naga that has chosen to live without a clan, yes? That would make a lot of sense!" Francis insisted with a tone bordering on crazed.

"Cut the bullshit, Francis," Arthur snapped, feeling a lifetime of resentment boil to the surface. "You want to act all high and mighty about me leaving? I'll tell you exactly where I was. There's a rock a little ways past the clan boundary and I met Alfred there tonight. He walked there using his two legs and we did our own version of a mating ceremony." Arthur fingered the ring on his left hand almost subconsciously. "Then, we went back to his dorm—that's the word for the place he lives—and we mated and it was perfect."

When Arthur was finished with his tirade, Francis appeared to be in horrified shock. Suddenly, he released Arthur's shoulders as if he were diseased and began slithering in circles around the den in his own version of pacing. Arthur watched uneasily, wondering what he was going to do in the event of Francis doing something rash out of panic.

"How?" Francis asked eventually, stopping his movement around the room and facing Arthur with one of the most serious expressions he had ever seen the other wear. "How did this happen?"

Arthur swallowed harshly, wondering where he should begin. Even he wasn't entirely sure of the answer to that question. "Well, you know that sometimes I like to go out of the boundaries and observe humans."

"Yes," Francis said impatiently, flicking his tail in obvious irritation. "I thought observing was all you did."

"It was," Arthur said quickly. "That is, until I saw a human fall one day. I approached him to see if he was hurt and when I found him unconscious, I brought him back here to let him heal."

"You what?!" Francis hissed. "You brought a human into the clan? Have you lost your mind?!"

Arthur fixed him with an unimpressed glare. "It was fine. Nothing bad came from it. Anyway, very long story short is that he woke up, we had a mutual curiosity about the other's species, decided to meet again, and became friends. We kept meeting up with each other at our rock and learning about each other and I suppose somewhere along the way we fell in love," Arthur recalled fondly, for once not minding displaying his emotions honestly to a fellow Naga.

"How did you even mate with him? I can't see how you two could be biologically compatible, if you know what I mean."

"Bloody—Francis you twit, only you would think of that! It's none of your damn business!" Arthur said with flushed cheeks. Flashes from the past few hours flew into his mind, causing his face to grow darker.

Francis buried his face into his hands. "You're right, it doesn't matter." A moment of pause to collect his thoughts. "Arthur, this is not something I'm having an easy time wrapping my head around. I know you must be lonely, but a human?" He spat the word out with such blatant disgust that Arthur wanted to sock him in the face.

"What does it matter what he is so long as we love each other?" he demanded.

"But humans can't love!" Francis declared, exposing the root of his disbelief.

Arthur's jaw fell open from the statement, both in offense and in surprise. "You've never even seen a human! What the bloody hell do you know?"

"I know enough," Francis stated simply. "That's why we keep ourselves segregated from them. They are monsters."

Arthur stared at him, eyes wide, for several moments. Then, despite everything, he began to laugh. "Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now? Judging an entire species based on warnings with no factual evidence," he said, shaking his head. As concerned as he was about his future with Alfred, he just couldn't wrap his head around his own clan's ignorance.

"Well, I'm sorry, but do you truly expect me to suddenly be able to change what I have always believed to be true? That was the biggest warning we have been told our entire lives: humans mean nothing but trouble. You are the only one to ever question that," Francis explained, continuing to eye his friend with doubt.

"Who are you going to believe?" Arthur demanded angrily. "Someone who has actually been around humans or a group that has never even seen them?"

Francis was quiet for several long moments, staring off into a corner of the den. Arthur allowed the silence to linger, knowing that Francis needed the time to think over everything that had been said.

"So what are you planning to do?" Francis spoke up. "I'm sure you know that mates need to be together in order to function properly. You have made this boy the other half of your soul, so now what? Are you going to continue sneaking off every now and then to see him? That will grow to not be enough very quickly."

Arthur wondered briefly if he should confess to Francis the truth. Now that he was questioning Arthur instead of displaying panic and disgust, perhaps he was willing to help him. Besides, lying to Francis wouldn't help anyone in the long run. Once Arthur disappeared the next day, Francis would likely assume that he had been killed. He was probably better off just explaining everything.

"I'm leaving the clan," Arthur admitted softly. "Tomorrow. We—Alfred and I—we made a plan to meet up again tomorrow and then I'm going to go live with him."

"In the human world?" Francis exclaimed, mouth agape. "Arthur, you can't do that!"

"Why not?" he asked crossly. "There's nothing for me here. If I want to go be with someone who treats me with love and respect, I will."

Francis took a moment to absorb the new information. Perhaps Arthur was imagining it, but he thought for a moment that he could see a hint of regret flash across the other's face before settling into something more reserved.

"Will you come back?" Francis tone was muted, accepting.

Arthur shrugged. "That depends on whether or not I'm welcome, I suppose."

Francis sighed deeply, bringing his hands up to rub tiredly at his eyes. "I cannot say for sure, Arthur. You must realize that this is not an easy thing to understand."

"Don't tell them where I've gone," Arthur pleaded, hope blooming in his chest. Francis showing up was not something that he had counted on, but it seemed as if things would still work out. "You can act as if we never had this discussion."

"And what about your family? Everyone will think you're dead."

"I'll talk to my mother in the morning before I go," Arthur promised. "And as for everyone else, I quite frankly don't give a damn." Francis stared at him from across the den with a blank expression, apparently still in mild shock from the breaking news. Eventually, he sighed once more and a slight smile lit up his face.

"I can't say I'm entirely thrilled about your choice of a mate, but I do want to be happy for you. I cannot understand how this could have possibly happened and while I am extremely concerned about your future, I know there's no stopping you."

Arthur felt all of the tension and worry rush out of his body. "Oh, thank you! Thank you Francis, really. I'm going to be fine, really," he said earnestly. "Better than fine."

"But," Francis interrupted, "I want to meet him."

"Wh—are you sure?" Arthur asked, shocked. "You'd be willing to sneak out of the clan boundaries to do something that terrifies you?"

"Yes," Francis affirmed, although he didn't sound very certain. "After all, I'd like to make sure that you will be in good hands, my friend."

"We still aren't friends," Arthur grouched. "But…I suppose if you're serious, you can come with me when I go to meet him tomorrow. You'll just need to make sure you have an alibi so nobody is suspicious when I don't return after last being seen with you."

Francis chuckled. "Yes, yes, I don't want to be charged with your murder. Shall I meet you here tomorrow then?"

"Right around the time everyone usually starts sunning themselves."

"Alright," Francis said as he slithered around Arthur and made his way towards the entrance of the den. "I really hope you know what you are doing."

"Not really," Arthur admitted. "But the reason why I'm doing it is compelling enough."

Francis gave him a fond smile and rolled his eyes. "Be careful, my friend. More talk of love and you will start to sound like me!"

Instead of scowling and professing that he would rather cut his own tongue out than begin to sound like the other, Arthur merely laughed joyfully as Francis took his leave. After all, it was hard to behave sourly when things were going so well.

A/N: Sorry for the short, crappy chapter! This is kind of a turning point in the story and from here on out it will be mainly focused on KEEPING them together instead of GETTING them together, so this chapter is like a bridge for that. I guess you could say we are moving into the story's second arc. I was going to make this chapter longer, but as I was lying in bed earlier contemplating random stuff, I was hit by a plot bunny so rabid that I was afraid if I didn't post what I have now, I would get too caught up in my new story to remember to do it later.

Originally, Francis was going to go completely batshit and fuck everything up, but I decided that he truly does care about Arthur despite teasing him all their lives and he wants him to be happy (plus, he can't resist a good love story). SO. Without giving too much away, I'd like to tell you that shit is going to get fucked up by someone else.

Have a beautiful day (or night) and don't forget to review! :)