Ten’s feet are sticky with mud drying in the valleys between his toes. The rain had stopped but the skies are getting darker now that it’s almost night time. Ten’s arms are wrapped around Taeyong’s neck as he carries him on his back on the way home. Ten’s not allowed to say no, per Taeyong, because he’s not wearing any slippers and the mun nai will get reprimanded if he allows the nation’s Crown Prince to walk inside the Grand Palace completely barefoot.

“Ugh, my head aches,” Ten complains, burying his face in the space between his head and Taeyong’s nape. The latter makes a small noise of protest. “What?” Ten asks.

“You’ve been standing under the rain and crying for more than two hours,” Taeyong says matter-of-factly. “That's why you have a migraine.” He’s still walking with his back straight, and Ten can’t help but marvel at the mun nai’s strength.

“Hey!” Ten slaps a hand at Taeyong’s shoulder when the words finally sink in. “I thought we agreed never to talk about it. That thing never happened.”

Taeyong heaves a long, weary sigh. “Right,” he mutters.

By the time they reach the Grand Palace, the sun has fully set and the dark clouds in the sky have been replaced with a black sheet littered with purple mist, a handful of heavenly bodies scattered in the distance. Ten climbs his way down Taeyong’s back with ease when they reach the huge oak doors of his bed chamber. His knees feel like they’re just about to give in.

“You need to eat a little more,” Taeyong comments, stretching his arms over his head. “You’re as light as a feather.”

Ten puckers his lips in thought. “For your information, I do eat a lot. I just happen to be very hyperactive.”

Taeyong rolls his eyes and forces out a smile. “I won’t be around tonight. The King needs me. I trust I won’t see you running outside the palace gates again while I’m away?”

Ten points a finger at his chest, drawing an invisible X. “Cross my heart and hope to die. I’ll be good, I promise.” Ten gives him a toothy grin for added measure and it makes Taeyong laugh.

“Great. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

Ten waits for Taeyong’s figure to be swallowed by the darkness in the halls before he calls out a phrai to bring warm water for his bath. When he enters the room, the cold air hits him and it sends a mild shiver down his spine. His hair is oily and unkempt and he frowns when he sees just how awful he looks in his huge ornate mirror. It takes a few minutes before the phrais arrive at the doors with huge pails of warm water in their hands. Ten gestures them towards the bathroom while he pulls his robe off on his own. He dismisses the phrais with a wave of his hand before closing the doors behind him. Some alone time would be nice to soothe the pain in his head.

Ten’s head is still throbbing from the migraine, and Ten knows it has a lot to do with all the time he spent under the rain and his ceaseless crying. He takes a deep, steady breath before plunging his body inside the wooden tub, allowing the warm water to soothe the pain in his muscles. From his side, he picks out a random scent from the fragrances on a wooden shed by the sink and puts a couple of drops in the water, the scent of grapefruit immediately filling the air in seconds.

After half an hour of almost dozing off in the tub, Ten decides he’s just about done with bathing. His body feels so heavy that if he’s not careful, he might just pass out on the bathroom floor. He makes it a point to dry himself with a towel before putting on his blue night robe. The moment he steps back into his bedroom, he immediately climbs up on his bed, his hair wet and his body feeling extraordinarily cold. His head now feels like it’s just about set to explode. He takes a palm to his forehead and feels his skin burning. Great. Now he has a fever.

Ten tucks himself under his satin sheets, keeping his hands balled around the tips, pulling it up to his neck. He can sense a shiver coming, and it does a few minutes after and it never leaves. Not even the sheets are helping him feel warm. Ten takes one of his pillows and hugs it tight, allowing what very little warmth it can give to comfort him. He doesn’t even realize he’s already fallen asleep when he wakes up with Taeyong putting a wet towel on his head.

“You’re burning,” the mun nai says, his eyebrows stitched in a single line. From this angle, the candlelight burns in Taeyong’s eyes, and Ten can’t help but be fascinated.

Ten’s nose crinkles when a searing pain fills his head. He plants his face in his pillow and lets it muffle the curses flowing out of his mouth. The wet towel falls on the floor with a slick slap. When he turns his head back at Taeyong, his face is flushed and he can feel his entire body burning from the outside and freezing on the inside – never a good combination. And just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, the chills come – first in small, seconds-long successions before flooding every vein in his body and numbing all of his nerves. Ten feels so cold, and burying himself under all his pillows, sheets and thick duvet might not even be enough to keep himself warm.

“Ten,” Taeyong calls and Ten opens his eyes at the sound of his name. “Ten, look at me. Oh, God. Your eyes are turning white.”

Ten wants to say that he’s fine but the words get stuck in his throat and his entire body feels like it’s made of lead. He could barely move a muscle.

“I’ll go get you a healer, okay? Just hang in there,” Taeyong rushes through his words, anxiety etched on every inch of his face.

“No,” Ten croaks, pulling Taeyong’s hand. “Just stay here. I’m fine, I promise. I don’t want people to make a huge fuss out of a simple fever.”

“Simple?” Taeyong almost laughs, but his voice is shaking. “Ten, you look really, really awful. I don’t think I can stress this enough.”

Ten pulls his lips into a smile, his eyes closing on their own. “I’m okay, Taeyong. Please. Stop worrying. I’d feel a lot better if you just relax a little.” It’s so like Ten not to care about his own wellbeing. He hates it when people make a huge commotion over him, be it his health or other personal matters on the line. This explains why he doesn’t like people ever knowing about his injuries or his heartaches. It’s best to keep everything covert when you’re a royal.

“Fine. I’ll give you a couple of hours. If your fever doesn’t die down, I’m going to get you a healer, whether you allow me to or not.”

Ten laughs frailly at that. “I’m still your prince, mun nai. You can’t not follow my orders.”

“Not unless your life is at stake.”

“Ssshhhh…” Ten shushes, belatedly realizing he is still holding Taeyong’s hand. “For the nth time, I’m alright. I’m just feeling a little cold.”

Taeyong's eyebrows seem permanently stitched together now that his face looks every bit as tired as he is visibly worried. “Just tell me what I can do to help.”

Ten opens his eyes again and sees the mun nai staring at him with the gentlest gaze he’s ever seen in his eyes. The candlelight is still dancing in his irises, but now it seems more like a reflection of the stars. “Don’t freak out, okay?” Ten makes Taeyong promise.

“What?” Taeyong replies, visibly trying to keep his cool. “Why would I freak out?”

“Just…” Ten pats a hand on the other side of his bed. “Sleep beside me tonight. Some human warmth would be nice.”

Taeyong looks like a bucket of ice was just splashed at his face. He is completely paling out.

Ten laughs weakly. “Yup, I figured that would be your reaction.” He pulls his sheets closer to his neck and is just about ready to turn to the other side before Taeyong tightens his grip on their still-connected hands.

“I’m sorry,” Taeyong immediately says. “It’s just… I didn’t know if you were being serious.”

“I am,” Ten says exasperatedly. “I feel like I’m about to have hypothermia and this lengthy conversation is draining all of my remaining energy.”

Taeyong just looks at Ten tentatively before letting go of his hand. “Fine. I’m gonna get in deep trouble because of this.”

“You won’t. Prince’s orders,” Ten says reassuringly and he smiles when he sees Taeyong walk towards the other side of the bed and lay himself at the huge space beside the Crown Prince.

Ten takes this as cue to worm his way towards Taeyong, nestling his head on top of the latter’s shoulder and leaning his body closer to Taeyong’s slightly bigger form. The mun nai drapes a hand over him, encasing Ten in a tight hug, allowing his physical warmth to seep into the small cracks between their bodies. Like this, Ten feels an overpowering sense of comfort and security, and instantly, it makes him feel a whole lot better. Taeyong smells like summer mornings, the fresh breeze brought about by a new day along with the masculine scent of wild flowers that only grow in the season of the sun. It’s a fetching kind of aroma, and if Ten didn’t know better, he might even think the mun nai’s wearing expensive perfume.

“Are you sniffing my neck?” Taeyong’s voice is low and hushed when he rests his chin on Ten’s head, pulling the Crown Prince closer into the confines of his arms.

“You smell like summer, has anyone told you that?” Ten’s voice is still a bit raspy from too much crying.

“I don’t think anyone has ever gotten the chance to be this close to me to know exactly how I smell.”

Ten laughs lightly, and he can already feel the pain subsiding in his head. “It’s a nice smell. I don’t think I’ll ever forget your scent. It’s pretty unique.”

“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or—“

“It’s a compliment,” Ten cuts in before the mun nai could finish his sentence. “So take it.”

“Fine,” Taeyong concedes.

A lot of trust is at play here, knowing that Ten is Siam’s Crown Prince and Taeyong swore to protect Ten’s life at all costs. Despite this act coming off as dangerously close to crossing the line of all things forbidden, Ten has no regrets inviting Taeyong to sleep beside him tonight. He makes a mental note to make sure the mun nai finds an easy way out of the mess if someone ever walks in on them like this. Meanwhile, he relishes the fact that at this close a proximity, he feels somewhat special and cared for, and it’s a feeling that he wouldn’t trade for the world.

***

Ten wakes up with the rays of the sun slithering through the tiny cracks in between his bedroom curtains. Taeyong’s arm is still draped over Ten’s stomach while the mun nai snores quietly in his sleep, his silver hair sticking out from different angles and falling over his eyes. The gold serpent inked on his arm sparkles in the wake of a new day and for a moment, Ten feels like he needs to catch his breath. Like this, Taeyong almost doesn’t seem like the serious mun nai Ten first met a few weeks ago, and he most certainly doesn’t fit the image of a ruthless swordsman. In his sleep, Taeyong looks like an innocent kid, unexposed to the harshness of the real world and oblivious to the evils lurking around him. Ten smiles and realizes too late that he feels completely better now. The pain in his head is gone and his body no longer feels as heavy.

Gently, Ten pushes Taeyong’s hand away from his stomach. Unfortunately, however, he’s forgotten the fact that Taeyong is one of the best-trained men in their military. Just a single touch of his fingers on the mun nai’s skin wakes Taeyong in his sleep, his eyes instantly flickering up and recognizing Ten’s face.

“Hey,” Taeyong greets, voice thick with sleep. “Are you feeling a lot better?”

Ten nods softly. “It seems I owe you my life again. I’m starting to think you’re just agreeing to all this just so you could get back at me one day.”

Taeyong laughs, the sound deep and awfully charismatic. “I wish.”

“Anyway, I have dinner with the King tonight. Along with Jaehyun and Taeil.”

Taeyong looks at Ten tentatively, the lines on his face reappearing with apparent concern.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Ten reassures Taeyong, as if reading through his thoughts. “I know my place now. And I’ve already cried all my heart out yesterday, I need to move on at some point. Now would be the best time to start.”

“You cried yesterday?” Taeyong’s feigns confusion and Ten almost doubles in laughter.

“Stop it. You’re a bad actor,” Ten mutters, slapping a hand on Taeyong’s shoulder playfully.

“I’m trying,” Taeyong teases.

“I’ll go get dressed for breakfast, you should do the same.”

Taeyong nods, instantly pulling himself out of bed and picking up his sword from the floor. Ten doesn’t even remember seeing him get rid of the silver weapon last night. The mun nai walks quietly towards the door, his sword clinking beside his waist.

“Taeyong?” Ten calls as soon as the mun nai opens the door.

“Hm?”

“Thank you for last night. I know all I ever say is ‘thank you’, but one day…” Ten pauses, considering his words for a moment. “One day I’ll find a way to repay everything you’ve done for me.”

Taey