Her initial plan to get closer to Kris wasn’t quite as successful as she hoped, though she did make some headway.  While he mostly ignored her, as per usual, after the third day, he stopped trying to shoo her off, especially on those occasions when she brought her own book and sat down against the wall nearby, reading quietly.  He couldn’t see her because of the position she chose and the angle of the bed, unless he picked his head up to check.  Sometimes she’d catch him looking and flash him a tentative smile; others she had no idea whatsoever, enmeshed in whatever she was reading.

                When the rest of the group figured out what she was doing, they opted to join in and started to arrive en masse for a couple hours a day, imposing their presence on the dragon in an effort to either annoy him into reacting or actually getting used to their presence.  They were very careful the first couple days not to actually look at him for the most part, since initially he spent the majority of his time glaring at them as a whole.

                “You’re welcome to come join us,” Luna offered hesitantly a couple days after they had made a habit of making appearances.

                “No,” he responded without hesitation, reading a new book this time.

                The best they could surmise was that he spent a lot of his time reading or meditating, though it could have been sleeping, when he wasn’t avoiding them entirely.  Seunghyun and Jiyong could both attest to his increased appearance in the rec hall, though he still didn’t move much beyond that.

                “He will when he’s ready,” Yixing commented, comforting Luna against the usual rebuff.

                Kris set his book down with an annoyed sigh and stood up.  He looked at Yixing pointedly and then let his gaze travel to Luna before he complained, “You’re all too noisy.”

                “And you’re just grumpy,” Yesung grumbled, voicing his usual complaint against the dragon who ignored it, once again, walking out on them with controlled and measured strides.

                “Hey Luna.  He looked at you!” Henry chuckled, pointing out the obvious.

                “Glare,” Eunhyuk commented instead, shaking himself as if his feathers were ruffled.

                “Yes, but it is more than his usual amount of interaction,” Key shrugged, turning his attention back to Henry, with whom he’d been having a decent discussion.

                “Hmm.  Do you think maybe it’s working?” Luna asked of the unicorn, turning hopeful eyes on him.

                “It just takes time,” he assured her with a gentle smile to which she squealed delightedly and hugged his arm.  He patted her arm gently but made no move to hug her back or push her away.

                Kris didn’t return until later in the evening and by then, most of everyone else had disappeared for the night or settled in their own sleeping arrangements.  Relieved by the quiet once more, he made his way for the bed only to pause when he noticed Luna sleeping against Yixing’s side.  A quick glance around the room told him that the rest of the occupants were in their respective abodes with Eunhyuk back to his spot on top of Key’s enclosure but Luna was the only human.  The book she’d been reading was lying open on her lap, her head nodding on her chest peacefully.

                A frown crossed his face and he narrowed his eyes at the pair.  “Ahem,” he cleared his throat, smirking slightly when the unicorn reacted first, his ear twitching at the sound.

                Yixing picked his head up and whickered in inquiry, slightly confused at first.  The action woke Luna who jerked up with a gasp, upsetting the book on her lap so that it slid off and collapsed shut.  “Oh!” she murmured, blinking sleep blurred eyes and looking around.  “Sorry, Yixing,” she apologized, caressing his nose lightly before she realized someone else was there.  “You’re back,” she exclaimed, jerking her hand back as she caught sight of Kris standing nearby, just watching them.

                “You shouldn’t sleep on the ground,” he muttered darkly, letting his glare land on the unicorn.

                “Um…  I didn’t mean to,” she mumbled like a chastised child.  “I was…reading,” she explained, gathering the book up and holding it to her chest as she got to her feet.  “Thanks Yixing,” she bowed politely.  “Night Kris,” she waved hesitantly, ducking away when his attention focused to her with those unreadable eyes again.  Luna bustled off and the door slid closed behind her quietly.

                When the room fell silent once more, Kris regarded the unicorn with a stern gaze again.  “You need to stop that, Yixing.”  The unicorn tilted his head and whickered back, snorting at the dragon.  “Don’t play dumb,” he muttered, turning around and returning to his bed, settling in for the night.  He took a deep breath and then turned his head to look at the door Luna had exited out of, expression pensive.

                The next morning, Luna woke up with a cold, missing her usual morning routine with Kris.  While Donghae opted to get Yixing, Henry volunteered to go get her a bite to eat, leaving Yesung to entertain her in the meantime.  “Seriously, Luna?  You are a dummy,” he shook his head when she told him that she’d fallen asleep on the ground last night.

                “I didn’t mean to!” she murmured pitifully, sniffling with puffy eyes as she tried to defend herself.  “I was trying to find a way to get him to open up,” he explained, reaching for the heavy book that was more akin to a textbook.

                “You sure are determined about this,” he commented with a raised brow.  “You like him, don’t you?” he asked with a mischievous grin, pointing at her teasingly.

                “No!” she retorted, prompting a minor coughing fit which brought Yesung closer to rub her back soothingly.  “I just want him to smile,” she sniffed with a pout, coughing once more as she gave the elder male a sad shrug.

                “I don’t know if he’s capable of it,” Yesung told her with a roll of his eyes.

                “Everyone is,” she responded with certainty, immediately distracted when the door opened to admit Yixing.

                “Morning,” he greeted, approaching the bed with a warm smile.

                “Hi Yixing,” she beamed, hiding behind a surprise sneeze.

                “Hey,” Yesung waved, petting the back of Luna’s head in awkward comfort.

                “Donghae mentioned you weren’t feeling well,” he shook his head with a laugh.  “Here,” he urged, taking a seat on the other side of the bed.

                “It’s alright, Yixing.  It’s just a cold,” she explained, flushing when he settled next to her.

                “Caused by you sleeping on the ground no less,” he chided, placing his hand gently on her forehead, noting she did have a slight fever.

                A warm and dreamy sensation settled over her when she felt the unicorn’s magic affect her, taking away all of the miserable side effects of being sick.  “Oh wow,” she sighed, a goofy smile over her face.

                “All better,” he nodded at her, resting his hands in his lap.

                “She’s still flushed though,” Yesung pointed out with a thoughtful frown.

                “Nope!  I’m better,” she exclaimed, giggling nervously as she hid behind both of her fists, eyes smiling brightly.

                “I’m glad,” Yixing patted her back and stood up, bowing politely.  “I think I will beg my leave now,” he pleaded with a nod of his head, waving before he stepped back out.

                “Hah!” Yesung snorted when the unicorn was gone, eyeing Luna.  “You might not like the dragon but you definitely like the unicorn.”

                “He’s a unicorn!” she defended herself.  “Of course I’m going to like the unicorn, much like I like you,” she gestured, still flushing red.

                “Nah ah.  You like like him though,” Yesung teased, satisfied when Luna simply glared at him.

                She was rescued from having to respond when Henry returned with food in hand, well on a tray at any rate.  His expression was confused when he looked at Luna and then glanced over his shoulder.  “I know I saw Yixing leave but you’re still all flushed.”

                “Luna likes Yixing,” Yesung teased in a singsong voice.

                “Yesung!” she yelped, smacking his arm with her hand lightly, to which he laughed in triumph.

                “Well he is a unicorn,” Henry shrugged, setting the tray down at the edge of the bed so she wouldn’t knock it off immediately.  When Yesung just looked at him, he opened his mouth in silent understanding and nodded without saying anything else.  “Changmin sends his regards,” he commented instead, offering her the plate.

                “Ayah!” she groaned, realizing she had missed her usual routine.

                “He wanted me to tell you that someone else asked about you too,” he grinned, chuckling when a completely baffled expression crossed her face.  “Kris was wondering where you were this morning.”

                “Eh?” Yesung asked in disbelief.

                “Seriously?” Luna murmured, eyes wide in her face.

                “Neh,” Henry assured her with a huge grin.  “I would say that’s a pretty good sign you’re making headway,” he winked, reaching out to ruffle her hair in a friendly gesture.

                “Henry!” she whined, sullenly enduring the treatment while she reached for a piece of toast instead.

                “Sorry,” he apologized, smoothing her hair out once more.

                “So what’s on the docket today?” Yesung asked, picking up the book Luna had been reading last night and riffling through it.

                Henry shrugged.  “Apparently the team is going to be heading out on a scouting mission or something like that.  They think they might have a bead on Atamos’s location,” he explained with a hopeful smile.

                “So they’ll be gone for a little while then?” Luna asked around a mouthful of food.

                “Neh.  Seunghyun figured they’d be gone a couple days,” he shrugged.  “I guess that means we’ll have to step up our game a bit on this end then, aye?”

                “Yeah!” Luna cheered, ducking in apology when she remembered there were sleepers nearby.

                “We can go check on your dragon and unicorn at lunch,” Yesung stated so seriously that Luna wasn’t sure if he was teasing her or not until she actually looked at him.  The familiar smirk gave it away.

                “You are terrible, Yesung,” she grumbled, unable to stop smiling anyway.

                “You know you love me,” he grinned, shying away when she swiped at him again, more of a threat than an actual attack.

                The afternoon found her heading for the MC’s room, taking Kris lunch as usual, feeling considerably better while the rest of her group and the subsequent magical creatures were in the dining hall, finishing up.  She arrived well before the others did and had the very unexpected but welcome reaction of watching his face soften upon seeing her.  There was still no smile but at least he didn’t look annoyed or angry.  “Hi,” she greeted with a hesitant smile, readjusting the tray awkwardly as she stepped inside before the door closed on her.

                “They said you weren’t feeling well this morning,” he stated, actually sitting up carefully as she approached, a new book closed and sitting by his pillow.

                “Neh,” she nodded in agreement, moving closer so she could set the tray on the empty space beside him.  She was never sure if he was going to deter her otherwise so her placement was slow but she explained, “Yixing took care of it though.”  She winced away when she saw his expression darken considerably, though he did not meet her gaze.  “Is something wrong?” she asked uncertainly, reaching her hand as if she wanted to touch his shoulder.

                “No,” he shook his head, causing her to jerk away while he reached for the food.  He paused before the first bite was to his mouth as he looked between her to the partially cooked meal in front of him, setting it down awkwardly.

                “Hm?” Luna questioned in the back of , tilting her head to the side.  She’d never seen him put his food down before…

                He looked uncomfortable for a moment and shrugged his shoulders, giving her a sidelong glance out of the corner of his eye.  “You don’t usually watch me eat…” he reminded her pointedly.

                “Eunhyuk usually eats his raw,” she shrugged, not particularly bothered one way or the other.

                Kris grumbled quietly and readjusted himself so that he was turned away from her while he took his first bite.  His response had her blinking at him in confusion, but it gave her a perfect view of his back.  The clothes he wore weren’t particularly extravagant and the gray long-sleeved shirt was rather thin, so that when it was pulled taught against the curvature of his spine, she could see that there was what appeared to be an indent next to his backbone on the upper right side of his back.  Her brow furrowed and she very hesitantly reached a hand as if to touch it, stopping just short when she remembered who it was exactly she was dealing with.

                “What happened to your back?” she asked instead, pulling her hand away but remaining where she was.

                Immediately, Kris whirled around and started when he saw how close she was, a flash of panic in his eyes.  “Nothing,” he told her harshly, looking away once more, the guarded expression back.

                Surprised and nervous, Luna took a step back to give him his space, confused by his reaction.  “I’m sorry,” she murmured, biting her bottom lip.  It didn’t take her more than a moment to realize he’d mostly finished his meal though at present he was steadfastly ignoring both her and it.  “Okay…” she murmured to herself, heading to the foot of the bed, settling herself on the floor and reaching under it for the book she’d stashed there the last time.

                For a long moment, she didn’t hear him move, but was relieved when she heard him chewing.  The bed creaked as he shifted and the sound of the tray clinking on the ground let her know that he was finished but she remained where she was for the moment, contemplating what she’d seen and his reaction to it.  She listened to the bed creak again and felt a shiver run up her spine when she got the distinct impression he was looking at her from his vantage point above her, but when he didn’t say anything and the bed indicated he was moving again, she nodded to herself.  They spent the next few moments until the others arrived in relatively comfortable silence.

                When the doors opened though, and she saw Yixing among the group, she set her book down and hurried over with a giddy smile.  “You made it!” she grinned, hugging the unicorn excitedly before dancing back and flushing.

                “Of course we did,” Yesung snorted, smirking when he looked between her and Yixing.

                “Did you think we wouldn’t?” Henry chuckled, eyes crinkling in amusement.  “And how’s Kris…?” he trailed off when he looked up to see the dragon’s expression.

                The tension in the room rose a few notches as they saw the deadpan expression focused solely on Yixing.  When he realized the attention was centered on him, he simply looked away and laid back out on the bed, snatching the book up and staring at it intently.  “Well…he was okay,” Luna murmured, scratching the side of her face with her finger.

                “So you’ll never guess what Eunhyuk did at lunch today…” Yesung started in a blatant effort to break the tension, effectively getting them all moving once more as they corralled together in the middle of the room and took a seat.

                Sitting next to Yixing and Eunhyuk as they settled in, Luna kept feeling like she was being watched.  Every time she glanced over her shoulder though, Kris remained unmoved, gaze riveted on the book.  She narrowed her eyes at him in confusion, fairly certain he still had yet to turn the page…  If she’d learned anything in her dealings with him though, it was that he wasn’t going to let something slip unless he was ready, so for now, the mystery of his reaction would have to remain just that: a mystery.

(a/n: I love Yesung's teasing.  He always makes me smile.  hehe  But they're getting more comfortable with each other.  And I forgot to mention in the first update but none of these have any relation to the other oneshots I've already made so the Luna x Lay pairing hasn't been established in this one.  This is another of those that is completely independent of any other continuation.  I just had to use Lay because I couldn't use my actual unicorn...  At least not without betraying his identity because I haven't reached his introduction yet in the main story.  >.>  The third and final installment should be up shortly!)