The trip back after that went rather quick. Before they knew it, they were getting on the Tiamat, Claris very much doe eyed over how Evan got the ship to open its doors. The man held out his hand and let a little bit of life energy ooze out of him, the runes on the ship picked it up and used mana to activate whatever gears kept made a bridge-door open.

“Does it open to everybody?” Claris asked, as they walked on board.

“It does, if you know where to throw your magic to. There’s a secondary rune set that’s always active. It won’t let anyone on board if they have hostile intentions towards the crew, blows their eardrums the moment they cross the gate.” The captain explained as he said hello to the crew guarding the door.

Said people eyed Claris with curiosity before welcoming him warmly in their native tongue. Evan translated for them, Claris giving them a cute smile and thanking them in their language after asking Evan how he could say it. It kind of threw him off they did not question why a guest was drenched in blood, but he figured that maybe, it just didn’t surprise them at all.

The Tiamat’s interior was rather plain in Claris’ eyes. All the walls made of metal, the only decorations being the dimly glowing runes that ran along them and connected the mana powered lights on the hall ceilings. Evan guided him through the corridors until they arrived at a particular room. The doors slid open to the sides, and Claris saw what appeared to be a medical room. In one of the beds there was a young man with bronze skin, tucked in with a blond boy. He could smell mer in the room.

“Try to keep quiet, those two have had a long day.” Hikaru appeared at Evan’s side, Claris jumped a little from the surprise. He had no idea what the doctor had said. “I see you brought your crush and another kid on board. Had a rough night?”

“Yes, productive nevertheless. May I set him in a bed? He needs a checkup, I want to make sure everything is fine.” Evan asked. Hikaru nodded and Evan took Byul to an empty bed across from Nemo, Claris remained watching by the door. The woman started making magic, her magic board and a mana net appearing above Byul.

“Tell your crush he can come closer and see, I can sense his curious gaze burning my back.” Hikaru said.

Evan signaled Claris to come closer as Hikaru observed how her net glowed stronger as she placed it over Byul. “Interesting, this is new. He’s got really strong magic coursing through him…” She said. “He’s not ill, his bones are all okay…he’s malnourished, just like Nemo. I’ll have him on an IV while he sleeps, but he should eat food once he wakes up.”

“That’s good news… how’s Nemo?” Evan asked.

“He’s a lot better thanks to a certain blond who’s been working all day making sure he finished his work as best and as quickly as possible to get back to him. I’ve been having him eat a lot and we tried getting him on his feet. Once Yuki finished his daily obligations, he got back here and helped me out. Nemo’s walking now and laughing, so I think that in a few more days we can give him his own room.” Hikaru explained dispelling her magic and covering Byul with a blanket. “Yuki’s easing his way into asking him about the pirates, doesn’t want to shock him.”

“I trust Yuki to know what he’s doing.” Evan said looking over at the blond, who now that he noticed appeared to be holding Nemo under the sheets. “By the way, doctor, this is Claris Azure.”

“Claris, this is Hikaru Tsukishima, the Tiamat’s head doctor and Akakawa’s most talented physician.” Evan introduced the doctor, the woman giving Claris a bow and a grin.

“A pleasure.” Claris said, and Evan translated. “Her use of mana is amazing, I hadn’t seen anything like it before. It’s really cool.”

“Thank you, perhaps you would like if I showed you how it works at some other more convenient moment?” HIkaru asked.

“I would love to see it!” Claris beamed, Evan taking a small moment to appreciate how adorable he looked before translating.

“It’s a date, then. You two should hurry and get cleaned up… maybe catch some zs?” Hikaru winked at Evan, Claris saw it and only laughed. He didn’t need the full translation to understand what the doctor really meant. “We’ll meet first thing in the morning. Right, Captain?”

“Yes, can I ask you to tell Ashura and Touta?” Evan unconsciously took Claris’ hand, which made the latter very happy. “We’ll be in my quarters… in case Byul needs anything.”

“Aye, Captain.”  Hikaru waved them off.

The pair of men left Byul in Hikaru’s care and got on their way to Evan’s room. The pair did talk on their way, most of it was Evan answering some of Claris’ questions regarding their med bay. Not everyone at Akakawa could use runes to begin with, those with the knowledge to use them medically were highly paid and very sought after. Therefore, their med bays were equipped to treat ill and wounded without any magic. In their case, they had Hikaru onboard most of the time but in case she wasn’t, their no-magic doctor was a woman by the name of Priscilla Slaine. Therein lied the biggest of differences, the Sea Lands had no no-magic doctors and while illnesses could be treated with medicines, the more serious of cases were treated with spellcasting. Claris had never seen intricate spell weaving to diagnose harm on a person, it was pretty exciting to see such a different twist in mana use.

“The way you guys use runes will apparently never cease to surprise me… and neither will your ability to survive without magic.” Claris commented as he went inside Evan’s room. “And I was wrong, your people do know how to use life energy, just not the way we use it.”

“Happy to prove ourselves to, His Majesty.” Evan replied, closing the sliding door behind him by pressing his hand to the wall. His tone was kinda mocking but he meant it in a friendly way. “Shower’s the blue door…, there’s a closet with my clothes will probably in there you can use whatever you’d like… they might be a little big for you. I can send someone to pick your clothes up in the morning.”

“Thank you.” Claris said as he looked over Evan’s room.

It was a lot more welcoming than the ship’s corridors. The room was decorated with reds and golds, the bed was big enough for three people to sleep comfortably, there was a large sofa directly across from the entrance and a desk to the left of the entrance. The blue door was to the right, in the middle of the wall.

Claris stood before the door and looked at it for a while, like the others it must open with mana. He could sense the magic on its frame. He grinned to himself, placing his palm on a spot to the right of the door, he let out a little bit of life energy and the blue door slid open.

“Knew you’d get the hang of it.” Evan commented as he sat down by his desk. “My ship is yours, Your Highness.”

The man winked and Claris stumbled into the bathroom, closing the door and forgetting the blood on his face would probably hide the crazy blush on his face right now.

I’m in his room, in his bathroom about to be naked… He started thinking as he took off his jacket. It’s okay. Don’t overthink too much, just take your shower and… don’t pick the biggest shirt you find in his closet.

Claris looked at himself on a wide mirror inside the bathroom. He was a literal bloody mess. His face covered in dried up blood, the tips of his hair also icky and plastered with the substance. If his clothes weren’t black he imagined they’d look red, every inch of his exposed skin was tainted anyway.

I really look like hell, the meal was worth it…and no one on this ship seemed to mind. Claris finished undressing, going into the space that contained a shower head. He placed his hand on the wall and slid his hand right. Warm water started pouring out, his body relaxing under the flow.

Evan’s clothes weren’t that much bigger than his size, he took a pair of pajamas he found on the back of a drawer in the closet and threw it on. He’d taken some time to get all the grime and blood off him, but now he smelled really nice.

“I kinda have all my clothes in a bunch over here, should I throw them in a bag or…?” Claris walked out of the bathroom in a slightly oversized black t-shirt and a pair of thin pants he’d rolled the ends of it to avoid tripping on them.

Evan was going through some papers on his desk, he’d put on glasses and was writing some things down in a notebook. He’d taken off his jacket, and his shirt was unbuttoned.

Thank the goddess I’m not in heat. The prince thought to himself as Evan turned to see him.

“Don’t worry about it, leave e’m there. I’ll take care of it in the morning. You can sleep in my bed, I’ll use the sofa.” He replied, writing something down before getting on his feet.

“Or… we could both use your bed. It is pretty big.” Claris walked over to said bed and plopped on it face down.

“Srsly. Ish yuge!” His voice was muffled by the sheets, but Evan understood him clearly.

“You don’t mind?” Evan spoke from the bathroom door. Claris straightened up on the bed and shook his head.

“I’ll feel bad if you have to sleep on your sofa, I’d rather be the one to do that.” He explained.

“I like sleeping on the left side,” The captain chuckled. “I’ll be out in a few.”

Claris got under the soft covers of Evan’s bed, curling up into a ball and realizing the room was unnaturally cold. There weren’t any windows open, in fact there weren’t windows around at all. He’d have to ask about that, he could feel mana in the air but it was a feeble amount. It was really warm and comfy in Evan’s bed, so by the time said captain got out of the shower Claris had already shut down.

The man with black hair silently made his way to his bed. He admired the cute bundle of sheets Claris had turned himself into before sliding into the covers himself. He lay on his side, looking over the Claris-ball. For once, he was excited to stay in his room for the night. He didn’t need to go outside if he wanted to admire the stars, all he had to do was pull the covers and he’d see them, clear as day.