TAKE ME TO THE MOON.💫
ARCHIVE. WORK IN PROGRESS.
—kino.
prince kino’s pointed ears perked up as the incredibly loud music of hand crafted wood instruments filled the entire hall. fairies, orcs, elves, dwarves, pixies and all kinds of creatures twirled on the dance floor, their synchronized steps sending constant vibration to the marble floor. this wasn’t a plain ball. it was organized by the king of belhaven, a.k.a kino’s father in celebration of his older brother’s marriage. as someone who wasn’t into dancing or socializing, kino moved to a corner of the hall, one perused only by the less higher in status folk, holding a strange berry drink laced with some unknown alcohol. he was content and the drink made his cheeks warm. he might’ve been a prince but that was a lifestyle he almost despised. his outfit was made of quite s fancy tunic, navy of color, with gold embellishments, a pair of black trousers and knee high leather boots. his slightly waved hair was adorned with a golden crown depicting thorns and hibiscus flowers.
—sicheng.
prince sicheng leaps out of the small carriage and lands stealthily on the ground, while his parents float gracefully down next to him. sicheng never really liked using his wings; they were clean cut and perfect on the top, jagged and misshaped on the bottom. when he was young, he trained to “fly like a royal,” but as the lessons ended, he began to use his wings less and less.
he grins as he inhales the fresh air outside of the castle. these days, sicheng has been quite stressed due to being overloaded with fairy-affair burdens that he believed he had no business being apart of, but there’s nothing a great party won’t fix! he eagerly walks through the large doors, abandoning his parents to deal with the carriage and guards themselves. as he arrives to the ballroom, he politely greets his elders and shakes hands with some royal connections, before he heads to the drinks. he drinks about three of them; one was something of an alcoholic mint tea that tasted quite disgusting (it must’ve been made for the dwarves), another was a zesty lavender concoction with a strangely woody kick, and the last drink was his favorite: a sweet berry punch laced with an elven alcohol made of lemons and wheat. once he downs the last of it, his shimmery blue wings shake in delight as his senses begin to dull and the music puts him into a trace. he adjusts his mahogany wood, ivy-plaited, crown securely on top of his head before he makes his way to the crowd. his silver embroidered white tunic, beige trousers, and black ankle boots blended in with the crowd, but his wings shone an alluring periwinkle blue that turned heads of many. his friends found him easily; greeting him with high spirits and overflowing energy as they guided him deeper and deeper into the sea of beings.
—kino.
kino sets down his empty glass, eyes scanning the crowd. a pair of beautiful wings caught his gaze, hypnotizing him into joining the social circle he usually stayed away from. the influence of booze definitely helped. but it also really confused him— once the wings were there, then they weren’t, then they were there once again. “what the—oomph!” he stumbled over one of the dwarves’ bulky legs, hands flailing and just catching on a pair of shoulders. despite being dizzy, he got back to his feet. after focusing on the one that acted like his pillar in that awful situation, kino’s mouth fell agape. the wings were beautiful, he barely abstained from touching them but the one who flaunted them around was absolutely gorgeous. his cheeks went completely red. why was he so affected by a man?! “i...i’m sorry.” kino’s balance was still a bit shaky, but he managed to stand straight. he was too dizzy to understand what was going on anymore...maybe from the alcohol he never even had before, or the intoxicating presence of the winged creature before him. he felt like fainting. it was so crowded, the other creatures pushing their elbows and sides into him, so he did the most rational thing a drunk person could do: he gripped the male’s hands and leaned so close, faces inches away. “take me away from here...please.”
—sicheng.
sicheng blinks in surprise as he instinctively catches someone in his arms. the alcohol is starting to make his head pound, and his vision is getting a bit blurry, but he’s still able to stand on his two feet. when he looks closer, he realizes that it’s the host’s son: kang kino of belhaven. sicheng’s parents talked often about him, how he’s supposedly such a well mannered child, how he’s calm and collected, and how he stays out of his brother’s spotlight when he’s much more capable of inheriting his father’s kingdom.
how sicheng ended up with a drunk kino in his arms puzzled him greatly, but anything can happen under the influence of any elven liquor. he helps kino to his feet, before his eyes suddenly grow wide as kino unexpectedly pulls him in to tell him to take him away. did he not come onto the dance floor to dance? as sicheng’s vision focuses on kino, he notices kino looking rather uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the scene. sicheng wordlessly pulls kino closer to his body, wrapping both of his arms around him tightly, before he uses all of his strength to leap into the air. his wings begin to flap wildly as he lifts kino over the swarm of magical beings, the crowd awing over the sudden light show. his flying is a bit rusty due to him not using his wings much lately, but he’s been drilled so hard as a child, that his wings pretty much run on auto pilot at this point, even when he’s intoxicated. as he nears a side entrance, he attempts to land smoothly, however, his vision fails him and he ends up tumbling into the ground and into a couple of potted plants. the loud music made the crash inaudible, but the effects of it were visible as sicheng feels his top left wing getting bent. he winces as he attempts to get up.
—kino.
was he dreaming? did the winged boy actually fly and pulled him along? was this his actual knight on a white horse? he spat out some mud after landing in the flower pots, waking him up from his drunken slumber. “shit...” he mumbles, barely audible. with grunts and curses far too strong for royalty, kino pulled himself up, eyes immediately growing wide at the unknown boy’s situation. “shit, are you okay?” he asked while actively removing the few pieces of broken ceramic pot from his wings and dirt from hid garments. “this is all my fault, i’m sorry.” kino’s frantic behavior showed through quick, almost reckless actions while pulling sicheng onto his feet. “are you hurt?” kino asked, trying to ignore the lingering warmth of sicheng’s hug. raising two fingers, kino shook them in front of the male’s eyes. “how many fingers am i holding up?”
—sicheng.
sicheng rolls his neck to relieve leftover tension as he watches kino frantically wave his fingers in front of his face. a small smile forms on his lips as he catches a hint of worry in kino’s eyes, before he grabs onto kino’s fingers and puts his hand down, “i’m fine. i’ve taken a number of falls during my flying lessons when i was younger, so… it’s okay, i’m used to it.” there’s something about kino that’s alluring to sicheng. there’s something about the way his ears perk up whenever sicheng touches him, or how the nervous look never seems to leave his face, or the way his nose slightly twitches whenever he looks away… he just doesn’t know. “besides, i’m drunk as fuck. i can’t feel anything anyways.” he laughs a bit before he tugs on kino’s hand and slips through the side door, pulling kino through the exit and out into the crisp night air.
the stars are shining extraordinarily bright tonight, and the soft hum of some hidden crickets fill in any space where an awkward silence would potentially slip through. as the cool air nips at his nose and slowly sobers him up, he begins to feel the fracture in his wing. it stings, and sicheng knows it’ll take weeks to heal. that’s weeks staying inside, listening to his parents’s lectures, practicing his harp, and eating mugwort cakes until he physically cannot ingest them anymore. as he looks over at kino, he notices that his crown has been placed sloppily back onto kino’s head. he leans over to fix it, adjusting it so that it sits perfectly on top of his head. his parents were right, sicheng thinks to himself as his fingers refuse to leave kino’s head, kino is fit to be a king.
—kino.
kino’s eyes take in sicheng’s appearance, his heart beat elevating to a rhythm he did not feel even in his happiest moments. maybe this was his happiest moment. how beautiful and enticing was this fairy. speaking of fairy...his wing was crooked, or even worse... seemed broken. “if you had elven liquor, then i’m not even surprised.” he mumbled shyly, the other’s small gesture making his knees weak. “you should get that checked.” he gestures at the bent wing, successfully distracting himself from staring too hard or too deeply at the most alluring man he ever laid eyes on. “come...everyone’s busy with the ball and we can sneak into my room from the outside. i have an elfwood ointment that can soothe the pain...”
—sicheng.
sicheng sighs at the mentioning of his bent wing. sometimes he wished he could just rip them off entirely. they’re useless to him anyways. it’s not like he can even do the duties of a fairy anyways. he can’t collect the invisible wishes that fall from the soul of a lost child in the forest, or fly far enough to grant them, or even sort out the good children from the bad. he’s not allowed to roam outside of his own kingdom unless he’s accompanying his parents to parties, or he’s meeting his friends at their own events. what’s the use of these wings when there’s a carriage that can take him everywhere? to him, his wings are just an excessive light show. no one else's wings glows as brightly as his does. people say that it's because of the amount of passion sicheng has for things, but he personally doesn't feel like he has a single ounce of passion in him.
all sicheng really wants to do is go back inside, drink a couple more drinks, and then hit the dance floor again to forget about his problems, but for some reason, he doesn't want to leave kino's side. though it's not usual for an elf to have shimmering skin, to sicheng, kino glows in the moonlight; his skin looks as if it were doused with the best pearl essence, and sicheng can't help but to get lost in the deep, brown pools of his eyes.
"elfwood ointment, hm?" sicheng drawls out the words as he retracts his hand to his side and tears his gaze from kino to the sky. this is the first time sicheng has ever seen kino in person, and he has known about kino for years now. he thought that he would hate the boy that his parents adored so much, but... kino was quite different than what he had imagined. should he... go? he knows elfwood ointment doesn't work on his wings. the glow makes it difficult for tangible medicines to work. it would be a waste of time for the both of them, but... perhaps spending a little bit more time with kino wouldn't be so bad.
sicheng looks back at kino with a grin, "sure. if you don't mind sparing some of that ointment, then please—"sicheng pauses a bit, grabbing a hold of kino's free hand, "show the way."
—kino.
kino almost pulled his hand back. this wasn’t helping his situation. but he didn’t. why would he, when the simple touch of the haughty fairy made chills run down his spine.
he pulls onto his hand, very cautious since he already felt conscious for the wing injury, and dragged the male down the stairs and through a high rose garden, to the opposite side of court, where the residential portion of the palace was placed.
slipping past dwarf servants who paid him no attention as a second born child, he pushed a pair of heavy wooden carved doors open to reveal a wide, but very simple room. the main feature was an enormous bookcase that acted as a wall behind his bed.
“go lay there...i’ll look for the ointment.” kino mumbled shyly, pointing to his bed before starting to look around for the container.
—sicheng.
sicheng marvels at the difference in appearance between this palace and his own; everything was made of nature given materials, but instead of leaving it in its natural state, it looked as if it was laboriously pieced together by hand. with his heightened fairy senses, every nail shone brightly in the moonlight. there were detailed carvings in the wood: scenes depicting different rulers, different scenic views, different myths and legends… elves must really love carvings, sicheng thinks to himself, as he looks at kino’s crown, then back to the walls. as he followed kino, he ran his fingers against the the hard wood. this was nothing like the mushroom spores back at home.
his palace was constructed of overgrown fungi; his parents love emphasizing natural growth and life. overgrown leaves weaved together to make roofs, large sponges provided shelving, and nothing was built high enough to pass over one story. sicheng liked his home a lot; it was natural and lived in, but the thoroughness of this place… it was breathtaking.
as they both enter through kino’s bedroom doors, sicheng didn’t believe that it was a bedroom. rows and rows of books greeted his eyes as kino mumbled a couple of inaudible words and went off to rummage through his things. with every step, the movement heightened the pain, but sicheng was too distracted to notice; he walks toward the shelves and runs his fingers against the leather spines. sicheng’s mind wanders off as he quickly scans the titles; books usually exude an air of scholarly and rule-abiding bodies, but not these books. these books tell stories of romance, trial and error, and adventure. these books belong to someone who dreams of another life, someone who wants to escape their reality and run off to a world that is not their own…
—kino.
kino’s hands searched through his nightstand and then his desk until he found the wooden recipient and a roll of bandages he sneaked from the mage’s office. he turned back to face sicheng but caught him browsing through titles and his face responded by lighting in a thousand shades of pink. “i...i found them!” he almost screams, trying to distract the other.
he moves to his bed, patting the spot next to him impatiently. “come...i’ll bandage it too...somehow.”
kino has been a romantic all his life. no wonder the idea of his brother’s arranged marriage and celebration of it made him sick to the stomach. he wanted passion and a strong love that had its ups and downs but lasted a lifetime. his books always depicted such romances and he lost nights and days being captured in the stories of strong knights, courageous fights and a love that could light an entire planet. his dream was to fall in love and break the limits of this love.
being the second child, no one paid attention to his passions or convictions. kino grew up overshadowed but he grew comfortable and despite exceeding the expectations of what a second child should be, he was kept in a beautiful glass cupola, away from danger and implications.
