"Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary." (Oscar Wilde)

Kneel.

Ashur wanted him to bloody kneel.

He wanted him to unlearn everything he had learnt, so to speak.

Keep your head high, don't kneel in front of your enemy, don't look down. That's what his parents and his several preceptors used to teach him. Be a warrior, son. Be worthy of your vampire inheritance.

Except, Ashur wasn't the enemy here, so maybe it was okay if Fayez knelt for him. What was Ashur, exactly? Zephyr had said they were Fayez's mates, but Fayez wanted them to be so much more than that.

He didn't need any more pals. He already had two friends, thank you very much. Helmut and Nassiba were more than enough for him. Two friends was more than what he used to have anyway. One is company, two is a crowd.

Why did Ashur ask him to do such a weird thing? Did he think that there was something off about Fayez and wanted to test out his theory?

More importantly, why did Fayez feel a sense of excitement at the prospect of obeying the prefect?

Wasn't Fayez the real weirdo here? What should he do? Try to play it off as a joke? But then, whatever he did, Ashur always seemed to see right through it.

"You're overthinking, Faye. Actually, I observed that you tend to do that a lot."

Fayez looked up, startled. Ashur was looking down at him without showing any signs of impatience. It made Fayez relax a tad bit.

"You - you really want me to kneel?" he asked in a timid voice.

"I would like to, yes. I think you want it even more. But, of course, it's completely up to you. It's your choice to make." he replied in his soothing voice.

Ashur was giving him a choice. It was a bit frightening, in a sense. He never really had to make any choice, as he stayed at the castle with his parents. The choices were already made. The decisions had all been taken. The destiny had been written without him taking any part in it.

"If I kneel - or if I don't. Will it change things between us? Will we become more - or less? What if I change my mind at some point?" Fayez mumbled, unsure of what it was exactly that he was asking.

It didn't matter if he was always kind of rambling. Ashur understood him perfectly. Ashur was way too good at reading Fayez alreay. How long had they been living together? A couple of weeks?

How long had he been living under his parents' roof? A few centuries? Yet, they always looked at him like he was an alien who just landed from another planet. Someone who they cared for the way one would do for an untamed cat that has been rescued from a dangerous street. Sure, it's a nice feeling to feed and protect a weaker being, but the creature will never really be a part of the family. The differences between the two species are such that the communication doesn't feel fully satisfactory.

This child is a bit peculiar, but it will get better once he grows up, they said, when he was still an infant.

He's not a ray of sunshine, but isn't it normal? They're all like this at this age, they declared, as he became a too quiet teenager.

He's never left the Castle yet. Going to the ISB will do him a lot of good. Hopefully he'll come back a different person, they whispered behind closed doors, thinking he was too far gone into his own bubble to even hear them.

The thing is, he was an adult, now, and adults never really changed, did they? It was too late for him already.

He didn't think he could ever make his parents proud of him. He might have been naive into thinking that going to the ISB could turn him into a stronger being.

He might be physically strong, but he was mentally weak.

He would never be able to do anything for the humans.

But then again, didn't a human try to kill Zephyr?

What was he supposed to do now? Even his dreams turned out the be rotten.

"Faye? Back to Earth."

Ashur smiled, as he went back to his desk with the poise of a panther.

"It will depend on whether or not you enjoyed kneeling for me." he eventually responded. "I am not sure how things will evolve from there. Relationship aren't set in stone."

"I'm not exactly an expert in relationships." Fayez admitted, which granted him another warm smile from Ashur.

"I know, sweet boy. It's okay. Whatever you decide, whether you kneel or not, one thing is for sure: I will always want you to be by my side. I hope you will remain a part of our life."

How was he supposed to react to such a declaration? He felt like he hadn't done anything to deserve such kindness. No, that wasn't simple kindness. Fayez doubted Ashur would be someone to say these words to just anyone.

Still, how could someone like Ashur be interested in someone like him? That sounded unlikely. That sounded crazy.

He kept looking at Ashur, but the taller man wasn't looking at him anymore. He was focused on his books, as if he hadn't just dropped a bomb on Fayez.

Fayez wouldn't have call it rude, though. On the contrary, the suddenly quiet atmosphere was having a soothing effect on his nerves.

Maybe Ashur had done it on purpose. Looking at him studying, he had the feeling that it wasn't such a hard decision to make, and that regardless of what he chose to do, Ashur wouldn't be mad at him.

It was okay to just follow his instincts and, as unbelievable as it might sound, right now his instincts were telling him to kneel.

So, he took several steps toward Ashur's desk, but Ashur still wasn't looking at him, even when there were only a few centimeters between them.

He looked down at the cushion for a few minutes, before carefully putting his kneels on it.

He was doing it. He was really doing it. What if someone suddenly barged into the room and saw him like that?

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down and analyze the situation.

At the beginning, the act felt foreign, almost unnatural.

He started to fidget a bit, thinking about how ridiculous he must look, and he was about to get up, when a warm hand started to lightly run through his hair.

"That's okay, my sweet boy. You're doing so well", Ashur hummed, still without looking at him, but with a small smile gracing his lips.

Fayez felt himself blush, before cursing himself internally for reacting so strongly to being praised. That was new. His parents had stopped praising him after Ana's death.

Things got easier from this point. It was surprisingly easy to kneel by Ashur's side. The atmosphere was peaceful, and Fayez enjoyed having Ashur so close to him, as the prefect kept turning the pages of his book. From time to time, Ashur would caress his cheek, or his hair, or murmur a few endearing words into his ear.

If such a place existed, that's how Heaven should feel like, Fayez thought.

Alas, it all came to an end too quickly.

Without saying anything, Ashur rose, and from a simple nod, Fayez understood that he was expected to do the same.

"I could have stayed longer. I was okay." Fayez stated, as the prefect was looking at him expectantly.

"I know you could have stayed longer" Ashur replied softly, "but it was your first time remaining for so long in such a position, and I didn't want you to hurt your knees. It was more than enough for a beginning. You were great. How did it feel?"

Fayez flushed again - he never knew, before entering the ISB, that he would be someone to be easily flustered. At least, he was thankful for his lightly tanned skin, because had he been as light-skinned as Zephyr, he would have turned crimson by now.

"Look at me, sweet boy" Ashur gently ordered, before grabbing Fayez's chin to force him to look up. "You like it when I call you sweet boy" he noted, with the beginning of a smirk on his plump lips.

"I - I don't like it" Fayez pretended, making the taller man frown.

"Don't lie to me, Faye" he said, his grip on his chin tightening ever so slightly.

"Okay, maybe I did like it. Then what?"

"Cheeky now, are we?" Ashur said with a smug look. "That's new. Well, it's okay if you like the pet name, Faye, because I like it too."

Fayez didn't reply, but his beaming face talked for him. He wasn't sure what was going on exactly, but it was exciting. He had enjoyed kneeling next to Ashur, the small touches, the soothing words, and now he also took great pleasure in the teasing.

Talking back to Ashur felt like playing with fire, only, he was sure that the other man would never purposely hurt him. What would he do, if Fayez kept pushing him? He was both scared and excited at the prospect of finding out.

"What about Akhenaton?" he eventually asked, because no matter how hard he wished that things would be different, there hadn't been any improvements in his relationship with the brunet.

"What about him?" Ashur challenged, his perfect eyebrow raised.

"He doesn't like me." Fayez declared, feeling like a petulant child, when the prefect just kept staring at him with a severe expression.

Ashur sighed, then, without any warning, he pulled at Fayez's arm, who fell into his lap. Fayez's first thought was that Ashur hadn't meant to pull this hard, and he tried to get up, only to be stopped by Ashur's hand gently rubbing his stomach.

"Get up if you want, but don't do it because of me. I enjoy having you on my lap." he murmured in a conversational tone, as if having Fayez on his lap was the most natural thing in the world.

Fayez said nothing in return, but after a while, his body eventually relaxed and he slumped back against Ashur's slightly toned chest. The other man's arms immediately encircled him, and they both stayed quiet for a bit as they silently enjoyed the embrace.

It was weird, how the three prefects kept touching him, despite the fact that he wasn't in a relationship with any of them.

At the thought, Fayez felt the same feeling of anxiety that had been gnawing at his stomach for a few days rise again.

Maybe he shouldn't let himself enjoy the little signs of affection that the two prefects, especially Zephyr, had been showing him recently. They were probably only being friendly, and Fayez was desperate enough to forget that they didn't have any ulterior motives.

After all, as Fayez had put it, they were only mates.

Well, Zephyr and Ashur wanted to be his mates, because it didn't feel like Akhenaton enjoyed his company very much.

- Which was completely fine, really. The less he saw the moody man, the better he felt.

"I believe this situation between Ake and you have lasted for way too long. I don't know what happened exactly, but you guys need to talk and make up soon."

"There's nothing to talk about. Why should we try to make up?"

"Because it's making you both miserable."

How could Ashur look so confident about it? Sure, Ashur had known Akhenaton for a long time, and if there was someone who was supposed to be able to read him, that must be him. Still, Akhenaton's obvious distate to Fayez's presence was making Ashur's statement sound quite bold.

Fayez just shook his head, not wanting to start another argument, but not wanting to express verbal agreement to something he didn't believe in.

"It's okay if he doesn't like me. After all, I already have you and Zeph as my mates, right?" he tried joking, before frowing as he turned into Ashur's lap and took in his bewildered expression. "What?"

"How did you call us?" Ashur asked in a frighteningly quiet voice.

"M-mates? Zephyr said we were mates. Look, I'm sorry, it's okay if you don't want to be my mate. We don't have to be friends. We can just be room-"

There was no longer any coherent thoughts in his mind as he felt a pair of lips softly pressing against his own. They remained motionless, though, as if Ashur was waiting for him to do the next move.

Fayez didn't know how to express his desire to go further, so he grabbed Ashur's nape, and it seemed to do the trick, because the soft lips started moving against his own.

They kissed with closed lips for a while, both taking great pleasure from the simple kiss, especially when Ashur started to rub Fayez's back while nibbling on his lower lip.

Not wanting to look too inexperienced, Fayez tried his best mimicking Ashur's actions, his hands tentatively drawing circles on the other man's back. He felt the other man smile against his lips, before he was pulled further into the embrace.

Eventually, Ashur leaned back, his hands still securely spread on the smaller man's back.

"We need to talk about it, Faye. I no longer care about Akhenaton wanting to keep it a secret. It's time he adresses his own insecurities anyway. I hate seeing him so distraught. He barely sleeps anymore."

"You - you want to talk? About what? When?"

"About what you've just said. That we are mates. The four of us will talk tonight. It's time to take things up to the next level, so to speak. Until then, please don't over-exert yourself at training. I know you."

Fayez nodded obediently, then followed Ashur out of the room.

Why were the three prefects getting their panties twisted for such a simple word? he wondered.

Mate. One of the most common words he knew.

The more Fayez discovered about the real world , the less he understood.

(You and I both, Faye :P)