Xavier, who was usually calm, composed, and borderline unreadable, couldn’t help but steal glances at Luca.
He was nervous.
Not from political tension, battlefield stress, or military confrontation—but from the fact that his wife hadn’t looked up from his terminal for the past five minutes.
And then suddenly—
Ping!
His terminal lit up with a new ssage from Luca.
Xavier opened it imdiately, heart halfway between hope and dread.
[LUCA: You’re not bald, old, or ugly. Please don’t listen to what they say! You’re really handso!]
Xavier blinked.
He reread it.
Then again, just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.
Of all the things he expected...
No clarifications about the burden of royal status.
No questions about the succession drama.
No concerns about being married to a literal Crown Prince, considering all those attempts at his life that had been discussed.
No.
Instead, his wife had ssaged him to reassure him that he wasn’t bald, ugly, or old.
Xavier slowly lifted his head.
Across the room, Luca was peeking at him with his big, earnest eyes—and even gave him a tiny encouraging fist pump, like a good job sticker in human form.
And that was it.
That was the mont Xavier nearly lost it.
His shoulders trembled as he tried to suppress a laugh, the kind that ca not from amusent but sheer, overwhelming relief. It burst through his chest and nearly made him choke.
He inhaled deeply, hand over his mouth, as if containing a war cry.
Because, of course.
Of course, that was the ssage his little chipmunk would send.
And in that single ridiculous, wholeso mont, Xavier felt like everything might just be okay.
Luca watched from the side. They were seatmates after all, but even then, he felt foolish for being unable to comfort him properly when people hurled such accusations against him.
But he knew he couldn’t say anything, not when it would jeopardize Xavier’s identity and safety.
So all he could do was ssage him and watch as Xavier slumped forward, one hand over his face and the other gripping the desk like he’d just been hit by the emotional equivalent of a freight train.
Luca panicked.
Had he made it worse?!
He was just trying to help! Reassure him! Be supportive! He’d even triple-checked the spelling and asked D-29 if it was all right to send that ssage!
Maybe he should’ve asked Sid?
What if Xavier was insecure about the bald thing?
After all, his father said that so people ended up like that because they were scumbags! But he didn’t think Xavier was like that. And when D-29 showed him examples of scumbags, he really couldn’t see any similarities!
Also, aren’t many babies born with little or no hair?
Hmm.
But just as Luca was about to turn towards his husband to console him, Xavier slowly turned his head toward him—still half-draped on his desk—and smiled.
It wasn’t his usual smile, either.
It was soft, crooked, and just a little unhinged, like he’d been holding his breath since way earlier.
This surprised the worried little chipmunk who sucked in a breath after seeing his expression. But before Luca could do anything else, he felt his hand being gently taken.
He looked down.
Xavier had reached out beneath the desk and captured the hand that had been inching toward him in concern. Their fingers tangled together with quiet familiarity, and neither of them said a word.
They didn’t need to.
Luca’s heart skipped, but he didn’t pull away.
It took him a serious mont to register anything because he felt like his brain had just taken out all the sounds, and slowed everything around him.
But when Xavier squeezed his hand a bit, the startled dragon returned to land.
He looked at the face of the man next to him and realized it was the sa. And the shy guide made up his mind, ekly curling his fingers around Xavier’s like he never wanted to let go.
It was then that a soft vibration buzzed against Luca’s wrist.
[XAVIER: I’ll tell you more about the family after the test. Don’t want to confuse your answers.]
Then another ssage ca through—this one a little more mischievous:
[XAVIER: But tell . Are you satisfied with how I look? Or do I need to change anything? Seems like my looks are under fire lately.]
Luca turned red instantly.
He typed back with embarrassing speed.
[LUCA: I’m VERY satisfied! You’re SO handso. You shouldn’t listen to them at all!!! Especially when they don’t even know what you look like!!!]Luca figured he’d add more exclamation marks because Xavier needed to understand how serious he was!
On the other side, Xavier smiled as he watched Luca furrowing his brow in all seriousness before replying:
[XAVIER: Then I’ll try my best to keep this look. Since it’s the one you like.]
Luca stopped breathing.
He stared at their intertwined hands. At the corner of Xavier’s smile. Then at his terminal screen.
He nodded like a tomato, his face so red he could pretend to be one.
He turned back to his notes and vowed to review again later.
Because truth be told?
He’d absorbed absolutely nothing ever since Xavier held his hand under the desk.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the handholding got interrupted by the bell for lunch. But before the distracted learner got teased even more, Luca’s screen lit up again with another ssage—this ti, not from Xavier, but from Ollie.
[OLLIE: Brother! Instructor Moore says the library’s open. et you there?!]
Luca blinked, reread it, then gasped softly before turning to Xavier and the rest of the group. "Guys, I’m sorry! It seems like I can’t join you for lunch. I promised to et my brother and Instructor Moore at the library."
Xavier gave him a small nod, rembering how this was ntioned earlier during breakfast. "Make sure to eat sothing."
"I will!" Luca promised with an eager smile, as if forgetting his earlier embarrassnt.
But just before he turned to leave, Kyle—who had been suspiciously silent—glanced up from his own screen and suddenly added, "Luca, could you check if he ate? He didn’t co down for breakfast. So if he didn’t sneak anything in before class, he’s probably going to collapse from either hunger...or conspiracy theories."
"Conspiracies?" Jax echoed, his head tilting.
"Yeah. It’s gastritis or that," Kyle muttered.
Luca nodded solemnly. "Got it. I’ll feed him."
Then he left.
anwhile, sowhere in a dim corridor, a poor blonde chanic stood hunched by the wall, clutching his stomach.
"Urgh...is this hunger...heartbreak? Or heartburn...?
He didn’t know.
But he was definitely dying (not).
And yet, no amount of clutching his middle or leaning against the cold wall for moral support was going to stop him from seeing his brother! After all, he had serious questions to ask!
User Comments
0 comments from readers