That was the last straw for Draven. In one smooth motion he scooped Silas up and carried him straight to the bed.
Silas's heart thumped like a drum the whole way.
"Draven! Drav! No!... no... hahahahaha!"
Draven laid him down gently, then immediately started poking at his sides, under his ribs, at his waist, everywhere he knew Silas was ticklish.
Silas jerked and shivered all over , a little current was running through him. The tingling sensation made him laugh out loud, helpless and bright.
"Ah! Stop! Draven, stop!"
Draven was kneeling over him, pinning him with just his weight, grinning like he had finally won. "Say it then. Say you like your husband and I'll stop."
"Never!" Silas gasped between laughs, trying to grab Draven's wrists and failing. "Boyfriend! We are boyfriends!"
Draven poked him again right under the arm and Silas arched off the bed, laughing so hard tears formed.
"Okay! Okay! Fine!"
Draven paused, hopeful.
Silas, red-faced and out of breath, pointed a shaking finger at him. "Fine, my....very.... annoying.... boyfriend!" He spelled the words little by little.
Draven pretended to be wounded and flopped down right on top of him, burying his face in Silas's neck. His voice was muffled and still pouty. "You are mean, babe."
Silas was still catching his breath, his chest rising fast under Draven's weight. He wrapped his arms around him properly this time and carded his fingers through Draven's hair.
"I'm not going far," he said quietly. "Just home for a few days. After a week, remember?"
Draven nodded against his shoulder but didn't let go. The heat from earlier was still there, but now it was just warm, steady, and safe.
"...stay tonight," Draven mumbled. "Your dorm can wait one night."
Silas looked at the ceiling, at the quiet room in Argent Spire, and remember the system notification still glowing faintly in the back of his mind about Level 21. He sighed and smiled.
"Alright. Just tonight."
Draven's arms tightened instantly like he was afraid Silas would change his mind.
Draven didn't let Silas get a single proper hour of sleep.
It wasn't fair to begin with. Draven had already slept all day after his nightmare, so by night he was wide awake and full of energy. After dinner they ended up on the bed just talking, teasing each other, and every time Silas started to drift off, Draven would poke his side or kiss his neck or whisper something stupid right in his ear just to hear him giggle.
The next morning Silas woke up late, hair a mess, eyes red and tired. Draven was already up, sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed. At his level he didn't need much sleep anymore, and he looked way too smug about it.
Silas glared at him with those red, angry eyes.
"You," Silas said, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep, "I'm never gonna sleep at your place again."
Draven was on him in a second, wrapping his arms around him from behind and pulling him back against his chest. "What do you mean, babe? Who's gonna let you go back to your dorm?"
Silas looked at him sideways, then rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. "Let's see how you're gonna keep me here. I'm going back today no matter what."
He lifted his foot and kicked Draven lightly on the shin. Draven yelped and let go on instinct, and Silas took the chance immediately. He slid off the bed, darted across the room, and locked himself in the bathroom. Click.
Draven was at the door half a second later, jiggling the handle.
"Babe? Silas? Come on, open up."
"No," Silas called from inside, his voice echoing off the tiles. He was probably leaning against the sink trying not to smile.
Draven tried again, more dramatically this time, pressing his forehead to the door. "My poor boyfriend locked me out. After everything we did last night."
"We talked," Silas shouted back. "You talked me to death."
"And kissed," Draven added helpfully.
Silas didn't answer, but Draven could hear the water running and knew he was trying to wash the sleep from his face.
Draven slid down to sit on the floor with his back against the bathroom door, completely defeated and still grinning.
"Fine," he said loudly. "Stay in there. I'll just wait here until you have to come out for breakfast."
After his shower, Silas changed his clothes inside the bathroom on purpose so Draven couldn't take any more advantage of him. He came out a few minutes later rubbing his head with a towel, hair damp, skin still warm from the water, looking fresh.
Draven was waiting right outside the door like he'd been standing guard the whole time. The moment Silas stepped out, Draven grabbed him from behind and kissed him hard on the cheek.
Silas chuckled and elbowed him lightly. "Now go get fresh. Everyone is waiting for us in the canteen."
Draven groaned but let go.
At the canteen, everyone was already waiting for them.
Theron and Jacob were sitting beside each other on one side of the table. On the other side, Kael was feeding Rhys bite by bite, and Rhys was enjoying every second of the pampering his boyfriend gave him.
Rhys saw the empty seat first and clicked his tongue. "That mongrel Silas. Didn't even come back to the room yesterday."
Jacob chuckled into his coffee. "Maybe he's enjoying his time with his boyfriend?"
Kael grinned and used the moment immediately. He leaned closer to Rhys with full puppy eyes. "That's why I told you, babe, to live with me. Why don't you accept my request..."
Rhys tried to ignore his face, then failed, then tried again and failed harder. He couldn't ignore a single glance of it.
Theron nudged Jacob with his elbow and whispered low so no one else could hear. "Jacob, why don't you stay with me too? See, Silas already stayed at Draven's." He looked like a complete predator in Jacob's eyes.
Jacob just rolled his eyes at him. "In your dreams."
At that exact moment, the canteen doors opened and Silas and Draven walked in.
Silas had his towel still slung over one shoulder, his hair a little messy. Draven had one hand possessively on the small of his back, like he was escorting a prize.
The whole table looked up.
Rhys pointed his fork at Silas immediately. "Look who finally decided to show up."
Kael whistled. "Wow, someone looks well-rested. Or not rested at all." He grinned after saying that.
Silas felt his ears go red again. Draven just pulled out a chair for him, completely shameless, and sat down right next to him, their shoulders touching.silas put the damp towel into his space pouch.
Theron smirked at Jacob. "See? Told you."
Draven grinned at Kael across the table and said, "What? Now I can't even enjoy my time with my husband?"
Rhys and Jacob, who were both drinking coffee at that exact moment, spat it out at the same time in a perfect, funny spray.
Silas turned to Draven, angry and red-faced, and shouted back, "Who's your husband? Didn't I tell you already, we're only boyfriends!"
His shout was so loud that everyone else enjoying their breakfast in the canteen turned to look at Silas and the group. After a few seconds of staring, they started murmuring among themselves.
Silas looked at the crowd, got frustrated, and dropped hard into his seat.
Draven just leaned closer, completely unbothered, and grinned at him. "Ahh, babe, don't get angry. Future husband. Future husband should be okay, right?"
Silas's face turned even redder. He rolled his eyes at Draven, decided to completely ignore him, and started drinking his coffee like his life depended on it.
On either side of the table, Kael and Theron were busy helping their boyfriends by rubbing their backs after the coffee incident.
Kael grinned, way too proud of himself. "See, I told you. I know my friend well. He's not gonna let go of Silas at all. He'll be enjoying his time even if he's sick."
Silas's face got more red at that.
On the other side, Theron patted Jacob's back and said quietly, "There, there. Just get used to this already, Jacob. My friends are shameless."
Jacob looked at him and said, annoyed, "As if you are not shameless at all. Maybe you're the most shameless one among you three."
Everyone at the table burst out laughing.
Draven, still not letting it go, slipped his arm around Silas's waist under the table and whispered, "They're just jealous, future husband."
Silas choked on his coffee.
After a few minutes of laughing and teasing around the table, Silas got serious. He remembered the system's task clearly in the back of his mind. Reach Level 21 in one week. He couldn't do that sitting in the canteen.
He looked at everyone and set his coffee down.
"Now that Draven is okay," he said, "why don't we go on another dungeon raid?"
Kael looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Dungeon raid? Silas, after we encountered that dark element incident last time?"
Theron leaned in too, lowering his voice so only the six of them at the table could hear. "Yes, and we didn't receive the confirmation letter yet. You said yourself, maybe the higher-ups are involved in this."
But Rhys and Jacob's eyes lit up instantly. They both looked at Silas and said at the same time, "I'm ready."
They looked at each other and grinned, feeling that same eager itch to fight dungeon monsters again.
Theron and Kael immediately turned to their boyfriends and tried to coax them out of it.
"Rhys, babe, at least wait until we find out what is happening in reality," Kael whispered, rubbing his back.
"Jacob, we just got out of the last one alive," Theron said, trying to sound reasonable. "Let's not rush."
Jacob crossed his arms. "We are always rushing. That's how we can level up more faster."
Rhys nodded hard. "Exactly. And if the higher-ups are hiding something, we'll find out faster inside a dungeon than sitting here drinking coffee."
Draven, who had been quiet, finally slipped his hand over Silas's on the table and squeezed. He looked at Silas, then at the others, and grinned.
"If my future husband wants a dungeon raid," he said, "then we'll go to dungeon raid."
Silas kicked him under the table, but he didn't argue.
Silas looked at everyone around the table and his expression turned serious. The teasing from a minute ago was gone.
"Actually," he said, "I need to go back home after a week. And I need to level up at least until I get my first class change."
The table went quiet for a second.