bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

This has to happen eventually and Yujin knew as much, but awkwardly talking about the pain the two of them felt was way better than just trying to make sense of something that was, by far, nonsensical and also untypical for both of them. Sure, there had to be a line to draw somewhere, but now he stayed where he was, glanced up at the blonde and his brown eyes, the ones he’d exchange his for in a heartbeat, and felt as if there was a weight lifting from his chest, and only because someone was - very much - shattering that brittle heart of his. Yujin should have expected it, yet he didn’t, which was why he remained where he was and only listened for a good amount of time, just because he could and because nothing would change if he got up and stormed off. “Are you sure you’re fine? I don’t want to bar you from opportunities and I don’t want you to feel like I’m playing you like a fiddle if I sleep with others”, the wolf clarified and gave Richard a reassuring smile, hopefully it did the trick and if it didn’t, well, he tried his best and that was sometimes enough. “But if you’re fine with it, I won’t contest it.” And here he thought that Richard was the jealous type, which he seemingly and all of a sudden, wasn’t, was he now?

Hearing all of that come from Richard felt like a relief, but somehow, it was undermined by the fact that not only was the blonde brutally honest, he also was - very much - trying to find a good explanations fo conflicted and stupid feelings. “I don’t have to be your number one to be important to you, though”, Yujin pointed out and while he wasn’t wrong, important probably wasn’t the right word either. Just because they liked one another for now, this still could fail and turn into nothing, so that was ... basically it, wasn’t it? “That’s fine. If I can help you that way, as some sort of outlet or a break, I’m not opposed. I’m glad you like me too, though”, he said, shoving the glass of water back Richards way - he ought to drink something too. So now, though, what were they to one another and what would they be? “That’s fine, you’ve been brutally honest, but that was what I wanted to hear. Thank you”, the wolf told the blonde and then, that was that, right? They had shared their thoughts and concerns and it wouldn’t get better or worse from here on out, he knew that much. “That means, that makes us fuckbuddies, right?” There was sudden, almost silent giggling coming from his lips and then, he did offer Richard his hand, more specifically, his pinky. “Pinky promise?” What that was for, he didn’t know, but he did know that they might as well need one.

Richard did find all of this weird although it was his own idea. He sat there, looked at Yujin and when their gazes met he looked away, scratched the back of his head and nodded eventually. "I'm fine with only sleeping with you. You're all I need.", he replied and eventually cleared his throat, damn that was embarrassing. "I mean with Quan it would have been shit and finding another wolf that isn't is probably annoying. And who knows, maybe they want a damn boyfriend as well and then I have two idiots run after me.", Richard gave back to rationalize all of that bullshit. "And you can just do whatever you want." Maybe Yujin found someone else that gave him what he searched for, that would be good, right? Richard genuinely believed that he didn't care about any of that. Sure, watching Yujin kiss his girlfriend right in front of his face wasn't fun to watch, but he didn't want to see anyone doing that. Besides, he was able to bare the thought, it was fine and if anything Yujin just had a crush that would fade eventually. By then he needed someone consistent, maybe it wasn't Yin that he needed, but it also wasn't Richard.

"You're right, but... I'm just saying. This isn't going to be some romantic lovestory." Not like his fathers story and not like his grandfathers. He wasn't them, he was his own person and some fragile noble wasn't going to save him from all he endured, he also wouldn't take anyone with him back home. Richard looked at the glass of water and drank some of it too. It was a nice short break. "Don't thank me for something like that...", the blonde mumbled and sighed. "As was intended from the start.", he pointed out. Then he looked at Yujins hand, not sure what that was all about. "Say what?", he asked and didn't know why Yujin pointed his pinky towards him, that was a weird way to point at him. "And what do I promise? To stay true to you?", he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Richard let his fingers drum against the glass, then his expression changed for a bit, as if he wasn't pleased about what he heard. "I can take care of myself.", Richard made clear. He didn't need Yujin to look after him, or to tell people off that wanted a piece of the blond, he was very much capable of doing that himself. His knuckles were prove, the skin slightly torn open and the skin blue and swollen. First the fight he had a view days ago and yesterday evening the friendly fight with Quan. What the brown wolf did then was also probably visible in Richards face. Now he had a black eye from before and a swollen blue-ish jaw from Quan. It was fine though, nothing was broken so there was no need for anyone to worry. Nayantai probably wouldn't ask either, but this time again it hadn't been Yujin. Besides, Nayantai was a wolf too, he probably had his fair share of fights in his youth, there was no need to ask about it, right? Even though Richard never had done anything like that back in Adrestia. Maybe a ruffle with Dayan, but nothing that did any damage. "That's not what I mean. meant you can sleep with everyone you like, but... sure why not.", Richard answered grumbling, but the truth was, when he spent a night with Yujin he felt different and whatever the Silessian prince wanted to do, he could. It was odd and when Richard was sober and not lovedrunk or whatever it was it almost scared him, which was why he already thought of storming off again.

This wasn't a love story. Yujin helped Richard feel better about himself, he helped him heal and get a little bit stronger, so he could eventually go back to Adrestia and face his demons - alone. "I think I'm pretty honest most of the time.", Richard disagreed, he just changed his mind often, wasn't it that? Either way, he didn't need to be honest with someone he only entertained for sex and nothing else. He didn't owe Yujin anything. The blonde sighed once more and reached out his pinky, this was stupid, but if Yujin insisted there was nothing he could do about it. "I choose the first promise...", he mumbled and looked at Yujin. "What are you promising?", he wanted to know while their fingers intertwined. What a stupid tradition or whatever this was. "I'll go back home.", he declared afterwards. "I need to wash up and I have stuff to do. Unless you think we should clean up here." What would they even talk about if he'd stay?

“Oh I know that”, Yujin answered. Richard could fend for himself, much like he could, too and that meant that neither of them needed protection from anything, or rather, they didn’t need one another to do their bidding. Given, it was almost sad but crying over something like that was, again, not the smartest decision to begin with. In reality, none of this made sense and in actuality, all of this was going to go down the drain the moment they gave it a bit too much thought. Now that he thought about it, though, they both seemingly couldn’t stand each other for long periods of time, especially not when sober and that would, eventually, come back to bite them in the ass, wouldn’t it? For now, Yujin was content with what he had, even if it was very little and he also knew that looking for comfort in someone elses life, not Richards, would probably serve to be more fruitful than this self-imposed torture. Whatever the case, though, the wolf had set his mind on it and backing down currently wasn’t a good option, that much was for certain. “I understood you, don’t worry.” He had, in fact, just ignored most of it - if the blonde didn’t get jealous, that was nice, but ... he didn’t seem to be the type not to, didn’t he? Maybe he’d regret saying that, but for now, Yujin kept his mouth shut.

“Except when you don’t want to be”, he informed the blonde, but even then, it still was Richards choice what he’d impart and what not and Yujin had no control over that and quite frankly, he didn’t even want to be able to make that choice for him, as stupid as it sounded. “Why would I tell you?”, Yujin teased, a grin on his lips. “Just kidding, I promise I’ll give you a good time, even if you don’t want to have one.” So much for breaking a promise once it was spoken outloud, but for no, what didn’t actually matter anyway - they both would be on their way soon enough and the truth was that they wouldn’t have to force themselves to do anything if they didn’t want to, they just had to have their own share of fun and that was about it. “Mh, it’s fine, I’m not going to hold you back. I can clean on my own, to a degree that won’t get Quan mad at us. I’ll not hold you back, so have a nice day?” Yujin wasn’t sure what to feel about all of this, but maybe he was the one that needed some time away from Richard to realize how delusional he was being and that, no matter what, they just were friends with benefits and never would be more than that, as intended.

Richard asked himself if Yujin truly understood and if he truly was fine with how it was now. He told the blonde he'd ask him out, wanted him as his boyfriend, only because Richard said no, could he just swallow all of that down? Was it unfair to spend further time with him, when that meant Yujin was maybe still hoping for more? Richard wanted to avoid that, but on the other hand, Yujin was old enough to decide what he wanted for himself, he didn't need Richard to tell him off for his own good, he could decide all that himself. As much as they both could fend for themselves and live alone most of the time. "Sometimes I just can't be honest, it's better for you and for me.", Richard replied. The last time he opened up had ended in a lot of crying, that wasn't pretty, for neither of them and if they were nothing more than fuckbuddies, there was no place for that anyway. Yujins promise was kind of strange, but Richard didn't comment on it, instead he looked at the clothes Yujin had previously shoved at him. Was he supposed to take his coat? "If you say so...", he mumbled, not cleaning was nice and if Yujin wanted to do it himself - good. Richard never truly needed to do a lot of cleaning in his life and he was glad about that. Yujin probably was the same?

Richard stood up to gather the rest of his things and he left the coat here, because he would have felt awkward dragging it home. He quickly said his goodbyes and then went back to the hut outside of town. He wondered how Nayantai did the res of yesterday and if he drank the alcohol Yujin left with him, but somehow Richard doubted it. When he came home nayantai wasn't there for now, so he fixed himself a bath and although he just got himself clean, he went for some training. That had been his plan from the start, but he didn't want to go outside again, smelling like sex and smoke. The following days he did what he always did. He trained, he went hunting with Nayantai and he tried to sleep but tono avail. That was fine though. He didn't visit town, he didn't want to and he also didn't think about just showing up at Yujins doorstep. One week without each other was more tan fine and it gave Richard time to think and time to focus on his true goals.

Richard was not doing anything specific, he was kind of bored and to distract himself he started to clean up his room a little bit. When it knocked at the door he didn't answer, he knew Nayantai was home, so he just waited for him to open up. He eventually did and Richard had to come outside anyway, when the old wolf called for him and told him that Yujin was here. There was nothing wrong with him paying the blonde a visit, but he still was kind of surprised he showed up. For now he left his room and found Yujin by the door, carrying a huge sack and some more items. Richard knew what all of that was. "It's here!", he pointed out somewhat exciting and basically ripped the sack full of soil from Yujin to bring it inside. "Why did you carry it here? You could have told me I should pick it up myself.", he asked, no need to carry all that, Richard could have done it himself. He sat the soil aside in the kitchen, then came back to Yujin and ripped the rest out of his hands. "Are you coming in or not?", he asked then brought the seeds to the kitchen as well.

He opened up his package and... well the seeds were all scrambled, but he'd figure it out. For now he got all the pots Nayantai already had brought him and shifted some of them around, away from the spot at the window where they were supposed to stand in the end. He didn't turn around to see where Yujin was going or what he did, but he talked to him nonetheless. "So how much did all of that cost? What do I owe you?", he asked and eventually opened up the sack with soil. He put his fingers in and felt it up a little bit. It felt cold and dry, he didn't know if this was going to work, but he'd try. He started filling up the pots halfway up, every one of them, some were small, some a little bigger. He planned on using every single one and hopefully at least some plants would grow. He hoped the soil was still nutrient enough, maybe he'd need some form of fertilizer as well, but he could think of that later on.

"But if you came with empty hands you wouldn't have had to carry it.", Richard explained, then nodded. "Yes, that's the saying." Richard asked himself if he should wait for the soil to warm up a little bit, or if it didn't matter. After all, the earth in Adrestia froze in winter too, the seeds are already there though and come spring they grow. It wouldn't kill the seeds, right? Damn actually he didn't have much of a clue regarding plants, but planting them wasn't that hard, right? He probably knew more than any wolf out here, including Nayantai who sat there and watched. "Coming in.", Richard repeated after Yujin asked again like an idiot. "No need to keep the door open like that, so either come in or go home." Yujin came in eventually and him and Nayantai acted strange around each other as always, but that was to no surprise actually, after all Yujin still thought Nayantai might kill him for some stupid reason, which he wouldn't. Yujin didn't have anything to do with what happened in Adrestia and therefor he wasn't the one the two of them wanted to see dead.

"You forgot.", Richard repeated in a somewhat judgy tone. "You're an idiot.", he pointed out and it was true. His exchange with the merchant was what... fifteen minutes ago, maybe twenty? This was kind of annoying, not because Richard didn't know what he owed to him, but rather the situation was stupid. "There will be no garden, it's only a corner in the kitchen.", Richard explained and he doubted Yujin would want to sit in his kitchen. He didn't take the second part all too serious, Yujin knew he couldn't exactly watch the plants grow, right? "Help?", Richard asked and thought about it. He didn't want Yujin to ruin all, because he was generally pretty dumb in many ways... "I mean... sure..." Richard just filled the last pot with some soil and now took the seeds to figure them out. Why where they all in one bag? That was stupid... well he needed to guess what was what and he just started with the big seeds, so he could leave the small ones for the end and put multiple in one pot. "Okay, so I put the seeds in and you can put some more soil on top. Alright?", he asked and already startet to plant the seeds in each pot.

Yujin was, without much of a doubt, the idiot it. Not only did he try his utmost to bringt the blonde all of that stuff that he probably would have carried himself, but he also wasn’t sure if he even should have taken him up on the invitation into his house when the old wolf was sitting there, seemingly occupied with nothing. “But I saved you a thirty minute trip and you don’t have to interact with people you don’t even want to know”, the wolf said, and actually, didn’t he kind of call Richard out with that? But whatever, the only thing he’d earn from that was - most likely - some sort of grumbling and it would be, among other things, nothing else than that from here on out. “Fine, I’m in - are you happy now?” Sure, the blonde sometimes was odd to interact with and he often enough was someone that he didn’t know if he should talk to or not, but today, he seemed exceptionally giddy for one reason or the other and while Yujin didn’t mind that, not one bit, wasn’t it also a bit odd to let something have that kind of effect on oneself? Maybe he was just insane himself, or not seeing all of this for what it really was, but whatever the case, the wolf hadn’t exactly figured it all out just yet, as much as the blonde still seemed to be something he couldn’t understand quite yet.

“I wouldn’t call myself an idiot - I’d be one if I forgot on purpose, but I didn’t”, he complained. Richard wasn’t all that wrong, Yujin had to give him that, but he wasn’t an idiot - okay, maybe he was - but the reason he forgot all of those things wasn’t exactly because he wanted to but rather, clinging onto something was harder than it needed to be, especially for him. “I can sit in the kitchen, then? At least I won’t freeze to death if I stay for an extended period of time”, the wolf suddenly exclaimed, hellbound on watching those seeds sprout and seeing them crawl out of the soil that Richard planned on burying them in. This was odd, wasn’t it? They were trying to plant adrestian things in the hellscape that called itself Thria and for some reason, they were willing to make it work somehow, either of them, weren’t they? “You can always use an extra hand”, Yujin chimed and he didn’t even notice when Nayantai got up and mumbled something about going out for a bit, looking after something, before dressing up and disappearing out of the door. Instead, the young wolf buried his hands in the soil for a second and nodded at the blonde - this had to work somehow, someway, right? If he was careful and just slightly put a fistful of earth atop the seeds, there was no reason to be worried. “Hmmm, what kind of seeds are these even?”

"True.", Richard answered. Interacting with strangers was nothing he fancied and by now a lot of people knew that the blonde half wolf was actually able to speak Thrian, so he couldn't even act like he had no clue. "Wouldn't call it happy.", Richard sighed. He wasn't necessarily in a mood for visitors most of the time, Nayantai wasn't either, especially not when they just came by, but on the other hand Yujin had to even if it was just to get a date for their next real meeting. But now Richard was already occupied with planting and with sorting those seeds out, which was a real pain. Especially the small ones all looked kind of the same and he didn't want to plant five different plants right on top of each other. He had enough room for a lot of plants though, even if only a portion of them would actually grow and bear fruit. In the end Richard was no expert though, so maybe all of this would just be a failed attempt. Even if the plants didn't bear fruit though, he would be glad, because it meant he had something green to look at besides all the snow.

"You are an idiot. People never forget things on purpose, if that was possible I'd forgotten a lot of things by now...", Richard answered grumbling. What Yujin said didn't even make sense, not at all, because he was quite frankly an idiot. "Can Silessians freeze to death in the first place?", Richard sighed and he also thought that Yujin was a bigger idiot than he led on, but if he wanted to sit in the kitchen, whatever. Richard looked up when Nayantai was getting ready to go out and just nodded at him. He probably fled from Yujin, because people and smalltalk weren't his thing, they never were. Richard continued putting the seeds in the pots and checked on Yujin to make sure he did everything right, but there was nothing much he could do wrong actually. "Strawberries, tomatoes, pepper, oregano, basil, mint, thyme, rosemary, chives, lettuce, spinach radishes, carrots and mandarin oranges, though I'm not sure if all of that will work out.", he explained and pointed at the biggest pot. "That is where the mandarin oranges are going, we'll see if it actually grows to be a tree, also it will come closer to the fire, because I think it needs more warmth." Richard was actually done with the seeds soon enough, some he didn't know exactly what was which, but he'd see when all of that grows. Yujin had buried the seeds in soil and Richard was walking over to a bucket with water next to the fire that usually was there for washing. He brought it over to the kitchen and sat it down there. "Wash your hands.", he told Yujin and did so himself. Then he searched for a cup and filled it up with some water. "Do you want to water them?", he asked. "Just don't use too much or you'll drown them." He stretched out his hand with the cup to give it to Yujin if he wanted to.

Was Richard less gloomy? He didn't think so, at least not because Yujin decided to come inside, he was somewhat excited because of the plants though. He didn't know if they would grow and he didn't even know if he was here long enough to make this work, but as long as he was he had something to do. When he left it didn't matter anymore anyway. He'd not come back and while he was in Adrestia there were enough plants growing on their own. He didn't need these anymore then. "If you say so...", Richard mumbled. Sure, Yujin looked good, but that didn't outweigh his stupidness, right? Proven by a sentence like that. Richard wasn't sure what Yujin was doing anyway. Did he try to heighten Richards mood? There was no need to, not right now. He also didn't have to be stupid to achieve that. Richard was fine, Dayans birthday went by and Richards was a month away. He thought about this stupid ritual again, but why actually? He wasn't going to do that, was he now? He didn't need to prove those wolfs that he was able to hunt something, or did he?

"Mh... I mean you live in an ice castle and take a swim in the sea, so I doubt you need a warm place to sit.", Richard pointed out, especially not in Richards kitchen. The plants would take a while to even do anything to begin with. "It's a tiny tree. We had some of those in pots around the garden.", Richard explained to Yujin. "It won't grow taller than you." Well this here wouldn't become Myriads garden. In front of the castle there had been a huge one, with all sorts of flowers and it was possible to wander about in it for an hour before having seen everything. Richard didn't appreciate that at the time, but now he missed it. He watched Yujin wash his hands and then how he started watering the plants. He did alright, so Richard got a cup too and put some more water into the big pot. After they were finished he went outside with the bucket to get rid of the dirty water and returned with some new snow that would melt on it's own inside. "They get enough fresh air from the door opening and closing occasionally, what they need is warmth and sunlight."

They were potting plants, two princes at that and they both had no idea of how to care for them, wasn’t that ... odd? Whatever, they could do what they wanted, that much was for certain, but aside from that, they also - very much - could have fun like this, like the friends they were supposed to be, at least Yujin wouldn’t mind being friends with Richard, but even that seemed to be a stretch. Fuck, why was he even giving this so many thoughts? He hadn’t been able to take his mind off of Richard for days, maybe even weeks and now that he actually stood there and did something nonsensical with him, it got worse. “So you don’t even ... no, wait. You do”, Yujin giggled - he knew that the blonde liked him, maybe even just for his looks rather than his personality, but that was fine as was, after all, that meant he was attractive enough to get someone to sleep with him. After that, however, he had no idea what he wanted or should be doing - they had potted the plants and almost were done watering them, but still, this wasn’t going to lead to any more conversations about anything and Yujin didn’t feel like just taking Richards hand and dragging him somewhere, not this time, not right now.

“So you’d let me freeze to death? You’re cruel”, Yujin blabbered, but he didn’t mean it - and Richard probably would be able to tell just that. Then, however, he tilted his head and looked at the pot that they’d filled with earth and Yujin wondered when he had touched something other than ice, snow, stone or skin the last time - nothing of that mattered all that much, though. “But you could grow taller than me so I have to keep growing anyway”, the wolf joked, yet, if Richard was anything like Nayantai, this guy would outgrow him in no time, but then again, they weren’t related to one another by blood, so maybe he’d be in luck. “Just pots? I’m sure you had large fruit trees too ... or is that not something you plant in a garden?” Yujin, once more, knew nothing about anything except his own stuff, the things that he himself had to take care of and still, he should probably not prod and ask about the past that Richard wanted to forget, yet he did, but he also knew that he’d eventually send the blonde into a rage if he kept doing this - or would he? “So that means they’ll be cooped up inside here, well, they wouldn’t be able to do much else except die out there anyway, so I think that’s fine.” Much like he couldn’t leave Silesse, these plants would be stuck in this hut without ever going outside, so they both could be miserable together, or something like that. “What now? Can I watch them grow?”

"I do what?", Richard asked after Yujin stopped giggling. He asked himself if what they did now was fine, or if they should have kissed by now, just a small hello kiss. But then again, they weren't a couple, so that seemed out of place. Richard never had a friend with benefits, so he didn't exactly know what it entailed and kissing hello and goodbye was something different than having sex. He wasn't sure how to act now and who was allowed to get what in which scenario. If he wanted a kiss, could he just get one even if it wasn't going to lead to something more? Or was that inappropriate? He didn't want one right now, he just wondered. It probably was better to concentrate on the plants that were potted and watered now. Richard started to check the soil, check how wet it was and then he rearranged the pots by the window to give them some sun eventually. When it did come out at some point, the good thing was, when the sun was up it usually wasn't cloudy, so this would work somehow, he hoped.

"We already established that you won't freeze, so I'm not cruel.", Richard answered and looked at the wolf that almost looked puzzled looking at those pots. "I will grow taller than you!" Richard almost was as tall but those few centimeters were bugging him! "We had fruit trees. Mostly apples, but those little lemon and orange trees in pots were just draped around the castle, because they look nice. The bigger trees were further away.", Richard explained. Yujin probably would have gone mad if he saw their old garden, he never truly saw something like that, did he? Maybe in books, but that wasn't the same. Richard wanted to go home, but even when he did, his garden wasn't his anymore and it never would be. All he had were some seeds in the cold Silesse, hoping he'd see the color green again and taste something familiar. "It's not like plants walk around...", Richard mumbled, then shook his head. "What do you mean watch them grow? First of all, I'm not sure if this works and second it will take a few days until we know if they live in the first place.", Richard answered and after he put all the pots in the spots he wanted them in, he turned around and walked towards his room. "I'm going to train now, do you want to come? Or do you want to sit here and take care that the plants won't run away?"

“You think that I’m attractive, don’t you?”, Yujin called him out, but he knew as well as anyone else that he wasn’t doing either of them much of a favor. Sleeping with Richard, one way or the other, made him feel ecstatic and yet, the morning after, he felt as if he’d only been used like some piece of paper that, by no means, did deserve the treatment it got. The blonde was right to keep him at an arms length, at a distance or something like that, but Yujin was also right about not wanting that, about wanting more than that and he very much wasn’t content with the little crumbs he was given, the this that kept them separated from one another, but he knew better than anyone else that thinking too hard about it all wouldn’t make it better. “Or hot, whatever, you do think I’m not an eyesore, that’s all”, Yujin chuckled and he didn’t need to much else, in fact, keeping himself distracted like that, with silly nonsense, was fun, wasn’t it? “But as hot as I am, I can still get cold - so at least let me have some of the warmth in here, will you?” That was all he wanted, aside from maybe Richard himself, but as it stood, there was nothing else for him to do, as much as there was no need for him to think too hard about any of the other things.

“Will you now? Fine, if you do grow taller than me, then I’ll do what you want!” Joking like this felt out of place, especially considering that Richard wanted to leave, that Yujin would never really figure out if he grew taller than him after all, or ever see him again. Actually, all of this was somewhat stupid and by the gods, it wouldn’t be any less stupid than it already was, would it now? “Silesse has jack shit. I mean, there’s some trees that do bear fruit, or are supposed to, but you’re more likely to find an apple tree closer to the border because it’s warmer.” And yet, it still was cold enough to have an inexperienced sheep find their death overnight, especially when they found themselves snowed in. Sure, Yujin had heard tales from many people alike, but most of them were superficial and weird at best, came seemingly out of nowhere and begged more questions than it gave answers. “I ... uh, nevermind. Guess watching them grow is a waste of time, you’re right, they won’t just magically sprout.” That was all in his head, wasn’t it? Roots took months to grow, as much as any other type of vegetable, spice or fruit they tried to grow down here, no matter how much they tried - Yujin should know better, yet he acted as if adrestian plants were capable of magically growing into a full plant overnight. “I don’t have anything better to do, so sure - do you want me to sparr with you or just watch?”

"I guess I told you as much...", Richard mumbled, though he neither agreed nor disagreed. Sure, Yujin was good looking, why not? But that wasn't enough to make Richard fall for him, nor was it in any case important. There were probably a lot of attractive people here, but Richard didn't really care and it was fine that he had one person he thought looked good and that agreed to take Richards mind off of things occasionally. Was Yujin hot? Yes that too, he was just the right amount of strong, though Richard wondered if Yujin did anything for that... well he did say sometimes he took a swim in the sea, that ought to count as training? And he also didn't give a damn about the possibility to drown because his leg stopped working, as much as Richard didn't care if his heart gave out in the wrong moment. "That sounds like you want an invitation to come here whenever you like.", Richard pointed out and he wasn't sure if he wanted that or if he wanted to keep the possibility to just shut the door in Yujins face, much like when he came here in the middle of the night.

"What I want? Deal.", Richard answered, at some point he probably would outgrow him, but Nayantai wasn't his father, Rain was and he always was small. Though Richards grandfather on the other hand had been really tall too, so maybe there was a chance as long as his unknown mother wasn't mixing in stupid genes. "I know.", Richard answered when Yujin started to talk about Thrian flora, he knew there was absolutely nothing, which was why he sat up his own little indoor garden in the first place. "I bet your bathroom would be a great place for orange and lemon trees though, it's always warm and humid and if the plants get some sun too here and there I think they'd feel great there. Or maybe something unpractical like just a plant without much of a use, for some color. Maybe some flowers, whichever you like." Why was Richard so excited when it came to plants in the first place? Well probably because out here was nothing and he missed Myriads gardens and woods. "I wanted to go for a run first. Can you handle that? Do you want to borrow some clothes? You can have some of mine, or maybe Nayantais if they are not too big."

“Guess you can’t keep your mouth shut after all”, the wolf suddenly teased, knowing fully well that this was most likely out of place. Richard had invited him here to pot some plants, or rather have him lunge them over, but he very much didn’t mean that this would be an invitation to fuck or have fun, not like this, not anytime soon. This was just pretty basic stuff, no strings attached, some sort of mess they’d get themselves in and then, all of this would be over in a flash soon enough. “I’ll come here anyway and if you don’t want me inside, you’ll lock me out - as simple as that, that’s one boundary that I won’t overstep. But since we don’t see each other all that often, I pretty much won’t show up at that doorstep every week.” They didn’t need to see each other twice a week, not all the time and they didn’t have to show their ugly mugs to one another every once in a while. What even was that about to begin with? What was it worth to think too much about this, to consider Richards feelings and throw himself into this mess, just to get a piece of the blonde for a few months? Yujin was an idiot, Richard was right, but he refused to see that.

“Sounds like you already have an idea - mind sharing it?”, the prince inquired, but alas, there was no need for Richard to actually tell him, at least not when he didn’t want to and that was what counted, wasn’t it? However, whatever the case, he didn’t think that anything the blonde was able to come up with was going to be exceptionally bad, yet, Yujin didn’t know him all that well to be able to tell whatever or not he wasn’t some devious mischief maker. “We could get some seeds for that, but knowing my father, he’d probably just buy some potted trees, let some servants put them where they want and if the plants die, he’d let them be thrown out. That’s it. I don’t think they’d have a nice life in a castle of ice”, he concluded for the blonde, but there wasn’t much else to talk about regarding that. Shuren would do what he wanted and just because some blonde stranger that visited his son every once in a blue moon wanted some fruit trees in their bathroom, he wouldn’t just get all of those - he was the one making the rules, wasn’t he. “No need to lend me some of your clothes, I’ll just get rid of some layers and I’ll be fit for a run ... and by the way, don’t worry. My leg works just fine.” Until it cramped up and he couldn’t move it anymore, but a fucking run wouldn’t give him that much whiplash, would it? Whatever, after all, he started removing some of his clothes and when he was done with that, he stretched himself. “We can go now. Or, well, run.”

"It's fine you came here, you almost sound like you're worrying.", Richard explained. They hadn't seen each other for some days and Yujin did have a reason to come here, so he didn't need to worry he was annoying Richard, but the blonde also wouldn't just abandon all his plans for the day, just because he came by. He also didn't expect anything coming here, right? Or did he plan to have a little time with Richard alone coming here? Well not now, Richard wasn't in the mood and he would have gone for a run before if Yujin hadn't shown up, but he also didn't mind his company. "I don't have one, but everything sounds like a good deal and I'm going to think of something good by then.", Richard answered, well that was if he outgrew Yujin as long as he was still here and he didn't know how long that would be. He gave himself a maximum of a year, then he wanted to go back to Adrestia and some months already flew by. He still needed to get stronger though and the week before Dayans birthday had knocked him out cold basically, he didn't do anything those days.

"How would you get potted trees out here without them freezing to death?", Richard asked, that kind of was the first flaw. "For being obsessed with Adrestia he shows little interest in a garden out here. Wouldn't that be even more impressive than a castle made out of ice?" After all growing something out here was as hard as it could get, so if he had a beautiful garden with roses and orchids, wouldn't that catch everyone's eyes? Especially since most wolves living out here never saw plants like that. "Well are you sure? You'll get them all sweaty.", Richard pointed out while walking into his room himself to find more suitable clothes which he didn't mind if they got sweaty. He quickly changed. "I didn't worry about your leg.", he pointed out then looked at Yujin who got rid of some layers. "Alright then.", he nodded and walked to the door to get outside. Once both of them were out he locked it, although it wasn't really necessary and then he just started to run in the direction he usually went. "Keep up!", he yelled over his shoulder, he didn't intend to run any other pace than his own.