Triad Punishment

Ryuu stayed still in bed the whole day. His mind already familiarized the visible layout of the clinic room where his vision could reach. The night came with Ryuu where he woke up suddenly from a loud thud outside the door. He became restless till his mind resisted him to fall asleep anymore. There was nothing to divert his attention other than the silence eating his peace of mind. A heavy sigh let out from him; pathetic of himself.

Arlert came into the clinic room with a box of cupcakes and a lollipop in his mouth. Put the cupcakes on the lap of Ryuu in haste. Ryuu was confused and altered his attention on the sweets and to his roommate. The lollipop popped out as he took it out his mouth.

"I got this from the kitchen. Told them my roommate has been my patient for a while and he craves for some sweets."

"No. I don't even like sweets," Ryuu exclaimed, unminding all of what the boy proudly said. Arlert pouted and glared at the young lad. He had a hard time to convince the Ladies in the Kitchen and the receiver of it treated him grimly and yet, he did not want to tell the young man about what he had been through.

Ryuu on the other hand went awkward, the blonde locks only glared at him for seconds now. He stared at the chocolate cupcake with a whipped cream on top. He was not into sweets but he wanted to ask a favour to his roommate. His right hand slowly reached one, peeled the cupcake liner enough to get a bite.

Ryuu was surprised; it was not as sweet as what he thought it usually would be. The sugary taste was well-balanced, the butter, cocoa and creamy milk were the most ingredients he could recall. Arlert smiled in relief and watched the black-haired lad eat the cupcake tongue-tied. He took out the metallic tumbler on the plastic bag he brought with him; he opened the lid and handed it to Ryuu. Ryuu looked at him, hesitant to take the bottle. Smell of ginger and honey freshen his senses.

"That's good for the body; you have to stay here longer so you need some herbal drinks for refresher. These collections are kept by Singh like antiques. Weird, right?" the blond lad mumbled. Ryuu smiled and gulped down the bittersweet liquid. It was warm. It even complimented the cupcakes. Ryuu let out a short chuckle, Arlert looked at him. Their eyes met. Lips of Ryuu curved charmingly as his eyes did the same.

"Thank you, Arlert." Mouth hung open before he realized he was awestruck from the charm the lad arrowed on him. He shoved the plastic bag on his roommate; sets of lemon candy flavours, chocolate cubes, and sour jellies were inside which he bought from his friend. He stood up immediately and sauntered through the door.

"I still have things to bring! Be back-!" he shouted.

"Ah, Arlert!" The small hand of the blonde boy stopped from the side of the door, and he gandered at Ryuu.

"Uh, Can you also bring me the book?" he added where he placed it. Arlert nodded and hurried his way out.

His stepped halted in the middle of the hallway as he remembered the lad did not change his clothes, yet. He thought of this concern to apprise Aika who was the Lady attending Ryuu's basic needs however, Aika was still a woman and he found it uncomfortable to let her aid Ryuu on changing his clothes. The 7 inches feet of the blonde lad gradually walked forward, and stepped on the stairs, holding on the banister rail for support as his mind daydreamed about helping his roommate himself. His cheeks shaded a tinge of faint rose, warm from his nape and ears. He groaned to clear his thoughts; a picture of his roommate being undressed by him, and the black innocent eyes full of confusion and reluctance, although keeping himself composed, stared at his twinkling blue eyes.

"Did you not cancel your client for today? You have to attend one, Myriad!" Sasha's deep voice echoed the hallway of the second floor. Arlert gazed at the red-haired boy turned around on the right hallway across their assigned room. Sasha met his eyes for a second, troubled expression could clearly be seen on her face and sweaty forehead. She followed the Server she was assigned to.

The blonde boy quickly found the book Ryuu mentioned resting flatly underneath the pillow. Arlert smelled the familiar mint from the shampoo in their bathroom. He gotten sick of using the same toiletries that he kept all of the things his clients gave him as gifts. He tried many times to give Ryuu any which he would like, however the lad rejected him. His arms stretched out in front of him, and stared at the thick book on his hands. He stayed in this room ever since he started working as a Server, and the expensive book was obviously from a client. He opened it on a random page and saw the author's name on the top margin with the title: "The Adventure of Nature". Arlert was not fond of reading. He would prefer clothes, body products, and accessories rather than thick pieces of paper.

Uninterested from the content, the blonde called out the name of Ryuu when he got near the clinic room. He knocked on the door quickly to let the young man know it was him and opened the door. The black eyes gazed at him, small droplets of sweat dripped on his temple. Arlert looked around the room and checked no one except them; even so, the young man showed signs of anxiety which Arlert grew wary of. He smiled reassuringly at the Japanese lad; Ryuu relaxed his nerves gradually as Arlert showed him the book. He slowly took it.

His eyes pierced on the book as he opened it, familiar with the page he last left off. He was almost right, two pages more, and another chapter was inviting him. Arlert grunted a little and snatched it abruptly; he put it down on the table near the next bed, and put down a medium paper bag on the lap of Ryuu.

"Have a quick shower and get changed. You smell, you know?" he barely uttered an embarrassing act to be cool. He spoke out of his usual-self that almost turned up his pitched down if he did not pause in the middle, mainly because his roommate stared at the book with mere curiosity and exhilaration. A strange atmosphere which Ryuu surrounded himself with after having the book in his hands; His own world where Arlert perceived he could not get the attention of the lad afterwards.

Ryuu managed to get a quick shower with the help of Arlert. A pleasant view of the youthful body, Arlert did not see it as Ryuu only asked him to go to the bathroom. Disappointed? Not much. He already saw the young man barely naked many times, and it was somewhat a usual thing to see in his everyday life. Ryuu got back on the bed and faced the book he was excited to focus on. While Arlert ate some of the sweets he brought for him, he solely watched the lad seriously gazing at the binder. Hours went by, Arlert winced in boredom of strolling around the empty clinic, laid on the bed and the cycle went on. He sat beside Ryuu and leaned his shoulder on him, gazing down at the pages.

"Is that fun?" he asked in mere curiosity. Ryuu nodded eyes still on it. A thought of Myriad from the hallway earlier popped up on the blonde. He disregarded it, unconcerned about what would happen to the red haired boy if he did not attend a client for the day.

"Who gave that to you?" added Arlert solely to keep the lad talk to him. Ryuu told him in a whisper way. Conscious of a possible rule he might have broken when he accepted the book, although Arlert laughed it off.

"It's okay to accept anything clients want to give us. Before they can bring an object here, the guardsmen will check on them first."

Ryuu flipped on the next page. It was strange the Hub did not consider the content of any reading materials the client could bring in. His thoughts wander into something connected to the matter. "Why do we not have anything to write on the papers?"

Arlert stared at him for a few seconds; he assumed Aika already mentioned the reason. He looked at the book again. "It's not allowed to own any writing materials here. There were some incidents which happened years ago and that is the main reason." Ryuu altered his attention to the blonde locks whose eyes were on the pages. He wanted to know more about it yet he was hesitant the Watchers were listening to their conversation.

The blonde lad could leave the Hub anytime a client requested him so what would he must do to allow him too?