Pecked

"You don't seem okay, Lyre. Tell me, what's wrong with you?" Rain asked in concern.

"Nothing. I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me. That boy downstairs must be waiting for you."

"Chels?"

At the mention of the pretty boy's name, Lyre balled his hands into fists.

He felt the urge to throw the human out of the house, but he quelled the feeling down.

It wasn't in his powers to do so.

"He won't mind. Chels isn't a baby. He doesn't need me to babysit him all the time."

"He will be looking for you." Lyre turned his face to the side, to prevent Rain from looking into them.

Rain smiled when he realized what was happening.

"Are you jealous?" He smiled at Lyre.

"I don't know what 'jealous' is. But I know he will be looking for you."

"No, he won't." Rain closed the distance between them, and despite knowing how much Lyre hates it whenever he was close to him, he cupped Lyre's face.

Surprisingly, Lyre didn't flinch. He only turned his face to the side to prevent Rain from seeing the red tint of his cheeks.

"Look at me, Lyre." Rain smiled as he turned Lyre's face towards him.

He was feeling ecstatic at the thought of touching Lyre. It was like a dream come true for him.

This was the first time he has touched Lyre without him (Lyre) flinching or shying from his touch.

It made him wish to pause time, so he can stay in the moment with Lyre.

Lyre turned to look at him.

"I don't like Chels. He's my best friend. You don't—"

"Why are you telling me that?" Lyre turned his face to the side.

His heart was beating loudly, and his chest felt a bit constricting.

The proximity was affecting him more than Rain knew.

"I like you, Lyre." Rain whispered as if he were afraid of spooking the merman should he speak loudly. "I love you so much that it hurts." He pecked Lyre on his side lips before he ran out of the room, banging the door shut behind him.

Lyre slid down on the floor. With his heart beating more loudly than ever, he touched the part of his cheeks Rain pecked.

"What did he do?"

The merman didn't understand the gesture, and neither did he understand why his heart was beating like this.

Rain slid down the floor, and placed his head on the door.

"I kissed him." He touched his lips as he imagined the feel of his mouth on Lyre's cheeks.

It would have been a kiss had he pecked him directly on the lips, and not on the side.

"Gods!" He tugged on his head as he imagined what must be running through Lyre's mind.

Rain felt guilty about what he just did.

Kissing Lyre was like a dream come true, but he knew that wasn't something he should have done.

Lyre looked too innocent for him to take advantage of.

"What's wrong with you?" Clar frowned at Rain.

"Nothing." He hastily rose from the floor and wiped his butts off. "Lyre is in there if you want to see him."

"And I intend to do that. You better go downstairs. Your friend has been murmuring non-stop since you left."

And that was part of the reason Clar left the parlour.

Chels refused to leave despite all her threats.

And since she can't get him to leave, she opted to leave the parlour for him.

"He hasn't left, yet?" Rain was surprised. He thought Chels and the others might have left.

"If he has, what do you think I'm doing here?" Clar walked, past Rain, to the door. She knocked once before she entered, banging the door close behind her.

"Brother, I'm—"

Clar frowned when she saw Lyre sitting on the floor in the same position she saw Rain in.

It was as if they were competing on who among them knows how to relax on the wall more.

However, unlike Rain whose expression was one of guilt, Lyre was touching his lips, with a perplexed expression on his face.

The merman was still lost in thoughts, trying to understand what just happened.

"What are you doing on the floor?" Clar ran to him and knelt on the ground next to him. She placed a hand on his forehead, to check on his temperature.

Lyre didn't blink. He didn't even flinch.

Right then, his mind was still frozen in time.

"Lyre?" Clar had to shake him, to get his attention on her.

Lyre blinked as he sat up. He glanced around the room before his eyes landed on Clar.

"What's wrong with you?" She touched his neck. With a worried expression on her face, she looked like a mother who was doting on her child.

"When your mouth touches..." he took a breath to regulate his mind before he continued, "another person's mouth, what is it?" Lyre asked as he lightly touched the part of his cheeks Rain kissed.

"What?" Clar's eyes widened at his questions. Her cheeks turned red as she glanced at Lyre's mouth.

"What is it?"

"I can't believe my brother doesn't know what a peck is!" She pecked Lyre. "You do this to someone you like, and to your family!"

"Like?"

Lyre frowned.

The feeling he got when Clar pecked him wasn't the same as the one he got when Rain pecked him.

There was no fast racing of his heart. It was just the same as the feelings he gets whenever she touched him.

He didn't feel anything different.

And that confused him.

"Yes, since I like you, and you are family, I can peck you."

"What of Rain?" Lyre asked, expecting Clar to have an answer to his question.

"Rain? What about him? Did he kiss you?" Clar hastily rose from the floor, with a murderous expression on her face.

The expression on her face caused Lyre to shake his head.

He doesn't understand why she was angry, but he knew shaking his head seemed like the best answer.