Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was the night after Infinite Band's successful debut concert in Infinite Rhapsody hall, and everyone was celebrating.

Swan and Yulian had planned everything perfectly so that the tour's after-party fell on a weekend. This way, the band as well as their fans could stay up late in Second Life (which inevitably meant they'd be waking up later in real life). Those that had to be up for work or do week-end cram classes left extremely disappointed, but everyone else following Infinite Band's tour flooded the streets and taverns of Infinite City for what would become Second Life's biggest-ever party.

Aside from celebrating the band's very fruitful tour, it was also a sneak-preview of Infinite City itself. Therefore, Yulian had all the available shopkeepers and vendors keep their doors open late into the night to welcome the guests with special promotions and previews of their products. The goal was to make every player anticipate the final opening of Infinity City to the point where they'd gladly sell their own foot just to live there. (Not that that was ever going to be a problem.) Infinite Band itself was hosting the party at Infinite Restaurant. Kenshin and Sunshine were playing the bouncers; whenever a fangirl got too rowdy, they would politely suggest she go see some of the other sites.

Two of the band members were missing, though. Wicked had to go to the lab the next day for a project, while Ice Phoenix had to babysit her little brother while her parents were out of town.

"It's not my fault, alright?" Wicked winced as Yulian wished him a fun day with a sweet but strangely chilling smile. "Do you think I'd rather be writing up lab reports or hanging out with you guys?" He shot a glare at Gui, who was pushing the boundaries of personal space with Prince, as usual.

Meanwhile, Ice Phoenix was overheard saying, "He's tall enough to turn on the TV, he can look after himself," before Wolf very purposefully steered her out of the restaurant.

Prince was sitting in his favorite spot with Gui and Nan Gong Zui, drinking and laughing. There were hoards of badly-hidden fangirls lurking around them with hearts in their eyes.

Nothing whatsoever about this scenario pleased Wicked. It was bad enough that Prince attracted fangirls wherever he went. Worse still that he actually had a drinking buddy, but at least Nan Gong Zui didn't seem to have that kind of inclination toward Prince. What Wicked really couldn't stand was the fact that Gui was there too. It wasn't fair. Wicked's biggest advantage in their rivalry over Prince was that he got to spend more time with him.

Wicked marched over to their table.

"Xiao Lan," he said in whisper chat. "How long are Yulian and Swan making you stay for the party?"

Prince smiled abashedly. "Well, I'm the main host and attraction here. I should stay until most of the people have gone home."

"Do you have your alarm set?"

"Yes, Mom." Prince laughed silently. "Don't worry, we're not going to be late. You know that Yang Ming and Min Bin are going to be waking up later than me. You're the only one that has to actually do any work tomorrow, Zhou-gege!" He gave his trademark snicker.

The Zhou siblings and the Feng siblings were supposed to be going to a movie they'd all been looking forward to the next day. Wicked had set up this arrangement because although he really, really wanted to check up on Xiao Lan after the party, he was at least trying to keep out of her business in real life. He knew that she was strong and did not appreciate anyone's feelings being pushed on her (Exhibit A: Gui). It was only in Second Life, when he had to deal with that irritating bard flittering around, that he stepped in so often.

"Hey, Wicked, what's up?" Nan Gong Zui asked. "Do you need something?"

"You were talking to Prince in private chat, weren't you?" Gui said with a taunting look. "It's obvious when you stomp right over here and have a staring contest with him. You should try to be more subtle when you talk behind people's backs."

"It's got nothing to do with you," Wicked said venomously. "I was just reminding him not to sleep too late because we're going somewhere tomorrow. You know, in real life."

As expected, Gui's face darkened, and he gave Wicked a look that said quite clearly that he wished he would go find the deepest hole in Second Life and jump in it. What wasn't expected was the message he sent along with the look.

"It's one thing to rub it in my face that you know Prince in real life," he sent furiously, "but I can't believe you'd endanger him like that by blurting out you're going to see him tomorrow. Have you forgotten they know who you are now, too?"

Wicked was struck speechless.

He felt horrified, because Gui was actually completely right. He'd already denied knowing Prince's identity in front of the cameras. If someone found out that was a lie, and knew an exact day he was going to see Prince, all they would have to do is follow him. How could he have thoughtlessly put Xiao Lan in danger that way, just for the sake of their stupid grudge?

He hadn't thought of that, and yet Gui spotted it right away. What was wrong with him?

"Do Prince and Wicked know each other in real life?" Nan Gong Zui asked curiously, looking back and forth among them.

"Yeah, we go pretty far back, actually, but we'd been out of touch for a long time before Second Life." Prince said cheerfully. Gui and Wicked both clapped their hands over his mouth at the same time.

"You'll just forget that little detail, won't you, Nan Gong Zui?" Gui said while Wicked hurriedly talked to Prince in a private chat. "After all, the whole world is looking for Prince. We'd like as little personal information about him to get out as possible."

"My lips are sealed," Nan Gong Zui said. "To me, all that matters is the Prince here and now. Everyone deserves their privacy." His eyes twinkled as he raised his cup to his lips. "Might want to be more careful in that case, though, what with the wild hoards around."

Wicked glared at the crowd of Infinite Band fangirls hovering nearby, which seemed to have only gotten bigger with three of the bands' members all in the same spot. They didn't seem to have reacted in any way, so perhaps they hadn't heard. He still couldn't believe he'd been that stupid, though.

Suddenly he heard the beeping in his head that meant the system was alerting him to wake up. It would give him five minutes to finish his business before it surrendered his consciousness back to the real world.

"I'm about to log off," he said. "I'll see you guys later. Be careful around all those fans." He smiled and added privately: "Xiao Lan, I'll call before I get to your place tomorrow. Don't come down to the bus stop beforehand, just in case someone is following me."

"Alright, Zhou-gege."

And Prince waved and said "See you later!" with a smile, but his eyes looked sad, and Wicked knew that he'd made him... her feel guilty again.

Zhou Ling Bin removed the game mask and opened his eyes.

It was just like Xiao Lan to feel bad about him possibly getting stalked in real life when he was the one that put her in danger of getting found out and stalked. He hated seeing those eyes full of guilt. It seemed like she looked at him like that every time he did something for her in real life. When would she figure out that he would wait as long as it took? Her pity was not what he wanted.

With a sigh, he got up to get ready for the day. As much as he'd deserve it for the stupid blunder he'd made, he really hoped that his day with Xiao Lan wouldn't be ruined. Even with both their little brothers in tow, every moment he got to spend with her was more precious to him than the sun.

Incidentally, it was a probably a good thing Wicked left when he did, because the rest of the evening would have been a major strain on his sanity.

Shortly after he left, Nan Gong Zui called over Kenshin (who was playing his usual role of underappreciated helper and, unbeknownst to the others, was largely the reason the fangirls hadn't been close enough to hear Wicked reveal he knew Prince in real life).

"Prince tells me you're the strongest in Infinite City now? You came back from the Eastern Continent, right?"

"Yes." Kenshin said.

"Yes to what? Are you the strongest or not? Anyway, I had an idea. Come sit down."

Kenshin looked at Prince, who nodded vigorously, and sat reluctantly beside Nan Gong Zui.

"Kenshin, the quickest way to get The Righteous Blades to accept anyone as the strongest is to defeat me in a drinking competition!" He slapped Kenshin on the back genially and slid him some rice wine.

"Can I refuse?" he asked pointedly.

"Aww, come on, Kenshin, you don't have to take work so seriously," Prince said. "You can have fun at this party, too!"

I wonder if it's possible to get an NPC drunk. Heehee, that sounds like fun! is what he was really thinking.

"If you say so." Kenshin sighed and accepted the drink.

An hour and a half later, it was becoming increasingly obvious that either it wasn't possible to get an NPC drunk, or Kenshin just had a bizarrely high tolerance. Nan Gong Zui and Prince (who of course couldn't resist joining in) were loudly singing love ballads and Kenshin's stiff poker face hadn't changed at all. Meanwhile, the fangirls started creeping in. They were practically draping themselves all over all four of the men, giggling and stealing drinks whenever possible. Everyone was generally being very loud, and Kenshin wondered whether it would be possible to slip away anytime soon.

Eventually Nan Gong Zui ended up passed out and snoring at the table. Kenshin wanted to sigh in relief.

"KENSHIN!" Prince roared, stomping on the table with one foot, causing several of the girls to cry out (in surprise or admiration?). "I WON'T LOSE TO YOU, YOU BASTARD! POUR US ANOTHER ONE!"

The crowd cheered and poured the two another round.

"Prince, maybe that's not a good idea," Gui pulled him back into his seat. "You've already had a lot, and besides…" he leaned to talk into his ear, "he's not human. Don't you think it's possible you can't win, even if you try?"

Gui was slightly nervous about the situation. He'd had a little bit to drink himself, but once the fangirls started seating themselves around them, he realized he needed to keep his wits about him and stopped. He'd already won a point over Wicked today; he didn't want to lose the upper hand by allowing a drunken Prince to get dragged off by rabid fangirls.

"BULLSHIT!" Prince said too loudly. "Look! His face has gotten red!"

Everyone looked. Kenshin's normally flawlessly pale face did have a slight flush to it.

"Kenshin, are you drunk?" Gui asked in amazement.

Kenshin thought about it for a moment.

"What does that mean?" he said finally.

"Ah… nevermind," Gui said.

"The first one down is out! Come on Kenshin." Prince sloppily poured Kenshin another drink, getting more on the table than in the cup.

"Whatever." Kenshin sighed again and took a sip.

"I still don't think–" Gui started, but then he noticed Nan Gong Zui was starting to disappear among a gaggle of fangirls. "Damn it! I can't keep all these drunks safe!"

Gui grumbled and cursed as he dived in to save Nan Gong Zui. He had no choice but to drag the unconscious warrior up to one of the rooms upstairs, which had a barrier cast over them to bar against unauthorized entry. Infinite Band had reserved all of them in the event of something like this.

He expected the drinking competition to still be going strong when he got back, but when he got down to their table, Kenshin was nowhere to be seen. Had he finally escaped? More importantly…

Gui's eyes bugged out. Prince was sitting on the restaurant bench with a girl on either side of him, looking like they knew less about the meaning of personal space than he did. His heart nearly stopped as one of them swooped in and kissed Prince on the lips, making small noises of satisfaction. She started fumbling to unbutton his shirt.

Gui screamed in pure rage and ran over, not caring who he hit as he flailed and shooed and pushed everybody away. He plucked the girl off his Prince and found an obliviously unconscious elf, face looking kind of silly in his drunken happiness.

Gui gathered Prince to his chest and glared around at everyone with a look that rivaled the Blood Elf himself. "I won't let anyone touch my Prince."

Instead of being intimidated, they all giggled more.

"You can have him," the one girl he'd pulled off Prince said coyly. "as long we get to watch when you touch him."

They all tittered and Gui could feel himself blushing to nuclear levels. Really, since when did young girls talk like that? He made a mental note to never, ever let the fangirls have alcohol ever again.

"No one is doing anything to Prince. Prince is going to bed right now," he said firmly. He picked Prince up and shouldered past everyone. He'd never felt awkward being close to Prince before, but their continued whispering and insinuations about going to bed were making him flustered.

"You can't follow!" he snarled back at them as he went up the stairs, not caring if everything he said made it worse. "We've got a barrier set at the top of the stairs and only people with permission can go through!"

"Stingy!" they yelled after him as he passed through the barrier and down the hall.

Gui sighed and went into one of the rooms. Frightening. He wasn't even sure if he could even see his own students as innocent anymore. They weren't any younger than the girls that had gone after Prince and Nan Gong Zui tonight. And… what had even happened to Kenshin? Ah… he can look after himself.

As Gui closed the door behind him, he unexpectedly got punched in the face.

"Your Highness!" he cried as he dropped the elf in surprise, more worried about that than the fact he'd been punched. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think you're doing, pervert?" Prince growled at him, standing back up unsteadily.

Gui was horrified. "Prince! No, it's not what you think! I had to get you away from those hungry wolves… I mean fangirls! You didn't see them. It was scary. And Kenshin disappeared. I think he figured he won so he left. Or… at least I hope that's what happened to him. Prince!" he clung to the hem of his shirt and got a boot in the chest for his trouble.

He looked up at Prince with watery eyes and was surprised when Prince burst out laughing and stepped off him, stumbling a little to one side when he lifted his foot.

"Why are you laughing?" Gui said in an injured voice.

"Your face looked so funny." Prince snorted into his hands as if he was trying to stifle himself.

"Ah…" Gui sighed and stood up. "Look, Prince, I think you should go to bed until it's time for you to wake up in real life. If you leave here you'll probably get in a fight and break something, and you know Yulian would not be happy about that. Besides, I don't want anything to happen to you." He added in a lower voice as he watched Prince sit in a chair and struggle with his boots. Prince let out a string of profanities at the uncooperative shoes.

Gui helped him pull off his boots. "There, that better?" he said brightly, smiling.

He fully expected to be punched in the face again, but instead, Prince just stared at him. He almost looked… upset? Why?

"What's the matter?" Gui said worriedly.

"Why do you look at me like that?" Prince said quietly. "Like I'm the most important thing in the world."

Gui smiled and said easily, "That's because you are the most important thing in the world to me, Your Highness."

Prince stood up, swaying, and immediately tripped over his boots. Gui caught and steadied him carefully.

"Don't try moving so fast," he said. "Lolidragon brought your stuff up here. Just get changed and go to bed. I'll check to make sure the barriers are still going strong and then I have to bed, too. You'll be awake in the real world before you know it."

Prince, holding onto Gui's arms for support, looked up at him confusedly. "You're not staying with me?"

Gui forced himself to look away from Prince's deep-red eyes. "I don't think that would be a good idea. I think you'd probably murder me later if I stayed in the same room with you."

"That's not true!" Prince said indignantly. "I wanted to stay with you guys on the tour, but I knew Wicked wouldn't like it. Then I was gonna stay with Kenshin and Sunshine since they aren't human, but then I remembered I couldn't exactly tell Wicked that, so…"

"You wanted to stay in our room?" This was so interesting that Gui couldn't help but look at him again.

"Yeah, I mean, how often do you get the chance to see two bishie's sleeping faces?"

Well, Wicked isn't here this time, so… Gui immediately quashed that thought.

"That's nice, but I really think it's better like this for now." Gui said, turning Prince around and pointing at the wardrobe. "Your stuff is there. Send me a PM if you need me."

As Gui turned to the door, he cursed his luck over and over. Of course he wanted to stay. He'd give almost anything to be able to stay. But it wasn't worth losing Prince's trust. He wanted a real relationship with him. He didn't deserve Prince if the only time he wanted Gui around was while completely smashed like this.

Gui heard a curse behind him and turned around by instinct, and his eyes nearly popped out again.

Prince had tried to pull off his button-up shirt over his head, and now it was stuck around his pointed ears. He wiggled around before it finally came off, leaving his hair looking wild.

"P-P-Prince," Gui said in a strangled voice. "You should wait until I leave before you start doing that…"

Prince tossed his shirt in the corner and looked at him over his shoulder vaguely. The dim light from the lantern outside on the street just highlighted the contours of his back, his shoulder blades moving smoothly under his skin as he raised a hand to smooth his hair.

"Don't, I like it like that," Gui breathed before he could stop himself.

Prince stopped and turned around to him. He started walking closer and Gui took a step back. His back hit the door and he couldn't go any further. Prince was looking at him way too intensely. His hair was as wild as his look.

"After everything, and all I have to do to scare you this much is look at you?" Prince smiled and stepped a little closer. "Maybe I'll try this instead of punching from now on."

"Punching I can deal with," Gui said in a trembling voice, his heart beating fast. "This… this just isn't fair."

Prince reached out and put his hands on Gui's chest. He stepped in and wrapped his arms around him.

"Unbelievable," he said. "You're shaking. You're literally shaking."

And of course his warm, lightly amused voice made a shiver pass over him all over again.

"And you look like you're in pain," Prince was inches from his face. "Are you being torn right now?"

"W-what are you–"

But before another thought could spark itself off in his brain, Prince kissed him and erased his thoughts, maybe every thought he'd ever had. It was wild and rough and sweet, everything he'd come to associate with the Blood Elf Prince. Gui put his arms around Prince and crushed him against himself. Prince grabbed handfuls of Gui's hair and pushed back, flattening him against the door. He felt completely dizzy. He wondered if maybe he really had had too much after all, because this had to be a dream.

Prince made an indignant, almost pained noise against his lips, almost as if he were as frustrated with Gui as Gui was with him. It was nearly a growl.

"Why are you so kind and goddamn attractive? God must really hate me," he said, face buried against Gui's neck with his hands still tangled in his hair. There was a real note of anguish in his voice.

"Prince," Gui said hesitantly. "What's the matter?" He'd never heard him sound like that before. And then there was the part about him being attractive…

Prince didn't answer, he just stood there, pinning Gui so that he couldn't move. Not that he wanted to. But Prince's breathing in his ear was making him a little lightheaded.

"Prince, I'm here," Gui said softly, wrapping his arms around him protectively. "If you want me, I am yours. It's too late for me. There's nothing else I can be except yours. Your friend, your lover, or your punching bag…" he cracked a smile, "no matter what else I may be, I'll always be yours first."

Prince unclenched his hands from Gui's hair and let them fall limply to his sides. He took a couple of steps back.

"Prince…?" Gui whispered. He started to panic slightly when Prince failed to answer again. He stepped up to meet him and wanted to grasp his shoulders, but thought better of it. "I-I'm sorry… I shouldn't have let all that… I just got… c-caught up…"

"You idiot,"

"What?" Gui blinked.

"How can you love someone you don't know anything about?" Prince looked up. His eyes were smoldering, and despite the seriousness of the situation, it made Gui's knees feel weak. He leaned in, the better to drink in Prince's scent.

"Tell me, then," he said, gently brushing Prince's hair out of his face. "Tell me all about you. Tell me your life's story if you want. Tell me everything. Or nothing. I told you before that I'll accept whatever you're comfortable with."

This close, Prince's eyes seemed so all-encompassing. They looked liquid in the low light, with the unfathomable thoughts behind them.

"I would very much like to kiss you again," Gui admitted. "But I'm having a moral quandary here, picking on someone so inebriated."

"As if a bard like you could take advantage of me," Prince said. "Who was it that was trembling a little while ago? I could take you on, even like this."

His eyes drifted down to Gui's lips and that was all it took. Gui closed the distance between them, a thrill ringing through his heart at having made the move first this time. That same swirling, wild, fringe-of-consciousness feeling came over him again, and again he compulsively held onto Prince tightly. Prince, however, seemed to be determined to prove his point. He grabbed Gui by the front of his shirt and took two large steps backward and turned them around, still locked together, pulling Gui around as if he weighed nothing. Gui felt gravity reverse itself suddenly and found himself pinned down on the bed.

"See?" Prince grinned.

Gui was rendered completely speechless for a moment. Anything he might have said seemed to implode before it could even be formed. All he knew was Prince's mischievous smile, messy white hair framing his face, the smooth lines of his bare shoulders, finely toned arms holding him down onto the bed. All of this was his entire universe. There really was no need for anything else.

"Wh…wh…wh…" Nope, no coherent words yet.

"I knew it, you can't do anything against me," Prince said with a laugh in his voice. "Your 'foolish' face is the funniest thing ever."

He leaned down and kissed Gui differently, slowly and more tenderly than before. Gui let out a longing moan and clutched at Prince's back. That kiss was hotter and longer than any he'd ever had before, and it was really proving to be a problem for his rational side.

Prince was searching for the hem of his shirt. He traced kisses down Gui's jaw and neck while doing so, and when he pulled it up part of the way, tugging as if to prompt Gui to remove it, Gui's breath hitched and he tried to bring himself back to his senses, with great difficulty.

"Prince," he said, breathing very fast. "I-I… this isn't right. I understand what you said before, and there is a great difference between our strengths, but that isn't all there is. You're not thinking clearly right now. Don't do something that you'll regret later."

"But I like seeing your reactions," Prince giggled.

"Listen to me," Gui held the sides of his face firmly to look in his eyes. "I know you. Whatever you may feel for me, you still need some time to work it out. How can I live with myself if I let you get into something you weren't completely sure about?"

Prince laid his head on Gui's chest and curled up beside him. "You always make things so difficult, Guiliastes."

"I make things difficult?" Gui laughed softly.

"Hmf," Prince said vaguely with his eyes closed.

Gui studied Prince's face more intently than he had any book. He needed to memorize this moment, to put in the treasure box of his most precious memories. If Prince chose not to forgive him for what had happened tonight, it could very well be the only chance to have a memory like this with him. The thought alone made Gui's heart hurt.

Chapter Text

Feng Lan woke to the sound of her phone buzzing on the side table. She pulled off the game mask and sluggishly reached for the phone.

"Hello?" she said through a yawn.

"Xiao Lan." Zhou Ling Bin's voice came though the other end. "Were you still sleeping? It's nearly noon."

"What?" she said, suddenly more awake. "But I set an alarm for ten!" She grabbed her game console and checked it. "It looks fine… I must have slept through it."

"Well, I'm sorry for waking you. I'm just on a little break now to walk down to the director's office… so I thought I'd call and see if things were all right on your end."

Lan rubbed her forehead with her knuckles and suppressed a sigh. She was sure he wanted to ask why she slept in so late, but he still felt bad for letting it slip to the whole room that he and Lan knew each other. When was he going to realize that she wasn't mad about that?

"I don't think Yang Ming is up yet, because he would come bursting in here asking me to make breakfast," she said. "But I'm sure it won't be much longer." She gave another huge yawn.

"Did you have fun at the party?"

"Uh…"

Why do I feel nervous all of a sudden? she wondered. "Me and Kenshin and Nan Gong Zui were having a drinking contest. I drank too much and passed out, so everything's a little fuzzy. That level of realism has its disadvantages, I guess."

Ling Bin was predictably silent on the other end, which made her smile a little. He was probably itching to lecture her.

"But yeah, I suppose it was really fun!" she added cheerfully.

Ling Bin cleared his throat. "G-Good. You can tell me more about it later. Yang Ming wants to hang out after the movie, so I'll be around."

"Okay, what time are you going to be coming to meet us?" Lan slowly slipped out of bed and straggled over to her closet to find some clothes.

"I'm not completely done here yet, but I'll let you know when I get out."

"Okay."

Professor Min Gui Wen yawned and took another sip of tea. He hadn't had the chance to properly wake up yet, since he'd gotten up late and had to rush to catch a boring campus safety meeting. Now he was stuck catching up on grading. So much for the weekend.

Not that he had to do his grading at school, but he found the temptation to play Second Life at home was too great now. What a pain real life was when his true self lived in the virtual world. But alas, students would start complaining if it took him forever to get their work back to them. There was also that little problem of needing a job in order to eat and have a place to live.

Maybe I should get some assistants, he mused.

He'd heard of rich people that spent most of their time in one of the numerous hyper-real games out there. Certainly Second Life was already becoming First Life for some people. Then you had people who were the opposite, taking advantage of the technology to use their sleeping hours for work or study. Some really large companies even had their own game software specifically for that purpose. The employee that worked for such a place, too, was probably under pressure to use it if they wanted to get anywhere in the company. It was kind of sad, but there had already been plenty of cases of hospitalization due to mental strain brought on by that kind of thing.

Gui glanced up instinctively as someone walked past his open door.

"I'm not completely done here yet, but I'll let you know when I get out," a voice said. A strangely familiar voice.

Professor Min dashed to the door and peeked out around the doorframe. Zhou Ling Bin was standing at the lab director's office door, reading the notices posted there with his back turned to him. What was Wicked doing there? Something for his internship?

"We're catching the 3 o'clock showing, right?" Wicked said. "I think I'll be finished here a little early today. Do you want to get some lunch beforehand?" He paused as the other side answered.

With a jolt, Professor Min realized that the person on the other end had to be Prince. Wicked had said they were going out today, after all. To the movies? Was it a date? He slowly pulled the door toward him so that only his face was showing.

He's so lucky, Gui Wen thought, boring holes in Wicked's back with his eyes through the cracked door. He felt his heart being stabbed with a combination of jealousy and longing. Prince… the real Prince… was just there, on the other end of the telephone. If it wasn't so far away, he could hear his real voice.

"No, I haven't seen anyone, thank goodness. It's dead down here. I'll keep a look out, though. I'll call you if I see anyone suspicious."

Gui scooted back so that less of his face would be showing. He got the feeling that Wicked would find his presence more suspicious than anyone else's. But this eavesdropping was kind of a bad idea, too. What if he heard something he wasn't supposed to? Something that would give Prince's identity away? But surely Wicked wouldn't let something slip in public again.

"Don't worry about it," Wicked said firmly. "Keeping your identity from the press is more important. It was my fault, anyway."

Prince was apologizing for having to hide his identity? Why?

"I'll call you before I get there. Is there anywhere in particular you want to go eat?" Pause. "What is it with you and wantons lately?" He laughed. "Yeah, I think there is a place near there. That sounds good. Goodbye."

Gui very softly closed the door to his office before the last word was out of Wicked's mouth. It definitely would not do to get caught now, not after all he'd heard. If he got caught, then… what? Wouldn't Wicked just cancel the trip? Then they wouldn't have their little date together.

Gui shook his head quickly to dispel the thought. No. If Prince wanted to go to the movies with Wicked, he had no right to interfere. Just because they were going to the movies together, that didn't mean that it was a date, even if Wicked wished it was. Gui knew very well that Prince had not–as of yet anyway–returned Wicked's feelings.

Then why had he apologized for Wicked taking pains to hide his identity? Gui paced around his office in agitation. Didn't that make it seem like Prince was sorry for having brought a hardship on him? He couldn't imagine Prince ever apologizing to him for anything.

But then, he reasoned (pacing faster and faster) why would Prince apologize to Wicked if he'd accepted his feelings? Wouldn't it be natural for someone that loves you to protect you? It could be that he apologized because he can't see why Wicked has any obligation to protect him. In that case, he would be just as blind to Wicked's feelings as ever.

Feeling a little bit relieved at the thought, Gui sat back down at his desk and took a sip of his (now cold) tea. He tried to get back to work on the papers, but he just ended up tapping his pen on the desk distractedly. There was a thought that kept rearing up in the back of his mind and he tried his best not to face it, but it kept presenting itself again and again.

He only knew of one theater in T. City with a wonton place in the same shopping plaza. It was on his way home, too. There wasn't a law that said he couldn't catch a weekend movie, was there? No one could blame him if he accidentally ended up at the same place as Prince, right? But no one would think it was an accident, of course. Gui chewed on the end of his pen. He wondered what would happen if Prince saw him there. Would he be cold and pretend he didn't see him? Probably. But that was a good thing, wasn't it?

Suddenly Gui remembered that Prince had seen him at school before, and felt a blush creeping up his neck. How could have been close enough to see without him noticing anything? It was maddening. A little embarrassing, too. What had he done when had first seen him? Had he stopped and stared or just acted natural? How could that have gone past his notice?

You need to stop daydreaming at work, Gui told himself firmly.

He noticed that his felt pen tip had left a bunch of blue dots on the surface of his desk.

"That's asking for too much," he growled, standing up. He grabbed his tea mug and walked out. It was no good. One more cup of tea, and if he couldn't get any work done, he was going home and staying out of trouble. It was too much of a distraction knowing Wicked was there, and when he would leaving.

I'm getting so good at resisting temptation lately, he thought with a sigh. He'd been so selfish before meeting Prince.

Gui Wen stopped walking abruptly as he came up on a strange sight. Two girls were huddled outside of a door, whispering and peeking through the thin pane of glass in it. With a sense of foreboding, he recognized that door as belonging to one of the science labs.

"What are you two doing?" he said in a low voice.

They jumped and looked up at him. It was a really young-looking girl with two long braids, and the other girl–"Wait, student Sun Lin?" he gasped. "It was you! Last night!"

How could he not have noticed? The girl that had been slobbering all over Prince last night was one of his students!

"P-Professor Min!" Sun Lin jumped up. "Um, we were… we were…" she was talking to the floor, her face turning pink.

Gui raised an eyebrow. Talk about a personality change!

"Please don't tell on us, Professor Min!" Lin's friend said, bowing with her hands clasped in front of her.

Gui frowned and looked at them for a long time before shaking his head.

"Let's just move away from here before he notices anything," he said. He resumed walking and the girls followed timidly behind.

As soon as they turned a corner he stopped to face them, but before he could say anything, Sun Lin blurted out, "I'm sorry we annoyed you last night. Please don't tell Wicked we were following him!"

"I'm not going to tell him," Gui said. "But only," he added sternly when their faces lit up, "because he would cancel their trip to the movies, and I don't want Prince to miss out just because of the likes of you."

"Oooooh, is that where they're going?" Lin's friend gasped. "Together? Alone?"

"But–do you really accept that?" Lin demanded. "He's going to try to steal Prince away from you!"

"That's not the point," Gui said, growing increasingly irritated. "The point is that we have to respect Prince's wishes and–"

"Oh, it's so sad to think Professor Min's love rival knows Prince in real life. Whoever would have thought it could be true?" Lin sniffled, dabbing her eyes on a handkerchief.

"But that must mean Prince lives in T. City!" the other girl said to her. "Oh my gosh, imagine just walking down the street and seeing him!"

"You're wrong," Gui said quickly. "Prince doesn't live in T. City. He and Wicked are childhood friends from a long time ago. They just recently met back up through Second Life."

"Oh, Prince did say that," Lin's friend said, disappointed. "Wicked's so lucky."

"Listen, are you sure you don't want to do anything about this?" Lin said. Her meekness certainly seemed to be wearing off fast enough. "If you want to follow him to meet Prince, we of the Gui and Prince Forever club will help you!"

"The… I'm sorry, what now?"

Sun Lin squared her shoulders proudly. "Me and Meifeng are co-owners! You may not realize it, Professor Min, but you have become even more popular since you started getting involved with Prince. Our group of Prince enthusiasts merged with Meifeng's Professor Min fanclub this semester, and we've been growing ever since."

"Lin!" Meifeng said, looking embarrassed suddenly and fiddling with one of her long braids.

"Just leave it to us, Professor Min," Lin said confidently. "He doesn't know our faces, so we can casually follow him from afar and make sure they aren't doing anything." She pulled out her cell phone. "Just give us your number and we can correspond."

"Nice try. I'm sure that wanting to see Prince for yourselves has nothing to do with it," Gui said. "Over-obsessed people like you are why he wants to keep his identity a secret in the first place."

"We wouldn't let his secret out, or anything!" Lin sounded shocked at the accusation. "I mean, it's true that seeing him in real life would be amazing in itself, but having him be our own special secret makes it even better." She got a faraway look in her eye. Goodness knows what she was imagining.

"No matter what you say, I can't let you go," Gui said.

They all froze in place as a door opened and closed far down the hallway. Silently, but simultaneously, they all peeked their heads around the corner. Wicked was walking away from them, without his lab coat now. He exited through the double doors at the end of the hallway.

Gui waited to make sure he was really gone, then he turned to the girls and gave a satisfied smile.

"You can't follow him," he said. "I'll stand here all evening if I have to."

"Oh, we won't go anywhere," Lin said innocently.

"You probably don't want to stay here, though," Meifeng said.

"Why? I told you, I'm not–"

Lin gave a very shark-like grin and snapped her phone shut. "We don't have to go anywhere."

"Wait… what? What did you do?" Gui demanded.

"The members of the Gui and Prince Forever club were waiting in town for any clues we might pick up about where to find Prince." Lin said triumphantly. "I told them to post members at every cinema in town."

Gui stood staring at her for a full three seconds before turning on his heel and running out the double doors.

His mind was racing as he jogged down the sidewalk. Why, of all days, had he chosen to take the bus today instead of his hover bike? There was a spot of luck though. Wicked would have to go meet up with Prince elsewhere before the both of them went to the shopping center. It was almost certain that Gui could get there before them, and have the time to head off anyone suspicious.

He arrived at the campus bus stop, mildly winded. Thank goodness it wasn't far. While he waited, he scanned through the different possibilities. Should he try to reach Wicked first instead of going to the cinema? But Wicked was gone, so he must have taken the previous bus… and he had no idea which stop he would be getting off on.

Was there any other way of contacting him? He doubted that Wicked would be on Second Life in the meantime, and Gui didn't have his game console with him anyway. If only it was a class day; he was sure Feng Yang Ming would have the phone number… then again, wouldn't it be possible for someone in the lab to have it? Maybe he should go back inside and check.

Gui shook his head to clear away his cluttered thoughts. No. No. It would be better to keep it simple and just try get there before they arrived. This was why he wasn't so good in stressful situations. His agile mind started generating ideas in overtime, and it made him indecisive.

The bus turned around the corner and a wave of relief came over him. Taking action simplified everything.

The girls were laughing long after Gui had run away.

"I feel kind of bad, though," Meifeng said finally. "He really seemed scared. Poor Professor Min."

"No harm done," Sun Lin said. "He'll thank us later if it means he gets to meet Prince. It wouldn't even be his fault, so he can't feel guilty about it."

"I can't believe he really thinks that we would sell Prince out like that. What if he quit Second Life due the harassment or something?"

"It's too bad we won't get to see him for ourselves." Sun Lin sighed.

"Whatever happens, we should tell him later that we were the only ones who overheard what Wicked said," Meifeng said seriously.

"Yes. Then they might drop their guard again… and next time we will be able to meet him for sure!" Sun Lin bared a fist in determination.

Gui wasn't even sure where to begin looking. The plaza was full of umbrella-covered tables and cheery oversized potted plants painted by the local elementary school. There were any number of places a Prince stalker could hide.

The people closest to him gave him strange looks as he walked up and down the tables aimlessly and restlessly. He spotted two girls sitting at a table texting on their phones and rushed jerkily over.

"Do you play Second Life?" he blurted out.

"What?" one of the girls said.

They looked confused and a little apprehensive, like they thought he might try to attack.

"Nevermind," Gui mumbled, turning around quickly, feeling a blush creep up his neck. He didn't recognize the girls from his school or from the party last night.

This whole jumping-in-without-a-plan thing was really not going well as hoped.

He didn't see anyone around, but all that meant was that they were good at hiding. He finally stopped wandering and sat down on the bench at the bus stop. Maybe if they saw him there first, they wouldn't get off the bus. He put his face in his hands and wondered what to do. If only he could get Wicked's cell number. It was probably in his contact information registered at the university… if only he had learned how to remotely hack the system… or maybe he should have stayed on campus and used his position to get the information instead of panicking and running out…

Gui gasped and looked up suddenly. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner? He didn't have Wicked's number, but he did have Ugly Wolf's. He had just seen Wolf that morning at the campus safety meeting. What if he was still on campus? And he had access to student's emergency contact information! Cursing his own lack of thinking things through, Gui hurriedly got out his cell phone and dialed the number.

"Gui?" Wolf's calm and slow voice sounded on the other end. "What's the matter?"

"How do you know I have a problem?" Gui asked, puzzled.

"I just saw you this morning. We work in the same building. You wouldn't be calling just to say hi," Wolf chuckled.

"You're right. We have a big problem. Some of the girls from last night heard what Wicked said about seeing Prince today. What's worse, I caught two of them spying on Wicked at the lab this morning. I was able to stop them from following him, but they sent messages out to all of their friends! Fortunately, I don't think they have figured out yet which cinema they're going to, since I'm there now and I don't see anyone suspicious…"

"And how do you know where they're going?"

"I… I overheard Wicked talking to Prince on the phone. Never mind that! Can you find out Wicked's number so I can tell him not to come here?"

"I'll connect him to our line," Wolf said. "I'll save the lecture as well, since I'm sure you get plenty of it from them."

"I know," Gui said. "And I don't care! Just get him on the line."

"Hold on, I'm pulling up his information… there. I'm connecting. I'm adding him to our conversation so we can both talk to him."

Ling Bin glanced down at his phone which was lit up and buzzing in his hand.

"It's the university," he said, puzzled.

"Mmph," Lan commented, mainly just focusing on her fried-squid-on-a-stick.

"I hope I didn't forget something at the lab… hello?" he answered the phone.

"Wicked, where are you at right now?" Wolf's voice came from the other end.

"It's Ugly Wolf; I mean, Mr. Lee," he told Lan.

"Wolf-dage?" she wondered aloud in a low voice.

"It doesn't sound like you're on the bus," Wolf said.

"No; we got off a stop early because Prince decided he wanted fried squid instead of wontons." He glanced at Lan, who was watching him inquisitively. "We're walking toward the theater now to meet up with my brother and Wu Quing. What is going on?"

"All four of you are going together?" Gui butt in.

"They don't know the person I'm bringing along is actually Prince," Wicked said. "And what are you doing in this conversation?"

"Wicked, don't come here," Gui said quickly. "Some girls from the party last night figured out where you were going, and they're determined to catch the two of you together. I got here before you to try to head them off, but I can't see anyone suspicious outside of the theater. Just to be safe, though."

Ling Bin was frozen in place, his knuckles turning white, he was gripping his phone so hard.

"And how," he said, rage carefully contained in every syllable, "did everyone in the world suddenly know where we're going?"

"It's… I'll explain that later if I have to, but that's not important right now!" On his end, Gui stood up from the bench. "Just… don't come here. I'm standing at the bus stop right now. So I am here at least, and who knows who else is around."

"Maybe they should go to another theater?" Wolf suggested, unknowingly cutting off the large breath Ling Bin took in preparation for a verbal beatdown.

"They said they were going to stake out every place in town." Gui said sourly.

Wicked let his breath out in a long, low hiss. "Looks like it was lucky we decided to get off the bus early," he said icily.

"What is going on?" Lan mouthed, not daring to raise her voice.

"I'm going to have to call you back after we figure out what to do." Wicked said, and hung up the phone without waiting for an answer.

"Well?" Lan prodded.

Ling Bin gave a very heavy sigh. "I have no idea how, but apparently Gui and some girls from the party figured out where we were going today. He says they're waiting at all the theaters in town. He's at the one on Golden Plaza right now."

"I thought he said he was going to stop trying to figure out my identity." Lan frowned. Her appetite was suddenly gone. "I can't believe he'd go so far as to try to ruin our day out." She suddenly bared a fist, clenching it so tightly that the flimsy squid stick snapped, fire blazing in her eyes. "I'm going to disembowel him!"

"As much as I hate to say this…" Ling Bin picked up the remaining stick and squid fragments and threw them in a nearby trash can. "I think he was trying to help. It sounds like he found out about this plot and just did a bad job of doing anything about it."

"Either way, it would make me feel better."

Ling Bin laughed, then his face grew serious. "Maybe we should just call it off for today. Our brothers won't care if we decide not to show up."

"No," Lan said fiercely. "It's the latest film in the Slasher of Willow Hill series. It's the only day this week they're showing the unrated version. I got out of bed for this."

Ling Bin smiled a little in spite of himself. "You know, your argument would be more convincing if I hadn't been out of bed and working hours before you even woke up."

"Maybe, but you weren't drinking Kenshin and Nan Gong Zui under the table last night, either."

"You're bragging about that now?"

"Duh."

Ling Bin stared at her for awhile, his eyebrows bunched. She thought for sure he was about to lecture her again, but when he finally spoke all he said was, "As a compromise, instead of giving up for the day, would you be alright with coming back for the evening showing?"

"Oh," Lan said awkwardly. "That would cost more, wouldn't it?"

"Not much," Ling Bin said. "I don't mind. We can have Min Bin and Yang Ming make sure there's no one suspicious around when they get out of the movie. Especially the bard."

"I guess we don't have a choice," Lan said reluctantly. "I feel like that's the only way you're going to agree to go at all."

"You're right," Ling Bin said, taking out his phone. "Come on, we'll take the loop back to your house and kill some time there."

"I am gonna get him back somehow," Lan grumbled as she followed Ling Bin back the way they came.

Gui's phone rang and he answered it instantly. "Yes?"

"We decided to go the show later, somewhere else," Wicked said, putting heavy emphasis on the somewhere else. "My parents will drop us off, too, so there's no need for you to worry." One didn't have to listen very hard to hear the sneer in his voice.

"I get it," Gui said sulkily. "At least a disaster was averted."

"Yeah. Well, talk to you later," he hung up without waiting for an answer, again.

Somehow, despite having done a good deed, Gui didn't feel that great.

He stared gloomily down at his shoes, feeling like he had definitely ended up with the short end of the stick. He had just come to the conclusion that the only way to feel better was to go back to the school and take out his frustration on those girls and their silly club–or go whine about it to Wolf at the very least–when he saw the bus in front of him at the edge of his vision and heard it squeak to a stop. He looked up and held up his hand with a "No, thank you" shake of his head at the driver.

The bus slowly started pulling forward, but he still spotted it.

Wicked was standing at the window and staring right at him, arms crossed with a hint of a smirk on his face. Gui's eyes instantly flicked to Wicked's right, where someone was standing. However, all he could see was a pair of hands holding up a newspaper in front of the person, their lower half hidden below the window. All he could tell was that the person was significantly shorter than Wicked; but that was nothing new.

The newspaper had written across it in bold black marker: DISEMBOWELMENT.

Gui felt like he'd suddenly touched a live wire. He shot up as the bus lumbered away, and he could still see Wicked, and the person holding the paper, all the way until it turned around the corner.

He stood there stunned for a moment, arm outstretched and mouth slightly open, just staring at the spot where it had been. He remembered Prince saying, "I like seeing your reactions", and his heart did a funny jump.

"I think we should come up with a disguise for later, just in case anyone from the party is still lurking around," Lan declared after they made it inside the Feng home.

She cut on the lights as they made their way through the kitchen and into the living room. There was no one there but the two of them, a fact that Ling Bin realized very acutely out of nowhere. He felt an unaccustomed blush rising to his face at the thought and spoke up to distract himself from it.

"They don't know what you look like in the first place, so I don't think that would help very much. As long as you're spotted around me, it could be trouble."

"Not for me, a disguise for you. You're the one they're looking for, just like you said." Lan unceremoniously barged into her brother's room and started rooting through his closet.

"Xiao Lan–"

"I'm sure we could find something in this house that would make you look different." She said, completely ignoring him. "Come to think of it, maybe my parents' closet would be a better idea. They like to go out to the disco and stuff."

"Xiao Lan," he repeated exasperatedly, following her as she left to go to the next room. "I don't think your family would like you going through their things."

"What? They do it to me all the time. There is no privacy in this house."

Resigned, Ling Bin sat down at the end of the bed and watched her rummage. He thought she was acting a little bit strange. Forced, like she was bustling around just for sake of having something to do. Maybe the awkwardness he felt wasn't lost on her, either.

"So, did you have a good time last night at least?" he said hesitantly.

Lan's movements stilled and he winced, wondering if he was about to get treated to a death glare. "Not to be nosy. I mean, I was worried about you," he mumbled. "Even if you are a guy in Second Life, it's not like there's any shortage of people that want to molest you there."

She turned around, and instead of a glare, she had a very sheepish look.

"Well you know, as I was saying earlier, I…. uh… don't actually remember much of it," she said lightly, scratching the back of her head apologetically.

"What?" Ling Bin said. "That wasn't a joke? How much did you drink? Are you really okay with drinking so much that you black out?"

"I didn't mean for it to happen," Lan said with a defensive edge to her voice. "I just got competitive."

"I can't believe Gui let you go on that far. He was supposed to keep an eye on you." Ling Bin frowned.

Lan crossed her arms. "It's not like someone needs to keep an eye on me like I'm a child."

"Apparently they do, if you're getting carried away over something like that, not realizing you're surrounded by the fangirl hoards."

"Oh, you mean the same way you did when you let it slip we were meeting up today?" Lan raised an eyebrow.

There was a tense pause. Then Lan sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I guess we both did something stupid."

"Truce?" Ling Bin said.

"Yeah." Lan smiled.

"So, what do you remember?" Ling Bin hedged. He couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason why Gui didn't stop Prince from getting carried away. That maybe, out of everyone in that room, he was the one that should have been trusted least with that job. He didn't say so, though. He didn't want to start another argument.

"Um…." Lan went back to rummaging in the closet. "I remember Nan Gong Zui went down first, haha! I'm so not going to let him live that one down. I hope he can think of a good excuse to tell his Righteous Blades."

"Anything after that?" Ling Bin interrupted her gloating.

"Hm, I don't know. I think I must have passed out after that. Aw man, I can't remember if I beat Kenshin or not…" she trailed off thoughtfully.

Ling Bin had to consciously keep himself from doing a facepalm. "Wasn't that the whole point of it?"

"It's no big deal. I just need to ask him or Gui about it later. Then maybe I'll remember," Lan said unconcernedly.

She's not worried about her lapse in memory at all. Ling Bin thought exasperatedly.

"Anyway, I'm sure it was fine. Yulian and Yun arranged everything so that we'd have the rooms upstairs reserved, and a barrier up so that only our people could go through. They probably just dropped me off there after I passed out. Nobody could get to me up there, so you don't have to worry."

She came over and laid out some clothes beside where he was sitting. "I think this stuff will work!"

He looked around at her choices and wondered if his slip-up had merited cruel and unusual punishment like this.

"I heard that some people puked on set when they first filmed the hospital basement scene," Lan chattered happily as they stood in line to get tickets. "They did the filming the first time the actors had ever seen the set. They wanted the horror reactions to be real."

Ling Bin grunted in response. His eyes were darting back and forth, taking in everything and everyone around them from behind his mirrored shades. Not that he thought anyone would recognize him. Aside from the mirrored aviators, he was wearing a brown, chin-length layered wig; a white shirt under a leather jacket with fringes; distressed jeans and heeled cowboy boots. Ensemble by Lan's father. He felt humiliated, but he had to admit that it was a good disguise. He doubted his own little brother would know him.

"Nothing looks out of place. I don't see any big groups of giggling teenage girls around, anyway," he said. "I don't see Gui, either."

"You told him we were going somewhere else; and I don't think he would have tried to find us here, even if he did know," Lan said.

"Yeah."

They went up to the window and got their tickets. Lan was looking thoughtful.

"He probably was just trying to help," she said. "We really shouldn't have been so hard on him."

"This, coming from you?" Ling Bin said. "I thought you wanted to rip his guts out."

"Well…" She paused as they handed their tickets over to the attendant and got the stubs back. "I know you criticized him for letting me drink too much, but I'm sure he protected me, too. He was keeping an eye on the fangirls the whole time. And I could tell he was holding back on drinking with us so that someone out of the group would know what was going on. He probably would have been the one who dragged me out of danger after I blacked out. Almost everyone else in Odd Squad had already left by then."

Lan suddenly realized that Ling Bin wasn't beside her anymore. She stopped and looked around. He was standing behind her. She couldn't see his eyes, but his lips were pressed into a thin line.

"Zhou-gege?" She said.

"You're probably right," he said in a barely audible voice. Then he said at his usual volume, "The door we want is right here." He pointed beside him.

"Oops."

Ling Bin held the door open and Lan went in eagerly, completely focused now on the movie they were about to see. He followed her, trying to ignore the cold jealousy stabbing at his heart. He'd been reassured earlier when she reminded him of the barrier keeping people out. Except, of course, it wouldn't have kept Gui out. The thought of the two of them alone in a dark hotel room, with minimal chance of anyone interrupting them, sent his mind into a horror spiral that had nothing to do with cinematic murder.

"Lan?" he said quietly as they settled down into their seats.

"Hm?"

"Are you sure you don't remember anything else from last night?"

She shrugged. "I doubt I would have even moved after passing out like that." She fidgeted a little bit. "I think I had a weird dream after, but I always get weird dreams when I fall asleep in the game without logging out. I read somewhere that that's pretty common, since the system works with your natural rhythms and gets thrown off when you fall asleep when you're already asleep. Kind of hurts your brain to think about, doesn't it?"

"What was it about?"

She shrugged. "I don't really remember, just like the rest of the night. I remember the moonlight. And everything spinning. I may have been remembering the first time I went out drinking and fighting with the Righteous Blades before I brought them to Infinite City. The moon was really bright that night," Her voice sounded wistful, like an old battle-worn general.

"That would make sense," he answered cautiously.

Neither of them said anything else and when the movie started, Lan became too absorbed to give it another thought. But it nagged at Ling Bin the whole time. He wondered if he was just being paranoid. It wasn't necessarily that he thought Gui would sink to taking advantage of an unconscious Prince. Even he was sure Gui wouldn't do that.

But he was equally sure that Gui wouldn't be able to say no if Prince was the one advancing. And whether or not Prince would do that… that was the question that really tore at his heart.

Gui had said earlier that he would explain things later. He had better.

Gui thought briefly about going back to the school, but it was no good. The only thing that would come out of it would be him climbing into one of the infirmary beds, pulling the curtain around himself, and hiding until Wolf made him leave. He was definitely ill, though. His skin kept prickling and he was having trouble concentrating, and he definitely felt strange on the inside.

But instead, he had gone back to his apartment, blankly tried to watch TV, gave up, then had dinner without really noticing what he was eating. His home had never seemed so silent and empty before. Maybe it was about time he got a cat.

Maybe I should just go on to bed, he thought. He really didn't feel like doing anything else.

Come to think of it… since he had fallen asleep without logging out, his character should be in the same place, rather than starting in town like usual.

Suddenly, going to bed was the best idea ever.

Gui showered quickly and settled back on his pillows with his game mask while his hair was still damp. His heart was thumping nervously, but he struggled to calm down enough to drift off to sleep. It was so early that he had even taken a sleeping pill.

The next time he opened his eyes, it was in Second Life. He lay still there for a moment, blinking long strands of hair out of his eyes.

The room was still dark. It had barely been eight o'clock when he laid down, and he knew that dawn in Second Life started at 9pm in the real world.

The moon had already set, but dawn was close enough that the night wasn't pitch-black. With trembling fingers Gui touched Prince's sleeping face. He was still snuggled up to Gui's chest. As lifelike as the avatars were in Second Life, he knew that this Prince was just an idling simulation; a stand-in for the real thing. It wouldn't wake or respond as long as the real Prince was away from the game.

It was still warm, though. And soft. Gui could even hear its rhythmic breathing. But its face was completely blank. The actual Prince was cuter while sleeping, with the twitching and mumbling. That was the face he'd seen last night before drifting off himself.

Gui buried his face in Prince's hair and held him tightly. What if this was the first and last time they would ever be like this? As if they were really lovers, as if they fell asleep in each others' arms every night.

The only good thing was he knew there was no way Prince could remember what had happened. They would have been way angrier at him on the phone if that had been the case.

Gui rested his cheek on the top of Prince's head and gazed out the window, subconsciously massaging in between his shoulder blades with his thumb.

He could have stayed like that forever, just holding Prince close to him, but he dared only stay until he saw the sun's first rays peeking over the trees. Everything looked warm and orange. Gently, Gui disentangled their limbs and got to his feet. He pulled back the covers and maneuvered Prince's comatose body under them, tucking down the edges of the covers fastidiously. Prince's mussed hair stuck out at odd angles, making him smile with a mixture of sadness and longing when he remembered telling Prince that he liked it like that.

Gui got the feeling he was going to be tormented with those memories for awhile.

"Someday, though, we'll be like that for real," he whispered.

He really shouldn't, but…

Gui lightly brushed a lock of hair out of Prince's face and slowly kissed him. He tried to memorize the feeling of Prince's lips with an unclouded mind.

Suddenly Prince's (most likely parched) throat swallowed, and his lip twitched.

Gui jerked back with a start, but noiselessly. He flew to the door and closed it behind him as silently as possible, his heart thudding frantically. Inside the room, he heard the bed shift, as if Prince was rolling over. There was no doubt; he'd logged on and would be waking up very soon. Gui hadn't expected him to log on so early.

He sighed, then jumped when he realized someone was staring at him from across the hall.

The morning light shone through the small crack in the door across the hall, and (the unscarred) half of Kenshin's face was showing, one squinted eye glaring at him.

"Um, how long have you been there?" Gui asked nervously.

"Water," Kenshin said in a cracking voice.

"Huh?"

"My water jug is out," Kenshin said.

"Oh," Gui said, coming to his senses. "Oh. Um. Ok. I'll get mine. It should be full."

He scurried down the hall into the room he never ended up using and fetched the water jug. When he brought it back to Kenshin, he snatched it before closing the door with a snap.

At least Prince will have something to laugh at, Gui thought with a smile.

When he went downstairs, he saw that those who couldn't get past Yun's barrier had just decided to sleep down here, on benches and tables, on the floor. Most of them were still and silent, just dead weight since they weren't logged in yet. A few snored, and Gui guessed that their bodies were still too intoxicated to allow the player to wake up in the game. Even fewer were assembled loosely at the bar with coffee in hand, grumbling quietly among themselves as they rubbed their foreheads.

Feeling contented for now despite his worries, Gui stepped out into the morning street, stretching. He started off vaguely toward his new house in Infinite City, thinking of working on it until everyone came online, since it was still mostly bare.

Then Wicked stepped out from a shadowed alley and Gui's optimism instantly crashed.

"Gui," he said seriously.

"Oh, hey, Wicked," Gui said, trying to sound casual. "Did everything end up working out yesterday? It was just the two of you together that night, wasn't it?"

"That's weird," Wicked said. "I was about to ask you the same question."

Gui squared his shoulders. "Yes, I put Prince to bed after he passed out last night. I didn't do anything against his honor if that is what you are thinking."

"How could you have let him drink that much? He's stronger than you. He could have decided to do any number of reckless things and you wouldn't have been able to stop him." Wicked crossed his arms disapprovingly.

That wasn't really the accusation Gui had been expecting, and it was so close to the truth of what happened that he felt uneasy. "Why, what did Prince tell you?"

"Nothing. He said he couldn't remember anything after Nan Gong Zui passed out." Wicked's eyes flashed dangerously. "Why, what is there to tell?"

"Nothing," Gui said quickly. "Just… you're sort of right. I tried to get him to stop drinking, but he wouldn't listen to me. I even told him a couple of times throughout the night that you'd skin me alive if I let him carry on so much. But he still didn't listen."

Wicked scowled. "Where is he? He should have been logged in by now."

"I checked on him when I logged in and he was still asleep. But he should be at the inn."

"Well…" Wicked sighed. "I guess I'll trust you on this one. But I am not agreeing to this again. It's too stressful."

"Yeah, it is," Gui lowered his eyes. "I don't plan on losing to you. But I'm not pulling any cheap tricks, either."

Wicked 'hmpf'ed and walked past him, heading for the inn. Gui watched him for awhile and then went on his way, too.

He wasn't sure if this whole thing had been a loss or a victory. Even his memories from last night were as painful as they were thrilling. But it did give him some hope. Maybe he was working his way into the Blood Elf Prince's heart after all.