From last night
They put some distance between themselves and the fallen Cardinal before either of them spoke. "A satisfactory ending, do you think?" Yuan asked casually, glancing at Botta.
"Oh, quite," the other agreed with a smile. "I particularly liked when you gave him a choice of his fate."
"If he'd run, he could have spared himself that," Yuan said amiably. "There aren't many monsters in these woods unless the fangirl decides there are."
"Not that he knew it, from the way you were carrying on," Botta replied with a slight smile. "I wonder how long it will take before he can move?"
"I put enough into it that it should be at least an hour," Yuan told him. "Beyond that, I suppose it's a matter of how good a job I did scaring him." The smirk on his face was evidence that he hoped it lasted a good long time.
Botta quite agreed with the sentiment. "Thank you," he said a little more quietly, knowing Yuan would understand.
"It wasn't really for you," Yuan admitted. "He came in and started annoying me, so I thought I'd mess with him. He actually dared me to follow through when I threatened to call you...so I did." But he was very glad it had worked out so well; he knew it couldn't be an easy thing to deal with one's own death, so hopefully that had granted him a bit of closure.
"I see," Botta replied, amused. And he did. Even if it hadn't been the original intent, Yuan had taken advantage of the situation and turned it to benefit both of them, as only Yuan could do. His expression grew warmer; it was really no great wonder he'd fallen so in love with the capricious Seraph.
Smiling back with a genuine warmth that few ever saw, Yuan stepped closer and kissed him, and then there was no more need for words.