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Lyrrl leaned against the wall outside of the headmaster's office, waiting for Kylar's detention to be over. Two days ago, Kylar had grabbed his arm in a crowded hall, and announced they were boyfriends. One day ago, Lyrrl had taken him back to the orphanage for a fuck. Today, Kylar had pulled a knife on a girl in English class for sitting next to him. And now, Lyrrl had to confront him about it. If Kylar was doing stupid, reckless shit because of him, then it only felt right to take responsibility for it.
He tipped his head back and rested it against the brick of the wall behind himself, absently twirling one of the curls around his nape. Maybe he should've seen this coming. Maybe he should've been more suspicious of Kylar. Maybe he should've asked why everybody seemed to hate him, where the only crime Lyrrl could see was Kylar being "too weird."
But he didn't want to think about any of that. He really just wanted to trust Kylar was otherwise normal and this was a one-off thing. He didn't want to take responsibility for another person, no matter how cute he found the guy. He didn't want to be another kid's parent.
The door creaked open next to him, and he instantly snapped out of his thoughts. Kylar slinked out of the doorway, hunched over and massaging his ass through his slacks. He didn't notice Lyrrl until he stepped in Kylar's path. He startled, looking up through his bangs with hopeful eyes before becoming crestfallen at Lyrrl's stern expression. It pained Lyrrl to see it, but he couldn't be Kylar's friend right now.
He held out his hand. "Give me your knife."
Kylar's head jerked up. He backpedalled, but the door had already shut behind him. "What do you need my knife for?"
"I don't trust you to behave yourself." He towered over Kylar quite a bit, so he leaned down to his height. "Now, you're going to give me your knife, we're going to walk to the park together, and then we're going to have a talk." Just to make sure he couldn't get away, he planted an arm on one side of Kylar's head, and pressed his opposite leg against the wall. It was awkward, but it worked. "And don't try lying to me. I know the only thing Leighton confiscates is underwear."
A pretty flush spread across Kylar's face. Lyrrl really wished he could appreciate it right now, but he'd have to do that some other time. Kylar fumbled in his pocket, pulling out the knife and handing it over without complaint. He quickly bowed his head, plastering his gaze to the floor. Lyrrl ignored Kylar's clenched fists as he pocketed the knife. He then grabbed Kylar's arm and began marching him down the hall.
When they got out into the front courtyard, they both noticed Whitney standing by the front gate. Normally he'd turn around and take an alternate path, but he wasn't in the mood right now. He dragged Kylar over to the front gate, arm raised in preparation to shove Whitney out of the way.
"Well, look who it is! Slut and the freak!" Whitney and his gang laughed, openly leering at the two of them. "Where you taking him, slut?"
"That's none of your fucking business, Whitney," he snapped, rage bubbling more than usual. It was very rarely that Lyrrl dignified him with a response, even rarer one so aggressive. Usually he was more dismissive. "Now fuck out of our way before I shove my foot up your ass."
"Oh, so you'll talk to me when defending your pet freak?" Whitney sniggered, then waved a hand at his friends. "Hey, grab the loser."
They moved in fast, ready to yank Kylar out of Lyrrl's grasp — but Lyrrl's ability to make poor decisions was even faster. He stuck his hand into his pocket, and pulled out Kylar's knife, flicking the blade out and jabbing it in the direction of the closest lackey. They yelped and scrambled back, the other following. He spun around and turned it on Whitney, at the same time wrapping his other arm around Kylar's waist and pulling him closer. Whitney threw his hands up in the air, shock and alarm spreading across his face.
"Woah, woah, easy. Alright, we won't touch him, jeez." He scowled, and gestured to his friends once more. "C'mon guys, we'll get him back some other time." The group, all too happy to oblige, hurried off. Lyrrl put the knife away and began walking again.
"H-hey," Kylar protested, stumbling to keep up with Lyrrl's angry pace. "That's not fair, you can't get mad at me for using my knife and then use it yourself!"
"Oh yes I can," he growled, glaring down at Kylar. Kylar suddenly shrank down, eyes widening in fear. Lyrrl felt a pang of guilt but he shoved it down and kept walking. "You pulled a knife on a random girl in class. She didn't do anything to you. Whitney was probably going to have his friends strip you, or grope you, or beat you up. One's unjustified, one is self defense."
Kylar didn't protest his actions again. He let himself be dragged into the park and forcefully sat down at his bench. Lyrrl sat beside him, now grasping Kylar's wrist. He didn't really know yet if Kylar was the type to run away when confronted with consequences, but he wasn't about to find out.
Kylar didn't look him in the eye. His gaze remained fixated on the group, and his wrists were clenched. That was fine, he could be as angry as he wanted. Lyrrl wasn't going to soften up on him, not when his job right now was to be the one to enforce rules. "Now — "
"Don't you think I've been scolded enough?" Kylar interrupted, grumbling. "Doren scolded me, and I had to spend English class in the headmaster's office. And he spanked me at the end of the day."
"Did you fucking learn anything? Kylar, what the fuck made you do that?"
Kylar pointedly turned his head to look in the direction opposite of Lyrrl's face. He took a moment, then spoke. "You're my boyfriend now. People shouldn't be sitting next to you, that's where I'm supposed to sit." Despite the upset in Kylar's voice, he scooted himself closer to Lyrrl, pressing their thighs together. "Everyone's always sitting next to you because you're popular. It's not fair."
"That doesn't — you still shouldn't be pulling knives on people for that. You could've told her to move."
"She wouldn't have listened to me. Nobody listens to me. People listen to you because you're cool and they know you'd kick their asses if they didn't listen."
Lyrrl sat back and dragged his hand down his face with a groan. "It's not even that big of a fucking deal, but fine. If it matters so much to you, I'll reserve the seat for you. But you aren't doing that shit again, you hear? It's reckless. And somebody could decide to beat your ass for it, even if you didn't actually do anything to them. So no more. We clear?"
He watched Kylar for a nod. For some reason, the slight shake of a head he got just made him angrier. He reached up and grabbed Kylar's chin, forcefully turning his head. "I need a verbal answer. Are we fucking clear, Kylar?"
"Y-yes. I won't do it again." Kylar was glowering. "Can I have my knife back now?"
Lyrrl practically ripped it out of his pocket and shoved it into Kylar's hands. He paused to look down at their hands, his holding Kylar's. His own were quite rough from farmwork and tending to people's gardens, but Kylar's were soft. And small in his own.
He felt a little less angry.
"Look," he sighed, closing his hand over Kylar's. Gently. He was remembering how delicate Kylar was — well, maybe Kylar wasn't actually that delicate, but he could pretend. "We didn't really officially become boyfriends. Neither of us asked the other out. And I kind of don't want this to be how the start of our relationship goes." He raised his head, looking into Kylar's eyes. "So I'd like to fix that. Can we pretend the last few days were more of a trial run, and this is the actual start?"
"Y-yes," Kylar nodded. "Yeah. W-we can."
"Alright." He took a deep breath. "Kylar, do you want to be my boyfriend?"
"Yes, yes, I want to be your boyfriend!" Kylar nodded eagerly, emerald eyes glittering as his mood picked up. Lyrrl chuckled and brought both hands up to Kylar's chin, cupping it before pulling him into a gentle kiss. He hoped this time there wouldn't be too much violence.
Kylar lunged in to deepen the kiss, but Lyrrl pulled away, resulting in a soft whine from Kylar. "Hey," he murmured. "How about we go to the orphanage, and have some fun?"
Kylar's eyes glowed brighter as he shot up and dragged Lyrrl away.