The Tyrant's Pet

Aries watched Abel lick her palm clean and then take out a clean handkerchief to wrap it around her hand. She bit her lower lip to suppress her laughter.

"Do you think it will not get infected by licking it?" she humored as soon as he finished tying a knot on the back of her hand.

Abel arched a brow and grinned. "Why would it? I am a devil with powers of an angel."

"The only angelic thing about you is your face…" she argued and studied his face. "I take it back. It's not angelic."

"It is not?" he gasped. "All this time, I believed I am just as adorable as a cherub."

"Pfft —!"

"Darling, my skin is just as smooth as a child's bottom. My buttocks are just as smooth I believe."

"Is it?" she giggled and moved her face closer to him. "Shall we take a look?"

"Mercy, please." Abel covered his chest and looked at her as if he was an innocent prey undeserving to be preyed upon. "I had always known my allure is a curse for gaining such unwanted attention. So please handle me with care. I'm quite fragile."

Aries chuckled weakly while she wrapped her arms around his neck. Keeping that subtle smile, her eyes scrutinized his face as if she was etching his face deep in her head. Her eyes softened the longer she stared at him as he raised his chin and brows.

Coming into this very room, her heart felt like sinking at the weight of the memories she perfectly tried to erase. But with his company, she could laugh and humor him, as if she wasn't inside the same room she cried and screamed at until she coughed up blood.

"Thank you, Abel," she whispered, playing with the tip of his green hair behind his head. "Even when I don't call for you, you always come every time I need you the most. Thank you for listening and hearing my heart. You make me joyful and thankful for trying because if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to meet you."

Abel gazed back at her and brushed her jaw with his thumb lightly. "Why are you thanking me? Shouldn't it be the other way around? If you had stopped, I wouldn't be able to meet you and see this world in a different light. Your sentiments and I sounded the same, but they weren't."

"Will it kill you if you stop twisting my words?" she sighed quietly but kept her smile. "But never mind that. You're welcome."

Aries giggled while he chuckled with lips closed. Aries survived because she wanted to — she had to. This might be something to admire or fear about her, but definitely, it was not something one should be thankful for. Yet, he wanted to thank her for surviving? How silly… but at the same time, it brought this indescribable joy to her heart.

"Now, I'm intrigued," she continued after a moment. "What sort of light you're seeing now? Will you tell me that I brought colors into your grey life?"

"Who told you my life was grey?" He humored and tucked a portion of her hair behind her ear. "It was pitch black, darling. Imagine a night without a moon and stars…"

Abel paused and searched for her eyes. "The darkness wasn't the scariest part, darling. It was getting used to it. Do you understand where I'm going?"

Aries bit her lip before an awkward voice came out. "You're saying I'm your moon?"

"No." She frowned at his quick response while he chuckled at her reaction. "You were the lone candle lit from across the world."

"A candle flame…? How will you see a single candle that far?"

Abel smiled warmly and batted his eyes ever so tenderly. "It was dark — pitch black. And in a place such as that, that single candle flame is already fascinatingly noticeable no matter how far it was."

She might not understand his sentiments, but Abel wasn't trying to be mysterious or poetic. He meant what he said. His world before her was nothing but pitch black — darker than the void. Her light might not be as mean as the blazing sun or as soothing as the gentle moon.

But in his world, her faint flame was enough for him to see and hope. Her flame might not be enough to bring light to his entire world, but it was enough to show him the path.

He might not see far ahead than where her light could reach, but he knew they would reach their destination with just that eventually. And that was what mattered: the present where they stand now and see at least a meter or two ahead. Regarding the future… he wanted to leave that for the future to worry about.

They live, love, and together today, and that was all that mattered to him.

"Did my answer satisfy your intrigued?" he asked after several seconds of silence. "Or did it upset you?"

The side of her lips curled up into a subtle smile. "It did satisfy my curiosity and barely upset me." She shrugged as she thought about the imagery in her head.

"No wonder you always find me wherever I go," she added and fought her yawn. "It's quite reassuring."

He chuckled and gently pulled her head down to his chest. "You should rest, darling."

"Will you carry me back to my room?"

"Mhm."

"Aren't you afraid someone will see us?"

"I have my means." Aries chuckled at his obvious response, blinking weakly.

Normally, she would question him how he could go in and out of the strict Sapphire palace unnoticed. But she didn't want to question that now. If anything, she felt like she could trust him and believe his words without the slightest worry.

"You should teach me this trick," she mumbled with a faint yawn.

"Well…" Abel rocked the chair so she could sleep. "Marry me and I will."

Her smile stretched broader, lowering her eyes. "Sure."

"Mhm?" he arched a brow while the rocking slowed down.

"I said sure," she whispered. "Let's get married."

For a moment, he didn't move or speak and only a second later did his lips stretched from ear to ear.

"I guess Conan's vacation will be over," he humored, rocking the chair slowly once again. "He will have a wedding to prepare."

Aries chuckled, feeling his arm snake around her. She blinked weakly and felt her eyes grow heavy.

"Will you not tell me something else?" she requested before the darkness pull her in a tight embrace. Abel remained silent and let the creaking sound of the rocking chair sing in their ears for a moment.

"Darling, if you are waiting for those magical three words, I don't think I will ever say them," he confessed under his breath, cocking his head back, cradling her in his embrace. "But what I can say is… the beating of our hearts might not be in sync, but my heart will continuously beat your name. And our footsteps might not go along, but I will always walk the same path with you."

Her smile relaxed as she murmured. "Very well. I guess those three magical words aren't as magical as I thought they were," she humored under her breath, fighting off the sleep she had been fighting.

"Then since you can't say it, I'll just say... I'll choose you," she added.

"Every day?" he continued.

She nodded mildly. "Every day."

"Likewise, darling." He rested his chin on top of her head, smiling in satisfaction. "Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and the days after that. I will keep choosing you."