The Chalk Prince (Kaebedo)

Chapter VII: Sweets

Kaeya gasped at the sight. The boy's face was scared, dried blood painted across his mouth and temples from the cloth gag and blindfold.

The captain couldn't help but find him beautiful though. His long, blond eyelashes any woman would kill for, lightly brushing the scarred skin under his eyes, the way his pale skin glowed even in the dim light.

The boy seemed to physically struggle with keeping his eyes closed. He squeezed his hands into fists and his eyebrows furrowed in self control.

"You can open them now. But slowly, you might hurt yourself." Kaeya said, in awe at seeing the boy's whole face. It was round, like a child's, but looked stressed.

He slowly opened his eyes, blinking fast. He looked down first, then looked up and around the room, looking like a child in a candy store for the first time.

Something pulled on Kaeya's heart strings as he thought this must be the first time in a long time he's ever seen colour.

The boy's eyes finally reached him and the captain gasped slightly.

Big, teal blue eyes stared right back at him. He looked young, maybe in his late teens or early twenties.

He looked beautiful, and for a second, Kaeya thought he stopped breathing.

They stared at each other for god knows how long. Kaeya took in all his features. His long and unruly blond hair, his pointed nose, his arms (and whole body really) looking too skinny for his own good. And Barbatos his eyes. They looked so innocent and pure, Kaeya had to remind himself that he was in the same room as the person who destroyed Old Mondstadt.

"Well hello there," Kaeya said finally. The boy blinked as if he too had also been staring.

He swallowed and slowly turned to look around the room, nearly collapsing on himself when he tried to put weight on his arm.

Kaeya bit back a chuckle and helped the boy into a better sitting position.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. The boy let out an ear piercing scream and tried to push himself to the head of the bed, away from the door. He failed miserably though, and only ended up falling off the bed.

In his panicked attempt to move to the farthest corner away from the door, he had managed to collide with the bedside table and trip over himself multiple times.

Kaeya grabbed him just before his head hit another thing, and hulled him back onto the bed, placing him on his lap and tucking his head into his chest.

The boy's breathing was erratic and heavy, his hands shaking violently as he tried to focus on the warmth radiating off of the captain.

"Come in." Kaeya said after a few seconds of silence. Lisa opened the door slowly, a worried look on her face as she stepped through. "Is everything alright?" She asked in a hushed tone, to which Kaeya nodded.

He felt the boy peek over his shoulder to see who the new voice belonged to. He froze when he met eyes with the woman.

Terror rose up in his chest and he quickly ducked down and stuffed his face into Kaeya again.

A hand was placed on his head and began to rub and scratch lightly against his scalp. He relaxed soon after. Kaeya moved to the edge of the bed.

"That's called knocking. People use it when they want to come into a room. It's like asking permission." The captain whispered softly. The boy made a small noise of acknowledgment.