Chapter 226: What labels huh...

"Dating?"

Myles repeated the word with a blank expression.

"Yes. Dating."

"I don’t understand the question."

"Well, don’t we feel more or less the same way about each other?"

"Yes."

"Then what’s the problem?"

"There isn’t one."

Blake blinked.

"You don’t sound reassuring."

Myles tilted his head.

"Why?"

"Because you’re acting like we’re discussing the weather."

"I don’t see the difference."

Blake rubbed his forehead, pausing.

Myles’ experiences were so different from those of ordinary people that Blake sometimes forgot how strange certain concepts must seem to him, even if he understood them in a textbook manner.

Dating, romance, attraction, none of them were things Myles had grown up learning in the normal way.

And yet, somehow, they had ended up here, together...

Blake looked down at their hands.

"So if I called you my boyfriend... you wouldn’t object?"

"No."

"And if I said we were dating?"

"No."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"What if someone asked you directly?"

"I’d say we’re together."

"That easy?"

"Yes."

Blake stared at him for a moment before laughing.

"You know, I expected at least a little hesitation."

"Why?"

"I don’t know either..."

Blake sighed, though he was smiling.

"But you don’t actually care about dating, do you?"

"For me, it’s just a label."

"Exactly. Ugh! That’s what bothers me."

Myles looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because words matter."

Blake thought for a moment.

"They tell you what something is. They make it clear."

Myles remained silent.

Blake continued.

"If someone came up to me tomorrow and asked whether I was dating someone, I’d probably hesitate."

"You wouldn’t."

Blake looked at him.

"Why?"

"You love me."

The answer came so quickly that Blake froze.

His face warmed.

"You really just say things like that whenever you want, huh?"

Blake covered his face with one hand.

"Anyway that’s not the point."

"If you love someone, why does the word matter?"

Blake lowered his hand.

He opened his mouth, then stopped.

"...I don’t know."

That was the annoying part.

He didn’t have a proper answer.

Maybe he simply wanted to know that they were choosing the same thing.

Blake sighed.

"I guess I just want to know we’re on the same page."

"We are."

Blake looked at him.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Myles reached for his hand and intertwined their fingers.

"I choose you."

Blake went quiet.

The simplicity of it was a little touching, too...

He squeezed his hand.

"Dating you is nice too."

Myles hummed.

Blake’s eyes narrowed... not feeling like letting it go, and glanced at him.

"You really don’t care?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"There is nothing actually binding two people through dating."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"You could say that about anything."

"Marriage isn’t the same."

Blake froze.

"...What?"

"Marriage."

Myles said it with the same calmness.

"Marriage actually binds two people."

There was a moment of silence. Then Blake burst out laughing.

"Marriage? You just jumped from dating to marriage!"

"I was making a distinction."

"That’s even worse!"

Blake covered his mouth, laughing.

"Don’t get this ambitious at your age!"

"I am not being ambitious."

"You brought up marriage!"

"I said it binds two people."

"Still!"

Blake laughed until his stomach hurt.

Myles simply waited for him to calm down.

Eventually Blake wiped his eyes.

"Sorry."

"You don’t have to apologize."

"I know."

He looked at Myles again.

"So..."

He grinned.

"If marriage is what actually binds people, are you saying we should get married?"

"No."

Blake laughed again.

"You’re the one who brought it up!"

"I said marriage is legally binding."

"That’s still marriage!"

Myles reached over and took Blake’s hand, holding it against his cheek.

"I never said we should get married."

Blake’s laughter faded.

"Marriage is still something defined by human laws. I’m not completely human, anyway."

Blake stared at him.

"You really know how to ruin a joke. So I’d have to propose, then?"

"If you wanted to."

Blake laughed.

"You’d actually let me?"

"Yes."

"You’re supposed to at least pretend to be embarrassed, c’mon."

"I don’t see why."

Blake shook his head.

"You already told me as much. But you really have no sense of romance."

Myles simply looked at him.

Blake smiled.

Then another thought occurred to him.

"Wait."

Myles’ eyes moved toward him.

Blake hesitated.

"When we kiss..."

He looked slightly uncertain now.

"Do you actually feel anything then?"

Myles was quiet for a moment.

"Physically?"

"Yeah, I guess...?"

Blake gestured vaguely.

"Like the stuff humans are supposed to feel."

Myles considered it.

"For me, physical contact doesn’t necessarily cause the same chemical reactions."

Blake’s expression changed.

"What do you mean?"

"Cortisol, serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin. Those are involved in various emotional and physical responses in humans."

Blake listened.

"So when we kiss..."

"It doesn’t automatically produce those responses."

Blake’s smile faded slightly.

"Oh."

Myles looked at him, sighing lightly.

"That doesn’t mean I feel nothing."

Blake’s expression softened.

"You don’t?"

"Those reactions are simply uncommon for me."

Blake nodded slowly.

"But we kiss pretty often. And you initiate it..."

"Yes."

"Then why? I mean, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to explain."

Myles shifted closer.

"I never said I don’t enjoy kissing you. When I kiss you, my blood pressure decreases. I become more relaxed."

Blake blinked.

"So..."

He smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"You kiss me because it lowers your blood pressure?"

Blake laughed at his own words.

"That is probably the least romantic explanation I’ve ever heard."

Myles ignored the comment, his fingers brushing Blake’s cheek.

"I like seeing you enjoy it."

"Ah?"

"I like seeing your reaction."

"My reaction?"

"You smile."

Blake’s smile immediately returned.

"You’re watching me smile?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"Your heartbeat accelerates."

"Something else?"

"Your face turns red."

Myles’ hand remained against his cheek.

"And when you kiss me back, I like it."

Blake’s expression became more embarrassed.

Myles’ voice remained completely sincere.

"I like that."

"So you do like it. Even if your brain doesn’t work the same way."

"Yes."

Blake wrapped his arms around him and pulled him down slightly.

"Then you could’ve just said that."

Myles stared at him for a moment. Then, he pressed his lips against his.

His lips were freezing, his breath a cold mist against Blake’s skin, and as he deepened the kiss, his saliva felt like liquid frost sliding across Blake’s tongue.

’Crazy...’

His tongue swept through Blake’s mouth with a slow rhythm.

Blake didn’t fight it. He went limp, simply taking the onslaught.

He let himself be consumed by the intensity, shivering not from the cold.

Myles pulled away.

Blake reached for his hand again, their fingers intertwining.

For a little while, neither spoke.

Blake looked down at their hands.

"You know..."

"Yes?"

"I like this a bit too much, honestly."

"I know."

"You sure do."

He lifted their joined hands slightly.

"Whatever we’re calling it, I guess I’ll always like it anyway."

Myles looked at him, then leaned down again, kissing Blake’s cheek.

"Can’t we be boyfriends?"

"Okay."

Blake laughed.

"Fine, I guess it was that easy. It’s not like I was agonizing over it, but..."

He settled deeper into the pillow.

Myles watched him.

"You should sleep."

"I know."

He closed his eyes.

"You’ve been awake too long."

"I know, I know."

Blake cracked one eye open.

"Are you going to keep repeating yourself until I actually do it?"

"Yes."