Sleeping in the same room had never been so unsettling for Raihan as it was last night. As if their first dispute hadn't made the atmosphere tense enough, once the caramel-skinned young man had returned from outside, Piers seemed to refuse to sleep on the bed at first. It was awkward enough that the two Gym Leaders had to share Raihan's room in the first place, and the spiky-head didn't have it in him to monopolize the bed the taller male was supposed to sleep in.

Raihan, of course — as eager as he may have seemed at the thought of getting to spend time with Piers again, and as naturally touchy as he usually was — refused to sleep on the same mattress until the bitter end. Because doing that would have proven Piers' argument right: That he didn't need to be in a romantic relationship to share the same sleeping space with another person. The ravenet wanted to redeem himself, and so he succeeded in convincing the pale young man that he would sleep on the couch.

Neither of the men had gotten much shut eye, speaking truthfully, so both of them ended up behaving rather sluggishly in the late morning — if one could even consider it to be that time. After all, it was almost noon. When getting ready and as he was adjusting his orange headband, Raihan couldn't help but notice that his hair had grown quite a bit — at least in the areas where it was supposed to be shaved off in order to make the whole undercut-effect more credible.

He hadn't looked in the bed's way even once ever since waking up because he felt very out of place, so he hadn't exactly expected Piers to be the one to get rid of the silence first. "Good mornin'." It was barely louder than a mumble, but still audible to Raihan. That was made quite evident the instant he jerked his head in the direction where the other's voice had come from. "'Morning! Did you... sleep well?"

"I s'ppose. You?" Their interactions were short yet precise, a point also proven by the way Raihan had only nodded in response. Even though they had both tried to, one could still cut the tension with a knife. It was a matter of pride, and Piers felt like it was alright to cast it aside in order to apologize for something he didn't have the right to claim the prior evening. "Oi, listen..."

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I went out of line." The spiky-head swallowed hard after asking for forgiveness, Raihan's turquoise eyes remaining glued on his flustered form and on how he was doing that head-scratch thing again. The taller male felt a bit unfair, forcing Piers to be the only one to apologize, so he mimicked the gesture. "No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

Silence invaded the room after that and the two Gym Leaders exited it as if to make place for it. Despite the fact that no words were exchanged all the way until they reached the reception, their guilt had been silenced and they consequentially felt a bit more at ease. Raihan was the one who took care of checking out properly at the desk, and even though Piers wasn't obligated to, he waited for him to finish.

They waltzed out of the Budew Drop Inn together, pondering whether or not their fellow Gym Leaders had already left or not. No matter the answer, neither of then could ignore the fact that it was time for them to part ways, and Raihan was especially reluctant about it. Just like yesterday evening when he could have offered to fly Piers home, the young man was being filled by a feeling of discomfort.

"I guess this is it. It was... nice catchin' up with you." Despite having debated over and over again in his mind whether he truly should have voiced his genuine opinion or not, Piers went ahead and said it, causing Raihan's heart to warm up, even if only the tiniest bit. If he were to let go of the spiky-head now, only Arceus would know when the two of them would get to see each other again. He was right in front of him, Raihan just knew that he was going to regret letting the other slip out of his reach. Again.

"Will you see me again?" The light brown-skinned man thought he would have stuttered when ultimately coming out with that question, but surprisingly he didn't. His bluntness seemed to have caught Piers off guard as well, because his cyan orbs stared at him in surprise. Raihan could guess that the latter would passively agree if their meeting had no specific purpose, so he quickly blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"My hair's getting longer, so I was hoping you could cut it for me again?" Piers didn't know if he could get any more shocked at the other's behavior because he was once again left dumbfounded. Why was Raihan asking him to shorten it for him? He could just simply go to a hair salon like any other person and get it done there — he must have done it like that in the past six years, so why the sudden change?

It was just an excuse to meet Piers again and the caramel-skinned male knew that full well. That's why he couldn't bring himself to look the shorter in the eyes when waiting for a reply. He doubted his request would actually work, so when he heard Piers speak up softly, he couldn't hide his wide eyes and parted lips.

"All right."

* * *

Not even three days had passed since their get-together and the two Gym Leaders found themselves in each others' company again. This time it was in Hammerlocke, in Raihan's apartment to be more precise. As agreed upon, Piers had come over to cut the other's hair for him, and solely for that purpose. At least that's what the spiky-head had been repeating in his mind over and over again when he wrapped a towel around Raihan's neck.

The two were in the taller male's bathroom, him seated on a chair they had brought there while Piers made himself comfortable around the area, picking up utensils he was going to need. He wasn't an extraordinary talent concerning hairdos and the like — he had never been, in his opinion — but he was no novice either. He didn't really apply his skills on his own hair since he had grown it out, but he used to and still helps Marnie with hers.

"The same as always?" Piers asked, and even though he said 'always', he only knew how Raihan used to like his hair six years ago. The other hummed in agreement, soon closing his eyes as he told the slim young man he trusted him enough to leave it up to him. Piers felt self-conscious about those words, enough for heat to spread across his pale cheeks. He was glad Raihan couldn't see him.

The spiky-haired male got to work, the electronic shaver he maneuvered doing most of it. He had told himself that he would touch Raihan directly as little as possible, but after a while, that warning had gone entirely forgotten. Without even realizing it, Piers traced his thin fingers along the other's scalp more often than not, and more than was actually needed.

Raihan had to constantly stifle hums of pleasure and do his best at hiding the fact that he was discreetly leaning into Piers' touch as much as possible to hinder getting his cover blown. Despite them being slender and cold, the pale young man's fingertips felt so nice against his skin, and it wasn't just because he had missed the feeling.

Raihan had flirty girls touching him quite frequently, and when they did, he usually tried to avoid the contact. But with Piers, he found himself craving for more. Why was he still like this? Why were such emotions still lingering within him? It has been six long years, for Arceus' sake. Nessa was right when she said he needed to let go of his teenage first love, that he should move on. But was he really going to do that? No.

"It's done." Piers' subtle voice was what snapped the taller young man out of his fantasies, causing him to flinch only slightly. He almost felt guilty for inhaling some of the spiky-head's smell when he removed the towel from around his neck again. "Ah, don't worry about the floor, I'll clean it up later." Raihan said quickly after seeing that the other was just about to kneel down and get rid of the stray strands of raven hair.

He inspected his reflection in the mirror, being so much more satisfied with it than he usually was when a hairdresser did the same exact job. Actually no, that was far from 'same exact'. He couldn't possibly compare something a worker did to something Piers did, after all. The latter's bore so much more importance. "Thanks man, this is great! Now I look even better than I used to."

Piers had to mask his snort because he was so little away from laughing at the latter's confidence — it really hadn't changed even after so long. It was actually quite refreshing. Raihan on the other hand felt the corners of his lips tug upwards instantly at the sight of the shorter male's reaction, and he soon led him to his living room.

"Do you prefer tea or coffee?" Raihan asked as if it was natural to assume that Piers was going to stay at his place until evening came, when in reality the latter had planned to leave as soon as he was finished with his task. He didn't exactly sugar-coat his words, either. "Actually, I should be headin' back..."

"Don't be like that. I can't just let you leave like that. Think of it as a thank you for cutting my hair."

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My note to you:
I'm so used to writing long chapters that I always end up having to split them in two parts. >3< Though I think here it was a bit less noticeable than in other, prior chapters. xD

Thank You for Reading!