(A/N): Man it's been a while! Like a long while! Sorry for the wait if anyone is still waiting on this one! I looked back into my loads of stories written and suddenly got a motivated to write another chapter on this one.

Enjoy!

When everything seemed quiet, Ness decided to finally walk off and just think.

"So."

Ness breathed in a sharp breath and stopped in his tracks. It was Claus, who was waiting from around the corner. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, with one leg bending up slightly to give him a rather deviant look. He furrowed his brows at Ness momentarily, then switched into an apathetic expression.

"I thought you went back to work?" asked Ness, startled.

"Nah." Claus shook his head. "It was a mere lucky convenience that she left right after I went."

"What's wrong? Do you not like her or something…?"

"..." Claus looked down and tightened his crossed arms.

"So.. you don't." Ness finished Claus' sentence. "Why?" Ness asked densely.

"Annoying."

"You've only met her for about 20 seconds. She didn't even say much."

"...She has an annoying face." The orange haired boy narrowed his eyes out of anger. Deep inside he thought that Paula was really cute, which made him feel more insecure. He didn't understand why, himself.

Ness groaned. "Claus. What the hell is your problem?"

"No clue, I'm just mad about it." Claus looked right at Ness, piercingly. Ness inched closer.

"Alright, she has an 'annoying face'. Is that it?"

"You're betrothed to her, right?" Claus finally cut to the chase, even though he knew the answer already. He was hoping to get an answer that would calm himself down because at the moment, he, himself, didn't feel sure about his own emotions.

"Well… yeah… but I'm not so sure about it, either. She's just a friend, so far." Ness looked away. For some reason, he felt guilty explaining to Claus him and Paula's relationship. "Why are you even asking?"

"Mn, just curious." Claus had a thing for short answers.

They went silent for a moment. Claus still felt bent over the princess, despite how he knew Ness was betrothed from the first time they met. Ness couldn't deduce that, so he just took Claus' questions and answers for what they were instead of reading between the lines.

Though Ness felt tense in this situation, he couldn't help but notice how nice Claus looked right now. A commoner clad in a near noble's suit. He was actually very happy that Claus decided to work in the castle. It was less of a risk for Ness to sneak out all the time. Now him and Claus could hang out together...

Wait… Ness thought.

Breaking the silence, Ness asked a question off topic. "Hey, Claus? You said you had a small room to stay inside the castle?"

"Yeah, I did. Why're you asking?" Claus raised a suspicious brow.

"What about… your family?" Ness looked worriedly at Claus, who looked stricken by his question. Claus' eyes widened as his pupils constricted; the orange haired boy was thinking. His usual daring and angry composure turned somber.

"So far, with this job I luckily got here at the castle, my family will be okay," Claus didn't want to go into any further details. "I just.. need to keep this job." He looked stressed.

"And if you don't?"

"Can you stop talking, now?" Claus said stern. Though, his aura of rudeness slowly fades away with his friend, Ness.

"Geez, what's your problem?" Ness asked with a little more aggression that was fueled from Claus' rudeness. "Why're you so stubborn right now? C'mon, you're here and you bothered to go through all this trouble to see me. Yet, you can't tell me a single thing about you. Sure, we've hung out, but I don't know anything about you!"

Claus shuffled a bit, uncomfortable where Ness was going with the conversation, but refuses to let his true feelings show through.

Ness continues, "I've seen Paula probably less than I've seen you, and I already know more about her than you."

Those words, and only those words, managed to get under Claus' skin. Without much thought, he couldn't help but snap at Ness, "DON'T COMPARE ME TO HER!" He threw his arms up momentarily out of anger, then set them down. He just looked at Ness, madder than he originally was. Ness stared back, angry as well.

"...Whatever." Claus turned around. "I think I will get back to work."

"What 'work' do you have?"

"Nothing that has business with you. Now excuse me, your Highness."

The way Claus said that made Ness steam. However, the prince did not say a word, and thundered off in a direction opposite to Claus', back to his room.

It's been about 2 hours since they've talked from their last argument. It was nearing nighttime, and it was about the time when the castle's chefs would usually be making dinner to deliver to the residents of the castle.

"UGH!" Ness, who was lying on his bed at the moment, held his pillow over his face. He was angered, contemplating if what he said was really necessary. Considering the details, Ness thought that maybe intruding on Claus' personal life was out of line.

But I did deserve to know something about him! At least where he lived… Ness, having calmed down, stared at the ceiling. AND WHY HASN'T HE COME TO ME YET ON HIS KNEES APOLOGIZING?! The prince growled into his pillow. He still had a bit of 'princely' selfishness in his veins.

Knock knock!

"Ness!" called Duster from outside the door. "Dinner is ready! Would you like it at the table or in your room?"

"Room…" mumbled Ness. He held a pillow over his face at the moment.

"What was that you said, Your Highness?" Duster put his ear to the door now.

"Room!" Ness got from underneath his pillow. "I've always had it in my room, Duster! You don't need to keep asking!" the prince added.

"Alright!" was the last thing Duster said, but it failed to reach Ness' ears. From there, Duster went to get a serving of food from the castle's cafeteria.

Knock knock!

"Duster, I. SAID. 'ROOM'!" Ness yelled out, throwing the pillow to the far side of his bed.

"It's not Duster," a quiet voice was heard from the other side. The prince instantly recognized it as Claus'. Ness fumbled and sat up immediately, a bit embarrassed from his former reaction.

"Let me in," the voice commanded weakly. Ness agreed to do so and got up to unlock his door.

Just as expected, Ness saw Claus. For a moment, they looked at each other, then looked away. The anger Ness had for Claus dissipated instantly by his presence. He was instead silent, unsure of what to say. Claus took this as a moment to walk himself inside, as well as to close and lock the door behind him. They still didn't manage to say anything, even until then.

Ness took a deep breath, while Claus mumbled to himself in annoyance.

"So.." Claus muttered.

"...You came here, first," said Ness. Claus tightened up his fists in a passive aggressive way; he didn't want to talk back any time soon at his friend in fear that it would burst into another argument.

"Sorry…" Claus said almost near silent and without eye contact. Apologies were past his comfort bubble, and because of this, the orange haired boy wielded a reddened face of embarrassment.

The raven-haired prince sighed and tapped his foot on the finely carpeted floor. There was no way he could be mad at Claus, now. He was so mad earlier, and Ness hated how the boy's one apology just made it all go away.

"It's fine," Ness concluded. He got closer to Claus in order to comfort him a bit more. "I'm sorry, too, I probably shouldn't have intruded in so much of your life, anyways. I should've just left you alone."

Claus nodded in agreement, but then said, "But you had a point, though." He visibly breathed in and out in front of Ness. "I-I'll tell you more... more until you know more about me than that princess from Pole Land or whatever."

Though Claus wasn't kidding, Ness took it as a joke and laughed. "Alright! Haha! It's Polestar by the way."

A long silence followed afterward. Claus was looking at Ness with intent, while the raven haired boy merely caught up with what Claus was signalling.

"Oh!" Ness exclaimed. "You wanted to talk about yourself now!" He nervously giggled but Claus remained straight-faced. Sometimes, he couldn't follow what his friend's intentions were; Claus' movements were unpredictable. He was like a robot who couldn't express much, not even now.

"Let's sit down… here." Ness sat on the edge of his bed, and patted the spot next to him for Claus to sit. Claus agreed, and sat down next to his friend. The bed was soft and cozy.

"Alright… where to start…" Claus put a thoughtful finger on his cheek cutely, until he thought of what to say. "Okay, I'll just start off with me."

Ness nodded.

"The name's Claus, I have a twin brother named Lucas, but he has blond hair instead of orange like mine. I also have a mom and dad, whose names are Hinawa and Flint. We also have a dog named Boney who we really love." He paused to think some more. "We also live… well, we don't even really live in the city. We live at the edge of town, in the areas near the forest."

"Wait.." Ness' eyes widened. "That area… isn't that the…"

Claus sighed. "Yes, the slums. We're poor, Princey." His shoulders slumped down a bit more. "My dad's unemployed, and my mom can't work. But even though my dad's unemployed, he tries to do some sort of business by asking people for temporary jobs. However, sometimes he doesn't have those opportunities, and we'd have to just push through with what we have."

"Why didn't you tell me this?!" Ness asked worriedly, "I could help! I have money to burn!"

"Look, I came here to be friends with you, not leech off of your riches. And quite frankly I don't see why you should help when I don't even profit you in the slightest," Claus said realistically. His tone got sadder as he went on.

"Why the hell would I care?" Ness spat out. "I could give you whatever you wanted… I hope you know that. A job for your dad, a house in the city, furniture, food, anything!"

"Then what you'd be doing is illegal," Claus finalized.

"No, you work here, now, you're open to my benefits whether you deny it or not."

"You've got it all wrong." Claus looked at Ness seriously. "I'm still illegal. I'm here under the fake alias of 'Claudius'. Claus has a family, 'Claudius' does not, and that's why he's even allowed to stay here. If you smuggle me money, the punishment will be so bad that I'd end up having less than what I have now. So, stop trying to help!" he persistently told the prince.

Ness was sent aback by his words. He didn't say anything else to counter what Claus said, so the orange haired boy continued on.

Claus put a hand over one of Ness' hands that were on top of his bed. "I-I just wanted to tell you more about me… so let me do it."

Ness painfully nodded his head, and looked downwards in disappointment.

And so, Claus continued, "I didn't always have a poor life… I used to live in a rather above middle class village house close to the center of Eagleland. That was when my grandfather Alec was alive. After he died, we were supposed to get his inheritance, but his so called 'wife' took it all from us. She then kicked us out of 'her' property and we were forced to live where we live now. That was when all things turned bad, you know, all the stuff I told you of previously with my friends. I slowly became an outcast; a peasant. I don't know why, but it just happened... I think I just changed to people."

Now, Ness understood why Claus kept all of this to himself. There was no reason to say it, it was all just an unfortunate event that no one could say anything to other than 'sorry.'

"I'm sorry..." Ness apologized in pity for Claus, but the orange haired boy just shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I got over all this stuff already and am looking into the future now." He patted the prince on the back.

"How are you fine with all this, though?" Ness asked impatiently, angry at the wrongs that were done to Claus. He didn't understand because he's never lived a hard life before. It was a frustrating thought to figure out for him.

"I don't know..." Claus said, unsure.

"Please, let me help. Everything will be alright."

Claus' eyes turned a bit red by that, and he couldn't bear to let Ness see him like this. He finally came down to the final solution.

"I'm not dead, which is all that matters," said Claus, "I won't do anything rash, but if it comes down to it, I'll call you for help." He then looked at Ness and told him, "But note that I will do anything to keep things from getting to that point."

Ness nodded and accepted, feeling that this was as far Claus would let him help.

It went painfully silent, until Claus spoke again.

"...So yeah, that's me." He shuffled his seating position on the bed to get comfortable again.

However, on impulse, Ness asked, "...where do you live, exactly?"

Claus didn't like the question. "I already gave you the general location... I'm not specifying."

Ness was disappointed internally, but kept his expression neutral so Claus wouldn't notice.

"Aside from me, I have yet to know about you." Claus moved on to another topic.

Ness pointed to himself confusedly.

"Yeah, you." The orange haired boy leaned in on the prince and poked him on the arm.

Ness flustered at the gesture. "W-Well… there's nothing special about me, I have the average princely life."

"Average?" Claus chuckled at how Ness said that. "I doubt any prince has just an average life. Tell me stuff that you like to do and such then." He crossed his arms. "I don't know much about you, either!"

"Okay, okay!" Ness smiled at Claus' interest. "Well, I like to play the piano, ride horses, play sports..."

"Piano, huh?" Claus grinned.

The prince rose a brow. "What about it?"

"Classy."

"Do you play anything?"

"Violin."

As soon as Ness heard that, all he could think of was wow, that's a convenient match. Claus, too, was thinking the same thing.

"Heh, one thing I didn't dare give away was my violin! I love that thing so much."

Ness now began grinning like Claus was, too. He didn't get to say anything further, until Claus presented another question with a rare kind of curiosity and excitement.

"Do you guys have a music room?" asked Claus, trying to seem relaxed and unfazed by his growing excitement.

"Well, of course, in the performance room..." Ness trailed off, half smiling. "I'm guessing by your question, you want to go there?"

Claus kept himself from smiling too much or from overreacting over such small things. "Yeah," he answered coolly.

Ness nodded in agreement, also a bit hyped over possibly getting to play a song with Claus. He wondered what he would sound like, or if they would even make a good duet at all. He decided to leave that up to fate, and got a move on back into the hallways.

It was now dark, and the hallways were lit up with candle lights that the servants were to light one by one. It was a horrible job, Ness thought, but he never seemed to see the people light the hallways himself.

As soon as he got out, Duster was there with Ness' dinner, looking curiously at the two. He tilted his head, then rose a brow at them.

"I've fetched your dinner for you…?" was what he said. He didn't look too pleased in the end.

"Claudius," he addressed him sternly, "aren't you supposed to be tending to your other assignments that I've given you?"

Immediately, Claus wore a different kind of face than what Ness usually saw. It seemed to be a 'work' face, or rather, a fake serious look that looks more intense than when he actually was serious. He approached his higher up respectively, and cleared out his name.

"Yes, I have finished them all promptly." Claus went to take out a folded piece of brown parchment paper from his uniform. He gave it to Duster, who made a surprised look at his quick work. When Duster was done looking, he changed his gaze to Claus, who replied with, "If there is more that you wish for me to do, I will get started on it immediately."

"No, actually," Duster reconsidered, "this is really impressive. You are able to get around the castle faster than me!" His eyebrows rose up to gesture for his words as he gave him a small smile. "You're finished for today."

Even with that lively compliment from Duster, Claus remained unflattered, and still kept a straight face. He looked as if what Duster said shot through his ear and out the other, as if he didn't know what a compliment was, or when he had permission to be happy with what he's done. With that, Duster's smile lessened a bit, and his hand naturally gave him a tiny pat on his orange cowlicked hair.

"You don't need to be so uptight and serious all the time, have fun while you're here, and while you're young," Duster said kindly, still ruffling his apprentice's hair. At this sudden movement, Claus' expression softened a bit, and his shoulders finally slouched down to a comfortable and less professional state. When he stopped, Claus blinked uncomfortably a few times.

"I'm going to leave now and tend to other matters, remember, your room is right next to mine when you're done. Don't stay up any further than when the sun sets." Duster was then turning to take his leave. Over time, his steps started getting faster, until he bounded up in a run, his speed unfazed by his limp leg. This castle needed a lot of things to do everyday, and it was big as well. It's not unnatural to see servants running from place to place at times.

When he was gone, Claus turned back to Ness, his expression weirded out unpleasantly. "Jeez," he began, "why the heck is he so nice?"

"That's just Duster for you." Ness shrugged, a smile on his face. "He's one of the servants I'm comfortable with; he's my friend, too."

"Ah, I see." Claus didn't feel too comfortable around Duster yet, despite all the great opportunities he has given him. He just couldn't be swayed as easily as he wished he could, so that he could tell certain people how grateful he was.

"Yeah." Ness turned down the hallway. "Performance room?"

Claus nodded, closing in the space between him and Ness. He followed closely, but not too closely, down the halls. His original excitement started to grow yet again as the prince himself, hands in pockets, nonchalantly led him and his friend to the room. When they got there Ness opened the door to a room that was too big for its own good.

"Here we are!" Ness slid inside freely.

"This room is huge." Claus stood in awe.

"Every room is huge to be honest." Ness wore a smug smile across his face at an impressed Claus who could never understand having big rooms everywhere in one building.

However, Claus snapped out of his daze as soon as he spotted a nice, sleek grand piano at the corner of the room. It was left alone and closed for good measure, which pulled at Claus' heartstrings as to how singled out it looked, and how unplayed. He sped his walking into a run across the room, making Ness do the same thing right behind him.

"It's…" Claus put his hand on the piano and smoothly glided his hand over the instrument. "Beautiful." He says it in such a way that neither of the two could take it seriously. He held a small grin on his face, which would often come off as mischievous to others when he was really just content and happy, not going to cause trouble or ruin anything.

Right underneath the piano was a violin case, which Ness picked up. He walked closer to Claus who was still distracted, and then poked his back with the edge of the violin case. Claus turned around and after the instant of seeing the case, he wore the most brightened eyes Ness has ever seen.

Ness placed the violin case on a nearby table and opened it nicely. He took it out and attached the shoulder rest to the instrument, then handed it to Claus with the bow to play it. Claus grinned, taking the instrument in his hands proudly.

"Well, looks like you're going to play me song~" Ness sang, leaning on the piano and smirking at the orange haired boy.

"Not if you ask me like that," Claus replied, half-heartedly stern. That just made Ness grin at his stubborn attitude that he was getting used to more and more.

"Alright lemme rephrase that." Ness cleared his throat. "Play a song for your prince, servant," he demanded seriously, his face taking on a whole new appearance.

SQQQQRRRRRR-

Claus replied to that with a very violent and unpleasant sound he played on the violin. He looked at Ness with the most pissed off face he could muster. No longer able to take him seriously, Ness let out a hearty laugh at the boy.

"Haha! You sure hate labels, don't you?" Ness joked. Claus bit the bottom of his lip, embarrassed that he let Ness faze him over one sentence, while he, on the other hand, can't manage to change Ness' emotions when he wanted to.

"Shut up," is all that Claus manages to say. "I'll play you a damn song. Now sit your prince-like ass over here." He clenched his teeth.

Ness smiled and shut his mouth, and held up his hands as if to say, 'woah, calm down there boy.' Without another word, he sat on the piano seat while Claus got up and prepared to play. He started by tuning his instrument and playing each string until they were at the right pitch.

After the violin was ready, he placed the bow on the string. It was only at that moment he grew tense and nervous. His hands grew slightly moist, but none of his anxiousness was revealed through his facial expression. Sometimes it was good for Claus, but sometimes it wasn't. At this particular moment in time, it was. He took a breath in, then out, feeling Ness' gaze intensifying.

In short notice, Claus began, his fingers being placed on the strings as he glided the bow to each and every note he needed to hit. From soft to loud, from fast to slow, Ness was mesmerized nonetheless and could have sworn a professional was playing if he would only close his eyes. Claus recited the song from memory, only messing up a few times and picking back up on the tempo again. It took a good 3 to 4 minutes, which felt like only a few seconds to Claus. When he was done, he let the final note sing out its beauty, and then stopped.

"That was amazing," Ness said, mouth slightly agape. The song left him feeling as if half of his heart went missing.

"Eh," Claus shouldered it off as he went to set the violin down. Ness was confused on whether Claus was just being modest, or was really unaware of his talent. Then the orange haired boy moved from his original position to the side of the piano, leaning against it.

"Your turn," he states, wearing his little mischievous grin again. His fingers traced a line down the sleek piano.

Ness flinches a bit and laughs nervously. "Must I need to?"

"I played, so now you have to." Claus tapped his foot on the ground. He then sashayed jokingly to the raven-haired boy's side, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Or are ya chicken?"

"Psh," Ness scoffed, brushing off Claus' hand, "watch me, then. I got a short one to show you." The prince then stuck out a playful tongue at Claus before he proceeded to lay his fingers on the keyboard. They settled quite nicely across the white and black keys.

Claus thought Ness looked elegant sitting at a piano; it was almost as if Ness was meant to play the piano by how well he looked with it. Literally a beautiful prince sitting next to an almost-as-beautiful piano. He thought it was surreal, but Ness seemed to always shine, like a light always followed him wherever he went.

The prince took a breath in and gave Claus a cue that he was going to play by slightly nodding his head. Afterwards, he began pressing down keys on the piano. The music was warm, slow, and powerful. After Ness was only a few notes in, was when Claus finally realized the song he was playing—Eight Melodies—the orange-haired boy indulged himself more into the blissful notes as they caused his eye-lids to fall half-lidded by the relaxing song. Ness only focused on what he was doing; though the sight of Claus' drowsy and peaceful expression brought a smile to his face. Looking right into Claus' eyes, Ness half-smiled, barely showing that white teeth of his that brimmed with charm.

Soon, the short song was done with, and the raven-haired prince removed his hands off the keyboard.

"So what'd ya think?" asked Ness, feeling confident.

Claus' eyes then went back to its normal awakened look. "O-Oh, it was really nice."

Ness smiled. "Just 'nice'?"

Claus felt mildly embarrassed. "Well what do want me to say?!"

The prince puffed up his cheeks at Claus, further pressuring him to admit the truth.

"Fine, it was perfect, Princey. I loved it a whole lot…" he trailed off, looking away from Ness' violet gaze, "but I won't ever love it more than I love cake, so." He tried cancelling out the compliment with something else.

Ness chuckled heartily. "We have a lotta cake, just so you know."

Claus' heart thumped at the possibility of it. His eyes widened noticeably, but went back to its original size a moment later as he looked away. It was a childish kind of reaction in Ness' eyes, but he thought it was cute.

The raven-haired boy was about to say something again, when suddenly his mother and father walked into the performance room with another man that looked like he was taking important notes.

Ness fidgeted, unsure of how his parents would react if he was found around Claus. However, there was nowhere to hide in this large room; it was all floor and a single piano. Claus, himself, seemed a bit nervous as well. He has not seen the two since his "homeless" appearance in front of them.

"Ah yes, and we'll display the strings on this side," the king went on about. His attention was drawn from the man, and towards the actual room as a whole. That was when he saw the two boys together, previously indulged in their instruments. He squinted to see if what he saw was correct, and his wife, too, seemed to be doing the same. When their assumptions were true, they hurriedly plodded over to the both of them. They stopped as soon as they got in front of them.

"What is this?" the father asked, keeping a neutral expression. Though the way he presented the question didn't sound too pleased. The mother stood, not looking well, also. This didn't make Ness feel too good about the situation. He felt what Claus and him were doing was wrong just by the way his parents looked at them.

"O-Oh," Ness stammered. His interlaced his fingers out of nervousness. "We were just playing music." Claus noticed the uneasy atmosphere, and went a little bit closer to Ness and faced his parents.

The father did not reply, but instead looked to Claus. He looked him up and down, to and fro. He nodded of slight approval. "Duster surely knew how to clean you up, young one."

Claus pursed his lips together a little. It felt like he was going to say something, but just ended up nodding.

"What is your name? Forgive me, I haven't asked yet," the father continued.

"My name is Claudius." He bowed down respectfully.

"Ah, 'Claudius,'" the king repeated. He stared at Claus for a while longer, then went back to Ness. The raven-haired boy stood at attention.

"Well, now that you two have had your fun, I think you should go to sleep now, Ness," the father said authoritatively. He looks at Claus. "And you have early work tomorrow with Duster, go to bed."

"Y-Yes, Your Highness." Claus bowed again nervously and glanced at Ness before trailing out and leaving the performance room altogether. As soon as he was out, the king decided to speak to his son.

Ness looked up to his father anxiously. He wasn't expecting anything good to come of this.

The king looked unsure as he let out a deep sigh. "What were you two doing in here?"

"U-Um…" Ness rubbed the back of his head nervously. "We were just having a little fun playing music, is all."

"...But you do know that doing so at this time and place is strictly prohibited." The father didn't look pleased at all; neither was Ness' mother. "Please understand, I know he is your age and you would want to talk to him, but your mother and I would rather you not."

"Why?!" Ness immediately asked. He didn't expect such a reaction. Claus worked in the castle anyway, so why not be able to even conversate with him?

"Well, he's…" The king found it hard to say. "He's certainly not a noble…" He made a disgusted face unintentionally.

Ness was taken aback. He already knew what his father meant. "No way…" The boy was angry. "You won't allow me to talk to him because he's a commoner, huh?" A corner of Ness' mouth bent with seething rage.

"Ness, please don't make this hard," his mother came in, "you are aware that royals cannot make any relationships with outsiders. You've been taught this; we are bathed in holy light that cannot be tainted."

"Yes, yes I have been taught that…" Ness couldn't hold back his words. "But it's complete bullshit!" he cursed. "What about Duster then? Why can I talk to him?"

"Duster is different," the mother tried her best to reason, "he is loyal and has proven it to us, but Claudius came from the slums. No family, no background, he is nothing special to become friends with. Leave him alone."

"How can you say that?" Ness puzzled. He couldn't believe what they were saying; were they actually that full of themselves? "Just because he came from nothing doesn't make him any less—"

"Ness, ENOUGH!" the king boomed throughout the room. "Have some respect for your own mother."

Ness couldn't help but glare at them. He stopped talking because he knew that there was no winning this argument. His parents had a different mindset, and Ness had to deal with it.

"Go to your room," the king ordered, "get some sleep, you have a lot to do tomorrow."

Ness furrowed his brows and stomped away. When he got to the end of the room and exited through the doors, he went into the hallway. He was going to turn to go to his room, until the orange haired boy surprised him.

"Ness…!" Claus called out to him worriedly. He was waiting for the prince just outside the performance room.

"H-Huh?" Ness didn't expect the boy to still be around. "Claus! You should be in your room," the boy cautioned him.

"W-Well I was just wondering if you were going to be okay…" Claus made a face of concern. "Did anything happen? Did you get in trouble?"

Ness went silent, he found it hard to tell Claus, but he does. "They said… not to be around you, or talk to you."

Claus had a neutral expression that faded into disappointment. His eyebrows lowered, and his mouth shaped into a frown. "...Why?"

"..." Ness didn't know how to answer.

"...I think I already know. I knew something like this would happen…"

The prince's eyes widened.

"Is it because I'm not royalty?" Claus asked, "Because I'm a commoner? A peasant? Low-class?" He labeled himself multiple times in a negative way. The way he said it seemed to beat himself up as he did so.

"Don't call yourself that." Ness took one of Claus' hands. "You're not what other people call you. My parents are out of their minds. All of royalty is crazy."

Claus sighed. "I know…" He looked away. He squeezed Ness' hand that he held onto. "But that doesn't change anything. I just don't know anymore." Claus looked back to Ness. "Did I waste my time trying to come here? Maybe our friendship was never meant to work out?"

"Claus." The way the orange haired boy was talking was making Ness' heart hurt.

Out of nowhere, Ness pulled Claus into an embrace. Ness held onto him possessively. Claus shook from nervousness before he hugged him back. It felt warm and so right; like him and Ness were matching puzzle pieces.

"Please don't say stuff like that. It makes me feel like you're going to leave me," Ness admitted. Claus' cheeks got a bit red from that.

"Princey..." Claus trailed, "we… have to think of this more realistically. If us even talking to each other is a problem, then shouldn't we just end it all here now? It'll be easier, before we get attached." The boy pushed himself off of Ness to look him in the eye. "Princey," Claus repeated, "are you listening?"

When Claus looked into Ness' eyes, all he saw were dark orbs. His usual shining eyes were dulled out as Ness' brows lowered. He clearly wasn't happy at how negative Claus was being; however, the prince knew he wasn't wrong. Thinking about them not being friends anymore felt like it was too unfair.

"I am listening…" Ness told him. He bit his lip. "But I don't want you to leave. I don't understand why we should even listen to them. This isn't fair at all; I didn't even get to know you."

Claus rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He felt like Ness was really holding onto their relationship, and that somehow still gave him hope. For both of them, it was hard to leave each other.

"Are you… going to leave?" Ness painfully brought up.

Claus looked uncertain. His expression went from sad, to worried, then to determined. From there, he stepped up closer to Ness with newfound energy.

"No," Claus said confidently, "we'll figure this out no matter what they say about us. Until then, we need to keep ourselves on the down-low."

When Claus said that, Ness felt his heart rise up again. He was glad Claus wouldn't leave or give up so easily. Even though a solution couldn't be thought of for their noble-commoner relationship, they were determined to get past obstacles together.

With that, Claus held out a hand for Ness to shake, and the prince took it. They smiled at each other tenaciously; they were determined to make their friendship work out.