There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)

"Four days and that girl looked like she had known you for her whole life," Bassena commented as their plane took off. With his vision, he could see the girl who was still waving her hands with a sad face on the ground. "I almost thought I truly left for three years."

Zein smiled as he looked out of the window. He couldn’t see as well as Bassena, but he could still make out the shape of Elena and the templars who guarded her. She had insisted that she would go with Zein until the safe-zone’s airport.

"We did spend a lot of time together," Zein reminisced a little bit. "Since she was the only one with free time."

"Well, you do have a soft spot for younger kids."

Zein glanced at the esper and smirked. "Ah, that’s right. You’re no longer younger than me, huh? Technically," he leaned away from the stunned Bassena. "I wonder if you’re still the cute boyfriend I once had."

"Y-you said cuteness has nothing to do with age!"

"But the younger ones do look cuter," the guide shrugged.

"Ugh--"

Bassena couldn’t deny that, and felt a sudden crisis. The serious, panicking face prompted Zein to break his stifled laugh. "Pfft--this is why I told you it doesn’t matter. Would it change things if you were older?"

"Well...I just..." Bassena pursed his lips and slumped on his seat. "I just thought you’d see me less of a brat that way."

Zein laughed and patted the esper’s cheek with the back of his fingers. "Rest assured; I’ll still play with you even if you act like a brat."