The ghost of Yunho's touch on his horns had haunted Mingi into his dreams. Only that this time, Yunho had done more than just caress his horns. He had tipped back Mingi's head with a gentle grip on the curved appendages, and then he had leaned over to kiss Mingi. And their lips had melted into each other in a touch so pleasant that Mingi felt as if floating.

Mingi had awoken to the man's necklaces hitting his face and making both of them laugh so hard he startled himself awake.

That day, when Mingi arrived at Yunho's room, the man was already up and about. San was back, although he wore leather attire fit for a long riding trip. Curiously, Mingi followed their conversation as he arranged the food.

"You take care of yourself. I won't be gone for long, but especially now I hate being separated," San just said in Yunho's general direction. Both of their faces matched with deep wrinkles on their foreheads.

"Then return as soon as possible. I will hold this fortress and await good news."

They hugged for a brief moment. Despite the tense air, San was flirtatious enough to smack a kiss on Yunho's cheek before he pulled back. He had to stretch for that.

San whisked out of the room without sparing Mingi another glance. Once he left, Yunho smiled at Mingi in greeting and came to sit down with him. The troubled sigh that fell from his lips weighed on Mingi's heart.

"What's going on?"

"Another horn-stealing case this morning. This time, they treaded the territory of the Choi kingdom. The victim lost their life to the bleeding." Yunho's voice was glum. When Mingi rose a hand in front of his lips to mask his horror, the prince exhaled again.

"San and my father set out to discuss matters with the Choi kingdom. The royals aren't safe with such a killer going around. Despite them just being a pixie, they are deadly. I will watch over the castle for the next few days."

The image that the murder painted was cruel. A demon, horns sawed off at the base where most nerves laid and dying of blood loss. The pain must have been horrendous. Mingi shuddered at the imagination. He was barely hungry anymore. Still, he idly tugged his bread apart to dunk it into his soup.

The dancing flames in the fireplace couldn't raise their mood. Brooding, they sat together and ate quietly until even the last crumbs had disappeared. Mingi waited until Yunho finished, too, tail swishing behind him slowly.

Once Yunho had leaned back and stacked the bowls together neatly, he searched Mingi's face.

"Then what will you do today? More meetings?" Mingi inquired quietly. If one of their citizens had died, Yunho would have had to visit the town and pay them his respects and attend the cremation. However, this time, he shook his head.

"No, I have nothing to do. Usually, I try to distract myself from this gloominess with physical labour. So I will probably go to the stables and help clean out Ave's box. If you want, you can take the morning off."

Mingi hesitated. He didn't want to be alone with such scary thoughts poisoning his mind. But even less, he wanted Yunho to be alone in this mood. Every missing smile on his lips made Mingi's heart ache.

"Can I accompany you?"

If Yunho was surprised, he didn't show it. Only the ghost of a subdued grin tugged on his lips.

"Of course. Although you might want to change into a different coloured shirt for that work. Shall we meet in the stables in a while?"

With an enthusiastic nod, Mingi stood. He loaded the tray on his arms and dipped out of the room to change into one of his old working shirts. A few minutes later, and covered by a spotty brown shirt he had tucked into his pants so it wouldn't ride up and expose his still healing navel to the grime, Mingi appeared in the stables. Yunho was here already, standing tall in simple pants and a grey linen shirt. For once, he was dressed like an ordinary person and without too many dainty dangling accessories. Nevertheless, his aura gave his rank away.

Mingi stepped up next to him. Yunho flashed him a grin as he handed over one of the pitchforks he held.

"We get full reign to clean as much as we want. Ave is a must, but we can do that at the end and until then just have fun getting rid of our stress."

The stable boy looked at Yunho with gleaming eyes, both thankful to get the day free and captivated by his radiance. Mingi related to that gaze all too well.

They picked adjoining stalls so they could talk through the bars on the upper half of the wooden walls. The moment Mingi's pitchfork dug into the smelling carpet of hay and horse droppings, Mingi felt back at home. As laborious as it could be, Yunho was right that the dull work on their muscles was meditative. Mingi didn't need to use his brain. He could just merrily shovel away while the horses played outside in the yard.

A few minutes in, Mingi already rolled up his sleeve to focus his entire being on his task. One stall over, he heard Yunho's quickened breath as he scooped the heavy loads off. Once his barrow was full, Mingi rose back to his full height to glance over to Yunho. The man had matched his speed, his messy hair appearing at the same time.

Together, they wheeled the barrows out behind the back to the composting area. As they walked, Yunho's tail played with Mingi's behind their backs, offering a game. The idly swishing tips were so familiar with each other by now. Any other tail than Yunho's double jagged one against Mingi's would feel foreign.

"I already feel my migraine subsiding. What about you?" Yunho glanced down at him, his eyes resting heavily on the exposed muscles in Mingi's arms.

"Me too. I much prefer muscle aches over my brain exploding with anxiety." Mingi let Yunho go first as he dumped the barrow over. A few curious birds hopped out of the way, too brave to fly off.

Yunho waited for him as Mingi did the same. Then they made their way back inside into the cooler stables that smelled of fresh hay. Once more, they returned to their posts to repeat the program. For a few hours, nothing but their shovelling and the occasional quips between them filled their day. The clanging of metal on stone and the sound of hooves was all they heard for a while.

They had cleaned out about two dozen stalls when Yunho leaned back against his pitchfork and wiped his face with his dirty sleeve. Mingi piled up the last bit of grime as well and rose to look at the other man. A welcoming ache in his back distracted him and had him stretch with a sigh.

"Shall we finish with Ave? I could eat a horse, and I don't want to endanger our devoted friends here," Yunho suggested with a relaxed grin. At Mingi's giggle, they both cleaned up the barrows and assembled at Ave's bay. She stood inside, watching the two of them with fiery eyes.

"Better not try to eat her. You might get eaten instead," Mingi jested at a look at the noble horse. She snorted, as if in response.

Yunho dipped in first and opened the door for her to shoo her out. The other stable attendants had cleaned up behind Yunho and Mingi, giving the horses fresh hay and food and leading them back inside. Ave got to play with the two others still outside. Both of them stood huddled as far away from Ave as possible.

Side by side and with their shoulders and tails brushing every so often, Mingi and Yunho went to work. Yunho told Mingi a story about his little brother amusedly, how he had loved to sleep in the stables when he was still younger because he liked their scent. Until one night he had awoken to the sight of Ave watching him from her door and nearly suffered a heart attack.

The two of them laughed about it as they finished in record time. Soon, they handed the pitchforks and barrows back to the stable boy.

"We'll take care of her food and hay, so you don't have to dare that dance today," Yunho told the boy kindly. Once more awed, the demon nodded quickly.

Mingi wiped his hands on his pants and looked at Yunho. With a grin, the prince pointed at the ladder leading up into the attic.

"Straw's up there. Let's go."

Yunho went first, scaling the bolted ladder until his swishing tail disappeared from sight. When Mingi followed, he found himself among an ocean of gold. Both simple mountains of straw and orderly packages of it filled the entire attic. It was backed off with some barrels and crates in a corner, but wherever Mingi looked, was just soft ground that he wanted to throw himself into. The smell of the accompanying hay in a corner made Mingi's nose itch pleasantly.

Yunho instantly picked up on Mingi's longing gaze.

"Want to take a dip?"

With a sigh, Mingi shook his head.

"No, no, I shouldn't play around during work. Let's-"

A rough shove on his shoulder interrupted his dejected murmur. Shocked, Mingi stumbled backwards, his hand shooting out to grab onto Yunho. If the prince would have made the effort, he could have stabilised Mingi easily. But instead, his fanged grin flashed as they went down together.

A soft pillow of loose straw caught Mingi's back, only to divert to viciously poking his skin a moment after. When Yunho's body came crashing down on him, Mingi yelped, terrified that his horns could have hurt the man.

At his noise, Yunho pushed his giggling self up to look down on Mingi.

"I apologise, did I hurt you?" Despite the innocent question, he still grinned deviously, proud of his prank well executed.

Pouting, Mingi shoved at his shoulders without actually trying to get him to move. Yunho balanced his weight, so he wasn't too heavy, and Mingi liked how they pressed together.

"You could have hurt yourself, idiot prince. I don't wear this scar for nothing."

With a hum, Yunho gently ran his thumb over Mingi's split brow, getting a feel for it. If he noticed Mingi's flat breaths and skipping heartbeat, he didn't comment on it. The faint touch alone had Mingi's lashes flutter.

"Maybe I wanted to look just as savage with it as you," Yunho commented, with no worry in the world. Weak, Mingi's tail twitched against the poking straw. For nothing in the world would he exchange his comfort with Yunho removing himself. Not when they were pressed up against each other in the hay, in a position witnesses would perceive that ambiguous.

Mingi did his best not to look at Yunho's lips, even when they were so close. His eyes nearly crossed, trying to maintain eye contact with Yunho.

The prince snickered at his shy reaction. Then, before Mingi had any reason to protest, he pulled back.

Demons never felt cold. Mingi felt empty instead.

Yunho gave Mingi his hand in a treaty. Once he had pulled him up, he picked some rogue straw from Mingi's hair and clothes. Again, he stood close enough that Mingi could smell him. He just wanted to wrap his arms around Yunho's unoccupied waist and hold on to him while the man plucked him free.

"Sorry again. But you just looked too pitiful over not getting to play." With a smirk, Yunho stepped back. Mingi grumbled at him, not offended as they went back to work.

Once Ave had got her hay and straw, she also demanded fresh lava - of course this horse didn't want water - and food. Mingi was able to feed her one of the carrots he had harvested long ago that had landed in the stables. He counted it as a win when she only bumped her skull into his chest, not throwing him over this time.

As soon as their work was finished, Mingi felt the exhaustion creeping up on him. Just like Yunho, he was starving, and he wanted to lie down to relax his back for a while. First, however, he would have to accompany Yunho to dinner.

"Let's take a bath first. I think my mom will have my head if I appear in the dining room like this." Yunho snickered at his own appearance. He still had some hay stuck in his hair, but Mingi didn't have the heart to remove it just yet.

They dragged their tired limbs up the stairs. Both of them ached all over with the pleasant pain of a job well done. And it had worked. For a while, Mingi hadn't thought about anything else than shovelling. With a free mind, they got ready for dinner, where the depressing matter undoubtedly would resurface again.