The Lover and the Punisher

As it turned out, Nyx had found himself quite enthralled with a certain party member. As much as he stalked around the other people in the group, he found himself quite liking Jasper. The cute, big lug of the group. He liked him so, so much.

Indeed, he liked him so that it became rather obvious who is affections were usually for. He would tease and touch the other man as much as possible, often plain forgetting about the other people traveling with them. Whenever possible, Nyx would volunteer himself and Jasper out for missions together, alone. Whenever they were alone, Nyx's demeanor changed quite a bit. He would stop his incessant touching and fondling, and instead, he would become civil and pleasant to be around. Of course, it was only Jasper who got to see this side of him.

Their travels had brought them to set up camp in the cold wilderness. Fortunately, they had managed to find a hot springs, which served as a nice break from the cold. Even more fortunate was the fact that it was incredibly large, meaning that Nyx could corner Jasper in a nice little private place. Which he had just done.

"Sooo." He grinned widely, adjusting the towel that hid his horns. "What should we talk about today~?"

"Not touching my butt," said Jasper quietly, conspiciously holding back tears. The scary man, whom he had learned after months of pain and agony and butt-touching was named Nyx, was standing far too close to him again. "Please, just leave me alone--I don't have any money."

"Come on, I thought we were past that." He waved his hand, laughing. "Okay, fine, we'll talk about...What's beneath my towel!"

He pointed to his peculiary shaped towel, which was wrapped specifically to keep his horns from showing. "Come on, I bet you're cuuuuuuuuuuuuurious!!"

"I'm not. I just want to go home. Home would be nice," he mumbled. "Please don't stand so close--you're invading my personal bubble. I'm not allowed to do this without an adult..."

Nyx moved closer, until he was just a few inches away from Jasper.

"Well, I'm sorry you can't go home, but I know a way I could make you feel allllll better~" He grinned widely, giggling. "Oh, and I am an adult, so don't worry!"

Actually, Nyx was only 17. But never mind the details.

"You can only make me feel like I want to die," he said truthfully, sniffling. "You're a bad person and I don't like you."

He laughed slightly, but he also felt a twinge of guilt.

"Look, I really do like you, why do you hate me so much? I can change, if you really want; what do I have to do?" He smiled warmly at him.

He glanced at him warily.

"I dunno...you scare me. Lots. I don't like scary people, and you're scary. All of you are. 'Cept maybe the nice man with the pink hair."

"I'm sorry, how can I become less scary?" He asked, taking a step back. "Here, I'll even give you some space! Am I less scary now?"

He nodded, still watching Nyx warily.

"I don't like you more, though."

"Right! What should I do, then? I'll do anything." He grinned, sinking down lower into the water. "Come on, I can't really be that bad, can I?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation, "Yes you can. Really."

He just smiled sheepishly.

"Alright, look; I'll stop touching you, how about that?" He offered, standing back up so he could adjust his towel. "Is that good?"

"Now you just have to stop talking to me," he said seriously. "Forever."

"...Alright." He said, smiling still. "Well, bye, then~"

Jasper nodded solemnly. Maybe he could stop wearing three pairs of pants to bed now.

Nyx kept his end of the deal, too. He left Jasper alone in the hot spring, moving over to the main group and harassing someone else, instead.

Jasper sat alone in his corner, finally feeling less scared. In fact, he even began to smile a little; hot springs weren't so scary when there was no one around to touch his butt.

Fortunately for him, Nyx completely avoided him from then on, pretending as if he didn't exist. From the hot spring on, he kept to himself, trailing behind the group on his own. His smile stayed on his face, but he was quiet and detached.

Jasper would glance at Nyx every once in a while; though he certainly didn't miss his attention, he seemed so sad and...empty, nowadays. It was almost creepier than before.

One day, unable to take it any longer, he trailed behind the group just so he could say something.

"...A lot of walking, huh?" he said awkwardly, panicking; he had never been good at conversation. Or really anything at all.

Nyx jumped, surprised. He had been staring at the ground, rather solemnly for him. He wiped at his eyes hastily, putting a smile back on his face as soon as he could.

"Oh, yeah, it is, huh?" He said, but his voice was shaky. It was rather obvious he had been crying. "I mean, it's more than usual today, I noticed. I count the miles lately."

"Oh," he said, still unsure of how to reply. Still panicking, he blurted out, "NICE WEATHER WE ARE HAVING RIGHT I GUESS."

Nyx grinned, suddenly feeling much better. He reached over to grope Jasper before he remembered. He awkwardly moved his hand back, grimacing to himself slightly.

"At least it's not so cold anymore, right?"

"COLD AS BUTTS," he replied, giving Nyx a look of pure horror and shock. Even he didn't knwo what he was saying, at this point.

Nyx just sort of looked at him.

"...Look, you don't have to talk to me. I know you're happier without me."