The surprised truant practically melted into the kiss.

With the distance between them gone, Xavier’s fingers slid into the soft hair at the back of Luca’s head while his other hand settled at the small of his wife’s back, drawing him flush against his chest.

Their bodies pressed together, Luca’s warmth meeting Xavier’s natural chill, the contrast rising between them like steam.

"Hnnn..."

As if he’d been deprived, the Prince’s lips were tender yet somewhat desperate, his tongue coaxing Luca’s into a mesmerizing rhythm that left them both breathless.

As the kiss deepened, Xavier guided him backward until Luca’s back met the closed door. Even then, he remained careful, keeping a hand behind his wife’s head to shield himself from the hard door as he held him there, close and unyielding.

Safe to say, the easily startled critter had been surprised upon being gathered by those familiar and comforting arms, but the moment their lips met, he softened completely.

A shaky breath escaped him into the kiss, sounding almost relieved, like he had finally found something he’d been missing all along.

Breathing him in before pulling back slightly, Xavier kept his gaze fixed squarely on his fox’s blushing face.

"You said you wanted to try your hand at seduction?"

"...!"

Luca froze, clearly caught off guard by how directly it was asked. His breath hitched before he managed a quiet, honest answer.

"Y-yes... I mean... the nice ladies said it’s better to be proactive," he admitted, voice small but sincere. "If you don’t address things early, the relationship might... fizzle out."

He couldn’t help but hesitate. But since he was an honest wife who couldn’t help but tell his husband everything, he eventually let it all out.

"That’s why I asked earlier," Luca went on, growing more earnest as he spoke. "They said it’s possible to fix it by restarting the cycle with attraction and seduction, but I don’t know how to do those, so I-I have to practice! Not to mention learn techniques to begin with—!"

By the end of his very passionate speech, there was a determined edge to his voice, even if his face was still red.

Xavier, just as he’d been doing a lot in the past months, blinked at him, momentarily speechless.

Of course.

Really, for some reason, he should’ve expected something like this.

"It’s not that anything’s wrong," Luca added quickly, almost like he was defending himself. "But because I don’t even want to imagine our relationship fizzling out, I figured it’d be best to make a more consistent effort! So I-I really want to get it right."

His eyes were wide, filled with a quiet but very real fear.

Xavier stared at him for a moment, clearly taken aback by how serious he sounded. Then, instead of answering right away, he leaned forward, resting his head lightly against Luca’s shoulder and nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

The golden-eyed cadet was momentarily confused and perplexed, but he was pleasantly taken aback when his husband’s voice came out muffled and reassuring.

"I’m not claiming that it’s impossible, because that’s a reality for many," Xavier murmured, embracing his wife tighter.

"But you know... because we’re both taking initiative to be closer to each other, I believe we’re already off to a great start."

The suddenly relaxing cadet asked softly, hope audible in his question, "Really?"

"Mn. I believe so."

Just the thought of his wife confirming something like that made the normally stoic Prince sigh in quiet, conflicted satisfaction.

Xavier felt like an asshole, alright.

Clearly, hearing such concern for their relationship gave him an indescribable feeling.

Thankfully, he wasn’t so morally far gone as to want to hold on to that feeling instead of offering the reassurance his beloved deserved.

Xavier pulled back just enough to look at his extremely hardworking wife. "Besides... while the ladies were right in a way, I think they forgot about an important part."

"Eh?"

"Yeah. About how it’s really not one person’s job to maintain a relationship."

"!!!"

Luca looked embarrassed that they’d been so easily caught in their quest for knowledge, but the focused husband simply continued.

"See, it might’ve felt more difficult to maintain and salvage a relationship because the other person also let the ball drop. After all, the load should ideally be carried by both people for the best results."

"...So when you said you have to get it right, well, I don’t really think so. It’s more like we both have to get to a point we’d both be happy about instead of having one person run around making all the effort."

"Huh?" Luca tilted his head as his husband paused, seemingly searching for the best way to explain.

"Hmm... Okay, maybe let’s try it this way."

"Imagine sending loads and loads of messages, only to receive no replies because the recipient didn’t bother to respond?"

"As an excited sender, until when would it be possible to keep sending messages that would likely remain unanswered?"

Luca, not completely understanding the connection just yet, simply thought about it before saying, "Probably not long, because wouldn’t that be disrespectful? And I’d worry about me becoming too bothersome for the other person."

Xavier nodded.

"Yes. As you can imagine, most would think the same way. And for the most part, that’s how relationships eventually come to a standstill. Conversations stop connecting, and eventually... everything just slows down until it stops."

He shifted slightly, still holding Luca close.

"Now, there are so many other versions of this..."

"Like those who end up frantically sending messages after realizing they’ve been silent for too long, only to question why no replies ever come. Or those who don’t send anything at all, too afraid of a bad response—or being ignored."

Luca was listening carefully and thought that none of that would feel good.

If he sent a message and his husband didn’t respond for a very long time without an explanation...

No.

He felt his heart squeeze and shook his head to avoid thinking about something that sounded so dreadful.

"Terrible scenarios, all of them, right?"

The worried chipmunk nodded eagerly. Xavier smiled reassuringly, caressing his wife’s cheek.

"But see, upon scrutinizing the scenarios, you’d come to notice that there are always two parties in the equation."

"!"