"M-Miss Shiratori!" Orion blushed, hiding behind his blanket out of sheer shame, "You really don't have to do this!"

The orange-haired male hid very delicately, trying to escape in some way from the situation he had created. It was true that he wanted the older girl to visit him more often and to take care of him, but he never thought she really would. Finding himself a bit ashamed at the things she was making him do, the boy didn't know what else to do. Despite that, though, there was still a childish smile on his face.

"I told you I would come in here every single day. You had proper warnings. Now you have to follow my rules."

"But I told you I can't eat any more. I really tried. I promise."

"You ate all of three bites before giving up."

The prince pouted as the girl went quiet. He rather enjoyed hearing her talk, particularly because she was always very gentle with him. And though he knew she would usually be very stern to other people, especially Presley, it made him feel nice and special. At the thought, he bit down on his lip and lifted up the corner of his blanket, peeking out of it innocently. A few moments passed where he was able to see the girl smiling at him.

Then she practically snatched him out of the blanket, hand on his jaw to control him. Firmly but calculatedly, she squeezed him there and made him sit up, the male giving a squeak out of surprise. She then squeezed a little more, forcing him to open his mouth. Though he was only enthralled at the way she looked in his eyes, fiddling shyly as his heart raced, she had other plans. The girl shoved a spoonful of soup into his mouth, the boy's eyes shooting open in complete surprise.

"Well, you're not throwing up, so that's a good sign. I knew you could eat more. Is it that you don't want to, instead?"

Orion looked on worldlessly. Even if she asked him if he enjoyed the soup, he didn't respond, only looking away nervously and shrinking away. To stop him from retreating again, she grabbed onto his blanket and pried open his mouth again. Narrowing her eyes, she glared at him, instructing him to "swallow". Partially out of fear and partially out of something else, the male obeyed, but gave a disgusted look afterwards. She rewarded him with a head pat and a slice of cucumber. He began munching at it, a bit more pleased with that food item.

"Have you tried weight gain shakes?"

"Nasty," he sighed, turning his head away immaturely as she held up another spoonful of soup.

"Well, you'll starve to death soon enough if you don't gain any weight. Look at this stomach. Flat as a board."

The prince flushed as she began poking at his stomach. Defensively, he wrapped his arms around it and turned around, pulling his blanket over his shoulders. She had touched a particularly sore spot, the male most self conscious about his twig-like body. Of course, she had only said it to elicit such a reaction, in particular, trying to encourage him to eat one way or another. Still, she grabbed a sunflower seed and cracked it in half. Though he was pouting, as she dangled the food item in front of him, he very eagerly grabbed it and began nibbling on it. When he ran out of it, he shyly turned back around and looked from the bag of seeds to her. He would do it again and again until she had enough of the hint and began opening more for him.

"Maybe you just don't have an appetite for cooked things," the girl hummed, understanding his taste lay more within untouched natural foods like veggies, nuts, or seeds, "Let's see how many of these you can eat."

Orion seemed doubtful. Even something as small as a sunflower seed could fill him up. Eventually, the girl started throwing in pumpkin seeds, too, the male very eager to eat those, as if they were a rare treat. By the time she had started slowing down, he had eaten one handful of both variants of seed. When her hands started hurting, she noticed the male staring wistfully at the remaining seeds. His puppy dog eyes were horribly effective.

"Are you tired?" he mumbled, regretful for making her labor for him, "If I call Atlas, he can deshell them for me."

Though the boy moved to press the button next to his bed, presumably used to call said male, she stopped him. The girl gently placed her hand on his, to which he started heating up. She had been touching him a lot more than she used to, not that he minded. In fact, he very much liked the attention, particularly because it was from her. It didn't really matter if she was scolding him or praising him. He just liked her being there with him.

"You can try to do it yourself."

"What? Of course I can't. Presley always has someone do it for me so I don't get hurt."

"Who cares what he thinks? You won't know if you can do it unless you try. Besides, if you learn how to do this yourself, it'll be easy for you to snack on these. If you eat enough, maybe you can gain some weight that way."

Orion was skeptical, and even almost scared of the proposition. After all, even stamping his own seal was carefully done with the help of the coral-haired man or Atlas. They were always doing things for him that they called dangerous. He knew his body was weak. He knew better than anyone, so doing something like cracking open a seed seemed accident prone. Still, when she kept pushing him to try, he couldn't say no. The male was easily subject to peer pressure.

"How do I...do it?" he questioned, nervously holding the plier-looking devices she had handed him.

"Well, first put in a seed and clamp around it," she explained, helping him position a seed in the cracker, "and then squeeze it."

Hesitantly, the male closed his eyes and began exerting more pressure. Though it took him a while to slowly use more force, the male quivering more with every second passing, he was making progress. When he had a hunch he was doing something wrong, he peeked one eye open, only for the seed to split in two as he did so. He dropped the device entirely in his shock, forcing her to catch it, but, nonetheless, she let out a loud, genuine laugh that made his tense form relax. He blushed and held his hands back out, the girl placing the desheller back in his hands.

"You did it," she laughed, receiving the male's absolute astonishment, "Now just pry the two sides away from one another."

Continuing to follow instructions, the male grabbed the tiny seed inside and held it up in awe. He had done it! There wasn't much that he had managed to do on his own, but he just learned something else. Beaming from ear to ear, he moved to crack another one open. Then another. Then a fourth. He kept doing it until he found he was exhausted, ending up with a little less than a handful in the end. The prince then gawked at (Y/n), silently conveying his shock to her, only for her to reward him.

"See? I told you so."

Out of pride for his progress, she began to caress his cheek, removing the crumbs around his mouth. Very affectionately, he leaned into her, soothed by the way she nursed him. It wasn't that he didn't like being babied. He just enjoyed it in moderation, as he did with most things, including food. After all, in the royal family, he had always been the baby, coddled and taken care of since the moment of his birth. But, contrary to what he was beginning to think, he really did adore that kind of affection.

"You did good, but, with all that energy you used, I doubt you'll end up gaining any weight from those. That's a shame."

"Is there an easier way to do it?"

"Well, there is, but..."

Instead of explaining the process, the girl decided on just showing him. She remembered a time when she would eat nothing but seeds. Her father used to deshell them for her one at a time, spending all day doing that and that alone, but she learned herself, eventually. Swirling the seed around, she bit down twice before sticking out her tongue to show the male both the unshelled part and the outside, completely separated from one another. He almost choked on the seed he was nibbling on.

"Usually, I would just spit out the shell, but I'm keeping my manners."

"I...don't think I can do that," the male chuckled awkwardly.

"I used to be able to do a lot of them at once, but I doubt I'd be able to do it now. Should we see?"

Orion nodded eagerly, as if he was prepared to be her own personal cheerleader. He then watched closely as she attempted, but, ultimately, she ended up spitting out the seeds, only one of them partially cracked open. She laughed, knowing she had long since abandoned that particular talent. After all, now she had access to cheesy puffs. They were always fully stocked wherever Haru went, so she far preferred them, as far as ease of eating went.

"What else can we feed you? Ice cream?" A look of disgust. "Then, maybe, cake?" Another one. "How about other desserts?"

"I like cucumbers."

"I know you do, but they're mostly water. Speaking of which, how much water do you have?"

"I don't know. Atlas always fills up the carafe at least three times every day."

(Y/n) assessed the water container in the boy's room, a bit surprised at the extent to which he drank water. He must have had at least five liters of water a day, surprising considering his size. It explained his lack of appetite somewhat, but he was still needing to eat, even if he didn't feel like it. Of course, she was no expert, but she knew he shouldn't eat until he popped. That was a job for his dieticians, though, she couldn't say they were doing a good enough job, looking at his state.

"Well, I'll see if there's something else I can do, but why don't we do something fun?"

"Yeah?!"

"I noticed there were a lot more birds around your room. You must have folded them while I was away."

"I did, but...it's a little hard to make more."

"Why? Did you get a paper cut?"

Though he tried to inspect his hand, he simply shook his head somberly. She thought this was a serious matter, but, as he explained he had run out of names to give them, she had to bite back a laugh. The look on his face was one of pure regret, as if he genuinely thought he had done something wrong or broken the magic somehow. She planted her face on his bed, letting out a shaky breath. He was the most adorable idiot she had ever met.

"Are you disappointed?" he sniffled, tears pooling up in his gorgeous teal eyes, "I'm sorry. I just...I couldn't think of any more, and I thought, if I asked someone else, the magic wouldn't work. I-I could only find a few more in some books, but..."

Before he fully descended into tears, she clasped her hands on his cheek and took in another very deep breath. He took that as a sign that she no longer wanted anything to do with him. That was probably due to his own experiences with people leaving him behind, but he was taking it far too seriously. Folding a thousand birds wasn't a task she had given him to do, but something for him to keep busy or to gleam a little hope from. In that regard, as he had so missed the point entirely, she supposed she was a little disappointed.

"You don't have to name them," she sighed, wanting nothing more than to tell him outright how stupid his thoughts were, "And you definitely don't have to stop folding them just because of something like that. The..magic...has nothing to do with giving them names."

"No?"

"Nope. Just fold a thousand of them and you can make a wish. Don't you think I would have told you if there was something more you had to do?"

Orion nodded somberly like a child, only fully grasping the concept as she ruffled his hair up affectionately. He then began to eat the sunflower seeds he had deshelled himself, only for Presley to walk in. The knight had long been suspicious of the girl's recent visits, particularly concerned with all the bad habits she gave the prince. As if the boy in question didn't understand, he showed the knight the seeds and beamed.

"I did this myself! Isn't that incredible?!"

As she expected, the knight did not think it was "incredible". Far from it, he glowered at the girl for teaching him such things. Orion was royalty. Whether he was sick or not, he had no need to deshell his own seeds. In much the same way, he didn't have to grab his own water or cook his own meals, etc. The only thing that he had responsibility over was showing the might of the royal family.

"He needs to gain some weight," the girl explained, receiving a predictable scoff.

"I know that without you needing to tell me. I know him best."

"I don't doubt that, but, if you keep running your pathetic little mouth like that, you'll need to take the responsibility that comes with those words. If you know he needs to gain weight, find a way. If you know he's unhappy, make him happy. If you know he wants to do something, for the love of fuck, let him do it."

Orion tensed up at the atmosphere, particularly concerned about whether or not she had started hating the knight enough to stop visiting. She really did hate Presley enough to waste hours of her day just to spite him. And though Orion would have preferred she stayed more so because she liked him, it was okay for now. At least, it gave him time to get that point. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear, he tugged shyly on her shirt.

"Um, Miss Shiratori, do you think - "

"Hold that thought."

(Y/n) answered her ringing phone, presumably listening to the person on the other end as she went quiet. He observed her disappointingly, feeling a pang in his heart. Even though he really did like Haru, he hoped he wasn't calling her away. Just spending the day with her didn't seem to be enough any more. No one treated him the way she did, though, it might have been for good reason. She could be a bit forceful at times, the male glancing over at her form. The girl seemed to be mad, especially as her face contorted and she began to speak.

"And you didn't think to call me?!"

As Orion flinched from the intense tone, she began to calm herself. Changing her posture and using a slower but more firm voice, she scolded the person on the other end. They seemed to have done something to upset her, but, still, she was dialing back her voice on account of Orion. He blushed and watched curiously, wondering just what could make her so mad. Since she never raised her voice like that at Haru, he figured it wasn't him. That made him a little happier though he wasn't sure why since he idolized the brunette so much.

"Does it matter that I'm out of the country? I gave clear, specific instructions to you to alert me of anything, small or big. If you had just forwarded me the concerns, I would have easily been able to root out the problem and prevent any further damage." A pause. "No, that's not your responsibility. I didn't hire you because you had some sort of innate talent for detecting structure instability." Another pause where she became even more livid, tapping her foot impatiently. "Did she or did she not provide a solution? A yes or a no. We're not playing this game. You can say one of three things. You can say 'yes'. You can say 'no'. Or you can tell me you quit."

Orion was a bit awed. He had seen Presley work to manage the palace staff, but it wasn't exactly the same. For one, the coral-haired man was a bit more in control of his emotions, to the point where he could put up with his anger, if only to hold the prestige of the royal family. (Y/n), on the other hand, was not shy about expressing her dissatisfaction. Though, the prince figured the person on the other end had done something to deserve being scolded. After all, at her core, she was a more logical person.

He was even more in awe as the woman started hearing something she really didn't like. She began fiddling with her shirt, trying just about anything to drive away the stuffy feeling of anger. However, it didn't seem to work. Instead, she started pacing around or playing with her hair, but, in much the same way, it only served to make her more worked up. That was when she took a seat on the male's bed and somewhat aggressively pulled his head down on her lap.

The prince squeaked in surprise as she began petting him, but he soon found himself relaxing despite Presley's glares. She was gentle with him then, too, rubbing his cheek or his shoulder. Though he knew she was only doing it to calm herself, not really acknowledging him as anything but a stress toy, he was content. And, luckily, it did the trick for her, letting her mind clear and her focus to come back to her, despite the unfavorable situation she had been presented with.

"Then we'll do this. I'll handle things on my end by reaching out to the construction workers and speaking directly to Alenia to see if we can salvage this somehow. I'll also pull in someone from Kazuya's side to cover your usual workload. I expect you, starting tomorrow at 8 to write an incident report. If possible, I'd like it in by 10, but, if not, it needs to be in by 3 at the latest. I'll keep you updated, so check your inbox more than usual for the next few days."

As the (h/c) haired girl hung up, Orion stared in complete respect. He knew that she was good at her job. Kazuya liked to brag about her whenever he could, claiming she had an eye for all things business. Haru, too, commented on it a few times to him, if only to strike up conversation. However, watching her work in person, with such a mature air and creative mind, made him feel all tingly inside. Sure enough, he really liked Miss Shiratori.

"You make a good stress reliever," she joked, placing a pumpkin seed in the male's mouth and watching him snack on it slowly, "I might have to use you more often. Anyway, I have to deal with that idiot's mistake, so I'll leave a bit earlier than I planned. See you later, princey. And...knight."

(Y/n) left. She left and Orion was still staring at the door, bright pink cheeks and a lovestruck expression lingering. And when Atlas entered, he popped up, expecting to see her once again. Though the coral-haired man would have liked to say that it didn't affect him anymore, he wouldn't be able to without lying. She had a lot of influence over the male, making him do strange things. Though, he had to admit that she had gotten the male to eat more than anyone else and had also given him plenty of things to occupy himself with. For instance, the birds the male had started folding gave him a new spark in his eyes with each one he finished. Envy.

"Isn't she amazing?" the male sighed giddily, rolling over on his back and gazing up at the ceiling.

"In...some ways, I guess."

"What's your favorite thing about her? I can't decide no matter how much I think about it."

"She...can produce results, but that's just an effect of her rampant stubbornness."

Atlas chuckled. He knew as well as the orange-haired boy that Presley disliked the girl, though he probably had a better idea of why that was. Still, as one that believed in merit above all, he couldn't help but be grateful to her at the same time, another cause of frustration for him. She had gotten close to the royal family in such a short amount of time, too, meaning that he viewed her as a possible threat to them. He was just naturally overprotective, either from his role as a king's guard or from the eldest prince, probably both.

"I think what he means to say is that Miss Shiratori is super mature," Atlas corrected, giving a big thumbs up, "Super sexy."

Orion snickered, agreeing wholeheartedly. Playfully, the head servant scampered over and locked his hands with the prince, both of them bonding over their shared views of the attractive woman. And while Presley would not join them, his ideal type far more docile, they nonetheless enjoyed talking about her mature aura. Atlas was especially entertained as the prince became bashful at the mention of her flirtatious nature, probably recalling a few select instances.

"I'm so jealous, your highness," the male huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "I've been looking for a woman like that for so long. Strong, confident, in charge, will beat me over the head with a stick. But she only comes here for you. I've got no chance."

"What are you talking about? If you say it like that...it's embarrassing."

"Oh, come on. She definitely likes you."

"How could you say that so confidently?" the male blushed, hiding under his blanket.

"She's always coming over to hang out with you, for one. Plus, she cares about your health. She buys gifts for you. And, can you blame her, really? Our highness is so cute!"

The orange-haired male flushed, continuing to listen as Atlas enthused about all the ways the older girl was a perfect woman. And though Presley was aware most of it was just the servant's exaggerated thoughts, he still kept huffing, disagreeing with a lot he had to say. Still, a feeling of guilt welled up in his heart as he noticed the obvious differences between him and (Y/n). As he thought, he really did envy her.