It's not even you that he thinks he is kissing, Diana! I pulled back, taking in a deep breath as I struggled to disengage. Casimir's arms were locked tight and he snuggled closer, his face pressing into the crook of my neck.

"Casimir!" I yelled, but to no avail. I pressed harder, squeezing his arms and pushing. The cut on my left arm stung in protest so I relented, grumbling as I did. Jeez, he is strong, I thought. I really didn't want to call for help and have anyone see what we were up to. Somehow I doubted my Grandfather would be excited to see us together in bed. He started kissing my neck and I had to suppress a familiar feeling of longing. What is wrong with me?

"Casimir, wake up!" I shouted, twisting my neck away from him. His grip loosened and I took my chance to try and get away. Suddenly his hand reached out to grab my shoulder, holding me in place. I looked at him, his eyes were fully open, staring at me.

"Selene," he whispered harshly, his face now looking quite upset. Our eyes met and a feeling of sadness washed over me. This moment was so familiar like I had lived it so many times before. Casimir was inching closer, pulling me down towards him and I knew deep inside it wasn't him at all.

My hand rose up to cover his mouth, stopping our lips from meeting. He looked at me and I spoke. "Alastar."

Casimir blinked several times. As he did I watched as his eyes changed from deep red back to his regular brown. His brow furrowed and he jerked backward, arms releasing me suddenly. He yelled, obviously startled, launching himself backward and off of the small single-sized bed. There was a large thunk and a clatter as he hit the bedside table with his arm on the way down. I had never seen the young man be so ungraceful.

"Oh my gosh, Casimir! Are you alright?" I asked, sitting up rapidly in the bed. He jumped up quickly, backing himself against the wall as he stared down at me.

"Diana! What is going on?"

"Um..." I trailed off, not sure how to explain.

"Why are you in my bed?" he scowled, glancing around nervously. I let out a large scoff, offended, as he was making it seem like I was the one forcing myself on him. You did sneak into his room, Diana.

"You pulled me into it!" I protested, jumping out of the aforementioned bed. I crossed my arms over my chest, staring at the young man incredulously. I couldn't believe he didn't recall any of what just happened. He was half asleep.

"I did? I don't remember..." he muttered, pressing his hand against the side of his temple. He rubbed at his eyes for a moment, massaging the side of his head as if he had a headache. "I shouldn't have drunk all that elfenberry wine," he grumbled.

"What's elfenberry wine?" I asked, wildly curious.

"What?!" he spat out, looking up at me.

"...what?" I muttered, suddenly nervous. His stare was unrelenting so I laughed, trying to break the tension. "Hey, I promise I won't tell grandpa you were drinking on the job."

The young man just continued to stare at me, his face looking far too serious.

"Okay, Casimir, what's wrong?"

"Master Enki is the one who gave me the wine, so he already knows."

"Oh, well that's good," I babbled. "I was just joking so..."

Casimir began slowly walking over towards me, his eyes never leaving mine. "Did you just understand me?"

"What, yes?! Jeez, I get it. Grandpa gave you the wine," I grumbled, shrugging as I spoke. "You're 200 years old, you can drink alcohol, okay." What's his deal, I wondered. Is he mad about the kiss?

"194," he pressed, still staring intently at me. "195 come this summer."

I was shocked, slightly excited that he had revealed something personal about himself.

"Oh, so your birthday is in the summer?" I breathed, unable to keep the smile off my face. "We should celebrate, that is unless people on Terra don't celebrate birthdays?"

Casimir continued on his path around the bed, stopping once he was directly in front of me. I was nervous again, being this close to a shirtless Casimir. From here I could see all sorts of faded scars on his chest and down his stomach. The biggest scar looked like a burn and I caught myself staring at it intensely.

"Diana," he said, drawing my attention back to his face.

"Oh, what? Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just gonna go and give you some privacy," I explained, ready to escape this strange atmosphere. No, you should ask him why he kissed you! Part of me was afraid to know the real answer, yet the temptation to ask was overwhelming.

I had begun shuffling away when Casimir's arm reached out to grab mine. I tensed up, waiting for the overload of emotions that usually come from other people's touch. I let out a small breath as I remembered Casimir seemed to be the exception to my empathy powers.

"Diana, do you understand what I am saying right now?"

I pursed my lips, confused by his question. "Yes. Except you aren't saying anything?"

Casimir released me, a hesitant smile crossing his face. "Diana I was speaking in Terrarish."

"What?! No way," I exclaimed, slapping him lightly on the arm out of excitement. I pulled my hand back quickly, embarrassed by my reaction. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"You're fine," he insisted, his smile widening.

"You were seriously speaking in Terrarish? You're not just messing with me?"

"Yes, I am speaking in Terrarish, I can't believe you can understand me," he replied. "You can't tell the difference?"

"Now that I am really listening, I kinda can," I noted, trying to find the words to explain it. It was similar to how I felt emotions. It sounded like English, but with a strange accent, and somehow now I just knew. "Say something else!"

"Ah, um I'm not really sure what to say," Casimir blurted out, scratching at the back of his head.

"Terrarish!" I shouted, excited.

"Yes!"

"English! No wait, you know that. I'm sorry, I'm just so hyped," I confessed. I thought about all the possibilities for a moment. Now Azar can't talk behind my back. I looked up at Casimir, a thought crossing my mind. "You don't think it will go away, do you?"

"Go away? I don't even know how you possessed this knowledge in the first place, unless..." he muttered, losing himself to his thoughts.

The words blurted out of my mouth before I could stop them. "We kissed!" I shouted.

"What?!"

"I'm s-sorry," I stammered, unnerved by his shocked expression. He really didn't remember.

"What do you mean, 'we kissed'?" he asked, his tone serious.

I groaned, suddenly wanting to escape this conversation. "What I mean is you kissed me," I began, my face feeling hot. "Well, I did kinda kiss you back, but you started it!"

Casimir's eyebrows flew up into his bangs, a red blush covered his face.

"Okay, that came off way more accusatory than I meant it to," I mumbled, biting down on the edge of my finger.

"And you think the kiss caused you to understand Terrarish?" Casimir said, his voice incredulous. "I don't know, I mean, I've never heard of..."

"Well, how else do you explain it?" I shot back.

"Hm," he said thoughtfully. "You have been unlocking more of your lunar powers recently."

"Maybe it's just unlocking over time, just from being around people speaking it," I theorized, my face still flushed.

"Like osmosis? It's possible," he muttered. I stared at Casimir, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. I saw his hand reach up to absentmindedly pull on his medallion.

"I-"

"Diana, Casimir? Where are you two?"

We both froze, the sound of my grandfather's voice floating up from the first floor, filling us with dread. I panicked and dove for a shirt I saw sitting on top of Casimir's laundry basket. I threw it at him and he caught it, slightly befuddled.

"Put your shirt on idiot," I hissed, making a beeline for the sliding door.

He stuffed the shirt over his head, following after me.

"Glasses!" I whispered. Casimir stopped short, turning back around to grab his round gold rim glasses, a memento from his mother.

He was back at my side in an instant, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "Diana we need to discuss-"

"We can talk about it later," I pressed, waving him away. "Hey, Grandpa, what's up!?" I leaned over the railing to smile at my guardian, who was standing just below the edge. He walked forward, glancing up at us cautiously.

"What's going on?" he asked. His gaze settled on Casimir, who was standing next to me.

"Nothing, why?" I said, with a shrug.

"You've just been gone a while," he reasoned, shrugging slightly. His words made it seem like it was no big deal, but I got the feeling he was secretly checking up on us.

"Oh, well, this guy over here," I laughed, pointing at Casimir. "He was dead asleep. I was about to get some water to pour on his head."

"Really?" Grandpa said dryly.

"No, I wouldn't do that. That would be mean," I muttered, my face flush. "But I do think you work him too hard, he needs a day off."

We all chuckled at my comment but it still felt awkward. I turned to head down the stairs, glancing at Casimir as I went. I halted when I saw the unmistakable smear of pink lipgloss around his mouth. Without hesitating I took my sleeve and pressed it against his lips in an attempt to wipe it off. Casimir now seemed utterly confused by my actions but to his credit, he didn't pull away from my touch.

"W-wha-?"

I whispered my explanation as I pointed to my own lips then his. "Lip gloss!"

Casimir's hand went up to cover his mouth. It wasn't a dark shade, but upon closer inspection, someone would have certainly noticed. My eyes lingered on his lips and I knew I was blushing all over again. Casimir had stopped to check his appearance in the small mirror on the wall so I took my chance and escaped down the stairs, knowing we would have to discuss our weird semi-romantic moment another time.