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This was it. He was finally, finally finished, and all it took was the promise of another kiss. Actually, had it even been a promise or had it been a 'perhaps'? Whatever, if Yin tried to back out of his bargain Alex would not be happy. Not after it took him every single one of his days off to complete his task. Not when he did the one thing he refused to ever do for anyone, just for one small moment of bliss that would likely last seconds. That's how much a kiss from Yin was worth to him, and he would have done it a hundred more times if it meant he could get another.

Some might call that sad.

Since Yin had been spending his days training, determined to beat up three bears on a mountain, Alexander had found nothing but spare time to clean up his filthy and horribly disgusting mess of what was surely not a bedroom because there was no way anybody would willingly spend any length of time in it, sleeping or otherwise. But it was clean now. And not just clean, it was practically sparkling, and it smelt rather nice as he'd borrowed a couple of rose scents in their second stage, placed upon his desk at one end, and the bookshelf at the other. He'd left a note in Yin's room that morning after the weremantis had taken off, one that simply said 'Meet me at my dorm room when you are finished training. Dress warm.' his name scrawled at the bottom so that his bonded would know who had left it, in case there was any doubt.

The floors were scrubbed, the garbage was all gone, the minipets all shoved into the closet to go adventuring or whatever it was they tended to do while in their. The scentum death had seemed particualarily offended over the sudden cleanliness, and over the rose scents as well, and had nipped at him a couple of times when he'd attempted to herd him into the closet with the others, but eventually he had gone as well.

And now Alex just had to wait. He sat in his chair with a relaxed sigh, grabbed a book off of his shelf to flip open on his lap, though he was having an awfully hard time concentrating.

There were no pets to indicate that somebody was approaching, yet somehow Alexander got an odd feeling. It was like he could almost sense that somebody was there. Probably he could just hear the movement of feet against the floor, or possibly, even through the scent of roses, he was able to catch a smell in the air of somebody he was all too familiar with. So, just moments before the knocking on the door came, Alex was already lifting his head from the book that he was definitely not reading, ready to drop it on the floor but catching himself and instead sliding it back onto the bookshelf. There, everything was still perfect.

"The doors unlocked, you can come in!" He called out, not quite sure why Yin wouldn't just walk in unannounced as he did all of the time at the weremantis's room. After all, he'd seemed not to have any problem sneaking in and leaving strange minipets.

Pushing himself up from his chair, when Yin came inside it would not just be to a clean room. Nope, he had himself a clean boilfriend as well. He was freshly showered and shampooed, his teeth actually brushed and flossed, his fingernails cleaned of any dried blood beneath them. His clothes were also clean, though it was just a tshirt, tie, and jeans, nothing special. He shuffled forward, a smile already on his face and a feeling of warmth building in his chest. He hoped that Yin was in a better mood today then he had been for the last few. Apparently fighting bears on a mountain made him rather cranky, especially when he continued to lose.

Alex's smile spread as Yin pushed open the door, reveling in the look of surprise on the other boils face. Cleaning his room might have even been worth it just for that alone, because knowing that what he had done would make Yin proud of him was an amazing feeling all on its own.

He continued to shuffle forward, shoulders slouched, hands in pockets, until he was standing near Yin and next to the door, allowing the weremantis a chance to take in the entire room without his tall and lanky frame marring or blocking the view. Yin's question brought forth a chuckle from his throat, and the smile quickly turned into it's usual grin. "Yes, this is the right room. You said that I should clean it and...well, I guess I finally have." He didn't want to tell Yin that it had taken him all of his five days to do so, and not just because of how incredibly disgusting it had been, but also because he was pretty damn slow and took quite a lot of breaks.

"So, what do you think? Did I do a good job?" A job worthy of any kind of prize? Well, he'd let Yin decide that, if the weremantis even remembered (and Alex really really hoped that he did). One hand pulled out of his pocket so that he could slip his arm around Yin's waist, keeping it their quite loosely so as to not add to the weremantis's discomfort of the cold.

"Maybe we could actually spend some time here now, once in a while...." he let that thought trail off as his attention was suddenly snagged on the pie in Yin's hand. Hrrmmm, what was that? And why did it smell so delicious?

A picture as proof? Well, if it meant that his mom would also be proud of him, then that seemed like a fairly good idea to the zomboil, who was in desperate need of earning some brownie points. Likely she would be quizzing Yin on how he had managed to get Alexander to actually perform such an amazing feat, however, and Yin might not like answering that particular question at all.

But for now, that delicious smelling pie in Yin's hand was rather intriguing, and he was gazing at it with a hungry longing, thoughts about sinking his teeth into it temporarily over riding any thoughts about warm kisses. Well, that was until Yin spoke, effectively dragging Alex's attention away from the food and back to his boilfriends face, a grin quickly splitting his face once more. "Too tall..for what?" He asked, all fake innocence as his pale grey eyes sparkled mischievously in the dim lighting of the room.

"You know, I can easily fix that," He said, his voice suddenly low as he continued to stare down at Yin, shuffling forward, leading the weremantis further into the room, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly, before reaching over with his free hand to steal the pie out of the weremantis's grasp, placing it on the shelf, before turning to face him fully. As he turned, the arm already around Yin's waist slipped back so that his hand rested on the boils side instead, and he mirrored the action with his other hand as well, placing it gently on Yin's other side.

Ya Yin, this was happening, whether or not you could 'do without'. Alexander was ready, willing, and waiting to collect the prize he was meant to receive for a job well done.

Why did Yin have to be so difficult about everything? It was such a complete mood dampener. Alex had actually hoped, quite vainly, that since it had been Yin's suggestion to do this to begin with that he might actually appear happy to do so. Of course, that just wasn't the case, and when was it ever? Everything was a chore, and apparently not something to be enjoyed.

Yin might have fought not to let out a sigh, but Alex didn't even bother. His smile slipped away and he sighed for all he was worth, just before letting his hands drop, quickly finding their way back to his pockets. It was obvious Yin didn't care to do this, and it was not something Alex wanted to fight tooth and nail for, though obviously if he had to, he was willing, considering what he had just done in an attempt to earn it.

"You're right, I am, I'm terribly sorry." He muttered, taking a shuffling step back, head tilted ever so slightly to one side as he gazed almost sadly at his boilfriend. He was busy thinking to himself now of how foolish he had been to think that this would have actually worked, and a little bit annoyed with Yin for leading him on into believing that it would. But he also didn't want this to turn into an argument, or to have any hard feelings, so he forced a smile instead.

"Maybe I can go to a mad scientist and have my legs shortened or something." It was meant to be a joke, though probably was in poor taste.

Alexander's smile didn't slip away this time, but his jaw tightened slightly. Nope, he was not turning this into a fight, he was just not going to do that this time. His hands would have probably clenched into fists if they weren't tucked into his pockets. He gave himself a few seconds, forced himself not to dwell on the fact that Yin sounded a little bit upset with him now, tried not to think about it at all.

And maybe that was all that he really needed, to just do it, and not think about it. Just accept that Yin was at least letting him do this, that he could be refusing completely, that this was..well, a compromise, really. One of many that they kept making. Remember that with Yin, this was a big deal, and the fact that he was allowing it really meant something.

Maybe.

Okay, so he could still do this. "Alternatively I could do this." His hands were out of his pockets again, arms reaching, wrapping around the other boil, hands gripping...somewhere. No, don't think about it, just do it, attempting to lift Yin, to bring him to eye level.

Why did he have a feeling that this wasn't going to go over too well?

Okay, yes, this had not gone over well at all. Hissing was not good, and the tone of voice Yin directed at him was even worse. Alexander had clearly screwed up, again, and it was with great restraint that he didn't just drop the other boil on the floor like his hands had just been burnt. Instead, he closed his eyes, feeling rather ashamed with himself at the moment, and he didn't need to see the look Yin was giving to him right now. That hurt too much.

"I--I was just demonstrating. I'm sorry, I didn't meant to upse you." He shifted his arms slightly, gently placing Yin back down, eyes burning behind closed lids as the back of his neck began to heat up. Again. He'd stepped in it again. "I won't do it ever again, I promise." Was it too late for that, now?

He opened his eyes, which were now rimmed with red, scared to look at Yin, afraid of what the repercussions for his actions were going to be this time. Thoughts of getting a kiss out of this had completely left his mind. The feelings raging a war inside of him every time he was near Yin were slowly dying until all that was left was a cluster of nerves that made him feel like he was going to be sick. He'd upset Yin, after all the work he'd put in to try and surprise him, to try and make him happy with him. But apparently no amount of changing himself to try and be better was going to be enough. No amount of training in the gym, no amount of showering or making an effort to wear clean clothing, not even cleaning his room. Because when it came down to it, even after all that, he was just plain stupid and inconsiderate.

"I won't do it again.." He repeated himself, weakly, as though saying it twice was going to make up for the fact that he had done it to begin with. But really, he hadn't even known that Yin would have reacted so strongly against it, and had only thought that it might be a bad idea only after he'd already started.

Alex still wasn't quite sure what exactly he had done that was making Yin react as strongly as he was. Yes, he realized now that picking him up had not been okay, but he could not mentally understand why now, after setting the boil down, after apologizing, Yin was still acting the way he was, like Alexander had done the most awful thing he'd ever done in the history of their relationship. Had it really been that bad? Bad enough that Yin had retreated away from him so that he was no longer within reach?

"Did I...did I hurt you..?" He took a couple of steps back himself, confusion clearly written all over his face, until he felt the edge of his combination desk and book shelf behind his legs. He couldn't back away any further, couldn't give Yin any more space then that. Usually it was Alex who got angry with things, and yes, he'd even been on the verge of it again today. But Yin...he'd never reacted quite like this, and it scared the zomboil, made him back down almost instantly. There was really no question at that moment who held the most control in the relationship, at least in Alex's eyes.

Yin looked like he did sometimes when they were in the gym together, ready to spar, and that made the zomboil nervous. He may have made his own quick glance towards the door, wondering if there was any way he could possibly get away if Yin for any reason lashed out or attacked. The tears that were burning at the back of his eyes were threatening to spill over now, brought on by sudden feelings of complete inadequacy, self-consciousness, and a feeling like he needed to explain himself further, but had no idea how to do so.

"I---I don't know what I'm doing." His voice came out quiet, but hoarse. There was a lump in his throat that was extremely difficult to talk around. But this was him, admitting something to Yin, perhaps hoping that it offered some way of explanation for his actions. "I don't know anything about being in a relationship. Obviously I've never been in one before...I can read books, but that's not the same. I have feelings..and urges..and I sometimes just let them take control because it's just..easier to do so then to fight it anymore." Why was he still talking? Oh ya, because it had been his idea that they needed to talk about this stuff. And really, the silence between them was torture. He needed to fill the air between them with words, needed to reason things out.

"I sincerely apologize for my actions, Yin, I.." He stopped, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. His eyes squeezed shut again, jaw clenching tight, in one last futile attempt to keep the tears from flowing. Of course, it didn't stop them, and they came anyways, but he kept them closed, head ducking down, hand coming up to wipe away the sticky trails of red tracking down his cheeks. "I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trying to learn. I promise you I am trying, Yin. I understand if you're upset and you'd just like to leave. I won't try and stop you." He actually really didn't understand, and he really wanted Yin to tell him so that he could understand, but he felt like it wasn't even his place to ask right now.