Then that would be goodbye. Desi couldn’t stay with JJ, obviously, so she’d have to move with Cass. And that would probably be the last time he ever saw his co-parent.
Somehow, the thought isn’t as satisfying as he thought it would be.
Regardless, he’ll make a fake identity for JJ, just in case. They can deal with the future whenever it comes their way.
JJ is already drenched from the raging thunderstorm outside by the time he skids to a stop on Cass’s front porch and bangs on the safe house’s door. His ribs are still sore from his long-haul mission and he’s shivering in the wet midwinter chill, but damn it, it’s been a solidweeksince he last saw Desi. He doesn’t want to be away from her any longer than necessary.
For her sakeandhis. Her unpretentious love for everyone and everything makes the constant tightness in his chest finally start to relax, and his days with her sometimes feel like the only times he can really breathe outside of the stifling confines of the Sanctum.
There’s something about Cass that makes him want to keep coming back, too. But he’s not thinking about those feelings quite as much. In fact, he’s trying his hardest to ignore them altogether.
Just like he’s been trying his hardest to ignore the live wire of tension stretched taut between them lately.
Fortunately, it only takes a few seconds for the door to swing open and a Desi-shaped distraction to collide with him.“JJ!”
“Desi!” JJ catches her with a grunt, trying not to wince when she jostles his bruised ribs. “How areyou,sweetie? I missed you!”
“I missed you, too!” Desi says, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.
Cass’s impatient voice floats out from the living room. “Yes, yes, we all missed each other. Now can youget inside?It took ages to braid Desi’s hair like that this morning.”
Rolling his eyes, JJ steps over the threshold and pushes the door shut with his hip. “Can’t you just use magic to style her hair?”
“Not the same.” Cass glowers at JJ’s dripping jacket before sighing explosively, snapping open a pocket dimension, and pulling out a towel. “Haven’t you ever heard of an umbrella, lackey?”
“Too windy. Blew inside out within seconds,” JJ says, and he sets Desi on the floor to pat her admittedly adorable braids dry before scrubbing the water off his face. “Thanks.”
“Yep.” When JJ is finished, Cass snaps his fingers again; the towel disappears, presumably to Cass’s laundry room. “You didn’t have to come over today, Jackson. The rain is supposed to stop by tomorrow.”
Guilt twinges through JJ. “I had to cancel last time. Didn’t want to do it again.”
“Hm.” Cass looks away. “Well, all the outdoor activities at the aquarium are closed, and frankly, there’s no sense in going if we can’t even see the otters. Did you have any other plans for today?”
Disappointment seeps through JJ. Over the past few weeks, he thought that he was starting to notice a shift in his relationship with his co-parent, that they were starting to have conversations instead of defaulting to thorny silence?—
That they were starting to open up to each other. JJ doesn’t want to analyze too closely why that’s important to him. He doesn’t want to analyze why he’s been cataloging all of Cass’s stories and preferences and offhand comments, why he’s been memorizing all of Cass’s mannerisms and gestures and expressions, why he’s been savoring every minute he gets to spend with the demon.
Part of him was even starting to hope Cass felt the same way.
But it looks like he was imagining it. Apparently, Cass is just as uncomfortable with JJ’s existence as ever. “I don’t,” he admits quietly. “I can make it a short visit, if you want. We can just?—”
Desi interrupts by grabbing both of his hands, looking up at him intently. “JJ.”
JJ immediately cuts himself off, crouching down to her level. “Desi.”
“Did I tell you,” she asks in a dramatic stage whisper, “that Kira and Hana hadbabies?”
JJ’s eyes widen. “They hadbabies?But I thought Kira and Hana were both girl dragons, and also inanimate objects.”
Above them, Cass snorts. Desi doesn’t seem to notice. “Girl dragons can have babies, too!” she protests, and before JJ can go down the rabbit hole of trying to remember if that ever happened inWyvern Academy,she continues, “Me and Cass went back to Nikolai’s last week, and we got a bunch of baby dragons for them! Do you wanna see?”
“Of course I want to see. Did you bring them with you?”
Desi laughs. “No, silly. They’re in their blanket fort in my room! Ooh, you haven’t seen my blanket fort yet, right? JJ, we should go there!”
“I—” JJ’s smile wavers. “Desi, your room is back in Cass’s house, remember? I don’t usually go to Cass’s house—that’s why we always meet here, and?—”
“No, that’s fine.”
