Chester squints at him. “I thought you were in Canada.”
“Yeah, well, ‘near’ is a relative term for me.”
Chester’s smile looks more awake now. His hand drifts over to the patch of fur on Obie’s right shoulder. “Polar bear?”
“Mm-hm.”
His fingers trace along one of Obie’s wings. “Bat?”
“Correct.”
Chester pauses, giving Obie an unreadable look. “Sorry,” he says awkwardly, pulling his hand away. “Is—is this annoying?”
He looks unbearably unsure. Obie’s heart cracks a little. “No, puppy, Ilovethis,” he says, and he rests his hand on Chester’s hip, pushing the thought through their bond.I love this. Keep going.
The smile jumps back onto Chester’s face. His fingertips graze over one of Obie’s tentacles, a faint tremor running through him. “Octopus?”
Obie grins. “You really did like those, didn’t you?”
Color rises in Chester’s cheeks. “Shut up, Obadiah.”
“They have a lot of other uses beyond the ones I showed you last night.”
“Stop,”Chester complains, hiding his face against Obie’s chest. It’s such a casual gesture, such anintimategesture, that Obie’s breath hitches. The fact that Chester, who anxiously second-guesses every move he makes, feels secure enough to curl up against Obie when he’s embarrassed makes Obie feel just a bit lightheaded. “You’ve gotta atleast give me a chance to come to terms with the bondage thing before you start teasing me about the tentacle thing.”
Obie presses a kiss to his hair. “All right, all right. I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” Chester peeks up at Obie with a grin before his gaze drifts to Obie’s forearms. “So how about the eyes? And—” He traces one of the mouths scattered across Obie’s torso. “And these?”
Obie lets the lips pucker up, kissing Chester’s knuckles. Chester’s eyes crinkle in the corners when he grins. “Those were a mistake, actually. It took me a while to figure out how anatomy works. I realized that eyes and mouths were both important to humans, and then I sort of, you know…” He smiles abashedly. “Overdid it.”
“I love that,” Chester murmurs, dancing his fingers between the mouths. “So beautiful.”
Obie’s chest feels warm. Outwardly, though, he just smirks. “Did you mean to say that out loud?”
Chester strokes his fingers down a patch of feathers on Obie’s hip. “Well, yeah, but…” He settles his palm over Obie’s side, his voice wafting through Obie’s head.You’re so beautiful, Obie.
Obie’s throat feels thick. “Thanks,” he says hoarsely.
Chester taps the feathers. “Eagle?”
“Falcon.”
“Aren’t they the same thing?”
Obie gapes at him. “They’re not even from the same family!”
Chester looks surprised. “Really?”
Obie groans theatrically, dropping his forehead against Chester’s. “Clearly, I have a lot to teach you.”
He can hear the grin in Chester’s voice. “I look forward to learning,” he says, his hand shifting back up Obie’s side to stroke a patch of scales. “And—and in case it wasn’t already obvious, I really like your true form. All the little details you picked up from animals, all thedifferent ways you tried to put your tribe at ease…” He trails off. “It’s like your body is a story.”
Obie’s heart feels full. He pulls away just enough to meet Chester’s eyes, running his thumb over Chester’s cheek. “I want to take you home with me.”
A slow smile spreads across Chester’s face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Obie slides his hand down to Chester’s chest, tracing his collarbone. “We can go right now, actually. Whenever you’re ready.”
