“Were you worried?” Tiiran had been told to keep asking questions.
“Yes. Despite what you might think, you surprise me frequently.” Orin splayed his hand over Tiiran’s stomach. “Yesterday was eventful, to put it mildly. And the last time something upset you, you ran.”
Nikoly had spoken of that too.
“I didn’t realize running would hurt you,” Tiiran admitted.
Orin nodded slowly, considering his answer. “People who aren’t used to help sometimes prefer being alone to deal with problems. You are free to continue to do that. The fae know we can’t control you.” Orin had controlled Tiiran plenty, and Nikoly had his ways too, but Tiiran didn’t interrupt. “You can also come to us to ask your questions, or yell, or make suggestions. I expect that will also take time for you to accept. That’s all right.”
“An experienced lover wouldn’t require this much work.” Tiiran crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you angry with me?”
Orin’s eyebrows went comically high. “For not having lovers?”
Tiiran put his head on Orin’s shoulder, then realized his hair was wet and straightened up so he wouldn’t soak Orin’s clothes. “Are you? I cried on you last night.”
“As you cried on me after I turned your backside a lovely red. As happens with some after the sort of play we enjoy.” Orin gave Tiiran’s stomach a little pat. “It just means you felt a lot. That’s all.”
Tiiran leaned back to study Orin. “Is it always going to be like that?”
Orin studied him in return. “If that’s what you want from me.”
He was being careful.
Tiiran scoffed and wiggled free, slipping to his feet a moment later. He poked a finger in Orin’s startled face. “What of what you want? Am I someone you respect or not, Elorin Vahti?”
“Full name,” Orin murmured, then gently took hold of Tiiran’s finger. “I respect you a great deal, Tiiran of no known family. Perhaps more than most others who walk this country. I’m sorry. I’ve gotten in the habit of being overly cautious and slow with you. I will rectify that now.” He tugged Tiiran closer by his finger. “I want all you might want to give me, kitten. Bed play where you look to me as one might look to a master of knowledge, and bed play where we roll and tumble as any others might. And sometimes no bed play at all, like our evenings in your library.”
He called the library Tiiran’s to appease him.
Tiiran scoffed again from habit, then tossed his head.
“Then why do you not kiss me the way Nikoly does?”
Orin blinked several times, then frowned. “How does Nikoly kiss you?”
“I mean,” Tiiran pronounced slowly, “that he asks for kisses simply to have kisses from me.”
“Ah.” Orin pulled Tiiran’s finger to his mouth to gently kiss his fingertip. “He likes your attention, kitten. That’s part of why he asks. But I didn’t because I didn’t know you wanted that from me.”
“You thought I only wanted mean Orin,” Tiiran realized out loud, face burning as his fingertip was again kissed.
“Not exactly, but that’s close enough to my meaning.” Orin smiled so widely it showed the beginning of lines at the corners of his eyes. Tiiran distantly remembered one of Lanth’s former lovers saying laugh lines were such a comfort to see on a face. He might have been describing Lanth. “So if you want to return to my lap and exchange feverish kisses for a while, feel free.”
“I want….” Tiiran considered it even while he was reaching out to touch Orin’s jaw and the short beard that Tiiran would never be able to grow. “I want to be able to kiss you just to kiss you,” he decided. “If we’re lovers now, isn’t that what we should do? Isn’t that what you do with your others?”
He considered Orin with wide eyes.
Orin opened his mouth, then shut it with a snap. He tipped his head into Tiiran’s hand even while regarding Tiiran with very Orin-like suspicion.
“Are you trying to end up over my knee againalready?” Orin’s tone was almost admiring. “Greedy cat.”
“You said ducklings were selfish,” Tiiran reminded him.
“You’re more terrifying when you try to pretend,” Orin observed, admiration staying in his voice. “You’re incapable of dishonesty, I think. You try to lie, sometimes, but you’re rubbish at it. When I imagine you wandering the palace as it currently is, I break out in a cold sweat.”
Tiiran scoffed. “You and Nikoly. I took care of myself for years in this palace.”
“Cold sweat,” Orin informed him again. “And there are no others, as I told you yesterday.”
