“You don’t need to age for that last one,” Kyran says, and I slap his stomach just as Flap sets off, rising toward the rock vault far above us with a happy yelp.
“What I mean is that I tried not to think about it. It’s different to grow oldwithsomeone, but to grow old while your partner is a forever-beautiful elven Lord? That would have been difficult. I’m still processing this information. What will it be like to live in this body to a hundred? Then again, Reiner is what? Two hundred fifty? And he seems generally normal.”
“He’s still a fool, even at two hundred and fifty. I can’t believe he left you alone with that Goldweed…” Kyran mumbles, still not over the scare of almost losing me at the very start of our relationship.
Flap’s circling the cave. At this point I know him well enough to discern him from all the wild bats. Maybe Kyran is right, and this is where he belongs?
But my heart doesn’t want to hear rational arguments, and I lean into my man, struggling to let go. At the end of the day, Flap isn’t a domesticated animal, and it would have been cruel to isolate him from other members of his species.
"He was between a rock and a hard place. He learned his lesson,” I say, avoiding the topic that breaks my heart right now, because Flap is making the same little squeaks as when he’s searching for me. “Now that I know I could essentially live forever,I got to ask: are you ready for an eternity with me? You’re not getting rid of me easily. Iwillget pets, I like fancy clothes, and I’m addicted to art supplies.”
Kyran weaves his fingers through my hair and makes me look up as we sit in the cave filled with the cries of bats and the flutter of drying shark skin. It feels as though we’re the last two men to exist in this world, and in this moment, I think that no power could ever pull us apart.
“You’re also pretty needy,” Kyran tells me with a little smirk.
I elbow him gently. “Says the elf who complained yesterday that I took a bath without him.”
But he doesn’t flinch and scoops me right back into his arms. “We can just be needy together. How does that sound?”
My smile widens. “Pretty perfect.”
A screech tears through the air, and Kyran turns to shield me from the animal flying at us, but then Flap lands on his shoulder.
I sigh and give Kyran my best puppy eyes while Flap licks Kyran’s ear. “He doesn’t want to go…”
Kyran opens his mouth, frozen in a position dangerously close to what a scared cartoon character might look like, but relaxes when Flap folds his wings and buries his muzzle in Kyran’s hair, as if it’s trying to groom him.
I swallow, and my heartbeat quickens because I think Kyran’s defenses are crumbling. “I’ll trim his claws, be careful as he matures, take safety precautions… Your mom wanted you to have one, Kyran, remember? What if this is a sign?”
His dark gaze meets mine, brows twitching as the facade of sensibility breaks. I hold my breath when Flap’s long ear folds as he rubs his head against Kyran’s. There’s no denying it, my man is cracking like ice.
“I… well, he does seem unusually docile.”
I smile and hug him so tightly I might be hurting his ribs. “He’s gonna be our little baby. We’ll arrange a bigger apartment for the two of us after the wedding,” I say as if I have more than a few coins to my name. “And he will have room to fly.”
“We could just… bring him here sometimes, so he has company,” Kyran mumbles, and I laugh when Flap jumps to my shoulder and covers the back of my head with his wing before uttering a chuckle-like noise.
"Yes! Playdates!"
“It knows it’s won,” Kyran whispers, taking hold of both my hands. He’s not super happy about this development, but he will not keep Flap away from me either. “But listen up,Count,” he says, straightening his back and looking above me, presumably at Flap’s cute little face. “You shall be a gentleman, steer clear of bad company, and keep those claws to yourself. Do we understand each other man to bat?”
The bat chitters, and Kyran reaches out, grabs the fragile claws attached to his wing, and gives them the gentlest shake.
I love Kyran so much right now I can’t describe it. He’s incredible and impressive as he wields his princely power, scorching hot when he lounges in my room with leather pants open in invitation, but he’s also sweet and funny in moments like this one. I love all of him. I love him when he protects me, I love him when I see him reveal a soft spot for Flap, and I love him when he’s vulnerable enough to show me his weaknesses.
I reach over to stroke his face. “Would you like to have a family with me one day?”
Kyran’s breath wheezes when his gaze spears right through me, as if he's a man stuck in the desert and I—an oasis. “As in… children?” he asks, and I can distinctly sense his hands getting a bit damp around mine.
I nod. I never thought having children would be on the cards for me. Maybe I was just missing someone who I could trust with my future?
“You did say it’s possible in the Nightmare Realm?”
Kyran nods, but he remains quiet, as if he doesn’t trust himself to speak as he massages both my hands with his fingers. But there’s a glow in his eyes, and when Flap coos with encouragement, I rest my cheek on his shoulder. “Yes, we just need a bit of alchemy, and a lady willing to bear our child.”
“I’ve had… such a shitty family, Kyran. I want to make a good one. With you. I think you’d be a good dad. I see it in the way you are with Flap.”
He blinks, flushing, as if my comment embarrassed him. “I didn’t really do anything. You’re the one who always takes care of The Count.”
