When he returned, chair in tow, Tom and Zorvut had switched places, Tom closer to the open door now and Zorvut nearer to the gate. Taegan set up his chair just inside the doorway, leaning back to watch the both of them as the cool ocean breeze ruffled his hair.
“First, let’s just see what it is you can do,” Tom was saying, making a gesture with his arms for Zorvut to proceed.
“Right,” he agreed, though his brows were now furrowed in visible concern. The half-orc seemed to ready himself, his stance widening slightly, then he extended a hand. After a brief moment, a flickering handful of flame appeared in it as if he were holding a candle.
“Not bad, not bad,” Tom said, mimicking the gesture and quickly summoning his own handful of flame. “We can work on responsiveness, there was a bit of a delay... How far can you extend it?”
“Extend it?” Zorvut repeated; though his expression was blank, Taegan could feel his nerves mounting. “I’m not sure what you mean. I was able to throw it, once, the first time I used it, but... Since then, I haven’t been able to do much more than just summon the flames.”
“I see,” Tom said, rubbing his chin. “Let’s focus on that first, then. You said you threw it, but it helps me to think of it less as something I’m throwing and more an extension of my own hand. So try just extending it like you’re reaching your hand out, instead of throwing it. Watch me.” With a flick of his wrist, he summoned another small fireball in his hand and pointed at a slab of stone fencing in the alleyway between his patio and the building behind them. With a slow and deliberate movement, more like tossing a coin rather than throwing a weapon, the flame burst forth from his hand and streaked through the air to hit the stone wall, where it flickered into embers before dissipating entirely. “Now, you try.”
Zorvut nodded, looking toward the stone Tom had aimed for. He shifted his stance awkwardly, trying to get into the same position Tom had used, before summoning the small flame in his hand and making the same gentle tossing movement. This time, it stayed lit once it left his hand, but did not quite make it to the wall, soaring only a few feet through the air before sputtering out in a puff of smoke.
But the bond still flooded with excitement and awe, and Zorvut looked first at Tom and then back at Taegan with a wide grin. “That worked,” he said breathlessly. “Thinking of it more like that, it worked. Even practicing with the warlocks back at the castle, I couldn’t get it to last—thank you, Tom.”
“Very good,” Taegan said, letting his pride filter through the bond. Zorvut had struggled with his magic for so long, it was heartening to see even a minor success now.
“I’m glad that helped,” the human replied with a self-satisfied grin. “We’ll work on that for today. Let’s see if you can get it to reach all the way to that wall.”
For most of the afternoon, they took turns throwing small fireballs at the wall. Luckily, whoever owned the fence either seemed to never notice or care, for no one came out of the building it was attached to. Taegan sat and watched for most of it, occasionally getting up to bring them some water or stretch his legs, but he did want to give Zorvut as much support and attention as he needed. It took a while, with Tom frequently moving to adjust Zorvut’s stance, guiding him in the exact motions he had used, but eventually the half-orc’s own smaller flame lasted long enough to sail through the air and strike the stone wall in a shower of sparks.
“Yes!” Tom exclaimed, clapping his hands. “Excellent, excellent. It will take some practice, but you’re a quick learner. Very good.”
“Thank you,” Zorvut replied, panting. He was sweating now, between the heat of their fires and the effort of practicing for so long. He glanced at Taegan with a slight grin, which he returned.
“I think we’re done for the day, then,” Tom said, wiping his own brow. “I don’t know about you, but I could go for a nice, cold drink about now. Do you have a preference?”
“Ale,” Zorvut replied, following him back into the house. Taegan pulled his chair away from the door and closed it behind them as they headed for the kitchen.
“Dark? Light?”
“Any.”
“Ha! Well, that’s something you didn’t inherit from me. I’ll get a cold pint of my favorite dark ale for each of us. Did I show you the ice cellar? Here, it’s this door in the kitchen. Goes right down beneath the house.”
By the time Taegan had caught up to the kitchen, they had gone through the cellar door and he could hear their faintly muffled voices coming from below. That miffed him, but he tamped down the annoyance and waited politely at the kitchen table until they came back up a few minutes later, each with a heavy tankard of beer in their hands.
“Oh, my apologies!” Tom exclaimed upon seeing him. “What can I get for you?”
“I’m alright, though I wouldn’t say no to a glass of wine,” he replied with a wry grin. Tom nodded, squeezing past Zorvut to descend back to the cellar. When the door swung closed behind him, Zorvut set his beer on the table and came around to the side where Taegan was, embracing him.
“Thank you,” he said softly, the words rumbling through his chest against Taegan’s ear. He could feel the heat rising in his face, and even though Zorvut was damp with sweat, he raised his arms to wrap around his husband’s torso, looking up at him with a questioning eyebrow. “I’m glad we made the journey here. I’m so glad you came with me.”
“I’m glad you’re happy,” Taegan replied with a slight smile. The scent of his exertion sent a shiver of arousal through him, though he did not think their room was quite private enough for any such intimacy to be comfortable. Hopefully, they would not remain too terribly long. Zorvut’s amusement from the bond only confirmed his thoughts, though the half-orc squeezed him a little tighter.Latertrickled through his head, and he nodded wordlessly against his chest.
The sound of Tom clearing his throat loudly came from the other end of the kitchen, and they glanced over to see him coming up from the cellar door, looking down at his feet with a slight reddish hue to his cheeks. His embarrassment was apparent, and Taegan took a smooth step away from Zorvut, letting his arms fall to his sides. He was not quite sure what the man’s flustered body language meant, but Tom held out a bottle of wine toward him, which he took.
“I hope you like white wine, since that’s all I have at the moment, unfortunately,” the human stammered, not quite meeting his eyes. “Here, let me bring you a glass.”
He retrieved a wine glass from a cupboard, and after a moment they were all sitting around the small round kitchen table with a drink in hand, an awkward silence descending upon them. Taegan glanced at Zorvut next to him, who met his gaze and echoed his own uncertainty with a faint shrug. Tom was looking down at his tankard, and took a long drink from it before finally looking back up at Zorvut.
“Are you all right?” Zorvut asked, and Tom laughed with a grimace.
“Yes, yes,” he said. “Sorry. I was, um, a bit confused to... That is—I don’t really know how to say this. I guess I had figured since this was an, ah, arranged marriage...” He gestured between the two of them, his discomfort apparent on his face. “Forgive me. I don’t mean to be rude. I suppose I had this idea in my head that Pr—ah, Taegan—was here more to keep an eye on things rather than, well, moral support. It surprised me to see such, um, affection between you two. Not that I...” He trailed off, biting his lip. “Well, I’m really digging myself into a hole here. I have nothing against you two, is what I’m trying to say. I guess I just had a preconception about you that was wrong.”
“I see,” Zorvut replied slowly, his brow furrowed. Taegan glanced between them before speaking.
“That’s understandable,” he answered quickly, leaning toward Tom over the table. “And, to be fair, I think it is a very safe judgment to make. After all, elves and orcs have been at war with each other for a very long time, and are at war again as we speak. I don’t think Zorvut would mind me saying that if you had met us at the beginning of our relationship, your assumption would have been correct, Tom.” He looked back at Zorvut, who was watching him with a neutral expression despite the mixed feelings of uncertainty and something like appreciation he could feel coming from the bond. “But Zorvut and I found we are much more compatible than I think anyone would have anticipated at the time the peace treaty was drafted. He has my heart, and I’m thankful for the circumstances that brought us together now.”
