“Are youpurring?” he asked, his voice dripping with disbelief and amusement. Adrissu scowled, craning his neck to look down at the human with distaste.
“Absolutely not,” he replied, and despite his scolding tone, he couldn’t help but smile back as Kian laughed again. “I’m not a cat.”
“Is that so?” Kian teased, his cheek pressing against the scales of Adrissu’s chest. “It sounds an awful lot like purring.”
“I’m only breathing,” he retorted, then launched himself into the air before the human had the chance to reply. He felt Kian tense in his arms, yelping as the strong flaps of his wings sent them upward. The surrounding tunnel narrowed, and Adrissu held Kian harder as he transformed, shrinking down into his elven form. Kian’s arms squeezed him tightly the instant he was small enough for them to reach; and with one last pulse of magic, they arrived at the ladder that led up into Adrissu’s tower. Kian was breathing hard in his arms, but quickly extricated himself to clamber up through the trap door.
“You didn’t tell me going up wasworse,” he snapped, as Adrissu followed him.
“Is that so?” Adrissu answered mildly, and Kian scowled again at the echo of his teasing tone.
“I ought to close this on your head and lock you down there,” he muttered, but a grin played at his lips as he spoke.
“It would be a wasted effort,” he replied, shrugging as he got to his feet before closing the trap door behind them. The tower was warm and bright compared to the cool, dark lair below. He never noticed it much when he was in his true form, but when he was small, his thin skin made him more sensitive to the temperature. But Kian was shivering, and he could still smell the adrenaline coming off of him. “Feeling alright?”
“Warming up,” Kian said, nodding, their play-fight evidently forgiven and forgotten. “Some tea sounds nice right about now.” He grinned salaciously, before continuing, “Or maybe you had a different idea on how to get me warm again?”
Adrissu smiled back at him, heat pooling deep in his belly. “What did you have in mind?”
Chapter Eight
TheywenttoGennemontnot long after that, and it should not have surprised Adrissu how much Kian loved it.
For a farm boy who’d only seen Polimnos, Gennemont was utterly astounding to the human. Polimnos was certainly no sleepy village, but Gennemont was the hub of civilization, the center of all of Autreth, host to embassies and markets and the yearly gathering of all Lord Representatives. And, of course, it was home to the College of the Arcane, still the foremost institution of magical learning, despite all of Adrissu’s efforts to close the gap between them and the Academy.
Between the sights of the city, and how much the library was a spectacle in itself, Kian was entirely enamored during their first visit. He had daily meetings with scholars at the library over the course of a week; but when he was finished attending lectures and reading rare tomes for the day, he would return to Adrissu, and they would explore the city together.
Humans were such funny little creatures; Adrissu never understood the point of all the differentkindsof food that could be found throughout Gennemont, nor the reason behind importing ingredients that originated from half a world away for the sake of novelty or nostalgia. It was all variations of the same thing to him, but Kian wanted to try all sorts of the food—that claimed to be the cuisines of different locales around the world—so of course Adrissu indulged him. It all seemed the same to him, but Kian’s eyes went wide with wonder each time he took a bite of something new, so it was worth the cost.
Adrissu did not understand the purpose of the theater either—watching humans pretend to be other humans, or perform the same choreographed dances every day—but Kian dearly wished to see it, so Adrissu bought them tickets. The human’s eyes were wet with tears at the end, but he insisted he had loved it.
“Why cry over it if you enjoyed it?” Adrissu asked, frowning.
“It was just… really beautiful, you know?” Kian answered, wiping his eyes as he laughed. Adrissu still thought it silly, but he had long since given up trying to understand the strange reactions humans had to these sorts of things, so he did not question it. If he said he liked it, Adrissu would have to take him at his word. Still, the tickets weren’t cheap, so Kian didn’t ask to go again.
Adrissu had planned for them to remain in Gennemont for a week, at which point he would need to return to Polimnos. Before the week was up, though, he could sense how reluctant Kian was to leave.
“Do you... do you think I could stay a little longer?” Kian asked, after having spent the first part of their dinner visibly anxious and distracted.
“Will you feel comfortable here on your own?” Adrissu asked, as nonchalant as he could manage. It should not have surprised him, but the thought of being apart for any extended, unknown length of time still made his insides twist.
“I think so,” Kian replied, smiling nervously over at him. “You’ve really helped me get my bearings, so...”
Adrissu forced a smile. “Then of course you can. As long as the scholars at the library approve, stay as long as you’d like, Kian.”
“You’re sure it’s okay?” he pressed, leaning closer to Adrissu. “You’re not... You’re not mad?”
“Hmm,” Adrissu replied, considering the question as he leaned back in his chair. “I am not mad. I will miss you, of course, and wouldn’t want you to stay too long, but we’re both adults. If you want to remain here to continue studying for a little while longer, I won’t stop you. Although, if I find out you’re staying because you’ve found someone else...” He grinned wickedly, and Kian laughed.
“Gods, no. The only people I’ve interacted with other than you have been a bunch of stuffy elves and old professors,” he said, shaking his head in mock disgust.
“Younger than me, I’m sure,” Adrissu huffed, and Kian laughed again.
“It’s not the same, and you know it,” he said. They smiled at each other from across the table for a moment, then he added in a softer voice, “I don’t want to be away from you for very long, either. I know you have to get back to the school, but... Gods, sometimes I think I would be happy to read here forever, you know?”
Something ached even harder in Adrissu’s chest. He was so like Ruan, and so unlike him, too.
“I understand,” he answered quietly, reaching over to clasp Kian’s hand. “I want you to do whatever you feel is necessary to accomplish your goals. If this is where you’ll learn the most, then I want you to be here to learn it all.”
