They stayed pressed together like that for a long while, until Kade’s breathing became even again, and the stars faded from Florian’s vision.
“I love you,” Kade murmured against his skin, his voice sated and sleepy. Florian smiled, uncaring of how wide and sappy his grin was when he knew Kade couldn’t see it. He reached with one hand to run his fingers through Kade’s hair in long, soothing strokes.
“I love you too,” he said softly. For the first time in weeks, he felt calm and content. They would never have to be apart so long again, he thought; but even if they did, it would be easier now. He knew Kade loved him. That was enough.
“So tell me more about this last Arrow,” Kade prompted him a few hours later, after they’d bathed and eaten an early dinner.They were sitting around the fireplace of their guest cottage now, curled together on a blanket. Florian hesitated, then sat up to grab his backpack and pull out the map.
“It’s this one,” he said, unrolling it and pointing to where Jerah had circled it. “See? It’s about a full day out in the ocean. Rune and I will be okay as krakens, but... I don’t know how we could bring you guys with us. We’ll be deep underwater to stay out of the Blight.”
“Do you know if there are Blight monsters?” Kade asked, his voice carefully neutral. Florian hesitated again, unsure of how much to tell him—but keeping things from Kade wouldn’t help either of them.
“We don’t know for sure,” he said. “But... maybe. Rune... Rune’s parents, they went looking for it a long time ago, when my dad first came here to scout it out. And they never came back. So we’re going to assume there are monsters, but hope for the best. You know?
Kade remained silent, his eyes trained on the red circle out in the ocean on the map. Florian added, “And we’ve been practicing staying shifted for long stretches of time to prepare for it. So it’ll be tough, but I—I think we can do it.”
After another moment, Kade sighed, then leaned closer to Florian to press a kiss to his temple. When Florian tilted his head to look up at him, his eyes were soft and full of affection—devoid of the fear or worry he’d been afraid of seeing. “I know you can. I believe in you.”
Florian smiled back. All his own worries melted away at Kade’s words. Knowing Kade believed in him, he felt like he could do anything. Even save the world.
