“Yes."Eli clutched at him.“I'm sorry I left, but I had to..."
Thano grunted and kissed him again.“As long as you know who you belong to."
“You're a bit of an ass, did you know?"
Thano grinned.“I believed you liked my ass."
Groaning, Eli nipped at his lower lip.“I do.And it's mine, right?Only mine."
“For another five hundred years or so."
Eli sucked in a breath, but before he could start asking questions again, Thano kissed him.“Come on.Close up."
Glancing out the window, Eli kissed him again.“I'm glad you came back."
“I was never going to leave you."
Eli's eyes flicked over his face.“No?"
“No.You needed to do what you needed to do.Now you have and can find something else you need to do."
Eli's nod was slow, but this time he moved away from Thano to close the shop for the second to last time.A lot would change, but Thano would take care of him.They'd figure out how to grow food, how to trade for food, and if Eli wanted to, how to get food into Last Hope.
* * * *
Epilogue
Two months later
The June sun had sweat trickling down Eli's back despite the early hour.He stood by his makeshift market stall two blocks away from the roadblock the humans had built at the entrance of Last Hope.Byrd was next to him, buzzing with excitement.
He had a table of his own, and on it, he had a couple of knitting needles, a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle with a faded picture on the mangled box, and a bunch of rhubarb.Eli was curious where he'd gotten hold of the rhubarb, and if he might be able to trade with him to get the entire plant.It would be a good thing to have in the garden.
Eli had eggs, some sugar snaps and leafy greens he'd managed to grow, some venison he kept in a plastic washbasin filled with ice, and Joshua had sold him one sack of flour and one of potatoes.It wasn't much, but it was the first time they tried this, so better not have too much in case no one dared to come.
Thano had shadow walked into Last Hope last night to let Elijah know there would be a market stand and anyone who walked on the road and didn't go near any of the abandoned houses would have free passage to Eli and back.
He was both nervous and excited--not as excited as Byrd, but excited nonetheless.
“Someone's coming!"Feathers washed over Byrd's skin before melting away again.“Do you think they'll like the shinys?I almost kept them for myself."He touched the knitting needles as if he wanted to remove them from the table.
Eli grinned.“I'm sure they will, but you know many of them don't have much to trade with, right?Even if no one trades with you, it doesn't mean they don't like your things, only that they can't afford them this week."
Byrd nodded.“You can't eat shinys.It's why I brought the rhubarb.They might be willing to trade a shiny for the rhubarb."
Oh, boy.“Sure."
The figure moving toward them was close enough now for Eli to see it was Elijah.He hadn't seen him since he'd left Last Hope two months ago, and worry washed over him as he realized how much weight Elijah had lost.Fuck.
Without thinking he left the stall and hurried toward him.“Elijah."
“Eli."He grinned.“Still alive, I see."
“You look terrible."
Elijah grimaced.“Why thank you."
Eli gripped his arm.“How are things?"
