Page 86 of Drown Me Gently

Ulric grabbed Auren by the back of the neck, smashing their mouths together for the first time that day, though it felt like they hadn’t touched in lifetimes. Auren made a startled little sound, and Ulric wished for the strength to pour his love onto this man using every inch of his body.

But he just couldn’t….

“You’re lucky I find you so appealing, spriteling.”

Auren stuck out his tongue, and Ulric dove to snatch it into his mouth. They laughed into the kiss together. Lost in the simplicity of the moment.

They didn’t speak of what might happen tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next. They didn’t mention Atlantis, or the court, or Poseidon’s judgment waiting like storm clouds on the horizon.

Every time the words hovered on Auren’s tongue, Ulric reached out and touched him—his hand, his cheek, the back of his neck—and the question would pass unspoken. It was kinder that way.

The truth would come. Ulric didn’t need to summon it with words.

The sun was high, and the tide had gone out. Ulric was tired of being indoors all day, despite having no strength to do anything else. When he asked for a walk, Auren didn’t hesitate. He tucked his shoulder beneath Ulric’s, steadying him as they moved slowly along the shore. Ulric’s chest tightened at the natural way in which Auren stepped in to care for him. To hold him in a time of weakness. It led Ulric down a rabbit hole of “what ifs” that left him sick to his stomach. What a pairing they would have made. Nothing in all the seas would have stopped them. Their power, their union, their love, unmatched by anything, even the might of Poseidon.

How different things might have been.

But that was for the next life, and Ulric was already mourning for how much he’d miss in this one.

Because even as he faded, the world was so painfully alive.

Seagulls shrieked overhead. The surf crashed in gentle rhythm. The sand clung warm to Ulric’s feet. Auren pointed out every strange little shell, every floundering crab, and shimmer of fish between rocks. He talked just enough to keep the silence from turning heavy. Never too much. Always watching Ulric from the corner of his eye, offering a hand every time Ulric’s breath hitched or his knees faltered.

“You know,” Ulric said as they paused to rest on a flat, sun-warmed boulder, “if I had met you earlier in life, I would’ve done things differently.”

Auren rested his chin on his knees. “I would’ve called you a grumpy bastard and avoided you for years.”

“Fair.”

“You would’ve rolled your eyes at all my human treasures and told me half of it was garbage.”

“I would’ve moved things around just to piss you off.”

“Don’t you dare touch my collection.”

Ulric gave him a sideways look. “You have a dozen rusted forks and a shattered lantern.”

“If you didn’t know what they were, you would have kept them too. And they have charm.”

Auren laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked like he was fighting not to ask the question heavy on his mind. Ulric didn’t stop him.

“Do you regret coming up here?” Auren asked. “I mean not the beginning of it.” His demeanor shrank at even the mention of Elias. “But the stuff after. Staying with me up here instead of dragging me straight back home?”

Ulric reached over, took Auren’s hand, and kissed the inside of his wrist. “I would have leapt out of the water to come to you a thousand times over. You are⁠—”

He hesitated, the words clawing at the back of his throat. But Auren didn’t rush him.

“You’re stubborn,” Ulric murmured. “Loud. Reckless. And somehow still… gentle. You have an inquisitive mind and are fierce in ways that make even the gods pay attention. You’ve taken everything this world gave you and turned it into something bright. And you look at me like I’m more than… just a pawn of the court.” Ulric smiled faintly. “And no one’s ever taken care of me like you do.”

Auren looked startled. “I don’t… do anything special.”

“You do everything,” Ulric said. “You listen. You learn. You see this world with the kind of courage nobody else dares to.”

He let his fingers trace the inside of Auren’s wrist, memorizing the shape.

Auren said nothing. But he squeezed his hand tightly. They stayed like that for a while, hands clasped, foreheads almost touching, the tide hissing in retreat.

Slowly, Ulric got to his feet, brushing sand from his pants.