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Uriel grimaced. “Black?”

“You don’t have to drink it.” Bruiser grabbed a random box of leftovers from the fridge and stuck it into the microwave, jabbing the buttons. “You can sit here and wait for your baked beans. I’ll head out once I’ve scarfed this down.”

To his surprise, Uriel grabbed a mug and poured himself some coffee. Unlike Bruiser, he opened the freezer, took the frozen soft serve, and scooped it into his coffee.

That was... Well, Bruiser wasn’t going to admit it was a stroke of genius, because it wasn’t.

Uriel drew a spell on the mug to warm his coffee back up. He drank it quickly, his throat bobbing.

The microwave dinged. Bruiser snapped his gaze away from the mage’s throat. He hadn’t been staring. It was just... hypnotic, the way Uriel’s throat moved.

Probably some kind of magic involved.

He grabbed the box from the microwave and opened it, only to stare when he found... noodles. Plain spaghetti with no sauce, and no meatballs. It was as though someone had eaten the tasty parts and left the rest. “What the fuck is this?”

Uriel snorted coffee out of his nose. “Ugh!”

Bruiser glared. “Couldn’t you have left some sauce on the pasta?”

“There wasn’t enough sauce. Not my fault you didn’t check the box before you warmed it up.”

Uriel had the gall to smirk. Bruiser bared his teeth.

But Uriel twitched again, looking at that nowhere spot on the wall. Bruiser knew they didn’t have the luxury of time.

He grabbed a fork and shoveled Uriel’s pasta leftovers into his mouth, hating that the mage had been all over this box, hating that it was the only hot food available right now, and there wasn’t time to reheat a better box.

“You could stay behind and watch the cabin,” Uriel said, leaving the kitchen. “Order all the breakfasts you want.”

“Fuck off, I’m not going to sit around and do nothing.” Bruiser dumped the empty box in the trash, finished his coffee, and went to put on his boots.

At the front door, he paused, looking at the playpen. Cassie was watching him again.

Bruiser hesitated. Cassie wasn’t his kid. He wasn’t responsible for her; he shouldn’t have to care.

But he couldn’t step out of the cabin, knowing that she would be left alone, left behind, for however long this cleanup took.

Uriel stepped out of the bathroom. “Give me a few minutes to get her settled.”

He grabbed some supplies and put Cassie on the other side of the playpen, quickly changing her diapers. When she was back in the pen, Uriel shook up some formula in a bottle and hung it upside down in the corner of the playpen, like one of those water bottles in a pet cage.

Uriel scooped Cassie into a quick hug. “I’ve refilled your bottle and changed your diapers, so hopefully you won’t need me anytime soon. Be good until I get back, okay?”

She patted his face with her little hands, and he dropped a kiss on her forehead.

Bruiser looked away, his stomach squirming. That was... too intimate for him to witness.

He stepped out onto the dirt driveway and tried not to look at the spot where they had... not-fucked last night. Instead, he focused on the mission. Would Uriel let him hitch a ride, or would he have to run over to the facility in his human shape? It was broad daylight; he couldn’t risk bringing out his dragon shape right now. Maybe just a partial shift, just his wings, but... they would still be eye-catching.

Uriel shut the cabin door and tested the lock. Then he drew a spell in the air, and Bruiser felt the protective power of it settle around the area.

“Am I riding with you, or what?” he asked, eyeing the mage’s broom.

Uriel raised an eyebrow. “I’m not letting you sit with me.”

“So...”

“So you can hang off the back end of my broomstick,” Uriel said. He scrunched up his face. “That sounded terrible.”