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Because once the heat burned off, there was nothing left but the parts of him he hated most. The need. The fear. The ugly, hungry relief of wanting someone else to help him carry it.

He didn’t want Daven to see that. Didn’t want this arrogant prince to know how badly some part of him was already leaning into the idea of not carrying everything alone.

“Not alone again,” Daven murmured sleepily.

Ryneth froze. “What?”

Could he hear his thoughts?

“You were gifted to me.” Daven’s voice was weaker now, as if he were speaking from somewhere half inside a dream.

Ryneth’s heartbeat kicked hard as he lay there, too still, as if moving might break whatever this was.

“I never wanted to keep anyone.” Daven made a soft, sleepy sound, like even now the thought offended him.

“No?” Ryneth breathed.

Daven didn’t answer.

The next time Ryneth opened his eyes, birds were flying through the air. The sky was bright blue.

“Finally.” Daven’s arm was still wrapped around him, and he nuzzled the hair on the back of Ryneth’s head. “You kept on releasing your static on me, aethera. Even in your sleep you’re fighting me.”

Ryneth blinked. “I was?” Their hands were still connected, his body still full with this comforting buzz. “I’m sorry.”

Daven chuckled raspily. “No need to be. I locked it out. Look.”

Air sat tight around them in an invisible bubble. When Ryneth looked at the room around them, he saw the broken mirror and the smoke of a snapped wire.

“I think you secretly enjoyed yourself.”

Ryneth snorted but didn’t move. He was too comfortable.

Daven’s hand drifted lower again, his fingers closing around him with lazy certainty. Light, he was hard already. Or maybe he’d never really softened. His thumb brushed over the sensitive underside once, then again, slower this time. “Your static feels different now,” he murmured. “Stronger. More awake.”

Ryneth made a rough sound and rocked his hips before he could stop himself.

“You told me it started when you were twelve,” Daven went on, voice still low against his skin. “What did it feel like the first time?”

Wet fingers traced the line of his veins up to the tip, playing with the foreskin until Ryneth grunted and rocked harder into his hand. “It felt good.”

“Yeah?” Daven’s mouth curved against his shoulder. “Did you fry anyone? Make them suffer for what they did to you?”

“I told you. I threw him over the Ward. I never saw him again.”

Daven was silent for a moment. “What happens at the other side of the Ward?”

Ryneth snarled. He didn’t want to admit the truth, but it felt like the words were being pulled out of him, together with this hunger that made his teeth ache and his hips roll faster. “I don’t know. I kept looking for him after, but he never came back. Someone must have taken him.” His throat tightened. “I still feel bad about it.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Releasing his dick, Daven rolled him onto his back faster than lightning. “Are you telling me that you’ve been defending a wall without knowing what’s on the other side of it?”

“I—” Yes. “It’s not like that. It’s complicated.”

Daven pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t think it is. I think people have sold you a lot of bullshit.”

“Concordant is no bullshit,” Ryneth shouted. Bucking his hips, he tried to move the other man, but Daven had straddled him, aligning their naked cocks, rutting them together.

Good Light, he drove him crazy. And when had he gotten undressed in the first place?