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“Ohhh, fuuuuck.” Oriel wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. “You make me feel things.”
“Me too.” Roth’s breath was warm on his ear as he fiddled with a piece of his black hair. “Do you want me to heal the bite?”
“No. I like being marked by you.” Oriel touched a little spot on Roth’s neck that was faintly red. “You know what? I’m going to have to get you a cat collar with a bell."
Roth drew back a bit to look at him. “No.”
Oriel narrowed his eyes. “I can’t you get a leather one with a bell so I can flick it and make it go tink tink?”
“Absolutely not.” Roth’s lips twitched slightly, but his pout said he’d never accept a bell collar like a pet cat. Or at least not without a bit of a fight.
Oriel suddenly started laughing, and Roth broke into a smile. Oriel couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed. It was at some point before that night. Roth ran his fingers through his hair with an expression like he’d been granted something precious before he chuckled.
“I definitely want to hear that again, but no cat collar.”
They both laughed that time.
In the morning, Oriel woke up practically on top of Roth with their arms around each other. Elira, how he’d needed this touch. For a few moments, his whole world consisted of the feel of Roth’s bare skin against his, and he let a hand wander, trying to memorize it.
A little trail of red hair led down into Roth’s sleep pants, and above it, the burn had healed with liberal application of the balm over the past two weeks, although the skin was now discolored and didn’t quite feel the same anymore. Oriel ran his hand up to Roth’s nipple to play with it and make him sigh with pleasure.
Guilt coiled in his belly a second later because Aspen had been alone in his room. That’s what he wanted since he couldn’t seem to stand either of them, but at the same time, it wasn’t exactly his choice. If his mind hadn’t been so hurt, he wouldn’t have wanted that.
Oriel knocked on Aspen’s door after they’d eaten in their room. They’d be staying another day since the horses needed a rest.
“Go away.”
Oriel took a deep breath before he opened the door to peek in. Aspen was sitting on his bed and tucked in the corner against the wall. The sight of him hunched up like that made Oriel’s throat tighten. So many what-ifs.
“Aspen?”
Oriel was ignored so he slipped in, closed the door, and leaned against it. “I’m not expecting things to be the same as before, but if we’re going to be together on this trip, can’t we talk? Or not be so stiff?”
“Why?”
“Because…I miss you. I know you won’t feel the same about me again, but if we could at least be friends. I meant it when I said I still loved you, and I never stopped. Even though I said nasty stuff to you that day you first came there, I think you did love me back then. We didn't handle any of that well, and it only grew harder."
Aspen didn't deny it, although that didn't make Oriel feel better.
"If we could like each other as friends…Later, you can stay in the Windswept Isles if you like it there, but you can also come home.”
“I don’t have a home.”
“You can always have a home with me if you want,” said Oriel.
“You’ll probably lose and die on the field if you go to war. Go eat shit. I don’t feel like talking to you.”
Oriel pressed his lips together. “Are you going to just sit in the room all day?”
“Yep. You can fuck off now."
He held back a frustrated noise as he opened the door and left. Part of him wanted to go back in and beg for forgiveness, but he’d just get more insults hurled at him.
“If he could at least talk to me,” Oriel told Roth in their room a few minutes later. “I know I fucked up-”
Roth pinched his thumb and fingertips together in a shush gesture. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
