Page 82 of Inferno
Let’s get out of here before he changes his mind,Nerik said.Thank you, Rimdolen. And everyone else, I appreciate your support.
What about Zandro?Yorin asked, seeing the fire-dog sitting there beside Kit. The poor creature had been rather forgotten in the rest of the day’s chaos.
Zandro visit Maky?Zandro asked, with a tentative wag of his tail.Kit, please, visit? Zandro will be good.
Kit pursed her lips, then sighed.Fine. Just for tonight. But no making a mess inside the house! If you two want to run about, you do it outside.There was an eager agreement from both fire-dogs.Nerik, you take care of yourself,Kit added, as she turned to leave.The gods have done us a rare favour today.
Well, I’d hardly say this is a grand outcome,Gosta began to complain, but the connection was cut off before she could get any further than that. With a quick nod of gratitude to Rimdolen, Yorin headed off in the direction of Nerik’s cottage, with Nerik close by his side.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Yorin walked slowly along the forest path, taking note of the charred tree trunks and smouldering undergrowth around them. But as they travelled further, the evidence of the fire petered out and they were left with trees that had only been browned a little from the heat, and a lingering scent of smoke.
He had so much he wanted to say, and yet at the same time, no idea where to start. The day had been full of so many shocks, so many twists and turns, and the fact that he and Nerik had both come out of it unharmed was nothing short of a miracle. But whatever words he tried to come up with to express his relief and gratitude seemed to fall short.
Nerik was no more conversational, staring at the road as he plodded along on bare feet. He kept having to hitch up his trousers, as they sagged around his hips, and Yorin once again felt a burst of indignation on Nerik’s behalf that he’d been forced to stand naked in front of half the town.
“They’re not going to make life easy for you,” he said eventually, glancing apprehensively at Nerik.
“Nor for you,” Nerik said, a cold finality in his voice.
Neither of them said anything more until they reached Nerik’s cottage, and Yorin was relieved all over again to see that it hadn’t been harmed by the fire. Thankfully, it was simply too far to the east to have been in the path of the flames.
Nerik stopped by the gate, turning to face Yorin. “I really appreciate everything you did today,” he said, not quite meeting Yorin’s eyes. “It would have turned out a lot worse without you.”
“Do you really want to stay here, now that everyone knows what you are? I’m not suggesting youshouldleave, but it might be easier to start again somewhere else.”
Nerik shook his head. “This is my home. And we still have so much work to do, helping people across the gate. Although that’s going to be a fair bit more difficult now, with everyone watching my every move. But we’ll find a way.”
Yorin nodded. He’d been prepared to pack up his life and follow Nerik, if the man wanted to leave, but it was a relief to be able to stay – regardless of the inevitable difficulties that came with dating not just another man, but a ‘demon’. The gossips in town were going to have a field day with this.
“Look, Yorin…” Nerik paused, while Yorin opened the gate. He stepped through, but Nerik didn’t move, leaving Yorin awkwardly holding it open. “No one’s going to accept you being in a relationship with a demon,” he said, finally meeting Yorin’s eyes. “Humans will think you’re contaminating yourself in unforgivable ways, and half the Chalandrians in town think you’re nothing more than a distraction for me, dragging me away from my duties.” Yorin’s stomach dropped as he realised what Nerik was going to say next. “It was a nice fantasy, for a few days,” Nerik said, sounding truly regretful about it. “But there’s no way this is going to work.”
“Are you worried about what people are going to say about you, or what they’re going to say about me?” Yorin asked bluntly.
“What they’re going to say about you. And what they’re going to do. Customers will leave your shop. People could vandalise it, regardless of anything Captain Renfold might have to say about it. Suppliers could refuse to sell you fabric. Life could become so much more difficult than it is now, and none of that is necessary, if you would simply distance yourself from-”
“Not going to happen,” Yorin said firmly, interrupting Nerik’s very sensible, very well-thought-out advice. “Because you’re going to have exactly the same problems, only a hundredfold worse. But the way we get through this is by standing our ground and proving that we will not be cowed by the opinions of ignorant gossips who want to look down on others. Half your regular customers won’t deal with you anymore, but once word gets around, every Chalandrian in this city who owns a business will be clamouring to pay you to run deliveries for them. And they’ll be coming to my shop to buy clothes. And there are already humans willing to look deeper than the surface. Mr Fensworth has publicly voiced his support for our relationship. There might only be one out of ten humans willing to accept a demon as a member of this city, but those people do exist, and theywillhave a voice, so long as there’s something worth speaking up about. But if we give up, the whole thing gets swept under the rug and people will eagerly forget about it and pretend it never happened. So I’m not going to hide who I am and pretend I don’t love you because it makes some bigoted idiot uncomfortable.”
Nerik stared up at him, a cute frown pinching the skin above his eyes. Yorin braced himself for an argument, for a dozen different reasons why they should go their separate ways… but what Nerik said next was, “You love me?”
Had Yorin never told him that before? “Of course I do,” he said. “I don’t stand in front of a forest fire for just anyone, you know.”
Nerik smiled, then his face fell and he shook his head sadly. “They’re going to hate you for this.”
“Anyone who hates me for loving you isn’t worth my time,” Yorin said resolutely. “And yes, I’m fully aware that this is going to make life difficult. For both of us.”
Nerik sighed, but he finally came in the gate, taking it out of Yorin’s hand and closing it behind him. He led the way into the house, then sighed again as he had to hitch up his trousers for the fifteenth time. “I should get changed,” he said, taking a few steps towards the bedroom. But Yorin was quicker. He caught Nerik by the belt loop and tugged him back.
“Allow me.” He just barely managed to contain a smirk as he undid the buttons on Nerik’s trousers, then let them fall to the floor. Nerik’s shirt was long enough that it covered Nerik’s modesty, but that didn’t stop Yorin. He began to slowly undo the buttons, revealing smooth, tanned skin that climbed higher and higher as the shirt was undone. By the time he was finished, Nerik’s cock was standing at half-mast, an amused look on his face.
“Your clothes are still damp,” Nerik said, running a disdainful finger down Yorin’s shirt.
“I suppose I’ll have to take them off, then. Put them somewhere convenient to dry.” Yorin helpfully undid the buttons on his shirt, then made a production of hanging the garment over the back of a chair. Nerik used the time to shrug his own shirt off his shoulders and kick the trousers off his feet, leaving him standing gloriously naked in the middle of the room.
Yorin’s hands went to his own trouser buttons next… but a quick glance at Nerik distracted him from even that simple task. Instead, he stepped closer, reaching for Nerik’s waist…
“You’re wet!” Nerik reminded him, a little petulantly.