Page 19 of Tino
“And I love this Silver, even if I know without a doubt I would love any version of you,” Wilston said, pecking a soft kiss on his soulmatch’s cheek.
We heard laughter and voices approaching the cabin and knew lunch was coming. Silver and Wilston went to open the door and thanked Hane and Tane for providing food for us yet again.
We decided to eat casually, so we sat around the living room table again with me and Tair sitting on the floor. It felt nice being here, surrounded by these men who I had shared many previous lives with. But I still didn’t feel like I belonged yet. I think the lack of magic made it harder for us to fully bond as friends since we needed that to connect.
Julie had gained all her energy and sass back and sat perched on the edge of one of the armchairs, eagerly slurping down spaghetti as the rest of us piled our plates with random meats and sides. One thing the mages had going for them was the food. They had some amazing cooks and I definitely wasn’t complaining about staying here for a while.
“So, training,” Niam said once he’d swallowed his food. “Maybe we should start tomorrow?”
“Sounds good,” Silver nodded while picking at his green beans. “Tino and Altair, you can watch us train, maybe learn along with us while we wait for you to get your own magic.”
I nodded with Tair, glad to be involved. I wouldn’t be mad spending all my time alone with my love, but I liked being a part of the group too.
“Perfect!” Silver exclaimed happily. “We haven’t really been able to have a true breather and just enjoy ourselves since we kept having to move around. Now we’re finally all together!” Wilston smiled at Silver with hearts in his eyes as Silver continued to gush over all the things he couldn’t wait to do while here. “I mean, they even told us to spend time together to bond! We’re allowed to laze about and have fun for once!” Silver continued with even more excitement evident in his tone.
“And you two,” Niam said, pointing to us. “You’ll finally be able to catch up.” His smile was warm and genuine and I found I really liked Niam. I liked all of them. I did have that one moment where I could’ve slapped Wilston over his comment, but now I knew he was the voice of reason.
We spent the next two hours getting to know each other, each talking about our childhoods and how we got shunned. I still couldn’t believe Silver had almost died. The way Wilston tuckedSilver into his lap showed he hated being reminded of how close he had been to losing his soulmatch.
Then Xarius told us about how Niam had thought he was a stalker and was trying to kidnap him. It was hilarious, even more so when Xarius told us he actually ended up kidnapping him in the end.
“What are you thinking about?” Tair asked me as we lazed on our bed. We’d walked straight there, both of us needing to just lay and cuddle. It was weird how fast we’d returned to the ease of our friendship, but how it was still so much more than what it used to be. I was certain if we’d stayed together as children we would’ve started dating at fifteen or sixteen and having progressed from best friends to lovers there.
“Us,” I replied, pecking a kiss on his temple. He had his head on my shoulder, neither of us really eager to untangle from the bed yet.
“What about us?”
“How things would’ve been had I stayed with you.”
He leaned back on his one elbow so we could look at each other. “Do you hate it too?”
I nodded. “I always hated having you taken away from me. I’m glad we found each other in the end, but the time we spent apart was the worst time of my life.”
His eyes turned sad. “It was like that for me too. I wasn’t really living, you know? Just surviving each day and hoping, when I turned eighteen, I could find you. Being banished ruined that for me.”
“I had the same plan,” I admitted, tugging him back to my side. “I was going to return to our small town, find you, then buy the house we’d always dreamed of.”
“And adopt all the dogs and cats,” he grinned.
“All of them,” I agreed.
“We would get a small pond in the backyard,” he continued.
“For the dogs to swim in and the cats to watch the fish as they swam by.”
I could hear the smile in his voice as he added, “and then we would live happily ever after.”
“The end.”
We fell asleep after that, tucked together on the bed, secure in each other’s arms. When we woke, it was to the smell of cookies, or some other kind of deliciously baked goodness.
“I want whatever that is,” Tair rasped, his eyes blinking open slowly as he began to untangle himself from my side. His cheek had lines from where he’d slept on my chest, making him look adorably mussed.
“I’ll fetch whatever you want,” I promised, then pecked his lips with a quick kiss, unable to stop myself.
“Gods, I love you,” he sighed dreamily. I chuckled warmly and left the room to find the source of the delicious smell. On our living room table stood a basket with different goods and two notes. One from Niam where he explained he’d let himself in since Xarius told him we were asleep. How he’d known was a mystery. Were sleep emotions a thing?
The other note was from Willow, it was a rather sweet note honestly. She’d written how she hoped we would like it here and that she was sorry again for having Grethe push further against Altair’s fatigue, stating that she’d never do anything without our consentagain. The baked goods were apparently muffins that she and some of the other mages had baked together to welcome us further.