TRP: Goro and Everyone (Birthday)

LINA

[Setting: The castle, day 351. After Brains and Baths.]

Goro hung on to the string Hansel had given him. He wasn't
sure if Hansel was gonna want it back later, or what. Be kinda weird to give it
back after chewing on it for however long. At the rate he was going, it might
wind up too frayed to tie around anything, anyway.

And then he could go back to chewing on his thumbnails.
Pfff. Hansel. Fussy about the weirdest shit.

Goro wandered toward the kitchen in search of lunch, string
in mouth.

IZZY

Once they'd gotten back to the castle, Luci went to the
kitchen. By the point, she had all of her ingredients laid out neatly, ready to
start mixing -- which was absolutely no thanks to Jonn, who kept interfering with
the process by nudging stuff out of alignment, stealing ingredients, hiding
dishes, and such, all while giggling at her protests and occasionally poking
her in the side to make her yip.

She'd missed this. He was in a good mood, and he hadn't been
for a while, and they were spending time together like they used to at the
Sanctuary. It was simple and familiar, and oddly pleasant to have him tease and
antagonize her.

He'd settled for just sitting on the counter next to her
workspace, now, his boots swinging cheerily.

"Get off the counter," she complained absently,
cuffing her sleeves up.

"No."

"I'll tell Hansel."

"Oh yeah? What's he gonna do?"

"Pick you up and carry you away," she told him,
which was probably true, if Hansel were feeling better.

"Psshh. He'd have to catch me first." Jonn hopped
off the counter to poke her again, making her squeak, which made him snicker as
she batted her hands after him, and he darted over to the table to hop into a
chair and crouch there, grinning at her.

She huffed and started tying her hair back.

LINA

Goro walked into the kitchen, saw that it was occupied, and
immediately took the string out of his mouth to hide behind his back.

"Jonn," he said, more of an observation than a
greeting. Didn't know where he'd come from. Hansel would be delighted.

IZZY

Jonn jumped a little and immediately dropped out of his
crouch to sit like a normal person, looking a bit sheepish. (Luci gave him a
slight smirk.) "Hey. Happy birthday."

"Jonn, you weren't --." Luci tsked. Well, he'd
already said it, now.

LINA

Goro flushed.

"How'd you know?" Tried not to sound...
accusatory.

IZZY

"Oh. Am I not supposed to?" Jonn looked between
the two of them, puzzled. "Sorry."

"Hansel told us," Luci answered, beginning to mix
her dry ingredients in an orderly fashion. "We weren't supposed to 'make a
whole thing out of it'."

"I just said happy birthday."

She hmph'ed a little. Hansel didn't like people doing things
for his birthday, either, but Jonn had different opinions about them.

LINA

Goro was pretty sure he was turning pink. Why'd he tell you?
he wanted to ask. Not like it was a fucking secret, or anything. He didn't
care.

He almost turned around and walked back out before he
remembered he'd come in here for a reason.

"Um," he said, edging further inside. He scanned
the counters for something to stuff in his mouth. "Gonna... gonna grab
some lunch."

IZZY

"Oh, um." Well, now she had to come up with
something, and she was no good at lying. "Um, well, don't ... eat too much.
You'll ... spoil your supper."

"You're not his mom, Luci," Jonn teased.

She grumbled.

LINA

Hah. Someone could do worse than having Luci as their mom,
though. He wondered if she'd ever adopt people one day, Amari-style.

He went to the bread box and pulled out the remains of the
last loaf that had been put in there. No mold, but kinda hard. Eh. He crammed a
corner of it into his mouth and worked off a bite, wincing some. He chomped and
swallowed it half-whole.

"'Cha makin'?" he asked Luci, eyeing all her bowls
and shit.

IZZY

"Er," she said, gracefully, and as he frequently
did, Jonn bailed her out.

He hopped up from his chair and took a couple steps closer,
tucking one hand behind his back and fishing into his cloak pockets with the other.
"Hey. Hey, Goro."

LINA

Goro looked back and forth between them, well aware some
shit was going on, but he couldn't tell what it was. "What?"

IZZY

Luci kept working briskly, ignoring them both.

Jonn, meanwhile, ran interference. He pulled a small black
velvet bag out of his cloak and held it out to Goro, somewhat defensively
saying, "I know Dad said not to make a big deal, but it's not a big
deal."

LINA

Goro stared for a while at the velvet bag. His eyes narrowed.
"What? What is it?"

IZZY

Jonn winced a little and shifted uncomfortably, then opened
the bag himself. He pulled out a bracelet. It was nine strands braided together,
all dark, rich colors of sturdy, decently thick twine, and it had alternating
knots woven in and wooden beads strung onto it, and a simple brass
hook-and-loop closure.

"It's magic," Jonn said, upfront in case Goro was
gonna check it for curses, or anything. "Uh, I got it from that artificer,
Lyra? It should do that thing magic stuff does, where it adjusts to fit
you."

"You have to tell him what it's for," Luci
reminded him.

"Oh, yeah," he said quickly. "Uh, you chew on
your nails a lot. Everyone always tells me not to do that, and I thought about
that clay you bought me? And that helps me. So I thought, maybe, you could chew
on this instead. It's not the same," he admitted. "Um, but it's self-mending.
So that's good."

LINA

Goro kept scowling, first at the bracelet, then at Jonn,
then at Luci, then back at the bracelet.

He wasn't sure where to fucking start. There were too many
thoughts competing for attention in his head. The notion that Jonn--and
Luci?--would get him a fucking present at all, let alone special order
something from Lyra. Finding out that the clay he'd bought for Jonn was helping
him, apparently. The bracelet itself, which looked nice. Simple and muted, but
not plain.

"Why the hell's everyone noticing me chewing my nails
all the sudden?" He threw the string from Hansel onto the ground.

IZZY

Jonn blinked down at the twine Goro apparently already had,
lost. "Uh, I mean. I dunno." He started stuffing the bracelet back
into the bag. "You don't have to take it."

LINA

"No. No. No. Shit." Goro grabbed for it, then wondered
if that'd be... freaky. "I mean, let me see it."

IZZY

Jonn held it out, still confused.

LINA

Goro took the bracelet, eyes still darting suspiciously up at
Jonn every couple seconds. He examined the thing, then looped it around his
wrist and hooked it shut. He worried at the twine strands, digging into them
with his nails.

"The clay helps you?" he asked, not looking up
from the bracelet.

IZZY

Jonn nodded and perked up, encouraged. "Yeah. It was a
really good idea." He felt like he hadn't been real thankful when Goro had
given it to him. It'd been ... a bad day. "I really appreciate it."

LINA

Goro softened some, his shoulders relaxing. He was oddly
relieved. Jonn had been so skeptical at the time, and Goro was sure it'd be
worth a try, but he hadn't got his hopes up. "I'm glad."

He kept fiddling with the bracelet. The thought of chewing
it was... odd, and he wanted to try it just to see. Made him self-conscious, though.
"You, uh... you really got me a birthday present, huh?"

IZZY

"Yup." He bounced on his toes a little. He wanted
to ask if Goro liked it, but Goro probably needed more time to decide if he did
or not. "Luci paid for most of it."

Without looking over her shoulder -- mixing the dry and wet
ingredients together now, into a smooth batter -- Luci put in, "Lyra said
that if you don't like the colors, you can take it to her and she'll change it
for free. She remembers you, you know," she added. "She likes
you."

"You probably weren't supposed to tell him that
part," Jonn said.

"Oh."

LINA

"Lyra likes me? Fuckin'..." Goro frowned, picking
at the bracelet. "Why?"

IZZY

Jonn shrugged. He never really understood why anyone liked
anyone else. It all kinda seemed like it was random, sometimes.

"I don't know," Luci agreed.

LINA

Goro's curiosity about the bracelet was winning out. He
lifted his wrist to his mouth and tentatively nibbled on it.
"Self-mending, huh," he said with it between his teeth.

IZZY

He nodded again, enthusiastically. "So, if you snap
through it, it casts that mending spell on itself straight away." That'd
been his idea. He was pretty proud of it. "Um, only one time in a day,
though, so. I guess Lyra could probably fix it for you, too, if you really
needed her to," he added thoughtfully.

LINA

"Man, I'd have to be some kinda... shark to bite
through it twice in one day," Goro said, glad for the first time in his
life Hansel wasn't around.

IZZY

"Hansel does call you krishi sometimes," Luci said
absently, pouring the batter into a pan.

LINA

"Oh my god," Goro grumbled. Of course someone had
overheard that. He bit a little harder on the bracelet, watching Luci work.
"Are you making a motherfucking cake?"

IZZY

"N-No," Luci lied, poorly.

LINA

"Oh," Goro said, hiding a grin. "Oh yeah, it
must be that uh, that quickbread Amari loves. She must've asked you to make
some for her."

IZZY

"It's, um. No ..." She trailed off and busied
herself with bustling the pan over to the warm oven, embarrassed.

Jonn cut around Goro to reach her, grabbing her in a hug
from behind once she'd settled the pan inside. "Yes," he said firmly.
"It's quickbread. For Amari." He gave Goro a knowing look over Luci's
shoulder. "But it's a surprise, so don't say nothin'."

LINA

"My lips are sealed," Goro said. Except they
weren't, because he went back to nibbling on the bracelet.

IZZY

Jonn grinned, more that Goro was chewing on the bracelet
than anything. Luci tsked at him again and shrugged him off, going back to her
work area to clean up. "Yes, fine. It's a cake. I'm making you a cake,
Goro. For your birthday. Hansel was going to, but I know he won't feel like it,
but he'll try to do it anyway as soon as he remembers, so I'm doing it first.
There."

LINA

"Psssh. Fuckin'." Goro began chewing more
aggressively on the bracelet. Then, embarrassed, he made himself stop. God.
Everything about this encounter was awkward. He must've been beet red.
"Thanks."

IZZY

"You're welcome," Luci said, pleased that he
wasn't trying to argue or anything foolish like that.

Jonn retreated back to his chair, hopping into it to sink
into the same crouch he'd been in before. He tilted his head at Goro curiously.
"Hey, d'you ever do stuff for your birthday, usually? Like, since you've
been off the streets, and stuff."

LINA

Goro bristled automatically. It was an honest question,
though. Jonn wasn't trying to be rude. (Goro wasn't sure he was ever trying to
be rude. Which was fuckin' weird.)

"Well, I didn't know when it was," he said flatly.
It'd been odd to see the date written on Luka's letter, heading the words Our
baby boy was born today. Confirmation that Jasmilia had been right. Not that
Goro thought she might've misremembered the day she fucking gave birth, or
anything. Just that he wasn't sure he could trust any shit that came out of her
mouth, period.

"But. Amari always made me a cake on the new year. I
thought it was fucking dumb. Wasn't a real birthday."

IZZY

"That was very nice of her," Luci commented. She
finished cleaning up, and stood awkwardly for a moment, not sure if she should
stand with Goro or sit with Jonn. It would likely be appropriate to hug Goro;
it was his birthday, after all. That was something that people did.

Maybe later. For now she just stood nearby, her hands folded
together and feeling somewhat empty without her staff to hold onto. Perhaps she
should get something to fidget with, as well.

"Oh. Yeah, I dunno when mine is, either," Jonn
offered, clearly trying to search around for some common ground and
relatability, the way he did. "That was nice of Amari, though, yeah. She's
nice."

LINA

"Amari's not nice. She's fuckin' nuts," Goro
clarified.

IZZY

Jonn tilted his head again. "I think she's nice. She
helped me when Dad was sick."

LINA

Goro frowned, fiddling with the bracelet, working his finger
between the strands. "Eh?"

IZZY

"Yeah. When his ship, y'know." Jonn shrugged. He
didn't like thinking about it. "When he came home. I didn't know what to
do for him, when he was upset, so I talked to a bunch of clerics, and Amari's
the only one that helped me."

He'd never really thought to mention it before. It wasn't
like anyone needed convincing that Amari was nice, after all. And Jonn was
pretty sure Hansel would be embarrassed, if he knew -- he was like that -- so
maybe he shouldn't've said anything now, actually. He ducked his head a bit.

LINA

It took Goro a second to put it together, but it made sense:
When Hansel came back from sea, Amari was still living in Skyport, spending
most of her free time privately helping anyone who needed it. If Jonn had been
asking around, it wasn't a stretch to think Amari had found her way to him. And
to Hansel.

Goro wondered what she'd done for them. He didn't know much
about that time in Hansel's life. When he was sick. When he was upset. Wasn't
any spells that cured "upset" for more than a minute.

Amari wasn't a gossip, but he did wonder why Hansel had
never mentioned anything. Just too painful to bring up, maybe.

In any case. Goro's chest felt warm. Amari helping his
would-be husband, before she ever knew. No questions asked, nothing needed in
return, just like always.

"She's not nice," Goro insisted. "She's
loving."

It was different. It was infinitely more powerful, he
thought.

IZZY

Jonn looked puzzled.

"Maybe she's both," Luci said. She was fairly sure
that they weren't mutually exclusive.

LINA

"Psh. Sure. I guess. She was pretty strict with me
sometimes, when I was younger. But in fairness, I was a piece of fuckin'
work." He shuffled his feet. "Well, I say was."

IZZY

It was Luci's turn to be puzzled. He was saying a piece of
work as if it were a bad thing. Work wasn't bad, though. Amari, particularly,
seemed to quite enjoy work -- whether it was helping others or gardening. She
just wasn't sure what Goro's point was.

She shrugged, and patted his shoulder exactly twice, then
went to sit next to Jonn, saying, "Well, it was clearly worth whatever
effort she expended. Do you want to sit down? Are Hansel and Mishka expecting
you back?"

LINA

"Eh. Yeah, but." He rubbed his upper arm and chose
a free chair to sit in. "Don't wanna. They can have some alone time."

IZZY

"Is Hansel feeling okay?" Luci asked, a little
hesitantly. She hadn't told Jonn that he'd ... died. Only that he'd gotten
badly injured and needed some rest. Goro was good at keeping secrets and lying,
but he had to know he was doing it, first.

LINA

Goro shrugged. "I mean, you know him, he wouldn't
fuckin' complain if he didn't. Probably tired as fuck, is all."

IZZY

She made a sound of agreement and then fell quiet.

LINA

Goro drew his knees up to his chest, and started to go for
his thumbnail when he remembered the bracelet. The mere fact of being aware of
it made him feel self-conscious again, though. He wondered if that was going to
defeat the whole purpose of the thing.

He fidgeted with the hem of his robe instead. "How long
you here for, Jonn?"

IZZY

Jonn shrugged, and shifted behind Luci to wrap his arms
around her neck and prop his chin on them, over her shoulder. "Probably
just today. I gotta get back to Finch."

LINA

Goro made a sour face. "Nah. You don't."

IZZY

"Nah, nah," Jonn said quickly. "He's doing a
lot better." He tilted his head, trying to remember what all Goro had
heard, before. "Well, I mean. He's fucking miserable. But he's not drinking.
And me and Larkin are doing stuff to keep him from getting all stressed out and
shit. It's better."

LINA

Goro muttered, still discontent. Knew better by now than to
keep trying to talk Jonn out of it, though.

He wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. Still didn't
wanna go upstairs, but sitting here with Jonn and Luci was a little weird, too.
Seemed like a good time to take a walk by himself, maybe.

"So, uh. When's that cake gonna be done?"

IZZY

There was a loud thumping sound from upstairs. Luci and Jonn
both looked up, alarmed.

LINA

Goro raised his eyebrows at the ceiling. "The fuck was
that?"

IZZY

"You live here," Jonn said, still looking up.
"You don't know the sounds the place makes?"

LINA

Goro squinted at him. "Nah, buddy, like ten fucking
people live here. There's weird sounds all the time."

IZZY

Jonn shrugged. He guessed that was fair, yeah.

There was more thumping.

"So, like, if someone broke in," he suggested.

LINA

"Psh." Goro pushed himself to his feet. "Alright,
fine, fine. I'll check."

IZZY

Luci stood immediately to go with him, and Jonn unfolded to
do the same.

LINA

Goro supposed it wasn't like him to not be immediately
paranoid as fuck, but he was just so motherfucking tired. There were a good ten
goddamn people living here, and it seemed any a one of 'em could've gone to
investigate while he enjoyed sitting down and not thinking about shit for once.

But that was his curse, he guessed. Never not thinking about
shit.

He led Jonn and Luci up the stairs, dragging his feet some,
grumbling in his head the whole time.

IZZY

The library, lounge, and war room all seemed to be empty.
Luci rather doubted they would hear thumps from there, anyway. It was the east
tower that was over the kitchen -- another sitting room, which appeared to be
empty as well, and above that, Goro and Larkin's rooms.

When they came up the stairs to the quarters, there was a
brief instant where Ombre was visible -- in her kitsune form, kneeling in front
of Goro's door with her tongue sticking out slightly and her brow furrowed. She
seemed to be fiddling with the doorknob.

Then she saw them, yipped, and disappeared -- either turning
invisible, or blinking away.

LINA

"Ombre," Goro barked, in case she was still there
or within hearing range. "The fuck are you doing?"

IZZY

There was nothing for a beat. Then, Ombre became visible
again, hiding behind a tall leafy potted plant that sat by the window. She
peeked out, her hands hidden behind her back.

"Okay," she said sheepishly, "so, here's the
thing, is that I was just gonna sneak into your room and leave you a surprise,
but like, your locks are really hard to get through."

LINA

Fuck's sake. Like that wasn't by design. Goro thought about
rolling his eyes, clucking his tongue, telling her off. But more than anything,
he was overcome with the urge to hug her. Overcome by stinging affection. He
hadn't been seeing enough of her lately. She had a fucking surprise for him.
What the fuck.

He was... feeling weirdly lonely. His own doing. Too afraid
to just... ask for company, attention, even from Hansel at the moment. Hiding
with Luci and Jonn who he trusted to tell him to go away if they didn't want
him around.

Maybe it was weird luck that he set his sights on Ombre
right when the loneliness became too much to fight off, or maybe it was that
Ombre seemed safer somehow. He half-pushed, half-kicked the plant out of the
way and grabbed her tightly in a hug.

IZZY

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Wow. Gosh.
Okay." She wasn't gonna turn him down, though, and hugged him back tight,
grinning and shifting from foot to foot happily.

(Behind him, Jonn -- who didn't like her very much --
retreated a little, giving Luci an unsure look. Luci nodded to him, and he
backed on off down the stairs. Luci tarried at the top of the staircase,
keeping a respectful distance.)

LINA

Goro let Ombre go and backed off a couple steps.
"Don't... fuckin' sneak into my room. I got a warding glyph set up inside
the door. It'd fry you."

IZZY

"Pffft. Like I can't deal with a little magic. I mean,
regular old locks, though." She gave them a dramatic, narrow-eyed look.
"Foiled."

LINA

"Good. What do you think they're fuckin' there
for?" He scowled and rubbed the back of his head, glancing over at Luci.
"I don't like surprises, anyway."

IZZY

She looked contrite. "I knooow, but people are supposed
to get surprises on their birthday. Look, it's a good one. Promise."

LINA

He held a hand out and made a grabby gesture. "Alright,
then, let's see it."

IZZY

"Okay, close your eyes."

LINA

"No."

IZZY

"Birthday surprises are only for people who close their
eyes," she wheedled.

LINA

"I don't want it, then." He pulled his hand back
and turned away, pretending he was above it all.

IZZY

She pouted and gave an exasperated scoff.

LINA

"How about I compromise and close one eye?" he
said over his shoulder.

IZZY

"That's not a compromise. You can still see."

LINA

He shrugged and started walking for the stairs.

IZZY

She crossed her arms and sulked.

LINA

Goro paused, turned around, and crossed his arms right back
at her. "Psh. Fuck's sake. Come on. You wanna give it to me, or not?"

IZZY

"I'll just put it somewhere and surprise you," she
threatened, adorably.

LINA

"Oh my god." He rubbed his face. "I don't
like surprises! Just... fuckin'..." He scoffed, stepped forward, and covered
his eyes with one hand, holding the other out and wincing the whole time.

IZZY

She put something smooth, cool, and weighty into his palm.

LINA

He uncovered his eyes, already scowling suspiciously, and pulled
his hand in to examine it.

IZZY

It was a small, silver metal statue of a curled up fox. When
the light hit it, it had a strange, beautiful rainbow sheen to it.

Ombre looked supremely proud of herself. "Pet it."

LINA

Goro's face softened. He blinked at Ombre, then, not sure
why the fuck he was doing it, petted the fox's head with his index finger.

IZZY

The little fox's eyes lit up, as if they were opening, and
they projected a small three-dimensional illusion -- like the enchantment in Ombre's
amulet that held an image of her little sister.

This one, though, was of the Runners. Goro, along with
Hansel and Mishka, and Larkin, and Roddy and Raef, and Luci, too. Even Joan and
Amari. Ombre wasn't there, because it was a memory of hers, from her perspective
-- a memory of them all sat down to dinner in the great hall, grinning and
laughing and talking.

She bounced on her feet eagerly. "I took my old amulet
to Lyra, and she managed to figure out the enchantment. This should last, like,
forever."

LINA

Goro flinched when the illusion first popped up. He stared
at the image for a long time without saying anything. Taking in all the faces,
all the details.

"You're not in it," he said.

IZZY

"Oh, yeah, 'cause -- it was reconstructed from my
memory. So I couldn't be. We'd need another perspective of the same
night," she said thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her lips and
looking up, "of someone who was lookin' at me, and we'd need to overlay
them somehow, which, gosh, this sorta memory matrix recording was all the rage
back in my day, but it's actually really complicated! Who knew." Then she
looked back down, shaking off the tangent.

LINA

"Well... can we do it?" Looking at the image made
him feel like his heart was being squeezed. He petted the fox's head again to
try and make it vanish.

IZZY

The fox closed its eyes, and the illusion winked out.

"I could probably figure it out. Me and Lyra, I
mean." She wiggled excitedly, swishing her tail a bit. "I'd just need
to, um, root around in someone else's head. Hansel would've had a pretty good
perspective," she admitted, a little grudgingly. "He could do
it."

LINA

"Uh huh." Goro slipped the fox into his pocket. He
wasn't sure what else to do with it at the moment. He stepped forward and
pulled Ombre into another hug. "Thank you. I love it."

Mostly he just loved her, and the fact that she'd made it
for him, and the fact that it was shaped like a fox. The image illusion was
weird. Made him feel... too much. Too many things. And he felt guilty it didn't
just make him happy.

IZZY

Ombre's tail swished more and she hugged him again,
squeezing real tight for as long as he was actually gonna let himself be
hugged. "Good," she chirped. "You're welcome. I love you,
too."

LINA

"Don't sneak into my fucking room, alright?" he
said, still squeezing.

IZZY

"Yeah, okay, fair enough," she admitted.

LINA

He let go and took a step back. "There's, uh. There's
gonna be cake later." He glanced at Luci. "Enough for everyone?"

IZZY

"It's an entire cake," she said bluntly.

Ombre giggled a bit.

LINA

"Cakes can be different sizes," Goro pointed out,
lamely.

IZZY

"That's true," she allowed, not pointing out that
he'd seen the size of the cake pan she'd rested in the oven. It was his
birthday, after all. She could give him that.

LINA

"Uh huh, well, anyway." He ran a hand through his
hair. Motherfucker. This was real awkward. He glanced between Luci and Ombre,
wondering if they were friends, or some shit. "You guys wanna hear
something weird? I fucking thought I was thirty-three this whole year, but I
actually just turned thirty-three today. Motherfucker, right? Fuckin' younger
than I thought I was."

IZZY

Ombre backed up a couple steps to sit down heavily on the
windowsill, drawing her knees up to hold them to her chest so she could swing
her feet. "Oh, man. Yeah. You're so young. You're like a baby."

Luci wasn't sure if she was amused or mildly insulted,
considering that she was quite a bit younger than Goro was.

LINA

"Pssh, got more life experience than you, I bet. Living
in a tomb and shit." He tossed a glance at Luci, like she was gonna agree
with him, before realizing she probably didn't care. She was fuckin'... sixteen
or something, he didn't know.

IZZY

"Hey," she objected affably, still swinging her
feet. "I was around for like ... like thirty-somethin' years before that.
And I travelled all over the place, and met people, and played music ..."
She trailed off there, looking distant. "Man. It's too bad, what happened
to Shepherd Hills. I never got to go back."

LINA

"Fuck Shepherd Hills."

IZZY

She snickered. "Okay, sure, I guess. But it was nice
when I was growing up."

LINA

Goro made a face. "Wait, what?"

IZZY

"What?"

LINA

"You... grew up in Shepherd Hills?" Again, he
looked to Luci, with a can you believe this shit kinda face.

IZZY

"Yeah."

"It says so in her book," Luci commented.
"The one Mishka found, about Volpae. I read it."

LINA

"Motherfucker," Goro said in wonderment. "And
you say it was nice? They didn't care about you being... well, you know."
He gestured to where he'd have fox ears, if he had them.

IZZY

"Oh, nah. I mean, they didn't know at first, 'cause I
was a foundling, and all," Ombre said, thoughtfully. "But when they
found out, they didn't mind. I was one of'em."

LINA

"Weird." And sad. Sad that things had gone so
fucking far downhill. "Damn. You're right. It is too bad what happened to
it."

IZZY

She shrugged. "I dunno. Probably something happened
that made people get all ... like that," she said, making a face. She
shook off her kitsune form to look human, and skipped to her bare feet, anklet
jingling. "Ooh. I bet we could find out. History books!"

LINA

Goro frowned. "Something... happened," he
repeated. "Doubt it'll be a good fucking excuse, but sure. Let's go figure
it out."

IZZY

"Oh, yeah, it's not an excuse, no question," she
agreed. "But it's interesting! How people get to be the ways they are, and
stuff." Then she looked a little embarrassed. "I mean, the ways we
are. I'm people."

LINA

"Eh. Like it's something to be proud of." He waved
that off and started down the stairs. "Have we even got any history books
that'd tell us that kinda thing? It's, uh... s'not my favorite subject. Haven't
really looked much through that section."

IZZY

Ombre skipped after him to keep jingling, and Luci trailed
behind them with mild interest.

"I'm not sure," Ombre said. "I'm not real
into history, either. I missed most of it."

"We have four history books," Luci supplied.
"Including the one about Volpae. Hansel has a history of naval combat
book. There's one about the history of Glimmerton and Morningstar Keep. One is
more general history of the region, but I've never read it from cover to
cover." She sounded vaguely guilty about that. "We also have a
historical fiction novel, which I also haven't read." That one, she didn't
sound guilty about.

LINA

"Uh. Has it got an index? The general history
one?" Was no fucking way Goro was planning to read it cover to cover.

IZZY

"Oh, certainly."

LINA

Goro stopped and gestured for Luci to go in front of him.
"Psh, well, you lead the way then. You know your shit."

IZZY

"Oh. Um, all right." Luci took the lead, and as
she passed by Ombre, Ombre almost gave her a companionable pat on the shoulder
before catching herself.

A floor down in the library, Luci went straight to the
appropriate shelf and pulled a heavy, ragged, yellowed old tome down. She
hefted it over to the table and thudded it down, opening the water-damaged
cover to the table of contents.

LINA

"Good god," Goro said, leaning over to poke at it.
"Did Shepherd Hills even exist when this thing was written?"

IZZY

Ombre snickered again. "It's not older than me,
Gogo."

After they flipped to the right chapter, it was easy enough
to find the page talking about the Gentleglen area. It had always been an area that
came under conflict between orcs and elves, as a temperature location that was
good for raising crops. Before the Calamity, it had been predominantly settled
by wood elves, rather than Alabaster elves, as well as orcs and humans living
and working in tandem, allegedly.

Then, after the Calamity, it was resettled by humans, mostly
-- refugees who struggled to survive and were frequently harried by starving
orcs tribes. Apparently, soon after the Calamity, the more aggressive orcish and
elven presence was fended off by a nature spirit -- claimed by some to be
Silvanus or an angered Eldath -- and though the region was largely peaceful
afterwards, it carried the memory of the conflict up into the present day.

LINA

Goro crossed his arms and tapped a finger, eyes narrowed.
"So, because a long-ass time ago there were some orcs and elves fucking
the place up, that was a good reason for a whole town to pick on a little kid
just 'cause he was a half-orc. Yeah. Sure. Alright. Real fascinating bit of
trivia. Psh." He kicked back from the table, balancing his chair on the
two back legs. "I think I was right. History's not for me."

IZZY

Ombre frowned a little. "Yeah. It's too bad. I remember
when it was a lotta wood elves and humans and orcs and stuff ... It was a really
nice place to live."

LINA

Goro shook his head. "Shit, to fuckin' think--"

Then he lost traction with one of his boots on the edge of
the table, and tipped backwards.

IZZY

Ombre yipped out an, "Oh my gosh!" and tried to
catch Goro, but failed.

Luci, sensibly, realized there was no way she could catch
him, and didn't try. She did kneel down next to him, though, once he'd whapped
onto the floor, and asked, "Are you all right? Did you hit your
head?"

Behind her, Ombre had already pulled her healing staff out
of her bag and was wringing it between her hands anxiously.

LINA

Goro groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing the back
of his head. "'M fuckin' fine. It's fine. God fucking damn it."

IZZY

"Are you sure? Let me see," Luci said sternly,
motioning for him to lift his head so that she could inspect it.

LINA

"Nah, nah, nah. It's fine." He had to sit up
sometime, though, and he was pretty sure he was bleeding. Felt wet back there.
He pushed himself up with a psh.

IZZY

Luci clicked her tongue, and Ombre gave a little gasp and
whispered, "Oh nooo."

"He's fine," Luci said firmly.

It was a fair amount of blood, but head wounds were always
bleeders. She channeled a little magic into a soft healing word, and a
silver-white glow struck through with dark red encircled the mild injury and
bound it closed with a soothing coolness.

"You should wash the blood out of your hair,
though," she added, standing. "Before it gets sticky. It's lucky none
got on your robes."

Ombre offered Goro a fretful hand up.

LINA

"Psh," Goro said. Luci had healed him before, but
never for something so stupid. He was supposed to be the older, more mature
cleric, and shit.

He accepted Ombre's help with his non-bloodied hand.
"Oh no," he said. "I can't remember what day it is. Oh,
wait." He smacked the heel of his other hand against his forehead. "I
smell delicious cake. Must be someone's birthday."

IZZY

Ombre looked genuinely concerned for a moment, then scoffed
at him daintily. "Yeah," she said primly. "It's mine, and you
don't get any cake 'cause you're a jerk."

Luci looked between them with slightly narrowed eyes,
studying this.

LINA

Goro opened his mouth in feigned shock and put a hand to his
chest.

IZZY

"Birthday cake is for people who don't scare the
birthday girl," she chided, poking him in the chest a few times.

LINA

"Psh." He batted her hand away. "Maybe it's
for people who don't try and break into the birthday boy's room, huh?"

IZZY

She narrowed her eyes at him, putting her finger over her
lips in consideration before pointing at him. "Okay, you got me
there." Then she broke into a grin and poked at him again, with both
pointer fingers this time, trying to find a ticklish spot. "Hehehe, you're
the birthday boy, birthday boy Gogo."

LINA

"Pfff." He slapped at her hands and twisted out of
her way. "No cake. No cake! Luci, don't let her have any cake."

IZZY

"I suspect she could overpower me," Luci said
gravely, as Ombre kept giggling and prodding at Goro.

LINA

"Nah, she wouldn't. She's a big softie." Goro dodged
and weaved, jabbing his hands at Ombre's stomach to tickle her back.

IZZY

Ombre combatted this by grabbing Goro in another snuggly hug
that pinned his arms, continuing to giggle.

"Hm," Luci said. "Um. I'm going to go check on
the cake. Jonn is probably waiting for me in the kitchen."

LINA

"Oh, yeah! Jonn. I should--" He wrestled his arms
free so he could squeeze Ombre back. "I should--did I say thank you for
the bracelet? I feel like I didn't--ah, I don't fuckin' know. Shit's weird."

IZZY

"You didn't," Luci informed him, with no judgment.

"You thanked me," Ombre assured him, letting him
go. "Lemme know when there's cake! Are we gonna have a party?"

LINA

"No." Goro almost shuddered at the thought.
"I don't even know how so many fuckin' people found out. Goddamn Hansel
and his goddamn loose lips."

God, though. Luci, Jonn, and Ombre, all making something of
it, acting like it was special. Acting like... Goro was worth their attention.
Fuck. He kind of... ah, fuck.

"Anyway, uh, Ombre, I'll bring you a piece when it's
ready." He ducked his head and went to rub his hair vigorously like usual,
then winced when he hit the still-tender spot on his scalp. And blood. Right,
right.

IZZY

"'Kay," Ombre said, giving him a look. "I think
I'm gonna read some of this book. Maybe there's more interesting stuff about
Gentleglen. History books can be fun when they get stuff wrong," she added
brightly, and hesitated for a second before leaning in to kiss his temple, then
immediately shifting into her nine-tailed-fox form and scurrying under her
table. The blanket slipped down to cover her hideyhole.

Luci gave her a mildly puzzled look before turning to head
back down the stairs.

LINA

Goro followed after Luci. His immediate inclination was to
start yapping to her on the stairs, something to prevent an awkward silence,
but then he remembered Luci didn't really truck with small talk and shit. Kind
of a relief, honestly.

IZZY

"Why did you lie to Ombre about liking her gift?"
Luci asked, still free of judgment and merely curious, once they were down in
the main entry hall and out of Ombre's hearing range.

LINA

"Uh." Goddamn. He hoped Ombre hadn't seen through
him the way Luci did, although it didn't seem like it. She'd seemed pretty
delighted.

He dug in his pocket and pulled the fox out for another look
as he walked. "I mean. I do like it. 'Cause it's a fox, and 'cause it's
from her. The illusion thing, uh." He thought for a moment. "I
just... I didn't... I was supposed to like it. I didn't want to hurt her
feelings. She probably worked hard on it."

IZZY

"Hm." Luci didn't understand. They passed into the
dining room. "So, then, you do like, but -- you don't like the
illusion?"

LINA

"It was weird," he said, cringing, and slipping
the fox back into his pocket. "It was... a happy moment, but it's over
now. Just a fake. It's fuckin' sad."

IZZY

Luci had to stop to give him an expression that conveyed the
full force of her confusion. "It ... isn't fake. It's a memory. It will
have always happened, and been happy."

LINA

"Okay, sure, but." He made a confused face right
back at her. "It's over now. If I pull this out and--" He took the
fox out again, and pet its head, making the image project off to the side of
where they stood. He pointed at himself. "That ain't me."

IZZY

"It literally is," Luci said, utterly nonplussed.

LINA

"Nuh uh." He batted his hand through the image,
then patted himself on the arm.

IZZY

"Goro, you're very strange," she said, accepting
it, and patted him on the arm, too. "I love you."

She headed towards the kitchen.

LINA

"What!" He hurriedly pet the fox's head again and
shoved it back in his pocket. "I mean, fuckin', what!" He trailed
after her. Pfff.

IZZY

"You know that you're strange, don't you?" she
asked, glancing back as she pushed open the kitchen door. "Like I am.
We're odd people."

Inside, Jonn had laid all of the knives in the kitchen out
on the counter, arranged by type and size, and was seemingly halfway through
happily sharpening them. He was odd, as well, in a different way.

LINA

"Yeah, I wasn't fuckin' objecting to the strange
bit," he muttered, relieved by the distraction of Jonn being a real fucking
weirdo right there in the kitchen. "God. I can't believe I'm saying this,
but why do we got so many knives in here?"

IZZY

"I dunno," Jonn said. "Fuckin', like ...
etiquette, and shit? Like, how you have a soup spoon, and a -- uhh -- dessert
spoon?"

"Salad fork, dinner fork, butter knife, steak knife,"
Luci filled in, then glanced at Goro again. "They tried to teach us
manners at the Sanctuary."

"Yeah, and like, bread knives, butcher's knives,
carving knives, paring knives, boning knives, cleavers ..."

"That's plenty, Jonn," Luci said gently. Back to
Goro, she added, "Were you objecting to the idea that I love you?"

LINA

"Psssh. Was who what, now?" He walked over to
examine the knives, thinking maybe he could critique Jonn's sharpening
technique, but uh, nah, looked like the kid had it down.

IZZY

"You love Goro?" Jonn asked.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Neat." He sounded pleased about it.

"It's customary to say it back," she informed
Goro, beginning to put away the knives Jonn had already sharpened, "but
you needn't if you don't feel that way. It won't change anything."

LINA

"Psssh," he said, so weakly he sounded like a
little snake. He rested his elbows on the counter and buried his face in his
hands.

IZZY

Jonn looked at him for a moment, then gestured to Luci and
led her over to a corner, where they conferred for a beat. Then they came back
and Jonn went back to knife sharpening.

Luci looked contrite, and slightly obstinate, her hands
folded in front of her. "I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable, Goro. I
didn't intend to."

LINA

"Ah, psh, I--g--ah, fff--" Goro flapped his hand
around and made a lot of sounds that didn't even really approach being words.
"Nah. Nah."

IZZY

She stared at him and waited for him to make sense.

LINA

"I mean, obviously I love you too, and shit, but,
ffff-psssh." He kept flapping his hand, then closed his eyes and gave an
exaggerated shrug.

IZZY

Luci opened her mouth to say something, a quizzical look on
her face, but Jonn caught her eye and shook his head subtly. She closed it and
patted Goro's shoulder again, exactly twice, before returning to her
self-appointed job of putting away the knives.

"That's all right," she said calmly.
"Sometimes it's difficult to say things."

LINA

"Psssh." Goro snatched a knife out from under her
and chucked it straight down so the tip embedded in the cutting board.
"Love's fucking stupid. Worrying about people, and shit."

IZZY

She patiently wrenched the knife out of the cutting  board. "I know that you don't believe
that. You're marrying my father."

LINA

"It's stupid," Goro insisted. He felt like he'd
been eloquent, once, at some point in his life, but it was a dim memory now.

IZZY

"Very well. Then I don't love you," Luci
deadpanned. "I take it back."

LINA

"Good. There's better people to waste your time
on." Without a knife to stab into things, he couldn't remember why he'd come
down here. Cake. Well, it probably wasn't ready yet. So he supposed he'd just
keep dying in the meantime.

IZZY

"I'm glad we've reached an agreement," she said
solemnly.

"You guys are fucking weird," Jonn commented. He
crossed behind Luci and kissed the back of her head on the way.

"Yes. That's what I was saying."

He offered Goro his whetstone. "You wanna help?"

LINA

"God, yes." Goro snatched the whetstone, snatched
up one of the remaining steak knives, and started going to fucking town on it.

Goro was real fucking good at sharpening knives. Used to be
his life had depended on it, and all.

He glanced at Luci a couple times while he worked. "You
think you're weird? I mean, I've always known I'm a fucking freak, but most
people get all fucking defensive when they're called on it."

IZZY

Jonn pulled out a second whetstone, and started working
happily alongside Goro. There were rather a lot of knives.

"Oh, yes," Luci said, watching them docilely.
"There's no sense in denying such things. It's not inherently harmful to
be a little strange. Or very strange," she added. She looked at Jonn while
his eyes were down on his work. "Fighting oneself will only make one weary
from the constant constant struggle."

LINA

Goro scoffed. "Where'd you get that one from,
Amari?"

IZZY

"Oh, yes. Probably," she said. "She's very
wise."

LINA

Goro scoffed again. "Yeah, but. Well. Anyway." He
shrugged one shoulder. "Being strange is harmful to me. Makes people stay
away."

Then again, he'd been saying like a minute ago that he thought
love was stupid. Motherfucker.

IZZY

"That's untrue. You live in a castle full of people who
care about you. No one is staying away."

Jonn nodded in agreement without looking up.

LINA

Goro had nothing to fucking say, because he'd backed himself
into a goddamn corner. He switched knives, instead. He was used to checking
their sharpness by pricking his finger, but that seemed like bad form with
knives other people would be eating with.

"So yeah. Anyway."

IZZY

Luci let it slide.

"I think it's good to know that you're strange,"
she said. "Do you like your bracelet?"

"Luci," Jonn objected, half-whining.

LINA

Goro's hands slowed, then stilled. The rest of him felt like
fidgeting, though. He shuffled his feet a little.

The implication wasn't fucking lost on him. He didn't care
if Hansel thought it was great or whatever that he was bitey. It was fucking
weird, and people had fucking noticed it, and god, he hated being fuckin'...
seen, when there was nowhere to run and hide.

He lowered his head a little, failing to focus on the knife
and whetstone. His cheeks were burning.

IZZY

"It's fine," Jonn said softly. "Luci,
stop."

"I only meant --."

"Luci."

She started again, then huffed the breath out and fell
silent, looking annoyed.

LINA

"Nah, nah, it's fine, um." He set the knife and
whetstone on the counter, and shook out his hands like he could shake the
painful feeling off, like it was drops of water.

He thought about running. Snuffing up to his bedroom, or out
to the lakeshore. No one would bother him there. He wasn't sure that was what
he wanted. He hated being seen, but he thought he might also hate being alone.

He thought of all the other July thirds he'd spent alone,
not knowing. It made him sad--not for himself, oddly enough, but for Luka.
Seemed fucking rotten to have a son, to have July third be the day you felt so
whole for the first time, and then you just die and the world forgets.

Impulsively, Goro hugged himself. Fine. He wouldn't spend
July third alone this year. For Luka. Weird-ass justification, but there it
was.

Still left him not knowing what the hell to do in this
moment. He didn't want to cry over being a freak in front of his eventual
stepkids. "Um," he said again. "Yeah. I like the bracelet. I
mean."

IZZY

Luci opened her mouth, and Jonn elbowed her abruptly,
shooting her a look.

"Neat," he said brightly. "I'm glad."

Then he elbowed Luci again, more of a nudge, and they shared
an incomprehensible look; she nudged him back, and he narrowed his eyes at her.
After just a second of this, she circled around him and lifted up on her toes
to hug Goro -- slightly stiffly and awkwardly, from unfamiliarity with the gesture
-- around the shoulders.

"You know, I didn't mean what I said earlier," she
said, "about taking it back. I'm not very good with, um, sarcasm. I'm
strange like that."

LINA

Goro sucked in a surprised breath and turned a little rigid
at first. Yeah, alright, asshole, it's just a hug. He liked to think he was getting
better at the whole "not being shocked when his family members touched
him" thing, but there were good moments and bad moments still, he guessed.

He recovered enough to hug her back. Luci didn't seem like
much of a hugger--even Hansel held back around her--so Goro didn't go whole hog
like he had with Ombre earlier. A brief squeeze and a back pat.

"Yeah, kid, I know you didn't mean it," he said.
"S'fine. There's too many sarcastic assholes in the world as is. I got
enough sarcasm for the both of us."

IZZY

"Good." She let go, satisfied. "I just wanted
to be sure." Then she slipped around him, so that he was between herself
and Jonn, and she couldn't get elbowed again. "Jonn thought that you
looked like you needed a hug, but he didn't want to be the one to do it."

"Luci!" Jonn searched for something harmless to
throw at her, exasperated, but all that was around was knives, so he just
ducked his head and sulked, and edged away a bit.

"If you like it when Hansel hugs you," Luci plowed
on, ignoring him, "you would like Jonn's, too. He does it the same way.
Very tight. He's not as strong, of course."

Jonn muttered and grumbled, hunching his shoulders. Luci
knew how he had gotten about touching people (Hansel says don't, his letters had
read), but she didn't see any reason to be so cloak-and-dagger over the desire
to.

LINA

Pfff. Goro didn't have shit to say to all that. He might've
objected and said the reason he loved Hansel's hugs was more who was giving
them than what they were like, but that seemed kinda rude. Goro didn't want to
hurt Jonn's feelings. Didn't necessarily want to invite a hug, either, though.

Best to just fucking avoid the topic, period.

"You two, uh--" He pointed between them. "You
do that thing. Fuckin'... knowing each other so well, you don't gotta use words
to communicate."

IZZY

"Yes," Luci said. Goro was deflecting. He did that
a lot, she'd noticed, and she had gotten into the habit of ignoring his
attempts and pushing past them, but Jonn seemed to think she was being too
blunt, or harsh. She let it go.

Since Jonn was uncomfortable, now, she circled Goro again to
stand beside him, and it made him look a little less tense. "There was a
lot of enforced quiet time, at the Sanctuary," she said, "when we
were young. We learned how to work around it."

That seemed harmless and innocuous.

LINA

"Huh." Goro ran a hand through his hair. Ah,
fuckin'--kept forgetting about the blood. "Hm. How long's it... how long's
it take to get like that? Like... working around it."

IZZY

"Oh. I'm not sure," Luci said, mildly puzzled.
She'd never thought about it before. She looked to Jonn, who shrugged.

"Dunno. Was always like that." He was mumbling a
little, still looking down at the knife that was, frankly, sharp enough
already. "I always knew what Luci wanted, even when she was real little and
couldn't talk." Then he cut his eyes at her. "You started doing it to
me when you were like, seven or something. I thought you could read my
mind."

"Oh, maybe I could," she said thoughtfully.
"I can now, after all."

He scoffed a bit, but his mood seemed to recover.

LINA

"Oh," Goro said, and started fiddling with his new
bracelet. That wasn't the kind of answer he'd wanted. He wanted to hear from people
who'd had to work at it. He'd never had that kind of thing with anyone, and
wasn't sure if he could.

He glanced at Luci, frowning a little. "What, like, you
can literally read his mind?"

IZZY

"Oh, yes. Now that Selune is my goddess. Anyone's
mind," she said serenely.

"That's creepy, achoti," Jonn told her.

"You're creepy," she said automatically.

He snickered.

LINA

"Oh yeah," Goro said. "Nah, I remember. Like
with that motherfucker in the tavern you told me about." A second later,
he added, almost boastfully, "You can't read my mind."

IZZY

"Oh, well, yes, true. The ring." She eyed his
hands for a moment. She kind of wanted one of those. It seemed very useful.
"I wonder if there are spells that make one's mind unreadable, as
well."

LINA

He shrugged. "Probably. The magic in the ring's gotta
come from somewhere."

IZZY

"Hmm." Luci stared off into space for a moment,
going through the castle library in her head, considering whether any of their
books might have that information.

"Seems like something Finch would know about,"
Jonn said offhandedly, somewhat fondly adding, "Paranoid motherfucker."

With Luci busy woolgathering, he finished up putting the
knives away himself, pleased at having accomplished something. Hansel had really
been letting them go -- he probably just used one knife for everything he did
from skinning game to cutting butter, and it was his pocketknife. And people
tried to say Jonn was uncivilized (all right, so he did that too, but he didn't
have a whole kitchen full of stuff that he could use).

As Luci shook off her daze and went to check on the cake,
peeking into the oven, a familiar sound of padding footsteps echoed into the
kitchen from the dining room -- nothing particularly remarkable, except for the
odd accompanying sound.

A repeated metallic tink.

LINA

Goro frowned. He walked over to the kitchen door and cracked
it open.

IZZY

It was Hansel.

He looked about as ragged as he had -- he'd gotten some
rest, but not nearly enough, and looked like he'd dragged his clothes on still
half-conscious. His hair was damp and messy, and he was using his silver
trident as a walking stick -- the tink sound following him was its pommel
hitting the stone flooring of the dining hall.

He spotted Goro and froze.

LINA

"The hell are you doing outta bed?" Goro asked.

IZZY

"Nothin'. The hell are you doin' in the kitchen?"

He looked guilty and suspicious as fuck.

LINA

"I live here. I can be in the kitchen if I want."

God, what was his deal? Goro didn't know, but he was filled
with affection anyway. This motherfucker and his nonexistent lying skills.

IZZY

Hansel grumbled. "Well, fuckin' ... don't be, 'cause
... I got ... shit to do, and ..." He gave up and sighed, shoulders slumping
a bit. "A'right, I mean, look, I was gonna bake you a cake, for your
birthday an' all, and it was s'posed to be a surprise, but honestly I still
ain't doin' so hot, so maybe we could just ..." He shrugged one shoulder.
"Do it together?"

LINA

"Psh. Yeah, Luci fucking called that. She already made
me a cake. You oughta be fuckin' laying down."

The warm affection in his chest turned to heartache. Great
fucking birthday present that had been, waking up in the middle of the night
and finding out his fiance was dead. It was taking everything he had in him not
to run to Hansel, grab him, and start fucking sobbing against his chest.

Hansel didn't need that right now. Wasn't any point in
getting upset over it after the fact, anyway.

Still--Goro rushed for him suddenly, stopping only at the
last second so he wouldn't bump into him too hard and knock him off balance. He
grabbed Hansel's hand instead, his urgency probably coming through in how hard
he squeezed it.

IZZY

Puzzled and concerned, Hansel squeezed his hand back, then
looped an arm around him to squeeze all of him -- that tight as he could, not
tight enough right now way. Kissed his head, though, the same as always.

"Hey. Somethin' wrong, ahuv?" Hansel rubbed his
back a second and squeezed him again, since the first time hadn't been enough.

He didn't even really process the thing about Luci making a
cake. God, of course she had. Didn't miss a fuckin' beat, that kid. Hansel'd
asked her to help him get shit ready for Goro's birthday, so she was just going
ahead with it. Naturally.

LINA

"Nah. Nah, I'm peachy. Hey, your kid got me a
present." He held up the arm with the new bracelet on it. "Jonn, I
mean."

IZZY

Hansel narrowed his eyes. He wasn't buying it, but let
himself be distracted for now.

"Huh." He studied the bracelet, shifting his trident
from hand to hand so he could keep an arm around Goro and take his wrist, too.
It was kind of odd -- Hansel felt like he didn't get it. Wasn't sure it was
something he'd imagine Goro wearing, himself, but it didn't have teeth or bones
or feathers or anything attached to it, so as far as gifts from Jonn went, it
was ... fine.

"You ... like it?" he asked doubtfully. Maybe it
was magic or something.

LINA

"It's for chewing," he explained, then started
gnawing on it to demonstrate.

He wondered if Jonn and Luci were... listening in. Watching
behind him. He got embarrassed suddenly, even though they knew exactly what the
bracelet was for. He pulled it out of his mouth, anyway, and hid his face
against Hansel's chest.

IZZY

"Oh. S'good. All right." Hansel was kind of
impressed. Jonn was pretty observant and thought shit out, but still -- he had
to've really been paying attention to notice Goro being bitey.

Ah, that was a little unsettling to think about, though,
really. Jonn liked Goro, he told himself. It was fine.

He wasn't sure just what set Goro to hiding, but it was
irrelevant -- Hansel wrapped around him and kissed his head, then tugged him
over to the dining room table to pull a chair out and sit down heavily. He
propped his trident next to him and pulled Goro into his lap.

"Didn't get you anything," he admitted. "Was
gonna take you on a trip, but ... ehn." He stroked Goro's hair.
"Might have to put it off a little bit. That okay?"

LINA

"Mmf." Goro clutched him tighter and tried to bury
his face more, which was impossible. "Just get better. I don't care. Don't
want anything except you. Get healthy again." He shifted just enough to
peek one eye out. "A trip where?"

IZZY

Hansel grinned down at him. God. Fuckin' adorable. "Was
gonna take you somewhere high up, with a good view. Since it's warm again. Go
sailin' a bit, maybe -- either just me and you, or Mishka too, maybe Larkin and
Kheman, if he was up to it."

LINA

A lot of things hit Goro all at once, or in such rapid
succession it felt like all at once--set off, no doubt, just by thinking about
how good Hansel was, and how lucky Goro was to have him.

He felt sick again, thinking about how for a couple hours,
there had been no Hansel in the world with him.

He felt fucking terrified, as usual, that Hansel was gonna
lose interest in him sooner or later, or get fed up with him. And with that,
the most obstinate part of him decided he just couldn't let that happen; he'd
just hold on so tight Hansel wouldn't be able to peel him off.

So that was what he did. Just held on even tighter.
"I'm not hurting you, am I?" he asked, muffled.

IZZY

"Nah, ahuv," Hansel said gently. "'Course
not." It did ache a bit, but the ache didn't bother him. He went back to
rubbing Goro's back. "Hold on as tight as you want."

He wanted to hazard a guess at what was going on, but it was
a fucking lot -- the shit with Aleksei being alive and a threat, fucking with memories
and fucking killing Hansel -- that happening just before Goro's birthday, the
first one where he actually knew the date, knew about his parents.

If Goro didn't wanna bring it up himself, Hansel would give
it a delicate shot. For now though, he just rubbed Goro's back and kissed his
hair, staying quiet.

LINA

Hansel was being all nice to him. Probably could tell he was
unhappy. Goro felt like (hah) a leech, draining out what little energy Hansel had
left, feeding himself on it.

Regretfully, Goro pulled back. He tugged extra lightly on
Hansel's beard--not a real tease, just the ghost of one. "Anyway. Cake's
in the works. You gotta go back to bed."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled lightly. "I ain't gotta do shit. What,
you think you can boss me around now, huh?" He pulled Goro back in to
cuddle him.

LINA

"Sure do. Get to boss you around any time I want. That
ain't new." Goro tickled Hansel's sides gently. "Rest,
motherfucker."

IZZY

"Oh, aye? You comin' with me?" Hansel prodded.

LINA

"Um. Nah. Not sleepy." Goro wiggled around.
"Full of energy, and all."

IZZY

"All right. Ain't goin' nowhere, then."

LINA

Goro groaned. "Come on. You don't gotta be like this.
Take care of yourself."

IZZY

"I am takin' care of myself," Hansel insisted. He
squeezed Goro. "This right here is me takin' care of myself."

From the kitchen, Luci yelled, "You came down here to
bake a cake!"

"Ey, stop eavesdroppin'!" Hansel called back.

The door that led out of the kitchen and into the sun room
banged as Luci and Jonn went outside, and Hansel scoffed affectionately. He
cuddled Goro more.

LINA

"She's fuckin' right, though," Goro said.
"You were using your fuckin' trident as a cane."

IZZY

"Psshh, what'm I, a fuckin' old man? Nah, nah. Walking
stick. Whole different thing."

LINA

Goro scoffed. "I've known kids who needed canes and
crutches and shit. Ain't no shame in it. Hobbling downstairs to bake a fucking
cake in your condition, though, that's another story."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled some more.

LINA

Goro squeezed him tight. "Um. Thanks, though. I just...
wasn't gonna say anything."

IZZY

Hansel scoffed back. "Yeah, I figured you
wouldn't." He hesitated. "You ... okay? About the birthday shit.
Knowing the day, and all. It's different now."

LINA

"Um."

IZZY

"Eh?" Hansel nudged.

LINA

Goro shrugged. "S'weird." He hesitated, then
added, "Sad."

IZZY

"Mm." Hansel pulled back a little to look at him,
trying to get a little bit better read, and ran a hand through his hair.

Then he stopped, and pulled his hand away to look at it.

"Goro, the hell is there blood in your hair for? The
fuck, ahuv."

LINA

"What?" Goro said, defensive. "It's not a big
deal."

IZZY

He didn't seem like he was hurt -- probably healed himself,
or, hell, if he'd been with Luci, she'd done it -- but still. Hansel grumbled
some more. "Fuckin' gettin' head wounds and shit."

LINA

"I just fell over in a chair. It was barely a
wound."

IZZY

"Leaning back on two legs, huh?" Hansel asked,
kind of fucking amused by that.

LINA

"Shut the fuck up." Goro hid his face against Hansel's
chest again, and kissed it.

IZZY

"Uh-huh." Hansel kissed the top of Goro's head. He
wondered if he could pull the blood out of Goro's hair -- it was mostly water,
right? It was fairly dry, now, though. Would probably leave a residue anyway.
They'd just all gotten clean and shit, too. He sighed and shook his head a bit.

"Fuckin' anyhow. Just wanted your birthday to be,
y'know. Not so sad. Wasn't gonna make a whole big thing out of it, or
anything."

LINA

"Mmm. Mmf." Goro pressed his face in even harder.
"Too good."

IZZY

"Pff." Hansel kept petting him.

LINA

He moved his face a little to free his mouth.
"Um," he said again.

IZZY

"Mmhm." Hansel waited, patiently, and kissed his
forehead.

LINA

"Um... I don't..." He sighed, frustrated. He
wanted to yak about the whole Luka thing that was running through his head. It
felt like something heavy, and he wanted to share the weight with someone else.
But he was so damn sick of himself demanding shit from Hansel all the time.
"How you feeling right now?"

IZZY

"M'all right, ahuv. Promise." Then he hesitated.
He usually just said shit like that, and -- honestly, Goro usually saw through
it anyway. People always did. Probably ought to just be upfront. It kinda
seemed like Goro had some shit on his mind, and Hansel figured if he wanted to
coax Goro into being open, he should do it too.

"I mean, kinda tired," he admitted. "I'm
fuckin' beat. Headache." He held Goro's face in both his hands to make
Goro look at him, and tapped their foreheads together before adding, "I'm
okay, though. I mean it. All good."

LINA

"Wish I could do something for the headache." Goro
combed his fingers through the hair at Hansel's temples. "Maybe one of
them damn Amari teas. Honestly, I don't think they really do anything half the
time, though."

IZZY

"Mm. Sure it'll pass on its before long." It was
probably the being stabbed in the fucking skull. He didn't figure he oughta say
that out loud, though -- probably the kind thing people would find upsetting.
He kind of worried that -- the way people kept scars when they died -- he might
just keep a headache, but nah. Probably not.

LINA

"It will." Goro kissed Hansel's left eyebrow, then
the eyelid when it fluttered shut. "When Luci and I were researching this
shit--y'know, it's different from reviving someone, where their heart stops and
everything, but their soul ain't left yet. Body's still warm and all. And it's
different from resurrection, like I did with the Leech, that can just make you
a new fucking body. This spell, I mean, it takes a dead body, you know? And
closes the mortal wounds, and calls the soul back. But now you're walking
around in a body that just fucking stopped ticking for a while. Takes a few
days for your blood to flow right, and everything."

IZZY

"Huh." Hansel mulled that over. "Sounds like
some powerful shit. Musta been a real good cleric who pulled it off, huh?"

LINA

"Psh. I mean." Goro ducked his head down and
kissed the crook of Hansel's neck. "I mean. I never known someone else who
could do it."

IZZY

"Mm. All supports my fuckin' theory about the real good
cleric, eh?"

LINA

"I... guess."

IZZY

"Yeah?" Hansel angled his face back up to kiss him
a few times. "Well, I don't think, I fuckin' know. How about that."

LINA

Goro scoffed some more, and wiggled in place. He did think
he was a good cleric, but it felt so fucking wrong to ever sing his own
praises. He got angry when people underestimated his skill, but he brushed them
off when they complimented him. Couldn't win.

"I love you," he blurted. Easier than anything.

IZZY

Hansel grinned. "Yeah, love you too."

LINA

"Anyway. Uh." Goro sat back a bit so he could look
Hansel in the eye. He stuck his thumbnail between his teeth, then remembered.
He stopped. He glanced around uncomfortably--as if he wouldn't have noticed
already if there was someone peeking in on them. Then he unhooked the bracelet
from around his wrist, folded it in half, and started nibbling on it.

"Um," he started again, talking around the bracelet.
"I was feeling sad. For... for Luka. You remember the letter? Where he
said--he said I was born, and he talked about holding me."

IZZY

"Yeah." Hansel frowned a bit, idly running a hand
up and down Goro's side. "Said it was the happiest he'd ever been, or
something like that, didn't he?" He supposed it was sad Luka hadn't gotten
to hold Goro more, but -- that made Hansel fuckin' sad for Goro, not so much
for Luka.

LINA

"'I never knew I could feel so whole,'" Goro
recited, looking off to the side. Yeah, he'd read that letter a lot of goddamn
times. "I don't... I don't know how long after that. How long until he died,
I mean. I kinda figured, I mean, it seems like he died pretty soon after I was
born. Maybe he made it to my first birthday, but I don't really know."

His chewing had got a little less hesitant. He'd found one
of the wood beads and was sinking his teeth into it. "Just think it's
fuckin' sad, 'cause... it--it meant so much to him, and then. No one ever
remembered. Jasmilia fucked off, and. I mean, all these years, July third would
just come and go, and I wouldn't fuckin' notice. No one would. I dunno."

When he put it into words, it didn't sound all that sad. He
didn't know why it made his heart ache so bad.

IZZY

"Mm." Ah. Ah, Hansel thought he got it. He was
quiet a moment. He figured maybe Jasmilia had noticed, she was just a fuckin' piece
of shit, and didn't count, and the idea wasn't especially comforting.

He thought sometimes about the similarities Goro and he had,
there -- both having lost their fathers. Yehuda had been gone before Hansel was
even born, but it didn't do Goro a hell of a lot more good, not having any
memory of his dad. He'd just been a baby. At the same time, it was different
enough that Hansel didn't know how he'd feel, knowing that the only person
who'd ever cared about his fucking birth had died, and years passed with no one
else -- not even himself -- even knowing when it was, really.

"Y'know," he said slowly. "I know it's, uh.
It's different. I knew when my birthday was, and all. But 'specially after
Leigh was born, we never really did anything for it. Mom'd bake me a pie,
usually, but she didn't always have the time, or the date'd slip up on her and
she wouldn't have the ingredients on hand, so ... Eh, anyway, y'know, just
never really mattered so much. I got to where I didn't pay it any mind. Wasn't
'til Mishka that anyone gave a shit." He paused. "Ah, I dunno. I
think I'm just ... trying to say, you can make up for lost time, like."

He frowned a bit, not sure if he was making sense, and slid
his hand up to cradle Goro's cheek again.

"Bet Luka'd be real happy, knowing where you are today,
and all. Got people that care again. It's like -- something got shifted, for a
long time, but it's righted, now, y'know?"

LINA

Goro leaned into Hansel's hand, closing his eyes. God, he
was relieved he'd said something. Hansel always just had this... gentle, wise
yet innocent way of helping him look at things. Helping him feel a little
better.

Sometimes he didn't even know if it was what Hansel said, or
just how he said it. All thoughtfully, touching Goro gently all the while.

No wonder Goro had got addicted to it. Sharing his problems.
Telling Hansel what was on his mind.

He leaned in to kiss his way across Hansel's nose and cheeks.

"So then, how come you won't let me make anything of
your birthday, huh?" He smiled crookedly.

IZZY

"Psshh. Eh." He wasn't feeling like playful
bickering about it. Still mulling over what Goro'd said, he supposed. "No
loss. No one ever cared about it before Mishka. Ain't like a debt, right? No
lost time to make up for."

LINA

Goro frowned. "And no one but Mishka cared about it
before me. But here I am."

IZZY

"Mm." Hansel looked at him appreciatively,
sidetracked. "Here you are."

LINA

"Psssh." Goro shoved his shoulder. "Point is,
you oughta let me celebrate it, and shit. 'Cause I'm sure fuckin' glad you were
born."

IZZY

"Yeah, yeah." Hansel ruffled Goro's hair, working
out some of the stickiness of the blood. Dumbass. Leaning chairs back and shit.
"Just don't like havin' a big deal made, is all."

LINA

"Yeah, I getcha." Goro kissed each of his cheeks
again. "You know I'm a fuckin' vault when it comes to secrets. No big deals
here." He combed his fingers through Hansel's hair again. Was getting longer
than he was used to.

"It wasn't right, y'know," he said quietly.
"I... I know your mom loved you. I know she had her hands full with Leigh,
and keeping your motherfuckin' stepdad off her back. But it wasn't right of her
to forget you all the time."

IZZY

Hansel smiled a bit. Yeah, he supposed Goro had to fuckin'
understand that, if there was any one person who would. He closed his eyes -- a
little to make the headache lessen, a little just because he was comfortable,
and he could.

He was quiet, too. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I
know. Is what it is, though. S'better now. That's what matters."

LINA

Goro smiled and hugged Hansel tight. Good. Good. He didn't
like when Hansel tried to downplay bad shit that had happened to him, but this
wasn't that. This was like... looking at things with a clear head, and being
okay with them.

Goro stuck the bracelet in his mouth again and started
chewing. Mmm, that was nice, hugging Hansel and gnawing on something at the
same time. Felt like it quieted that part of his brain that always had
background noise going.

There were soft footsteps in the entry hall. Goro took the
bracelet out of his mouth.

Amari poked her head into the dining room, saw the two of
them sitting there, and smiled. "I smell cake."

IZZY

Hansel ducked his head a little, still reflexively
embarrassed about Goro's mom being ... around. Wandering in with her son
sitting on his lap, and shit. He wasn't gonna fuckin' stop, but it was kind of
embarrassing.

He was kind of embarrassed, too, that he wasn't the one
making the fuckin' cake, and his kid'd had to step up and do it.
"Aye." He lifted a hand a bit in greeting. "All Luci's
doin'."

LINA

Ah, just Amari. Goro went back to chewing on the bracelet.

She walked over, tilting her head to the side and frowning
at Hansel. "Oh, sweetheart. You don't look well."

IZZY

"Yeah," he said sheepishly. "Uh, I died, and
all. S'fine, though."

LINA

Amari blinked at him, then turned her troubled look on Goro.

"Someone stabbed him in the eye," Goro explained
around the bracelet. "I wasn't there. Had to use Raise Dead. It
worked."

Amari put a hand to her chest and swallowed. She always
tried to--not act shocked about things, for some reason, but sometimes it was
pretty fucking obvious.

"Yeah, it fucking sucked," Goro filled in for her.
He snuggled closer to Hansel.

"You raised him?" Amari asked.

"Yup. You heard right. He was gone a couple hours, and
I brought him back. Yeah," he said, before she could start going on about
how extraordinary that was, "I know. I don't wanna talk about it."

"Mm." She reached out to brush the hair out of his
eyes, and she kept running her fingers through it to the back of his head. Then
she pulled her hand away, frowned slightly at the dried blood she'd found, and
dusted it off. She turned her attention back to Hansel. "Well. I'm glad
you're still with us. Have you been resting?"

IZZY

Hansel continued being fuckin' embarrassed. "Aye,
ma'am."

LINA

"I'd offer some magic to help you feel better, but I'm
sure if it could be done, Goro or Luci would have already done it. What about
some tea?"

IZZY

"Pshh." It was his most polite scoff. "I'm
all right. You don't gotta do that."

LINA

Amari patted his shoulder. "I was planning to make some
for myself. It's no more work to make a second cup, don't you worry." And
she continued on into the kitchen before he could object.

"Hah," Goro said under his breath, grinning, when
she was gone."Aye, ma'am."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled at him. "What? I got fuckin' manners
and shit."

LINA

"It's just my mom."

IZZY

"I call my mom ma'am. You call my mom ma'am."

LINA

"Well. Listen. Your mom's kinda scary."

IZZY

"Pffff." She was, but Hansel wasn't gonna own up
to it.

LINA

Amari returned a moment later bearing a tray with three
steaming mugs on it. She set it on the table and gave Goro a kiss on the head.
"Happy birthday, my love. I'm sorry it had a rough start."

"Pssh," Goro said. He sat up to grab a mug and
pass it to Hansel.

IZZY

"Thank you, ahuv," Hansel said, continuing to
demonstrate his fuckin' politeness. He took a sip. Amari's tea was always
special, somehow -- Hansel used the same damn ingredients but it never turned
out the same. Without the tinge of teasing sarcasm, he added, "Thanks,
Amari. Uh, ain't gonna be a party, or anything like that, but I'll make sure
you're around before we cut the cake or anything."

LINA

"Hm. Sounds like a party to me." She smiled at
Goro. He scoffed, hooking the bracelet around his wrist again so he could drink
his own tea. Amari reached out to tap a finger on the bracelet. "What's
this?"

He held his arm out for her to get a better look. "Jonn
gave it to me. It's for chewing on."

"Oh." Amari sound pleasantly interested. "Oh,
that's a good idea. Something to do instead of biting on your knuckles."

"Ma, I quit biting my knuckles ages ago." Psh, her
fuckin' snitching on him in front of Hansel.

Since his hand was already out, she'd taken it and was running
her thumb over the backs of his fingers. "He used always have scabs,"
she told Hansel. "They'd get infected."

"Ma."

IZZY

"Goro, you were bitin' your knuckles like two fuckin'
days ago," Hansel teased. He almost blurted out something to Amari about
how he kept trying to get Goro to just bite him instead, but that seemed, uh.
Inappropriate.

LINA

"Yeah, but not like--" Goro groaned, then
automatically started bringing a hand to his mouth to bite his knuckle.
Motherfucker. He groaned again and dragged his collar up to hide his face.
Snitches, fucking snitches everywhere.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Amari said. "It helps
you feel better. But it's important you don't hurt yourself when you do
it."

"Yeah, I know."

"He's always been that way, as long as I've known
him," Amari told Hansel, very matter-of-factly. "Always fidgeting,
and chewing on things, and playing with them--breaking them. He broke a lot of
things when he first came to the abbey. Usually not on purpose. He has a hard
time being still."

"Feel free to stop talking any time," Goro said
loudly through his robe.

"Oh, honey, I'm not trying to embarrass you. I think
it's important for Hansel to know these things." She gave Hansel a grim
look. "Sometimes people get upset with him, because they don't
understand."

IZZY

Hansel went from being real fuckin' amused at listening to
them go back and forth, to grumbling at the idea of people getting annoyed at
Goro just for doing the shit he did. "Yeah, well. Fuck'em."

He set his tea down to cuddle Goro aggressively for a moment
and kissed his head, then propped his arms on Goro's shoulders to wrap around
and shield his face for him. Was fuckin' cute, how he hid his face when he got
embarrassed.

"I like it," he said firmly. "It's fuckin'
charming. All full of energy and shit. Expressive." Hansel kissed his hair
again, a couple times. "And it makes you fuckin' happy." He rested
his chin on Goro's head contentedly, and a little more quietly, added, "I
like anything that makes him happy."

LINA

While Goro scoffed his heart out, Amari smiled. She seemed
lost in the moment for a bit, then remembered herself and picked up her tea.
She took a sip. "Have you set a date for the wedding?"

"Ma."

IZZY

"Nah." Hansel felt all sheepish again.
"Y'know, with everything that's been going on, and all. Want it to be
special. Not get interrupted by pirates or a war or some shit." Or by
Aleksei showing up, or someone dying. Valkur. The fuckin' lives they had.

LINA

"Mm." Amari nodded, looking fondly at the faceless
Goro-bundle Hansel held in his arms. He wasn't fidgeting anymore. The only
times she'd seen him hold still were when he was praying to Mask or resting
against Hansel. "It's a good idea to wait until the moment seems right. I
don't doubt that whatever you say in your vows will be a commitment you've
already made to each other, with or without words. No need to rush."

IZZY

"Aye. S'pose." Hansel paused, 'cause he knew he
was gonna fucking embarrass Goro, too, but blurted out, "Can't fuckin'
wait to be married already, though."

LINA

"Mmf." Goro clutched at Hansel's shirt.

Amari nodded again. "For many people, it does change things.
No matter how much they already love each other. It means something. Which I
suppose makes sense. If it didn't, we wouldn't do it."

IZZY

"Mm." Hansel kissed Goro's head and started
rubbing his back idly. "Dunno. Don't think it changed anything with
Mishka. S'like -- I dunno." He thought for a second, looking for some kind
of comparison. "Like whipped cream on a pie. The pie's good enough as is,
but you still put the whipped cream on before you serve it, before it's
done." Ah, that sounded fuckin' dumb. He buried his nose in Goro's hair,
aware he was doing the same hidey shit Goro did. "Dunno."

LINA

"Oh, of course," Amari agreed. "The whipped
cream is the best part. Hm, but you know, Goro would always roll his eyes when
I made him wait for me to put the whipped cream on."

Goro grumbled. "'Cause it's stupid. What's the
point."

IZZY

"The point's it's tasty, ahuv."

LINA

"The pie's tasty. Why d'you need... double fuckin'
taste, or whatever."

IZZY

"So y'don't wanna get married," Hansel teased.

LINA

"No!" Goro sat bolt upright, letting his robe fall
away from his face, looking dismayed. "I do! Marriage ain't... ain't a
fucking food... I know you're making fun of me." He scowled a little.

IZZY

"I ain't makin' fun." Hansel kissed his forehead
and petted his hair. "I'm just sayin'. More of a good thing, love. Or
another, new, good thing. Y'know? Ain't nothin' wrong with that and you know
it."

LINA

Goro grumbled and nestled himself against Hansel again.
"Well, I wouldn't fuckin' know, 'cause I never been married. I just like
how it sounds. Just wanna know someone loves me that much."

IZZY

"Well." Hansel kissed his head. "I fuckin'
do."

LINA

"How d'you know, though? Maybe you're making a big
fuckin' mistake. Maybe the day'll arrive and you'll take one look at me at the
altar and be like--umm, nah. Changed my mind." Goro went on with all this
heedless of the fact Amari was sitting right there. She already knew he was
insecure, so whatever.

IZZY

"Nah," Hansel said.

LINA

"What if."

IZZY

"Naahhh." Hansel kissed his head a couple more
times.

LINA

"It's not uncommon for people to get cold feet just
before they're married," Amari offered, "but the only time I've ever
seen someone change their mind entirely is when they never felt certain in the
first place. Hansel seems quite certain."

"I didn't ask you, Ma," Goro said, but...
lovingly, kinda.

IZZY

"Hey. Be fuckin' nice to your mama," Hansel
chided. "She knows what she's talkin' about. I'm certain as fuck." He
kept kissing Goro's hair happily.

LINA

"Dunno," Goro said. "Think you might have to
keep kissing me for a while before I get it."

IZZY

"Hmm, m'kay." Hansel kept going. "S'pose I
can make that happen."

LINA

"Psh." Goro's mouth was twitching, caught between
grinning and not. "I mean, fuckin' picture it, though. It's your goddamn
wedding day, and all your family is there, and you walk to the altar and who's
standing there waiting for you? This fuckin' guy, with scabs in hair probably,
and bags under his eyes 'cause he ain't sleeping, and he's chewing on shit--passers-by
are thinking, huh, that man's marrying a fucking goblin, that's weird."

IZZY

"Mm. Love that goblin," Hansel murmured.
"Goblin's gonna be my fuckin' husband and I'll beat the hell outta anyone
who looks at him wrong."

LINA

"Weird, like I said."

IZZY

"Aye. Not much normal about our family," Hansel
said, pleased.

LINA

Amari leaned over and rubbed Goro's back. "You could
wash your hair beforehand, you know. And if you're concerned about not sleeping
the night before, I could make you some soothing tea."

"Ma, that's not the goddamn point."

"Oh. Alright. What is the goddamn point, then?"
She flashed Hansel a smile.

Goro muttered unintelligibly.

IZZY

Hansel made an agreeable sound, nodding at Amari.

He almost said, S'all right, ahuv, ain't either of us gonna
get sleep the night before, 'cause I'm gonna keep you up. Eldath, why did this
shit always pop into his head when either one of their moms or a kid was
around?

So he buried his face in Goro's hair again, and mumbled into
it. "Shit, Goro, y'know I'm gonna marry you no matter what y'look like or
whatever any-goddamn-body thinks. Fuck'em."

LINA

"But--" Goro huffed, dissatisfied. He sat up to
grab his tea mug, finally, and gulped some down.

"Hm." Amari tapped a finger against her chin,
studying him. "Are you worried you won't look nice enough for a wedding?
Is that what's bothering you?"

"Iuno," he muttered, and took another drink.

"We can find you something special to wear," Amari
suggested. "I imagine Mishka could help you get ready, too. He was telling
me the other day about exfoliants and skin conditioners. He's very
knowledgeable."

IZZY

"Goro, ahuv, there's a good chance I'm gonna show up in
tore-up bloodstained clothes, y'know," Hansel said. "'Less you want
me to look nice. I'm just sayin', ain't any dress code."

LINA

"We should look nice for each other," he mumbled,
frowning at his tea. "Only get one wedding."

IZZY

"Ain't gotta. We could have as many as we want,"
Hansel pointed out.

LINA

"Eh? No one does that."

IZZY

"Me an' Mishka did that."

LINA

"Yeah, 'cause--" They fuckin' got divorced. Goro
took another drink of tea instead of pointing it out.

IZZY

"'Cause?" Hansel poked, amused.

LINA

Goro shot Amari a look, like she could help him. She just blinked
at him instead, puzzled.

Goro shifted uncomfortably. "You got remarried. I
fuckin' hope that doesn't happen to us."

IZZY

"Psshh. Hey."

He shifted to pluck at the Sending Bead on his wrist, and
Sent to Mishka out loud. "Khochav, hey. You wanna get married again, have another
wedding?"

Prince Coyote09/21/2019

There was a brief pause. Then Hansel heard, Hansel, you are
supposed to be napping.

IZZY

"He said fuck yeah," Hansel lied.

LINA

"The fuck he did," Goro said.

IZZY

"Lissen."

LINA

Goro just frowned.

IZZY

Hansel kissed him quickly. "Look, s'just to say -- I'd
fuckin' marry Mishka every goddamn day. Same for you. No such thing as too much
of a good thing." Kissed him again, and grinned. "But if you wanna do
it once, like we're some kinda normal motherfuckers, that's good too, yeah?
Whatever you want, love."

LINA

Goro set his mug down and crossed his arms, still frowning.
"Whatcha fuckin' waiting for, then? If you'd do it any goddamn day. Hey,
Amari." He jerked his head at her. "Marry us."

Amari raised her eyebrows. Goro realized he'd addressed her
by name, which he hadn't done in months. He wasn't sure why.

IZZY

"All right." If he was bluffing, Hansel was
calling him on it. Way Hansel saw it, they'd had two proposals -- one spur of the
moment, one planned out. They could have two weddings, the same way.

LINA

"Oh. Right now?" Amari set her tea down.

"Uh huh," Goro said. His heart started racing. He
couldn't stop fucking scowling, even though he wasn't mad, or anything. He
glanced at Hansel.

IZZY

"Aye. I meant what I said, shemeshi," Hansel said,
gently. He paused to hold Goro's face, quiet for a moment. "I ain't
fuckin' backing out, okay? You wanna get married right here, right now, we'll
do it. I love you."

He looked spooked, was all. Hansel just wasn't sure how to
carefully suggest he slow down and make sure this was the way he wanted it to
happen -- not special and nice and perfect at all, slipshod-- without sounding like
he was making excuses to get out of it himself.

LINA

This just... kept happening.

Goro kept challenging Hansel, trying to back him into
corners, trying to get him to freak out and run or admit he didn't really love
Goro that much after all. Goro wasn't even conscious he was doing it half the
time, because when he stopped and thought about it, it didn't seem like a
really fair thing to do to someone. It was fucking antagonistic.

But Hansel never backed down, anyway. He rose to every
challenge. Every time Goro said, You can't possibly love me this much, Hansel said,
I sure fucking can.

One of these days--maybe this day--Goro was gonna run out of
corners to back Hansel into. He was just gonna have to fucking accept that Hansel
really did love him that much.

It was the last straw. He was done holding himself together.
He curled against Hansel's chest and started crying.

"Oh," Amari said under her breath. She put a hand
to her chest, worried.

IZZY

"Ah. Uh." Hansel shot Amari a look, wondering briefly
if he should ... gesture for her to help, or something? But he was already
wrapping around Goro protectively, because it was what he did. Just thought
maybe Goro would want Amari there, too.

It was Hansel he was hiding against, though.

So Hansel squeezed him and kissed his hair, rocking a little,
and softly said, "Hey, hey. It's okay, ahuv. I got you. I know. It's okay,
love."

LINA

Amari dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

Goro bunched his fists in Hansel's shirt and pressed his
face against it, letting it soak up his tears. "Sorry," he said. For
getting Hansel's shirt wet. For challenging him all the time. For crying on him
now when he was fucking recovering from being dead. For needing so goddamn
much, all the fucking time. "Sorry."

IZZY

"Nah. Nah." Hansel rubbed his cheek against Goro's
hair, back and forth, kissing his head now and then. "Nothing to apologize
about. Hey. S'okay. It's been a bad fucking couple days, love. You're all
right. It's okay."

LINA

Goro finally managed to catch his breath and sit up,
wrestling out of Hansel's hold. He rubbed his sleeve over his face a few times.
Then he grabbed Hansel's face to kiss him. Wanted to say something, but he
didn't know what. Just nodded, instead.

Amari, meanwhile, had begun to cry in earnest. She sniffled
and kept dabbing tears away.

"Ma," Goro said, feeling slightly guilty,
"why?"

"Oh, I'm just..." She shook her head a couple
times. "So happy for the two of you. It's so lovely. A treasure.
Hansel..."

IZZY

Hanel shifted a little bit to fish into a pocket, and offer
her a handkerchief. It was bloodstained, but it was dry. He didn't quite look
at her, feeling fuckin' awkward about it. Was like seeing his own mom cry.

LINA

Amari accepted the handkerchief and used it to dry her face.
"Hansel, I thank Eldath every day that you came into our lives. Such a sweet
and gentle soul. Strong and fierce, as well. I know the world hasn't been kind
to you. You remind me of Goro, in that way. The two of you--surviving,
fighting."

"Psh," Goro said quietly. Well, she wasn't wrong.
Gentle, strong, and fierce. Yup.

"But you found each other," Amari went on.
"And I want you to know, in the fifteen years I've known Goro, I've never
seen his face light up the way it does when you walk in the room. Never."

"Psssh."

IZZY

"Psshhh," Hansel agreed, sinking down in his chair
and feeling his face get warm. "Psh."

LINA

Amari finished drying her face, folded the handkerchief
neatly, and handed it back to him. She smiled. "I thought of that, when
you told me you like things that make him happy. I like those things,
too."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled a little, all fuckin' embarrassed. He took
the handkerchief to put it back in his pocket. "That's a real fuckin'
sneaky way to compliment a person, Mari. Sorry 'bout the blood, by the
way."

LINA

"Oh, that's alright. I'm used to blood stains, from
dealing with this boy here. He's also why I'm used to giving sneaky
compliments. Won't accept the other kind, will he?" She leaned forward to
run her fingers through Goro's hair. "Are you growing your hair out,
sweetheart?"

Goro gave her a suspicious look. "Uh. Maybe. Why?"

"I've never seen it this long. It just looks so pretty.
Don't you think so, Hansel?"

IZZY

"Mmph." Hansel nodded, his face still pressed into
Goro's hair, too. "Yeah. Real chatich." He kissed Goro's head without
moving. "Like havin' more of it to play with."

God, that was embarrassing. Why had he said that.

LINA

"Fuckin' stop," Goro said, turning warm.

"See?" Amari said. "Direct compliments are a
struggle. I mean it, though. It's very wavy. I never knew it had that much wave
to it. And it's shiny, too. Mishka also said something to me about hair conditioners--have
you been using that?"

"No. What the fuck." He wanted to hide his face
again, but he didn't want to dislodge Hansel's lips from his hair.

IZZY

"Maybe Mishka's doin' it for you in your sleep,"
Hansel suggested, suppressing a grin.

LINA

"No." Goro did pull away at that, pulling his
collar up just over his mouth so he could give Hansel a horrified look.
"I'd wake up! What the fuck."

IZZY

"I know you would, ahuv," Hansel said soothingly,
but still teasing a bit. "Lightest sleeper in the land. No one'll ever
fuckin' creep up on us." It turned all sincere and pleased, though.
"Safe as hell."

LINA

"Pfff." Well, yeah, that was kind of the
point--sleeping was dangerous. But Goro felt safe, period, with Hansel, and
sometimes he didn't even wake up much during the night.

Cheesy.

He grabbed Hansel's hand--the one with the sun ring on it.
He spun the ring back and forth a little with his thumb. He glanced at Amari
again, then back at the ring.

They could do it. Wouldn't be that joint Maskarran-Selunite
ceremony like they'd wanted--but that could come later. The consecration and
the celebration would wait, but they'd still be married.

He'd get a husband for his birthday. Goddamn.

He didn't think he'd want to tell anyone, though. And Hansel
would have a hard time keeping it a secret. Probably wouldn't feel right keeping
it a secret from Mishka, and that made fuckin' sense, yeah, but Goro--well, he
didn't know if Mishka was like him, but he fucking hated being blindsided by
big things, and especially after the nightmarish twenty-four hours they'd just
had--just didn't seem fair to Mishka to spring anything on him.

Amari cleared her throat. "I know you can be very
impulsive about going after things you want. But there's nothing wrong with
taking time to think through it."

Goro grumbled noncommittally.

IZZY

Hansel nodded. A little carefully, he said, "I'm gonna
be here either way, ahuv. Not going anywhere. We got time to make it happen
just right." He kissed Goro's forehead, and said, "Whatever you
want," again.

LINA

He kept staring at the ring. "I could get a husband for
my birthday," he said, so they'd understand--there was a time limit, just
one of his own making.

IZZY

"Goro, you're gonna have a husband by your next
birthday, no matter what."

LINA

"Yeah, but--" His thumbnail flew to his mouth like
it had a magnetic connection, but he stopped it at the last second. God, he never
realized how much he did that, before. Hastily, he unhooked the bracelet and
shoved it in his mouth instead. He planted his forehead against Hansel's
shoulder.

Amari watched him for a moment. "There isn't a right or
wrong way to do it," she said. "Getting married. I know it might look
that way, when you watched so many rote ceremonies in the abbey. But every married
couple arrives at it their own way."

"Mmf." Goro tugged on Hansel's shirt.
"Squeeze."

IZZY

"Aye," Hansel said gently, and squeezed him hard.

LINA

Goro felt the tension ease out of him, Hansel holding him
tight while he chomped on the bracelet. Mmm, that was a good combination. He
wondered if he ought to stop once he felt it working, but--nah, that was the
great thing about Hansel and Amari. They were both so patient.

And they both knew he never could go very long without
talking. So why rush the inevitable, he guessed.

When he was ready, he let out a content sigh and took the
bracelet out of his mouth, then kissed Hansel's neck. "You'd want to tell
people," he guessed, "if we did it today."

IZZY

"Mishka, yeah," Hansel said, kind of puzzled.
"I mean ... shit, everyone. D'you not want'em to know?"

LINA

Goro shook his head. "They'd ask questions, and--wanna
know why we did it now, and why we didn't tell anyone first, and then when we
had the ceremony it might feel... fake, I dunno."

He shifted into a new position, just as close, irrationally
afraid as always that Hansel was gonna push him away. "But if it was just
us who knew... we'd have a secret. I know you don't like secrets, though."

For some reason, he felt like it didn't count that Amari
would know, also. Maybe because he knew he could trust her to pretend she
didn't.

IZZY

Hansel considered that. "Ahuv, I really don't think
anyone'd question it that much," he said hesitantly. "Not that they
wouldn't care, just ... s'our wedding. They all know it's gonna happen. Doesn't
much matter when or how, or why we do it however we do it." He paused.
"I mean ... d'you mean it'd feel fake to you, if we had a big ceremony
later on?"

LINA

"Nah, nah. Just... people might not take it
seriously." He was starting to regret explaining. Just felt like he was
wrong about everything--and Amari and Hansel kept trying to tell him there was
no wrong, but-- "Ah, never mind. Shouldn't've said anything. Never
mind."

IZZY

"Nah, Goro, nah, I ain't trying to argue with
you," Hansel said quickly. "Just wanna understand." He ran his
fingers through Goro's hair. "I don't wanna ... keep you a secret. Don't
fuckin' think I could, anyway," he admitted, like it was big fuckin' news
that Hansel Bell couldn't lie for shit.

LINA

Goro didn't know what to say to that. Wasn't that he wanted
Hansel to keep him a secret, either--although he still felt like that,
sometimes; like Hansel should want to--it was more just that he liked the idea
of the two of them keeping something special to themselves for a little while,
before anyone else knew.

There was different kinds of secrets, he guessed. The kind
where you might get hurt if the wrong people knew about it. The kind where you
just wanted to keep something hidden because it embarrassed you. And the kind
where you had something so wonderful, so precious, it didn't feel right to let
anyone else look at it.

He supposed that last kind really wasn't any different from the
first two. When he found places to stash his valuables, it was always 'cause he
was afraid of other people taking them. Or laughing at him. Ruining it,
somehow.

Hansel wanted to understand. Goro wasn't sure he could.

"Sometimes I just don't like telling people shit,"
he tried. "It's mine. Or... ours."

IZZY

"M'kay." Hansel still felt like he was kinda lost.
He knew Goro hadn't had shit for a lot of his life, though, so wanting something
secret, and special, and just for them -- he guessed he could get that. Just
wasn't how he felt. He always wanted to share the good things, have as many of
the people he cared about in on it as possible.

Maybe it was just ... something they couldn't see eye to eye
on. He tried to work out how to compromise, still stroking Goro's hair as he
thought.

"That's all right," he said, first, because he
didn't want Goro to feel like he was being unreasonable, or something. Was just
how he was, and Hansel loved how he was. "I like telling people shit, is
all. Sharin' the good news, y'know? So ..." He chewed on it a second more.
"I mean, I gotta tell Mishka. Can't not. And Mari's gonna know." He
nodded towards her, then kissed Goro's forehead. "But if you want it to
just be us, I'll keep my mouth shut a while. I can do that."

LINA

"I don't--want you to tell Mishka, 'cause..." He
bit his lip, then shoved the bracelet in his mouth and dragged his hands
through his hair. "Seems rude. Having good news when he's having a bad
time."

Amari raised an eyebrow.

IZZY

"Goro, he's ... probably gonna be happy about it,"
Hansel said, still confused. "'Cause ... it's good, y'know?"

LINA

Goro stared into space thoughtfully, still chewing. "I
hate it when people expect me to be happy about shit when I'm miserable. I hate
it when people surprise me with shit."

IZZY

Hansel felt like he was being backed into a corner, here.
"Goro," he said, more firmly, "if we're gonna do it, I'm gonna
tell Mishka. Me and him don't have secrets." He kissed Goro's forehead.
"It'll be okay, ahuv. It's sweet you're concerned, but ... it'll be
okay."

LINA

"Nah. S'alright, um." He started fiddling with his
sleeves, tugging them down to try and cover his hands. "I don't... think
we should do it. We should wait."

Amari stood up. "I'm going to make some more tea,"
she said softly, and collected the empty mugs together before heading into the
kitchen.

IZZY

Hansel frowned. "Ahuv. You sure?" He stroked
Goro's hair and kissed his forehead again. "How about ... you tell me why
you wanna do it today, and then you tell me why you don't, yeah? And we can
work it out together."

LINA

Goro groaned softly, took the bracelet out of his mouth, and
planted his face against Hansel's shoulder. He slipped his arms around Hansel's
waist and squeezed him. "'M sorry. Feel like a fuckin' idiot, having to be
talked through shit. 'M sorry."

IZZY

"Psshh. Nah, love. Shit, d'you think I came up with
that on my own? Nah." He kissed Goro's head again, avoiding the blood.
"Eli used to talk through shit with me all the time. 'Least you ain't gotta
be held in a headlock 'til you stop kicking and yelling long enough to talk
about your fuckin' feelings." He said it kinda jokingly, but Elitash had
absolutely fucking done that to him. Lots of times. "And Mishka helps me
do it, too, still. Ain't anything to be sorry about."

LINA

"Mm." Goro wondered if Amari would've ever put him
in a headlock, if she'd been strong enough. "Uh. Y'know how you said you
and Mishka don't have secrets?"

IZZY

"Mmhm."

LINA

"Does that extend to, like... shit I tell you, that I
ask you not to tell anyone?"

IZZY

"I mean ..." This kinda shit made him fucking
uncomfortable. "Nah. If you want me to keep something secret, I will. But
... y'know, me and you gettin' married, that's about me, too. I tell him shit
that's about me."

LINA

"Yeah, yeah, 'course," Goro said quickly. "I
get the difference. And uh, shit, I can't think of much I'd even wanna keep
secret from Mishka. I've spilled my fuckin' guts for him enough times now, I
don't think he's got any illusions about me. Just... uh. I like to--know what
people know. Like to keep a lid on shit, or be the one taking it off. If you
get what I mean."

IZZY

"Yeah, I get you." He paused. "Listen, I'm
fuckin' bad at lying, and I ain't great at keeping secrets, either, but -- I
can. I have before." He had for Mishka. He had for Jonn. Fuck, he kind of
had for fuckin' Elijah. He could keep his mouth closed. "Don't want you to
think you can't tell me shit, 'cause I'll just go blabbing about it. That ain't
what I meant."

LINA

"Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Just checking." Goro held on
tighter and tried to bury his face deeper. Had to move it a little to talk
again, though. "Uh. There any secrets between you and me?"

IZZY

"Nah. Don't think so." He shrugged a shoulder.
"Stuff I hadn't thought to tell you about yet, is all."

LINA

Goro nodded against him. "'Kay. Um. Same here, y'know.
I mean... that thing I said, about keeping a lid on shit. Not with you. I, uh.
I want you to see every part of me." He thought for a second, then
snorted. "Sometimes--I show it to you thinking you'll run away screaming,
but you never do. Think I fall a little bit more in love with you every time
that happens."

IZZY

"Psshh." Hansel kissed his forehead. "I'm
clever enough to not run from a good thing."

LINA

"Pfff." Goro straightened up so he could shove
Hansel's shoulder. "Anyway, uh. Didn't mean to... avoid your question. Um,
the reason I wanna do it today is because..." He dropped his head, feeling
defeated already. "I dunno."

IZZY

"Yeah, you do," Hansel prodded. He guessed,
though. "To have somethin' good, on your birthday?"

LINA

"Mhm." Goro put his hands over his face. "And
'cause... I wanna be married to you already 'cause I keep thinking it'll feel
like proof that you love me but then I think, nah, motherfucker, nothing
fucking convinces me, I'm just fuckin' rushing into things when I should really
be taking it slow. And I want you to call me ishi. But knowing me I'll find a
way to fuckin' ruin that for myself, too. Oh, won't fuckin' count, that's what
I'll say, it doesn't count 'cause I twisted your arm. Made you marry me outta
pity. Fuck's sake, Hansel. I sound like a guy who oughta be getting married?
Don't think so."

IZZY

"Goro." Hansel held his face, working his hands
under Goro's gently. "Shhh." He leaned in to kiss Goro's forehead
again, because he could. "Listen. It's okay. All right? You bein' fuckin'
nervous about shit doesn't mean no one ought marry you. Fuck, ahuv."

A little quieter, because he didn't like saying it, even if
he'd already admitted it to Goro.

"I'm fuckin' nervous about shit all the time. Y'know?
And Mishka still married me. And he gets scared of shit, and I still married
him. And I still wanna marry you. And that ain't gonna change just 'cause ...
y'know. 'cause this shit is fucking new, and scary. New shit is goddamn
scary." He ran his thumbs along Goro's cheekbones. "You've never been
married before. Never been engaged before. Plenty of shit that was new t'you
before we got together, and it still will be as we go."

He hesitated a little.

"Sometimes -- y'know, sometimes I'm worried we're goin'
too fast, 'cause -- 'cause I've done this before, and I know I want it, I know
what it feels like to want it, 'cause I've already been there. And you don't. I
fuckin' worry about that a lot, 'cause I don't wanna rush you, and I wanna be
sure you know what you want, too."

He paused again, just for a moment, just to look at Goro's
face, and take it all in.

"But I'm gonna call you ishi, Goro," he said.
"I am." He leaned his forehead against Goro's. "Right now,
though, I sure fucking like calling you oresi. 'Cause that counts, too. It all
counts, love. Promise."

LINA

Goro tried to keep looking Hansel in the eye, and he tried
to come up with something to say--anything to fucking say.

But, mm, nah. He shook Hansel's hands off his face, then
grabbed the bottom of Hansel's shirt and pulled it up, diving underneath it and
pulling it down over himself, hiding under it against Hansel's bare chest.

He let out a sigh once he was there. I've done this before,
and I know I want it, I know what it feels like to want it, 'cause I've already
been there. God, that was fucking reassuring. Goro kept fucking worrying that
Hansel was just... being impulsive or frivolous or some shit, and was gonna
change his mind, but--nah. He'd been through this before. Of course he knew.

Safe. It felt safe.

IZZY

Hansel snorted a little and wrapped his arms around his own
shirt, squeezing Goro tight and not letting up. "Aye, there's that weird goblin
I love so much."

LINA

Goro grinned. He started snickering, and it turned into
giggling.

A lot of the time, he couldn't believe he had it so
good--couldn't believe Hansel was really real, really his, really loved him that
fucking much.

But sometimes... sometimes, it felt so fucking obvious. And
all Goro could do was give in, and smile, and melt against him.

"Love you too," he whispered.

IZZY

"Mmhm." Hansel kept squeezing him, did it 'til his
shoulders started to ache. He fuckin' loved it when Goro giggled. Hardly ever
did it unless they were alone. It just fucking tickled Hansel to see how Goro
went from all stormy and scowling and knotted up, to grinning and giggling and
cuddling up against him.

Was hard to believe, sometimes, that Goro was the same
person as when they'd met. Was hard to believe Hansel himself was, either, and
Goro'd had more than a bit of a hand in that.

He supposed that was why they had to go and get married.
Nothin' for it. Terrible shame, that.

One more hard squeeze and he let up, bumping his lips against
the lump under his shirt. "Know you do. Sweet oresi. Sun in my sky.
Chatichi."

LINA

Goro kept grinning, and he rubbed his face against Hansel's
chest. He grunted in satisfaction and gave Hansel a squeeze of his own.

Figured it was time to continue the conversation, but he
didn't think he wanted to come out of his cave just yet. Eh, Hansel could hear
him. "Anyway, uh. Reasons to wait. Um--haven't finished writing my vows
yet. And, um." He clung tighter, closing his eyes. "Um. I don't
remember what else."

IZZY

"Mm." Hansel scratched his chin against Goro's
head, through the shirt. "Yeah, ain't got my vows yet, either. Could wing
it, though. I know what I feel. Just gotta put it into words and all."

LINA

"Hm. Do you think it'd be... better if you had time to
think about it? Write it down?"

IZZY

"Dunno." He supposed he was kinda embarrassed
about the idea that it'd be good at all, much less better at any point. He
shifted. "Y'know I ain't great with words, anyway. Probably ain't that
much improving t'be done."

LINA

"The hell are you talking about? You are great with
words. Maybe you don't make 'em all fancy or whatever, but who gives a shit?
You say... you say wonderful things." Goro nuzzled Hansel's chest again. Rested
his ear over Hansel's heart, and listened to it beat.

IZZY

"Pssh," Hansel said. "Psshhh."

LINA

Goro grinned and poked Hansel's belly gently. "What was
that, wordsmith?"

IZZY

"Pffft, see. Makin' the point."

LINA

"Am not. You just turn into a bashful motherfucker anytime
someone says something good about you. When we say our vows--whenever the fuck
that is--we're gonna have to make sure you go first. 'Cause after I'm done with
mine, you're just gonna be blushing and sputtering all over the place."

Sounded adorable, too. Goro smiled dreamily, picturing it.

IZZY

"Oh, yeah? You gonna hide under my shirt to say yours,
then?" Hansel teased, scratching his back roughly to get through all the
layers of cloth.

LINA

"Pssshh. Fuckin'. Maybe." Goro slithered up a
little ways so he could nibble Hansel's shoulder.

IZZY

"All right," Hansel said contentedly. "Works
for me."

LINA

"Point is." It took Goro a second to remember the
point. "Uh. I don't--mm. I don't wanna cheat myself outta... doing it
right, I guess."

IZZY

"Mm." He nodded, kind of relieved that Goro got
there on his own, without Hansel trying to say it and making it sound like he
was trying to get out of getting married at all, or some shit. "Yeah. I
want it to be, y'know, perfect for you." He tugged at his collar so he
could kiss Goro's head properly. "Just how you want."

LINA

"What about what you want?"

IZZY

"I want whatever you want, ahuv," Hansel said
docilely.

LINA

Goro jerked his head up to frown at Hansel, accidentally
popping his way out of the neck hole.

IZZY

"What?"

LINA

"What if what I want is what you want, huh?"

IZZY

Hansel narrowed his eyes a bit. "You makin' fun of me
or something?" He didn't get it.

LINA

"No." Goro kissed him quickly. "I'm just
saying, you must want shit just on your own, right? Y'know, like... well, remember
how we talked about doing it with both Mask and Selune consecrating it? That
was something where we wanted something different from each other, but we also
wanted each other to be happy, so we're gonna do both. Would be dumb if you
just said, oh yeah, sure, Mask only, 'cause that's what Goro wants. I want what
you want, too."

IZZY

Hansel shifted a bit and muttered, "S'pose."

Maybe it was a bad example. He knew the Mask thing was
important to Goro, and all, and it wasn't like Hansel was especially devout to
any deity. He just about had dropped it. Said sure, whatever you want.

LINA

Goro watched him for a moment.

"I mean... you're not just doing it all for me, right?
You want a wedding too?"

IZZY

"I wanna fuckin' be married," Hansel said quickly.

LINA

Goro blinked a few times, working through that.

So... he... maybe didn't care about having an actual wedding
thing, then. But Goro'd said he wanted one. So Hansel wanted to make sure he
got a good one--just how he wanted.

Goro frowned a little. Alright. Alright, he guessed he could
wrap his head around that.

He slipped back down inside Hansel's shirt, rested his head
against Hansel's chest, and tightened his arms around him. "'Kay. Well.
I... want you to have a good time, anyway," he muttered. "At the
wedding."

IZZY

"I will, ahuv." Hansel was fuckin' confused, but
he knew that much. "Gonna be marryin' you, after all. It'll be a good day,
no matter how it happens, y'know?" He squeezed Goro back and ducked his
head to kiss Goro's hair again. "And our family's gonna be there,
yeah?" he said softly. "And they're all gonna be happy for us. And
there's gonna be good food, and booze, and dancing. And when it gets to be too
much, me and you can sneak off somewhere by ourselves, somewhere nice an' dark
and quiet, and just be married." He sighed into Goro's hair. "That's
gonna be the best part."

LINA

Goro smiled. He loved how fucking earnest Hansel was. Anyone
else said that kinda thing, Goro would scoff. Roll his eyes. (Admittedly, he'd
done that kinda thing to Hansel, too.) Insist they were talking out their ass,
playing at being sentimental.

But Goro didn't fucking doubt that for Hansel, it was real.

"I thought of something else," Goro said quietly.
"You wanna hear it?"

IZZY

"Mmhm. Always."

LINA

"When you first tied that piece of twine around my
finger, it made me feel better." Goro worked at the braided ring with his
thumb, spinning it around. "And when you proposed, and gave me the real
ring, that made me feel even better. Just... reassured. Felt like things were
real."

He kissed Hansel's chest. "So... I think I was wrong,
just now. When I said I'll probably think it doesn't count. I bet I will. I bet
I'll feel better, knowing we're married."

IZZY

"Good." Hansel squeezed him. "Y'know, it's
... it's okay, though. If it doesn't. S'okay if you don't feel great, all the
time. Just lemme know, all right?" He rubbed Goro's back. "I'll try
to make you feel better. I don't want you to just ... fuckin', feel bad about
shit on your own. Lemme know."

LINA

"Psh. I'd keep you real fucking busy if I told you
about it every time I felt bad."

IZZY

"Good. I like bein' busy."

LINA

"Mmkay. Well. Guess what?"

IZZY

"What?"

LINA

"I feel bad right now." He waited a beat.
"Ah, that's a fucking lie. I feel pretty good right now, actually. I live
in Hansel's shirt."

IZZY

Hansel snickered. "You sure fuckin' do. D'you think
you're gonna be comin' out any time today? Cast that spell on me and I bet I
can still carry you around. I'm good with it."

LINA

"Well, I can't in good conscience let you carry me in
your condition, even if you got that spell on you. Guess you're just gonna have
to stay in this chair."

IZZY

"Hmm. I mean, eventually Mishka's gonna track me down
and make me go back to bed," Hansel pointed out. "Fuckin' ratted
myself out, earlier, and all."

LINA

"That's fine. I can dimension step you to bed. Or, I
s'pose I could deign to leave my abode for five minutes if you had to walk.
Either way."

IZZY

"If you step me up to bed, you're stayin' with
me," Hansel threatened. "Otherwise I just gotta come track you down
again."

LINA

"Pfff." Goro shifted uncomfortably. "Nah. You
gotta rest. I got too much energy."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled. "You sure? You all good?"

LINA

Goro opened his mouth to say obviously he wasn't all
good--it'd been a shit night--but he'd also just claimed to be good, cuddling
inside Hansel's shirt. Somehow, they both seemed true. "I'm alright."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled some more. He guessed he couldn't really
expect Goro to be good, but he could work with all right. He kissed Goro's head
again, without moving. "Just want you to take care of yourself. If I'm not
here to do it, you gotta do it like I would, all right?"

LINA

Goro snorted. "Hah. Hansel, you--no. Let's be realistic."

IZZY

"I'm bein' realistic."

LINA

"I'm not gonna grill my own sandwiches or put whipped
cream on my own pie. C'mon."

IZZY

"Yeah? How come? You like it when I do it, right?"

LINA

"I mean--yeah, but." He tried to shrug, which wasn't
easy inside the shirt. "'Cause you're the one doing it. Grilled sandwich
ain't really that much more special, on its own."

IZZY

"Uh-huh. So y'do for yourself," Hansel told him,
"and it's special, 'cause I wanted you to do it."

LINA

"Fuckin'--fuckin' no. There's no reason I shouldn't
just eat some fuckin' bread and cheese like normal. Keeps me alive, don't
it?"

IZZY

"Goro, motek, you can fuckin' enjoy shit, y'know? You
ain't gotta just survive."

LINA

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard the damn theory. Pfff. Maybe I
just don't care that much about eating, huh?"

IZZY

"You care a fuckin' lot about eating," Hansel said
gently. "Just ..." He hesitated. "Y'know, part of why I like
cooking for you so much is 'cause it makes you slow down. Enjoy it, and all.
Like it when you enjoy shit, 'stead of just doing it 'cause you have to."

He had this idea in his head -- and it wasn't really coming
out right -- that Goro had been hungry and desperate on the streets for so long
that when he did eat, he didn't fucking like eating. He didn't like that he had
to. He was closed off to the idea of it ever being ... nice.

Hansel 'd never had that. When he'd been younger, it'd been
something he did with his mom -- cooking and eating dinner -- and he'd taught
Leigh how to cook a bit, had him help out. He'd learned shit from Kheman. He
liked bringing strange foods from far away back to the Sanctuary for his kids.
It was all tied up in family for him, and it was fucking good.

He wanted Goro to have that, too. Just wasn't sure how to
make it happen.

LINA

Well, shit. Goro didn't know what to say to that. "I
mean, I guess, but..." He scowled. Not at Hansel, just in general. "I
mean, you can't enjoy shit all the time."

IZZY

"You can enjoy it sometimes, shemeshi. Shit, love, take
what you can get." Hansel kissed his head. "You gotta fuckin' wring
every bit of joy you can outta life, eh?"

LINA

"I will, now that I live in your shirt."

IZZY

"Mmhm."

LINA

Goro continued to frown, still thinking about how Hansel
liked to cook for him apparently because it made him "slow down" and
"enjoy it." You ain't gotta just survive, he said.

Goro shifted a little, uncertain. Yeah, he'd--never fucking
liked eating, when it came down to it. Thinking about that made his heart beat
a little faster. He hadn't gone hungry in years--couldn't tolerate even
skipping breakfast, most of the time--but the thousands of meals he'd eaten
since he'd got off the street seemed like tiny dots of memory compared to the
images from his childhood. Desperation, shoving shit in his mouth, staggering
relief that he'd get to live another day.

Yeah. He didn't like eating.

But he liked... some foods. With extreme, unnecessary
caution. He still remembered the night he'd whispered into Hansel's ear about
liking chocolate cake. That might very well have been the first time in his
goddamn life he admitted to liking a food.

It just... felt... weird.

"I dunno," he mumbled. "Uh. It's just--easier
when you cook for me. Easier to enjoy." Ah, something shifted, and made more
sense. "When I'm not eating alone."

IZZY

"Mm." Hansel nuzzled against him, thinking.
"Y'know, you could ... I mean, I'll cook for you any time you want, ahuv.
But if I'm out, or asleep, or under the weather or somethin' -- you could maybe
... y'know, grill a sandwich, or something, and make enough for someone else.
Mishka's always forgetting to eat. Luci, too." He glanced towards the
kitchen. "Sure Amari'd be real fucking pleased if you made her a snack,
sometime, or you could go see Mom an' Leigh, maybe." Shit, Marion would
probably be real pleased to cook for Goro any time, herself. "Just, y'know,
so you're not eating alone. So it's a family thing."

It kind of seemed backwards. Wasn't right for Goro to have
to put in more effort just to not feel bad about eating. But -- maybe it'd
help. Hansel liked making food for his family. Maybe Goro could get to be the
same way.

LINA

Goro mulled that over for a while. Testing it out in his
head.

Somehow, it made the whole idea--the thought of putting in
effort, cooking something special for himself--feel better. Goro knew he wasn't
supposed to feel guilty about taking care of himself. Hansel had already tried
to talk him out of that. He knew all the arguments.

But still. Knowing he'd be cooking for someone else, too,
made it feel safer. Gave him more permission.

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess I could try that."

IZZY

Hansel made a pleased sound. "Good. S'good." He
kissed Goro's head. "Thanks for tryin'."

LINA

Goro squeezed him. "Ey. Speaking of. Are you
hungry?"

IZZY

He leaned away a touch, just so he could grin at Goro.
"Oh, testin' it out already, huh?"

LINA

Goro shrugged a little and grinned back. "Only if you're
up for it. Don't know if you got much of an appetite."

IZZY

"Only if you make me somethin' good. I got high standards,
y'know."

LINA

"Pfff. Right. What're you in the mood for?"

IZZY

"Hmm. Well, if we eat too much, and don't want cake,
Luci's gonna yell at us. Well, she ain't gonna yell, but she'll look real
unimpressed. Think we've got some nice soft cheese, though, and crackers. Maybe
some grapes."

LINA

Goro popped his head out of the neck hole again to give
Hansel a few kisses. "Sounds doable. Coming right up. Oh no--wait. There's
a problem."

IZZY

"Yeah, what's that?" Hansel asked, amused and not
letting him go at all.

LINA

He reached up to pluck at the collar of the shirt.
"Gotta leave the house. Wasn't planning to go out just yet. What a goddamn
pickle."

IZZY

"Shame," Hansel agreed. "Real shame."

He continued not moving or helping with their terrible predicament.

LINA

"Hmm." Goro gave Hansel a peck on the cheek. He
leaned his head back so he wouldn't be yelling in his ear. "Hey, Ma!"

A moment later, Amari poked her head through the door.
"Yes?"

"Hey, would you mind grabbing us some cheese and crackers?
And grapes? Since you're in there."

"Oh, I would be happy to. Would you like something to
drink, as well? Hansel, how was your tea?"

IZZY

Hansel gave Goro a pffff and muttered, "Cheatin',"
before turning to Amari -- feeling fucking sheepish again -- and calling,
"Was real good, ma'am. Thank you."

LINA

Amari nodded like she'd already known he would say that,
then disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Ain't cheatin'," Goro said. "She loves
getting people shit. I'm doing a good deed, see?"

IZZY

"Runnin' your poor momma ragged," Hansel said
solemnly.

LINA

"Nah, nah, I'm telling you, she loves it. Actually
kinda fuckin' weird, if you ask me. Like, who loves other people that much?
People she's never even fuckin' met. It's crazy."

IZZY

Hansel snorted.

LINA

A moment later, Amari emerged again with a tray. A larger
one, this time. In addition to two freshly steaming mugs, there was soft
cheese, crackers, and grapes, and a couple tiny fruit tarts, and a little dish
of nuts, and a couple of cookies.

"What--Ma, no. I mean--god, I love you, thank you and
shit, but we're trying to save our appetites, here. This is too much goddamn
food. Ma."

IZZY

Hansel snickered and hid his face against Goro.

LINA

"Well, you don't have to eat it if you're not hungry,
but it will be there if you change your mind." She leaned over, resting a
hand on Hansel's shoulder, then gave both him and Goro a kiss on the head.

IZZY

Hansel blushed and hunched down, hiding more. God. God.
People didn't do that to him, he did that to other people. Well, Goro did when
he was standing on something or wrapped around Hansel's waist to be taller than
him, and Mishka did it when Hansel buried his face in Mishka's chest to sleep.
Jonn had probably done it a couple times when Hansel was sick, 'cause he'd picked
it up from him. And -- well -- well, Hansel'd picked it up from Marion, in the
first place. His mom.

"Psh," he said weakly. "Pssshh."

LINA

Goro grinned like a maniac at Hansel turning all shy over
that.

"Do you need anything else, my dears?" Amari
asked.

"Nah, Ma, I think we're good. Thanks again."

When Amari had gone back to the kitchen (what the hell was
she even doing in there, Goro wondered--enjoying the sun room, maybe), Goro
started snickering. "Haha. She loves you. Now you've done it."

IZZY

"Pffff." Like I deserve that, he wanted to say,
but Goro had just finished talking about how Amari loved everyone, even people
she didn't know. Made him feel kind of -- guilty, or like he was tricking her,
or something. Cheating his way into affection he hadn't earned.

A nice young gentleman. Yeah, that was what Amari thought of
him, apparently. He didn't like it when Goro called her crazy for just doing
basic decent shit, for doing motherly shit, but that right there -- that was
fucking absurd, was what it was.

"Yeah, well," he grumbled, "my mom loves you,
too, so. There."

LINA

"Nuh uh," Goro said, rolling his eyes.

IZZY

"Aye. You can ask her."

LINA

"Pffff. Like I'm gonna fucking ask her." Goro
snorted and giggled a little. "Hey, Marion, do ya love me? God."

IZZY

Hansel snorted, too. All right, yeah, that'd sound kinda
ridiculous. "Well, she fuckin' does. Thinks you're precious. Heard her
tellin' Leigh she's gotta try to put some meat on your bones."

LINA

"Pfff. Yeah, whatever, that's how they are. Mothers.
The ones that aren't psychotic Bashas, I mean."

IZZY

"Those ones don't fuckin' count."

LINA

"Yeah. So. Point is. That's just one of those things
mothers say." Goro thought for a moment, then added, "Luci loves me,
apparently."

IZZY

"Oh, yeah," Hansel said, pleased. "Shit, she
probably likes you more than she likes me. Ain't surprised."

He really fucking liked it that they got along so well. Any
time he happened to see them both bent over a book, or praying together, or
just sitting nearby -- because Luci didn't much care for being nearby anyone --
or the way she'd watch Goro when they were fighting, and follow his lead --
yeah. It made him real fucking happy.

LINA

"Kid's got weird taste, then. Hah, she's funny. She was
telling me earlier, something like--you're an odd person, like me. And I said,
yeah, pfft, don't I fuckin' know it. What a thing to say."

IZZY

Hansel snorted out a laugh. "Yeah? S'pose you're both
odd. Different ways, though."

Sometimes Goro made him think more of Jonn -- part of him
that'd come from living on the streets as a kid, maybe. Other times Goro made
him think of Mishka, or just of himself. Luci, though. He didn't see it.

"Dunno what goes on in that kid's head sometimes,
honestly," he said fondly. "Love it, though."

LINA

"Same here. I told her I loved her back. Most
humiliating moment of my life, prob'ly."

IZZY

"Aww." Hansel grinned and planted his face in Goro's
hair again. "Good. Not the -- I mean, y'know. I'm glad."

LINA

"Jonn seemed all cheery about it too. Uh, did you know
he's here? Well, I told you he gave me the bracelet."

IZZY

"Oh, yeah, uh." Jonn seeming cheery could be good
or bad. Was usually good, though, these days, and Hansel was pretty sure he did
genuinely like Goro. Pretty sure. "Yeah, he wanted to come around for your
birthday, so."

LINA

Which Goro still thought was nuts, but whatever. "He
told me he doesn't know his birthday. That true? You never celebrated it, or
anything?"

Amari had made up a fake birthday for Goro, and insisted on
observing it every year. He was guessing that's just how adoptive parents were.

IZZY

"Oh, yeah." Hansel winced a bit. "Y'know how
... I mean, I found'em on the streets. Jonn had been taking care of Luci, and
all. He didn't know when his birthday was, then, just remembered hers. Not sure
if his parents never celebrated it, or he just ... forgot."

LINA

Goro raised an eyebrow. Remembering his sister's, but not
his own, seemed a little odd. Goro wondered if there was a piece of that story
missing. Nonetheless, didn't seem like it was his story to know.

"Ah. Well." Goro eyed the tray of food Amari had
left on the table. His arms were all wrapped up around Hansel. He nodded at the
food and opened his mouth. "Ahh."

IZZY

"Pfff." Hansel relaxed again, giving him an amused
look. "Here I thought I was gonna get handfed." He reached to pop a
grape off the vine, though, and held it between Goro's lips, watching him with
a soft expression.

LINA

Goro nibbled at the grape. Then, he grinned slowly, and
chomped--careful not to bite Hansel's fingertips too hard. Just hard enough. He
added a little growl for good measure.

IZZY

"Fucking adorable." Hansel didn't pull away.

LINA

Goro growled again, finished chewing the grape, and licked
Hansel's fingers clean before pulling away. "Feeding sharks is
dangerous," he said solemnly.

IZZY

Hansel grinned slowly. "Yeah, uh-huh. Real dangerous.
Regular shyshark, that's you."

LINA

"The fuck's a shyshark?"

IZZY

"Little kinda shark. 'Bout two feet long, maybe."
He kept grinning. "Looks a bit like a catfish, 'cept it ain't got the
whiskers. Real cute little guys. You spook'em, and they curl up and hide their
li'l faces with their tails. Fuckin' precious, honestly."

LINA

Goro narrowed his eyes. "Nuh uh. That's not fuckin'
real."

IZZY

"Yuh-huh. Sure is."

LINA

"You're making that up."

IZZY

"Nah. I'll take you to see'em some day." He
ruffled Goro's hair. "You can find'em out around Calisham, sometimes.
Y'know, they got these teeth, too. Shaped like a trident." He held up
three fingers to demonstrate. "Three prongs and all."

LINA

Goro stared for a second. Yeah, Hansel definitely wasn't
bullshitting him. "They... curl up and hide their faces with their
tail," he repeated.

IZZY

"Aye. Sure do."

LINA

Goro growled low in his throat, glaring even harder. Then he
pushed forward and started chomping savagely at Hansel's shoulder.

IZZY

"Sweet little shyshark," Hansel crooned, grinning
wider.

LINA

Goro switched to the other shoulder.

IZZY

Hansel cuddled him.

LINA

Goro bit his chin, biting down on a mouthful of beard hairs
and pulling.

IZZY

Hansel winced, and kept cuddling. "Chatich
karish."

LINA

"Dangerous karish," Goro insisted around the hair.

IZZY

"Both," Hansel agreed. "Handsome, dangerous
little sharklet."

LINA

Goro gave a grunt of satisfaction and released the beard. He
kissed Hansel's chin, then both his shoulders. "Um. Did I hurt you?"

IZZY

"Nahh, ahuv." Hansel kissed his head a couple
times. "Never."

LINA

"Pssh. You ain't seen my worst."

IZZY

"Oh, aye? Show me."

LINA

Goro thought for a moment, then grinned wickedly. He
straightened up--much as he could, inside the shirt--and cleared his throat. He
glared. "I hate it when you cuddle me."

IZZY

Hansel fixed him with an amused look. It sounded good. All
glaring and vicious. Hansel kissed his furrowed forehead. "Yeah. I believe
you, motek."

LINA

"Hate it when you kiss me, too. And call me motek and
shit."

IZZY

Hansel kissed him some more. "Uh-huh."

LINA

"Really hate it when you call me chatichi. Just fuck
off."

IZZY

"Aye, love. Will do." Hansel kept kissing him.

LINA

Goro snorted and giggled and bumped his face up to kiss
back.

IZZY

"Oh, I thought you hated this," Hansel teased.
"See, I was tryin' to torture you. You been lyin'?"

LINA

"Nah, nah. Cold hard truth. Just takin' pity on you
right now."

IZZY

"Much appreciated. Given you live in my shirt and all,
seems like the least you can do."

LINA

"I hate it in here." Goro squeezed him tight and nuzzled
him. "Can't wait 'til I'm free."

IZZY

"Mm. Hm. Yeah. Shame about your cruel captor,"
Hansel said solemnly.

LINA

"You should allow me privileges. Like more
grapes." Goro opened his mouth wide again.

IZZY

Hansel snorted and plucked another grape off. He briefly
considered tossing it into Goro's mouth, but he didn't wanna choke him, so he
held it just out of immediate biting range instead. "You gonna be fuckin'
polite, or what?"

LINA

"Me? You fucking kidding?" Goro craned his head
forward, chomping.

IZZY

Hansel fed it to him anyway, letting himself get bit. Worth
it.

LINA

Goro grunted, satisfied, as he chewed. He swallowed and
opened up again. "More."

IZZY

Hansel picked off enough grapes for a handful and shoved them
into Goro's face, grinning.

LINA

"Omf," Goro said, mouth full. When he'd chewed
enough to form words he said, "How about some goddamn finesse?"

IZZY

"How about some goddamn manners?"

LINA

Goro pouted. "I grew up on the street. Never learned
'em."

IZZY

"Like Mari didn't teach you," Hansel teased.
"Try to, anyway."

LINA

"Nah, nah. It was all cleric stuff only." Goro
tossed a suspicious glance at the kitchen door, hoping she wasn't listening in
and about to rat him out.

IZZY

"Pffft. Yeah, uh-huh. You want me to call her in here
and ask?"

LINA

"No. Fuckin'. Oh my god. If you ask her about me when I
was younger, you'll probably never get her to shut up."

IZZY

"Hey, Mari?" Hansel called, grinning at Goro.

LINA

"Wh--d--fuckin'--motherfucker, I told you--"

Amari poked her head out the door. "Yes,
sweetheart?"

IZZY

Hansel cuddled Goro innocently. "You got any good
stories about Goro when he was a kid?"

LINA

"No," Goro barked.

"Oh," Amari said, pleasantly surprised. "Oh,
yes. Many. Let me just grab my tea, and I'll be right there." She vanished
back into the kitchen.

"You're outta your fucking mind," Goro grumbled,
sinking lower into the protection of Hansel's shirt.

IZZY

Hansel kissed his head, and while Amari was gone, whispered,
"S'fine, you can get me back later."

LINA

"I--oh. Ooh." Goro nodded a few times. "Damn
right. Your mom and Leigh." Goro grinned, remembering the story about
Hansel chasing a blue butterfly to show his brother. He wondered if there were
any other stories that good. He squeezed and nuzzled Hansel. What a fuckin' guy.

Amari came back into the room with her drink, taking a sip
as she pulled out a chair to sit next to them once again. "What sorts of
stories did you have in mind?"

IZZY

Hansel snorted at him and kissed his head again.

When Amari sat down, Hansel shrugged. "Ah, y'know.
Embarrassing ones."

LINA

Amari nodded knowingly. "Oh, of course. Embarrassing
stories are very important to save for future spouses. I have several of
those."

"I hate you," Goro said through the shirt.

Amari continued nodding. "Yes, I remember hearing those
words very often. It was like--hm, Hansel, have you ever raised kittens?"

IZZY

"Not raised so much, but I used to feed these feral
alley cats," Hansel offered.

LINA

"That's probably very similar. When I was a child, my
family had a mouser who had a few litters, and I always took it upon myself to
pet and tame the kittens. And there were some, you know, who would warm up to
me immediately, some who weren't afraid at all, but in every litter there'd be
one or two--hissers, I called them. No matter how gently I spoke to them, no
matter how slowly I approached, and even when they saw me feeding their brothers
and sisters, they would hiss and puff up their coats. And all that could be
done for it was to keep trying. Pick them up and pet them until they got used
to it. I did it even to the angriest kittens. Because no matter how much they
hissed, they always took the petting. They never bit me."

She paused to smile at the Goro lump inside Hansel's shirt.
"Oh, the mouth he had on him. The hissing. He'd throw things, too, when he
was very angry, but never at me. Only at walls, or sometimes other acolytes who
annoyed him."

"The fuck kinda bastard would I be if I threw shit at
you?" Goro muttered, duly embarrassed.

IZZY

Hansel grinned steadily as Amari talked, arms wrapped around
Goro. That wasn't embarrassing, he thought. Was just fuckin' sweet, how Amari
thought of Goro, some angry teenager swearing and throwing shit around, as
being like a little kitten who just needed to be shown nothing bad would happen
if he let someone pet him. A little sad, too, that he'd had to be so defensive,
but at least by that point he'd had Amari. Was the start of something better.

He kissed Goro's head. "Coulda been worse," he
said easily. "I sure as hell threw shit at Elitash, and she just wanted to
help me, too. Old crewmate," he added, for Amari's sake. "Used to, uh.
Have some anger issues. Er, worse ones. Eli'd just pin me so I couldn't
actually fight or wreck anything, not let me up 'til I talked about it."

He hadn't been an eighteen-year-old half-elf, either -- more
than full grown, especially for an orc. Eldath, he was just embarrassing
himself now. Why'd he gone and said that.

LINA

Amari gave a slight nod as Hansel spoke, not looking
surprised in the slightest. "She must have been very special to you."

IZZY

"Eh. Aye," he said. She had been. Then he'd killed
her, and Kheman had cooked her. The story was good, but the ending was grim.

LINA

"Psst. Ma." Goro stuck his head out and made a
slicing motion over his throat.

"Oh. Goro, it's okay to talk about people who are no
longer with us. Actually, the taboo surrounding talking about deceased loved
ones can actually make it harder to grieve."

"No, Ma, you don't understand--"

IZZY

"Nah, nah," Hansel said quickly. "It's uh.
Nah. It's fine. I'm ... good." He squeezed Goro. "Grieved plenty.
Just don't like to think about her so much."

LINA

Amari looked like she wanted to say something, and was calculating
whether it would be a good idea. Instead, she just nodded.

She smiled again, and gestured toward Goro. "When I met
him, he was--oh, at least a good fifty or sixty pounds skinnier than he is now.
And his forehead was covered in pimples."

"Ma. Was not."

IZZY

"He's only fifty or sixty pounds now," Hansel
remarked.

LINA

Goro pinched Hansel's nipple.

IZZY

Hansel didn't react.

LINA

"We frequently had youths from the street come help us
in the abbey," Amari continued, "but he was unique in terms of the
sheer amount of resistance he put up in terms of learning how to be... well, I
don't like the term civilized, but honestly, Goro. I know you were smart enough
to know not to spit on the floor after the first dozen times."

IZZY

Hansel snickered.

LINA

"Yeah, I knew what I was fuckin' doing," Goro agreed.
"Shit, I'd go do it today. Fuck the abbey and its stupid fucking
floors."

"Hm, these stories don't seem to be as embarrassing as Hansel
requested. Maybe I ought to tell him about the times you were sweet."

"No such fucking thing."

Amari ignored him and addressed Hansel directly. "The
very first winter he was with me, it was--hm, January or February, I want to
say--well, Goro had never given any indication that he was paying much
attention to me, except for when he was forced to to avoid punishment by the
Church elders. I really didn't think he cared for me at all. But somehow, he'd
picked up on the fact that I love flowers. And I suppose he noticed that when
winter came I'd stopped picking them and wearing them in my hair and so
forth."

"Oh no," Goro muttered, realizing what story she
was gonna tell.

"Well, one day, he came to me--his cheeks were all rosy
from the cold, I remember, and he was holding a pink flower. It was just an
early-blooming camellia, but I guess he'd never seen such a thing, and he was
just about buzzing with excitement--well, in the subdued way he did back then.
Chattering to me about how he'd never seen flowers in winter like that, and how
this one must be something special, and so on. And then he gave it to me,
saying if I wanted to wear it in my hair 'or whatever.'"

"Ah. Gah. Pfff." Yeah, Goro remembered that damn
flower. He remembered by then he'd decided that Amari was the only actually
nice person in the damn place, and how that made her a fucking nutjob since she
didn't seem to know what the world was really like, but yeah, fuck, he thought
it'd be nice if the lady got a flower. Whatever.

IZZY

Hansel grinned, slowly, and by the time Amari had finished
he was hiding half his face in Goro's hair again so Goro couldn't escape his
grin.

"That's fuckin' adorable. You got any more like
that?"

LINA

"No," Goro answered. "No, she doesn't."

"Well, there was the time fish was going missing from
the food stores, and we discovered it was because someone was taking it to feed
to stray cats--"

"Ma, that wasn't me. I mean, for fucking real, that
wasn't me."

"No, I know it wasn't you. It was that little girl--oh,
what was her name?"

"Lily," Goro filled in.

"Lily, that's right. No, where this becomes a story
about Goro is when Lily was caught. Hm, I suppose this one isn't as sweet as
the other one. But I do think it shows Goro has a good heart, even if his
methods are misguided, sometimes. Sweetheart, it's very lucky your aim was so
poor, or I don't know if I would have been able help you. They might have taken
you to the Citadel. Oh." She seemed to realize she was getting off track.
"Hansel, what happened is that Eli, one of the clerics--"

"Who's dead now, 'cause I killed him last year."

"--yes dear, but anyway, Eli caught Lily taking the
fish, and--well, I wasn't there, so I don't know what exactly he said, but he
made it clear he was going to punish Lily quite severely, and so Goro, who was
in the kitchen helping to prepare dinner at the time, started throwing knives
at him." She described it cheerfully, as though Goro had been helpful in a
normal way.

He scowled. "Only embarrassing thing about that story
is they all missed."

IZZY

"Aye," Hansel agreed solemnly. "Nothing
embarrassing about it. Just real fuckin' cute." He nuzzled into Goro's
hair anew and dug his fingers into Goro's sides.

LINA

Goro yipped and started tickling Hansel back. Amari watched
them fondly for a moment, then said, "He's always had a good heart. But
truthfully, it wasn't obvious to most people, most of the time. More than
anything, I'm proud of how far he's come."

Goro slumped against Hansel and groaned, losing the will to
do anything else. "So fuckin' cheesy, Ma."

IZZY

Hansel's grin softened to more of a smile. He thought,
sometimes, about how cagey and evasive Goro had been when they'd met, all full
of venom and bullshit. When he got like that now, Hansel knew something was
wrong. He must've just been ... fucking miserable, that entire time. Probably
hadn't even realized it, being how he was.

He must be so much fucking happier now. That thing he'd
said, about how Hansel had -- opened him up, or changed him somehow.

Hansel kissed his head and wrapped his arms around him tight
again, and propped his chin on Goro's head. "I'm proud of him too."

LINA

Goro grumbled. Amari's smile broadened, and she shook her
head. "Oh, Hansel. I can't tell you what it does for my heart to see him
with you. You would have to have known him, back then. I couldn't even get near
him without frightening him. He seemed to need a cushion ten feet wide between
him and other people. But he falls against you so easily. He smiles and relaxes.
I--"

She paused, and looked sad for a moment. "I almost said
I never thought I'd see the day. But that's not true. I believed in him. I
hoped, and I prayed. I wanted him to have more than just me. He deserves so
much more. An entire family who loves him."

IZZY

Hansel thought that sounded a lot like what Luka's spirit
had said. Parents, eh.

He kissed Goro's head again, content. "Mmhm. Sure does.
Got it, too."

LINA

Goro scoffed and blew air between his lips as loud as he
possibly could. "God, could this stop already?"

But he squeezed Hansel tighter. Maybe he kinda didn't want
it to stop.

IZZY

"Nah. Not at long as I love you." Hansel scrubbed
his face against Goro's hair. "So strap in, chatichi. You got a fucking
lot more of it comin'."

LINA

"Pfff."

"It's alright, sweetheart," Amari said. "You
want us to stop because you're afraid if you don't tell us to, we might stop on
our own and then you'll feel lonely. But I'm not going to stop loving you, and
I don't suppose Hansel is planning to either, so it's fine. Any time you want
to hear about how much we love you, you can just ask."

God damn it, she always said that shit in such a calm, matter-of-fact
way. And Goro hadn't proven her wrong about anything yet, but he wasn't giving
up. "I mean, I'm fuckin' okay. I don't need to ask for reassurance all the
fucking time." He nuzzled Hansel's chest some more, though, which he
guessed was a kind of nonverbal reassurance. Motherfucker.

IZZY

Shit, Amari was fuckin' smart. Just saying shit like that.
Goro didn't even argue the point with her, really.

Hansel made another sound of agreement and nuzzled him back.
"S'what I been sayin', ain't it." He nuzzled a little more insistently.
"Fuckin' talk to me and shit. Gotta tell me what you want." Then he
settled his cheek against Goro's head. Ah, he was fuckin' tired. Happy, though.
"'Course, I'm gonna fucking tell you all the time anyway. Maybe you ain't
gotta."

LINA

Moving carefully so he wouldn't dislodge Hansel's head from
its resting place, Goro reached a hand up to stroke Hansel's face. Run his
fingers over the wiry hairs of his beard. Sometimes it still didn't seem right
that he got to touch Hansel whenever he wanted. It felt like a treat he'd snuck
off someone else's table.

"That's a good point," Amari said. "And a
wonderful thing for you to know. It's okay to need reassurance, and you don't
even need to be the one in charge of collecting it."

Goro grunted, not really agreeing, but not arguing either.

"Hansel, my dear," Amari said, in that same firm
tone, "you look like you might be ready to lie down."

IZZY

"Psshhh."

LINA

"He's fine here," Goro insisted.

Amari was quiet for a moment. Goro wasn't looking at her,
but he had a feeling he knew what was going through her head. She could tell he
was avoiding going upstairs, for some reason.

"Hm," she said. "Well, I know you're a
competent healer, so I won't fret over Hansel so long as you're around. Although...
boys, you've barely touched the food I brought for you. Does it taste
alright?"

IZZY

"Uh, haven't had any of it yet," Hansel admitted.
"Sure it's fine." He shifted a little. Weird how Goro had been trying
to get him to rest earlier, but blown the idea off just now. "Bet that
cake's about done, though."

LINA

"It is. I was talking to Jonn and Luci while we waited
for it to cool." She tapped the Goro-lump on the shoulder. "Are you
ready, birthday boy?"

Goro peered up at Hansel, eyes narrowing. "Guess I'll
have to leave my house."

IZZY

"I'm comin' with you," Hansel said, amused.
"Just ain't up to carrying you."

Ah, that made him fucking sad. If there was any time Goro
should be carried around and spoiled, it was today, and here Hansel fucking
was, useless.

LINA

That prompted Goro to finally duck out of the shirt, purely
so he could have better access to Hansel. He put his arms around Hansel's
shoulders and kissed him all over his face.

"I know," he said between kisses. "Don't need
you to carry me. Love you so much anyway."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled, mostly good-naturedly because it was hard
to be in a bad mood with Goro kissing him. "Yeah, yeah. Still reckon you
oughta cast that spell on me."

LINA

"Psh. Yeah, if I do it, are you gonna carry me against
my will?" Goro kissed him a few more times. Amari had drifted back into
the kitchen.

IZZY

"Pfff. Against your will. If you didn't want me to do
it, y'just would cast the spell, would you?"

LINA

Goro shrugged carelessly and climbed off Hansel's lap.

IZZY

Hansel pulled him back. "Hey."

LINA

Goro fought off a smile. "Yeah?"

IZZY

Hansel kissed him, then let him go. "Love you."

LINA

"Pfff." Goro leaned in to kiss him again.
"Love you too."

He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer, and placed his
hand over Hansel's heart. He opened his eyes and grinned. "There you go,
you greedy bastard."

IZZY

Hansel grinned at him and scooped him up. Ah. Still fuckin'
achy. Wasn't great. Made Hansel think of trying to carry Mishka up the stairs
on Candlelight, after the Gruumsh shit, and how he'd gotten all fucking angry
at himself for not being able to. Mishka had stroked his face and whispered
about how strong he was, though, and asked to take care of him, for once.

So Hansel relented. He held Goro and kissed his face a dozen
or so times, tickling him with his beard, then let him back down to his feet
gently, and kissed him one more time -- slow and soft, holding his chin in one
hand.

He decided to be okay with it. He pulled away and stroked
Goro's hair. "'Least I can carry myself, eh?"

LINA

Goro blinked at Hansel a couple times, honestly kinda
stunned. He was just... being honest, instead of trying to hide that he was
feeling weak, instead of making himself struggle.

Goro threw his arms around Hansel and hugged him as tight as
possible. He closed his eyes, and he almost teared up, just from thinking about
how much he loved him. Happy tears.

"Love you," he murmured. "So much. Y'know,
it..." He paused, trying to figure out how to say it right. "You being
under the weather. It's a miracle you're here at all, is the thing. I don't
mind if you can't carry me, 'cause it reminds me how lucky I am to have you.
And it... it reminds me what I can do. I brought you back. So what if you're
not all the way strong yet?" He swallowed. "I'm... proud... of
myself?"

He got his Hansel back. He'd always sworn he would, hadn't
he? Yeah, that was something to be proud of.

IZZY

Hansel hugged him back -- tighter, now, what with the magic
and all. Felt good. Not back to full, but closer to it because of Goro. Close
to it at all because of Goro, yeah.

"Should be," he murmured. "I am. Mean
it." He rubbed Goro's back fiercely. "Y'know, when -- when I was out,
when I was with Serena -- I wasn't fucking worried for a moment. Knew you'd get
me. Wasn't scared at all, 'cause of you."

His throat tightened up a bit. All of his family, he knew --
they'd fight to get him back, and do whatever they could, and Mishka would burn
down any god or afterlife he had to to do it. But Goro could just --

-- reach out --

-- and pull him back.

It was a fucking miracle. That was exactly what it was.

Hansel blinked a couple times, because there wasn't any
reason to cry about it. "I just love you so fucking much, y'know? I trust
you to much." He squeezed Goro hard. "You're so good, shemeshi."

LINA

"'Cause of you," Goro mumbled into Hansel's chest.
"'M good 'cause of you."

IZZY

"Gonna tell Amari you said that," Hansel said softly.
"And she's gonna say more embarrassing shit about how good you were when
you were younger."

LINA

"Yeah, well. She's crazy, so."

IZZY

"Nah."

LINA

"Pff, like you'd know. You ain't much better."

IZZY

Hansel grumbled. "We ain't fuckin' crazy just 'cause we
love you, y'know."

LINA

"Beg to differ." Goro pulled out of the hug but
kept clasping Hansel's hand. He tugged on it, trying to coax him toward the
kitchen.

IZZY

Hansel kept grumbling but went along with it.

LINA

Goro kissed the back of his hand a few times and led him
into the kitchen.

IZZY

In the kitchen, Luci had pulled the chocolate cake out of
the oven and set it aside to cool. She was working on frosting it -- she'd used
a pair of round tins and stacked the cakes precisely, with a generous layer of
chocolate frosting between them. It was all very even and smooth and perfect,
because of course it was -- Luci was doing it.

As Hansel and Goro came in, she was intent on leveling out the
frosting on the top of the cake with a sharp knife,  bent down to the height of the counter and
fixing it with a stern and steely glare. Jonn was bent beside her, equally watching
her and her progress on the cake with just as intent a fascination and fondness.

Neither of them looked up.

LINA

Goro stopped and backed into Hansel as soon as he saw what
was going on. That was clearly not a process he oughta interrupt by yapping. He
even put a finger over his lips as a sign to Hansel, like Hansel was some
interloper who'd never met these people.

IZZY

Hansel stumbled a little, putting his hand on Goro's
shoulder for balance. He was puzzled for a moment, then glanced at the kids
again. Ah. He snorted a little and patted Goro's shoulder.

"Nah, s'okay, ahuv. Guarantee she ain't hearin'
us."

Luci did not, in fact, so much as twitch at the sound of his
voice. Jonn glanced up, though, and brightened when he saw Hansel. He slipped
away from Luci and came over past Goro to hop up onto his toes and hug Hansel
around the neck.

"Luci said you got hurt. Your eye okay?"

"Aye, kid. All fine." Hansel hugged him back
one-armed, the other hand still on Goro for support. "Goro took care of
me."

Jonn pulled back to scrutinize him, then -- still hanging
onto him -- looked to Goro. "Is he really okay? He can't lie for shit,
'cept about that, somehow."

Hansel scoffed.

LINA

Goro considered how to answer. "He's a little under the
weather, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna be back to normal in a couple days. I'm
keeping an eye on him, don't worry."

Luci said you got hurt, Jonn had said. Well... maybe best not
to mention the death thing specifically, then.

IZZY

Jonn seemed to buy that. Was true, anyway.

"'Kay." He raised up to squeeze Hansel again, and
Hansel kissed his head before he dropped back down, grinning. "The scar
looks neat."

Hansel grinned back. "Yeah, it does, eh?"

Jonn tucked his hands behind his back as soon as he let go
of Hansel, until he'd gotten out of arm's reach of Goro on the way back to
Luci. She straightened and analyzed her cake, nodding.

Without starting with a hello or anything, she announced,
"It isn't done yet. You can go somewhere else."

LINA

"I mean, do we have to go somewhere else?" Goro
asked. "Can we watch?"

IZZY

"No," Luci said, "and yes."

LINA

"Well, then." Goro shot a grin at Amari, then
squeezed Hansel's hand and led him toward the kitchen table so he could sit
down. "Where's the recipe from, anyway?"

IZZY

Hansel followed amicably, sitting next to Goro. Jonn watched
them, then got distracted when Luci thrust a bowl into his hands to get it out
of the way as she stood on tiptoe, fishing through the cabinets.

"I'm making it to Dad's specifications," she said
shortly.

LINA

"Oh, yeah?" Goro raised an eyebrow at Hansel.
"God, he must be a taskmaster, though. He's probably got extremely high
standards for his beloved fiance." He said it all sarcastic-like, as
though he were not actually Hansel's beloved fiance. Whatever.

IZZY

"No, his recipes aren't very detailed, actually."
Luci found what she was looking for and unloaded Jonn's arms to put things
back.

"Hey," Hansel objected, 'cause that made it sound
like he didn't care.

"Well, they aren't."

LINA

"Hah. Yeah, I guess he's not the most detail-oriented
guy, in general. When it comes to expressing himself, I mean. I figure the
details must be in there--" Goro tapped the side of his head-- "for
him to do shit like make healing potions that taste like cake and cookies and
shit."

He glanced at Hansel, wondering if he could convey through
the intensity of his gaze -- I love you so fucking much, I'm restraining myself
from screaming it about it right now and crawling all over you kissing you.
'Cause your kids are here, and all.

IZZY

"Psshh. Goro," Hansel mumbled, all embarrassed and
shit. And pleased, he guessed.

Luci didn't notice, but Jonn caught Hansel's eye and smirked
at him a little before being distracted again by Luci foisting another bowl onto
him, this one now full of cream.

"Whip this," she commanded.

"Aye, captain," he said automatically. He'd picked
that up from Hansel, of course. Always wanting to be a sailor, and all.

Luci, meanwhile, went back to looking through the cabinets.
"There has to be a piping bag around here somewhere," she said.
"You said you were going to pipe the whipped cream. Nothing's organized in
here."

"Er, was gonna buy one," Hansel admitted.
"Didn't have time."

LINA

In lieu of crawling on Hansel and kissing him, Goro took to
drawing his fingers back and forth over Hansel's palm.

"The fuck's a piping bag?"

IZZY

"S'a bag," Hansel said, helpfully.

"You put frosting or whipped cream or some other
topping in it," Luci explained, offhandedly as she frowned at the floor.
"And it has a metal spout of sorts on it that makes the topping come out
in nice shapes. I'm sure you'll find it superfluous."

She was fidgeting with one foot, though. Hansel could see
her getting worked up about it. "Hey, it ain't that important," he
tried, knowing that she never listened to him but trying anyway. "Don't
worry about it, kid."

She shook her head. "No. No. I'll -- go into town and
see if there's one available, by any chance. If not I'll ask Ombre to take me
to Skyport."

LINA

"Luci," Goro said. "Are you outta your
fucking mind? You're damn right I'm finding it superfluous. Just stay here and
eat some goddamn cake with me. Ain't gotta have fancy fucking shapes on it.
S'all gonna be an ugly mess in our stomachs, rights?"

IZZY

She glared at him. "No. It will be nice, and you will
like it."

LINA

"It is nice, and I like it already."

IZZY

Luci was already heading for the door.

LINA

Goro lunged out of his chair. He made straight for the cake,
and held a threatening, poke-ready finger over it. "Hey, Luce."

IZZY

"Jonn," Luci ordered imperiously, without looking
back.

Regretfully, Jonn sidled closer to Goro, still occupied
whipping the cream. "She doesn't fuckin' play," he informed Goro quietly.
"She'll make a whole new cake if she's got to."

"Eldath," Hansel muttered. He pushed himself up.
"Luci. Luci. Hey."

She looked back, narrow-eyed.

"Bet Mom's got one we can borrow. She does lotsa
baking. And it's closer to check than going to town, eh?"

She regarded him suspiciously for another moment. "I
suppose."

LINA

Goro's eyes darted from the cake, to Luci, to Hansel, and
back to the cake. Damn, though, did that frosting look delicious.

He dragged his finger through it. Only for an inch or two.
Still. He looked straight in Luci's direction as he stuck his finger in his
mouth.

And, god, it was really good, and--goddamn. What he'd been saying
to Hansel before, about it being harder to eat alone.

This was the opposite of that.

This was a little taste of something objectively delicious,
sure, but more than that--something prepared for him by family, at the
direction of other family, inspired by the recipe of yet more family. Tasted in
the company of people he loved, and who loved him. Stolen, but in a cheeky way.
Was more than just tasting. It was an experience. A shared memory. Bonding.

This was what eating could be like. He'd really never tasted
anything better.

He was pretty sure Luci was gonna kill him, though.

IZZY

Luci glared at him harder, her lips pressing into a narrow
line. She turned on her heel and stormed off through the back door.

Hansel winced.

LINA

"Hey, get back here!" Goro called. He looked at
Hansel and Jonn. "What, can't anyone stop her?"

IZZY

"She told me to do this," Jonn said, indicating
the bowl. He didn't seem that worried.

Hansel shrugged one shoulder a little, looking
uncomfortable. "She don't listen to me when she's mad. Not sure I could catch
up anyway," he admitted, in a mumble.

LINA

"Goddamn. She got the both of you under her teeny
little thumb." Goro checked the various dishes left on the counter until
he found what remained of the chocolate frosting. He picked up the knife Luci
had been using to level it, then globbed a bit more on top of the cake to replace
what he'd stolen. He attempted to smooth it out as good as she'd done, but
it... wasn't great.

"Uh, Ma?" he tried pitifully.

She joined him at the counter and took the knife from him,
attempting valiantly to come to his rescue. "Nah, nah," he told her
as she prodded at the frosting. "No. Ma. It's not as good as she had it."

IZZY

"She's really good at stuff like that," Jonn
agreed, continuing to dutifully whip cream. It was pretty fucking whipped, though.

"You got a steady hand, kid," Hansel pointed out.

Jonn blinked at him for a moment, then realized what he was
saying and shook his head. "Nah, nope. Hell no. I'll make it worse and
she'll kill me. She's already gonna kill Goro." He dipped his pinky into
the bowl to try some of the cream, then offered it to Goro for a taste.
"On his birthday and all, too."

"Psshh."

LINA

"Don't you dare stick that cursed cream in my face.
She'll know I ate some, probably." Goro narrowed his eyes at the door.
"Son of a bitch. I gotta go get her."

He waved at everyone as he strode through the door, ignoring
any protests before they could even be voiced. He marched outside and spotted
Luci's retreating form, halfway to the Grangers' already. "Hey! Hey,
Luci!" He started jogging.

IZZY

Luci didn't slow down, but her legs were shorter than his.

LINA

Goro caught up to her, cursing and complaining under his
breath. "Would you--fuckin' stop for a second? God."

IZZY

She didn't respond, continuing to look grim.

Up ahead, Leigh sat on a stump, hunched over a bit to accommodate
the baby goat balancing on his shoulders and upper back. His gangly new
shepherd mutt sat between his knees, soaking up the petting and scratching and
head kisses he was giving her, but barked when she saw Goro and Luci, causing
him to look up. The baby goat wobbled a little and bleated, and he raised a
hand in greeting.

LINA

"Hey, Leigh," Goro called, waving back. To Luci,
he said, "You fuckin' giving me the silent treatment, or what?"

IZZY

"I don't currently have anything to say," she said
shortly.

Leigh waved to her more pointedly, and she went to move past
him without acknowledgement, but the goat on his shoulders leaned out and bit
her swishing sleeve.

"Oh," she said, freezing uncertainly.

"Sorry, she does that, yeah. Goats," Leigh said.
"I can't really, uh." He looked to Goro for a hand.

LINA

Goro stepped in between them and scratched the goat between
her ears, carefully tugging the sleeve away. She bleated at him, releasing
Luci.

"Marion!" he bellowed at the house, not sure if
she could hear him, but still. "This kid's crazy! Send her home!" He
snorted. "Haha, kid. I meant Luci."

IZZY

Luci huffed and strode on towards the cabin, letting herself
in without knocking.

"What's up with that?" Leigh asked, and added,
"Good kid joke. Those don't get old."

LINA

Goro shook his head after Luci. "She's on a fucking
mission. A piping bag. You know what the hell a piping bag is? She's baking me
a cake and the whipped cream's gotta be all fancy. Nice shapes, or some
shit."

IZZY

"Oh, yeah. Mom's got one of those," Leigh said
mildly. The goat bleated again and hopped off his shoulders to headbutt Goro's
leg gently, and he straightened up. "Cake, huh?"

LINA

Goro patted the goat again. "Uh. Yeah. Uh, s'my
birthday. Hansel's not up to baking but he wanted me to have a cake, so."

IZZY

"Oh, hey." Leigh looked a little surprised, still
scratching his dog behind the ears. "Happy birthday. Was anyone gonna tell
us? I'll carve you somethin', maybe."

LINA

"Ehhh." Goro ran a hand through his hair. "I
mean, it ain't a secret, but I wasn't running around yelling about it either.
First year I've actually known when it was. Since I met my birth mother and
all."

He didn't know what to say to the carving thing. It... made
him feel good, definitely, but he didn't want Leigh to go to the trouble, but
he didn't want to be rude and not seem interested, either, so--

IZZY

"Huh." Leigh kept looking mildly surprised.
"Didn't know Amari wasn't your birth mom. Hansel don't tell me shit."
He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Guess ya'll don't look much alike."

LINA

Goro snorted. "Sure don't. I'd've told you, if it ever
came up. I ain't good enough to be that lady's real kid. Feel weird claiming
it."

IZZY

Leigh squinted at him. "That's a weird fuckin' thing to
say."

LINA

Goro squinted back. "Is it?"

IZZY

"Yeah, man. Shit, you're adopted. No one wants a kid
more than someone who adopted'em, right?" He hooked a thumb over his
shoulder, towards the little cottage. "You ain't gonna hear Hansel saying
Luci wasn't good enough to adopt."

LINA

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but--I mean, you've met her,
right? There's no--well, I was gonna say there's no way anyone could mistake us
for being related. But I guess you did. Honestly, Leigh, what the fuck."

IZZY

He shrugged. "What? I take after my dad. Figured maybe
you did too."

LINA

"The personality mismatch alone, though. Granted, you
and--" Goro managed to shut his mouth before he said something rude.

IZZY

Leigh looked a little puzzled, again. "What, me and
Hansel? Or me and Mom?"

LINA

"You and... your dad."

IZZY

"Oh." Leigh paused. "Well. Yeah, guess so.
There's that." He shifted a little and rubbed the back of his neck, and
his dog looked up at him with puppy eyes until he was back to scratching her.
"Well, I think there's less of a difference between you and Amari than
between me and my dad, so yeah, you're making my point for me." He grinned
lazily. A little smugly.

LINA

"Um." Goro glared at nothing, trying to figure out
a way to argue. "So, uh. How's the farm?"

IZZY

"It's good. We're bouncing back. The Lady did make us
leave her our oldest goat, though, as payment for stayin' with her." He
bent down to kiss his dog's head. "New dog."

LINA

"Uh huh," Goro said, eyeing it with some mistrust.
"What's its name?"

IZZY

"Sonja." He ruffled the dog's loose fur and
grinned down at her, then looked back up to Goro. "You don't like dogs?"

LINA

"Uh. Eh." Goro shrugged.

IZZY

"She's real sweet." He glanced over his shoulder.
"I bet Mom's talking some sense into Luci. You got time to make a new
friend. She don't bite."

LINA

"Fuckin' everyone says that. 'Til you're trespassing,
anyway, then it's all, 'hey, get the fuck off my property or I'll turn my dog
on you.'"

IZZY

"Maybe you shouldn't be trespassing," Leigh
suggested.

LINA

"Pfff."

IZZY

"Well." He kissed Sonja's head again. Her tongue
lolled out happily. "You're always welcome here. So you'll never be
trespassing."

LINA

"She looks like she got sharp teeth," Goro said. "Little
needles."

IZZY

"Yeah, maybe. Lemme check." Leigh pushed his thumb
into Sonja's mouth, and she gnawed on him a little -- awkwardly, like she wasn't
very good at it yet. He grinned. "She's still teething a li'l bit. Most of
her puppy teeth've come out though. Oh." He glanced back up at Goro.
"I mean, it doesn't hurt. She's not really biting."

LINA

"Pfff, like I trust that coming outta the mouth of a
Granger."

IZZY

Leigh laughed. "I can't argue with you there."

LINA

"Anyways. Nothing against your dog. I think I just
ain't a dog person."

IZZY

"That's all right." Leigh let Sonja gnaw on his
thumb a moment more before pulling his hand away and wiping the slobber off on
his pants. "You like cats? I know Mishka's got that cat."

LINA

"Little motherfuckers," Goro muttered before he
caught himself. "I mean, they're alright."

IZZY

He chuckled again. "So, naw?"

LINA

"'S'alright if they earn their keep catching
mice."

IZZY

"All right, but you gotta like something. How else am I
gonna know what to carve for you? Should I just carve Hansel?" he teased.

LINA

Goro's face got warm. He scoffed. "No. Uh." He thought
for a second. "I like... um. Birds. Maybe a crow?" He tugged his
sleeve up to show Leigh the tattoo, like he needed evidence. "Also I
always thought snakes were pretty cool," he added as he tugged it back
down.

IZZY

Leigh perked up and gave an appreciative whistle at the
tattoo. "Yeah, all right. Crows and snakes. I got you." He gave Goro
an interested look. "You gonna get a snake somewhere, too? Other arm or
somethin'?"

LINA

"Uh. Huh. Maybe. Haven't given it much thought."
He shrugged and prodded at his left forearm. "Got this one to cover up an
old gang sign. Never had any other tattoos."

IZZY

"Oh, huh." He looked a little embarrassed. "Y'know,
I thought for a while I'd like to get, uh, goat horns. Or a whole head, or just
a skull, maybe. Represent the trade, y'know? No where in Shepherd Hills to get
it done, though. Maybe you could show me where to go in Skyport, and all?"

LINA

"Oh, hell yeah," Goro said approvingly. Fuckin' goat
skull tattoo. Neat. "Yeah, I could take you to the same guy I went to. You
ever been to Skyport yet?"

IZZY

"Nah." He kept looking embarrassed, maybe a little
more so. "Y'know, I just don't wanna look like a yokel, and all. I barely
ever even went to Gentleglen."

LINA

Boy. Goro didn't know how to break it to him that he would
absolutely look like a yokel. The wide-eyed country boy vibes were gonna roll
off him in waves.

Annoyingly, Goro thought of his father's letters. He hated
when that happened, since it always made him feel like throwing up. Luka had
said he'd never seen buildings so tall, and Goro had thought, fuckin' rube,
with such intense affection it had made him angry. Hypothetically furious at
anyone from thirty-some years ago that might've looked on Luka with
dishonorable intentions.

Well, wasn't fucking anyone gonna be taking advantage of
Leigh, that was for sure.

"You just stick with me, do what I tell you," Goro
said. "And you'll be fine."

IZZY

Leigh laughed a little and hunched his shoulders slightly,
looking down, still embarrassed but relieved, now, too. "That'd be, uh.
That'd be real nice. I 'preciate it. I didn't wanna ask Hansel," he
confided. "He'd tease me and shit."

LINA

Goro snorted. "Like he'd be one to talk. He was
probably the biggest fuckin' yokel ever to waltz into Skyport. I'd've picked
the hell out of his pockets, if I'd seen him."

IZZY

"Pfff. You tell him that?"

LINA

"Shit, he fuckin' told me that himself, in a letter he
wrote me. Something about it being too bad we didn't meet when we were younger,
but how I probably would've just stole his wallet anyway."

IZZY

He snorted, amused. "Well. That was a long time ago,
anyhow. I don't think he remembers not bein', y'know, a worldly sailor and all
that stuff."

LINA

"Hm." Goro rubbed his arm, looking out over the
farm thoughtfully. "I think he remembers. Think he just doesn't like
to." He examined his hand, picked at the dirt under his nails, and gave
his head a quick shake. "Whatever. There's worse things to be than a yokel.
I been worldly my whole life, pretty much. Don't think it's anything to be
proud of."

IZZY

Leigh shrugged. "Grass is always greener, I
s'pose."

Behind him, the cottage door opened, and Luci stepped out
with a picnic basket in her arms. Marion followed behind her, hair pulled up in
a bun that was coming apart, the front of her dress dusted in flour. Luci looked
more sedate than she had before, and waited for Marion to close the door before
trailing after her over to Leigh's stump.

Marion gave Goro a slight smile. "I hear it's someone's
birthday."

LINA

"Snitch," Goro told Luci.

IZZY

"You should allow people to do nice things for
you," she muttered, looking down at the picnic basket rather than at him.

LINA

Well, Goro didn't have a damn thing to say to that. For
starters, he wasn't sure he'd realized until that moment just how upset Luci
had been. Felt kinda bad for giving her a hard time, now.

He really didn't fucking get the big deal about the whipped
cream, though. It'd all taste the same, no matter what shape it was. Making the
cake in the first place was already a nice thing.

He supposed he'd grumbled about that too, at first. He
guessed he fought it every fucking step of the way when people wanted to do
nice shit for him.

And that was something he didn't have a clue how to touch,
so he just... wouldn't, maybe. He looked at the ground, scuffing his foot
through the dirt and rubbing the back of his neck.

IZZY

Marion gently redirected the conversation. "Well, I
take it you don't much like a lot of attention, so we won't impose up in the
castle, but I did load Luci up with some goodies for you."

Her hand flicked a little bit like she started to pat Luci's
back, then caught herself, the same way Hansel did. Luci kept looking down at
the basket.

"You know, traditionally, people also get hugs on their
birthdays," she added, a little teasing, leaving it open-ended.

LINA

Goro snorted. He remembered, suddenly, Hansel saying that
Marion loved him, and he was half tempted to ask right then and there if it was
true. Not that tempted, though.

"Well, sheesh," he said. "I ain't too good at
traditions. Never really learned 'em. Good thing I got people around to show
me."

IZZY

"She's asking if you want a hug, Goro," Luci
blurted, before Marion could respond.

LINA

"Uh. Yeah." Goro felt himself turning red. "I
know."

He considered turning and just booking it back to the castle
right then and there, but it'd probably make him feel more embarrassed later if
he did.

IZZY

Luci opened her mouth and closed it. Marion was quiet for a
beat, waiting.

It was awkward.

"Well," she said then, dusting the flour off her
dress, "have a good birthday, sweetheart."

"Yeah, happy birthday," Leigh added.

Luci started to slip away, back towards the castle.

LINA

"Oh, um. Ah." Goro glanced between the three of
them, then back at the ground. Good ol' ground. Never did anything. Just sat
there, ready to be stared at.

He rubbed the back of his neck some more, blinking, probably
still red as hell. God. God, that hadn't gone how he'd wanted. Now he didn't
know what to do. Maybe just let it slide.

IZZY

"Bye, Luci," Leigh called after her.

She made a vague sound in acknowledgement without looking
back, and he grinned a bit.

"Odd girl," Marion commented.

LINA

"She just--" Goro cut himself off, not sure
exactly what he was gonna say. "She's fine. She just... cares about
different shit than other people."

IZZY

"Mm," Marion agreed. "She reminds me of the
Lady of the Wood, at times."

"Oh, yeah." Leigh nodded. "I can see that."

LINA

"Eh? Nah." Goro squinted. "That lady was a
fuckin'... well... she wasn't very fucking nice, is all."

IZZY

"Luci ain't that nice," Leigh pointed out, quickly
adding, "I mean, she's a good kid and all. But I wouldn't call her nice,
'xactly, y'know?"

LINA

Goro felt bothered on Luci's behalf, even though there
wasn't much he could argue with there. "She doesn't gotta be nice,"
he said instead, which he realized kinda missed the fucking point of the
conversation.

IZZY

"Nah, she doesn't," Leigh said, looking kind of
confused. Marion gave an agreeable mm.

LINA

"Yeah," Goro said. Motherfucker. He just wanted to
sink into the fuckin' ground already. He scuffed his boots against it some
more.

IZZY

Leigh's expression shifted from confused to concern.
"Uh. I'm sorry, did I say somethin' wrong?"

"Oh, maybe we should just drop it," Marion
interjected, trying to smooth it over, putting a hand on Leigh's shoulder.
"I'm sure Goro doesn't wanna stand around here and bicker with us all
day."

LINA

Ah, fuck. Fuck.

Goro put his hands over his face and shook his head.
"Sorry," he said between his hands. "I'm sorry. I, uh." He
dragged his fingers through his hair and leaned his head back, squinting up at
the sky. "I... y'know, Hansel got real hurt in Alabaster, and uh... ah,
fuck. I just--I'm barely holding my shit together. I'm sorry."

IZZY

Leigh sat up straighter, abruptly. "Got hurt how?"

Marion squeezed his shoulder and stepped closer to Goro,
reaching out hesitantly to lightly put her other hand on his shoulder. She
looked startled, but not as immediately alarmed as Leigh.

"Oh. I ... Luci didn't mention," she said.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. That's terrible. He's going to be all right, I'm
sure. He's a survivor." That part came out with a certain sadness.
"But, well, still. That's an awful thing to have to go through."

LINA

"Stabbed in the eye," Goro said. He didn't want
Marion to take her hand away, so he took a small step closer to her, still
gripping his hair. "He'll be alright, though, yeah. I saved the vision in
it, even. It's fine, just." He hissed out a breath and rubbed his eyes.

IZZY

Leigh shot to his feet at that, barking, "What?"
and Marion gripped his shoulder tighter.

"Honey, honey," she said, pacifying him.
"He's all right. He's all right."

Then she stepped a little closer to Goro and curled her arm
around the back of his neck tentatively to pull him into a proper hug.

"He's all right," she repeated, firmly, to all of
them.

LINA

Goro grabbed onto her, trying not to do it too tight. Fucking
embarrassing, though. Fuckin' treating her like a second mom. Maybe that was
what mother-in-laws were for, maybe not.

He remembered, though, how long he'd fought the idea of
Amari being his mother. And how once he'd given in, he'd realized he hadn't
been protecting himself from anything at all.

"He really is," Goro told Leigh. "He's in the
kitchen right now. Or was, when I left. Seeing outta both eyes, and
everything."

IZZY

Leigh made an unhappy, uncertain sound. Marion gave him a
little tug, and he stepped in to hug Goro, too, and her, tightly.

LINA

Oh, that was real nice. Hugging the both of them at once.
Goro let his eyes drift close as he relaxed into it. Man, those Grangers were
good fucking huggers. Definitely a family trait.

It was kinda sweet the way Leigh freaked out, only hearing
half the story. He might lose his mind if he knew all the scrapes and battles
Hansel had got into over the years. Seen all the injuries he'd had. God knew
what he'd say if Goro actually explained that Hansel had fucking died.

Goro wondered if Hansel knew how much Leigh seemed to adore
him. He oughta mention it sometime, in front of both of them, watch 'em get all
sputtery and embarrassed at the same time. Sounded cute as hell.

"Anyway, uh." He swallowed. "Just, uh. Not at
my best today, is all."

IZZY

"Of course you're not," Marion said softly,
rubbing his back. "No one would be."

LINA

"But I gotta--gotta be there for Hansel and Mishka. Uh,
the guy who... attacked them, it was this guy Mishka knew. Long story."

IZZY

Marion frowned, and considered for a moment. "As long
as you let someone be there for you, too."

LINA

"Nah, pffff, nah. Pff." Goro shook his head.

IZZY

"Don't make those noises at me, young man."

LINA

Goro sputtered. He wiggled around, trying very weakly to
pull out of the hug, 'cause he didn't really want to.

IZZY

Leigh pulled back a little, but Marion neither tightened up
nor let go. Firmly, she said, "You have to take care of yourself to take
care of other people, Goro. Luci is trying," she pointed out gently.

LINA

"I do take care of myself," he insisted. "I
fuckin'--I eat, I bathe, I clean up after myself. I... try to sleep, usually. I
mean, that one's hard, but it ain't my fault." Hansel helped, but Marion
could probably already guess that, and it seemed awkward to say out loud.

Shit, all this stuff seemed awkward to say out loud. Goro
really was gunning straight for the second mom thing, apparently.

IZZY

"That's ... not all there is to it," Marion said.
"You know ... think of it this way." She pulled back from the hug,
but carefully rested her hand on Goro's cheek, ready to stop if he twitched
away. "Hansel is hurt. That's upsetting for both you and Mishka, isn't
it?"

The question was obviously rhetorical, but she waited for
him to answer, anyway.

LINA

"Yeah," he said slowly. Sounded like a trick
question.

IZZY

"I'm sure it's upsetting for Luci, too. You're all full
of stress, like water filling up glasses. You all know Hansel will be all right,
and the stress will leak away on its own. But if the glasses overflow before
then --." She winced a little. "You know, it's better to avoid making
a mess. It's better for everyone. I think that people have different-sized
glasses." She studied him. "I'm sure you can handle a lot, sweetheart.
But if you try to take on Hansel's stress, and Mishka's, and be there for both
of them while you're filling up with your own stress, too, you're going to
overflow."

LINA

"Fff, okay, fine, but see--" He fidgeted,
accidentally jostling her hand off his cheek. "Hansel and Mishka got a lot
more water than me, is the thing. I gotta... I mean... hey, I left them alone,
alright?" He glared at the ground, still kind of ashamed about it. "I
knew I couldn't keep being there for them, so... I left."

IZZY

"Oh. Honey, I don't know about Mishka, but I really
doubt Hansel wants you to leave him alone." She let her hand rest on his
shoulder, instead. "You know, when he was little ..." Then she trailed
off, and looked off to one side. "Well, all I mean is that -- just because
you can't be there for them, doesn't mean you have to just fend for yourself.
You can give someone else a turn helping them, and you, too. It's not ... a
failing, to need help. Do you understand?"

LINA

Goro shook his head, wincing. "Can't... be a drag on
them, you know? And I can't hold 'em up. I know he doesn't want me to leave him
alone. I know that. But he's got Mishka."

IZZY

Marion frowned a little, and Leigh looked uncomfortable.

"Okay," she said, firm. "I want you to think
of it like this. If you're going to take care of Hansel, and of Mishka, but
sometimes you need to step away sometimes -- and that's okay, you know, that's
perfectly normal -- then you should use that time, when you're not with them --
you should use it to make sure you're well taken care of yourself. Not just fed
and watered and rested -- you need to get out all the stress you can. That way,
when they need you again, you can be there. You're not going to be a drag on
anyone." She squeezed his shoulder, just as firmly, for emphasis.

LINA

"Okay," he said, acquiescing, kind of sheepish.
She was talking like there wasn't any damn arguing about it. "Uh. How
d'you mean, get out stress? I mean... how?"

IZZY

"Cry it out, maybe," she suggested.

"Mom," Leigh objected. "He's not gonna do that."

"Well."

LINA

"Crying makes it worse. God, I fucking hate
crying."

IZZY

"See," Leigh said.

Marion clicked her tongue. "Well, fine. Then just take
care of yourself. Do something that makes you feel better. Spend time with
people who love you. It isn't just Hansel and Mishka, you know. They'll know
what to do for you."

LINA

"Yeah? What d'you think I'm doing right now?"

Oh, god. Oh, fuck. What a thing to say.

IZZY

"Oh." Marion blinked, startled. "Well."

Not seeming to know what else to do, she pulled him into
another hug -- dragging Leigh along and making him oof slightly as she squeezed
them both tightly. He hugged Goro too, though.

LINA

Goro hugged them both back, pleased.

"I was hanging out with Luci and Jonn before," he
said. "Dunno how much stress it let out. Did I upset Luci real bad, you
think?"

IZZY

"No, I think she calmed down," Marion said,
rubbing his back. "She was only upset because -- well, she said you were
being difficult. I told her I was sure you weren't doing it on purpose."

LINA

"I was being difficult? Fuckin'--no, listen. Did you
hear this shit about the piping bag and the whipped cream? Honest to fucking
god."

IZZY

"She's trying to do nice things for you today," Marion
said gently. "What she thinks is nice might not be just like what you
think is nice, but she's trying."

LINA

"Nah, nah, I get that much. You don't understand,
though. She was already upset even before I tried to stop her. She was all
stressed and shit, and Hansel and I both tried to tell her, hey, no, listen,
it's fine. She didn't listen."

IZZY

"I wonder if she could possibly be upset already,"
Marion said, "because Hansel died."

LINA

"She--you--" Goro snapped his mouth shut. He glanced
at Leigh uneasily, best he could while they were all squished together.
"Okay, but special whipped cream ain't gonna help with that."

Goro decided now he was being difficult, alright, since he
just wouldn't drop it. "What do I do now, then? I wanna apologize to
her."

IZZY

"I think you should go eat her cake," Marion
suggested. "She worked very hard on it. She wants you to be happy."

LINA

"I am. I was gonna love the fucking cake. I already
loved it."

IZZY

"Thank her for putting in the effort. I think that
would mean a lot to her." Marion gave him another squeeze and pulled back
again, patting his shoulder.

LINA

Goro nodded a few times. "Alright. Yeah." He
thought of how he'd been conflicted a little bit ago, when Leigh talked about
carving him something. Goro had wanted to say Leigh didn't have to go to the
trouble, but he didn't want to sound uninterested, either.

Let people do nice things for you. Right.

"Thanks," Goro told Marion. And, remembering how
Hansel had said earlier he called his mom ma'am, added, "Ma'am."

IZZY

"Oh, sweetheart. You don't have to call me ma'am."

LINA

"Hansel does," Goro said. "He calls my mother
ma'am, too. I laughed at him."

IZZY

She winced a little. "He doesn't have to, either."

LINA

Goro eyed Leigh. "Does he call you ma'am?"

IZZY

"I mean, sometimes," Leigh said, but it was a
little guiltily.

"You don't have to, either."

"Yeah, I know. S'just habit. Was Dad's thing," he
explained.

LINA

"Oh. Gross," Goro said, before he could catch
himself.

IZZY

Leigh snorted quietly, and Marion made a mild sound of agreement
and patted Goro's shoulder.

LINA

With some reluctance, Goro gave them a final squeeze and
pulled away. "I gotta... I gotta go catch up to Luci. Gotta tell her I'm
sorry, and whatever. Make sure she's okay."

IZZY

"Of course. That's very responsible," Marion said,
sounding pleased. She let him go. "There are shortbread cookies in that
basket I sent along with her, and a couple jars of jam I managed to save from
the old place. Hansel likes the blackberry one," she added with a wink,
like she was giving him secret information.

Leigh looked a little embarrassed and awkward at all the
hugging, but gave Goro a gentler version of the sort of shoulder whack he and
Hansel would give each other. "Glad you came out and saw us, anyway."

LINA

"Yeah. 'Course." Goro wasn't sure he would have if
he hadn't been chasing after Luci, but he didn't regret it. "Um, what you
said before. About staying away from the castle, since I don't like
attention."

IZZY

"Mmhm?"

LINA

"I mean... I don't like, y'know, a lotta noise and fuss
and all that, but you guys could come for dinner or whatever. There's no dinner
plans, but, eh, I don't know." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his
head. "Feel free to come by any time, is all."

IZZY

"Oh, we don't want to impose," Marion said, but
she sounded pleased, again. "It's a kind offer, though."

"You could send someone out when there's dinner
plans," Leigh suggested. "We could help with the cookin'."

LINA

"Oh. Yeah. I'll do that." Goro gave them a wave
that was kind of a salute. There wasn't gonna be any dinner plans. Who the fuck
was gonna make dinner plans? Amari, maybe. Well, he'd pass the message onto
her, then.

He walked back to the castle, alternately hugging his arm
and tugging at the ends of his sleeves. Fucking awkward. Existing felt awkward
today. Having people love him, and shit.

Scary. Scary as hell. He could lose every last one of them.

Luci had gotten too much of a head start for him to really
catch up with her. He just went straight back to the kitchen when he got home,
figuring he'd find her there.

IZZY

In the kitchen, Luci had fully repaired the frosting that
Goro and Amari had picked at, and was very nearly done adding the whipped cream
-- little florets spaced evenly on the top, and a careful, wavy border along
the bottom. Jonn had retreated to sit next to Hansel at the table, snuggled up
under one arm, and when Goro came in, Hansel perked up and offered his other
arm.

LINA

Goro wanted to go straight to Luci, but he thought the
better of it, watching her work. She wasn't done. She looked like someone who
didn't wanna be interrupted.

Goro scuttled over to Hansel instead and accepted the
offered arm. Put his arms around Hansel's waist as much as he could without
dislodging Jonn. And he watched Luci, waiting.

IZZY

Jonn shifted a bit to give Goro more space, and wrapped his
arms around himself, hands tucked against his sides. Hansel squeezed the both
of them happily.

After a few moments, Luci had finished up the whipped cream
edging, and then busied herself with topping the florets carefully with one
blackberry apiece. She gave the cake a long, scrutinizing look, then finally
declared, "It's done."

LINA

Goro gave Hansel a parting squeeze, then stood up. He walked
over to examine the cake. Took a moment to really scrutinize it, getting down
at eye level and everything.

"It's perfect," he declared. "I mean,
literally. And it's gorgeous."

IZZY

"Yes," Luci said. "I'm aware."

She did sound deeply pleased, though.

LINA

"Still think it's overkill for a guy like me, but,
uh... thanks, Luce. Thanks for making it perfect. That's real sweet of
you."

He didn't look at her while he talked, just kept examining
the cake. He felt like he oughta hug her or something, but she didn't like
hugs. Maybe he could do something nice for her in return, or something. Jonn
might have some ideas.

IZZY

"You're welcome." She looked satisfied and
slightly smug, smiling faintly with her chin tilted up. "It isn't
overkill."

"You tell'im, Luci," Hansel commented, amused.

"We can cut it now," she said. "If you want."

LINA

Goro frowned at the cake, then at her. "Maybe it's too
pretty to cut."

IZZY

"No. It is exactly pretty enough to cut."

LINA

Goro crossed his arms and shook his head, straightening up.
"Making pretty shit just to cut it up and eat it." Ah, he was
backsliding again. Doing exactly what he wasn't supposed to be doing. "Um.
I'm sorry."

IZZY

"The joy is just as much in making it as in eating
it," Luci said serenely, like she hadn't stomped out of the room angrily
not that long ago.

LINA

"Ah," Goro said. He thought he might understand,
when she put it that way. "Well. At least gimme a few minutes to just look
at it."

Then his finger darted out, and he swiped a tiny bit of
whipped cream off one of the florets. He gave her a cheeky smile and stuck it
in his mouth.

IZZY

She stared at him blankly for a moment, like she was
deciding how to feel about this, then said, "It's traditional for the
person whose birthday it is to have the first slice. If you want to eat it with
your hands, I won't stop you."

LINA

"Pfff, nah." He picked up the first knife he saw
on the counter and held it out to Luci.

IZZY

She accepted the knife graciously and started cutting the
cake into evenly-spaced pieces, each with a whipped cream floret and blackberry
atop it. She made sure that all of the damage Goro had wreaked was contained to
one slice. Jonn unfolded from Hansel's side to get a stack of plates and handful
of forks, coming up to her side just at the right time.

Luci carefully balanced a slice of chocolate cake on top of
the carving knife, resting it gently on its side on a plate, and holding it out
to Goro. Then she frowned.

"We should call Roddy and Larkin and the others, before
we eat. Shouldn't we?"

LINA

"Eh, ahh, hm." Goro took the plate and ducked his
head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Everyone at once? Uh."

IZZY

"You can dimension step away if it gets t'be too
much," Hansel said, amused. "S'long as you take me with you."

LINA

Goro muttered something incomprehensible and took the plate
with him back to the table, setting it down and crawling under the shelter of
Hansel's arm again.

Amari smiled and stood to leave. "I'll go get the
others."

LINA

[end]

IZZY

TRP: Goro and Everyone (Birthday). Day 351. On his birthday,
Goro hangs out with the Sterlings, Ombre, the Grangers, Amari, and Hansel. Luci
bakes him a cake, Jonn gives him a chewy bracelet, Ombre gives him a magical
picture of the Runners at dinner, the Grangers give him a group hug.