Bonded

Chapter Twenty Six

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India

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When I finally wake it is not to the sound of my suitors wooing me... But to the not so gentle shaking of my shoulder, Jian losing all patience with me trying to get me to rise and join him and the other peers we share a chamber with so that I might join them when they shuffle to the dining hall with every intention of breaking their fast with whatever hearty meal the kitchens have prepared for us this day...

I cannot say that my heart does not feel offended over the fact that my ears do not hear the wonderful sounds of Kavya and Ronin's voices as they lift them right under the window to greet me... But I suppose that it might've been a bit foolish to think that they would great me that way every morning... The color that rises in my cheeks when I finally blink the sleep from my eyes going unnoticed so far...

I cannot help but hope that my flush stays unnoticed as I dress myself for the day, my back turned to Jian and the others to lessen the chance they all will have of seeing my rosy cheeks and drawn brows... A nearly silent thank you being lifted from my lips to Jian's ears for his waking of me while we hurry to cover ourselves against the chill that always seems to come with the earliness of the morning... The fire in each of our bellies dependant on our beasts waking inside of us in order to roar properly each day...

My counterpart typically takes longer than most to wake himself and curl up behind my eyes to observe the day we shall share... Likely because my other half is more fond of sunning our scales than reading... But still... It's not pleasant to have to shiver until my dragon finally notices that we should very much be awake and that I already am...

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Ronin

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I had been hesitant when I had suggested this to Kavya... I had been prepared for him to smile at me and gently tell me that I'm being foolish in the special way he does it that never actually makes me feel like a fool...

But instead of calling me foolish... Or countering the idea I had come up with in the earliest parts of the morning when I had found myself awake and unable to find my way back to sleep... Kavya had smiled and told me that it was an idea that he adored... And that it was absolutely something that we could and should do for our India...

For some reason... Every single approval I get from Kavya always causes such a stunning burst of warmth to blossom in my chest... As if his dragon looked right at me and decided to brand my chest with the most tender of heated kisses... Every time he gets that lovely grin on his face and tells me that I've got a beautiful mind...

It flusters me...

And that flustering reminds me every single time that no one else, until India now, has ever made me feel this way... No one has ever truly found merit in what I've had to say... No one else has ever bothered even asking if I've got anything to say until he came around and looked at me, all firey hair and gentle eyes... Listening to me so intently that no matter what the subject is my words feel more important than they ever actually are...

So... When my Kavya decided that India would indeed enjoy a few of the flowers that are always blooming by the riverside to plait into his hair and maybe a few to keep on his desk... It made the hair on the back of my arms stand on end with how brightly he smiled...

The fact that very soon India will figure out that he has the very same strange power over me that Kavya does should be terrifying to me... The fact that both of them can stun me with just a single look the way they so constantly seem to do without thinking about it... It's nearly too much to bear...

But I do not think I would choose to change a single thing about either of them... Including the sweet way Kavya cannot seem to stand still while we wait with our surprise clasped so firmly in our hands... The way his eyes keep nervously locking with mine making me wish I could draw him close, right here out in the hall, if only to kiss each and every one of his fears away until he is nothing more than a beautiful puddle decorated with fallen purple petals...

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Kavya

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Even with Ronin watching me ever so fondly I cannot seem to still my feet... My hands shaking just ever so slightly while we wait for the scholars to finally make an appearance, India and his chamber mates taking longer to rise today than they did yesterday with the two of us under their window...

I know that the kindest thing was to let them... And the rest of the scholar's wing... Actually rest and keep resting until their normal rising time... But I never imagined it would be quite so hard not knocking on the door and letting India know that we are here, ready to whisk him away for another long day of studies... One where he shall hopefully actually get some studying done and we aren't as much as an interruption as we were yesterday...

I know that nervousness is not always the most endearing quality... But I cannot say necessarily that it is nerves per se... More... Just... Pure Excitement...

And I do not know if that shall ever change.