A Savior of Flames

Chapter 17

As Cael promised, he returned to the room as soon as night fell. But with one glance towards me, finger to my lips, and a Dragon fast asleep in my lap, he closed the door as quietly as he could behind him. Though my leg has been extremely sore to the touch, Rowan's warm head has been doing wonders while he's been napping for about an hour. After he propped some pillows behind me and made me comfortable, he had gently asked if he could try again, this morning haunting him. I'd nodded after a moment, and he'd laid his head against my sore leg and I'd played with his soft curls until he drifted to sleep.

    Cael is moving around the room, a Warrior's stealth as he readies himself for bed. I do my best to avert my eyes as he swaps his clothes of the day for just a pair of loose, soft looking pants. He puts a dagger within reach of his bed, and slides into a seated position maybe a foot away from me. "I see the two of you made up well enough." I continue stroking my fingers through Rowan's hair as his soft breaths caress an exposed portion of my leg. Cael speaks just above a whisper, considerate of the slumbering Dragon.

    "He and I can never go long without each other."

    "I figured as much, you wear his clothes every day." I blush without even meaning to. He's not wrong. Even from the first day we've met and Rowan gave me his cloak, I've been wearing some pieces of his clothing, somehow.

    "Cael, I need to draw a very clear line with you." Rules and boundaries, it's how we're going to survive this.

    "I'm listening."

    "I am very much a jumbled mess of feelings, and meeting you didn't exactly help me figure them out. Rowan is something I have been trying to figure out for weeks now and I'd thought I had just scratched the surface when everything went to shit. But even before that I knew that I wanted to be with him, no matter how scared I was to admit it. The only reason we still haven't officially declared anything is because we keep screwing up and hurting each other. You were one of those latest screw ups. Don't take that the wrong way, please. What I'm trying to say is that we haven't even figured ourselves out, and we can't possibly allow another factor to complicate things further. At least not for a long while, not while we figure ourselves out. Gods this feels like it's coming out all wrong."

"No, I think I get exactly what you're saying." I had been staring at a point far off on the wall, but I turn my head to Cael, who's staring at his fidgeting hands. "Three people in a relationship is very, very tricky. Especially when two of them are in love with each other but are too hard-headed to admit it." I struggle not to drop my jaw open, or pull at Rowan's hair and wake him up. I'm amazed he's still breathing softly, little snores emitting from him even. "What the two of you have is something deep and complex, something I can never hope to infiltrate. But that doesn't mean I'm going to leave, or take the option away if you ever decide you want something like that. I can be patient, and teasing the two of you happens to yield some interesting results so I'd like to stick around if possible."

"I- of course you can stay. I make no promises for when or if that day will come. But until then you've got to be careful with how far you push him. Even before you were in the picture he was fiercely territorial, and that's only going to get worse. And that was just with my siblings around."

"Abraxis is one scary bastard, I think I understand why." I frown, and Rowan shifts in his sleep, agitating my leg. I bite down a curse and adjust myself gently as he settles back into deep sleep.

"Are you sure he should sleep on that wound? He's going to make it hurt even worse."

"Well typically his above average temperate soothes aches, but I think it's just in too much pain, even for him to soothe. But he needed this, and I wasn't going to deny him."