Kingdoms of Gold

25 | Completion

The door to the bathroom clicked open. "Token?"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. The book in my lap fell to the floor shut. I'd dozed off waiting for Malachi.

His pages of notes slipped from the book and fanned across the floor. 

He had walked out of the bathroom, steam following. There was only a towel wrapped around his hair and another over his shoulders.

"Hi." I knelt to the ground and focused on collecting the pages. My face heated at the sight of him.

He let out a small chuckle and wrapped the extra towel around his waist. Then he grabbed the pages by his feet. "You've seen me naked before, remember?"

"Yeah, but . . . I wasn't expecting you to walk out naked. Last time we were also in a rush." I handed the book back to him. "Sorry, I lost your page."

"Don't worry about it." He set the book aside and reached next to me for his clothes. "I see you and Rune had fun."

"Yeah. Valentino told me a little about your trip here. Sounds like you had fun too." I gazed away as the towel around his waist dropped.

Malachi groaned and flopped on the bed, not bothering to put a shirt on. The towel around his hair laid on the floor, replaced by a loose pair of sweatpants. "It was awful. I threw up a few times."

"I didn't know our luggage was going to—" I gasped as I glanced back. All of Malachi's dreadlocks were gone. "What happened to your hair?"

He sat up and tugged on the kinky strands. It frizzed out in a small afro. "They were nasty after the fae realm. I just finished cutting and brushing them out."

I ran my fingers through his fluffy hair. This was cute too, but I loved his locks. "Are you going to get them redone?"

"Maybe." He shrugged. "There's a hairdresser around here I'll go to occasionally. She usually gives me new dreadlocks. I was thinking of braids or cornrows this time."

"Or you could stick with this." I pressed my cheek into his hair. I've only had my own hair to play with, which was purely straight.

"I'm not keeping the small afro." He pulled me to him until his head rested against my chest. "I'm surprised you're here. Are the others back too?"

"Valentino walked me back, but he only stayed for a shower." I didn't hear any rustling down stairs. "Everyone else is still in the Mead Hall."

"You didn't want to go back with them?" Malachi's hand slipped under my shirt. He traced the skin above the seam of my pants. "They're going to be there a while."

"I figured you needed the company."

His grin morphed against my skin. "You wanted to get out of the crowds, huh? I happened to be the perfect excuse."

"Maybe." I gave his hair another pat. It was so soft and fluffy. "I also missed you."

He stilled in my arms before pulling away. The lines of his face hardened with skepticism. "Okay, what's up? You're never this nice, this cute to me. Did one of the others do something to piss you off? Let me guess, you want me to go eat them or something."

I slid from the bed, rolling my eyes. "No, the others didn't do anything." I rifled through the pile of bags. "Are mine in here?"

"Yeah. I tried to sort everyone's as best as I could, but I didn't know where you were staying so I shoved them with me." He rubbed his temples. "Is there something you want?"

"Yes, it's in my bags." I shuffled through the piles of bags.

"No. Is there something you want from me?" He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees. His silver eyes sparkled.