Page 110 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

“With a sushi conveyor belt. For snacks.”

“Brilliant.” He kisses her forehead again, curling her up in his arms.

They are too cute. I think I’d gag if Alexios treatedme like that in public. Tiny bat accessories are far more my speed. Probably because, from a young age, anything remotely consideredPublic Displays of Affectionwere vilified astemptationandsin.

Truly crazy how entire religious sects demonize expressions of love while claiming to follow a being made of the stuff.

Relinquishing Terra when she begins to wake up and whimper for her bottle, I pour my focus into my tiny soulmate, and not into looking at Terra’s formula. Which is somewhatmilkcolored. Alexios wouldn’t let me feed Ash poison if it were hurting him. Ash is an unseelie ent. Terra is a seelie dryad. They are vastly different creatures. And, for all I know, she isn’t even drinking milk like a normal baby.

Looks can be deceiving, right?

It doesn’t help that Castor can both look like an evil tyrant and a harmless geek. If looks are deceiving, everything I’ve seen of him could be a lie and his character is a third secret option that no one knows about.

Alexios adjusts his position, drawing my attention down as Willow starts up a movie I’ve never heard of.

His little orange leaf nose pokes out from beneath his wings, and our eyes meet.

Much too adorably for a full-grown man, one of his large ears twitches.

He should really, honestly, and truly pick a lane.

He simply isn’t allowed to be this cute and innocent when he’s spent the past few weeks taking care of all my meals, the house,anda baby. I know bats are nocturnal, but that still means they’re supposed to sleep at some point. Yet, he’s maintained usual flawless grace in his every tiny limb as though sleep-deprivation isn’t something he’s ever heard of.

It’s unfair.

The man barely eats, barely sleeps, and still has the nerve tobe perfect all the time.

I wonder if it’s because he has the body of a mid-twenty-year-old—which should just be coming to understand back pain—but the existence time of an infant.

Either that, or the fae are physically built different to such an extentbasic needsarebasic suggestions.

Who knows.

Inexplicably, I pet his small head and watch him snuggle toward my finger like a cat.

What a dreadful little monster…

Making matters worse, I think I’m really starting tolike, like him.

He’s a contradiction.

Useless, yet capable. Harmless, yet powerful. Mischievous, yet dear.

Childish and mature.

It’s a balance I, growing up in the household I did, never got to achieve.

I existed in a constant state of contradiction, never knowing what the rules were or when they would change.

In contrast, Alexios’s contradictions have yet to be wielded against me to progress his selfish agenda.

He came into existence in a state of safety. He’s friends with the biggest threat I’ve been told about. He has known nothing but love since he stopped being a part of Alana. Even if he’s no bright being, even if he sprouted from darkness and depression, he has still physically been met with nothing but kindness.

And it shows.

It shows in how the people of Cael’s kingdom flock to him. It shows in how he interacts with Ash. And it shows…in how he’s cared for me.

Maybe romance will always feel taboo. Maybe I’ll never feel quite comfortable enough or…cleanenough for it. But, steadily,I think I am at least opening up to the idea that I don’t needromanceif I’m going to acceptlove.

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