Page 38 of Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal
“He’s learning your scent,” Eloquence explained apologetically.
Tenma only smiled crookedly and asked, “May I sniffen you, too, Ever?”
“Course!”
Humans couldn’t detect subtle nuances in scent, but Tenma took the boy’s answer as permission to pull him close. He was awkward about it, as if he’d never held a child before, which was sad. But he did sniff Ever’s hair and rest his cheek atop his head.
“I like your ears,” Tenma announced.
“Pet ’em!”
“Is that allowed?”
“You ’lowed. But not tails.” Ever shook one small finger under Tenma’s nose. “Tails is purse-null.”
“Yes, I know. My teacher told me on the very first day of school.” He added, “There are wolves in our class.”
“Wolfs has tails!” exclaimed Ever, his own a blur. “But dogs is best.”
Tenma asked, “Areyoua dog?”
It was exactly the right thing to ask. “Yeth! Like Da. Him’s mine.”
Lapis interjected, “What of poor Eloquence?”
“Yeth.” Ever belatedly acknowledged the dragon a wiggle-fingered wave and patiently explained, “Him’s mine, too. My bruvver.”
“And the silent lout over there?” inquired Lapis.
“Rise. Him’s mine, too.” In a loud whisper, Ever explained to Tenma, “Him’s Kiff.”
The dragon lord chuckled. “I wasreferringto the one with no ready excuse for his reticence.” At Ever’s obvious confusion, Lapis offered a broad hint. “The one with white hair.”
“Uncle!” With that, Ever slid from Tenma’s lap and trotted across to Laud, who sat on the floor beside the door.
Eloquence explained, “Laud Starmark raised me and remains my mentor. My den is his den.” He tried to think of a way to explain their relationship so a human could understand. “I have two fathers.”
Tenma offered a shy wave, which Uncle Laud answered with a casual flick of fingers. He’d never been one to stand on ceremony. Laud blandly countered, “Best to saythreefathers, or Karoo-ren would feel slighted.”
“An uncle from my first mother’s pack,” said Quen. “Though an ocean divides us, he returns when he can.”
Quen noticed his uncle’s deflection, but let it pass. That was simply his way. Watchful and quiet, attending to his duties without making a scene. Harmonious may have been Quen’s sire, but Laud had raised him, and such loyalties ran deeper than blood, right into the bones. While Quen longed for Dad’s attention and approval, hehadLaud’s.
This was the constancy Ever deserved.
Precious is the pup to his pack.
Lapis reclaimed the limelight, full of plans to provide Tenma with something more durable for sealing his soul. While he grew increasingly loquacious about the resonance of various crystals and the proper balance between a solid defense and tasteful design, Eloquence watched over Ever.
Up on tiptoe, the boy lifted both arms. Expression soft, Laud gave him the boost he needed to reach broad shoulders. Ever settled himself, then reached again, this time to touch their uncle’s forehead.
Laud kept his unruly hair out of his eyes with an embroidered band tied across his forehead. It was his sole ornamentation, and it served another purpose. To hide his blaze. Laud had been born with a mark in the center of his forehead.
Pudgy fingers tapped, initiating a routine Quen had seen often. This was Ever’s silent request, a plea for trust. In answer, their uncle wrapped one large hand around the boy’s ankle. It covered most of his calf as well, but the ankle was the important part. Because a delicate scroll of pale green encircled it like a thread—Ever’s blaze.
The boy gently slid the band from Uncle’s forehead, wrapping both arms around and pressing his palms in its place. To cover one another’s blazes was a solemn pledge, an unspoken promise to keep each other’s secrets.
Laud’s faint smile held pride and contentment. But Quen watched as the fingers of his free hand restlessly tapped hip, thigh, calf, and shoulder in repeated sequence. All the places he hid daggers.
