11. Appreciative

There was probablya rule about this.

There were probably rules about everything, but Aleks didn't see why he should have to follow all of them. There were rules about boats. He'd seen Azaiah's boat—a long, stately vessel made of dark wood that moved silently over the river of the dead, and that was fine, because people didn't need much when they reached the river.

Aleks's boat had blankets. It also had cushions, and little lanterns on the sides, and a wind chime that Aleks's son had made him a year ago that was not supposed to be hanging off the prow. But when Azaiah had told him that mortal things were not traditionally taken to the river, Aleks just nodded and laid a new blanket over the benches.

The spirits seemed to like it, anyway snuggling under the blankets and lying back on the cushions as Aleks bore them across, and everyone was very impressed with the wind chime.

It jingled above Aleks now as he jumped into the river. He could hear the bells his son had painstakingly tied to shells from Lukos ringing over the susurrus of distant spirits from the river. Aleks swam toward the sound and emerged with a gasp.

Stars shone over his boat, an endless, swirling field of them, and Aleks reached up to stir the bells of the wind chime.

He wasn't sure how to talk to Evander and Elena about the river. It had nearly overwhelmed him once, but now it was almost comforting. He swam in it for hours at night sometimes, leaving his body while Elena and Evander slept. He'd learned that if he swam in the river while he was injured, he woke up healed. Colds disappeared overnight. Swelling from a sprained ankle went down. Aleks guessed the river was a part of him now, or a part of what he was slowly, inevitably becoming as his powers grew, but he didn't mind it so much.

Except whatever the magic was, it probably wasn't supposed to be used to heal tattoos.

Aleks closed his eyes and sank into the river, reaching out for his body in the living world, and opened his eyes again to a bright, warm day outside one of Axon's tattoo parlors.

"Dad?"

He looked down. Malik, his oldest, was tugging on his arm. Malik looked almost exactly like his father, Evander, but he had the personality of an elder politician who couldn't believe he'd been saddled with such ridiculous adults. He took everything seriously, from the complex social lives of his favorite dolls to "Daddy Time," when he stood at the door with his favorite ribbon dragon doll in a bag at his side and waited for Aleks to get ready for their daily outing.

"You were away again," Malik said, frowning slightly. Aleks squeezed his hand. His trip to the river had taken only a moment, but it didn't matter—Malik always seemed to know when Aleks was off at his second job.

"That's right, I was. I wanted to check on your wind chime. I didn't take anyone across." Aleks didn't really see the point in lying to Malik about why people called him a ferryman. Malik took it in stride, just as he had when he'd learned that his grandpa in Lukos could turn into a wolf. The only thing that fazed him was a brief period when he'd been a toddler and he decided, quite suddenly, that beards were fucking terrifying. Evander had been constantly shaving for a good six months. Wolves and ferrymen, he could handle.

"I don't think I want to move boats when I grow up," Malik said, staring at the ground as Aleks led them away from the tattoo parlor. Aleks's new tattoo was on his shoulder, half hidden by his sleeve, but the puffy skin was already healed and smooth when Aleks checked. "I want to do something else."

"That's all right. You don't have to move boats." Aleks grabbed a hat from his bag as they stepped into the street, and Malik sighed heavily as Aleks pulled it over his curls. "You don't have to be Strategos either, you know."

"No, I'm gonna," Malik adjusted his hat, "and I'm gonna send hats to Staria."

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm the boss of hats right now, and it stays on your head until you're inside."

Malik sighed again. "When I'm the boss of hats?—"

"I'll be boss forever, kiddo, it's part of being a dad."

Malik squinted at him. "You're making things up again."

"Only a little."

"So how do I become a dad?" Malik asked. Aleks tried not to grin.

"Ask your mother when she comes back with Kataida." Elena was going to kill him for setting her up for that conversation. He smiled at the thought of it. "Look, there's Caius's house!"

Malik started hopping on his toes. He loved Caius, who was about as unserious as Aleks, but had the benefit of actually being a politician. He was from Katoikos, technically, which was a long, long story, but he'd taken to Arktos like a fish to water. Malik had already decided that Caius would be on his council when he became Strategos, and Caius was amazing with kids, so the only downside of getting Caius to babysit was convincing Malik to go home.

Caius opened the door as soon as Malik knocked. He was dressed in embroidered cotton and smelled of citrus and cinnamon, and there were pastries on the table behind him. Malik immediately went for the table, and Aleks grinned.

"He ate cookies at the tattoo place, so watch out," he said, handing over his bag. "His stuffed dragon had an incident yesterday and got stitched up, so he'll want you to look it over to make sure the wound isn't infected."

"Yes, that's a very serious concern." Caius slung the bag over a shoulder. "Do you want to come in? I just got new earrings from Katoikos that I think you might like."

"Tempting, but I need to show Evander the new tattoo before someone else tips him off." Aleks tapped his shoulder. "Where's the big guy?"

"Asleep. We're having a rough day," Caius added, raising his voice. Malik turned, mouth full of pastry, and nodded. Caius turned back to Aleks. "Sorry. He'd say hello, but maybe he'll be up for it when you come by later."

"No pressure." Aleks leaned in the doorway. "Malik. You'll be respectful?"

Malik nodded. "I'll draw him a picture."

"He's a good kid," Caius said. "I'll try not to overload him on sugar."

Malik, who'd already eaten one pastry, stuffed two more down his shirt before Caius was done speaking.

"Good luck with that." Aleks waved goodbye to Malik, who of course was too focused on how cool Caius's house was to do more than grunt, so he left Caius to the inevitable chaos.

Evander wasn't likely to be home yet, and Elena was off on a trip with Kataida, so Aleks made his way to the civic building. The soldiers at the doors smiled as Aleks passed, and Aleks traipsed right by the reception desk and into Evander's office. Evander was alone, looking over a map and a sheaf of papers, and he looked up with a raised brow as Aleks locked the door behind him.

"Are you busy?" Aleks asked, heading for the other door.

"The new king of Staria wants to send a delegation, so yes."

"Okay, so you're not busy-busy." Aleks turned to smile at Evander as he locked the other door. "Staria doesn't count."

"Don't let my people hear you say that." Evander tried to look stern, but Aleks just pointedly pushed the papers aside and shimmied onto the desk in front of him. He rolled up his left sleeve and leaned forward, making Evander grab him by the waist to steady him.

"Got a new one," Aleks said. Maybe he flexed his bicep a little when Evander's gaze flicked to his arm, but it was worth it to see Evander's expression go hot and possessive, and for him to run a hand up Aleks's side to touch the new tattoo.

Evander, Aleks had learned, had a thing for ink, particularly on Aleks. He'd always been touching the dragon on Aleks's back when this had all started, or the feathers on his shoulder blades. The first time Aleks had gotten a tattoo Evander suggested, Evander had fucked him mindless afterward. His reaction to Elena's latest gift, piercings on Aleks's nipples, was even better.

"It's Lukos," Aleks said, as Evander ran his fingers over the mountains framed by swirling wind on Aleks's shoulder. The wind slowly twisted into the shape of ribbon dragons, which were starting to swirl down Aleks's arm. "I was thinking of a sleeve, maybe, something to represent Lukos and Arktos together."

"It suits you," Evander said.

"You know what also suits me?" Aleks took Evander's hand and moved it over his chest, letting him feel the rings Aleks had discreetly put in earlier. He'd worn a heavier shirt to hide them until now, but it was worth it when Evander practically ripped the shirt off, discarding it behind the desk.

"The Starian delegation really is important, you know," Evander said. He tweaked one of the rings, making Aleks gasp, and kissed his neck, "but I suppose I have to attend to the needy slut on my desk first."

"Yeah, definitely." Aleks moved a little closer to the edge. "The neediest. I'm right up there on the level of an international incident."

"You are," Evander said, and yanked him in by the hips. Aleks wrapped his legs around Evander's, and Evander pushed him onto his back on the desk. "Look at you."

"I can't, you'll have to do all the looking." Aleks's laugh broke as Evander tweaked the rings again, pulling just enough for the pain to send heat coiling below. Aleks opened his mouth to moan, and Evander covered it with a palm, looking pointedly at the doors.

"Oh no," Aleks said, his voice muffled under Evander's hand. "They'll find out you're fucking your hot submissive, how terr—ahh!" He jumped as Evander pressed the heel of his palm to Aleks's cunt, moving just over his clit.

"Or I could have you grind against my hand until you're desperate to come, then send you home."

"Where Elena isn't there to fuck me," Aleks pointed out, still muffled, "which she would."

"No, she'd edge you for weeks just to see you squirm," Evander said, which was true. He pressed a thumb to Aleks's clit, rolling over it slowly, and lifted his other hand. Aleks let out an exaggerated gasp.

"Sorry, sir," he said, grinning.

"No, you aren't." Evander kissed him, "but you will be."

He worked Aleks to the edge slowly, kissing the tattooed feathers curling over Aleks's shoulders, flicking the rings with his tongue. Every time Aleks moved, trying to urge Evander to stroke him faster, deeper, Evander removed his hand. Aleks was a panting mess in minutes, hot and wet and unable to keep still.

"Please," Aleks whispered, for the dozenth time. "I can't…"

"You can," Evander said, his dominance filling the small room, weighing down on Aleks. Aleks almost came just from that, seizing under Evander's hand, and he grabbed the edge of the desk to steady himself.

"Can't believe this happened," he said, and Evander drew back slightly. Aleks looked up at him, overwhelmed to the point of peace, as though he were drifting in the river with unnamed stars wheeling above. "Couldn't be this, you know, without you two."

Evander's expression turned fond, and he kissed Aleks slowly. "I have a feeling no one could stop you from being what you are, Aleks Akti."

Aleks grinned. "Maybe, but I like the me that I am with you."

Evander touched the feathers on Aleks's shoulders, trailing down to the mountain range of Lukos. "So do I."

He was gentle this time, when he took the oil from the desk and made Aleks gasp and shake, clinging to the desk. Usually, Aleks preferred rough and wild to gentle and quiet, but he felt almost languid now, the desperation still there but muted as he focused on Evander's touch. When Evander finally pressed inside him, Aleks looked to him for permission before reaching down to slip two fingers in his folds to fuck himself in time with Evander's cock. He tried to slow down when he felt himself tensing, but Evander shook his head.

"You aren't leaving this office until you've come at least…" He drew it out, as though he hadn't fucking planned it the moment Aleks sat on his desk. "...four times, I think."

"Oh no," Aleks whispered, unable to stop himself from grinning. "Cruel, terrible dominant."

"Yes, I hear that often."

He held Aleks to it, fucking him through two earth-shattering orgasms that left him shaky and breathless, then building him up to a peak before holding his hands on the desk. His thrusts turned relentless and forceful, just the way Aleks loved it, and Aleks only just remembered to cover his mouth before he howled out his release. Evander pulled out to come over Aleks's chest, and Aleks just lay there, panting heavily.

"I love you," he said. "I'm getting another tattoo tomorrow."

"Careful." Evander brushed Aleks's sweaty hair out of his face. "You still have one more to go."

"What? Evander, I'm out, I'm not as young as I was anymore, I'm an old man?—"

"Don't say that again," Evander said, lightly smacking Aleks's thigh. "Maybe five, eh, old man?"

Aleks started to laugh, then almost choked on his own tongue as Evander got to his knees.

He was practically wobbling when he left the civic building an hour later, dressed in a spare uniform from the storage units in the back. Evander walked alongside him at a brisk march, looking exactly as though he'd just wrung five orgasms out of his thoroughly worn-out submissive.

"You know what?" Aleks said, as they left the civic building for the residential houses a few blocks down. "You should be proud of yourself. You monster."

"You're welcome."

The lights were on in Caius's house, including the one upstairs where his husband stayed when he wasn't feeling well. Evander stopped to look at it, brows furrowed, but when the front door opened, Caius's husband was standing there with a sleeping Malik in his arms.

"You wore him out?" Aleks whistled low, but Malik didn't even twitch. "How?"

A shrug.

"We had him playing keep-away with a lantern and the ribbon dragons," Caius said. "He passed out in the middle of dinner after that."

"He should…probably eat more," Caius's husband said. He looked down, not quite meeting Evander's gaze, and tipped Malik into Evander's arms. "And he made me give his stuffed dragon a medical examination."

"Yes, he's fond of it," Evander said. "It's a gift from his brother, Theron."

"Ah." It seemed that was enough socializing, because Caius took over, a fluttering, glittery butterfly to his husband's hulking shadow. He gave Aleks the earrings—which really were interesting, actually, shaped like clouds with little dangling gems meant to represent rain—and a bag of something they were supposed to use to make their closet smell nice.

They walked in companionable silence to the house, with Malik passed out like a limp doll over Evander's shoulder. Ribbon dragons snapped at passing lanterns and hovered around Malik and Evander, and the ordinary, familiar stars started to appear in the darkening sky.

Malik finally stirred, grumbling softly as he realized he was being held like a baby, and blinked up at Evander. "Dad. I chased dragons today."

"That's what I hear." Malik settled his head back on Evander's shoulder, and Evander kept carrying him, little legs dangling. How had he already grown so much? It seemed like a month ago, Malik had been just a tiny, little red-faced thing, helpless and small.

"Daddy got a picture on his arm," Malik said. He turned his head with what seemed like great effort and peered drowsily at Aleks. "Did you show him? Did he like it?"

Aleks and Evander exchanged a look, and Aleks coughed into his hand.

"Yeah, Malik," Aleks said, winking at Evander. "I think he liked it a lot."