22. Strange Bodily Changes （Part 2）

22

STRANGE BODILY CHANGES (PART 2)

As first kisses went, it wasn’t the most romantic.

Telos tried to get Mav’s lower lip, except his mouth smashed against Mav’s teeth.

Mav froze, his face cycling through a few expressions. “What—”

“It’s a kiss, you idiot.” Telos scowled and pulled away, his face burning. Of all the ways he’d imagined kissing Mav, this didn’t even rate in the top hundred.

Mav huffed. Then he grabbed Telos by the back of his neck, and hauled him in.

This time, their lips meshed together, all wet, slick heat. Telos gasped. Mav growled and nipped at his lower lip, and it was the most sinful kiss. Mav slid into his mouth, his tongue flicking against Telos’, dipping in and learning him with a slowness that made Telos want to cry.

He’d spent so long dreaming about this moment. Wondering if it’d be fast or slow, whether it would be filled with snarling, or if it would be gentle. And here Mav was, tasting him like he was something to be savored. His breath shuddered out of him.

“Hey,” Mav breathed against his lips. “You’re fine, you’re good.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Telos mumbled.

“Your heart is pounding.” Mav brushed his knuckles over Telos’ chest, pressing more slow kisses to his lips.

Telos would’ve thought Mav was kissing him as a favor, except he felt Mav’s affection coming through their bond. It was humbling, to feel that from him.

He actually likes me.

Estie wriggled in his arms, and there came a ripping sound.

Telos broke the kiss in a hurry. Estie had a photo in her hands, one corner of it torn. “Estie, baby. We don’t do that to photos.”

Contritely, Mav wriggled the photo out of her grip. Estie made a loud sound of protest; Mav gave her his thumb to hold. Telos could’ve melted.

“Sorry.” Mav met Telos’ eyes. “I didn’t think she’d grab a picture.”

“It’s fine. I don’t care about these pictures, anyway.”

Mav frowned. Then he took the album and set it on the other side of him. “They’re mine now.”

Telos squawked, trying to hide how flattered that made him feel. Mav smirked and nudged their knees together.

Mav glanced back at Estie, though, and opened the album to show her the pictures again. “Actually, you might want to see more pictures of your dad before I steal them. I guess he was pretty cute as a baby.”

“You guess?” Telos protested.

Mav smirked. “Gotta keep you on your toes, don’t I?”

“I’ll ask Hadley if he has your pictures,” Telos muttered.

“He does,” Hilly-Billy yelled through the penthouse. “He’s putting them in a manila folder for you right now!”

“Tell him I want stories, too,” Telos said.

“Fuck off,” Mav growled, his cheeks turning pink.

“Ba!” Estie said.

“Next thing you know, her first word will be ‘Fuck’,” Telos muttered.

Mav shrugged. “You didn’t seem to mind.”

“I mind. You will give me a shopping cart as compensation.”

Mav’s eyebrows went up. “Right now?”

“Sure. I just need to put on some clothes.” Telos brought Estie with him to his closet. When he stepped out with both of them dressed, he found Hilly-Billy tapping excitedly into his phone.

“We have a winner!” Hilly-Billy said.

“A winner for what?” Telos asked.

“You don’t want to know,” Mav grumbled.

“Pinks and Galent won Timing, and Yaeger won Location,” Hilly-Billy announced.

“Timing for what? Whose location?” Telos asked, mystified.

“Your first kiss. There was a betting pool. There has been a pool for decades, ” Hilly-Billy said gleefully. “A bunch of new bets were placed over the last few days. Blade won the location for your first fuck, and Onyx won the timing for it.”

Telos stared at Mav, who scowled. “ Decades? ”

“Possibly more than a century. Yaeger started it,” Hilly-Billy said innocently.

Telos pulled out his phone, opening the chat with his friends.

Telos

Fuck you all.

Yaeger

I don’t think you should. Mav will be jealous.

Onyx

Or horny?

Valor

We should’ve placed bets on how many fucks you had in the first 24 hours. Didn’t think there was going to be more than one.

Fang

I called it

Griff

I should write you both a song

Mav

Please, no.

Griff

I will perform it at your bonding ceremony

Telos

I’m not sure if I want that.

Also, no one said we’re bonding.

It’s still... undecided.

Mav looked up from his phone, meeting Telos’ eyes.

“I’m not that easy,” Telos grumbled.

And yet neither of them had gone to Uriel to break the mental connection they shared, even though Uriel and his baby had temporarily followed them to Cartfalls.

“I didn’t say you were.” Mav gave a small smile and nodded at the elevator. “Shall we?”

They didn’t end up finding a shopping cart. By the time they reached the ground level of Telos’ penthouse, all the stray shopping carts in the area had swarmed after an ice cream van playing a coin jingling tune, and they’d disappeared from sight.

Mav did hurry home for fireproofed sheets, though, so Telos could sleep safely in his own bed.

Mav’s Embarrassing Childhood Story , as told by his Ma and Pa

Our little Maverick was seven years old when this happened. The three of us were at the market on a nice Sunday morning, looking at the produce. Maverick’s favorite shop was always the one with the live chickens. He kept asking to go back, and since it was his birthday, we indulged him.

What we didn’t expect was for him to crouch close to the ground and flap his arms, clucking at the chickens as though he was one himself. We let this go on for about fifteen minutes. However, when we tried to continue shopping, Maverick bawled and huddled close to the chickens, and told us that he wanted to be a chicken himself.

He said he wanted to lay eggs.

Now, dragons don’t lay eggs, but since it was his birthday, we bought a dozen eggs and let him crouch over them.

He must’ve been tired. He accidentally sat on his eggs, and they smashed.

For two hours, little Maverick was inconsolable. He cried and clucked at his broken eggs like a mourning mother hen, and tried to put the broken shells in his pockets so he could bring them home to bury them.

By the end of our shopping trip, he was covered in raw egg, and still waddling on the ground like a chicken.

“I want to be a chicken shifter,” he told us. “I want my name to be Mavvie Chicken.”

He didn’t get to shift into a chicken, but for his birthday cake that night, we had the baker write ‘Happy Birthday, Mavvie Chicken!’ on it.

Maverick was so happy, he cried. It’s a memory we still treasure to this day.

“You did what? ” Mav bellowed, scrubbing his hands over his face. “Not that fucking chicken story!”

“Your boyfriend wanted a good story,” Hadley sang, dancing out of Mav’s reach. “I gave him the one that made me ugly-snort.”

Not too far away, in his penthouse, Telos clutched the letter to his chest and laughed until he cried.

Mav picked up the innocuous envelope on his dining table. Hadley had sorted the mail, and there was only one that needed his attention today.

Hadley smirked when Mav opened it, which made all his alarm bells go off.

“What?” Mav asked.

His butler flounced off. “Nothing!”

It was some sort of colorful card. When Mav slid it out of the envelope, he stared.

Smiling dinosaurs peeked in from all four edges of the card. In the middle, two words filled the otherwise empty space:

Mavvie Chicken!

Mav froze in horror. He wanted to groan, laugh, and curl up in humiliation.

“Hadley,” he snarled.

“Mavvie Chicken!” Hadley sang, out of Mav’s reach.

“You’re fired!”

“I’m not!”

No, Hadley was not fired.

When Mav turned the card around, he found a handwritten line of words.

Thanks for the laugh. That was amazing. - Telos.

Mav shot a glare in Hadley’s direction, and begrudgingly stashed the card with his hoard.

“Estie,” Telos said solemnly one day. He sat cross-legged in front of her—both of them were naked. “I’m going to teach you something important.”

She made a grab for his big toe. To the side, Mav snorted.

Telos shot him a glare and snagged Estie’s hand. Then he clicked his tongue to catch her attention, shifting into his favorite large green pterodactyl. “One day, you will be dino queen.”

She stared at him wide-eyed. So Telos flapped his wings hard enough to ruffle her hair, and shifted back into a man.

“Wanna try it with me?” he asked. He showed her his arms, shifting them into claw-tipped wings, before shifting them back into his arms again. Then he shifted his legs, one at a time, into their pterodactyl counterparts.

Estie watched, but she didn’t shift.

Telos shifted into a full pterodactyl and back, but she remained in her human shape.

Mav patted his back. Telos tried not to be too disappointed.

A month into his pregnancy, Telos’ abdomen had swelled into a bump. It wasn’t prominent by any means. His students hadn’t noticed yet.

But he could feel the bulk there, the way his insides pulsed warmer than the rest of his body.

Telos

Why the hell does a dragon pregnancy heat up my piss

I could cook an egg with it

Mav

It wasn’t that hot.

Telos

Says the guy who PUT HIS HAND INTO MY PISS STREAM

His FIREPROOF HAND

That’s all kinds of weird

Mav

Like you’re not all kinds of weird

Telos

HOW DARE YOU, MAVVIE CHICKEN???

Mav

I’m sorry. I’ll stop. You’re not weird.

Telos

Thank you. Btw, you should be here. I’m feeling pukey.

Mav

Give me 10 minutes.

It helped that Mav lived close to Telos’ penthouse. Some days, Telos tracked Mav’s car from his windows, watching as it navigated the streets.

More and more frequently, Telos considered accepting Mav’s offer to move in. Mav had been leaving some of his own clothes behind, gifts that Telos brought to bed to sniff before he fell asleep.

It also helped that Mav had been warming up even more to Telos and Estie. He’d been bringing along snacks for Telos and toys for Estie, showing up every day after he finished work at his accounting firm.

The elevator chimed, and Telos’ heart skipped.

When their eyes met across the living room, excitement fluttered through their mutual bond.

“Missed me?” Telos tried to ask flippantly.

Mav grinned. “I did.” More affection came through the bond. He crossed the room to sit next to Telos on the couch, slipping his arm around Telos’ shoulders. “How was your day?”

“What do you think? It’s the day after a long weekend. Most of my students were hungover.” Telos rolled his eyes and paged through the journal article on his tablet. “You should’ve been there. You might even have done better than them in class participation.”

Mav snorted and rubbed Telos’ belly with his other hand. “How are the babies?”

“Oh! Estie stood up today! She grabbed the crib’s bars and pulled herself to her feet.” Telos swelled with pride, then deflated when he realized she was napping. “Maybe she can show you when she wakes up.”

Disappointment came through the bond; Mav sagged. “I’m definitely sticking around for that.”

It was crazy, how much Mav cared about Estie even though she wasn’t his. Telos hadn’t thought he could fall deeper in love. But here he was, completely at Mav’s mercy.

“What about this baby?” Mav traced circles over Telos’ baby bump.

“Hates salad. I keep puking when I eat my favorite food.” Telos glared. “This is all your fault.”

Mav winced. “At least the pregnancy won’t last that long.”

“‘Won’t last that long’? Five months is fucking long, damn you!” Telos growled. “Why don’t you try going without your steak and waffle-cut fries for five months? Along with your wine and fried mozzarella sticks?”

“Sorry.” Mav grimaced. He manhandled Telos so Telos’ back faced his chest, and began kneading his shoulders.

Telos relaxed almost immediately. “Fuck, that feels good.”

Satisfaction fluttered at the back of Telos’ mind. Mav eased him forward to lie down, so he could work on Telos’ back, except the change in position made Telos nauseous.

“No, fuck. Now I need to puke.” Telos groaned, scrambling to sit upright.

Mav grabbed the bucket nearby and held it against Telos’ chest. While Telos heaved, Mav brushed his fingers through Telos’ hair, his gaze turning soft and apologetic.

“Sorry,” Mav murmured, rubbing his back.

“You’re fine,” Telos said when his stomach felt better. He rinsed out his mouth with a glass of water that Mav handed him, pushing himself to his feet.

Mav stole the bucket from his hand and went to the bathroom.

“You really are committed to this,” Telos marveled.

Mav looked over his shoulder with a tiny smile. “You’re worth it.”

And now Telos’ heart was pounding, all over again.

When Mav returned with the clean bucket, Telos blurted, “I think... I think I could try spending a few nights at your place.”

Mav perked up, looking excited. “Yeah?”

“I’ll have to pack a bag—”

“I’m on it,” Hilly-Billy yelled.

Telos scowled. “But what if I want the—”

“I’ll pack all your sexy-times stuff in there,” Hilly-Billy said. “Even your secret toys.”

“My secr—” Telos spluttered and buried his face in his hands. “They were supposed to be a secret. ”

Mav stepped close, easing Telos’ hands away from his face. Then he pressed a soft kiss to Telos’ lips and grinned. “I’m not sure how many secrets you can keep from him, when you make so much noise in bed.”

“We’re going to leave him here when I stay over,” Telos muttered.

“We’re going to have a Butler Bros party at Mav’s,” Hilly-Billy said from Telos’ bedroom. “I invited everyone.”

Telos groaned. “There won’t be any fucking space! Our brothers will swarm the place. We won’t even be able to move from one room to the other.”

“We’ll just camp out on the grounds and listen to your every moan.” Hilly-Billy popped his head out and gave an exaggerated wink.

Telos flipped him off. “That’s it, I have no use for a butler. I want a pet shopping cart right now. I’m done with Mav’s streak of bad luck whenever we try to get one.”

He dragged Mav to the nursery, where Estie was shaking a rattle and flinging it at the crib’s headboard.

“C’mon, hon. We’re going to find you a new cart friend.”

Estie wriggled as Telos and Mav dressed her. She reached for Mav; Mav sucked in a slow breath and glanced at Telos.

“Go on, don’t keep her waiting,” Telos said.

Mav grinned brightly and scooped her into his arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “You and your dad make me so happy, little one.”

Estie babbled and smacked Mav’s face. Mav blew a raspberry into her palm.

The three of them took the elevator down to the ground level. When they stepped out of the building, they found a few shopping carts wheeling around on the sidewalk, chasing each other. Telos vibrated with excitement.

Metals contained magic. When ores were purified, their magical energy accumulated, more so when the metals were turned into objects. When those metal parts moved against each other, their magic changed, and the objects became sentient. This was why locks could smile, faucets could bite, and shopping carts were only too happy to frolic and play.

“Don’t scare them off,” Mav said dryly. “Are you going to shift into a cart?”

“You know I can’t. Living things only.” Telos approached them carefully. Then he took Estie from Mav and showed her to the carts, careful to keep his tone friendly. “Hello there. I’m Telos and this is Estie, and the grumpy guy there is Mav. We’d like to be your friends.”

The carts turned toward them, wheels flipping curiously. Estie stuck her fingers into her mouth. With her safe in one arm, Telos reached out and petted the nearest cart.

The cart wheeled closer, bumping against his legs. Its friends circled Mav, and Mav met Telos’ eyes. “Do you think they’d...”

“I think they might want to be ours,” Telos said, his breath catching. “C’mon, let’s all go for a walk to the grocery store.”

The carts squeaked their wheels and raced alongside Telos and Mav. At the grocery store, Telos had to grab the carts, setting Estie in one while Mav wrangled the other two. Then they walked down the aisles, filling the carts with boxes of donuts and cookies. Each new item excited the carts further; they flipped their wheels and raised their flaps.

“We’re like a regular family,” Telos quipped.

Only to have Mav’s eyes widen. “You want to have a family with me?”

Telos rolled his eyes and petted his belly. “We’re already a family, Mavvie Chicken.”

Mav growled. Then he stalked closer and hauled Telos in by his ass, kissing him soundly on the lips.

“We’re in the middle of a grocery store,” Telos protested weakly.

“I don’t care.” Mav lifted him off his feet so his mouth was next to Telos’ abdomen. He began biting at Telos’ shirt.

“Mav,” Telos hissed, his face burning.

Mav yanked Telos’ shirt free from his waistband. Then he nosed into Telos’ sweatpants and pressed a kiss to his belly. “Hey,” Mav said against his skin. “I’m your Papa. Sorry I haven’t talked to you before. Your dad, sis and I are in the middle of a shopping trip, and I just wanted to say hi.”

Telos’ insides turned into mush. Mav was really doing this. With him. In public.

He ran his fingers through Mav’s hair, not caring that people were staring at them now. “This is like a—a declaration.”

Mav grinned up at him. “Yeah? You did just say we’re a family.”

Telos also meant the other kind of declaration, but he didn’t want to jinx himself. “Let’s pay for the food and go home.”

“Sure.” Mav lowered him—not quite to his feet. Instead, he latched onto Telos’ nipple through his shirt, and sucked lightly.

“Fuck,” Telos hissed. He was producing milk now. Estie fed from him every day, and sometimes, Mav tried to suck on one nipple until Telos ran dry. He got his hair pulled as a result, but neither of them truly minded.

“When I finally have you in my lair...” Mav’s gaze darkened.

“Are you going to breed me there?”

“Yes.”

Telos blushed and elbowed him. “Hilly-Billy is probably done with my overnight bag.”

“It better be enough for a week.”

“Knowing him, it probably is.”

“Good.” Mav set Telos down and herded him to the checkout stands.

By the time they were back in the penthouse, the carts were bumping against their legs, all of them terribly excited.

“We should name them,” Telos said brightly.

Warily, Mav asked, “Name them what?”

“Ass, Dick, and Butthole.”

Mav dragged his hand down his face. “No.”

“Why not?”

“You want to shout that in front of the kids?”

Telos blew a raspberry. “Spoilsport.”

“What about Dickens?”

Telos froze, staring at Mav in awe. “And what would you suggest for the other two?”

“Mass and BH.”

“I lov—” Telos swallowed the words before they could burst out of him. “Shut up and help me get my stuff into your car.”

“You love the names,” Mav said smugly.

Telos grinned and elbowed him, and didn’t reply.

Telos was carrying Estie through Mav’s lair one day, when she squawked. Then her arms turned into triangular leathery wings—pterodactyl wings—and he almost dropped her.

“Holy shit!”

Mav looked over, both his eyebrows shooting up. “Good job, Estie. You’re doing great!”

Telos raised her high above his head and paraded her all over the mansion. “Dino queen, dino queen!”

She giggled and flapped her wings, and stuffed her foot into Telos’ mouth.

Telos didn’t even mind.

Three months into his pregnancy, Telos and Mav celebrated Estie’s ten-month anniversary. They put together a spread of boiled pasta, soft fruit, eggs, and yogurt on the tray of her high chair, and watched as she stuffed a fistful of eggs into her mouth.

“You’re doing so well,” Telos cooed, his insides melting all over again.

Mav grinned and took a picture of them.

Then Estie squawked, and there was suddenly a tiny pterodactyl in the high chair, struggling against her clothes.

“Oh, fuck!” Telos grabbed at her clothes to rip them off before she could hurt herself. Mav helped, too, swearing under his breath.

By the time they’d freed her, Estie was calm and happy, hopping a little in her seat as she flapped her wings.

“She managed a full shift,” Telos said, choking up.

“Yeah, she did.” Mav looked just as overwhelmed.

Telos gathered her out of her chair and shed his own clothes, so he could shift into a pterodactyl with her.

Mav took a picture of them, hesitating.

“You should join us,” Telos said.

Mav grinned and shed his clothes too, shifting into a golden dragon so he could curl around them.