21. DELUGED

twenty-one

DELUGED

O ff. Off . Tau pawed and clawed and nudged Oliver to undress faster, aching to touch bare skin, hot under his palm. So delicate and soft and pink, tiny bumps forming the more attire he shed. Tau grazed his fingernails over an exposed chest, relished in the writhing as he teased a hardening nipple.

Pink .

He admired the thin trails his fingers left. Also pink. Oliver arched into him, and he dug his nails in a little harder, eliciting noises Tau had come to understand were good . As long as he didn't draw blood. A fine line to tread, as fine as the hairs running down a narrow stomach, to the base of a stiff organ, excitement bedewing its blushing tip. Thin legs kicked away a clothing article all workers favoured, and Tau sat back to consume Oliver with his gaze.

Thinner than ever, laying before him entirely exposed, skin rippling over ribs as his chest rose and fell with eager breaths. Shadowy green eyes fixed on him, a pink tongue slipping past pink lips to moisten.

Good colour.

Only on Oliver, who was no longer shy about his missing forelimb. A sacrifice made without a second thought.

A painful reminder for Tau, who had failed to be strong for him.

"What's wrong?"

Tau stirred, realising he'd stopped moving. He clambered atop that lissom frame, setting his knees on either side of the ribcage, and ground down.

Cautious . Oliver was neither weak nor overdelicate, but he was human, and humans were so crushable.

Enchanting eyes drifted shut. A beautiful hand reached up and dove into his robes, catching Tau's length with a strong grip. Pulled it free. Squeezing, pumping. His member heavy and thick and large and so unlike Oliver's.

Tau trusted his love entirely, no longer needing to ensure eyes remained closed as he rubbed himself against a supple face. Soon, into a humid orifice, readily taking him in. It never went very far no matter how hard Oliver strained his jaw. Something that mattered little when Tau could climax from the heat encasing the tip alone.

Which he did.

Pleasure rolled through his body, constricting his muscles. He released into Oliver's mouth, watching in satisfaction as despite best efforts, fluids inundated past pink lips. His throat bobbed with swallows. Coughs followed, and Tau eased away, tucking himself back in.

He laid beside his love, running an open palm over the slender chest, each inhale calmer than the one before.

"I don't know how I keep coming without touching myself," Oliver eventually mumbled, his speech slurred. It always was after pleasure.

Adorable.

Tau toyed with his hair. Shorter now, but he enjoyed the way it curled around his fingers like wisps of smoke.

Beautiful.

He ran that same finger down the length of Oliver's nose, to pliant lips. Lips that always made him feel so loved. Tau remembered the first time Oliver spoke to him. A lot of stammering and sometimes even choking at first.

Treasure.

His.

They were going steady, he was Oliver's boyfriend. Phrases Tau had recently learned but never spoken aloud. His words fell silent to human ears, yes, but those words in particular weren't powerful enough to define what Oliver meant to him.

A refuge, during the most difficult times.

His saviour.

"Beloved," Tau murmured, even if Oliver couldn't hear. Because he loved him so much Tau didn't know what to do with himself, his insides churning into a frenzy. Wishing he'd understood his human sooner, regretted not realising he could outright defy all regulations set for him and simply…

Touch .

Oliver shifted to lie on his side, angled features speckled with yellow luminescence from weeds that hadn't yet waned. Emanation was not yet dead then, even though Tau was confident they were in Malimoure already. He'd stopped sensing their signal.

"Sunshine?" Oliver began, muffled, and Tau lifted his hand off that beautiful face. "I uhm… I know this isn't the best place, but—" He reached for his shirt, discarded nearby, and produced a vial from its pocket. "But maybe now is the best time? We're far away enough, I think."

Tau remembered that vial, its purple contents, and he remembered the conversation that came with it. He had wanted to make love right there and then in that cramped space, but was denied, and continued to be denied—until now. Now, Oliver laid there awaiting his response.

Not the best place.

Yet they might not get another chance like this. Tau nodded, and Oliver worried his lower lip with his teeth while fumbling, fingers trembling against the stopper. Tau jabbed it with a fingernail, the tiny pop anticipatingly loud in boisterous winds.

"Thanks." A few thoughts seemed to flicker through Oliver's head. He hesitated, then awkwardly tipped the purple fluid into his hand, spilling most of it across his stomach. "Sentinel's orbs—sorry."

Hoping to be of some help, Tau sat upright and tilted his head, awaiting instruction.

"Sorry baby, I'm just—your fingers are sharp, you know?"

Yes. They were. He held his fingertip up, the stopper still affixed. Although he failed to see why that was a problem, currently.

"Yeah, exactly."

Oliver's breezy laugh swept delight through Tau's chest, accompanying a bout of confusion.

For now, he would sit there and watch as teeth continued to fret soft flesh, as his love rolled onto his back again, and as he moved his hand lower. Under the moonlight, Oliver's embarrassment was as blatant as the starry sky, sure to brighten cheeks. Growing more lucent as Tau perched between slender legs to observe. Fingers faltered with uncertainty, then circled the pursed hole.

Tau hadn't stopped being hard, but the sight filled him with a bewildering thrill. He hadn't pieced together this was a possibility with Oliver until he'd felt the puckered skin under his fingertips whilst exploring every crevice. Reminding him of what he'd witnessed once, and tried to understand, before those humans noticed and told him to go away.

Marcy had said many things about love making, largely lost on Tau. He'd only honed in on the fact that with the vial and plenty of preparation, they could do it. Fingers pushed further in, and teeth became more fervent in the way they chewed that lower lip.

Did it feel good, Tau wondered, running his hands up and down thin thighs with excitement. Watched as Oliver's organ—prick, he'd called it a prick—stiffened, and as he squirmed under Tau's gaze. The urge to crawl inside Oliver overwhelmed, it was all he could do not to shove the hand aside and plunge in.

Resist, resist.

His biggest challenge yet.

Especially when he didn't know how long it would take. By the looks of it, neither did Oliver, cheeks burning hot while he pushed his fingers into himself. He hesitated again, deliberation flickering within those deep green eyes. Then he added a third finger and grimaced.

"I–I know Marcy said to take our time with this," Oliver said in half a stammer. A quivering breath left him as he sat up.

Tau lifted his touch to Oliver's mouth, pressing against it with the pad of his thumb to stop him before he drew blood. The soft mouth wrapped around, sucking. Stomach muscles strained as Oliver flopped back down into the grass with a grunt. Fingers tugged at Tau's waist.

"I'm going to need your sash," Oliver lisped around his thumb. "I don't think I'll be able to keep from looking."

Looking.

Tau slipped the digit out of Oliver's mouth, mulling.

Maybe …

Oliver's head was slight in his hand as he curled his hold around a pronounced jawline. Gently, Tau guided him to sit upright again. With his other hand, he pushed aside his outer layers, revealing what he'd kept hidden for so long.

The gasp that followed startled him.

Nervously, Tau looked at his love, whose eyes had squeezed shut and mouth trembled around a series of apologies.

"I didn't mean to—Tau! Why did you —"

He tapped Oliver's cheek, pushed the intention into him as best he could.

"See," he murmured, wishing his love could hear him.

"Oh." Oliver seemed to understand. Eyes remained closed, but he nodded. Then, carefully, eyelids cracked open, the dark gaze immediately settling on Tau's exposed member.

Anxiousness lashed his core. He'd never intended for Oliver to see him like this, terrified of what his love might think. Of his reaction, if he might be revolted. While Tau understood little of his origins, or what he was, he at least knew he wasn't human.

He didn't draw breaths as humans did. Neither did he have a heart to pump blood through his veins. His skin was not pink or brown or some variation of the two, and he had so many differences, besides.

Differences Oliver had readily accepted, but how far would his acceptance reach?

Tau had never given his own appearance much thought until that night, when they explored each other for the first time. It had been on his mind since.

He shied away from unabashed staring he himself had invited, and cursed himself for.

Then, a smile, sweet and tender. Blossoming into something of wonder.

"You're stunning, Sunshine."

Within the reflection of those beautiful green eyes, Tau saw himself, brightly lit in the surrounding dark. While he didn't fully understand the meaning, he knew Oliver only ever spoke with kindness. Knew that in his gaze, there was nothing but love.

Tau should have known. Should have trusted his human better.

He gently flicked misty hair with his fingertips and leaned in. Smiling lips pressed to his face, a tongue lapped, and breath puffed as Tau guided his love into the grass once more.

Tiny and beautiful, breakable but so strong.

He curled in on himself to let their pricks meet. Greedy for the way Oliver moaned, for the way his eyes fluttered and his legs wrapped around Tau's hips. A shift brought him into the cleft of Oliver's backside, the tip of his member gliding against the hole.

Slick .

Tau groaned. He didn't much care for liquids, but he cared for Oliver and all that came with him.

"Wait," Oliver rasped. He reached between them, scooping up the vial's spilt contents, turning his stomach glossy. Tau's prick too, once he slathered the fluid over it, and took the opportunity to steal another glance. He sucked in a breath, as if to brace himself, then lifted his legs up to his chest.

"I'm still not convinced you'll fit," Oliver mumbled into his knees, peeking past them, up at Tau. "Go slow, okay?"

Will try.

But just looking at the exposed, dusty-pink entrance had Tau aching with that same need to drive directly into him.

Tau shuffled closer on his knees, guided himself to rest against Oliver, and pressed in. The sharp intake of air made his gaze snap to Oliver's face, strained with discomfort.

Slow. Slow.

He pressed again. Watched, transfixed, at the way the tip eased inside. Stopped, when he realised his love was in pain. Oliver had said nothing, but the crease between his brows was enough of a tell. Tau murmured an unheard apology, relinquished his hold on a slender shin, and let his hand hover between the thighs.

"Oh," Oliver breathed as sanative dwimmer encased him, "why didn't I think of that?"

Permission to proceed, Tau thought.

Seeing himself gradually disappear inside his beloved had him pushing down against Oliver's stomach, barely able to concentrate on keeping the flow of dwimmer consistent. Tight, squeezing. Hot . Oliver was warm, but within, he scorched.

Another quivering breath, and Oliver's legs flopped down on either side, his feet restless through hissing grass and fingers tucking into his own hair, pulling. Tau wanted to ask what it felt like, wished he had the energy to transport them to a chambered dimension to ask.

Oliver peered down and made a strangled noise. "Not even halfway?"

And going. Tau edged further into clenching delight, stopping only once his love became a mess of stuttered gasps. He stroked down Oliver's side with his free hand, hoping to soothe. Told himself to be patient, patient , until his love stopped fretting. Once he calmed, Tau pushed in with a little more force, unable to control it. The resulting yelp had him thrumming with exhilaration. He pulled out, slightly. Back in. Did so again, and again. Built a steady rhythm, losing himself in the pleasure of near painful clenching, of tiny cries and rasped utterances he didn't understand.

It felt exceptional , being inside Oliver. Having his love clamp around him, writhe and cry out his name. To finally have an outlet for the intense love he had for Oliver impossibly gratifying. Tau drove in hard, fast. Incited by Oliver's noises, the way he clawed his face, the grass, Tau's attire. The way his lips parted around a frightened gasp as he reached between them to discover just how deep Tau had gone.

Nearly all the way. Another forward lunge, and Oliver's eyes flew wide open, and his hand to his stomach. Tau's gaze followed, settling on a bulge.

A monstrous exhilaration, desperate and avaricious, roared. All else fell away. The grass, the wind. Leaving only him and Oliver. He grasped slender thighs and pulled Oliver down on himself. Over and over, going as deep as he could. Starved to see himself move inside. Relishing in the strangled shouts, the flash of pink each time he pulled out. The way Oliver's opening flexed and sucked him right back in. The way he slickened his belly with his own pleasure, so many times.

More forceful than an infernal onrush, Tau's climax hit him, the guttural noise he released shaking him to the core. Prompting him to coil over the lithe body in his crushing hold. He felt himself pulsate, spilling deep inside snug heat. Vision spinning, core blazing with affection and gratitude. His hand fluttered down to a gibbous abdomen and stroked.

Slowly, reverberant winds rushed back into his awareness. Louder, Oliver's stuttering gasps, his skin aglimmer with sweat and pleasure, muscles convulsing.

Beautiful, beautiful.

So beautiful, he wanted to do it all over again. Yet Tau eased out and his grip off slender hips. He watched his fluids spill from the stretched, twitching opening in satisfaction. Oliver flopped to the ground, limp and so helpless. It alighted that same fiery feeling—protectiveness, and something else.

Oliver belonged to him. He was Tau's treasure, found within the mountain.

His, and his alone.

Many clouds skirted by overhead before Oliver calmed his breathing and the rapid thumping of his heart quieted. Even after, he didn't seem inclined to move, anything he attempted to say falling away in an incomprehensible slur. Tau didn't mind. Lay with him and stroked his stomach until he sensed rock-solid determination walking toward them.

Reluctantly, Tau gathered Oliver's attire for him and draped them over his naked form. Too groggy for coherency, Oliver struggled upright, swaying where he sat.

Lucetta called out. Her apology for the intrusion fell away in the wind, but the odd wave of mistrust did not. With some prompting from Tau, Oliver sluggishly redressed. Needed help walking too, as he stumbled with the first step. Tau scooped him up into his arms, held him against his chest, and didn't let go.

Not when they returned to the things called automobiles, and not when he perched himself on the back, where the luggage went. Despite disagreements from the others, Tau kept his love against him. Safe, secure. A little cold, perhaps, but comfortable.

And happy. A hazy smile still draped across those beautiful, soft lips.

Tau and his kin's empathic abilities extended across the realm to such an extent, they knew of each other's mental state. It was through this connection he'd come out of the Mindless Realm knowing most of his kinfolk were gone, and how those who remained knew he'd been the one to finish off Cultivation and Instellation. They were aware of the attack on what Tau once believed to be their home, that it was his fault, as much as they knew he was coming for them. Even before crossing yet more large bodies of water on a boat.

Which was why, when instantly assailed upon stepping foot inside the Tria Mine, Tau wasn't exactly surprised.

He sidestepped flames whipping outward through a barricade of fire. It flogged the green barrier behind him. Inside it, Oliver flinched, despite being perfectly safe.

Flexing his fingers, Tau flung light through the deep orange wall. Gold carapace glinted, the spheres trounced, and exploded. Earth crumbled around them. Conflagration staggered backward. The barricade spluttered, but didn't yet relent.

They wouldn't be harmed a great deal. Tau's aim wasn't to kill, after all. No matter how tempting, when the ember righted themselves and snarled, "Betrayer!"

That the attack on their so-called home was unintentional didn't seem to matter. Too bad for his kinfolk, since they were all weaker than him.

"Uhm, Sunshine? I don't think this is helping our cause," said his love, looking perfect and adorably unsure.

"It will," said Tau, content to pretend Oliver could hear him.

Conflagration would come around, much like the other two had.

They stood watching him with anger emanating like an inferno. Although they made no further attempt to attack. Wisely so, for Tau had no issue tearing the mine apart to get their compliance.

"Explain, then!" the ember snapped, finally snuffing the barricade—a hazard within the cramped passageways. It had already set one of their humans on fire. Something that would have ended badly had Oliver not insisted Tau help.

Tau braced himself, and willed Conflagration to understand without needing to say it out loud.

They did not understand.

"Emergence, original," said Tau. Then, "Elders lie."

"They do not lie!"

Again, Tau willed Conflagration to just believe him. He didn't like talking, it was cumbersome.

"Do. Used for their benefit."

There came a considering pause. Then, "Not for human benefit?"

A flicker of hope. Tau shook his head, before realising they weren't likely to know what that meant. Reluctantly, "No. Atrocities committed. Ascertain in Malimoure."

Go, go.

He hoped they would be curious enough to see it for themselves instead of forcing him to explain it further, like he needed to do with the other two. Tau was quickly meeting the end of his patience with talking, but the ember showed resistance.

Annoying.

"You break rules. Always. Perhaps you lie?"

Tau's fingers curled around another sphere bubbling up from the centre of his palm. "Much pain inflicted. Yes?"

He couldn't remember how he'd become a Guardian, his earliest memory that of agony. Alleviated only once he'd agreed to protect humanfolk. Surely, they were all created this way. Or was he different there, as he was in all else?

The ember remained silent, and Tau's chest strummed with impatience. He raised his hand. The sphere tarried in his palm, crackling with a painful promise, while he gave his kin time to reconsider.

They hesitated, but didn't admit to being wrong.

"Do not," they beseeched instead.

A sharp glint sped through the driftway. Light fulminated against Conflagration's head, sending them crashing to the ground. Surrounding earth trembled. Large cracks formed within brown stone, crumbling. Caving in the driftway and burying his kin in the rubble.

"Go. See," said Tau, then walked away.

With barely a flick of his wrist, the barrier protecting Oliver vanished. Tau pulled him along by the shoulders before the rest of the tunnel came down. This mine was miniscule compared to the mountain. In no time did they emerge from the ground, into a forest that was damp, hot, and fertile with life.

Thankfully, he had regained enough of his vitality to keep himself clean and dry, water dripping from trees nonstop.

Oliver didn't seem convinced of his strategy. His precious nose scrunched up with worry. Tau would have told him he needn't concern himself, but his beloved would just have to trust him.

A narrow trail led them through the towering forest. Many creatures lurked within, vibrant in colour, noisy in manner. Oliver bounced from one end of the path to the other, pointing at the creatures hiding in verdure. His heart blazed with excitement. Walking behind him, Tau's gaze slid down to that backside.

He longed for more. He wanted to make Oliver whimper and gasp and startle as he filled him up. Had his love not been soaked by rainwater, Tau would have pulled him aside to repeat what they'd done in the grasslands. They hadn't gotten another chance to, since then.

Across a bridge striking Tau as a touch too hazardous for human use, they reached a dark body of water, with even more of it coming down from a cliff in a torrent. It was unnecessarily loud, the area ringed in by bright green grass and tall, ancient bones of creatures he remembered vividly. He had seen several versions of them in Malimoure.

Also weak.

Likely why they were now extinct.

As they ducked out from under low-hanging leaves, Maji's cheerful call greeted them. Tau had signalled for the others to wait there. Being stubborn, his love insisted on coming along and once again, Tau hadn't a choice but to oblige.

He found it difficult to deny Oliver anything at all. Didn't want to, either.

Lucetta rose from where she and the others sat near the water. She set her hands on her backside and arched with a tired groan. "How'd it go?"

"It uh…went alright." Oliver sounded uncertain, casting a look up at him, and Tau wanted nothing more than for him to be dry so they could touch.

Make love.

"I think, Tau, are you a bully?"

He wanted to touch Oliver slightly less now.

No, do want to touch.

Benjamin traced his fingers along his throat, remembering. "That's somehow surprising to you?"

Oliver grumbled something under his breath.

Tau on the other hand, hardly remembered that. Something about Oliver being attacked made him too furious to control himself. Even now, he longed to sink his nails into Benjamin's throat. Forever stop him from hurting Oliver with his words.

"Is Theta joining us, or not?" demanded Samuel.

Green eyes looked up again in askance. Tau really wanted to touch. Such a shame Lucetta had expressly told him not to while in the presence of others. It was annoying.

Belatedly, Tau nodded.

"Er, I guess so," said Oliver with a faint shrug.

"That's great!" said Maji, beaming like the sun above. "Do we have to leave already? I've been resisting jumping into the water, but now I can't any longer!"

She was already on her way, walking backward, pulling her shirt over her head. Tau made a note of how to do that. He continued to struggle with Oliver's outer layers. Lucetta followed, sprinting naked to the lakelet and creating a sizable splash jumping in beside a yelping Maji. Although Benjamin didn't seem inclined to join them, a few prompts from Samuel had him moving.

Tau could only look on in disgust, glad Oliver wasn't partaking just for the fun of it.

"I can't swim," Oliver muttered glumly.

"Good. Many entities within."

"Maybe I'll just dip my toes in."

Tau grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. Sure enough, Maji's squeals of delight quickly became those of terror. Something was trying to grab her, Tau knew. Nothing dangerous, merely touch-starved creatures. That made them no more desirable, or their touches any less unwelcome, he supposed.

Maji and the others plashed and flailed, desperate to reach the shore. Their panic-stricken yelps sent colourful birds fluttering into the sky as they shook off long, humanoid arms despairingly reaching out for their legs.

"Swiving Sentinels, what are those?" Oliver's eyes had grown wide.

A particularly long, pallid and wobbling arm relented its pursuit of Benjamin's ankles and slithered through the grass, back into the water, spindly fingers wavering until vanishing into the murky depths.

Oliver turned to him, beautiful eyes narrowing with suspicion. "You knew something was in there. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Never asked." Tau shrugged.

Forced to travel the human way, progress was like treading quagmire without dwimmer. They were headed back through the dense forest, to where ó hAonghusa awaited them on a dirt path. Tau walked at a pace that, if it were any slower, he would be rolling backwards.

Agonising. Woeful.

Were he on his own, he would have accomplished what needed to be done already. His desire to be with Oliver outweighed any urge to speed toward an early death, however, and Oliver did not want to leave his friends behind. That left Tau with little choice but to take the tedious route. To be luggage, as the Fae called it, and endure never being alone with his love.

Since ó hAonghusa had left his humans to fend for themselves in Malimoure, Tau was more disinclined toward them than ever. Unfortunately, not even he could deny their usefulness, asking only for snippets of his dwimmer in exchange. Something Tau could provide, sparingly. Recovery from his skirmish in Malimoure was a slow process, having come too close to perishing too often. At least he'd succeeded in his goal to clear a path at the time, freed himself of the parasite, and learned something useful.

And, traversing in such a drawn-out manner had the merit of spending more time with his love. In the process, Tau had learned so much more about Oliver. When given the chance, Oliver loved to indulge in sustenance. Excessively. He liked games of cards far too much, and hated going to sleep, afraid he'd miss something important. Yet when he slept, he did so deeply , often ending in a tangle of limbs around and atop Tau.

Loveable, enchanting. His and his alone.

Tau wrapped his arms around Oliver's chest and carried him to the back where the luggage went, only for Samuel to make noises of dissension.

"No, not after last time," he said.

"I didn't even get hurt that badly!" bellowed Oliver.

Although he nearly had hit his head on a wayward rock after slipping from Tau's grip. The forest path was particularly bumpy.

"My dear Sentinel, can't you leave him alone for even a minute?" ó hAonghusa approached from around the automobile, looking smug as ever while Tau's insides crawled with discomfort. "I promise you, the bantam will be fine. You're going to love where we're headed next!"

Tau narrowed his gaze at the Fae.

Doubtful.

Reluctantly, he released Oliver and watched him angrily climb into the conveyance. More reluctantly still, Tau clambered onto the back and continued to endure. Bumpy roads. Screeching birds. More humans, standing before a large expanse of grey stone, who demanded to see things called papers. An odd, elongated object sat ahead, spluttering loudly. A noise Tau had never heard before.

"It's an aeroplane," ó hAonghusa supplied."Don't worry. If it goes down, you'll survive, at least."

Him and Oliver, he'd make sure of that.

By now, Tau knew to associate discomfort with human travel, but this was the worst yet. Worse even than being surrounded by water. Only a metal tube with tiny, circular windows. Cramped, loud. Jostling him so much, he needed to burrow his nails into anything within reach to keep himself from knocking about. Feet firmly planted, one arm secure around Oliver. There was nothing he could do for the others.

Lucetta in particular was terrified. He'd never heard her scream before. She came away on such unsteady legs, she needed Maji and Benjamin to help her walk.

Tau wasn't sorry to leave the aeroplane behind, its daunting silhouette disappearing behind a thick shroud of snow.

Cold, high-reaching. Howling winds. He much preferred the black mountains to the humidity of Conflagration's forest. Although he cared for the Guardian of the Exi Mine the least.

He followed the humans along a narrow trail. Vast drops on either side were thinly masked by heavy fog, shredded into strips by the black pillar-like peaks all around them.

Lucetta continued to struggle. Something about heights. Oliver, thereagainst, gleefully approached a long, narrow bridge at a sprint. Its slippery slats groaned and bounced under his coltish weight. His laugh echoed in its heartiness at Lucetta's panicked whimper. Tau stayed closeby, unperturbed but watchful, vigilant of his love's gawkiness.

Most ungainly. Precious.

Oliver skirted to a stop at the bridge end by another steep edge. With a devious grin that illuminated his pinkened cheeks, he tipped forward and swung his arm in a mock fall. Snow and rock trickled down at his feet. He staggered forward with a startled, echoing curse. Tau swiftly snagged him by his flailing forelimb. Pulled him back. He tucked Oliver against his side. Secure.

Also bully.

"That's what happens!" Lucetta bellowed, her voice echoing as she clung to Maji and Benjamin, still halfway on the bridge. "I swear, if we get out of this, I'm going to hit you across your backside so hard, not even Tau can heal it!"

Oliver chortled, sheepish, and thankfully stopped running about. They crossed yet more bridges, each leading higher and higher until they reached the mine's entrance. The humans needed a moment to stare at the warm lights dotting all the narrow mountain points in the area, scarcely visible through the shrouding fog and tufts of snow. Windows and doors, illuminated by what Tau knew to be Conflagration's dwimmer, and a network of bridges connecting them rattled in the howling winds.

He moved forward, impatient, but jerked to a stop at a smack to the back of his head. Tau pivoted to see his love smiling at him a few paces away. Bright and happy, his tiny body nearly obscured by the heavy snowfall. Unsure of what was happening, Tau turned back to the entrance, only for something to pelt him again.

This time, he caught Oliver gathering snow in his hand, clumsily forming it into a ball against his chest. He laughed. The rollicking noise echoed, caressing Tau's core, lifting some of the unease that had settled there.

"I wasn't aiming for you," Oliver said, then hurtled the snow-lump. It pelted Tau squarely in the stomach, frost spraying on impact.

Both Oliver and Maji were laughing now. This had to be a game of some kind.

Tau lunged for him.

Green eyes widened in shock. Oliver spluttered in panic, his feet sliding through snow as he scrambled to flee. Tau paced himself across the many narrow bridges, relishing the thrill of chasing, of letting Oliver think he had even the slightest chance. He glanced over his shoulder behind him, flashing Tau with a core-squeezing smile—clumsy feet caught on a stone. Oliver flew forward, his, "Oof!" muffled as he fell face first into deep snow.

Easing closer, Tau gathered him up by the waist. He brushed frost from Oliver's face, out of his hair. The smile embellishing those very soft lips was sweet, cheeks and nose so pink. Enchanting , as he shivered from the cold that crumbled down his neck. Tau arched over him. Pulled him close. Pressed his face against a mouth continuing to smile while he gently lowered his love to the snow and palmed at attire to get it out of the way.

Oliver was happy with him. The words echoed in Tau's mind, forever spreading the warmth of love into his very being. He pressed his hips down, intending to take pleasure. He'd gone without for too long.

"Ooh, that's cold," Oliver gasped, body atremble. He reached up and gently stroked the side of Tau's face. "I'd love nothing more, Sunshine, but we should go back before they freeze to death."

No choice.

"We want to see what other mines look like," said Lucetta upon Tau's return. She had grown calmer now that there was a greater distance between her and the escarpment.

He wondered about her honesty. That overpowering sense of distrust lingered thicker than the snow around her, bifurcating to Maji. Not as strong, but blatant enough he had to force himself to banish the disquietude it brought. Although he wanted to disagree with their company, something told Tau that this time, he had to tolerate their presence further.

The mine's entrance was simple, a hollow of dark rock fortified by thick metal frames. Workers scattered at the sight of Tau as he made his way down spiralling passageways, narrow and steep. Unfortunate excuses for lights flickered dark red, reflecting against frostbitten walls, growing dimmer the deeper they went.

Tau did not care for it, cared even less for the absolute darkness abruptly engulfing him upon reaching a long, level driftway.

He tightened his hold on Oliver's hand.

The last time he'd been in such darkness, parasites drove him to madness. His kin would know he loathed the darkness. With a swift flick of his wrist, Tau conjured a barrier to surround his humans. Including Oliver, forcing him to release the soft hand. An enervated green glow cast throughout, strengthened by the light sphere he brought up from his palm.

"Littlest smudge," Tau said, disdain marking his words.

"Ooh, look! It's Omicron!" cheered Maji.

A similar loathing echoed from the darkness beyond, "Light of Day."

"Where? I can barely see anything through this green," said Lucetta.

Infuscation was but a silhouette of shadowy smoke standing before him, their fluttering armour too dull to give them away to the unobservant.

"Which human is it? Which one do you disgrace us with?"

Annoying. Troublesome.

Tedious.

Tau lacked the patience for this nonsense. Maybe it wasn't worth it. Maybe he could transport Emergence on his own, after all. What was it Oliver called it?

He tipped sideways, dodging a sliver of shadow. It softly whistled past his head, bouncing off the green barrier and vaporising.

Mm. Yes. Oliver called it applesauce .

Tau sent the sphere from his palm forward. It glimmered harshly through the damp passageway, and exposed Infuscation as it flew past.

Oliver gasped in excitement. "Neat! They're like a shadow."

Words that speared Tau's core with hurt.

He glowered at the smudge hiding like a coward. There were other Guardians he could approach, still. Maybe he ought to simply take Infuscation's dwimmer, like he had Cultivation's, and give it to Oliver. Then they would no longer be neat and more dead .

"I thought you knew everything about every Sentinel," said Maji.

"Traitor, attacking us all!"

"I don't know everything," quipped Oliver. "Only what I see– read in newspapers and books."

It was then Tau realised that this was something he'd need to endure with every other Guardian. He would be attacked and forced to justify himself with each one. The thought alone made him weary.

He did not want to put up with this applesauce.

Multifarious light spheres cropped up around him. Little ones, reproducing into the countless. Tumbling through the air, swarming light into every driftway, crevice and corner—every miner's home, too. Infuscation crept behind an icy formation in a vain attempt to shield themselves. Floating lights knocked into Tau's back and shoulders, pushed out of the way as he stepped into the barrier behind him. He pulled Oliver against his side and wrapped a hand around his soft face to cover those precious eyes.

"Sunshine, what are you doing?"

His love sounded concerned, but stayed where Tau held him.

"Do not!"

His kin was too scared to move, knowing what would happen if they did, each sphere bumping into their basalt-like armour sizzling, ready to erupt.

Not that staying still would make a difference.

The spheres around the green barrier popped, prompting those nearby to burst, and those after to explode. A rippling effect invoking an incandescence that had Infuscation screeching in agony, as shrill as the echoes of human cries throughout the mine.

"Weakest of all," said Tau over the racket. "Malimoure, go. Speak with others."

That would have to do.

He waited for the last empyreal flashes to fade before removing the barrier and ushering Oliver out. At least his humans were clever enough to cover their eyes. Based on the suffering around him while he made for the egress, no one else had thought to even close theirs.

It didn't matter. No one liked him, anyway.

Outside, back in the snow and the billowing winds, Tau tilted his head up to the sky. Dark and moody. Not his favourite, but still better than the forest.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?"

He cast Samuel a sideways glance. This one held the same resentment toward him as Benjamin did. Only… There was something else. Hatred, along with a hint of fear, and an overwhelming distrust Tau didn't think justified.

"He knows what he's doing, so pickle it," snapped Oliver, holding Tau's hand tight.

"No chance we'll get to stay at their lodgings, now they're all blind," groused Lucetta.

An exaggeration. Maybe.

Hopefully.

He hadn't considered that.

A long and slow trudge through an intensifying snowstorm brought them back to the clearing, where ó hAonghusa and the Ursidae awaited them. While the others clambered inside the aeroplane with reluctance, Tau caught the Fae's peculiar expression, shifting from the humans to him.

"Tell," demanded Tau, to which ó hAonghusa gasped. Their hand flittered up to their chest.

"They speak!"

Tau moved up the short steps to get inside the asinine vessel.

"These humans of yours don't seem very fond of you."

Much like he had done throughout most of the journey, Tau ignored the Fae. He shimmied down the centre aisle until he could sit by Oliver, curling his arms around the lithe frame.

"You okay, baby?" Oliver whispered against his face, and pressed a kiss to it.

Tau nodded. He could tolerate the squalid vessel, the dilatory journey, the many, many, many stops for sustenance and rest. He could manage the way his kin insulted him, called him a liar and a traitor, mocked him for who he was and who he loved.

As long as Oliver stayed by his side, he could take it all.