Eleven

Khush

Yesterday, I'd stayed until dinner at Dustin's, and he'd fed me a delicious meal devoid of garlic and brimming with taste. He'd almost convinced me to stay the night, but then Silas had shown up to 'make sure everything was okay,' and I'd opted to come home because, as much as I'd wanted to stay with Dustin, I'd known I wouldn't get any sleep locked inside the four walls.

Now, I was inside my cabin, trying to figure out what changes it needed to be the perfect home for Dustin.

The cabin wasn't small, by any means. It had a large living room, a sizable bedroom with a king-sized bed, and a spacious kitchenette that I'd never used. It had only enough appliances to make tea, coffee, and packaged noodles or soup, since everyone ate in the dining room.

The problem was this: I'd never used the bedroom before because of my claustrophobia, but I couldn't exactly ask Dustin to sleep in the trees with me, which meant I had to figure out a third option. One where we'd both be comfortable without having to sleep separately.

"Did you decide what you want to do with the place then?" Silas asked as he stepped into the cabin, and I scowled at him.

"Not yet."

"Grumpy, grumpy. Don't worry. I brought in reinforcements."

I eyed Silas's grinning face, then turned to the door just as Draven stepped through, the many tools on his belt jangling as he walked.

Draven was a dwarf, and he was the one who'd designed the wheelchair, as well as the headmaster's prosthetic arm. With his long hair and equally long beard—both braided perfectly so it wouldn't interfere with his work—Draven wouldn't have looked out of place on the set of Lord of the Rings.

His dark brown eyes scanned the room, then came to rest on me. "You really haven't been using this house, have you?"

"Not really. I use it to store stuff, but I don't really live here."

"Hmph!"

I watched as Draven walked around the room with his hands behind his back, looking far sterner than Headmaster Morrigan ever did. Silas shot me a wide-eyed look, and I shrugged in return. I had no clue what Draven was thinking, but I knew better than to speak and interrupt his process.

After making a circuit of the room, he stopped in front of us, and met my eyes. "A home is of no use if you don't feel comfortable in it."

I blinked, then nodded, unsure if he needed input from me, or if he was just imparting some wisdom. None of us knew exactly how old he was, and none dared to ask. All we knew was he'd helped the headmaster build this thing from the ground up, and was therefore the Sanctuary's first official resident.

"We should move the bedroom to the second floor. The walls will be waist high, and there will be no ceiling. You'll sleep under the stars, on a comfortable bed shared with your mate," Draven said in a tone that implied it was a done deal.

A second floor with no ceiling and half walls, huh? It could work.

"That sounds cool," I said, and Silas cleared his throat.

"Guys? Aren't we forgetting something?"

"What?" Draven and I asked in sync, and Silas grinned.

"What will you do when you and your mate want to do the horizontal mambo?" Silas waggled his brows as my ears heated up. How had I forgotten about that?

My eyes slid to Draven, and if looks could kill…Silas would be a pile of ashes by now.

"That…is a complication," Draven relented after a few moments of highly awkward silence, and I sighed, running my palm over my face.

"You could just have two bedrooms," Silas suggested. "Or maybe the headmaster knows a spell that can put some kind of one-way invisible shield around the second floor, so no one can see in from the outside."

That was a pretty good idea, and judging by the disgruntled look on Draven's face, he agreed.

"I'll need to ask the headmaster, but that could work. Let's leave the downstairs bedroom as it is until I do."

"Sounds good to me. Want me to get started on the second floor? We'll need to remove the roof first," Silas said, glancing up at the sloping roof that covered the house.

"Oof, that's gonna be a lot of work, huh? What can I do?"

"Stay out of our way," Silas said with a grin, ducking out of the way when I went to smack him. "I mean this in the nicest possible way, but Khush, you are a disaster at this type of task. If you want your house to be ready before Dustin moves in, you have to let me handle it."

I sighed, knowing he was right. I was clumsy as fuck, and I knew better than anyone how much trouble I could cause. Maybe I'd get Touya to come shopping with me and buy some decor and things to fill up the place with. Maybe a photo frame where I could put the selfie from our first date, a cat tree for Scrappy…

"And that's why you're not allowed anywhere near a construction zone," Silas said, breaking into my thoughts. I shot him a sheepish look, then scratched the back of my head.

"You sure this isn't too much work for you?"

"I'm sure. I'll ask Haruto and Zamir for help too." Haruto and Zamir were the two other residents of the Forest.

They tended to keep to themselves for the most part, especially since Touya joined the area. Headmaster Morrigan had floated the idea of creating an area specifically for supes with human mates, and I was starting to think that might not be such a bad idea.

Haruto and Zamir, like many of the supes at the Sanctuary, fed on human essence, whether it was life force or blood or something else. They lived at the Sanctuary so they wouldn't have to be around temptations, but now because of Touya—and soon Dustin—even the Sanctuary wasn't safe for them anymore. I made a mental note to bring it up with the headmaster the first chance I got. I didn't want my happiness to bring trouble to my friends.

Dustin

Since the day Khush asked me to move in with him, we'd been talking every day, but we hadn't seen each other again. It'd been four days since that day, and I was starting to miss Khush. I wanted to kiss him again. Hell, I'd be happy just holding his hand, but I wanted to be close to him.

When I asked him if he wanted to get together on my day off, he said he'd let me know. For some reason, I'd been expecting an instant yes, and I tried not to feel too badly about it. It was dumb to think Khush would jump at the chance to meet up at any time. If I'd been working and he had asked me the same question, I'd have said no too.

We talked about other things after that, and I forgot all about my momentary disappointment, especially when Khush texted later that evening to say that he'd love to spend time with me.

I decided to cross off another thing from his bucket list by taking him to an arcade, and since I'd been to almost every arcade in the city at least once—it was the cheapest way to have fun for the whole day, and the perfect way to spend time on my own—I knew exactly which one to take him to.

We met up at a coffee shop near the arcade the next day, and after sharing a piece of strawberry shortcake, I took Khush to one of my favorite places in the world.

"It smells like popcorn," was the first thing Khush said when we rolled through the entrance, and it made me laugh because he wasn't wrong. The place did smell like popcorn, and also vanilla sprinkled with a little teenage angst.

I took him to the air hockey table first, since it was low enough Khush would be able to play comfortably. I wished there was no one around so he could properly explore the place, but this was the best I could do for now.

After we played five games—I lost two but won three, the clear master of the game—we checked out some of the old-school games like Pac Man, Mortal Kombat, and others. Khush was not very good at them, but he was clearly having fun, and that was all I'd wanted.

"Want me to get us some snacks?" I asked between games, and his eyes lit up.

"Yes, please."

"Popcorn?"

Khush's enthusiastic nod was all the answer I needed, and I left him playing the game to go get the popcorn.

When I returned with a bucket, he was engaged in a race with a teenager, and I held back, watching as he completely annihilated the kid. What the fuck? Where did that sudden expertise come from?

The kid scowled, smacked the booth loud enough to make a few people jump, then took his leave with his tail between his legs, his friends falling in line after him as they beat a hasty retreat.

I approached Khush with my brows raised, handing him the popcorn like you would a trophy. "Ladies, Gentlemen, and Gentlebeings, the undefeated winner of the race, Khush!"

Khush chuckled as he took the bucket from me, and I nudged his arm with my hip. "Where did that come from?"

He shrugged, then pursed his lips. "The kid was being an asshole. It made me angry."

"Angry Khush is a brilliant gamer, duly noted," I said with a grin, and he rolled his eyes.

I didn't ask what the kid had said or done to make him angry, mostly because it didn't matter. Teenagers were little shits, and that one had looked like an exact copy of my high-school bully. Kids like him deserved to be taken down a peg or two. No, I wasn't being petty at all.

We snacked on popcorn as we roamed about the place, checking out the other games and trying to decide what to play next.

"Oh, that one looks fun!" Khush said, pointing to a multiplayer game.

I started to agree when something caught my eye, and I changed directions. "Oooh, come check this out first!"

The claw machine was a cash grab and rigged, and every arcade regular knew that. I'd sworn to myself that I'd never be dumb enough to waste money on it. But that was before I met Khush. Before I saw that cute little green snake stuffie just waiting there for me to pick it.

"The claw machine?" Khush asked somewhat dubiously. Clearly, he was well aware of their reputation too.

"Yeah. I need that one." And just like many before me, I fell into the claw machine trap. I'd heard that love made people do dumb things, but I hadn't believed it until now.

I spent more coins than I was willing to admit to get that snake, but I didn't give up until I had the fuzzy little thing in my hands. It was as cute as it'd looked from outside the case, and I showed it to Khush.

"I know usually people win the gifts for their date, but I'm keeping this one," I told Khush, and he chuckled.

"Sure, as you wish," he said, then asked, "Why that one, though?"

I shot him a puzzled look, unsure if he was teasing me or just being an oblivious doof. Realizing it was the latter, I shook my head with a soft laugh.

"Because it looks like you," I said in a tone that said it should be obvious to him.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, and when his ears turned that delicious shade of pink, I couldn't stop myself from leaning down and kissing him. I felt full of joy in a way I didn't think I'd ever felt before, and it was all thanks to this sexy, magical man.