Thirteen

Before heading for the tavern, they stopped by the stables.

"Back again?" Tarsok asked with a smile, eyes looking over Sinn. "Who's your new friend?"

"This is Sinn, he's going to be traveling with me. Willing to sell me another horse or two?"

Tarsok laughed. "Of course, I'm always happy for further business from a good customer. Two more should see you set nicely with room for all the supplies you could ever need, plenty of space for whatever you might pick up along the way."

"Sounds good, though I've no idea what I'll do with all of them once I stop moving," Ninos said with a laugh. Though a horse to ride around town would always be useful, and depending on what he did pack horses might yet be useful to a sylvan mage doing odd jobs. Even if they just grazed and relaxed, he wouldn't care.

"I'm sure you'll work it out. You're a big fellow, how about a stallion? Something nice and sturdy, as tough as you look like you can be when motivated."

Sinn grinned. "Yes, that's perfect."

Chuckling, Tarsok led them into the stables where he'd bought Serenade and Strider not all that long ago really. This time, he went in the opposite direction, stopping at a stable only twenty or so paces from the door. In the stall was a large red- brown horse with a dark mane who looked at them like better not be interrupting my dinner . "This is Torch, he'll serve you well. And this way…" He led them down to the end of the row, where a dappled brown horse immediately came over to them demanding attention. "This young man is Meadow. He's good friends with Serenade so he'll be happy to be going with her. What do you think?"

"They're perfect," Sinn said. "We're leaving tomorrow, will that be doable?"

"Of course. I'll have them saddled and ready to go. Always a pleasure doing business, Master Ninos."

"Thank you so much."

After they'd settled up there, it was finally time for dinner.

The Black Boar Tavern was one of the nicest restaurants in town, way outside of the abilities of most students to afford. Brandor had taken him there once, in his first year of his advanced classes after he'd gotten a perfect score on his final exam. He'd been completely, utterly intimidated by the fancy, expensive atmosphere, painfully aware his clothes were underqualified.

But the food had been delicious, and the wine beyond compare. He was deadly curious to see what Sinn would think of the place. Then again, he'd probably had much fancier over the course of his life, so this wouldn't be anything remarkable. He was still surprised Sinn found him remarkable.

Though speaking of remarkable, being back in town reminded him how strange it was to walk around with plants wrapped around his arm, and that arm always bare. He didn't know if it was better or worse that everyone probably thought he was just making an eccentric fashion choice.

After a day of shopping, including trying on entirely too many clothes at three different secondhand shops, sitting down to good food and strong drinks sounded like the best idea in the world.

Unfortunately, they only made it as far as the host stand before of course something went wrong.

"I'm sorry, sir, but this establishment does not allow for…flashy dress."

Ninos blinked at the man. "My clothes are almost entirely black." Which was expensive, because black dye wasn't cheap, but he'd bought them because they were the only thing that fit this well without hours and hours of tailoring. All he'd had to do was—

Oh, right.

"You will have to remove… that… if you want to dine here."

Now he was just annoyed. "I can't remove them. They are quite literally attached to me. I'm a sylvan mage. These plants live on me. If you don't believe me, you can ask Headmaster Wintry, whom I am here to dine with. He's right there. Oh, never mind, he's coming this way, and he looks annoyed. Good luck."

Wintry came up like a barely-contained thundercloud. "Is there a problem?"

"There is a dress code," the host said, though he didn't sound nearly as snotty as he had with Ninos just seconds ago.

"Does that dress code entail ripping living plants out of a sylvan mage's arm, killing the plant and causing the mage excruciating pain and trauma? Never mind, I'll ask Sorla myself. Sorla, I need to speak with you one moment, apologies for interrupting." He strode over to where Sorla, whoever that was, was conversing with a table of at least six people.

The host looked wretched. "I was just doing my job."

"I can respect that, but you could have been kinder and more circumspect in finding out why I was 'dressed' this way instead of just being an ass," Ninos said.

"Or he could have just kept his mouth shut because who really cares what people wear at the end of the day?" Sinn asked. "As long as nobody is naked, or the clothes start singing on their own or something, what is the harm? None of the other diners would have noticed or cared. At worst they'd have had something to talk about while they stared rudely."

Sorla and Wintry returned. "Come on, Ninos, Sinn. Thank you again, Sorla." He strode off, and Ninos nodded a thanks to Sorla before he and Sinn followed after him.

"I apologize for that," Wintry said. "I seem to be doing a lot of that." He sighed and poured them wine from the bottle waiting open on the table. "How was your day of shopping?"

"Exhausting. I'm never buying clothes again," Ninos said.

Wintry laughed. "Well the effort seems to have paid off, because you both look quite smart. How are you, Sinn? Is anything about all this strange or difficult?"

"Different, time moves strangely as a spirit, to experience it this way always takes adjusting. I don't remember the last time I had a meal like this. My family, though their memories are long faded now, were paper makers. Even as a child I realized it was stupid that we made something we were too poor to be allowed to use. These days, thankfully, just about everyone uses it."

"My grandparents treated paper like a precious commodity," Wintry said. "Only my grandmother could read, and her village thought that made her uppity. She cried when I told her I was going to the Academy and told me to never come back. I wrote her letters until I got one telling me she was dead. Per her wishes, I didn't even return for her funeral. She would be happy to see how much has changed."

"I think my parents were proud of me, but also relieved they wouldn't have to worry about feeding me and everything, especially as the village worked to recover. Really curious to see what it's like when I visit them before heading on to Corlock. If they'll resent me for choosing Corlock instead of staying." He shrugged. "I find I just don't care anymore."

"You have the right to make your own decisions, after having so many made for you. I think Brandor would be happy to hear you're forging your own path."

"Thank you. What's for dinner?"

"Roast and fried potatoes with mushroom gravy and roasted parsnips," Wintry replied.

As ever, Sinn brightened at the mention of mushrooms. When they finally settled in Corlock, amongst all the other plants and flowers he would grow, he would allot generous space for a mushroom garden. "Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"

Wintry snorted and drank his wine. "Only the usual new student nonsense. Be glad you weren't around—won't be around anymore. I am retiring in three years, and I cannot wait."

"Three years?" Sinn asked.

"My replacement has other obligations right now. It's actually closer to two years, but things happen so I'm just telling myself three so two seems like an exciting surprise. Weird quirk of mine."

"I like it," Ninos said, and then their food arrived and they were silent for several minutes.

Eventually, Wintry asked, "So what do you intend to do when you reach Corlock?"

"Find employment. Even if the house is in poor condition, which I doubt, it will be somewhere to live without cost while I seek work. Once that's addressed, I want to focus on gardens. I wish I could have taken all the plants in my room, but there is no way I could transport so many plants and it wouldn't be good for all of them. I assume you took care of them?"

"Yes, I gave them to various new sylvan mages. They could use the early practice, and I sealed the deal with extra credit points. I didn't think you'd mind."

"Of course not. The Mourning Rose is the one I wanted most. I hope the plants aren't upset, though, that they won't be staying with me."

Wintry seemed amused. "Only you would know, but they were thriving when I distributed them and so far, I have stellar reports. They are expected to check-in directly with me once a month. Attached to plants, speaking with plants, you really are a speaker of old, lad. I doubt you'll want for steady income once you're established. Healers are always in need of further supplies, especially the rarer plants that can't be grown here or only with difficulty, and there are a thousand other uses for plants besides. If you're inclined to write them, I'd love to receive letters once in awhile to let me know how you're doing."

"I will."

"Good lad. Sinn, what about you?"

"Me? What about me? My job is to assist Ninos."

"I think you can do a bit better than that. Someone as clever and stubborn as you? Lots of work to be found."

Sinn seemed to pout, but only nodded and focused on his mushrooms. Ninos bit back a smile, because few things were as adorable as a sulking Sinn. He didn't care if Sinn chose to be his assistant, but he wouldn't be surprised if something found Sinn, kept him an active, mischievous presence in Corlock. He was not meant to be idle, and life in a small town would get very boring if all he did was help Ninos tend plants and make potions.

By the time dinner wound down, Ninos was ready to fall over and sleep for a week. "I hope we meet again someday. Thank you. I am sorry that we ever doubted you."

"Better to be cautious and wrong, than careless and right," Wintry said. "Be well, write often, and if we do not meet again then the time we spent is simply all the more precious. If ever you need anything, you've only to tell me. Farewell, Ninos. Sinn, take care of him."

"I will. Farewell."

"Goodbye," Ninos said, and hugged him before they finally headed off back to their hotel room.

He threaded his arm through Sinn's, resting his head lightly against it. "You don't have to stay with me all the time, you know. I would never expect that."

"If I wanted to flit off and do something, I would, believe me. If I thought for a moment, you were that kind of person, I would have left before you ever bound me properly. I like where I am. If there's ever something I want to pursue that does not involve harassing you for hours of a day, I'll do it. Don't forget, though, that it's always for the best I never draw too much attention to myself. If people figure out what I am, it could go very badly very quickly. There are people far worse than Havartin and Gardi out there. Sometimes, the worst ones are those who watch it happen and do nothing."

"Like everyone else in Shadowfell," Ninos said bitterly. "Only Katrana helped me at all, and only by giving me food and hinting about the ivy."

"She may have worried for her own life if she did more, I suppose," Sinn said. "Not everyone has the ability or courage to act."

"Someone in that place did, and chose not to, and I'll never forget that."

"Neither will I, believe me. You were barely alive, and they were more obsessed with getting me behind wards. I won't forget that anytime soon either."

Ninos sighed, genuinely tired of all the bad memories. He'd gotten entirely too many of them since Brandor's death. That was life, but ideally, they'd get a bit of a break once they were in Corlock. Sometimes it felt like they were pinning entirely too much hope on a distant location he hadn't actually seen. Well, he'd seen Corlock, but not in a long time, and he'd never seen Brandor's mysterious house. There was only a mystery waiting for them. It could be awful. They could hate it. Then where would they go?

"Why are you so glum suddenly? I thought we had a good night."

"Sorry. We did, tonight was wonderful," Ninos replied, shaking himself. "I was just thinking: what if we get to Corlock and hate it?"

Sinn shrugged. "Then we go somewhere else. Stay long enough to sell the house maybe. I doubt Brandor cared what happened to it save that you were the one who controlled its fate. That's all people really want, is control or to hand that control to someone they trust, rather than leaving things to the often-cruel whims of fate. But I do not think there's any reason to be pessimistic. It's a new place, a house all our own, we can make of it anything we wish."

"We'll make certain there are plenty of mice around for you."

"There is never a shortage of mice anywhere, " Sinn said solemnly.

Ninos laughed, pressing harder into Sinn's arm. "You're ridiculous."

"Very," Sinn said. "Oh, the candy shop is still open. We should get some treats for the road, that was the only thing truly lacking."

"Uh, sure." He reluctantly let go, mourning the close, warm presence, as Sinn led the way up the steps into the candy shop.

The overwhelming scent of sugar was almost too much after their decadent dinner, but Sinn flitted about like…well, a raven surrounded by shiny things. Shaking his head fondly, Ninos picked out a tin of the cinnamon candies he liked and went to wait at the counter.

"Your friend seems excited," she said, folding her arms on the counter and leaning forward over it, smiling at him. "He's cute."

"He likes sweets, and we've been traveling, so this is the first candy shop we've seen in ages."

"You seem familiar."

"Came in here a few times when I was a student." Often, and he talked to her several times, but probably scores of students could say the same, and the fewer people recognized him the less the chance of figuring out he was tied to the miserable mess that was Kina.

Her smile widened and she leaned forward more, nearly to the point she'd topple if she shifted wrong, or spill out of her dress. Didn't seem comfortable, but what did he know? "Can't believe I don't remember someone like you."

"Someone like me?" What in the world did that mean?

Before she could reply, Sinn slammed several things on the counter, startling them both, nearly sending the poor woman face-first into the counter right beside the sweets. "We'll take these," he said in the coldest voice Ninos had ever heard from him.

"Of—course. I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

"Didn't—" Ninos stopped at the scowl turned him, then decided he'd just go wait outside.

The moment Sinn stepped outside, bag of candies in one hand, Ninos surged forward. "What in the world was that about?"

"Stop flirting with people right in front of me!"

"Flirting? I wasn't flirting, she was commenting that you seemed to really like sweets and I told her you did! How is that flirting?"

Sinn scoffed. "She didn't need to lean over with her tits hanging out to ask a question like that."

"I can't control what she does. What do you care, anyway? Why do you always get so mad when people flirt with me?"

"Because you're my human and you know that!" Sinn snapped, then stormed off down the street to their hotel room. Ninos would be annoyed by that, but it was smarter to have this bizarre conversation in their room.

Once the door was closed behind them, he threw off his outer layers to deal with later and demanded, "Of course I'm your human, what does that have to do with people flirting with me?"

"You can't be that dense," Sinn retorted, prowling toward him. "I nearly died saving your life. I sleep on your chest every night. We're building a life together."

Ninos's heart was going to pop. "You're only a few steps removed from a god, Sinn. You're hundreds of years old and I'm not even twenty-five quite yet. You're stuck with me, however fortunately that situation worked out for you."

"Little mage, how can you be so silly?" Sinn asked breathlessly, before surging in, gripping the sides of Ninos's face in his big, warm hands, and kissing him completely senseless.

Ninos gasped, flailing briefly before gripping tightly to the front of his fancy jacket and kissing back with everything he had. Kissing Sinn was like being in the heart of the forest, huge and overwhelming and right all the way down to his bones. He was as sturdy as the oldest, wisest trees and as warm as the sun breaking through the canopy.

When his back hit a wall, he had no idea which one, he huffed a small laugh before plunging right back into more kisses. If there was anything better than kissing Sinn, than being kissed like he was a feast and Sinn a starving man, Ninos could not fathom it.

"Stop. Flirting. With. Other. People," Sinn said between sharp, greedy kisses that left Ninos' mouth sore and throbbing in the best way, probably leaving his skin red too given they both needed a shave. He wouldn't care if they suddenly acquired an unexpected audience so long as it meant Sinn kept kissing him.

Eventually, though, he broke away to get a proper breath and reply. "I never flirted with them, nitwit. I never even noticed they were until you threw a fit. You can't do that every time people flirt with me." Like that was some frequent occurrence, please. He smoothed out the wrinkles he'd made in Sinn's jacket. "I almost ruined your jacket."

"I don't care."

"Well I do," Ninos said, "after all the time, effort, and money we spent. I'm not going through all of that again."

Sinn grinned, slow and hot and wicked. "You're saying I should take my clothes off."

Ninos flushed but met the taunt head on. "Yes, that is what I'm saying. Though try to remember we still need to leave first thing in the morning to make good distance."

"Yes, little speaker mine," Sinn said in reply, and made shockingly quick work on their clothes before practically tossing Ninos on the bed and crawling on top of him for more of those heady kisses.

Tearing away, Sinn trailed kisses along his jaw and down his neck. "Do you know how hard it was, sleeping on your chest every night, wishing I could be doing this?"

"You could have been doing this all along!" Ninos said, then gasped as Sinn lightly bit his nipple before moving to the other one. He laved that one with attention, then both of them in turn, over and over, until Ninos was wriggling and squirming from over stimulation. "You're the ancient spirit—"

"Which meant I was never going to approach you, little mage, as despite being the one bound, I have considerable power over you, not to mention age."

"Whatever, get back to work," Ninos said, enjoying Sinn's pleased laugh almost as much as his hot mouth. He tried to do some touching of his own, but outside of kissing him Sinn seemed determined that Ninos lay there and be lavished with attention.

Far be it for him to complain.

By the time Sinn's mouth sank down on his cock, one finger teasing at his hole in promise of future events, the other holding him down so Sinn could suck at his leisure, he was trembling with the effort to hold back. One day he'd manage some restraint, they could fool around for hours, do nothing else of significance the whole day. That sounded absolutely marvelous.

That night was not the one though, and he came mere minutes after sliding into Sinn's mouth and just barely touching his throat. He was still panting and trying to think again when his efforts were utterly ruined by watching Sinn rise up on his knees and jerk off all over Ninos's stomach and torso.

When he could finally breathe again, he got up to shower and put away their fancy clothes.

The greatest moment of the night by far was when Sinn slid into bed behind him and wrapped around him. "I can't believe you just kept sleeping on me this whole time when you could have been doing this."

Sinn's mouth trailed wet and hot along his throat, up to his ear. "Just wait until we fall asleep with me inside you."

They did not, in fact, get much sleep that night.