Chapter Five

"I'm not dressed for dinner."

The shifter was showing such a sheer act of courage, sliding his small hand into the one he'd held out, Hephaestus almost missed the words. He was momentarily focused on the tingle of electricity that ran up his arm and knocked on his heart. He could hear the wealth of history behind the shifter's concern though.

"My name is Hephaestus," he said slowly. "You've already seen I have a few skills." He patted the arm of his chair with his free hand. He wasn't giving up the touch with the shifter now standing next to him. "That gives us options when it comes to having dinner."

"You can zap up food?" The little shifter's eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his pretty head. "That must be why you're so big. If I could zap up food, I'd have it all on this huuuuuge table and I'd just lie in the middle of it and probably eat myself sick." The shifter giggled. "Probably not what you want to hear from a mate. Sorry. It's just…I never expected any of this. Having magical powers would be wasted on me."

Hephaestus didn't think that was true, but he smiled as kindly as he could – at least he hoped that was what he was conveying. "It would be nice to have a name, so I know who I'm having dinner with," he suggested. Just thinking of the man as "Little Shifter" wasn't fair. He was at least a foot shorter than Hephaestus, but then Hephaestus was more than average in height.

"I'm Landyn. I had my twenty-fifth birthday two months ago." The man smiled as he toed the ground with his worn sneaker. He was truly cute, with a triangular face, wide dark eyes, and the neatest eyebrows Hephaestus had seen on a person. His full mouth showed a hint of the shyness he would be feeling and for whatever reason, and Hephaestus wasn't going to examine that too closely, Hephaestus wanted Landyn to feel more comfortable with him.

"I'm pleased to meet you Landyn." Hephaestus meant it. "With regards to my powers, I could change your clothes for you, if that would make you feel more comfortable eating out with me."

"Is that allowed?" Landyn glanced around as if he was worried they'd be overheard. "I thought magic users weren't supposed to do things for personal gain."

"It's allowed." Hephaestus wasn't ready to reveal he was an actual god just yet. He figured that was more of an after-dinner conversation. "I'm a bit rusty when it comes to dating habits, but I genuinely would like to share a meal with you."

"I'd like that, too." Landyn winced. "I truly wish I had more to offer you. I always thought that matings should be between equals, and I'm failing to see what I can bring to this partnership when I can't even afford a decent pair of shoes."

There was a lot of pride in that little shifter, which was admirable, and also unnecessary. The mate of gods got looked after by their godly mate – Hephaestus knew that much. "How about we take this one step at a time. Step one, we ensure you're comfortable enough to want to eat with me. For that we need clothes."

Hephaestus thought about Landyn dressed in clothes a lot warmer, newer, and he hoped more comfortable than the man had on, including soft but durable boots. "And we need my truck," he added, as Landyn gasped, stroking his new coat. Bam. His vehicle appeared in the parking lot to the side of them. "Now we can go out for dinner, yes?"

"I guess we can." Landyn sounded a bit distracted as if he was overwhelmed, something Hephaestus accepted as normal. Most mortals were when they came across immortal beings. He stood and stretched out his leg, sending his chair back to the house.

"Lets go and find some food."

/~/~/~/~/

Landyn wasn't silly. He wasn't going to walk around thinking he was in some ridiculous dreamscape – scooped up by a large man who smelled of something Landyn didn't even know he wanted. The clothes he was wearing were real. The bulge in his new pants was plump enough to be distracting. Landyn's animal spirit hadn't settled down since he'd taken in Hephaestus's scent. The man with the powers was real, and he was Landyn's mate.

His issue was that Landyn had only ever been taught about mates from a male/female perspective, not that he was bothered that his mate was the same gender as him. Secretly, he'd always thought if he met a mate, that would be his preference.

But in his teachings, the few he'd had, the whole function of mates was a situation where the female partner of the couple gave her mate the children necessary to…whatever. Landyn had never worked out why children were a necessary part of a mating, but it was what his mother had told him. A woman nurtured and cared for her mate while the male provided the material comforts such as food, a roof over their heads, and the love and security any woman deserved.

Landyn had none of the things necessary to help give his mate comfort. He was also a hundred percent certain he couldn't start sprouting children anytime soon. Which made him wonder what use he could be to Hephaestus.

"Do you need deliveries done, in whatever it is you do?" he asked as they were waiting for the food to arrive. Landyn was already impressed at how Hephaestus took charge, finding a restaurant, parking, and getting them a table while Landyn's head was still spinning about his clothes. He nibbled on a breadstick, thoughtfully provided by the waiter who was clearly impressed with the older man.

"I have an art studio in one of the old warehouses just outside of town." Hephaestus was looking at him like he couldn't believe Landyn was sitting there. Landyn wondered if that was because of the light thingy his mate had mentioned.

Leaning over the table, Landyn whispered, "Is my light bothering you? Do you know how I can shut it off?"

"No, I mean, yes, I know how it can be shut off, but we can't do that over dinner, and no, it's not bothering me." Hephaestus looked so serious. "Look, you should know, I've always worried about meeting my significant other. I mean, I'm not what you'd call handsome or young."

"I think you look very distinguished." Landyn was being completely honest. He'd noticed that in the truck. "The way you have your hair shaved here." He reached up, showing the sides of his head before realizing he was still holding the breadstick. "Whoops," he added with a giggle. "That could've been messy. But the tattoos on your head look incredible, although I bet it hurt to get them done."

Hephaestus shook his head. "They were done a long time ago."

"Well, I think they make you look very distinctive." Landyn nodded.

It was Hephaestus's turn to lean over the table, and Landyn noticed there was a slight flush of red on his cheeks. "You said big people concern you. You were scared when I first attracted your attention."

"I can tell you've never been a rough sleeper." Landyn stopped talking as the waiter came back. When his plate was put in front of him, Landyn wanted to check his chin to make sure he wasn't drooling. That steak takes up half of the plate!

"I hope that's all right." Hephaestus must have noticed his shock. "I know people with additional benefits, like yourself, seem to enjoy eating meat."

"You have no idea how much of a special gift this is. Thank you so much." Landyn couldn't help it. He had to start eating. He barely waited for Hephaestus to pick up his fork before he was cutting into that steak. It smelled amazing.