#aernova

Being called back to action left Novarin with only a little time to return home in the evenings usually but now that he was on a temporary suspension, he had far more time to come and go as he pleased. Every night, he returned to the same place, the same bed, the same person and the same demon hounds the pair raised together and nothing in that routine would ever change. Not even the fact that even if Nova wore the house key around his neck, he always went through the window.

Of course that night was like any other, he slipped in through the open windowsill, Sin had threatened to close it a thousand times before but never made good on his idle words. Every night, Nova just grinned to himself when he was finally in the warm home, small and much more of a bachelor’s pad for two but it was where he felt the most comfortable.

The rules were simple for being around Sin, for his lifemate enjoyed the simple things... Black coffee and Nova without a mask on. Every time the rogue would appear wearing the bandana above his nose or anything that blocked his face at all, Sin would huff and remove it forcefully, usually with a sharp yank to set the rogue’s charming face free. Every time Nova would ask why and Sin would glare, mockingly offended and each reason was more stammered out than the last.

Normally Novarin had been trained to simply remove it before he found Sin but in that one particular evening, Nova found himself sidetracked, plucking out a few paper reports his thieving little hands had stolen from a set of Illidari - his only hope had been that any word about Aertheas would be within the writing. There he stood in the living room, moon-tinted eyes cast down onto the papers and such in focus that he hadn’t realized that Sin was sneaking up behind him. As arms reached around Nova, the rogue would have soon felt a harsh tug to his face.

“I told you—” Sin puffed, capturing Nova from behind before his chin came to rest on the rogue’s shoulder to peer at what he was looking at. 

“Yeh yeh, no masks, aye.” Nova grinned, ignoring the mild sting of a clothing burn from the tug but instead he moved his head to kiss Sin’s cheek in greeting. “Beat me home f’er once, that’s rare.”

“You’ve clearly lost track of time, it’s late.”

“Ah, did I? Apologies, I thought I found a lead...”

“About Aer?” Sin seemed hopeful, if only for Nova’s sake.

“Mhm... Been trackin’ his squadron’s last known whereabouts and movements, was hopin’ t’ find somethin’.” Though with the way that Novarin folded the papers to toss them helplessly onto a chair, he leaned back against the Demon Hunter, eyes closing thoughtfully. 

“No dice?” Sin whispered, expanding his wings to coil around his husband in support, offering a warm welcome home. Truly such a rare feat for the demon, considering most found him brash and difficult to even speak with.

“No dice...” Just another dead end.