#wigbert

I paused, but didn’t look at them any more than I already wasn’t. “What?”

Seb sniffed a laugh. “This Wigbert kid. Things will go a lot smoother once you admit that you have a crush on him.”

“I do not.” I returned to my armor. “I love you.”

“Both can be true, love,” Seb chuckled. “You can love me and still crush on him.”

“I don’t get crushes on people,” I tried instead.

“No, you usually don’t,” Seb agreed casually. “Which makes this all the more endearing.”

Wasn’t Seb supposed to get mad? Possessive? Maybe even feel inadequate, considering I couldn’t pull my thoughts off another man despite our sex and intimacy? I’d only begun flirting with Wigbert and Imperia to get them hot and bothered.

Seb twisted to sit up at the edge of the bed. “Apologize to him, love. I think you blew your chance, but an apology is a great place to start making amends if he’s willing.”

“We can work together fine,” I grumbled. I was still unclear what had been wrong that day. The one that completely changed the way Wigbert looked at me.

“I’m sure,” Seb said. “That isn’t what I meant.”

“What else do you mean?” I found my dagger to belt it on. I didn’t need my sword.

“What else -? You’re not that dense.”

I turned to Seb, giving them my full attention. “You want me to – have a relationship with him?”

Seb stood to hold me at arm’s length. A soft smile settled on their face. “Yes. I want you to ask him out. On a date. A proper fucking date, Malxir. You owe him that if he accepts.”

“Don’t you love me?”

“Yes. And I want to watch you fall in love again.”

“With him?”

“It’s so much more intimate this way.” Seb was serious. “I get to watch you fall all over again, but I’m already here.” They brought me in against them, cupping my face. “We already love each other. No uncertainty. Don’t you get it?”

“You’re not supposed to want me to love a different man,” I mumbled. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll love him more? Love him instead?”

“No.” Seb said it with such conviction. “I trust you. With my mind, body, and whatever is left of my soul. If you leave me, it’s not because of some other man. It’s because it’s what’s right for you.” They leaned in to touch foreheads, their lips hovering over mine. “Apologize to him. And if you don’t know why you’re apologizing, tell him I told you to because you’re a fucked up little shit that deserves a second chance. He was coming on to you, even after how you met.”

“He was?”

Seb chuckled and took me in for a short kiss. “Maybe you are that dense.” They kissed me again, taking their time to make it so sensual and intimate. I felt a little piece of my break off with them when they let me go.

“I’m keeping you late. Apologize. I’m not saying it’s going to fix things, but it’ll show that you want to try. And for fuck’s sake, don’t jump the boy’s bones again. I don’t think he likes cock.”

“Then what’s the point?” I didn’t want mine, either.

“He’s a romantic, love. That’s why he’s so sweet. Now go.” Seb stepped to open the door for me. They physically ushered me through. Naked as they were, they didn’t care whom may have earned a glance before they shut the door behind me.

Confusion and contradictory thoughts swirled through my head on my way to Danver’s. Surely this had to be some sort of ploy. Seb had to have been orchestrating my coming on to Wigbert to illustrate why I should let them fuck Theo. Never mind I’d already told Seb that I should learn to get over their fucking with him. They had never fallen in love with anyone else between Gabe and then. Except for me. But they insisted that everything had to be my idea first anymore.

I accepted that I wasn’t entirely enough for Seb. I understood why they did what they did, to a degree. This new layer only served to confound.

I hated Danver’s meetings. They were far too frequent for such lack of pertinent information. They felt long and boring and I never had anything to contribute. My stake in the city and its well-being was negligible. If it went to the hells, Seb’s quest for vengeance would be rendered obsolete, and the two of us would move on without a second thought. Danver took his business far too seriously.

I went anyway. Seb needed me to, if we were to kill the priest that ordered Gabe’s death. If Seb were to ever stop falling into the position of prey. Granted, a god hunted Seb down for their resumed fealty, but for the moment, the tangible adversary was a simple man. No, a powerful man. A man nonetheless. He could die.

Everything else was superfluous. All Danver’s meetings were was something else. He briefly asked after Seb’s health and healing progress, and then commenced on bullshit I didn’t have any connection to.

I stared after Wigbert during the meeting. I felt apprehensive, for whatever reason. I knew we could get along. We’d spent plenty of time together in Danver’s adventures and Wigbert’s chivalrous walks to my door. He didn’t so much as look at me in the last meeting after I tried to tempt him to bed. It wasn’t my fault he froze without understanding what to do.

Wigbert pointedly ignored me until Danver wrapped up his monologue. He left the building quickly, though he ended up waiting for me outside.

“You could at least pretend you care for something outside of yourself,” Wigbert said when I hesitated to talk to him.

A tightness nestled in my throat. “I’m doing this for Sebazin,” I said sadly in defense. I wasn’t supposed to want anything for myself. It was usually too messy.

Wigbert pursed his lips. He stood square and strong, his arms crossed over his chest. “What do you want?” He was so hostile. This was pointless. His trust had been shattered.

“Seb told me to apologize. For last week. I-I don’t know what I did wrong. But I’m sorry it … hurt you.” Did it hurt him? He acted like I had.

“You don’t even know what you did wrong?”

“No! I’m supposed to make people comfortable. I’m supposed to make people like you relax. I wanted to make things better for you and I thought -” I looked away, down the street, hugging myself under the cloak “-I thought you were … I thought it was okay.”

Wigbert was quiet long enough that my gaze wandered back to him. He studied me contemplatively. “What make you think it was okay to touch me?”

My breath caught in my throat the moment I opened my mouth to respond. “You didn’t leave. You didn’t … stop … me.” He’d stopped me before. I knew he could do it.

“I shouldn’t have to stop you.”

Oh. That was how it was supposed to work? An explicit invite? But in practice, that was never how it worked. The right way both Wigbert and a little bit of Seb adhered to didn’t make any sense.

I looked away again. My shoulders pulled in to shield me. “I didn’t know,” I whispered. “Can we try again? I don’t – I’m sorry.”

“Try what again?”

“What we had.” I didn’t like the look in his eye when I tried to meet them again. “I like you. I liked … that. Before.”

“I’m sorry, but no.”

My stomach plummeted. Bile rose to my throat. I had thought – Seb made me think this could be fixed. “I’ll ask,” I said. “I’ll let you lead. Always.” I usually did anyway.

“No. I’ve seen the company that you keep.”

“Sebazin?” What did they have to do with this?

“Go back to them, Malxir. And if you can’t. If they’re threatening you, maybe the next bloke that lets you warm his bed won’t be so bad. It won’t be me.”

“Wigbert -” He wasn’t being fair. Not to me. Not to Seb.

Wigbert shouldered past me. “I’ll work with you, but whatever you think we had isn’t anything you understand or ever will. Don’t make me take this to Danver. Accept what happened with grace.” Wigbert walked off down the road without letting me get in another word. I stared after him, wallowing in the poor feeling he left behind.

“Why do you dishonor your lover by pursuing another?” Zdislava’s voice made me jump. I typically kept tabs on my surroundings, but I missed her standing in the doorway of Danver’s meeting house.

“I’m not!”

Lav scoffed. “I would cut off Danver’s hands if he tried half of your antics. Leave them out of our business.”

“This wasn’t your business,” I snapped.

“Conducted on our stoop? Behave, Malxir, before you make me teach you how.”

I’d had quite enough of that in my life already. I threw her one more petulant look before returning home to Seb. The sting of Wigbert’s rejection settled in over Lav’s affront by the time I made it back inside.

I didn’t look at Seb. I closed the door, turned my back on them, and wrenched at te ties on my belt and armor to remove them. I wasn’t sure how well I could hold myself together if I saw their expression. Seb didn’t say anything.

I threw my cloak haphazardly where it belonged. My knife and armor followed. I moved to untie the gambeson, but my fingers ran into Seb’s instead. I froze and stared at them.

Ever gently, Seb turned me around and wrapped me into their arms. I didn’t have a choice but to become enveloped in their embrace. It suited me well.

Pushing open the door, I looked in and my smile immediately died. Wigbert pushed into the doorway beside me. I wasn’t sure if it was my expression that gave it away or the angle Wigbert could see into the place Seb and I shared. The hearth sat cold, the fire long gone out. Seb lay on the bed with their back to the door. Naked, as they tended to be in our home.

I left Wigbert at the doorway and crossed over to the bed, climbing over top of it to reach Seb. I ran my hands across their scarred shoulders and down their arm. Their skin felt chilly to the touch. “Sebazin?” I asked worriedly.

“Is he – are they okay?” Wigbert asked from behind me. He was close. In our home.

I trailed my hand far enough to grab Seb’s hand, pulling it closer to their chest. Their hands were caked in dried blood, purple bruising webbing up the fingers and across their knuckles. Seb’s other hand vacantly reached up and touched over top my fingers, allowing me to interlace our hands together.

“Seb, what-what happened?”

“It’s okay,” Seb said, voice barley a whisper. “You remember? I forgot. I’m not good at being alone.”

I collapsed over Seb, pulling them into my arms as best as I could. Which didn’t turn out to be great. “What did you do?”

Seb pushed me aside with their weight as they rolled onto their back. I wasn’t sure if they didn’t know Wigbert was there or they didn’t care what he would see, but Seb paid him no attention. My fingers remained in theirs, but still Seb wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I … sprained a finger.”

“Okay, okay,” I said. I needed to control my beating heart. “Is that it?”

Wigbert made a little noise from behind me. Something of surprise and disbelief. Seb looked terrible. Dehydrated, weak, a little bloody and bruised, but it was one of the best case scenarios after one of their … episodes. Wigbert wouldn’t know that. I knew first hand.

“Yeah,” Seb replied weakly. They relaxed, head bent toward me but unable to touch. “I’m glad you’re home.”

I nodded. Turned to Wigbert without moving my body away from Seb. “We’re okay, Wigbert. I’ll see you at the next meeting.”

“Do you -”

“I need you to leave,” I cut in, leveling a serious stare at him. “Thank-you for checking in with Seb with me. This is fine.” It wasn’t, but they weren’t dead or even half dead.

Wigbert hesitated, but eventually accepted the dismissal. “Fare well,” they said. Discomfort evident on their face, they left.

A small knock rapped against our door just before it pushed wide open. I sat seated upon Seb. Not my favorite place to be, but it worked well enough on their more low effort days. I paused my hips, dropped my tail, and looked over my shoulder to figure out who was getting an eyeful. Wigbert stood a step past the threshold, hand on door, mouth wide open.

“Join us, watch us, or leave,” Seb grumbled. “But shut the fucking door.”

Wigbert made incomprehensible noises at that, his mouth working but failing miserably at forming words.

“Mal,” Seb prompted with resign.

I whined, squeezing my legs about Seb. I didn’t want to stop. I ground my ass deeper against the, pushing them in as deep as they could go.

“Oh Gods,” Wigbert moaned. “You two actually do it.”

“Fucking –. Mal, get off.” Seb grabbed my hips, bucked, and twisted. It served to not only free Seb from under me, but pull out with a little too much force.

“Ow,” I complained. I clenched my legs tight, rolling to watch whatever scene Seb was about to make.

Seb grabbed Wigbert by the arm to pull him out of the door’s path, closing it firmly with their free hand. “Mal’s a tease, but not just a show. You want in or are you going to take a seat and watch?”

“I-I-I -” Wigbert stood solidly in place, held still with Seb’s grasp. His eyes pointedly didn’t look down at Seb’s full display, but ended up wandering into my direction. If I couldn’t see him, I’d guess Seb was strangling him. Considering the amount of noise he was making, it would have been a sloppy, slow job, but that was beside the point.

Seb turned their body to look back at me. “Feel like putting on a show, love?”

A spark of excitement nearly took my breath away. Seb liked to watch, not show off. Not to anyone else, at least. I wiggled to the edge of the bed and draped my legs to the floor. “Aw, but Seb – he’s so innocent and sweet. I want him to look at me again.” I looked Wigbert up and down. He didn’t move. “I don’t like virgins anyway.”

“You’re awfully picky for a whore, love.”

I shrugged. It didn’t matter anymore. “What do you want, Wigbert? We’re in the middle of something.”

“How-how do you know I’m a virgin?”

“It’s obvious,” I said flatly. “Didn’t you hear Seb? I was a whore. Now I’m just theirs, but they like to share.” I stood to my feet, pushing needily into Seb’s arms and side. I raked a hand down their chest and stomach before twisting my fingers delicately through their hair. I was rewarded with a visible jump and their arm squeezing my tighter. “Watching, then?” I asked Wigbert, but my eyes were locked on my true target. “Feel free to touch yourself. Or one of us would be happy to help.”

Seb held on to Wigbert a moment longer, watching to ensure he could stand on his own. Wigbert’s eyes glanced down before immediately returning up, overcompensating and staring at the ceiling. “You’re-you’re not a girl.”

“Oh, thanks for reminding me,” I said dryly. I leaned up into Seb, forcing them to take most of my weight. They met me with a fierce kiss. I didn’t think it was to show off. Moreso to do with claiming territory. My suspicions were confirmed when they broke to my neck and laid their mark. I moaned, pressing myself against them. “Are you going to make it hurt now? You’re feeling up to it?”

“Don’t fucking patronize me, Mal,” Seb said from around my open throat. Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe Seb did like to show off. Perhaps they didn’t get off on the whole idea like I did, but it felt like they had a little extra external motivation.

“Got something to prove?” I slipped a leg up to their hip, opening myself back up for them. So maybe they needn’t fight too hard to reclaim what was rightfully theirs.

Wigbert started distressed noises from beside us. My back was to him, but I didn’t need to see to hear him crash into the table hard enough to move it.

Seb snorted before chuckling with their teeth on my skin. “You should tend to your human,” they suggested.

“Absolutely not.” I reached down between my legs, blindly groping for Seb. “You’re hot right now and I’m going to fucking take it.” My fingers wrapped around their cock, stroking it into the palm of my hand. Seb’s mouth worked a little harder. One arm held me close, the other helped me hold my leg in place. All I needed to do was guide them back in.

“No,” Seb said with a sharp nip. “I can’t stay standing if I want to move tomorrow.” They glanced in Wigbert’s direction. We’re also blocking his exit.”

“He doesn’t want to leave.” I stroked Seb with a little more urgency. “He’d have left if he didn’t want to see.”

Seb’s hands dug into me. “Slow down unless you want me to come in your hand.”

I let go with a small pout. “That’s no fun. Fuck me, Seb. I want to feel you come inside me.”

“I know,” Seb said with a grunt. They dropped my leg, pushed me back to the bed. “I’m not going to last long enough for Mal, Wigbert.” They took my legs out from under me with a sweep of their tail and a shove to the chest. I fell heavily onto my back. “If you want a piece of Mal before I come, now’s the time.”

I lifted off the bed enough to find Wigbert. His eyes were fastened to the ceiling. As much as I wanted Seb to continue, to ride their irritation at the interruption, I almost felt bad for Wigbert. He didn’t leave. He didn’t want to watch. Why was he still there?

I whined and rolled back to my feet, slinking past Seb. “Mal, what -? You’re not working.” But they didn’t stop me from approaching Wigbert.

I pressed into Wigbert, putting one arm gently around him to hold him in place and one hand on his face to guide his eyes to mine. I offered him one of my more salacious smiles when his eyes blinked with awareness. He was adorable, even as flustered as he was. “You’re frozen,” I observed. “Stuck and not enjoying yourself.” As much as I wanted to be bold and slide my fingers around him through his clothes, I held back. That didn’t stop me from kissing him, rubbing against him to add some pressure. A little incentive. Not too forward.

“Mal, you can’t -” Seb’s words faded into grumbling.

Wigbert didn’t kiss me back, but I hadn’t expected him to. I broke contact, pulling my face away just enough to see his eyes again. “He knows how to stop me if he doesn’t like it,” I told Seb. “He’s done it before. Right, Wigbert?” Wigbert swallowed, looked away, and then his eyes were back to me. “You don’t know what you want, do you?”

I shifted to bring my hand form his back to between his legs. Wigbert flinched. He wasn’t uninterested. He was scared. I rubbed him in my palm, eyes locked onto his face. His eyes closed. He grew in my hand. He’d have pushed me off him if he didn’t want it.

“Do you want me to take you into my mouth?” I asked into his ear. I followed the line of his cock with my hand, adding rhythm to the way I touched him. Sucking his ear between my lips, I pulled back with a touch of fang. “I promise I’ll make you feel real good.”

Without looking away, without pulling my hand from Wigbert, I began untying his clothes. “I can get you all warmed up. Get you all ready for Seb. What do you think?”

“What?” Seb said in sharp surprise form behind me.

I grinned at Wigbert. Pulled him into another kiss. One he responded to a little bit more than before. My hand worked him softly through his braies before I dipped my hand beyond the waistline and held him skin to skin. Wigbert’s exhale was almost vocal.

“You’re a gentle teacher, Seb. I know you’ll treat Wigbert well.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever …” Seb trailed off.

“They’re clumsy. You just need to guide them a little more than you’re used to.” My hands worked at the ties on Wigbert’s hosen, gently stroking him all the while. He moved subtly into my touch, instinct taking over for what he didn’t yet know. I grinned and bit my lip. “You’re not going to have long with him, so make it count.”

A growl sounded through Seb’s throat. “Damnit. No. Mal, no.” Their foot scuffed against the ground. “He didn’t say he wanted this.” Seb’s hands grasped me around the throat and jaw, wrenching my face back to look at them. I paused my hands, letting go of Wigbert to keep from hurting him. “Quit.”

“But Seb, he -”

Seb’s hand squeezed tighter at my neck. “No. You’re a whore, Malxir. A damn fucking good one. This is a young boy out of his league and he did not tell you that you can use him. He can’t fucking tell you no.”

That wasn’t true. He could have stopped me at any time. He’d done it before.

I whimpered under Seb’s hands, their grip hurting more with every passing second. “Seb, he was too shy to join or watch, so -”

Seb’s hand squeezed enough to stop the words in my throat. Fear flooded into my chest. I scrambled my hands to Seb’s hand like I could try to pry their fingers away. My feet almost kicked out in panic, but I managed to keep my balance. I couldn’t help what my tail did. I vaguely registered pain in it, but it wasn’t important.

A shout – I thought it was Seb – broke through the blood pounding in my ears. I couldn’t hear what they said. All I really hard was my heart as it worked blood without oxygen. Or maybe I was really scared. Terrified. I couldn’t think. My sight was dark. Cut off.

I was a crumpled mess on the floor when I took my next conscious breath. I coughed not because my throat hurt, but because I’d inhaled too much air at once. My eyes stung with tears, a trail leading down my cheeks. I felt like my head was floating, disconnected from my body.

Seb nudged me with a toe. “You alright?” they asked once my coughing evened out into shuddering breaths. I thought my body was shaking. I didn’t feel in control of myself. All I could do was to roll with my stomach up to glare at them. Their face was fuzzy. I couldn’t focus on them. “You held out a lot longer than I expected you to,” Seb said conversationally. “I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised with how well you take a cock down your throat.”

Seb crouched down to their toes beside me, hovering their face over mine. “Didn’t like that, did you?” They said this with their warning voice, but there was nothing specific to heed.

I couldn’t say that I hated it. My extremities felt oddly tingly. My head refused to focus, swimming in and out of concentration. Seb knew where and how to hold, so the pain around my throat was limited. My tail throbbed more, in fact.

“Stay there,” Seb ordered. They stood. It registered to me that they clutched out blanket about their waist, holding it in place to cover up. My eyes trailed over to our bed. Wigbert sat at the edge. When had that happened? “I need to ground a little boy, for some reason.” Those words were through Seb’s teeth, barely loud enough for me to hear.

Seb left me, the blanket twirling about them as they returned to Wigbert. They crouched in front of him. No, knelt in front of him. Blocked Wigbert from my view with the width of their marked shoulders. Hair hid the majority of the scars.

“Hey, Wigbert,” Seb said softly. “Can you hear me?” Seb waited, unmoving. “It’s Sebazin.”

“I know who you are.”

Seb nodded. “Okay, good. Do -”

“You don’t need to speak to me as a child,” Wigbert sighed.

“Um. That’s not – sorry. I’m used to dealing with – never mind.” Seb rocked back to their heels, putting a little distance between them and Wigbert. “How do you want to go from here? Do you – do you want help with that? Do you need a few minutes to sort it out yourself?”

Wigbert groaned lightly. Seb’s hands flashed forward, nearly completely dropping the blanket. I knew Seb didn’t mind the exposure. The privacy was for Wigbert’s benefit. Seb’s hands withdrew as quickly as they prepared to catch him.

“Do you just want to step outside and have the cold take care of it?” Seb suggested with less conviction. “I-I’m sorry. I should have stopped Mal sooner.”

I shifted to pull my legs underneath me. Seb’s tail thrashed hard enough to make a thump against the floor. “I told you to stay there,” they growled over their shoulder. “So fucking stay there, Malxir.”

“How-how – I just let her. Him. It.”

I pressed my forehead to the ground. I didn’t care which language people chose to describe me by, but Wigbert wasn’t going to look at me again. Not with that kind of disgust in his voice.

“Don’t take it personally. And don’t hold it against Mal. Mal is very good. There’s no shame in falling for it. Seduction is Mal’s weapon of choice over the blade.” Seb clambered to their feet, back still to me. “You didn’t stand a chance, kid.” Seb ran their hand over the back of their neck, shifting the curtain of hair. “Sorry again.”

Seb sniffed and turned away form Wigbert enough to reduce the concerned pressure. “What was it you needed? Why did you come here?”

“Oh.” Wigbert straightened up, his hands gently held over his crotch. “Danver and Lav ran into a group of people asking about you. He wants you to stay low and stop going outside.”

“Cute,” Seb sneered.

“He said if you tried arguing or anything of the like to remind you that you asked for his help and protection. If you’d like to keep it, to follow his explicit order.”

“Did I argue?” Seb turned a sharp eye to him.

“No. I deemed the message pertinent regardless.” Nearly every word of that sentence lost me.

“Cute,” Seb repeated with the exact amount of acid. “I’m going to lose my fucking mind. I can’t get back to fighting shape locked up in here. I need a solution from him next time Mal comes back from -” Seb cut themselves off abruptly. “Mal’s behavior here isn’t going to bar Mal from your group, is it? I can’t – I don’t have another arrangement.”

Wigbert looked at me curled up on the floor, pulled into myself to ward off scrutiny and idle chill. “No. Danver won’t know. This is between me and, uhm, him?”

“Use whatever you’ve been using on Mal,” Seb said gently. “They’re all wrong, but they’re all correct, too. Mal’s just Malxir. Right, love?” I did my part and nodded.

“I don’t understand,” Wigbert said slowly.

“You’re not going to,” Seb said matter-of-fact. “It’s not for you to understand. Mal’s been used and abused and it’s part of Mal’s identity.” Seb drew a heavy sigh. “I need to take care of Mal now. I need you to relay my message to Danver. In your own time. You’re welcome to stick around until you’re good to go back outside.” Seb’s eyes flicked to Wigbert’s hands desperately trying to cover himself. “My offer to help still stands. I’ll be quick.”

“I don’t need help,” Wigbert said defensively.

“Okay.”

Seb lowered themselves onto their ass on the ground, staring directly at me. I hadn’t moved. I could listen to them. Especially when their voice threatened like that.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked.

“Why would I be mad at you? The only time I’ve been mad at you was when you joined up with Danver for me.”

I curled up a little tighter. I didn’t believe them. “You strangled me.”

“Would you have listened?” I didn’t deserve Seb’s gentle voice. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

“Good. I didn’t want to, but I needed you off him without a fight.” Seb whipped up the blanket from their front, holding it to the side. “Come here.”

I lifted my head from the ground and stared at them. Wigbert watched us from behind Seb. I couldn’t tell if I saw judgment in his eyes.

“Malxir, I’m not mad at you. I don’t hate you. I’m not a little bit disappointed in you. I only did what I needed to to get you to calm down. Come here.”

I bit my lip before slithering into Seb’s lap. I sunk into their torso, wrapping my arms under their arms while they threw the blanket over my body. “What I did was bad?”

“I don’t know,” Seb replied. “But it was wrong. You can’t use other people like you use me. Not people we’re working with.”

I pulled my head away from Seb in a panic, placing a palm to the center of their chest to hold me there. “I wasn’t trying -! Seb, I wanted him to feel good and stop being afraid! I -”

Seb’s finger settled over my lips. “Shh, love. I know. Wigbert is the one you need to talk to, not me. But he’s not ready for that yet.” I cast my eyes down. I believed them in this. I didn’t want to talk to Wigbert about it. I would have preferred Seb had felt something toward this situation.

Their finger left in time for their arm to pull me back into them. They were almost soft to hold again, their heavier meals working out to regain the weight they lost. Almost like they’d never died. But not quite.

We didn’t move from the floor even when Wigbert stood up from his seat on the bed. Seb lifted their chin off my horns, but I didn’t care to see him leave. “Hey, you’re good then?” Seb asked. Wigbert didn’t say anything. He must have nodded. “Don’t use anything you’ve learned here against Mal, okay? Please?”

“What kind of person do you take me as?” Wigbert asked.

Seb tightened their arm around me. “We’ve both been through too much to believe in good people,” Seb said softly.

“That sounds miserable,” Wigbert said. A rush of cold air slammed into my back, and then he was gone.

“I don’t feel good,” I said into Seb’s chest.

Seb ran a hand over my back and shoulders. “Not in the mood anymore, huh?” I thought I caught a hint of disappointment. I could feel that they were still hard.

“No, but I’ll take whatever you want to give.”

Seb shifted, moving to scoot me off them. I scrambled to my feet and offered them a hand to stand. With Wigbert gone, we didn’t need the pretense of the blanket. I could see Seb ready to go as they could see me flagging. Only for a moment, until they drew me into a kiss.

“Slow and tender, then?” Seb asked.