Stoatorian Guard Private Completed Maybe You Won't Die Alone

[Asta Dalgaard]

"No good?" Asta closed her notebook and tucked her pencil behind her ear. "I no understanding. What you mean, 'no good'? Anybeast can being like that to another beast if they wanting to. If both wanting to. You seem very good." She waved a paw to Morgan, gesturing to the whole of the jill.

"You are very pretty and strong. Good to talk to, and honest. Talking about Minister, you could being tell me he is bad and you are good, but you tell whole story, all sides. Showing that you are honest and see fully other beasts." The marten shrugged. "Sorry, I wish my Vulpinsulan better, could explain with better words."

---

Caden thought he had offended Daniil by the touch that had seemed so casual to him, especially after all they had been through together. He made to pull his paw away, but when the todd stopped him, he lost all concept of understanding what was happening in that moment.

"Daniil, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be too forward. I thought that--" What did he think? He was not entirely certain he knew. So few words had passed between them as to what they were to each other, and so much of their relationship had been dictated by violent circumstances and urgency and the necessity for physical contact within those scenarios. But there had been the kiss on the cheek, the nuzzling, the holding each other--moments stolen in the heat of moving from one thing to the next and the comedown from the heights of traumatic events. This voluntary touch here in the quiet and intimacy of the lounge seemed perhaps altogether more and very different to the inexperienced fox in a way that Caden, with his numerous and diverse experience in such realms, was unable to comprehend.

Slowly, gently, he reminded himself. "It's okay, Daniil," he said softly. "I know you're nervous. I am, too. I just show it in a different way; I hide it behind looking like I know what I'm supposed to say and do. You can talk to me. I certainly won't judge you."

 

[Daniil Ryalor]

Morgan seemed to be getting frustrated as well, not with Asta, but with herself. "I don't... Look, I'm..." She gestured vaguely with her paw before venting, "I hear someone call me 'pretty' and it makes me feel like a liar, okay? Strong too. I ain't strong. I'm a coward. I always feel like I'm hiding, I just don't know from who or what for. I pretend to be strong, but it's all an act, and if anybeast gets too close I have to shove them away before it slips, before they see what they all eventually see: a screw-up. Someone not worth the time and effort. Someone who's broken, a burden, someone to just..." Her voice broke, tears starting to well up in her eyes as she choked out, "Someone to toss out, again."

~~~

Daniil seemed to be on the verge of either hyperventilating or spontaneously combusting. Amazingly, though, Caden's gentle words seemed to be bringing him down from both. He actually managed to get a full breath in at one point, and his heart rate might even have lowered to the point of not being an imminent threat to his cardiovascular health. "I- I- Caden, I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted. "All of this, I've... I never - I've never even..." he blushed before he looked away, his words a mere mumble. "I've never - not on the lips, never kissed... Never even held paws with someone like..." The blush was reaching the tips of his ears now. "I know you were married, you had him, you've... you know what you're doing, and I..." His tongue seemed to be swelling up in his mouth, mangling his words.

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

Asta unfolded her legs and scooted forward on the bench towards Morgan until she was close enough to the ferret to reach out and put a paw on her shoulder. "I no seeing a screw-up. I seeing a friend who needing a hug. Can I?"

---

"Oh, Daniil. Do you think I care about all that?" Caden set his wine down. He turned the paw beneath Daniil's so that he could intertwine his fingers with the todd's. Shifting to face Daniil, the jack gave a small squeeze of his paw. "There, see? Now you've held somebeast's paw. Breathe into that a bit, just in and out a few times with me."

As he did to calm himself when panic set in, Caden took a deep inhale, followed by a slow exhale. He watched the todd as he repeated the process several times before he spoke again. "I very much like holding your paw, Daniil, if you must know. We can just keep it at that for now if anything else seems like too much. I'm in no hurry, truly. If it helps to hear, I'd never been in a romantic relationship before Einar. I had other, uh, experiences with beasts before that, but I had no idea whatsoever what I was doing when it came to romance. So you're in good company."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan turned her gaze to Asta, probably trying to glare at the offer, but the eye contact made through the haze of tears was enough to break her will. She turned and leaned into the embrace, breaking down sobbing. "What's wrong with me?" she choked out. "Why am I like this? Everything feels fake. I only feel real when I'm on the ground, getting my face kicked in."

~~~

Daniil's blush subsided as Caden's breathing exercises succeeded in calming him. The fox's ears twitched, slightly embarrassed as Caden obliquely alluded to his own history, but at least not pulling away. "I..." Why did he feel so juvenile? He wished that Mileya had stayed a little longer on her last visit; while she'd prodded him about his most recent endeavors, he'd kept tight-lipped about Caden, not wanting to deal with her overbearing but well-intentioned advice and assistance while confined to a hospital bed. Now he figured he could have used her assistance. "I like this, Caden." He oh-so-slightly squeezed Caden's pawfingers between his own. "I like us. I don't know what to do about it." It was a painful admission to make. "Can beasts like us work? I know your family and mine had their troubles in our mothers' generation. There's plenty who would tell you that Ryalors are trouble, that we never make our partners anything but miserable. I..." He blushed as he looked down. "I don't want to feel like I'm taking Einar away from you. I never want you to feel like I'm robbing you of that love you have for him. If being with me would make you unhappy, then... then I don't want that."

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

Asta wrapped her arms around Morgan and held her. She wished her father was there to help. Asta recalled many long conversations with him about Caden, who had expressed similar sentiments as Morgan the first several years he had come to be in their family. At times things had been very difficult as he struggled with acclimating to a peaceful life. She closed her eyes and tried to remember Einar's wisdom about beasts who had been through the type of difficult early years Morgan had survived.

"Nothing wrong with you. Maybe...maybe feeling fake because when you being young, you only knew fighting and life being hard." The language barrier made it feel as though she was explaining herself through sludge. She gave up and spoke in Varangian.

"Caden told me some of your past, and it sounds like you went through hell and back as a young beast. You had to put on a strong face even though you were scared when you were younger, because showing weakness meant you would be taken advantage of. Fighting, struggling, surviving, that was everything you knew. Beasts who should have been caring for you hurt you and abandoned you. Those feelings don't just go away when you get somewhere safe. I saw the same things with Caden when he came to be with my father. It took him years to feel like he could finally relax fully with us, and even then, he says it's like all that is still there, he's just built himself up around it so he has more to himself than just the anger and fear to fall back on. You're not broken, Morgan, and there's nothing wrong with you. You've just been through a lot and have been hurt by life and by others."
Her paw ran gently up and down Morgan's back. "Sorry, hard to explaining in Vulpinsulan."

---

For a few moments there, Caden had forgotten. Well, perhaps not fully forgotten, but in the efforts of calming Daniil and the prospect of more closeness, the past and the complications had slipped away from the forefront of Caden's mind. At mention of their mothers, the marten suppressed a flinch as doubt at his course of action slipped back in. He could at least focus well enough on the latter portion of Daniil's statement while he decided what to do about the former.

"It's very kind of you to think of my feelings for him," he said. "I will always love him, of course. He'll always be with me in some way. But that doesn't mean I can't..." 'Gates, he felt himself choking up unexpectedly. The feelings were surfacing rapidly, not entirely unbidden, but he would have preferred to exhibit more control over himself instead of suddenly finding himself crying at the prospect of admitting to Daniil how he felt. Using his free paw to wipe at his eyes before the tears could begin to roll down his cheeks, he managed to press on. "That doesn't mean I can't love you, too, Daniil. I know Ryalors are trouble, but so am I. Everyone remembers my mother as this grand hero of the Imperium, but she was half-mad from what I recall. And my father? Someone seems to have re-written the history on him, because from what I remember he was one among several who had plans to make a bid for the throne, which is what got him killed."

He ran his paw through his headfur, trying to calm himself. "What I'm trying to say, Daniil, is that our past and families don't have to define us or who we can be to each other. I honestly have been drawn to you since the first day we met at the Ministry. I like us, too. We can do whatever we want to about it, and we can decide together what that looks like."

 

[Daniil Ryalor]

Morgan listened as Asta reverted to her native tongue, some of the words eluding the ferret's discrete understanding, but the meaning washing over her nonetheless. At Asta's apology she waved a paw, dismissing it. "All good," she responded, digesting the statement bit by bit. It tusseled uneasily in her stomach with the guilt and negativity already there, which she supposed was probably a good sign. "Thanks," she managed at last, looking up at Asta. "I still don't know what to do about Vihma though. I mean, I'm really a mess, right? And I don't want to mess up with her. I mean, what if she's not interested? Or worse, if she is, and then finds out how much work it is, being with me? It's a lot to consider."

~~~

Daniil's eyes started to water in sympathy with Caden's emotions, and as Caden ran his paw through his headfur in agitation, the fox squeezed the one resting on his leg. At the offer to figure out what they would look like together, he blushed and glanced down at their intertwined pawfingers.

"I like you too, Caden," he said softly. He hesitated before adding, "I don't know what I'm doing, and, well, I'm a little scared of doing something wrong out of ignorance. If you don't mind teaching me, well, everything, then..." He looked up at Caden, eyes shimmering with the film of tears. "Then I'd really like to figure it out with you."

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

"A mess?" Asta shrugged. "We all being messes, I think. If she not being interested, then that is okay. Hard, but okay. Can still be friends, ja? If she being interested, then you being honest with her about you. Hoping she honest with you about her, too. It work, being with another beast like that. I saw it with my father and Caden, they doing so much work to be together. If you wanting help on being a mess, talk to Caden. He being very big mess when meeting my father, and for years after." She squeezed Morgan's shoulder encouragingly. "If Vihma liking you, and you liking her, then you at least trying, ja?"

---

At Daniil's direct admission of his interest in Caden, the marten felt his chest tighten. He was unsure if it was anxiety or excitement. The two emotions reverberated so similarly when it came to his feelings for this particular todd. "I will gladly guide you. It would be my pleasure, really. Though you don't have to worry about doing things wrong." Caden turned his paw in Daniil's and used his thumb to gently run along the fox's knuckles as he recalled a sentiment Einar had shared with him some years ago when he expressed insecurity about romance.

"It's less like a fight where you have to worry about making one wrong move and finding yourself injured or killed. It's more like art--a song or dance, a painting or poetry--where there is room to move and flow and interpret as you go without the stakes being life or death." Lifting the todd's paw, Caden brought his lips ever-so-softly to it and lingered there for a moment before looking up into Daniil's eyes, lips quirked into a gentle smile. "Who knows, maybe you'll teach me a thing or two along the way as we figure it out together."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan winced at Asta's characterization. "I can try," she allowed. "Can't say I'm thrilled at the possibility of it being work, but..." She sighed, ruffling her hair with a paw. "I guess that's why it's always been a disaster before. I never wanted to put the effort in." She looked to Asta, nodding her agreement. "I'll give it a try," she promised. "And sure, if your old man can help, I'll talk to him. I mean, from what Mum said about this Daniil guy, it sounds like Caden has his work cut out for him too."

~~~

Daniil blushed nearly crimson as Caden kissed his paw, but this time he was at least able to maintain eye contact. "I... I'd like that a lot, Caden," he murmured. Suddenly remembering something, he stated, "Wait just a moment, please. I forgot something." He stood up and hurriedly went to find his coat, then returned with a small, folded piece of paper. He blushed as he sat back down, then handed it to Caden. "I wrote this for you, last time I was in the hospital," he explained. He blushed a bit as he waited for Caden to read it.

Silk strands gathered, shimmering, pure
The weaver's paws a thread create
Thread to shimmering bolt, thin as light
Lightly gathered 'tween fingers splayed
Each layer gathers, its own lure
To fold itself, air to steel translate
Moonlit snow to winter flashing bright
None see softness in the silken blade

He blushed as Caden read it. "Fyadorian poetry doesn't always translate well," he admitted. "I struggled a bit making it work in Vulpinsulan. I'm not as familiar with poetry here."

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

"It work but it good work." Asta watched as a blue butterfly landed on a nearby flower, its wings opening and closing. "At least, that what Caden and my father saying. I not knowing myself." She began to say more on the subject, then frowned and shook her head, turning her eyes back to Morgan. Thoughts of romance and all that it entailed, while once had been very enticing to the young jill, brought up difficult and complicated memories that she preferred to keep locked away, only to be brought out very carefully. She shifted her attention to a comment Morgan had made.

"What your Mum saying about Daniil?"

---

In the minute Caden had to himself within the lounge, he tossed back the rest of his wine. The doubt-spurred-on-by-guilt that had been creeping up his chest and had been temporarily halted as he professed his feelings to Daniil, once more latched its icy fingers into him. His heart was hammering, and despite the wine his mouth had gone dry. He made a tight fist with his right paw, focusing on the sharp ache that the movement sent through his injured forearm as he inhaled to a slow count of three and exhaled to the same count. It helped somewhat, but by the time Daniil entered the room again, Caden felt himself beginning to slip into mild dissociation as he tried unsuccessfully to reconcile the conflict within himself. He poured himself another glass of wine, hoping the first glass would hit him soon.

With a smile, he took the folded piece of paper and leaned his shoulder against Daniil, seeking comfort from physical contact with the fox. "I think you did wonderfully," he said after he had read through the poem twice. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

Caden flattened his ears in embarrassment, his blush apparent. "I confess that, while I enjoy poetry, unless somebeast hits me over the head with the meaning of a poem, what it represents often eludes me. As is probably obvious, I spent more time in my martial studies than the arts when I was of schooling age."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan's expression turned quizzical as something drifted across Asta's expression, but it was gone before she could inquire. Morgan's own expression turned sheepish as she was questioned about what she'd heard. "Oh, you know, just Mum and Mother talking," she recalled. "They talk about the old days a lot. Don't get her started on Armina Rogue - Mum loves to tell the story about how she met Armina once, and was on Armina's to-kill list. The way she tells it, you'd think she barely escaped being stabbed to death in an alley."

She shook her head and refocused. "Mum said that Daniil's got attachment issues from losing his mother at such an early age. She said that really, he should be learning how to be his own person, otherwise he'll just transfer those attachment issues to Caden and become super clingy and dependent." She gave a small shrug. "Mum likes to analyze beasts like that. It's not her job, she hasn't got any training for it, she just likes to think she knows beasts better than they know themselves."

~~~

Daniil turned pink as Caden complimented the poem. "Thank you. It's not the best translation," he repeated, "and I think I did better with it in Fyadorian. Imagery is very important in Fyadorian poetry; explicitly saying the meaning in the poem is considered crass. The first part is all about something soft, pure, beautiful: silk. The poem imagines a bolt of silk that is folded over and over again, so many times, that its edge becomes a blade. Everyone sees a weapon, but they miss that, when unfolded, all that beauty is just beneath the sharp edges." He blushed again, looking down at his paws. "It's a bit fanciful, I know."

 

[Caden S. Freemont]

"She sounds like she looking at beasts carefully," Asta said. "It something somebeasts learning from life. My father looking at beasts like that, too. Maybe why he being so good with Caden, because he can understanding some."

She glanced the way of the back door to the house. "Maybe it being okay with Caden and Daniil, though. Caden's mom died when he was young, too. She was someone important here and killed in, I think it was, ah, he called it Vinterkrig. So maybe he understanding how Daniil is feeling." Asta shook her head. "The Imperium seeming like it is difficult place to be living when they were young, beasts always trying to be killing each other and fighting."

---

Caden sipped at his wine and nudged Daniil gently with his arm. "It might not seem like it looking at me, but I like fanciful things, Daniil. Understanding the meaning more fully, I find it even more beautiful." He leaned forward to set the piece of paper down on the table and gathered his plate once more, placing a dumpling upon it.

"I know your life has been dedicated to being a protector in your family. It's a noble path you've been on." His gaze flicked momentarily to the sword upon the piano before he shifted so that he was turned partially towards Daniil, a bent leg propped gently on the todd's thigh. "Have you ever thought of hanging up your sword and pursuing another path? You have a way about you that reminds me a great deal of Einar and the sorts he associated with--bards, playwrights, poets, dancers, artists of all kinds. You seem to see the world in a way that I think many of us do not, and that's a gift, I think."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan nodded in agreement with Asta's assessment. "Yeah, Mum and Mother both said something like that as well," she agreed. "Apparently Mum saw the jack who raised her get stabbed to death in an alley in the Slups. Our first week here, we went and laid flowers in the spot, and she talked about him some. She did the same for a friend of hers who died in the Winter War." She shook her head, her gaze turning distant and haunted. "It's weird. I'd almost forgotten how dark things could get. I mean, living here, all of that... It feels like it belongs to another world. Then something happens, and it's like I'm right back in it." She sighed before adding, "Everyone on the crew had it worse. I got injured early, spent our last mission mostly in the infirmary. Everyone else... It's like night and day. You wouldn't believe the beasts who left the ship were the same ones who came back. 'Gates, too many returned in body bags."

She looked to Asta, quietly assessing her. "Sometimes distance helps," she remarked. "And sometimes it feels like fleeing to the moon wouldn't be far enough, you know?"

~~~

Daniil blushed, though this time seemingly with more embarrassment than anything else. "I don't know about that," he murmured, looking down at his paws, his pawfingers fiddling awkwardly as he sought some relief from the emotional intensity of the moment. "I... I took up the blade because, if anything ever happened again, if a threat came for my family, and I couldn't do anything to save them, then... then I couldn't forgive myself. 'Gates," he choked out, "I can hardly forgive myself each time you get injured on my account. What if I hung up my sword, and you died for it? I think I'd rather die myself."

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

Asta nodded. She looked eastward through the garden, not speaking for several long moments. "Ja, I knowing what you mean. Bad things happening in Varangia, that why we leaving to come here. It being a long voyage, almost a year. Still not seeming far enough sometimes." She tapped at her temple. "Up here, these bad things, they like yesterday sometimes, like I walking around the street corner and there they are again."

With a shrug and sigh, she turned to look upwards at the clouds shifting across the sky. "But it being good here now, ja? We having family and friends who love and care for us. You having your crew, I having the Philharmonic." Her eyes widened slightly and she reached out to tap Morgan on the leg. "Oh! You waiting here. I getting my lute. Playing you new song I wrote."

She leapt up and dashed to the back door of the condo, taking a full, graceful jump over a sizeable bush on her way.

---

Caden chided himself internally. He had been trying to compliment the todd, not send him into further anxiety. But of course, he realized too late, that he had touched upon the internal emotional chasm within Daniil that he had played a pivotal role in creating. He felt like running out of the condo, down the street, and jumping in the harbor. Let the tide carry him away from his absolute shame.

Instead, he moved closer to Daniil so he could send a paw around his shoulders and pull the fox against him in what he hoped was a comforting embrace. "That's a lot of weight to carry, Daniil. I--"

Asta burst into the room. She looked at them, eyes widening, and waved her paws in apology as she spoke rapidly in Varangian. "Beklager, beklager, jeg henter bare lutten min." Grabbing the lute from beside the piano, she strummed several chords and grinned at them as she danced lightly towards the doorway. "You two being very cute. Har dere kysset ennå?" The jill laughed and darted out of the room.

Caden ran a paw down his face. "'Gates. Sorry about that. She's, ah, very excited for us, I think." He managed a smile, though it was somewhat strained. "First time you came to the condo she told me that I had better keep you around. She thinks you're very cute, which I certainly agree with."

---

In the garden once more, Asta dashed back to Morgan's side, grinning. "Morgan! Guess what? Caden and Daniil are, uh, what is word, it like hugging, but they staying there."

 

[Daniil Ryalor]

Asta's interruption, it turned out, had been just what Daniil needed to shake him from his moroseness. He smiled as Asta tore through the room like a sudden gale, fleeing just as quickly. He chuckled, leaning into Caden and resting his head on the marten's shoulder. "As delightful as it is to hear, I think your concurrence means more to me," he murmured, settling his cheek on Caden. His paw moved to rest atop Caden's, the fox growing more comfortable with physically expressing affection by the minute. "If it matters," he remarked quietly, "around you, I feel safer than I have in... in thirty years. For the first time, I can let my guard down, and simply exist in this space. I can't tell you what that means to me."

~~~

Morgan grinned as Asta dashed back into the garden, lute in paw. "Cuddling?" she suggested. "Good, it sounds like they both need it." She bit her lip before a statement about what else they both needed could slip out as well. "I know it's been hard on Caden, after your dad," she ventured. "Is Daniil the first beast he's seen in this way since... since you lost him?"

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

Settling back on the bench beside Morgan, the jill deftly moved her fingers over the strings of the lute as she played a series of short, lilting phrases. She thought on Morgan's question.

"Ja, in romance way. We had stop in voyage in Alkamar. Caden went to, ah, I thinking it place where jacks meeting other jacks for, well, you know..." She missed a note and glanced down at her fingers with her nose wrinkled in discomfort. "But when he coming back to inn he more sad than when leaving. I thinking he scared to try romance again, love with another beast. Hoping it work with Daniil, I thinking he very good for Caden. It nice of your Mum and Mother to help them."

----

"I'm... I'm really glad to hear it, Daniil," Caden said through the lump in his throat. "It means a lot to me that you feel so safe, and I truly hope I keep living up to that for you. You deserve to be able to let your guard down and be at ease."

He nuzzled against Daniil's head where it rested on his shoulder, trying to ignore the guilt that seemed to have a mild chokehold on him. "I do have a question about that, actually, regarding your feeling safe and comfortable. Who are you out to? And who are you comfortable with knowing about us? I--I tend to be very open about my inclinations and relationships, so if you would like more discretion, I can certainly defer to your preference in that matter."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan nodded, blushing as she recalled her own terrifying first experience visiting such a place in Felmar. That was a different environment entirely; Felmar, with its heavily dogmatic culture, was not the most accepting of variance and diversity, and so such places tended to operate underground. Literally, in that case; it had been a midnight meeting in a coastal cave, lit by torchlight and everyone wearing tunics and masks. Morgan had been so nervous that she'd left without even partaking in any of the 'festivities'.

The ferret nodded in agreement with Asta's assessment. "Yeah, that's Mum and Mother," she agreed. "Mum definitely makes herself the 'mum friend' to everyone. It drives Mother crazy sometimes; she's more the cautious type, 'stranger danger' and all that. Still, I think it does them both good as well, to be able to help. Their own love story was a lot rougher than Daniil and Caden's, and I think it's healing for them as well, to be able to smooth the path for others." She chuckled as she added, "I think Mum is rooting for me to get together with Vihma, actually. She's made a lot of comments along the lines of 'who knows, maybe you'll have a girlfriend soon'. So, I guess you aren't alone."

~~~

Daniil tensed as a topic he should have expected, but somehow didn't, crept into the conversation. He slowly relaxed, his pawfingers still playing over Caden's. "My sister Mileya knows," he stated quietly. "She's kept that secret for me for several years now. She... She prefers being around todds and jacks like us, for reasons that really aren't for me to share. She's tried to set me up with someone a couple of times, but I've never accepted." He interlaced his pawfingers with Caden's as he continued. "Obviously Eirene and her family know and are fine, I trust them; I think that one hare from work, Dorian, is fine as well, I just don't know if he already knows. Alwyn..."

He hesitated before admitting, "I think Alwyn might suspect something, I just don't know if he knows. I think that he'd be fine with it, I just can't be sure. Even if he is, I'm not sure I want to tell him. He's terrible at keeping secrets from his mother, my Aunt Dusk, and while I don't think she'd share it, I really don't want to risk it getting out to my family. The Ryalors are a lot more conservative about that sort of thing. Not ideologically opposed," he clarified, "just... Bloodlines are everything to them, and even though I'm adopted, I've been fielding questions since I was eighteen about when I'll find a vixen and continue the family line. Honestly, it's part of why I don't spend much time in Westisle anymore. I love my family dearly, but..."

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

"She very sweet," Asta said. "Your Mum. And who knowing? Maybe you will getting together with Vihma." She winked, grinning. "If you wanting help, maybe me and Caden coming over and cooking for you two. I playing nice music, too."

She finger-picked several bars of a hauntingly beautiful melody. "That part of new song. It about the sea and sailing, from the voyage. Maybe you and Vihma liking, being sailors."

----

Caden listened, carefully cataloguing the information Daniil shared. "But sometimes even when you love family, you need to be your own beast, even if it goes against tradition and expectations," he finished for the todd. "I understand. Why do you think I ran away across the world for twenty years? Not that much of my family is left. Well, half of it is gone. The Freemonts, I am still not sure how to approach." He paused, squeezing Daniil's paw.

"Sorry, I think the wine has hit me. I'm getting distracted. I'll follow your lead on the matter of sharing our relationship, and I'll be sure to practice discretion in public. Our homes and the homes of our confidants can be where we can be fully ourselves." Caden lifted his head and looked at Daniil. "You know, I don't think I know where you live."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan grinned, nodding in confirmation of Asta's conjecture. "It sounds great so far," she confirmed. "Hey, maybe if you perform someplace, we could come support you. We've got a friend in the crew, Silvie, who plays too; you might be able to start up a duo."

~~~

Daniil turned pink at Caden's question. He looked away, coughed awkwardly, and mumbled, "I'm living in the barracks right now."

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

"Silvie!" Asta beamed. "I meeting Silvie, I think. Silvertongue Songfox, ja? We playing in Bilge together one time." She tapped at her lute. "He using his lute like weapon to save me from bad beasts in crowd. Very good fox, playing lute nice, too. Caden telling me not to go there, but I heard much about it. Had to see it."

Strumming quietly through several chords, Asta scrunched her nose. "I liking Frog's Gizzard more. Beasts nicer there. Maybe Silvie playing together with me there, instead. Do you knowing any good places?"

---

Caden blinked in surprise. "The barracks? I mean, no judgment, they're economical after all, but Daniil, you don't seem like the sort who would particularly thrive in that environment. If it's not moving too quickly with things, you're welcome here anytime." He gave the fox's shoulder a squeeze and continued before he could talk himself out of furthering the offer.

"We have a guest room, or...well, if you want to stay with me in my room, you can." His voice had gotten quiet as insecurity and fear warred with desire inside him. He added hastily, "Not that we have to, you know, nothing like that, unless you want to; I'd be fine with whatever you're comfortable with. But, um, yes, just thought I'd offer, as I'd enjoy having you here, and it might be more pleasant than the barracks."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan chuckled and gave a small shrug. "Do I know any good places? I know some fun places, which kinda means they aren't very good places. The Frog's Gizzard is nice though, a lot more respectable than the Bilge. I actually applied to be a bouncer there, and they wouldn't take me because I wasn't respectable enough, if that tells you anything. It's just as well, I'm loving life in the navy. You know," she added, "you could always come perform on ship when we're in harbor. I'm sure that Silvie could talk the captain into a guest performance, y'know, for morale. Or we just drag the whole crew to cheer for you at the Gizzard instead."

~~~

Daniil's cheeks flushed with embarrassment of a different sort than that which had so often befallen him in Caden's presence. "I haven't really settled much while I'm here," he admitted. "I didn't bring much with me, just some clothes and a few mementos, and the guard barracks were available, so..." He shrugged before turning a bit pink again, looking to Caden with curiosity and trepidation. "Is that offer serious?" he inquired. "I... I can help with rent, I'm very happy to pay my share. I don't want to be a burden or an imposition to you and Asta."