Seeing is Believing (38 page)

Kinsu huffed indignantly. He really didn't want to
say
it. Lenol would laugh at him. "You're… obvious. I think."

"About what?" Lenol asked, exasperated as he tried to wrap the bandage around Kinsu's arm. "Hold the end."

"Okay." Kinsu held the end of the fabric bandage against his arm, watching Lenol loop the bandage around once to pin it in place.

"About what?" Lenol repeated when Kinsu didn't say anything more. Kinsu shifted nervously in place. He wasn't going to say it. Making a face, he peered at Lenol suspiciously. Lenol just stared back blankly, his fingers warm against Kinsu's arm.

"Just … you are." Kinsu sighed, wishing he hadn't brought it up. He was curious though, about what Lenol had thought. "You … you touch me a lot. You're nice to me. You didn't run off or anything. You've been protecting me."

"Oh." Lenol's eyebrows rose for a moment and then he grinned. "Obvious, am I?"

"Yes." Kinsu stuck out his tongue. "Very."

"And you don't mind?" Lenol questioned cautiously, tucking the edge of the bandage under the loops around Kinsu's arm.

"Ah, no." Kinsu flushed again, moving to tuck the bandage more neatly. Lenol really did suck at bandaging. "I mean, I was trying to be obvious, too?"

"Oh, you were, were you?" Lenol grinned, letting his hand slip down Kinsu's arm to wrap around Kinsu's hand.

"I was shirtless in your presence multiple times," Kinsu told him solemnly, and Lenol laughed, squeezing his fingers lightly.

"Yes, I remember that." Lenol let go of Kinsu's hand to tug at the gnarled shirt fabric wrapped around Kinsu's right arm.

"Ow." Kinsu hissed, making a face. "But what did you think I was talking about?"

"Nothing." Lenol tried, pulling the stiff fabric away from where it'd glued itself to Kinsu's arm. Kinsu winced, and kicked Lenol in the shin.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not." Lenol muttered, picking up the handkerchief again. "Hold still."

"I told you." Kinsu ignored him, eyeing the gash in his arm with a grimace. "You have to tell me."

"I don't." Lenol sighed, the cloth pausing as Kinsu caught his eyes. "How much do you remember of last night?"

"Um." Kinsu blinked, thrown a little. "From when? After I met up with you at that tavern?"

"After Kell and his magician caught up with us." Lenol set aside the handkerchief and straightened, his back cracking twice.

"Kell tried to kill me," Kinsu stated. "Again. Knocked me and him off the pier, into the water. I would've drowned, thank you for jumping in after me. That water was
cold
and how the hell did you lose your pants?" Kinsu demanded, watching Lenol carefully.

"What else?" Lenol prompted, settling next to Kinsu on the small, narrow bed. Kinsu twisted towards him, fighting a silly smile when his leg brushed against Lenol's.

"You got me out of the water and then you were without pants." Kinsu grinned. "I liked that part."

"You don't remember—"

"I'm skipping the Kell bit because I don't want to think about it." Kinsu told him firmly, thrusting his arm back at Lenol. "Fix it."

"Right." Lenol muttered, retrieving the handkerchief.

"There was … I thought I was imagining that you …" Kinsu peered at Lenol suspiciously. "Did you have a tail? Because you were swimming oddly and it didn't seem right and that would explain the pantslessness thing."

"Kinsu—"

"And I wouldn't care?" Kinsu tried, wondering why Lenol was so stressed about it. If he
did
have a tail. "Though I could've been—but you did say blood loss, and that's what I was thinking, except I threw the harpoon well enough so I wasn't seeing things. How did you have a tail?"

Lenol didn't answer straight away, occupying himself with cleaning Kinsu's arm. Kinsu opened his mouth again, ready to try something else because Lenol was just clamming up with this approach.

"Because I was in the water." Lenol sighed, finishing setting aside the thoroughly dirtied handkerchief and snagging the second roll of linen. "Whenever my lower half is submerged it … My legs change, so that I can swim properly."

"Properly?" Kinsu pressed, holding the end of the bandage like he had for his other arm.

"Yes, properly." Lenol favored him with a ghost of his usual smile.

"But how? Are you—I didn't think mermaids existed." Kinsu beamed. "That's cool. Wait, is this how you do the magic-blocking thing? Do all mermaids or just you? Is that like, the equivalent of a mermaid mage?"

"I'm not a mer
maid
." Lenol retorted, offended and obviously no small part relieved. "I'm a merman."

Kinsu snickered, watching as Lenol tucked the end of the bandage under the rest of it. Lenol let go of his arm and Kinsu snagged a hand because he'd be damned if he was going to let Lenol sneak off now.

"But yes, it's why I can do the blocking. And it's something all merpeople do." Lenol grinned and shifted closer to Kinsu on the bed so that their thighs touched lightly. Kinsu fought the urge to fidget, because this was what he'd wanted, even if he was utterly unused to Lenol's closeness.

"That's neat," Kinsu told Lenol solemnly. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Not something I usually share." Lenol frowned with a little shrug. "And, well, this makes me not human."

"Uh … so? You look human to me. Um … you are … you have all the right parts, right?" Kinsu asked, flushing. Lenol started laughing, and Kinsu ducked his head, embarrassed as Lenol
kept
laughing.

"Yes." Lenol gasped out, still snickering. "You saw me without pants, and you have to ask?"

"Well, I didn't
look,
" Kinsu told him, with the most offended tone he could muster. "And then I passed out."

Lenol laughed again, dropping an arm around Kinsu's shoulders and pulling him into a quick half-hug. "Don't worry. I'll give you plenty of opportunities to see for yourself later."

"Yay," Kinsu deadpanned, flushing again. Lenol raised his eyebrows, leaning close and peering at Kinsu.

"That didn't sound enthusiastic," Lenol grumbled, and Kinsu grinned slyly.

"It wasn't meant to," he told Lenol, in a whisper as Lenol's proximity seemed to encourage that volume.

"Why not?" Lenol whispered back, his face too close. Only an inch from Kinsu's, and Kinsu was going cross-eyed trying to maintain eye contact.

"Um." Kinsu shrugged, and Lenol grinned.

"I'll chalk it up to lack of experience," Lenol decided magnanimously. "But we'll fix that."

Kinsu's eyes widened in surprise as he registered what Lenol was suggesting, but then Lenol was kissing him, soft and sweet. Kinsu melted into it, because he'd been wanting this for ages. Lenol's lips were rough and slightly chapped, but he kissed wonderfully, guiding Kinsu easily with lips and tongue and a soft hand on his cheek, stealing his breath and wits at the same time.

"Oh, not fair," Kinsu breathed, narrowing his eyes at Lenol suspiciously. "You were looking to do that."

"So?" Lenol grinned, and kissed him again. Kinsu decided he had a point, mostly because he didn't really want Lenol to stop kissing him, since that was much,
much
better than worrying about Kell or Lenol's fishy bits.

Zhou sighed, tugging at the embroidered silk jacket he wore. The dragons chasing each other up and down the sleeves stood out glaringly, embroidered in bright gold against the somber red. Lóng would find the outfit hilarious, the bastard.

Wandering out into the vacant gardens, Zhou crossed his arms. Maybe Lóng wouldn't notice. Zhou rolled his eyes; wishful thinking, but maybe he could distract the dragon before he commented. Or after he commented.

Pausing before the ornate and ugly statue that the garden was built around, Zhou flopped on the grass. Likely he'd gotten streaks of grass on the knees of his red silk trousers, but he didn't care.

"Oh, less-than-honorable and downright annoying protector of my ancestors and irritant to my daily life, I summon thee. Not for anything painful, I swear." Zhou intoned, boredly, smirking slightly.

"That wasn't very sincere." Lóng observed, wandering out from behind his statue. Zhou shrugged.

"Don't care." Zhou blinked up at the dragon. Lóng tsked.

"Spoiled child," Lóng murmured, looking thoughtful. "Well, that deserves punishment."

"Oh, really?" Zhou raised an eyebrow. "You're how old? You'd have to catch me first."

"Fft. What's a few hundred years?" Lóng brushed it off casually. "Though, in light of your respectful tunic …"

"Mother's idea," Zhou stated immediately, as Lóng joined him on the ground. "Apparently it's good luck."

"Cute," Lóng murmured, tilting his head slightly. "Four claws, hmm?"

"Yes." Zhou sighed. "She was threatening to put me in three, but father talked her out of it."

Lóng snickered. "It's garish."

"I know." Zhou shrugged.

"Well, we'll just have to get rid of it now. Can't go offending the dragon." Lóng smirked, reaching for the clasps on the jacket.

"Don't you care why I was sent out here?" Zhou asked, scooting away from Lóng's clawed fingertips.

"No, not really." Lóng blinked at him. "Why? Is someone dying?"

"No." Zhou paused. "Father wants to send me away."

Lóng's expression darkened. "No."

Zhou sighed, running his hand through his neatly combed hair. "I don't know that he, or I, have a choice."

"Explain," Lóng demanded, sitting up straight.

"You know of our attempts to form an alliance with the Westerners?" Zhou sighed. "Well, they want a token of our furthered nonaggression. Namely, a swap. Their prince will be sent here for a few months, and I'll go there for a few months. Until things are more settled."

"I dislike it," Lóng stated immediately.

"He wants me to take the protection of the family with me." Zhou smiled sweetly.

"Oh." Lóng frowned. "That's different. Why didn't you say that to begin with?"

"I was getting there." Zhou smiled, laughing as Lóng lunged at him and knocked him flat against the grass. It was little wonder his mother thought he spent his time out here practicing sparring moves, with the grass stains.

"Next time get there faster. When do we leave?" Lóng demanded, unclasping Zhou's jacket.

"In a week's time," Zhou murmured, threading his hands into Lóng's hair, carefully avoiding the sharp, pointed ears.

"Lovely," Lóng growled, claiming Zhou's mouth in a possessive kiss.

"Want—mmm—you can be a servant." Zhou wriggled free. "If you want to play human. Be my manservant."

"I like that." Lóng smirked. "Lots of time alone." Zhou nodded, wriggling free from the jacket and pulling Lóng close for another kiss. Lóng's sharp canines nipped at his lip, and Zhou smiled widely, happy Lóng had agreed. The dragon could be temperamental sometimes.

"Lóng?" Zhou called out tentatively, stepping into the rooms he'd been assigned. It was a suite of three large, overly decorated rooms. More space than he needed or was accustomed too, but there wasn't really any way to decline it politely. "Are you here?"

The foyer room was filled with bright colors, but still, he couldn't pick out Lóng anywhere. Moving forward, he stepped into the bedroom, pulling the sticks that held his hair in the formal style out as he did so.

The bedroom had more muted colors, at least, with cool blues and accenting greens. Lóng wasn't in here either, and Zhou wondered where he'd gotten to. The dragon tended to stay around while Zhou was busy meeting and socializing with the Western nobles.

"That took too long." Lóng's voice preceded him out of the third room, the large, spacious bath that Zhou had wanted to take with him when he left. "You should've been back hours ago."

"I know." Zhou shrugged. "I think one of them is trying to get me to marry her daughter."

"No," Lóng replied swiftly.

Zhou laughed, crossing the room slowly and working at the clasps of the top layer of his tunics as he went. "I told her I would have to consult with my family. Who, of course, will consult with the family guardian."

"Mmm, I think he'll decline." Lóng smirked, showing off his teeth. The dragon had taken human form, most of the time looking like an unremarkable servant. When they were alone, however, he let the little things slip—his teeth, his ears.

Zhou laughed again, letting Lóng slip the formal jacket off his shoulders. "I should hope so."

"So hope," Lóng murmured, stealing a sharp-toothed kiss as he worked at the next layer to Zhou's formal outfit. "I think I'll make my displeasure at formal outfits be known the next time your father consults me."

"He'd probably love that," Zhou replied, stepping close and wrapping himself around Lóng. Pressing his face into Lóng's neck, Zhou breathed in slowly. "You smell nice."

"Do I." Lóng sounded amused, his fingers slipping into Zhou's tunic. "You have a dinner in half an hour."