Leiyu got up early in the morning and slipped on his robe that had been lying on the floor.  They had both fallen asleep last night very quickly and were still clammy.  He heated some water and filled the wooden tub on the other side of the cottage.  Afterward, he went over to the bed.  Thallios was tangled up in the blanket with his long auburn hair sprawled over the sheets.  Leiyu found it very endearing.

“Hey, good morning,” he whispered.

“Hmm?”

“I prepared a bath.”

“Mm.”

Leiyu smiled and gently placed his hands underneath Thallios.  He lifted him up and held him close.  Thallios opened his eyes and leaned into Leiyu’s chest.  When they reached the bathtub, Leiyu placed Thallios slowly into the water.  He then took off his robe and went in.

Leiyu grabbed the small bar of soap next to the tub, dipped it in the water, and lathered up his hands.  He ran his soapy fingers through Thallios’ hair.  Thallios rested his head against Leiyu’s shoulder and smiled.

“Leiyu?”

“Hm?”

“What Anying told us yesterday, it sounds like a good job opportunity.”

Leiyu frowned.  He tried to distract himself by putting water in his hands and rinsing Thallios’ hair.

“I don’t know,” he finally replied.  “If it was just me going, I’d take the job, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Thallios looked up at him.  “Leiyu, I’m not that helpless.  And we went through a lot already, traveling through all the different regions.”

“That was different.  We were being pursued so we had no choice.  It was pretty stressful.”  He caressed Thallios’ face.  “I lost you once…I don’t want that to happen again.”

Thallios kissed him.  “We do need money though.  We’re saving a lot by not living at inns, but we’ll run out eventually.”

Leiyu sighed and embraced him tightly.  “I don’t want you to have to worry about that…”

Thallios smiled.  “You always don’t want me to worry about the money.  But we’re still going to run out at some point.”

Leiyu leaned his cheek against Thallios’ hair.  “It’s ironic that you worry so much about it when…”  He held his tongue, thinking it wise to not continue.

“When what?”

“Nothing.”

“When I grew up in a palace and didn’t have to think about it at all?”

“Mm.”  Leiyu’s shoulders sank.

“Don’t worry, I’m not offended if you were going to bring that up.  I don’t wish to return to that life anyway.”  Thallios put his arms around Leiyu’s shoulders.  “Trying to maintain that level of extravagance was likely what led my father to order the invasion of the Southern Region in the first place.”

“Oh?”

Thallios sighed.  “Lord Oganesson used to tell me that I needed to pay more attention to my history lessons if I was going to be ruler someday.  I used to get bored during those lessons and he assumed I didn’t care.  He wasn’t wrong - I really didn’t care that much back then.  It was just memorizing names of kings, battles, who took what territory from whom, and who took it back decades later.  But I didn’t forget what he taught me.  Oh…I’m talking about the past again, aren’t I?”

“No, it’s fine.  I said I’d listen.”

“These people, these faceless names in the history books, they always fought over the same things.  Resources.  Money.  Land.  My father unified the entire Western Region.  It was all small kingdoms before that.  My mother helped him with her magic of course - he couldn’t have done it all alone.  And they had the Sword of Ages - at least that’s what the voice back in the cave told me last year.”

Leiyu remembered the cave in the mountains.  It had been a terrifying experience for Thallios and left him shaken for a long time afterward.  It had been horrifying for him as well, seeing Thallios swallowed up by the mysterious dark cocoon and not knowing if he’d be able to get him out.

“Anyway, the point I was trying to make, before going off on a tangent, is that not having enough money, or resources or whatever, leads people to do very rash things, and sometimes the results are devastating.  So yes, I do worry about us not having enough money.  Especially since I am not able to contribute to our income.”

Leiyu’s eyes widened and he felt a terrible pain in his chest.  “I-I would never harm you-”

“Oh!  Please don’t take it the wrong way!  I wasn’t implying anything about you.  You’ve always taken care of me and treated me so well, even when we barely had anything.  Maybe I’m just worried because I am still completely dependent on you for everything.  I know you want to take care of me and make me happy, but I still feel so helpless…”

Leiyu held him tighter.  “I’m sorry…”

“What?  No!  No…I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have brought this up.  You’re just trying to take care of me this morning and I’m just rambling on and on…”

“No, it’s fine.  I want to hear you speak.  I noticed you were quiet yesterday after Anying told us about the job.  Has this been on your mind since then?”

“Somewhat.  Although you did distract me pretty well last night.”  Thallios grinned.

Leiyu’s face flushed.  “Was last night okay?  You don’t feel sore?”

Thallios shook his head.  “Not much.”

Leiyu caressed his face and kissed his forehead.

Thallios grinned mischievously.  “We could switch roles next time.”

Leiyu’s eyes widened.

“Or not.  We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Ah…it’s okay, I’m not disagreeing.  I was just surprised you’d suggest that.”

Thallios giggled.  “Maybe I’m just being silly.”

Leiyu felt his heart melt.  He had forgotten how whimsical Thallios was when they first met.  He remembered how Thallios crossdressed to evade the palace guards so that they could go out and see the city during the first day of the Summer Festival.

“Leiyu?”

“Hm?”

“What if you trained me again?  You did that before.  When we were in the Northern steppes.”

“Ah yes, I did.  I remember back then you were also worried about being completely dependent on me.”

“Was I?  I guess I did say that.”

“Mm…can you swim though?  Anying said this job will be at sea.”

“Didn’t I rescue you when we went over the waterfall?”

“That was when you were Amara.”

“I could probably learn.”

Leiyu smiled at first, but then his face fell.

“Something wrong?” Thallios asked.

“Are you… really not happy here?”

Thallios’ eyes widened.  “No! I like it here!  Why do you ask?  It’s not because of everything I’ve just said, is it?  I’m sorry!”

“You seem very interested in the job and you just asked me to train you again.”

“Well, it’s a good opportunity…and you like traveling.  If you’re afraid of leaving me here by myself - which I wouldn’t want you to do anyway - I’ll just go with you.”

“I just…want you to be safe…”

“They’re not mutually exclusive.”

“You sound like Amara.”

“Ah…do I?” Thallios sighed.

Leiyu looked at him pensively.  “I thought…that after all those near-death experiences we went through last year, you’d just want to settle down somewhere nice and quiet.  But maybe I was assuming too much.  Maybe that was just…what I wanted…because I thought it would keep you safe.  I was willing to give up traveling the world to just live a simple life here with you.  But if that’s not what you really want…”

“Leiyu…” Thallios looked like he was about to cry.  “I just want to be with you.  It doesn’t matter where…”

“Aiya, I’m upsetting you.  I’m sorry.”  Leiyu brushed away the tears that were starting to form in Thallios’ eyes.  “I want you to be safe…but I also don't want you to feel stifled.  Otherwise, it would be just like how your father never let you leave the palace because he thought you’d be protected that way.  And this cottage is way smaller than the palace.”

Leiyu pulled Thallios in and rested his chin on Thallios’ shoulder.

“Come to think of it, I never even take you with me to the market.  I always assumed it would be more convenient if I went by myself since it takes a long time to get there and back.  I was also afraid that the townspeople would stare and harass you because you’re a foreigner.  But leaving you alone in the cottage isn’t that safe either, even with those alarm talismans I’ve set up.  We’re pretty far away from anything, but what if roaming bandits found you?  Or a mage who can destroy those talismans.  Like that Astatine guy…”

“Ah…I remember him…”

“That man was frighteningly strong.  I did feel sorry for him when he told me what happened to his family.  But he also threw me into the river and you had to rescue me.”

Thallios smiled.  “That was Amara rescuing you.”

“Yeah…you know what was also scary?  I think he was obsessed with you.”

“Oh?  Well, his mission was to bring me back to the Earth Priestess and he chased us down from the Northern to the Eastern Region.”

“Sure, but beyond that.  I think he had some kind of personal obsession with you.  There was something he said when he held me captive that really unnerved me.  I never told you before.”

“Oh?  What did he say?”

“He said he knew why I really wanted to protect you.”

“And?”

“I still remember what he said verbatim.  ‘Because…he is so beautiful…and why wouldn’t you want to protect someone so precious?’”

Thallios’ eyes widened.  “Oh…”

“He was also spying on us through that damned bird of his.  That was just…incredibly creepy.”

“And you think he became obsessed with me because of all that spying?”

“Probably.  He wasn’t wrong though, about that.”

“About what?”

Leiyu leaned back and looked into Thallios’ eyes.  “That you’re beautiful.”

Thallios blushed.  Leiyu cupped his face and touched their foreheads together.

“And that’s what frightened me the most.  That I wasn’t able to defeat him.  I was scared he was going to take you away and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Leiyu…”

“But…maybe you didn’t find him as frightening since you ended up defeating him, as Amara.”

“Ah…I still feel bad about setting him on fire…even if it was to save you…”

“Well, the Earth Priestess told you he lived, right?”

“Yeah, but still…”

“To be honest, I shot down some desert bandits with arrows when I rescued the caravan that I ended up becoming the bodyguard of.  I don’t think those bandits lived.  At least that’s what their leader said.”

“But you were rescuing innocent people.”

“I know…and the caravan merchants thanked me for saving their lives as well.  But if you’re still feeling bad about what you - or Amara - did, at least you know Astatine survived.”

“Leiyu…” Thallios leaned into him and closed his eyes.

Leiyu held him tighter.  “You know, now that we’ve discussed all this, maybe it is a good idea to train you so you can defend yourself, in case we ever run into anyone that powerful in the future.  Who knows, maybe someday you’ll regain all your powers and surpass me.”

Thallios’ face lit up.  He kissed Leiyu.  “Thank you!  When do we start?”

So eager, Leiyu thought.  “We can start today, after we finish washing up and have some breakfast.   Can’t train on an empty stomach.”