Retribution [malexmale]

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

After Atlan left, Dorean and I moved everything to the kitchen to clean up while Kiraka watched us from his perch on the cupboard set across the kitchen.

"You looked uncomfortable tonight." Dorean commented as he placed a stack of plates in the cupboard over his head. I shut the dishwasher after stocking it up, hitting the power button before looking at Dorean with a frown.

"Was it that noticable?" I asked. I hoped Atlan hadn't picked up on it. Dorean gave me a droll look, though, as he shut the cupboard and leaned back on the counter, his tail twirling and wings fluttering lightly before settling into a folded position.

"Probably not to him, but to me it was," Dorean said with a frown, "Do you want to talk about it?" I hesitated, rubbing at the back of my neck before shaking my head at last. Dorean nodded in understanding and came over to wrap his arms around my waist. I leaned into him before hugging him, resting my head on top of his.

"I just wish this was all over." I muttered. Dorean nuzzled my chest.

"It's okay, kitty." He promised. I hung onto him a while longer before he stepped up and stood on his toes to kiss me. I kissed him back before he took me by the hand and led me to the bedroom where we got ready for bed. Dorean fell asleep before I did, curled up against me with his arm around me possessively. It was a nice comfort that at least someone was happy to have me alive right now.

From the sounds of it, a lot of people wanted me dead. Even the way Desiderius acted today. Something about him was off and I didn't trust him. He'd always been fiercely loyal to my father, so to see him object to something my father wanted to do? It sounded wrong. But then, it'd been several millennia since I had last conversed with Desiderius, so honestly, what did I know?

Nothing.

The only members of my family who remained the same as they were, were Lea, Zelus, and Zetnos. The rest of my siblings seemed hardened and crueler, even Teslius and Trilius, who'd been the clowns of the Khalian. I couldn't fault them for that considering how long they'd been imprisoned, but I still couldn't help the immense disappointment at the loss of my family.

It felt like I was reliving their deaths all over again.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly in pain when I felt something brush my forehead and I blinked, looking up to see that Kiraka had flown into the room and perched on the headboard of my bed. He nuzzled my head and purred before settling back on the headboard, curling up to sleep there. I smiled faintly at that before closing my eyes, taking three deep breathes to calm myself long enough to at least get some rest.

I was going to need it with this up-coming family drama.

In the morning, I woke up to Dorean snuggled up against my chest, my arms wrapped around him. I nuzzled his hair the instant I woke up, inhaling the deep warm scent of it. If I could describe Dorean's scent, it'd be comparable to sunshine. A warm fresh and crisp scent, clean and unsullied.

"Morning, kitty." Dorean murmured, a smile spreading across his face, his eyes still closed. I smiled.

"Morning. Did I wake you?" I asked. He shook his head, then peeked an eye open to smile up at me.

"I woke up before you did, but I didn't want to move. Too cozy." He added, tilting his head to nip at my chin. I groaned at that, but let Dorean push me onto my back so he could crawl on top of me. I felt way better this morning and waking up to Dorean made it all the more better, so I just smiled at him as he sat on top of me, massaging at my chest. I slid my hands over his, watching him bit his bottom lip.