The Return of the Lifebringer (Children of the Sun Book 3)

Chapter 11

"Perhaps. But I also couldn't care less," Kaleth said, his shoulders sagging as his anger seemed to leave him. "It's you I love, not him, and that's—"

He abruptly cut himself off then, staring frozen at Mel, who was mirroring the look perfectly. Then he blushed and ducked his head, letting go of Mel. "Erm, I mean—"

"I love you too," Mel said, hugging Kaleth with his wings and nuzzling his face. Kaleth actually let out a laugh at that—a real, happy laugh. It was the best thing Mel had ever heard in his life.

Kaleth kept his hand on Mel's cheek after they separated, stroking it gently. "Okay, good. Please, don't think like this, alright? I don't want anyone else."

Mel grinned at him happily. "Okay, I'll try." Then his smile disappeared as he looked down at the dark pebbles. "I just feel sorry for him."

"I do as well, but honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten over it," Kaleth said, pushing his goggles onto his forehead. "It's been five years, and I've only been in Irithara for a month."

Mel frowned. "But.... We've known each other for a month. And most of that we were separated."

Kaleth opened his mouth, only to close it again immediately. His gaze softened. "It...feels like so much longer."

"I'm just saying that sometimes that's all it takes," Mel finished, nudging Kaleth's shoulder with his snout. "But I'm glad you told him how you feel. Maybe now he'll let himself find someone else."

Kaleth was now giving him a strange look. Something between admiration and disbelief, maybe?

Mel is annoyingly wise sometimes, Mel heard Kaleth think. He would take that as a compliment.

"I can't believe this is what we are discussing right now," Kaleth said a second later, crossing his arms.

"All we can do is wait anyway, right?" Mel replied, tilting his head to the side a bit.

Kaleth narrowed his eyes at him. "You have all the arguments today, don't you?"

Mel just grinned at him. He kind of understood why his sister liked teasing Kaleth. He was cute when he was huffy.

"I am not huffy," Kaleth protested, which just made Mel hug him again, even more tightly. He wished he could just never let go, but he knew Kaleth wouldn't like that, so Mel separated himself as soon as Kaleth's embarrassment began to overshadow his happiness.

They just stared into each other's eyes for a while, a soft smile on both of their faces. Despite being on the front line of what would soon be a battlefield, Mel was really content right now. But he supposed his life would never be normal, especially not with Kaleth. And Mel didn't mind at all.

Eventually Kaleth broke eye contact, sighing, and sat down onto the beach next to Mel, who used this opportunity to reposition himself to stretch out around Kaleth, so that his head was next to him and his tail was lying around him on the other side. He knew Kaleth couldn't get cold now, but it couldn't hurt. And Mel also wanted to cuddle.

Kaleth smiled again, running a finger over Mel's ear. The Eternal hummed and pressed himself closer to Kaleth, which made the man chuckle.

So adorable.

Mel grinned to himself. He liked being called that, especially by Kaleth because Mel knew he didn't mean it mockingly in any way. He raised up his wing as the wind picked up, bringing snow with it.

"You don't have to do that, love," said Kaleth, though he did sound grateful. "I would be fine."

"I know, but it's no problem," Mel replied, shifting a bit to get more comfortable. They sat in silence for a bit, the only sound the ever present howling of the icy wind. Not that Mel minded. He liked Irithara—it was very different from Enoria, but it was very nice to look at. He would have loved to explore more than just the capital, but he could tell Kaleth really wanted to leave, and Mel understood why. He did miss Enoria as well....