(Alex, 17)

"Hello, Alex," Sage Elena greets me as I enter her home.

"Hello, Sage Elena," I dip my head to her. "Do ya know where Jason is? He disappeared after the training group yesterday and he ain't returned or answered his comm plate. I am a little worried about him, considering today's the equinox."

Which means that he will be feeling ill. He made no mention of going to the lake, and I am not powerful enough to open a gate that far. Nor do I have the ability to open a series of gates between here and there, as neither do I know where it's actually located in the Unwild Lands, nor have I really been many places west of here.

"He's at the lake," she tells me. "He told me was turning off his comm plate so that he could try to rest without being bothered. He intends on attending the banquet and dance at the palace this evening. What is that face for?"

"Because I ain't able to hide my annoyance?" I suggest. "Since we're both nobles and Grand Knights, we received invitations to it. Connor told me I have to go, even though it's an invitation. He says the Levirars ain't got too much standing, so not showing up will show other nobles the wrong thing. Jason intends on attending?"

"Yes," she answers. "That's why he wishes to be as rested as possible before it."

"I see," I say. "Well, I was hoping to see Jason and hang out with him for awhile, but I guess I ain't able to until the dance."

"Hang out with him?" She asks. "Do you mean 'evade your work'? Connor contacted me and said you might be heading this way."

I feel my face heat up.

"It's understandable," she tells me. "You're a street rat at heart, Alex. That won't change in just a few weeks just because you became a noble and a Grand Knight. Don't forget to follow your responsibilities as well."

"I ain't forgetting that," I shake my head. "I just ain't good with all that stuff Connor does. Plus, I checked on Pine before coming here, so I did do some work. And I was planning on heading to the shop to see if our game was set up how it's s'posed to be later. I just figured I'd give Jason some company."

"He has Adam and Ryker with him," she tells me.

"Ryker?" I ask. "I ain't heard of him. Who is he?"

"No one to be jealous of," she smiles, and I feel my face heating up again as I realize I was immediately jealous of the situation. "Ryker is… an unknown."

"An unknown?" I ask. "What do ya mean by that?"

"I mean," she says. "I've never heard of him, and nor had Adam, nor the other Sages. Jason simply mentioned last night that they were just waiting for Ryker to arrive, then they were leaving. I went to go do something, and when I returned, they were gone. I spoke with Eden, and he says he's not heard of Ryker, either."

Strange. Who is Ryker?

Speaking of Eden, here he comes, wearing just a pair of light pants, his hair ruffled as if he just rolled out of bed, even though it is nearly noon.

"Hello, Eden," I say.

"Good morning, Alex," he stifles a yawn on his way to the dining room, Cecilia moving to prepare him some tea.

"Ain't it a bit late to be getting up?" I ask.

"I work late on Sorday and Felday nights," he tells me. "So unless I'm doing something like a training camp or practical training exercise, I sleep in on Feldays and Sundays."

"Ah," I say. "Still working at that brothel?"

He did get the job, after they saw him fighting in the street, and I know he was protecting their front after lessons and the training group.

"No," he answers. "A company contacted me a week after I got that job, offered me a more flexible position guarding one of their warehouses. They sell magic crystals, and they'd prefer it if their guards could actually fight."

"Makes sense," I say. "Congratulations, I'm sure it pays well."

"It does," he answers. "Thanks."

"Ya are welcome," I say, then look at Sage Elena. "Could ya open up a gate to the lake? I want to make sure Jason is alright. I'm sure I can get him to open a gate back, or to have one of the stuffies do it."

Sage Elena gives me a disapproving look.

"Adam and Ryker," I hold up two fingers. "Two other men will be there, Sage Elena. Protocol is followed."

She accepts that, and a violet gate forms in the gate space.

"Thanks," I tell her, then step through and find myself by the lake, nearly standing on a tent.

Jason is suntanning on some of the rocks by the lake, while Adam is swimming in it. Sitting on the rocks, watching Adam, is a boy of around eleven or twelve. I don't recognize him at all. Right now, he's wearing just a pair of pants, his boots and a leather vest resting on the rocks behind him, the vest folded up and sitting in a spot where I can easily see it being used as a pillow. Jason is using his vest as a pillow as he rests on the rocks. Zevenas is curled up on Jason's chest, dozing with his wings tucked against him.

I approach them, and the boy turns and looks at Jason.

"I know," Jason says, his voice weak. "That's Alex."

"Oh," the boy says in heavily-accented Varilan. "You are referring to your boyfriend, yes?"

"Hey, Alex," Adam swims up to the rocks, waving at me. "This water feels great."

"I know," I tell him. "Jason's taken me here before."

Adam raises an eyebrow.

"For the autumnal equinox," I clarify. "Before we started courting. I just wanted to make sure Jason was doing okay. I take it you are Ryker?"

"Rykal," Jason says, then mutters. "I knew she misheard me. Alex, this is Rykal, another Delvarkari."

Rykal looks at me, and for the first time, I see his eyes. His rich, violet eyes. Had I seen those before, I would have realized immediately why no one knew him.

"He's more sensitive than most," Jason tells me. "So Jarenidis suggested he come here with me for today. He doesn't need to go into the lake to be more functional, though."

"You have it especially hard," I say.

"Yeah," he answers. "The meteor shower that'll be passing overhead isn't helping, either."

"There's going to be a meteor shower?" I ask.

"Yeah," he answers. "It's unusual, to have so many during the special days. But, since a Gathering is drawing nigh, I suppose it's only natural."

"How long until the Gathering?" I ask. "It's near?"

"It's several years away, yet," he tells me. "But you can start seeing the signs up to thirty years before it comes. The number of meteor showers we'll get will increase the closer we get to the Gathering."

"Will ya be okay with that?" I ask.

"I'll manage," he tells me. "Now that I'm at grey magical power, my body will adjust to it with time. The equinoxes, solstices, and such will still be difficult, but I'll adapt to things like meteor showers."

"Alright," I say. "Well, get some rest, will ya? Ya will definitely need it if ya plan on attending the event tonight."

"Yeah," he says. "And go do your job, too. Fox Alpha's told me that you're skipping out on it."

"I thought your comm plate is off?" I ask, checking to find a comm cuff on his right ear, on the other side of him.

"This is a different one," he tells me, seeing my obvious check. "It allows me to communicate with the Ultra Defense Golem Stuffies, and only them. It's for emergencies. Tiger Alpha said you were planning on checking out the game stand in the store?"

"Yeah," I tell him. "That doesn't sound like an emergency."

"I haven't figured out how to make it not answer automatically," he tells me. "And didn't want Papa Jared knowing I was making it. I trust you and Adam not to tell anyone I have it."

"Ya know your mamas and papas are gonna guess it, right?"

"Probably," he shrugs, closing his eyes. "You should probably go do your stuff, Alex. I'll see you at the dance tonight."

I lean down and plant a kiss on his lips, and he returns it.

"Ew," Rykal says, and we look over to find him covering his eyes.

"Give it a few years," Jason tells him as I snort. "You'll have a girlfriend you want to kiss all the time."

Maybe not as often as Niko and Lina, though. Or at least, Niko before he got injured, then later kidnapped by dragons.

"Jason," I decide to switch to English, though I know my accent is going to be heavy, since I've never really used it. "Did you make up what happened to Niko?"

"No, why?" He asks.

"Because Niko having to do ten tasks," he says. "Reminds me of the story of Heracles's Ten Labors."

"Hm?" He frowns for a moment. "Oh, right, that was a thing. No, Niko actually was kidnapped by a dragon."

He's telling the truth. I've learned a few of his tells over the last several months, and remembered a few from when he was Lucas or Nolan that he has now, too. He's telling the truth.

Poor Niko.

"Alright," I say. "Would ya mind opening a gate back? I do want to check on things, then eat lunch. I suppose Connor will try to track me down and make me help with something, too. I was planning on trying a new enchantment, too."

Ever since Jason got me into doing enchanting with the game, I've found myself having a slight fondness for it. Maybe part of it comes from wanting to impress Jason, one of the greatest enchanters of all time, but part of it is just because I do find it fun.

"Good luck," he tells me. "And don't neglect your crew."

"I ain't," I grin, then give him another kiss. "We'll be hanging out tonight, after the dance, and partaking of the celebrations in the city. We'll try not to burn it down."

"You do that," he chuckles. "Ermine Alpha, if you would open a gate for Alex to return, that would be nice."

A violet gate opens up as I try to figure out why he made an ermine stuffie golem, but rather than asking, I step through it and find myself in the warehouse Levirar is renting from Jason. No sign of the stuffie, though.

"Hello, Pine," I greet him. "Others, whose names I can't remember at the moment."

The other two Marrans helping Pine chuckle and wave, then I head out. One of the toy shops is near here, which might be why Jason sent me here. It's the closest location for any of the stuffie golems.

As I walk, I wonder how Niko is faring with being kidnapped by a dragon and finding himself forced to perform ten tasks.

(Niko, 16)

The gargoyles are scared of this dragon. A great many of them would be lost if they attempted to rescue me, it is that powerful. I went for a walk outside of Garoyal last night, and found myself snatched by a dragon.

I know Jason made up a story about me being kidnapped by a dragon, but I did not expect such an event to ever actually occur, especially not near Garoyal, where hundreds of gargoyles live. But here I am, in the back of a dragon's cave, surrounded on all sides by treasures.

Held in place by magical bonds as I wait for the dragon to eat me, though it is out doing something else right now. Normally, dragons do not like human flesh, they do not eat humans. However, some develop a taste for specific types of human flesh, and it appears that I am of appeal to this dragon.

I know this because it keeps saying something about food, delicious, and 'young human flesh'. I cannot understand much else of the dragon, but what I can understand tells me enough. He is hungry, and I am lunch.

Why did he have to kidnap me on the equinox? Jason cannot come to my aid, either. It weakens him too much. Now, I am going to have to suffer through this body dying and regenerating slowly, and my arm and leg will not regenerate from that, since they were missing for a time already.

Why am I so pathetic?

"There you are!" A cheerful voice says in accented Varilan, and I turn my attention to the entrance of the cave, where Jason is standing.

No, not Jason, that is Jarenidis, his brother. At least Jason sent someone who already knows about my leg. What does his brother think, now that he knows my arm is gone as well, replaced by a gargoyle limb? He no doubt thinks even less of me, now.

"Jason said you were around here somewhere," Jarenidis approaches me, and I note the godsteel sword on his hip. "And asked me to come rescue you."

"From a dragon?" I ask. "It is grey-level, you cannot handle it, even if you wield a godsteel sword."

"This isn't any old godsteel sword," Jarenidis tells me. "It's a Sacred Sword. Nolan hid many of them throughout the world. When Jason contacted me, he let me know where this one is, he said it will help if I need to fight the dragon. Since I'm violet, it shouldn't be too much of an issue."

I always suspected Nolan had other Sacred Swords hidden away, I suppose that confirms it.

Jarenidis draws the sword, then slices through the magical bonds with it. The blue-silver blade shimmers lightly as it does, and I take in the pair of wolves on either side of the hilt, facing a rich sapphire in the center.

Did Jason intentionally pick that because of its resemblance to me and the crest of my family? Or is it merely a coincidence.

"Come on," Jarenidis tells me as he sheathes the sword. "Let's leave."

"What if it attacks Garoyal?" I ask. "It will likely come looking for its escaped quarry."

"It won't," he tells me. "I already dealt with the dragon."

"You did?" I ask. "How?"

A thunderous roar fills the air, and I clamp my hands over my ears. Once it fades, I give Jarenidis a worried look.

"It is returning," I say, and a second roar echoes out. "It knows you are here."

"No," he smiles. "It's fighting a stronger dragon. Come! I'll show you!"

He leads me outside, to where I find a pair of black dragons attacking each other. The smaller of the two is losing, and that looks like the one which attacked me. It attempts to claw at and expel fire at the older dragon, but the older dragon's barrier holds firm. Meanwhile, the older dragon's attacks break through the younger dragon's barrier, ripping through its scales and burning its flesh, overwhelming the younger dragon's regeneration.

"I do not recognize that dragon," I tell him.

"Jason had me approach it," Jarenidis shrugs. "He's from in the Unwild Lands, and is apparently a dragon Jason negotiates with from time to time so he can mine out some ores. He told me to introduce myself as his brother and say that Jason couldn't come due to the equinox, but was wanting his help dealing with a dragon who kidnapped his friend. There was a whole spiel prepared for negotiations, and I never got to use it. The dragon immediately demanded to know where the kidnapping dragon was. Apparently, he's quite fond of Jason, something my brother wasn't aware of, and he had become enraged at hearing one of Jason's friends was kidnapped."

"Oh," I say. "Thank you, Jarenidis."

"You're welcome," he smiles. "You should be able to return to Garoyal without worry now."

"Thank you," I open a gate, then move to step through it.

"Before you go," Jarenidis says, and I look at him. "Impressive job with the arm, it looks like you and Jason managed to figure out the last of what you needed to make it function properly and minimize mana cost."

"Did Jason ask you to say that?" I ask.

"No," he answers, but I do not believe him.

"Goodbye," I tell him, then step through the gate, finding myself in my room in the castle of Garoyal.

Jason probably did tell his brother to say that, because Jason wishes to lift my spirits and make me feel more comfortable with my arm. He wants me to believe people will accept me, when I know they will not. Asking his brother to act like it is natural is just one of those attempts of his.

It does not make me angry, that Jason does this, even if it does annoy me to a small extent. Jason just wants me to be happy, and he knows I am happiest when I am with my friends.

When I am with Lina.

Because of that, he tries to make me feel more comfortable so that I will return, so that I will be among my friends and with Lina once more. But that is not something which can happen. Ever. Not with my arm. I am now a monster, a freak. No one will accept me.

Despite that, I find myself wishing to send Lina something. Today is the equinox, which means there is a big dance at the palace. Next Sunday will be her seventeenth birthday, too. The betrothal has not been canceled, and it would be rude of me not to send her something for at least the latter of those.

What can I send her, though? Is there really anything I could send her? She would probably ask how I was able to acquire a gift for her while suffering under the ten tasks of the dragons. I want her to be happy, though, even if it is without me there. That means sending her something.

For the next few hours, I find myself busying myself with attempting to figure out a gift for her. Jason will arrive to pick it up, somehow aware without being told by me of my intent. I doubt Gargoyle Alpha would tell him, either.

Or rather, I know Gargoyle Alpha has not said anything, as he has been tailing me closely ever since my return. I suppose he feels bad for not being close by when the dragon kidnapped me last night, and is intent on not allowing such a thing to occur again.

Sure enough, twenty minutes before the dance is set to begin, a gate forms near me, and Jason steps through it. He is wearing a pair of light brown pants, a pair of brown leather boots, a light green tunic, and a light brown vest over the tunic. He has on his usual bracelets and necklace, his comm cuff on his ear, and the pins above his left ear. Right now, the pins are light green, almost as pale as his hair.

Jason himself looks pale, and I know he is weak because of today.

"Hello, Jason," I greet him.

"Hello, Niko," he responds. "You wanted to give Lina a gift for the equinox, a custom between lovers in Mar."

It is not a Varilan custom to do that, but I still wish for it anyway.

"Yes," I answer.

"Niko," he says. "If you truly wanted to end things, you wouldn't have spent the last few hours arranging for a gift for her."

"Jason, please do not start this today."

"Niko," he says. "You will never know for sure unless you take that leap of faith. I promise you, she will accept it. And if you are worried about others, remember that they don't matter. Lina will weather anything if it means being with you. She loves you that much, Niko. You are the Gargoyle, and she is the Thunderbird. It is literally a match from the heavens, which has lasted for billions of years."

"Jason, please just pass this on to her," I hand him the gift.

"I will," he tells me. "But do remember what I said, Niko."

He opens a gate and steps through it, then he is gone, the gate vanishing as well. I let out an aggravated sigh. I know Jason just wants me to be back with everyone, but why does he find it so hard to believe that no one will accept me? Yes, he does. Yes, the Garoyalans do. Yes, Aiden does. But that is beyond what I would reasonably believe.

Yet he expects all of our friends to accept me as I am. That will never happen. If I return, I would have to hide my arm and leg, and that is one thing I do not want to do ever again. I am happy here, able to be accepted for the broken man I am.

Looking at Kyron, I realize that I am hungry, and he probably is, too. He has been following me without a word ever since my return.

"Come," I tell him. "Let us go find something to eat."

"Yes, sir," he responds.

(Jason, 16)

"Niko did not steal this from a dragon, did he?" Lina asks as she examines the necklace, a silver thunderbird with a pair of small yellow topazes for the eyes, the charm hanging from a delicate silver chain. "That sounds rather dangerous."

"No, he did not steal it," I tell her. "He had it made for you in preparation for today. In Mar, it is customary to gift your betrothed or spouse something on the spring equinox. He managed to leave the dragon's den, too."

It was rather impressive, how quickly the jeweler was able to make the necklace, and one with such a delicate chain. Most jewelers would have taken more than an hour for that, yet the Garoylan jeweler did it expertly in just an hour.

Papa Jared will be impressed, when I tell him about the speed in which the necklace was made. He's here, so he'll see it and know who it came from. Most who saw it will.

"He did?" She asks in surprise.

"Yes, a few hours ago," I answer. "Only…"

"Only what?"

"He was captured by a griffin."

"A griffin?" She asks in shock.

"Yes," I answer. "A griffin. Rather annoyingly, too. Niko was looking forward to seeing you again, barely had a taste of freedom, only to be captured by a griffin. It seems that as he was flying away from the dragons's dens in an attempt to reach somewhere safe before opening a gate, he crossed into the pride's territory. They don't see people very often, and decided that they wanted Niko to tell them and their cubs stories."

"He has to tell them stories?" Lina asks.

"Correct," I answer. "Every evening until the alphas decide he's told them enough. I was going to go and rescue him, but Niko sent me a signal to not. He'd rather not have me handle this, since he feels nothing malicious from this. He figures it might be best to just tell them the stories for a few days, then ask if he can leave to return to his love."

"I see," Lina breathes out a sigh of relief. "I take it you will step in if there is a threat to him?"

"Yes," I answer. "I have an Ultra Defense Golem Stuffie watching over things. At the slightest hint of danger to Niko, the stuffie will protect him and open a gate directly back here."

"That is a relief," she tells me. "How long do you think this will last?"

"Hopefully not too long," I tell her. "Niko wishes to return before your birthday. He prays to the King and Queen of the Gods that they will understand his desire to return to his love to celebrate her making it through another year."

"I will do the same," she tells me.

"Okay," I smile. "Now, do you want me to fix it on you?"

"Yes, please," she hands me the necklace, and I fix it on around her neck. Lina adjusts the charm as I return to in front of her. "Thank you, Jason."

"You're welcome, Lina," I respond. "Now it is time to endure the dance. I'm already feeling really sick."

"Do not forget you may step out into the garden for some fresh air," she tells me.

"I'll remember that," I tell her, then we go our separate ways, Lina to dance with various guests, me to wander around.

I dance with a few people, eventually finding Alex as he's shifted from one partner to another, Connor watching nearby in amusement. Because of his status as a baron and a Grand Knight, Alex cannot simply watch from the sides like he did at the autumnal equinox dance. No, there are people now lining up to dance with him, despite his history.

That is the power of the status of a Grand Knight, with nobles now wishing to pair their daughters with him, or to gain his alliance. I should rescue him, so I approach. It does take me some time, however, as I, too, am approached for dances. Adopted Varilan Royalty, the son of the Sages and thus foreign royalty, and a dragon slayer.

I hate these dances because of how much others want to dance with me to gain my favor or attention.

Eventually, though, I manage to reach Alex.

"Excuse me," I say to the young lady he's paired with. "Do you mind if I have this dance with him?"

She stares into my eyes, likely confused by their grey. It appears I've met someone who has not heard of my description. Thank goodness, as it means she's not attempting to dance with me immediately.

Alex clears his throat, and the young lady jumps, then blushes.

"Apologies," she says. "I've just never seen grey eyes before. Not on a human, anyway."

"I'm growing used to the stares," I smile. "Do you mind if I take him away for a dance?"

"Not at all," she curtsies. "I believe I've danced with him long enough, I should not take him from others who wish to discuss things with him."

She leaves, and Alex and I start dancing.

"I'm glad," Alex mutters in English. That's twice in one day. "That it's socially acceptable to dance with people of the same sex here, even if it's normally just to discuss business or politics or something."

"Don't worry," I tell him in Varilan. "You'll learn to hate it soon enough."

"I already am," he snorts, speaking in Varilan. "How are ya feeling, Jason? I saw ya making your way over here, but ya kept getting stopped. Ya are rather pale and shaky, too."

"I need to sit down," I admit. "But it can wait until after our dance."

"No," he stops dancing, then pulls on my hand. "Come on, Jason. Ya need to sit, ya need to sit. Stop pushing yourself so hard."

I allow Alex to pull me outside, to the garden outside the ballroom, and we sit on a bench, Wolf Alpha hopping up onto it and placing himself between us. That doesn't stop Alex from putting a hand on my back as I recover from the effort of dancing so much on an equinox.

"How did the meteor shower go?" He asks.

"Haven't happened yet," I tell him. "It's going to happen in another hour, and won't be visible from here."

"Shame," he says. "By the way, I overheard someone asking if someone else had heard about what happened to Niko? Something about griffins?"

"Ah, that," I tell him the new story, and Alex sighs.

"Jason," he says. "Ya are lying."

I'm pretty good at hiding when I lie, how could he have told?

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Ya have a tell," he says. "I doubt even your mamas and papas know it, but I knew Nolan well enough to notice it now. Ya were telling the truth about him being kidnapped by a dragon, but you gave the tell when you told me the story."

"What, pray, is this tell that doesn't exist, Alex?" I ask. "Because he really was kidnapped by a griffin."

"Ya didn't conceal it in your mind," he tells me. "I'm an empath now, remember, Jason? I can sense your mental state, even with that shield ya have up. I ain't able to tell what the truth was, but ya were definitely lying."

Oh, right. Alex can do stuff like that.

"I can arrange for him to be kidnapped by a pride of griffins who want to hear stories," I tell Alex. "Just give me a few hours, and I can make it truth."

"Please don't," he groans. "Niko already has enough stuff going on, what with his confidence issues and whatever's wrong with his leg. He ain't needing to get kidnapped by griffins, especially not after getting kidnapped by dragons and managing to escape 'em!"

"Just go with the official story, okay?" I ask Alex. "The truth is even more insane."

He scrutinizes me, but he can tell I'm honest with that.

"Alright," he says. "I'll go with the official story. But I want to know the truth, too."

"I'm sworn to secrecy."

"Jason," Alex gives me a hard stare. "Please. I want to make sure Niko is okay, especially since he's been kidnapped by a dragon, which probably makes him feel even worse. He's refusing to get his leg looked at, too. It's all pointing to something bad."

I really want to hold back, but I know Alex won't give in on this. He'll investigate on his own, and the last thing I need is the Leviathan locating Aiden and pulling the truth out of him. If it were anyone else, I would continue refusing to answer.

Unfortunately, I know Alex and the Leviathan well enough to know that he will investigate on his own. My refusing to tell him will only drive him to it more, my pushing him not to look for the answer will make him look harder.

Hoping Niko will forgive me, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and create a sound barrier around us. Niko will probably understand, since he knows Alex and the Leviathan, too. He's probably even already suspecting that I'm going to tell Alex at some point, because otherwise, Alex would investigate, go to Mar, hear that he's staying with Aiden, track down Aiden, and then force the truth out of his brother.

So it's better that I just tell him, rather than allow Alex to cause another incident.

With the sound barrier up, I force Alex to swear a magical oath of secrecy that will bind him until either Niko turns grey in magical power or reveals the truth.

"So?" Alex asks after swearing the complicated magical oath. "What's wrong?"

"Remember when Kelrar was attacked by a god?" I ask. "And the gargoyles killed it? Not Enamas, the one I fought, but the second one that showed up?"

"Yeah," he answers.

"It performed a powerful attack upon arrival that destroyed a few gargoyles, Niko's golems, and Niko's left leg," I tell him. "Niko's left leg isn't a real leg, it's a gargoyle leg. That's why he won't shower with everyone else, or soak in the hot springs with us."

"He's afraid we ain't going to accept that, isn't he?" Alex asks, concern in his voice and eyes.

"Yeah," I answer. "His lack of self-confidence has hit rock-bottom. He's hiding somewhere safe right now as he tries to cope with it and deal with it. He'll return eventually, and I'm hoping it's soon. I recently made him a pair of cuffs to hide the gargoyle limb, making it look like a real leg. Gave him a matching pair of wrist cuffs, too, since it would be strange to most if he only had them on his ankles."

I won't tell him about Niko's arm, but this should be enough to satisfy Alex.

"Alright," Alex says, then stands. "Give Niko my well-wishes, would ya? Make sure he knows we all want to see him again, too. I miss the little Marran."

"I will," I snort. "Come on, let's head back inside, before people start coming out here to bother us."

I stand, then pull him in for a kiss before we return to the dance. Tonight is going to be a long one. Please, King and Queen of the Gods, let me make it through this alright.