Xaxac sat on the sofa in the sitting room and tried as hard as he could to ignore the sounds coming from across the hall. He took a sip of his wine and turned to glance at the clock sitting on the mantelpiece. The big hand was on the five and the small hand was on the three, and he felt like that meant something, but he didn’t know what. All he knew was that he was bone tired, that it was the middle of the night, and Lorsan had been literally dragged kicking and screaming to his room.

Xac wasn’t sure who had done the dragging, and he didn’t particularly want to know. He just wanted the screaming to stop. He wanted to go to bed. He felt that he shared Lee’s opinion, that the house was a much nicer place without Lorsan in it, and they would all be better off once he went back to wherever he went when he wasn’t here with them.

“Well,” Agalon said as he opened the door and entered the room, “It’s particularly worrisome because I have to head out there to Basilglen in the mornin, well, here in like three hours, to register my cagefighters for the season. I’m gonna have to leave him here with nobody to watch him but the humans.”

“Kai, I swear I’d watch him if I could,” the man who followed Agalon was another earth elf, and seeing him made Xac wonder if they were all strangely beautiful.

He had his long blond hair pulled up into a tight braid winding around his head, as Agalon had once worn his, and had the same thin build, but his eyes were a light brown, like coffee with too much cream. He was wearing the same uniform, or a very similar one, that Lorsan had arrived in. He looked much younger than Agalon, but significantly older than Lorsan, and elves lived for so long that Xac could not reasonably determine his age.

“I know you gotta get back,” Agalon said, “You can stay the night if you want, hell, stay as long as you want. You can’t ride back out tonight. Darlin, pour Ryul a drink.”

Xaxac reached for one of the clean glasses on the coffee table, filled it with the strawberry wine and stood to hand it to the man.

“This him?” Ryul asked.

“That’s the little rabbit he’s so damn scared of,” Agalon laughed, “Terrifyin, ain’t he?”

“You want a glass, too, Aggy?” Xac asked in what he hoped was his cutest voice.

“That would be simply lovely, darlin,” Agalon put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“He’s cute,” Ryul said, “I ain’t never seen a shifter before. What’s he look like?”

“Now see, that’s the thing,” Agalon said, “Hard to describe. He ain’t exactly a rabbit and he ain’t exactly a human. He’s like… you know how humans are apes? Imagine if you took a rabbit and stretched it out like an ape. Still got the hands and everything, but they got them claws on um. Got the big teeth and eyes, long ears, but I reckon he could stand up on two legs if he had to.”

“I’d pay money to see it,” Ryul said, staring at Xac, watching him pour the drink and hand it to Agalon, then snuggle into his side.

“I mean,” Agalon wrapped an arm around Xac and held him there as he sipped his wine, “I don’t know about all that. I would like to get him tamed first, get him used to it. You gotta ease rabbits into things. He gets real skittish. He don’t care much for new folks.”

“That right?” Ryul smiled and bent a little to be more on Xac’s level before he spoke, “Hey, I’m Ryul. I train the recruits over at the Military Academy in the capital. I work with kids; I ain’t scary at all.”

“Hi, Mister Ryul,” Xac said politely, but did not move from his spot. It took him a second to remember to smile.

“Oh, lord, he’s got them buck teeth even as a human!” Ryul said, “That’s cute as hell.”

“Ain’t it?” Agalon asked, then continued, “Sit down, you ain’t gotta stand up. Relax. Let me get you a bite to eat.”

“Wouldn’t hurt my feelin’s,” Ryul agreed, walked around the sofa, plopped into it, and sighed as if he weariness had overtaken him and it was a relief to rest his tired bones.

“You go sit down too, Honey Bunny,” Agalon told Xac, and pushed him gently in the direction of the sitting area so he could go out into the hall and ring for a slave.

Xac wondered who would possibly hear it, who was still in the house at this hour.

He walked over to the sitting area and sat carefully in the armchair.

“Xaxac,” Ryul whispered, “Do you think you’re dangerous? I mean- Do you think Kai can handle you?”

“Who’s Kai?” Xac had not meant to yawn after this question, but he was so very tired.

“Your master?” Ryul said this as if it was a question, and the cadence confused Xac.

“Oh, yeah,” Xac said, “He told me that somebody tried to cut him up before, so now he ain’t scared of nothing.”

He leaned heavily on the armrest, folded his arms together, and laid his head on them. He thought that it may be possible to fall asleep in that position, but he probably shouldn’t.

“Are you really a shifter?” Ryul asked.

“I reckon,” Xac said, “I don’t never remember it.”

“Unfortunately, my cook won’t have breakfast ready for another half an hour,” Agalon said as he returned, “But my butler’s gonna try and find somethin, and if you wait you can have a decent breakfast.”

“I might be dead on my feet before then,” Ryul admitted, “You headin out today? Hope you got a good coachman cause you gonna die on that trip.”

“We’ll be alright,” Agalon said dismissively and took a seat on the sofa, “Well, maybe not Xac. That shiftin really wore him out, didn’t it baby?”

“Huh?” Xac jerked his eyes open, stood, and went to crawl into Agalon’s lap. “Yeah,” He said to his shoulder, “I’m sleepy.”

“Well sleep then, darlin,” Agalon pressed Xac’s head to his shoulder and held him securely in that position, “Rest your little head.”

“You puttin Billy in the cage this year?” Ryul asked conversationally, “Might put some money down if you’re gonna do that.”

“If he makes it,” Agalon agreed, “Boy’s got a stubborn streak in him.”

“Lord knows I could stand to win something,” Ryul said, “I’d take anything at this point. Lost half a month’s pay on a horse.”

“You’ll bounce back,” Agalon said.

Xaxac felt himself drifting out of reality, cuddled up against the soft warmth of Agalon’s flesh. He let exhaustion take him there, and felt perfectly contented. He didn’t know when he had begun to think of this place as his safe space, his home, and he didn’t have the energy to ask himself those kinds of questions. He was happy, and he was allowed to be happy, and Agalon loved him and would keep him safe while he slept, and he was allowed to be loved.

Everything was going to be alright.

He hoped he looked cute, cuddled up there, as he slept.