"What? No," Dain said, sounding surprised. He rubbed his cheek against my neck. "If you didn't bathe for a year, I think I'd still enjoy the scent of your skin. What I hate is that you're stressed and upset, that you haven't been eating or sleeping enough, and that these things are my fault." With another small shudder, Dain let some of the tension in his body fall away, the press of his fingers gentling. He resettled his wing-arms, the knuckles of his fingers coming to rest against my sides, the sharp talons tucked safely away. "And you don't smell like me anymore," he added softly. "Which is also my fault."

"Would you like something of mine?" I asked. "Something I've been wearing, to bring with you?"

"Yes." He said it so quickly that I flushed, and Dain made a small noise of what sounded like embarrassment. "That would be a great comfort for me."

"Are you going to feel weird about hauling around a pair of pink flannel pajama pants with bumblebees on them? I've been wearing them, um. Pretty much non-stop for a week."

Dain laughed softly against my skin. "You could send me with a frilly skirt or a pair of old socks and I wouldn't complain. As long as it smells like you."

"Well, they definitely smell like me," I said, tangling my fingers in his silken hair. "If you fae have ziploc bags or something airtight, I'll stick them in there for you." I hesitated, then asked, "Would you like me to come see you off at dawn, or would that suck?"

"I would appreciate it," he said softly, and finally released me, sitting back and brushing my hair out of my face. "I appreciate all of this, immensely."

I let my hands drift down and went to rest them on his wing-arms, but he flinched away from the contact, releasing me and tucking them tightly behind his back. I blinked in surprise, but at the tightness of fear in his eyes I only smiled, and put my hands on his strong arms instead. It was okay if having me touch him there was too much for him. That he felt comfortable enough to hold me like that was a lot already.

"Consider doing something nice for Alluin," I said, looking into his eyes. "I had no idea you were even leaving, until he came and told me today. I would have been really hurt if you'd simply vanished."

"I wrote you a letter," Dain said, ducking his chin, a blush rising on his pale skin.

I stared at him, almost not believing that I was seeing Dain Sundamar, the Beast of Phazikai, crown prince of Stag Court, express something as soft as embarrassment. His ears dropped lower as he rubbed his knuckles against his cheek, and he didn't look at me.

A smile started tugging at one corner of my mouth. Dain, blushing. Nobody would ever believe me if I dared to tell them.