"What, me losing my shit because some courtiers were saying nasty things about you?" I shook my head, then leaned it on his shoulder with a sigh. "I shouldn't have done something like that without knowing you were okay with it. I'm not really sure my flagrant breach of your trust is worth thanks."

"Regardless of the method, people tend not to put themselves at risk for me, even only the risk of social discomfort," Dain said in a quiet voice. He ducked his chin, a shy expression on a man who faced battlefields without hesitation. "Even Alluin and Zhiolas know to preserve themselves rather than try and shield me from the barbs of courtiers."

"Are you back to calling me foolish again?" I drawled.

He bopped his head against mine gently. "That wasn't my intent, and you know it."

"Then I suppose I won't scold you for it," I said, cuddling a little closer to him.

"I'm grateful for the consideration," he said, sounding amused. Dain shifted, then brushed the knuckles of his wing-arm against the bare skin of my back. "I only meant to say that I... appreciated it. I would never have faulted you for staying out of the fray. As you'll recall, I even asked you to treat me with disdain." He swallowed, and added, "No one has ever done something like that for me before."

"You mean Alluin and Zhiolas don't often tongue-kiss you in public?" I asked, putting on a tone of mock surprise.

It startled Dain into laughter. He turned and gave me an expression of bewildered amusement, as if he couldn't believe the things that came out of my mouth. Well, I couldn't either, sometimes.

"I can't say I've ever wanted their tongues in my mouth," he replied. He seemed to catch the implication of the words only once they'd passed his lips, and I got the very amusing sight of seeing him go through realization and straight into crimson embarrassment. "Not that I'm trying to imply that I spend a great deal of time thinking about you doing such a thing."

Somehow I managed to keep my levity to only twitching lips, rather than bursting into laughter. "You know, the way you say that makes me think you do, in fact, spend a great deal of time thinking about precisely that."

Dain made a grumbling sound, but I could see him smiling.

"You're allowed to, you know," I said after a moment. "Think about me that way, I mean, or want me like that."

"I am?" he asked, with what sounded like genuine surprise.