Chelen City: Chapter Fifteen, Part One

 Notes: So schmoopy today. All the schmoop. Truly. It's saccharine but delicious ;)

Title: Chelen City: Chapter Fifteen, PartOne

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Chapter Fifteen, Part One

 

In all honesty, Elanus shouldn’t have been surprised that the next step wasn’t moving on Restaria. He was surprised, because that was what he wanted to do and he was, despite how things had been going lately, still used to getting his way in pretty much everything. But there were more genuinely pressing issues at hand, including one in particular that Kieron simply wasn’t willing to wait on, and that was bringing Xilinn and Pol to the house.

“We need to get them here before we make any sort of move against Restaria,” he insisted. “You said xe’s got the status to fuck things up for them, since they’re here on refugee visas. If Restaria knows about our connection to them, then xe’s certainly going to take advantage of it if possible, so we need to make that impossible.”

“Xe can make things difficult for them even if we move them into the house,” Elanus pointed out, not with the idea that he was going to change Kieron’s mind at this point because when did he ever, but because he wanted to make sure Kieron knew just how complicated this was going to be. “Their being in residence here wouldn’t prevent their visas from being revoked, or denied for health reasons, or…look, you’ve got to realize that there are a hundred different ways Restaria can fuck things up for them.”

“And that’s way fewer than there would be if they were outside our immediate reach,” Kieron replied calmly. “Believe it or not, I really do understand that this is just a momentary solution. Not to mention, there are over a hundred more Traktan refugees that I’d hate to see laid low by petty politics, but I made a fucking promise to Zak that I would make sure his people were taken care of. I’m going to keep that promise.”

“Even at the expense of what we have here?” Elanus didn’t mean to push, but he also didn’t have it in him to back off when he was agitated. “Even if the end result is you having to get them out of here?”

“Even then,” Kieron agreed. “But it’s not going to come to that.”

Elanus was dumbfounded. “You realize,” he said slowly, “that Restaria can fuck up your visa too. Xe can make it so you have to leave Gania, and not even I can guarantee that I can get you back down here once that happens.”

“Restaria is powerful but Gania isn’t a complete tyranny,” Kieron pointed out. “There are ways around visas.”

“Yeah, that’s called human trafficking.”

Kieron rolled his eyes. “Holy stars, you’re dramatic. I’m talking about marriage, you moron.”

Elanus blinked. He blinked again, then once more for good measure. “I’m sorry, say that again?”

“What?” Kieron had affected a casual posture, but his ears were turning pink. They only ever turned pink when he was embarrassed by something. “Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?”

“I—I didn’t even know it was an option,” Elanus murmured.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“It’s just, it’s so…so traditional, and you’re not really a traditional kind of guy, y’know, and I never thought you’d be interested in something so formal and I don’t need it, you know I don’t, I’ve written you into my will and you’re the girls’ parent as much as I am and…” His babble slowed, then stilled as Kieron reached up and pressed a very firm, very bitable finger to his lips.

“I am not going to let some fucking politician decide whether or not we can be together,” he said firmly. “No, marriage has never been at the top of my list of things to do before I die, but I never pictured myself falling in love with someone like you, either. You’re complicated, and you’re kind of crazy, and sometimes it feels like everything about this planet is conspiring to drive me insane, but I want to be with you. For as long as I possibly can be. I think that makes marriage a good option for us, all things considered.”

Elanus cleared his throat. “Well…I mean, if it’s the best option we have, then sure, we should do it.”

Kieron stared at him for a moment, then grinned. “You’re so annoyed right now, aren’t you.”

“No!”

“You are! You’re pissed that you didn’t get to make this into something romantic!”

“What? No! This is romantic! I mean,” Elanus shrugged and desperately tried to look away, but Kieron’s eyes were like magnets. “Maybe it’s not what I’d envisioned when I thought about proposing—”

“So you have thought about it.”

“And I’d like to note here that you’re the one who took the leap on the proposal, although if that was your idea of properly asking me to marry you then I think the romance is dead already, because way to put business before pleasure, babe.”

Kieron was actually beaming, smiling so hard that Elanus wondered for a second if his face hurt from it. It was a good look on him, just an unexpected one. “So you’re saying you want me to be romantic.”

“Well.” Elanus was aware that he was blushing right now, probably a perfect match to Kieron, but he did his best to ignore it as he crossed his legs at the ankles and leaned back against his desk. “I mean. It would be nice.”

“Oh sweetheart.” Their heads were almost at the same height now, and Kieron cupped Elanus’s face and leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. Elanus tried to chase it, but Kieron held him still. “I can do romantic,” Kieron murmured, his voice almost as soft as the look in his eyes. “You changed everything for me, do you realize that? Absolutely everything. I was never able to look past the next season, I spent years expecting to die in an accident in the asteroid field, and I knew that if that happened, my only regret would be that I didn’t get Zakari back to his family. I wasn’t living. I didn’t even know how to. You changed that for me, you and the girls.

“God, and you frustrated the fuck out of me.”

Elanus frowned. “Yeah, that’s the romance I was looking for.”

“Shhh.” Kieron covered his lips again. “You frustrated me, and I craved it. I was desperate for it, because you made me feel something when I thought there was nothing left to hope for. You had everything I didn’t even realize I wanted—determination, drive, a plan for the future, goals, and you’re so smart, you’re so fucking smart, and you care so much about the people you’re close to, and then…” Kieron looked away for a second, like he was gathering himself.

“Then you let me be one of those people. And I don’t understand it, and I don’t think I deserve it—no, this isn’t your talking time, this is my time—but I think you’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met. Truly, for all that you irritate the hell out of me a lot of the time, I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m with you. I can’t imagine going back to not having you, and I will do absolutely anything for you and the girls. You’ve given me a home, and a future, and feelings that I never even imagined before because I was sure that there was no way they could be meant for a person like me.

“So…please, Elanus Desfontaines, marry me. Marry me so I can stay with you forever and we can be a family, because I can’t picture my future without you and I don’t want to try. You’re more than I ever thought I could want for myself, and I will do everything in my power to make you feel loved and appreciated for the rest of our lives together. I’m not perfect, I’ll fuck up sometimes, but I swear I’ll never give up. Not on you, or us, or on our family. So.” He leaned in and kissed Elanus again, this time on the forehead. “Will you marry me?”

Elanus swallowed around the rock of emotion that had somehow lodged in his throat a few minutes back. “Holy shit, that was romantic,” he finally croaked.

“You know what’s even more romantic? An answer.”

“Yes.” It wasn’t even in doubt. “Yes, I would love to marry you. I, yeah, all of that, but you. Shit. That’s terrible, let me start aga—” But all thoughts of starting again flew out the window as Kieron finally kissed his mouth, not gently but consumingly, possessively, like Elanus was the only thing he wanted.

Which might even be true, in the moment. What an honor, to be someone’s whole world.

What a gift, to feel the same way about them.