“Gris, come try this.”
Gris obediently came over and dipped a spoon in, his expression also turning thoughtful. “That’s…oddly good?”
Proud of himself, Ravi’s chest puffed out. “See? Just one banana in each pot, that’s all I’m asking.”
“Pfft, okay, fine.”
When their backs were turned, Ravi gave Sora a high five. Sora played along with a grin on his face, enjoying being in on the joke with Ravi. And look at him, sparkling with delight and smugness, practically bouncing. One of the things Sora most liked about Ravi was that he radiated joy. He was drawn to the man like a moth to flame.
“Ravi, stop flirting,” the woman ordered. “You’re still on lunch duty.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I can help?” Sora offered.
Ravi gave him a quick kiss, light but full of promise. “Dish up the rice? And I will reward you later.”
Reward? Sora’s libido perked up at the word. “I’ll take that promise. Leave the rice to me.”
There were large bowls to put the rice into, and Sora filled them up before putting them onto the buffet table. He passed the others back and forth as they brought the pots of curry out, and the dishes, setting it up for the lunch crowd. On his nth trip out of the kitchen with rice, he spied King Alric and Cameron with plates in hand, helping themselves.
It was still rather odd to him, to see a king so willing to meet his own needs. But in a way, it made sense. With such a small clan, having a staff to see to the king would take too much manpower away from other tasks that needed to be done. It said something about King Alric’s character that he chose to do things himself and put his clan’s needs first.
They were among the first to arrive in the dining hall, and it gave a small window of privacy that Sora belatedly realized he might not easily achieve again. A flash of mischief took him over and, on impulse, he gave in to it. Ravi had, after all, requested it. And he could hear Ravi coming out of the kitchen, even now, so he was sure to catch this moment.
Sora put himself directly across the serving table from King Alric, in line of view with him, before clearing his throat. “King Alric? A question, if I may.”
The man paused, ladle in hand. “Yes?”
Gesturing to the Ravi in question, Sora asked in as serious a tone as he could muster, “May I lick this dragon?”
King Alric’s eyes flew wide, jaw steadily dropping. His expression was the height of both surprise and bemusement, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just been asked.
Sora’s lips twitched with the urge to laugh.
Don’t laugh. Hold it. Hold it. If you laugh, you’ll give the game away.
Ravi lost it. He hastily put the spoons in his hands on the table and then hit the floor, crying with laughter. Cameron was right behind him, doubled over with it.
King Alric’s eyes cut to the pair as if he knew one of them had put Sora up to this. But he played along, putting his jaw back in its socket and responding with all due dignity, “Permission granted. In fact, please do so, maybe it’ll keep him from pranking the rest of us for a while.”
“Thank you.” Sora grinned at him, delighted that King Alric had enough of a sense of humor to both take it and dish it out. Then, he looked at the man wheezing on the floor. “You did tell me to ask.”
“I lo-love,” Ravi gasped out, “so love that you did. Although, dammit, I wish that had been recorded.”
“I somehow had a feeling you put him up to it.” King Alric shook his head and picked up his curry ladle again. “Sora, I take it that you and Ravi are now officially courting?”
“With your blessing, yes.”
“I’m very glad to hear it.” King Alric looked him sternly in the eye. “Do not get sucked into his pace. I have enough troublemakers as it is.”
Cameron finally got his breath back, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “That was priceless. No, do get sucked into his pace. It’s so much more fun on the dark side.”
King Alric leaned over to smack a kiss on his lips. “You behave, too.”
“That sounds less fun.” His consort waggled his eyebrows back in challenge. “And you like it when I’m fun.”
King Alric gave him an arch look and refused to be baited before continuing on down the buffet.
Seizing his wrist, Ravi towed Sora away from the table, speaking rapidly as he went. “You are so getting rewarded. Right now. As soon as I can find a good make-out spot. Ooh, there would be good. You’re not hungry, right?”
Sora tingled with anticipation. “Not for curry. Not right now.”
Ravi gave him a smoldering look over his shoulder and purred, “Good answer.”
“Get out, you are not sixty-three years old,” Ravi spluttered. He dared an incredulous glance at the man sitting shotgun.
Sora chuckled, a low, rich sound that always made Ravi’s heart beat a tad faster. “Why, do I not look it?”
Teasing again. Sora kept claiming he was bad at humor and improv, but he did like to tease. In this case, Ravi’s head was spinning too much to respond appropriately.
“No, b-but…you look thirty. Maaaaybe mid-thirties, I can possibly see thirty-five. But sixty-three?!”
“Mages age more slowly. You know that.” Sora shrugged as if this weren’t a big deal. “I’m sure North, Cameron, and Cassie are all—”
“In their twenties, exactly as they look,” Ravi cut in dryly.
Sora blinked at him. “Really? I assumed they were a good decade older than that. Tori?”
“He’s thirty-five, also exactly as he looks. But then, a hard life aged him a bit.”
“But…why?”
“My guess is, they weren’t using magic regularly up until they joined us. Hell, Cameron and Cassie didn’t even know they could use magic.”
“Ahhh. That would do it. A mage who doesn’t activate their magical core on a regular basis ages just like any other human.” Sora made a humming noise. “It is curious to me that so many of the mages who found their way to Burkhard are male, too. That’s unusual. I, myself, am considered unusual because I’m male.”
“Gunter’s been really curious about it, too. He keeps digging into the question. He wonders whether it’s a matter of luck or statistics.”
This seemed a good segue into some of the other questions Ravi really wanted answers to. There was a great deal about Sora he’d not had a chance to discover. And, for once, they weren’t in danger of being interrupted.
In fact, they were on their way to meet the Sodalicium members, who were to land in Munich in about two hours. At the airport, they would be picking up another couple of rental cars to hold everyone.
Alric had offered more dragons for protection, but apparently the Sodalicium were traveling with their own entourage of bodyguards. That was fine with Ravi. It meant he was able to travel alone with Sora and it was blissful, having this one-on-one time with the man he was quickly falling for.
Sometimes Ravi had to pinch himself, half-convinced he was dreaming. He had a hard time believing that he’d caught this man’s attention. Sora was just so much. Everything Ravi admired in a person. And the way he looked at Ravi, as if the sun shone for him alone, made Ravi melt every time. He wanted to know more about this beautiful man. He wanted to know everything. And he feared that even a lifetime wouldn’t be enough.