It was hard to contain his excitement sometimes, as he wanted to glomp Sora. All the time. He shouldn’t, though, and he found outlets to his eagerness—namely, doing other things, like asking questions. He did have a lot of questions. So that was easy. No time like the present, right?
“Tell me more about your family, your home. You’ve only thrown me hints.”
“Ah. Well, I’m an only child. Not for lack of trying, but even with magic, it was very hard for my mother to carry a child to full term. She miscarried nine times before having me. They finally used an incubator to do it.”
Ravi winced. “Ouch.”
“Yeah. She sometimes speaks of those early days with such regret, so I don’t remind her of it often. But they were thrilled to have me. I sometimes think I had too much of my parents’ attention.” Sora hummed. “Hmm, what else to tell you? All of the mage clans still retain their specialties, and I learned my craft from both my parents and my grandparents, some from my aunt.”
“Were you homeschooled?”
“No, not in the sense you mean. We had a public school in the clan. It’s just that we had different divisions for dragons, mages, and those not born with magic. The general classes, we all studied together. Then, by high school, we went into specialties.”
“Ahhh. Small classes, though, I bet.”
Sora snorted. “Very. I had six people in my class. There was no escaping the teacher’s attention.”
Ravi chuckled a little, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.
“Is it…well…are you…” he stammered.
“What? What’s got you so nervous? You can ask me anything.”
Ravi huffed out a breath. He didn’t want to insult Sora.
“Is it weird that you haven’t found your mate yet? You are sixty-three. A really sexy sixty-three, but isn’t that old for a mage?”
Sora laughed, and Ravi felt like he could breathe again.
“You’re asking if I’m considered an old maid?”
A low groan rumbled up Ravi’s chest, and he rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know, and yes, I am considered a bit of an old maid. It has driven my parents insane that I haven’t found my mate. As soon as I was finished with my training, they made sure I met every unmated dragon in the Sodalicium. No one caught my attention even a little.”
Which had Ravi breathing a huge mental sigh of relief.
“Then, they made sure that I met every unmated mage who was old enough to date. It was insane and a lot of pressure. For two years, we had someone new over for Sunday dinner each week, in hopes of me finding a mate. It’s part of the reason I started traveling. To get a break.”
“And you still didn’t find anyone?”
Ravi looked over to see Sora shrug one shoulder as he gazed out his window.
“I tried dating a few people, but it turned into more of a friends-with-benefits arrangement every time. It frustrated my parents, but they could also see my point of view. They’ve relented in the past several years, realizing that I’ll find someone at my own pace.” Sora turned his head and smiled gently at Ravi. “It had to be harder on you, though. Having no one to date at all.”
Ravi lifted a hand and waggled it. “Yes and no. I guess, in a sense, it was easier. Because I wasn’t trying to talk myself into falling into a relationship with someone when I knew we didn’t really have chemistry. But frustrating because I had no options at all, really.”
“I want to ask a very indelicate question.”
Ravi perked up immediately. “Oooh, I love those! Ask away.”
Sora still sounded as if he were trying to phrase the question delicately. “I know that you’re not…innocent.”
“Oh, you’re wondering if we were all boning each other?” Ravi stole a glance to see Sora’s eyes rolling off into the sunset. “I get that question so often. Cassie asked it almost immediately. Yes and no. We all sort of went out at different points and hooked up with people. On really bad nights, sometimes we’d turn to each other for comfort. Not often, though. It was sexual relief, nothing more. And usually it was kind of awkward the next morning, so it didn’t happen often.”
“But you have slept with someone in your clan.”
“Only once. The awkwardness was lethal, man. We couldn’t look at each other for a straight week. Wasn’t worth it, in the end. I went out, after that, to find my jollies.”
“I did wonder. Gunter made a comment to me about how he sees you as the kid brother and finds it hard to think about you in a relationship.”
“Yeah, that’s mutual, just reversed. He’s way too much the big brother to be taken seriously. I kinda feel sorry for whoever Gunter falls for, honestly. Because he’s, like, laser-focused once he’s into something. Once that person gets his full attention, there will be no getting rid of him.”
Ravi sent a prayer up for the poor sap, whoever they might be.
“And you?” Sora didn’t sound like he was teasing. “Do you think you can complete someone?”
Ravi answered in a light, teasing tone. “I’m not sure about completing anyone. One hundred percent sure I can drive them bat-shit crazy, though.”
Sora chuckled again, the sound rolling through the car. “You’ve not driven me crazy at all.”
“Yeah, about that, are you that desperate for entertainment? Because you’ve seriously been rolling with my jokes. I love it, absolutely not complaining, but this is not standard operating procedure, you know? I mean, I never in a million years expected you to baldly ask Hoheit to his face if you could lick me.”
“It was too tempting,” Sora admitted. “I kept trying to imagine his reaction, and in the end, mischief seized me.”
“I’m glad it did. Cameron’s still laughing about it.”
It didn’t really answer Ravi’s question, though. Was Sora simply indulging him? Because they were dating? He had so little experience in dating like this, seriously dating, that he didn’t know how to read the situation.
“I’m glad you’re amused. In truth…” Sora paused, as if deciding how to phrase the words before speaking. He did that often. “I’m not good at improv. I’m not good at starting a joke or thinking of something off the cuff. But if someone else starts, I find I can easily roll with it.”
“Ahhhh.” Now, that made more sense to Ravi and eased his concerns. “That’s why, when I’ve started something, you follow suit.”
“Precisely. I enjoy doing so, as it makes me feel like I’m in on the joke. But so many people mistake me for being too serious, and they don’t try to joke around with me.”
It made him a little sad, that was clear. Ravi could hear it in his voice. And that was wrong, that’s what it was. To make that assumption and basically cut Sora out of the fun. Ravi would figure out later who was stupid enough to do that and then have many, many words with them.
“It’s part of why I wanted to date you,” Sora admitted after a moment. “Because you’ve never done that. You always start a joke and then give me a grin like you’re inviting me to come and play. I feel more included because of it, and life’s become vastly more fun. Do you do that intentionally, to make me welcome?”