After a long day, you just want to relax in your husband's arms. But ever the ragebaiter, Sylus makes his usual teases.
Fluff/comfort with a little angst. Small Xavier cameo.
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Fourteen hours. Meetings. Missions. More meetings. No breaks. And to top it off, an ass chewing.
Days like this were becoming more and more frequent in the life of a hunter. And the more frequent, the less time you had for basic things like eating or a good night's sleep. Or even an overdue ‘everything’ shower. Let alone seeing your husband. Who was plenty busy himself, surely. You wouldn’t know, though. The calls had turned into texts of progressively fewer and fewer words.
That was an understatement. You missed him and the twins and your real home. Even Mephisto, who would surely lecture you about being away for so long with a number of indecipherable squawks.
Although his shouting would be far preferable to the one you received from Captain Jenna today. Thanks to you, a wanderer that was high on the Association watch list nearly got away. Your exhaustion reached a peak, causing you to make rookie mistakes during the fight. Luckily, Xavier was there to pick up your slack, but if he hadn’t been? Who knows what would have happened?
In the middle of her scolding, Jenna’s captain hat slipped momentarily, taking in your appearance. The dark circles under your eyes, your slouching posture, and your less than glowing countenance. The exhaustion in you was obvious and it gave her pause. She sighed and told you you would be taking some time off. She left no room for argument and while you didn’t need it, the sting of embarrassment and feelings of failure grew rapidly. You left swiftly when she excused you, holding back your tears with a clenched jaw and bit lip.
Xavier caught up with you at your desk and kindly offered to take care of all the paperwork from today. You thanked him and took your leave quickly after, not even bothering to say your usual goodbyes. You would text Tara later. Right now all you wanted was one thing.
Thanks to the lack of speed limits in the N109 Zone, you arrived at Onychinus in record time. Parked your bike next to the dozens of others in Sylus’ garage and headed inside. The base was exactly as you left it. Dark, quiet, vast, and almost devoid of life. If you didn’t know where to look, that is. And you did.
You start to look in the usual places Sylus lingers. The kitchen, his office, the gym. All turn up empty. He likely already knows you are here–even more likely that he knew the moment you entered the N109 Zone–and is now waiting to see how long it takes for you to find him.
A game you would usually find joy in, but now it was filling you with frustration and impatience.
Why did he have to have so many damn rooms in this place? What was the point if half of them were empty?
You started to call out his name, hearing it echo several times with no response afterwards. Your eyes started to burn. Was he doing this on purpose? Or was he not even here and you are just making a fool of yourself.
As you run out of usual places to look, you start to look in some of the less-likely-but-still-a-possibility places. The armory, the conference hall, the garden, and finally, the library. As you approach the grand double doors, you hear a soft sound of music coming from within. The familiar scratch of a record player and a carefully selected song.
You open the door and step inside. The grand fireplace is lit, as the only light it casts a warm yellow and orange glow to the surrounding bookshelves and pieces of art on display. In one of the large, padded chairs, you see him. He’s faced away from you, attention focused on a book and a glass of red wine.
“It’s true what they say. Kittens always find their way home if you give them enough time.”
He doesn’t look up, turning to the next page of his book. You can tell from his silhouette that he wears his glasses.
“Of course, they also say should the kitten sustain injury, the chances of them returning deteriorates. Has my kitten been away for so long because she fought something too big for her tiny claws? Or maybe she found something more exciting to occupy her time.”
His words cut deep. Teasing laced with microscopic traces of annoyance that you’ve been gone for so long with no communication. Your stomach twists.
He’s just teasing. He’s just teasing. This is what he does, as always. He’s not mad. He’s just being Sylus.
Your brain tried to convince yourself of these things, but the damage was done. The weight of the long work days, the temporary dismissal, and the effort it took to find him crashes down on you. Your eyes burn once more and your voice comes out broken.
“Sylus. Not tonight…please?”
The tone of your voice makes his head whip around, taking you in for the first time. His teasing smirk fades instantly when he sees your red eyes and quivering jaw. He sets down his glass of wine, standing with a quickness. The book in his lap, forgotten, tumbling to the ground–he is halfway across the room before it even settles.
He wraps you in his strong embrace as soon as he gets to you, his muscular arms enveloping you in a blanket of instant warmth and security. Your arms instinctively rise to cling to the back of his shirt, fisting the fabric. One of his hands cradles the back of your neck while the other is tight around your waist. You choke out a sob and his grip tightens.
You cry into his chest, your body shaking and your breath escapes you in small huffs.
Whimpers overpower the soft music that still plays across the room. Sylus leans down, scooping you up into his arms and bringing you back over to his chair. He kicks away the discarded book and sits with you in his lap, holding you close and letting you cry into his neck. He kisses your forehead and whispers apologies. For his teasing and for his lack of communication on his part. He tells you to cry as you need. To let out all the feelings you have trapped inside.
And you do. You cry until you run out of tears and your breathing returns to normal. You lift your head to look up at him, wincing as you do. A headache now pounds against your temple and even the soft glow of the fireplace hurts your eyes. His brow twitches in concern, raising one of his hands to shield your eyes from the light.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
You lean into his hand and nod your head. So you tell him about your day. The long and tiring tale of how you came to him crying. And he listens to all of it, nodding along and grunting at the details he didn’t care for. Particularly Jenna chewing you out. But his scowl lessened when you mentioned the time off you have been given.
“Time off? That sounds like a good thing, kitten. You have been working yourself to the bone lately. You deserve time to relax.”
“I guess. But it would have been better to ask for the time off…not have it forced on me.”
Sylus smiles and kisses your cheek.
“My prideful kitten. Forced on you or not, it’s needed. If Jenna hadn’t done it, I might have called in for you myself. Whisked you away to one of our safe houses to forget about everything in Linkon.”
You sigh, thinking about being ‘kidnapped’ by the feared leader of Onychinus, aka your husband.
“Hmm. Could we go to the ranch? I know the mares are getting close to foaling.”
“Of course. Anything you desire. And more.”
He chuckles. “You should know better than anyone I am a man of action, sweetie. I will take you there right now. Just say the word.”
You smile and kiss his cheek. “Temping, but another time. Right now, I want to be home. With my husband.”
“Home.” He repeats, liking the way you say it. “As you wish.”
Silence settles over you both, now simply enjoying being with each other. Sylus realizes now the depth of how much he missed you. He grows cold whenever you are away, each day more so than the last. He slips back into old habits of working almost nonstop and training harder than he needs to. His space feels empty without you. Wrong and lacking in color. But the moment you return, it’s like he can see again. Feel again. Like everything is right with the world. In his world, it is. You are his world–the entirety of it. Everything he does, everything he has ever done, has been for you.
His partner. His wife. His mate. His literal other half.
“Have you eaten, sweetie?”
You shake your head. You had a poor excuse for a breakfast early this morning, but nothing since.
He hums and stands once again, holding you with one arm.
“Let’s get you taken care of.”
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