“You’re still upset, aren’t you?” Mac asked Idris as the frowning wizard got settled into the booth next to him.
“I can’t believe Roger cowered when I tried to take him off your shoulder,” Idris grumbled. Removing Roger from the perch he’d established on Mac had turned out to be a rather harrowing experience. In the end, Aleksander had to grab the little guy and hug him close while the foursome escaped the house to grab burgers.
“I’m assuming the reason we had to leave him at home is because of the way he eats?” Mac asked.
“If he and Greggory could eat without getting food smeared on themselves from head to toe, they could dine in public, but it’s really hard to hose them down in a bathroom sink,” Delaney explained.
“We’ve tried getting them to eat without being pigs but it’s impossible,” Idris added. He was still frowning, which Mac found he didn’t like one bit.
Reaching out, he cupped Idris’s cheek in his hand and caressed his skin. “I didn’t mean to steal your familiar.”
Idris blushed a little as Mac dropped his arm and snatched up the menu. “It’s okay. I wanted him to like you. I just didn’t expect him to react so violently to being separated from your shoulder. I don’t want him to be mad at me. I was thinking I could bring him home dessert or something.”
“That’s a good idea,” Delaney remarked. “I think I’ll get one for Greggory as well.”
“You better. I’ve seen those two steal food from each other, especially when it comes to sweets,” Duff commented.
The waiter came by and introduced himself, then took their drink orders. Mac grinned at Duff. “Sorry they didn’t have your crayons here.”
“I’m devastated, but you’re still buying me a coloring book,” Duff teased.
“I wouldn’t dream of disappointing you,” Mac responded. “Now men, figure out what you want to eat. I’m starving.”
Delaney made a big show of staring at his menu. “There’s so many choices, Mac. It might take me awhile to choose. I think I’m going to need at least thirty minutes or so.”
“You’re hilarious. You get five minutes.”
“I’m going to get a burger,” Idris said. “What’re you getting, Mac?”
Mac laid his arm along the back of the bench he was sharing with Idris. “The same.” He’d figured that Idris, with his sheltered life, was probably not used to being around men and was likely a virgin. His goal was to make him comfortable with him. It was quite an exciting prospect for Mac to think about being Idris’s first lover, and he was already enamored of the young wizard. “So guys, tell me how you got to be such close friends.”
“Oh, easy,” Duff replied. “We have a lot in common. Though they’re both older than me, we clicked right from the start. We’re all orphans but I had parents who passed away, while these guys didn’t. All three of us are also goal-oriented, gay, and have chosen to wait for our mates.”
Mac’s instinct proved to be correct; Idris was innocent. He told his dick to calm the hell down at the news. “I’m sorry for the loss of your parents. It must’ve been rather recent—I know you arrived at D’Vaire only a few months ago.”
Duff’s expression grew pensive. “Thank you, I miss them. I think they’d be happy to know I’m at a place like D’Vaire.”
“D’Vaire’s the kind of place that saves people,” Delaney told him.
“The first time anyone told me they loved me was at D’Vaire,” Idris commented. “I know my grandfather must have. I mean I think he did, but he never said it.”
“He raised you, right?” Mac asked.
“Yeah, but he was really old, and he wasn’t well. He spent his days in bed. There was a lot to do to take care of him.”
“You didn’t have help?”
“It was just the two of us. He didn’t like other people around him, and we didn’t have money to hire anyone,” Idris revealed. Once again, Mac ached for Idris and the way he’d grown up. He’d spent his days taking care of an old man instead of getting the chance to be unencumbered by life. It probably explained why he was so driven to succeed—he’d probably worked every day and had no clue how to be idle. Their discussion was beginning to weigh down their night out and Mac decided it was time for a subject change.
“You guys have two other things in common,” Mac said. “You’re also intelligent and good-looking, though I hope you’ll forgive me for thinking Idris is the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met.”
Idris’s spectacular eyes were shocked. “You think I’m gorgeous? Between the two of us, I think you’re the sexy one.”
“You’re both good-looking. You make a smoking hot couple,” Delaney told them.
“Thanks, Del,” Mac replied. Their waiter returned and they all rattled off their orders; then the man disappeared again. “Now tell me how you knew you were gay.”
“Me?” Delaney asked. Mac nodded. “I guess we aren’t wasting any time getting personal. Well, there wasn’t like a lightning-strike moment. I always found myself checking out boys instead of girls. I was about ninety-nine percent sure I was gay, but what tipped it full over the edge was seeing Aleksander the first time. I’ve figured out I’ve got a real thing for tall, dark-haired guys.”
“Me too,” Idris added while staring at Mac.
He winked at the wizard. “I’m glad to hear it. I am pretty sure Aleksander could turn guys gay. He’s extraordinary-looking.”
“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way,” Idris commented. “It’s a shame Aleksander isn’t gay.”
“He’s not?”
“Nope, which is sad,” Duff said.
“Your turn, Duff. How’d you figure out you were gay?” Mac asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I always kind of knew, but I was afraid to tell my folks because I wasn’t sure how they’d react,” Duff explained.
“The shifter communities haven’t been as open and accepting when compared to magickind,” Idris replied. “Sorcerers don’t care either way.”
“It’s true. There are a lot of shifters who still see it as something unnatural. King Stenetdraconis wasn’t thrilled about it either. He warned me not to bring men home—he didn’t want my impressionable half siblings to be exposed to it. I didn’t bring men home even before he gave me his warning,” Mac confided.
“You’ve been with guys though, right?” Idris asked.
“I have, but I’ve never been in a relationship. That’s something between mates only,” Mac replied. “Your turn, Idris.”
“I guess I was kind of slow about it. I hit puberty and I didn’t really know one way or another. I wasn’t around anyone, let alone people my age. Then a guy who owned a farm not far from my grandfather’s house started coming over occasionally to sell fresh produce. The first time I saw him…”
“You got hard?” Mac asked with a grin.
“I did. It was embarrassing. I’m sure my face was as red as the tomatoes he gave me, but I couldn’t wait until he came by again.”
“My turn,” Mac said. “When I was about twelve I had a friend who was several years older than me. We met up one day, and he told me this story about a female drakeling who’d performed various acts on his person. He kept going on and on about her breasts and what it felt like to touch them. I remember sitting there wondering why he was so happy to have a girl do that stuff to him. There was a place where all the dragons would gather before stripping down to shift. I decided to go and see if I could see some breasts myself. I hid behind a tree, but I don’t really remember the women—I couldn’t keep my eyes off the guys. So, the next time I ran into my friend, I grabbed his face and laid a kiss right on him. He was pissed. Punched me right in the eye which of course, turned black as night. I went to my grandfather bawling, and that’s when he set me straight on the different types of sexuality. He told me that just because I like men doesn’t mean they are all going to like me back, so I shouldn’t go kissing anyone before I ask.”
“I give you permission to kiss me,” Idris blurted out.
Mac bussed his cheek. “And I give you permission to kiss me.”
“Mac, was that kid your friend after that?” Delaney asked.
“No, he turned out to be a jerk. Told everyone I liked guys, and there were some that were fine with it but not everyone was. He left Court Stenet at some point, so I didn’t have to deal with him for too long.”
Their food arrived, and the foursome dug in. Mac’s burger was delicious, and he hoped the other three were enjoying their meal as well. “How’s the food?” he asked. All he got was a bunch of grunts and nods, so he supposed they were finding their dinners tasty.
“We’ll have to come back here again,” Idris said between bites.
“We can plan to return for our first date,” Mac suggested.
“I’d like that.”
“Good. How’s Saturday?” he asked. After Idris agreed, he turned to the other two young men. “We should also plan on the four of us hitting a club one night.”
Delaney swiped his face with his napkin, then gave him a bland stare. “Who told you to take us to a club?”
“What makes you think someone told me to take you?”
“Everyone thinks we need lives, but I’m not wasting my time going out to get laid,” Delaney groused.
“Oh, please. We could use lives,” Duff argued.
“No one said anything about you hooking up. If you aren’t into that, it’s fine. What’s wrong with dancing and having a drink or two?” Mac asked, then turned to Idris. “I wouldn’t mind dancing with you.”
“I hope you have some rhythm,” Idris teased.
“I guess there’s nothing wrong with going out to dance, but I’m really focused on ascending to High Arcanist,” Delaney replied. “You guys could go without me.”
“Idris is busy with the same thing, and I know how important it is to the both of you. What if we went after you guys completed everything?” Mac asked.
“I think that’d be a fun way to celebrate, but we should invite the whole family. None of them get out that much either,” Duff remarked.
“Great idea. We could go to Vegas—that way there are plenty of fallen knights in the area, so everyone feels safe,” Mac suggested.
“It’s too bad we can’t go to a vampire club. Del read that they are pretty racy, but you have to be a human willing to offer a vein or a vampire to get in,” Idris commented.
Mac’s brow raised in interest. “Racy, huh?”
“I’m just curious,” Idris said with a little pink in his cheeks.
“Me too,” Delaney added. “We need to remember to ask Vadimas to set up a meeting between us and the vampire scientists.”
“Why do you guys want to meet the vampire scientists?”
“Both of us are always looking for ways to expand our horizons. Those guys must be insanely creative as well as genius. They managed to produce a synthetic blood for their people which has reduced the number of vampire deaths to almost none,” Delaney said. “I think we could learn a lot from them.”
“We’ll ask Vadimas next time we see him,” Idris promised.
“Duff, I heard you’ve started college. What’s going to be the focus of your studies?” Mac asked. Delaney and Idris had big plans for their futures, and Mac sincerely hoped he was already factoring into his mate’s, but he didn’t know what Duff’s goals were.
“I guess I’m going to study business. I have some ideas about what I’d like to do, but I’m still working on the details in my head.”
“Sounds like you know more than you’re saying. Either way, I’m impressed by your maturity and drive.”
Duff grinned. “I’ll reveal all when the time is right.”
“He has secrets,” Delaney whispered.
“I’m intrigued,” Idris whispered back.
“I’m sorry my friends are weird,” Duff said to Mac.
“Good thing I like weird.”
“I think it’s a prerequisite for every D’Vaire,” Delaney replied.
“That’s why we are all awesome,” Idris declared. Mac unequivocally agreed. Though he was new to D’Vaire, he had a deep sense of belonging. He tugged on one of Idris’s curls and handed him the dessert menu. There was no way he was going to let his wizard go home without offering a treat to the little dragon who’d apparently abandoned him for Mac. He hoped before long, it would be Idris himself who was occupying his personal space as often as possible.