Mathlin ducked out to give Titan some privacy. He came back when Titan was done, drying him off with some TP. Titan tried not to sigh.
“Sorry for putting you through this,” he murmured. “This is the worst first impression I could give.”
Mathlin frowned, carefully pulling up Titan’s pants; he was always so careful. “Why would this be a bad impression? You need help because you got injured saving someone. You didn’t do anything wrong. But even if you did, I’m not going to judge you. You’re trying your best.”
Titan’s throat squeezed. “Thanks. How did you know I saved someone? I didn’t tell you that.”
“From the stories you told Mr. Abercrombie and Mr. Gonal. You threw in my name at the last second, but the rest of it sounded like the truth.”
Impressed, Titan raised his eyebrows. “Yeah. It was one of the omegas who live around here. She was drunk and walking on the highway; I don’t think she even knew how close she was to being squished.”
Mathlin winced. “That was really selfless of you. I’m not sure I would’ve risked my life.”
“You can’t. You have a baby to think about. No matter how glorious it is to have a hero for a dad, I’m sure Jannie would much rather you be there for her. That’s a lot of years to go without a dad.”
Mathlin’s breath hitched. “Y-yeah. You’re right.”
Before Mathlin could get lost in upsetting thoughts, Titan nudged his side. “Hey, Math.”
Mathlin looked up.
Titan leaned against him. “This is an armless hug. When I can use my arms again, I’m going to give you some actual, good hugs.”
“You could hug me with your legs. Those open and close too,” Mathlin said. And froze. “Wait. That sounds... really questionable.”
Titan coughed lightly. “I don’t think we’re at that stage in our relationship yet.”
A pretty flush colored Mathlin’s cheeks. Unable to help himself, Titan leaned in, dropping a kiss on top of Mathlin’s head. Then he froze, remembering too late that he didn’t have an excuse for it.
Mathlin didn’t protest, though. Instead, he smiled and left the bathroom, his footsteps lighter than Titan remembered.
Maybe I’m doing something right,Titan thought, his stomach flipping.
In the kitchen, Hamilton was getting some ingredients out of the fridge. Titan perched on a chair next to Jannie’s high stool, watching as Hamilton and Mathlin made dinner for the four of them.
“Aww!” Jannie said, reaching for Titan.
“What do you need?” Titan murmured, leaning in. “I can’t use my hands, pup.”
She kept grabbing at him, so Titan brought his face closer.
Jannie smacked him with both her hands, pawing at his eyes and nose.
“Urk!” Titan jerked back when she poked his eye.
“Jannie!” Mathlin yelped. Jannie giggled.
“It’s okay,” Titan said. His words were slurred; Jannie had curled her fingers into the sides of his mouth, pulling her hands in opposite directions. “She wants to rip me apart. I think I’m okay with that.”
Mathlin made choked, horrified sounds. “Jannie, don’t kill my boss.”
“Wa wa,” Jannie said, kicking her legs. She released Titan’s mouth to poke his eyes again; Titan squeezed his eyes shut.
Then she hiccupped.
The next moment, her hands were gone from Titan’s face. When Titan opened his eyes, he found Mathlin dashing out through the back door, disappearing without a word.
“Huh,” he said.
