It was endearing, really, to see Titan so flustered—to hear him rambling and making nervous gestures—all because he wanted to be supportive of Ezra and was afraid of doing it wrong. Even through his pain, Ezra could see the effort he was making, and it warmed his heart. Nobody had ever considered Ezra worth trying for.
But here Titan was, standing by his side during his most vulnerable and terrifying moment. And sure, itwashis fault this was happening in the first place—note to self: use a condom next time—but Ezra wasn’t in so much pain that he was blind to the effort Titan was putting forth.
“Thank you for being here with me,” he said in a small voice, leaning back and letting Titan hold him upright. In response, Titan pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek and nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck.
“There is nowhere in the universe I would rather be than at your side,” he told Ezra in a whisper. “That is true even when you are not in pain.”
Those were some of the sweetest words anyone had ever said to Ezra, and while he would have liked to revel in them, his body was all too quick to remind him thatright now, his focus needed to be on getting their eggs the fuck out of his body. Another contraction seized him—god, they were getting so close together now—and involuntarily, he was forced to curve his back forward again. “Shit!”
Or at least, that was what he thought he’d said, until he heard Titan laugh. “Where did you learn such crass Darvrokian?”
“What?”
“You shouted a Darvrokian expletive. Did you not mean to do this?”
“I don’t know how I learned it,” he explained through deep breaths—he had to “optimize his oxygen intake,” after all. “It just slips out sometimes. It happened once before when I was hanging out with Jude.”
“Ah, this must be a side effect of exposure to Darvrokians. Living and working with us has likely unlocked parts of your latent Darvrokian abilities. You are absorbing our language through your highly improved telepathy, just as an infant might. Perhaps soon you will have the fortune of no longer needing to speak English unless in the company of those with remedial language abilities.”
“Okay, now there are three rules,” Ezra started to say, but was forced to stop when a fresh burst of pain swept through him. He hissed in agony and doubled over, barely noticing when Titan seized him by the hips to help stabilize him. In that moment, very little existed outside of his own body, and it was screaming at him, telling him that being on his feet was a terrible idea.
“I need to be in bed,” he ground out between his teeth.
Titan asked no questions—he scooped Ezra up at once and carried him across the room, laying him upon the mattress as though he was a porcelain doll a feather’s drop away from an irreparable break. But Ezra was not made of porcelain. He clambered wildly onto his knees and began snatching up his pillows, piling them into a semicircular formation that bore some semblance of…
He blinked back to reality.
It looked like a nest.
“What the fuck,” he whimpered, even as his hands itched to resume building his little safe space. “What the hell is happening to me?”
“Is there something I can assist you with?” Titan asked, concern evident in his voice. “Do not have hesitancy in asking, even should your request feel trivial or silly. I am here to provide you with whatever you need.”
“I don’t know what I need,” Ezra admitted in a small voice. He plopped down so he was sitting cross-legged on a heap of blankets and began to rock slowly to and fro with his hands on his knees. “I don’t know how to be in pain. I don’t know how to give birth. I don’t know how to be a dad. I don’t even know how to be helped!” He looked at Titan through blurry, watery eyes. “I don’t knowanythingright now.”
“My sweet Ezra,” Titan said, voice full of so much adoration that Ezra could feel it even over the constricting pain in his belly. “A very great being recently taught me that it is not necessary to know everything all of the time—that learning is a virtue we should be grateful to accept. So do not have fear at the unknown. I, too, am not all-knowing, but I am certain that together, we will persevere, and everything will be all right.”
“What if you’re wrong?” A tear escaped the corner of his eye and slid down the length of his nose, leaving a cold, damp trail down his skin.
Titan smiled easily, leaning down to press a long kiss to Ezra’s temple. “I am not all-knowing,” he repeated, pulling back just enough that Ezra could see that trademark smirk of his. It had been so aggravating the night they met, but now it was a comfort. “But I do know many things, and I am confident that when it comes to you and me, what I have said is not speculation. Wewillpersevere, and we will prosper for it. The pain will recede, you will see. It is just a matter of time.”
A laugh that sounded more like a sob rattled its way out of Ezra’s throat, and he wiped the tears out of his eyes so he could see Titan completely. When they’d first met, he’d only been drawn to Titan for his looks—certainly not his personality.
Now, though?
Now Titan could shed his human disguise and Ezra would still feel that pull.
Maybe Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome hadn’t been what had captured his interest after all—maybe it had simply been Titan all along.
Breathing heavily as his most recent contraction subsided and the newest began, but too overwhelmed with emotion to care, Ezra grabbed Titan by the front of his shirt and pulled him down into a messy, crushing kiss. Titan hummed in surprise, then melted into it, opening himself up to Ezra like a flower to the sun.
How far he’d come.
How far.
And all for Ezra.
Because he wanted tobewith Ezra, and not with anyone else.
