It wasn’t Ellery, but Kefir still had a smile for the leader of the pride when he saw him standing in the doorway.“You’re home early.”
“Paperwork’s as easy to do here as it would be at the university,” Arslan observed, crossing the room to sit in the chair opposite Kefir’s.
For a few moments, Kefir gazed blankly at the family lines he was working on as he tried to put thoughts that had nothing to do with lineages in order.
“When do you intend to offer for him?”
Kefir’s gaze snapped up to meet Arslan’s.
Arslan smiled slightly.“If you’re under the impression you’ll ever make a fine poker player, you’re mistaken.You’re in love with him.Any fool can see that.”
Kefir twirled his pen between his fingers.“Do you think he knows that?”
“Have you told him so?”
Kefir shook his head.
“Then, it’s quite possible he doesn’t.Humans aren’t fools,” Arslan said.“But they aren’t lions either.Their instincts are…different from ours.Good, but different.”
“Did Ryland know before you told him?”Kefir asked, cautiously.
Arslan leaned back in his chair as he seemed to think about the matter very carefully.“I’ve no idea,” he admitted eventually.“I’m not sure he even knew how he felt himself, let alone how I felt.Humans can be like that at times.”
“I don’t think Ellery is very like other humans,” Kefir said softly, his hand instinctively going to his collar.
Arslan followed the gesture, but it was impossible to read his expression as his gaze traced its way along the line of silver links.“Tell me what he’s like.”
Kefir frowned down at his papers as he tried to find the right words.“He’s strong.Certain.He…” His hand left his collar to wrap itself around his other wrist in pale imitation of the way his master so often held him.“He’s not a conventional pet.”
“Oh?”The sound was soft and invited him to continue.
“I think,” Kefir said, very slowly.“If there’s one of us who acts like a traditional pet, it’s me.”Each word seemed to cling to his vocal cords, not sure if it should ever be spoken aloud.
Arslan said nothing.
“He calls me that sometimes,” Kefir admitted.“And kitten—he calls me that, too.”
Arslan raised an eyebrow, but he made no comment until the silence had dragged on between them for several more impossibly long seconds.“Does he call himself your master?”he finally asked.
Kefir nodded, torn between wanting to lift his chin and own the facts of the matter, and an instinctive inclination to worry that he might be displeasing the leader of his pride with his confession.
Arslan straightened up in his seat, not looking entirely comfortable there.“If you had a choice between being a pet or a master, which would you wish to be?”
“Ellery would never—”
“I’m not asking about him,” Arslan cut in sharply.“I’m asking what you would want.If Ellery wasn’t a consideration, what role would you prefer to take with the man you were destined to spend the rest of your life with?”
Kefir turned his attention back to his pen.It was leaving smudges of ink on one of his fingers just the way it always did, but it had a good grip to it.It fitted against his hand far better than any of those that left his digits clean.In a way he couldn’t quite explain, it suited him.Just like Ellery suited him…
“I think…” Kefir shook his head.There was no doubt in his mind, no thinking about it.He dismissed his first attempt at an answer and tried again.“I’m a pet.I don’t think I would ever want to be anything else.”
Arslan nodded; he didn’t seem entirely surprised.He didn’t appear all that sure about what he should say next either.He took a deep breath and stared across the table at Kefir.“Do you think you’ll make each other happy?”
Kefir nodded, glancing up from his pen for a moment.
“As far as the pride is concerned, you’ll still be responsible for him,” Arslan announced, a little brusquely, as he leaned forward in his chair.
Kefir nodded again.
