“What?” Evira questioned as the three of us merely stared at her, mouths basically agape.
Vax cleared his throat and managed to fight through it first, telling her, “Morning, beauty.”
Her eyes twinkled at his endearment. I wasn’t surprised. The way those rolled off his tongue was something else.
“Love it when he calls me that too,” Zayn said.
“And beautiful for me,” I added, smiling at Vax.
“Also,little death.Your true favorite.”
“That’s the only time I’ve ever known you to be okay with the death aspect of your nature being referenced,” Zayn said.
“Well unlike‘death boy’and the like, Vax’s intention and reasons behind it are a world away from the derogatory nastiness of the rest.”
“The sexy way he says it doesn’t hurt either, hmm?” Evira chimed in.
Vaxan chuckled, then shook his head at us. “You’re on the verge of descending into carnality.”
“And you’re not affected by it?” Zayn challenged.
“Oh, I most definitely am. I just clearly have greater self-control, especially compared to the two of you,” he said, gesturing between me and Zayn.
“No doubt,” Zayn and I spoke in unison, then laughed.
“It’s nice seeing the camaraderie between you two back on track,” Evira said.
“It certainly is,” Vaxan concurred. Then he asked Evira, “Would you like to have breakfast and spend some quality time together before classes begin for the day?”
A sparkling smile spread over her face. “That sounds great.”
“Excellent,” Vaxan said. “I’ll conjure whatever you like.” He gestured at Zayn and me. “Put your orders in.”
“Conjure?” Zayn questioned. “Why don’t we just head down to the Cafeteria?” His eyes lit up. “Like a relationship unit.”
“Relationship unit?” Evira chuckled.
Zayn frowned, then looked to me. “What does your family call it again?”
“A foursome.”
He snapped his fingers. “That’s it, yeah.” He took us all in. “So, why don’t we head down there, kind of make this now establishedfoursomething between us known, and have it mark it for ourselves as well?”
“I believe last night marked it extremely well,” Vaxan pointed out.
Oh.That, combined with his first reaction to be to conjure food, rather than just go to the Cafeteria made it clear what was happening.
I reached out and stroked his arm. “You haven’t been to the Cafeteria since that day?”
I’d been keeping an eye on him, but not every moment of the day, not when I’d been in classes. And he was also very slippery, harder to keep track of than I’d ever imagined. He hadn’t said anything, but I thought he’d registered me watching over him.
He averted his eyes—very unlike him. “I have not, no.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Vaxan,” Zayn told him. As Evira stroked Vax’s back sweetly, Zayn went on, “Although, this morning seems like the best time of all to put an end to that avoidance.”
I looked at Zayn, while he was focused on Vax. That had been incredibly sweet of him. I beamed out at him, and he caught me, stilling for a moment, before smiling back.
“The threat is gone,” Evira reminded him.
