“This isn’t working.”
Mabon set his coffee cup down hard enough that the porcelain cracked. Rux and Urien looked up from their respective positions - Rux sprawled across the sofa, tracing where the claw marks were healing on his chest, Urien examining the scratch on his ankle where Basil had turned him into a chew toy. It was late at night, but because of the cat drama, none of them were keen to go to bed.
“Obviously,” Rux muttered.
“No, I mean…” Mabon stood, pacing the length of the library. His dragon prowled beneath his skin, restless and frustrated. “Nothing is working. It doesn’t seem to matter what we do. The gifts confused him. The conversations…”
“Were disasters,” Urien supplied.
“And the cat wants us dead,” Rux added helpfully.
Mabon stopped pacing, turning to face his mates. “Sam doesn’t understand we’re courting him.”
“To be fair,” Urien said slowly, “we never actually said we were courting him.”
“We brought him gold.”
“Anonymously.”
“I gave him my phone number.”
“Then ran away before he could respond.”
“I brought vegetables at dawn.”
Rux snorted. “Which is definitely the internationally recognized signal for romantic interest.”
Urien threw a cushion at him.
Mabon resumed pacing. His heart stone throbbed steadily, a constant reminder that their mate existed less than three miles away, completely oblivious to the fact that three dragon shifters had spent weeks trying - and failing - to court him.
“We need something unmistakable,” Mabon said finally. “Something he can’t misinterpret as friendlygestures or newcomers trying to make connections.”
“The internet calls it a grand gesture.” Rux sat up, wincing as the movement pulled at his scratches. “Apparently, some humans need big, public declarations to understand romantic intent.”
“We tried big.” Urien gestured at himself. “I brought an entire basket of heirloom tomatoes... well, three of them, but other stuff, too”
“That’s not…” Mabon pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not what grand gesture means.”
“Then what does it mean?”
Mabon pulled up his laptop, typing rapidly. The three of them had consumed hundreds of articles about human courtship over the past week. Surely one of them had mentioned…
There.The Grand Gesture: When Words Aren’t Enough.
“‘A grand gesture demonstrates commitment and sincerity through action,’” Mabon read aloud. “‘It shows your romantic interest that youunderstand them deeply and are willing to put their needs and desires above your own comfort zone.’”
“So...more vegetables?” Urien asked hopefully.
“No.” Mabon scrolled further. “‘Examples include public declarations of affection, elaborate surprise dates, meaningful gifts that demonstrate you’ve paid attention to their interests…’”
“We’ve paid attention,” Rux interrupted. “We know where he lives, what coffee he drinks, what books he reads, his work schedule…”
“That’s stalking,” Mabon and Urien said in unison.
Rux slumped back against the sofa. “And, we’re back to being terrible at this.”
Silence settled over the library. Outside, rain began pattering against the windows. Mabon’s dragon clawed at his control, demanding he fly to Sam’s cottage right now, shift, and show Sam exactly what they were. Except that was insane. Sam wouldrun screaming, or worse, call the police.
