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The fire burned lower, settling into a bed of glowing embers that painted the cottage in soft amber and gold.

Cass remained tucked comfortably against Toryn's chest beneath the blanket, one hand still resting atop the Dragonborn's tail.

Neither seemed particularly eager to move.

The room felt too warm.

Too safe.

Too much like something precious.

For a while they simply listened to the crackle of the hearth.

Then Cass spoke quietly.

"What did you want to be?"

Toryn blinked.

"What?"

"When you were younger." Cass tilted his head back slightly to look up at him. "Before you became a soldier."

No one had ever asked him that.

Not once.

Toryn stared into the fire.

"I don't know."

Cass made a small sound of disagreement.

"I think you do."

Silence settled.

The fire popped softly.

Eventually Toryn sighed.

"When I was little…" A faint smile touched his mouth. "I wanted to build things."

Cass looked surprised.

"Build things?"

Toryn nodded.

"My father was a carpenter."

The words felt strange to say aloud.

"I used to sit beside him while he worked. He'd let me hand him tools and hold nails and sweep up sawdust." Another small smile appeared. "I thought he could make anything."

Cass watched him carefully.

"He built our table. My mother's shelves. My bed." Toryn's eyes softened with memory. "I remember thinking he was some sort of wizard."

That made Cass laugh softly.

Toryn found himself smiling more.

"I wanted to be like him." He looked down at his own hands. "I wanted to make things people used every day. Things that lasted."

The words grew quieter.

"I wanted to build homes."

Cass's expression had gone entirely soft.

"Oh."

Toryn huffed once.

"It sounds foolish now."

"It doesn't."

"I became rather the opposite."

"No." Cass's answer came immediately.

Toryn blinked.

Cass shifted enough to look at him fully.

"You repaired my shelves. My roof. My fence. You built me a cabinet that doesn't wobble anymore." He smiled faintly. "You still make things, Toryn."

The Dragonborn stared at him.

"I think…" Cass said softly, "I think you're becoming the person you wanted to be."

Something in Toryn's chest hurt.

Not painfully.

Worse.

Warmly.

He swallowed.

"Gods, Cass."

The healer looked worried immediately.

"Was that the wrong thing to say?"

"No."

Toryn's voice had gone rough.

"Quite the opposite."

They sat quietly for a while after that.

Then Toryn looked down at him.

"And you?"

Cass blinked.

"You asked me first."

A blush immediately touched his cheeks.

"Oh."

"Why did you want to become a wizard?"

“You know about that?”

“Yes.”

Cass was silent for a long moment.

When he spoke, his voice had grown softer.

"I thought magic could fix everything."

Toryn frowned slightly.

Cass looked back toward the fire.

"When I was little, my mother was sick often. Nothing serious. Just…" He shrugged. "Always tired. Always hurting somewhere."

His fingers twisted lightly in the blanket.

"There was a traveling wizard who came through our village once. He healed my mother's back pain with a spell."

His expression turned distant.

"I remember watching him and thinking it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen."

A smile touched his face.

"He made someone I loved stop hurting."

Toryn listened quietly.

"So I decided I would become a wizard."

Cass laughed softly at himself.

"I was very serious about it. I carried sticks and pretended they were staffs."

Toryn smiled.

"I can imagine."

"I studied constantly." His smile grew smaller. "I was accepted into an academy eventually."

Toryn's brows rose.

"You never mentioned that."

Cass shrugged.

"I wasn't very good."

"I doubt that."

"No, truly." He laughed softly. "I was terrible."

"I don't believe you."

Cass looked up at him with amusement.

"I could memorize every book in the library and still fail practical lessons."

Toryn smiled.

"I could never shape spells properly."

The smile faded.

"I kept trying."

His voice grew quiet.

"And trying."

The silence that followed said everything.

"Oh," Toryn said softly.

Cass nodded.

"I eventually realized that no matter how badly I wanted it…" He smiled sadly. "I simply wasn't meant to be a wizard."

The words carried an old hurt.

Toryn recognized it immediately.

The mourning of a dream.

"But then," Cass said, brighter now, "one of my instructors suggested healing."

He looked back toward the fire.

"No magic required. Just knowledge. Study. Patience."

A real smile appeared.

"I realized I could still help people."

He looked up at Toryn again.

"I couldn't fix everything."

His eyes softened.

"But maybe I could make things hurt a little less."

Toryn's throat tightened.

Because of course that was who Cass had become.

Someone who spent his days easing pain.

Someone who built people back together instead of houses.

The healer yawned suddenly.

Then looked horrified.

"I did not just do that."

Toryn laughed softly.

"You absolutely did."

"I'm not tired."

Another yawn betrayed him immediately.

Toryn's smile widened.

Cass looked personally offended by his own body.

"You are falling asleep."

"I am not."

"Tiny liar."

Cass made an indignant noise.

Then yawned again.

The battle was clearly lost.

Toryn's expression softened into something unbearably fond.

"Come here."

Before Cass could ask what that meant, Toryn carefully slid one arm beneath his knees and another around his back.

The healer squeaked.

"Ah! Toryn!"

"You can barely keep your eyes open."

"I can walk."

"You can barely yawn upright."

Cass laughed softly despite himself.

Then, to Toryn's immense satisfaction, simply relaxed into his arms.

Gods.

This was dangerous.

The Dragonborn carried him to the bedroom as though he weighed nothing at all.

The cottage's little bedroom suddenly seemed very small.

Very intimate.

Very full of possibilities that made both men immediately awkward.

Cass sat on the edge of the bed.

Toryn stood beside it.

Neither moved.

"You can have the bed," they both said simultaneously.

Silence.

"No," Cass said.

"No," Toryn agreed.

More silence.

Eventually Cass smiled.

"We're both impossible."

"It appears so."

They prepared for bed with all the grace of frightened deer.

Cass changed into a loose sleeping shirt and promptly forgot what he was doing halfway through putting it on.

Toryn removed his boots.

Then his belt.

Then finally his shirt.

The room became very quiet.

Cass looked up.

And forgot how breathing worked.

The Dragonborn was beautiful.

Broad shoulders and powerful muscles marked with old scars. Dark red and black scales caught the firelight like polished stone. Strong arms that had carried him from the hearth. Hands capable of gentleness that still made Cass's face warm to think about.

And the scales.

Gods.

They really were beautiful.

"You have lovely scales," Cass said before he could stop himself.

Toryn blinked.

"What?"

Cass looked embarrassed.

"They're beautiful."

Silence.

No one had ever called them beautiful.

Ever.

Toryn looked at him like he'd forgotten every word he'd ever learned.

Cass's blush deepened.

"I—if that was strange to say—"

"No."

The word came almost too quickly.

Toryn sat carefully on the bed.

"Not strange."

He looked at his hands.

Then back at Cass.

"Thank you."

The healer smiled softly.

That smile.

Gods.

Toryn wanted to tell him everything.

How he had watched him with the fireflies.

How he carried the taste of honey cakes in his memory.

How every evening now revolved around seeing him.

How the cottage felt more like home than anywhere else in years.

How he'd been doomed from the moment a shy healer had smiled at him and offered tea.

The words crowded painfully behind his ribs.

He almost said them.

Almost.

Instead he looked at Cass.

The healer's eyes had gone heavy with sleep.

He was blinking slowly.

Barely awake.

Toryn's heart melted completely.

No.

Not tonight.

This was too precious to burden with confessions spoken into exhaustion.

"Come here," he said softly.

Cass obeyed immediately.

Toryn lay down and gently drew him closer.

The healer settled beside him with a small sleepy sound, curling naturally against his chest.

As though he belonged there.

As though he'd always belonged there.

Toryn pulled the blanket over them both.

Cass's hand found his chest.

His breathing slowed.

Within minutes, he was asleep.

Toryn remained awake.

Watching him.

Listening to each quiet breath.

Feeling the warmth of him against his scales.

He wanted to tell him so many things.

Instead, he tucked the blanket a little higher around the sleeping healer and held him carefully through the night.

There would be time.

For now, this was enough.

More than enough.

Cass was here.

In his arms.

And for the first time in longer than he could remember, Toryn felt completely, utterly at peace.

-

Morning arrived slowly.

Toryn surfaced from sleep to warmth.

For one disorienting moment, he couldn't remember where he was.

Then he smelled breakfast.

Fresh bread toasting.

Something sizzling gently in a pan.

And beneath it all—

Honey.

He blinked.

Then came the soft sound of singing.

A quiet, sleepy melody drifting from somewhere nearby.

Toryn's eyes opened.

Sunlight streamed through the cottage windows in pale golden bands. The other side of the bed was empty, the blankets still slightly rumpled and warm.

The singing continued.

Toryn lay perfectly still.

Then a slow, disbelieving smile spread across his face.

Cass.

He wasn't at the inn.

He wasn't alone.

He had spent the night beside someone who had chosen to let him stay.

Gods.

He closed his eyes again for one brief moment.

Just to make certain.

The singing continued.

Not a dream.

Not a dream.

A soft laugh escaped him.

He pushed himself upright and ran one hand over his face.

Then he heard Cass humming to himself again.

Toryn stood and quietly stepped toward the kitchen.

He stopped in the doorway.

And forgot how breathing worked.

Cass stood at the little stove with his back to him, utterly absorbed in making breakfast.

Barefoot.

Golden hair spilling down his back in soft waves.

And wearing—

Toryn's shirt.

It hung absurdly large on him.

The hem reached nearly to his knees. The sleeves swallowed his hands. The collar had slipped off one shoulder entirely, revealing soft pale skin.

Toryn's heart stopped.

Because there, just above his collarbone—

Faint marks.

Little signs of affection left the night before.

The places he'd nuzzled.

The gentle bites beneath Cass's jaw.

A few soft kisses along his throat.

Nothing more than small traces.

Yet seeing them made something deep and possessive stir inside him.

Not possessive in a cruel way.

Just...

Mine.

The thought arrived unbidden and hit him like a hammer.

The shirt was his.

The marks were his.

And Cass was standing barefoot in his cottage, humming softly while making breakfast for them.

For them.

Gods.

Toryn was done for.

Completely.

Cass turned a little to stir something in the pan, and the oversized shirt slipped farther down his shoulder.

Toryn made a strangled sound.

Cass jumped.

Then looked over.

Blue eyes widened.

"Oh! You're awake."

He smiled.

A little sleepy.

A little shy.

Beautiful.

Toryn felt his chest tighten.

"Good morning," Cass said.

Toryn simply stared.

Cass blinked.

"...Toryn?"

The Dragonborn crossed the room.

Cass had enough time to look slightly alarmed.

Then Toryn reached him.

One large arm slipped around his waist.

Then the other.

And suddenly Cass was gathered gently against him from behind.

"Oh," Cass said.

Toryn lowered his face immediately into the crook of his neck.

Lavender.

Honey.

Cassius.

He made a deep, contented sound in his chest.

Cass laughed softly.

"Good morning to you too."

Toryn nuzzled him again.

Then again.

Cass was beginning to suspect this might simply be how Dragonborn greeted people they liked.

Not that he minded.

Warm arms held him securely. Strong scales pressed lightly against his back. Toryn's face remained tucked against his neck like he'd discovered his favorite place in the world.

The healer relaxed completely.

"You seem happy this morning."

"I am."

The answer came immediately.

Cass smiled.

"I was trying not to wake you."

"I don't mind waking to this."

"To breakfast?"

Toryn nuzzled him once more.

"To you."

Silence.

Cass turned pink.

"Oh."

Toryn smiled against his shoulder.

Gods, he was adorable.

Very gently, he pressed a kiss to the soft skin beneath Cass's ear.

The healer shivered.

"Toryn."

The Dragonborn's arms tightened slightly around him.

"You wear my shirt."

Cass looked down as though surprised to discover this.

"I... may have borrowed it."

"You may keep it."

Cass laughed softly.

"I should probably wash it first."

"You may still keep it."

The healer turned even pinker.

The pan suddenly demanded attention with an angry sizzle.

"Oh!" Cass hurriedly reached forward to stir breakfast.

Toryn didn't let go.

"You are making this difficult."

"I disagree."

Cass laughed again.

It might be Toryn's favorite sound in existence.

The healer carefully nudged him with one elbow.

"Will you at least let me finish cooking?"

"No."

"Toryn."

"You look comfortable."

"I am trying to make breakfast."

"You are also wearing my shirt."

Cass hid a smile.

"You've mentioned that."

Toryn kissed his shoulder.

Then nuzzled him again.

At this point, Cass was laughing so much he could barely stir the pan.

Eventually he turned slightly in Toryn's arms.

Just enough to look up at him.

The Dragonborn's expression had gone soft again.

Wondering.

Almost disbelieving.

As though he still expected to wake up somewhere else.

Cass's smile faded into something gentler.

"You really thought this was a dream, didn't you?"

Toryn blinked.

He hadn't said that aloud.

Cass reached up and lightly touched his cheek.

"You have that look."

"What look?"

"The one you get when you're trying very hard to believe something good is real."

The words struck unexpectedly deep.

Toryn looked at him for a long moment.

Then he leaned down and kissed him.

Soft.

Slow.

A morning kiss.

Cass smiled against his mouth.

When they parted, the healer's eyes were warm.

"Real enough?" he asked softly.

Toryn looked at him.

At the sunlight.

The breakfast.

The oversized shirt.

The marks on pale skin.

The man standing comfortably in his arms.

He drew Cass a little closer.

"Yes," he said quietly.

Then, because he couldn't help himself, he buried his face in the healer's hair once more.

Cass laughed and let him.

-

Breakfast eventually did get made.

Mostly.

Cass managed to rescue the eggs from burning only because he gently pried himself out of Toryn's arms long enough to finish cooking.

Toryn looked personally betrayed by this development.

"You are staring at me again."

"I am."

Cass laughed softly, setting two plates onto the table.

The cottage felt different this morning.

Brighter somehow.

As though something fundamental had shifted overnight.

Perhaps it had.

Cass set one plate in front of Toryn.

The Dragonborn smiled at him.

Not his usual rare, crooked smile.

A soft one.

A happy one.

Cass nearly forgot his own breakfast.

"There," he said, sitting opposite him. "Eat."

"I am."

"You are looking at me."

"I can do both."

"You cannot."

"I absolutely can."

Cass shook his head, trying and failing to hide his smile.

They began eating.

Or rather, Cass began eating.

Toryn took approximately three bites before his tail slid beneath the table and curled loosely around Cass's ankle.

The healer blinked.

Slowly looked down.

Then up.

Toryn looked completely innocent.

Cass knew for a fact he was not.

"...What are you doing?"

Toryn continued eating.

"Nothing."

"Your tail is around my leg."

"It appears to be."

Cass laughed.

A few minutes later, he reached for his cup of tea.

Toryn reached over at the same moment.

Not for his own cup.

For Cass's hair.

The Dragonborn gently moved a lock of golden hair away from the healer's face.

Then smiled to himself.

Cass turned pink immediately.

"Toryn."

"What?"

"You keep… touching me."

The Dragonborn looked genuinely confused.

"Yes."

Cass laughed softly.

"No, I know that. I mean…" He gestured vaguely with one hand. "You've been doing it all morning."

Toryn considered this.

Then nodded.

"Also yes."

Cass's smile widened.

"You really are affectionate, aren't you?"

Toryn blinked.

"Am I not normally?"

"No." Cass laughed. "You spent weeks looking like you wanted to bite everyone."

"I did want to bite everyone."

Cass snorted.

"But not affectionately."

Toryn's mouth twitched.

"No. Not affectionately."

The healer smiled into his tea.

There was a small silence.

Then:

"Is this normal?"

Toryn looked up.

Cass looked adorably serious now.

"All the…" He gestured again. "Nuzzling. Tail wrapping. Biting."

Toryn nearly choked on his breakfast.

Cass blinked.

"Oh dear."

"No—" Toryn coughed once. "No, I'm fine."

"You look alarmed."

"I was not expecting that question."

"Sorry."

"No." He looked almost amused. "No, it's alright."

Cass waited patiently.

Toryn suddenly seemed uncertain.

His tail remained around Cass's leg.

He looked at his plate.

Then at Cass.

Then away again.

"It's… normal."

Cass nodded.

Then waited.

Toryn sighed.

"It's normal for Dragonborn."

"Oh."

Another pause.

Cass tilted his head.

"But… not exactly like this?"

The Dragonborn looked at him.

Gods.

The healer was entirely too observant.

"No," he admitted quietly.

Cass sat up slightly.

"Oh?"

Toryn looked suddenly shy.

A sight so unexpected that Cass nearly forgot to breathe.

The enormous ex-soldier seemed to be carefully choosing his words.

"We're…" He gestured vaguely. "Tactile."

Cass smiled.

"I've noticed."

"We scent one another."

"You've definitely done that."

"We're physically affectionate with people we trust."

Cass's expression softened.

Trust.

That alone warmed his chest.

"And…" Toryn continued, becoming progressively more flustered, "some things mean more than others."

Cass blinked.

"The tail?"

"Sometimes."

"The nuzzling?"

"Sometimes."

"The bites?"

Toryn looked at his breakfast as though it had betrayed him.

"Oh."

Cass's eyes widened.

"Oh."

A slow blush crept across his cheeks.

Toryn looked very interested in his tea.

"So…" Cass said carefully, "some of those things are reserved?"

The Dragonborn nodded once.

"For family. Close companions." He hesitated. "Someone… very dear."

Silence.

Cass stared.

Very dear.

The words settled softly between them.

The cottage suddenly felt very warm.

"Oh," Cass said again, much quieter this time.

Toryn risked looking up.

Cass was pink.

Very pink.

The Dragonborn felt his own face warming.

"You didn't tell me."

"I was trying to."

"When?"

"The entire morning."

Cass laughed.

"No, you weren't."

"I truly was."

"You were busy nuzzling me."

"I can do two things at once."

Cass laughed harder.

The sound made Toryn smile helplessly.

The healer's cheeks remained delightfully red.

"So…" he said softly, "all of that means I am…"

He trailed off.

Toryn's expression gentled immediately.

His tail tightened just slightly around Cass's leg.

"You are very dear to me."

Silence.

Cass looked at him.

Really looked at him.

The morning sunlight.

The oversized shirt he was wearing.

The breakfast.

The warm tail around his ankle.

The shy honesty in emerald eyes.

Very dear.

Nobody had said something like that to him in a very long time.

Possibly ever.

"Toryn…" he whispered.

The Dragonborn suddenly seemed nervous.

Which was somehow even more endearing.

Cass smiled.

Softly.

Then reached across the table and placed his hand over Toryn's.

The ex-soldier looked down at it immediately.

Then back at him.

Cass's expression had gone impossibly warm.

"I think you're very dear to me too."

Toryn stopped breathing.

Completely.

His tail went rigid.

His eyes widened slightly.

Cass looked alarmed.

"Oh dear. Was that wrong?"

"No."

The answer came immediately.

Far too quickly.

Toryn looked almost stunned.

Then, slowly, his entire expression softened into something so openly happy that it made Cass's heart ache.

Without warning, the Dragonborn stood.

Walked around the table.

And gently nuzzled the top of Cass's head.

Cass burst into helpless laughter.

"There it is again."

"I can't help it."

"You really can't, can you?"

"No."

Cass laughed until tears threatened.

And somehow, despite the ridiculousness of it all, he leaned into the affection anyway while Toryn stood there smiling, his tail still wrapped around the healer's leg as though it had no intention of letting go.

-

The warmth of breakfast lingered long after the plates had been cleared.

Neither of them seemed in any hurry to disturb the quiet peace that had settled over the little cottage.

Unfortunately, the morning had other plans.

Cass glanced toward the window.

"The sun's getting high."

Toryn followed his gaze.

"...It is."

"You'll be late for the forge."

"I might."

Cass folded his arms, trying to look stern.

"Master Hallik will not appreciate you abandoning him."

Toryn considered this.

"He has other workers."

Cass laughed.

"You cannot simply decide not to go because you'd rather stay here."

"I can."

"You shouldn't."

Toryn sighed with theatrical reluctance.

"I know."

He remained exactly where he was.

Cass waited.

"So..."

"So?"

"...Aren't you leaving?"

"In a moment."

Another long pause.

Cass tilted his head.

"Toryn."

"Hm?"

"...Are you pouting?"

The Dragonborn looked genuinely scandalized.

"I do not pout."

Cass raised an eyebrow.

"You are absolutely pouting."

"I am not."

"You've been staring mournfully at the door for the past five minutes."

"I have been evaluating it."

"For what?"

"...Its doorness."

Cass burst into laughter.

"Toryn!"

The Dragonborn tried to maintain his dignity.

"Dragonborn do not pout."

"Oh?"

"No."

Cass smiled with unmistakable mischief.

"So that little frown isn't pouting?"

"It is disappointment."

"And the sighing?"

"Resignation."

"And the way your tail has wrapped around my chair because you apparently intend to drag me with you?"

Toryn glanced down.

His tail had indeed curled securely around one leg of Cass's chair.

"...That was subconscious."

Cass laughed so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.

"I've never met anyone so determined to prove they aren't pouting."

"I maintain that I am not."

"You are adorable."

"I am fearsome."

"Mhm."

"I have frightened hardened mercenaries."

"And this morning you're sulking because you have to go to work."

"I am not sulking."

Cass reached over and gently booped the end of Toryn's snout with one finger.

"You are."

Toryn looked deeply offended.

Cass smiled so brightly that the Dragonborn's resolve lasted all of three seconds before he smiled back.

"You're impossible," Toryn muttered.

"So I've been told."

Another comfortable silence settled.

Then Cass looked down at himself.

"...Oh."

Toryn followed his gaze.

Cass was still wearing his oversized shirt.

The healer looked up sheepishly.

"I suppose..."

"I do need that back."

Cass nodded.

"I'll just—"

Before he could finish, Toryn stepped forward with a grin that Cass had learned usually meant trouble.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"You shouldn't."

Cass took one cautious step backward.

"Toryn..."

The Dragonborn reached for the loose sleeve.

Cass dodged with a laugh.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes."

"Toryn!"

What followed could hardly be called a wrestling match.

Cass was simply too small to truly compete with a Dragonborn built like a fortress.

Still, he made an admirable effort, laughing as he twisted away whenever Toryn caught one sleeve, only to lose the other. They stumbled around the cottage, bumping into chairs and narrowly missing the table, until Cass finally found himself gently but thoroughly trapped against the wall by a grinning Dragonborn.

"I surrender," Cass said between laughs.

"A wise decision."

With careful, unhurried movements, Toryn eased the oversized shirt over Cass's head.

The fabric caught briefly in his hair before coming free.

Cass stood blinking.

His cheeks flushed.

Toryn's smile faded into quiet awe.

The healer folded his arms instinctively across his bare chest, suddenly aware of how vulnerable he felt beneath Toryn's gaze.

For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.

Toryn's emerald eyes softened.

He stepped closer.

Very slowly.

Giving Cass every chance to step away.

Cass didn't.

Instead, he closed the remaining distance himself.

Their bare chests met as Toryn gathered him into a gentle embrace.

Cass rested his forehead against Toryn's for a moment.

"You really don't want to leave," he whispered.

"No."

Toryn kissed him.

Slowly.

Deeply.

Not with urgency, but with affection that seemed to pour into the kiss until words became unnecessary.

Cass answered just as gently, one hand settling against the Dragonborn's shoulder.

When they finally drew apart, they lingered close, smiling in that quiet, almost disbelieving way that still seemed new to both of them.

Reluctantly, Toryn pulled the shirt over his own head.

Cass watched him with open admiration.

"It suits you better," Cass admitted.

Toryn chuckled.

"I should hope so."

"You look very handsome."

The compliment caught Toryn completely off guard.

He cleared his throat.

"...Thank you."

Cass smiled to himself, clearly pleased he'd managed to fluster the normally stoic Dragonborn for once.

At last, there were no more excuses.

Toryn collected his gloves, fastened his belt, and picked up the small satchel he'd left near the door the night before.

He rested one hand on the latch.

Then stopped.

He looked back.

Cass was standing by the hearth, sunlight catching in his long golden hair.

Home.

The word came to Toryn's mind so naturally it startled him.

He wanted to cross the room again.

He wanted to tell Cass everything.

That he'd been quietly falling in love with him since the day a shy healer offered tea to a lonely stranger.

That every evening apart already felt too long.

That waking beside him had been the happiest morning he could remember.

The words rose to his lips.

"I..."

Cass looked at him expectantly.

Toryn's heart hammered.

Not yet.

Not because the feeling wasn't true.

Because he wanted to say it when he could give it the weight it deserved.

Instead, a fond smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Don't disappear into the woods without telling me again."

Cass laughed softly.

"I won't."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

Cass walked over and took one of Toryn's hands.

"I'll tell you."

Toryn squeezed it gently.

"Good."

Cass rose onto his toes and brushed a quick kiss across the Dragonborn's cheek.

"Have a good day at the forge."

Toryn smiled—a smile that seemed impossible for the man he had been only a few weeks before.

"I'll see you this evening."

"I'll be waiting."

Those five simple words carried Toryn through the cottage door and all the way toward the forge, where, for the first time in years, the end of the workday was something he couldn't wait to reach.