Chapter 28
Tsok
It had been many years since Davard acted as a maleservant for him. Back in the early days of his career, before Tsok attained the position of char, Davard tended to his closet and his fur. However, as they rose in rank together, Davard had more important things to do. Tsok could also afford to pay others to do it for him instead.
That was why he was so surprised to wake up the day before the ceremony to find Davard there with all the grooming tools he’d need for his fur, his claws, his saber teeth. The older male had dressed in comfortable clothes, made for getting oils and stains on them, and he had a determined, excited look in his eyes.
“You’re grooming me today?” Tsok asked, surprised, as he came inside.
“Who better than me?” Davard asked, leading the way to the privy. “No one knows you like I do. Besides, this is a big day. It feels right that I take over.”
Tsok chuckled, following him without argument. He’d slept alone in Glass Manor last night. Today was his day of separation from Misty, so he couldn’t sleep beside her. However, it was only with great reluctance that he left Fellbud Manor last night.
It was strange though, how he woke this morning with a great deal of eager anticipation. Today felt different somehow. There was a vibrating energy lighting him up inside. Like every cell in his body knew he was about to, finally, claim his mate.
The energy made him both incredibly patient and harshly impatient. He just wanted to take her in his arms now, to rip off this increasingly offensive nasal filter, and rut her until they were both too exhausted to move.
Yet, somehow, at the same time, he was quite content to go through this entire ceremony. The buildup, the anticipation, was feeding something in him that was just making everything better. It was like he owed this to her. Not because it was an obligation, but because she deserved it. All the time, the effort, the fuss – she deserved it all.
But that was just him. He didn’t expect that from Davard.
“I never took you for the sentimental type,” Tsok said, taking a seat in his privy as Davard moved around him, getting set up.
“Oh, I’m not,” he chuckled. “But I can appreciate a special occasion just like anyone else.
“And this has nothing to do with you being my sire?”
“Your mate is the only one who cares about such things. Though, I will admit,” Davard grinned at him, “she has me intrigued.”
“Oh. By what?”
“She has pointed out that the young you have will be my grandkits. She asked me how much I wanted to be involved in their lives. I think she was trying to be respectful of our relationship as it is now, but also adding what she expects as a human.”
“Ah. Human grandsires are more involved in their grandlings lives.”
“Much more,” Davard agreed. “It is, I’m given to understand, a relationship that has all the love of a parent and child, but none of the expectancy of discipline and responsibility. At least, that’s how she described it to me when I asked.”
“You asked?” Tsok repeated, surprised. He didn’t think that Davard would be the type to inquire about such a thing.
Tsok was well aware that Misty considered the relationship with his sire to be a strange one. He would agree, though probably not in the way she would think. Most parents and offspring on Kree had very little to do with each other. Even those that were considered exceptionally close would still not really be more than friends. The fact that Tsok and Davard were not just colleagues but friends and, in fact, Davard lived in Glass Manor meant that, by kreecharma standards, they were almost overly attached to each other.
But to Misty, their relationship was not an intimate or even friendly one at all. He knew she was bothered by it, but she didn’t really express that. Asking Davard if he would be involved with their kits was probably her being unable to contain her human desire for a family, even if, in the normal course of things, Tsok’s sire would have nothing to do with his offspring.
Of course, in the course of normal events, neither would Tsok. So, it wasn’t at all an unfair question for her to ask.
What really surprised him was how open Davard seemed to be to it.
“I think I should like to be involved with my grandlings,” he said softly, like the admission was a strange one, even to his own ears. “I don’t know exactly what it is your female is expecting of me, but I find myself interested in meeting them. In knowing them.”
“I’d like that,” Tsok admitted. “You and I are already closer than most. I don’t see why that shouldn’t extend to my offspring as well.”
Davard gave him a grateful look. “Let’s prepare you for your ceremony then. I am eager to meet my grandkits, so you must get to work making them.”
Tsok chuckled, sitting back and letting Davard start to work. Aside from the braids still fresh against his skin, he went over his whole body, preparing him for the ceremony.
Today marked the first part of their wedding. The party. The vows. The witnesses. Today marked the beginning of a new era for Kree.