Epilogue
EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER
Jonathan
No matter how many Sword & Flame tournaments I went to, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the extreme use of Lynx body spray.
Even in something as large as a university sports hall, the smell could only be described as cloying.
The sort of smell that would stick to the inside of your nostrils and remain there, stubbornly, for at least a week.
I usually had to wash all my clothes, and my hair, twice afterwards to make sure it was gone. Otherwise, I’d wake up in the middle of the night to the ghost of it lingering on my pillow.
Alfie had teased me by threatening to buy a can of Lynx so we could train ourselves to ignore it, but I didn’t think there was any ignoring it in such a large volume.
“Have you seen the listings?” I asked with a smile as Alfie appeared beside me, carrying two large takeaway cups from the sports centre’s cafe.
“No.” He handed me one, which I knew had tea in. His would have coffee. “Where are we?”
I pointed at the brackets stuck to the white board in front of us.
The font was quite small, since the tournament was a large one, but I’d managed to find both of us while Alfie was queuing.
“You’re there,” I said, pointing to one on the left-hand side near the top before moving my hand across to the right-hand side, near the bottom. “And I’m there.”
“Opposite sides of the draw,” Alfie said with nod and a wry smile. “That’s good, now I might stand a vague chance of getting somewhere. Although,”—he peered at the listings and winced—“actually, can I request a change? You might be nicer to me.”
“You’re going to do great.” I slid my hand into his and squeezed. “And if we both get through to the second day, there is a chance we could face each other.”
“If we make it to the final, and I think the chance of me doing that is very slim.”
“But not impossible!”
“I love your optimism,” Alfie said, leaning in to press a kiss to the side of my head. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I twisted my head so I could kiss him quickly.
I still wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable with public displays of affection at tournaments, despite the fact nobody had ever said anything.
But I wanted a kiss more than I didn’t, so I was fine dealing with a few milliseconds of discomfort to get what I wanted.
“Do we need to go and get set up?” He glanced around the hall, where more and more people were arriving. There were a few faces I recognised from previous tournaments or their online presence.
There were a couple of popular miniature painters here, and I was going to try very hard not to fall to pieces if I got to speak to them.
One of them had a whole army painted in the colour schemes of different pride flags, and I desperately wanted to pluck up the courage to say hello and tell them how much I loved their work.
“I think you do. Your first match starts at ten, while mine doesn’t start until eleven.”
“I wonder why they’re doing staggered starts?”
“Maybe for ease? Half the hall on one time, the rest on another.”
Alfie shook his head. “Not sure that makes sense, but come with me while I set up?”
“Of course.”
We picked up our cases, which had been resting on the floor next to me, and walked through the hall to find his table.
His opponent wasn’t there yet, so we chatted quietly as Alfie began to unpack his army and position the miniatures carefully on the battlemap.
We’d spent several hours speccing our armies so they delivered the maximum return while fitting within the allowed amount of points for the tournament, and played a couple of rounds against each other to test out the build.
It had been a little tricky to find space to lay out the terrain, and in the end we’d pushed the coffee table to the side and laid it out across the living room floor.
We’d had to tiptoe around it and make sure to take pictures after each round so that when the pieces inevitably got disturbed by our beloved cat, Admiral Haddock Scuttlebutt—more commonly known as Haddock or Snootle—we’d be able to pick up where we left off.
We’d talked about finding a slightly bigger place to move to, because although my cottage was gorgeous and cosy, it was quite small. But we’d never gotten around to it and I wasn’t sure if we would because moving was always such a hassle.
Maybe if we stayed put, we’d finally have to admit we had too many miniatures and do something about it. Like putting a couple of boxes in the attic.
We’d been formally living together for about six months now, although Alfie had been there five or six nights a week for months before that. The thing that had finally pushed us to make the decision was Haddock.
He was a fluffy grey cat of indeterminate age and origin who’d belonged to an elderly woman who’d died peacefully at the start of August. Her son hadn’t been in a position to take him in, so I’d volunteered to bring him home until other arrangements could be made.
Of course, as soon as I’d closed the cottage’s front door I’d known he wasn’t going anywhere and I was going to spoil him rotten for the rest of his days.
Haddock had officially become mine a week later and Alfie had moved in three weeks after that, joking it wasn’t good for Haddock’s mental health to worry about where he was several days a week.
And now the three of us lived a very comfortable, peaceful life in the little cottage by the church.
It was the life I’d always dreamed about but never been sure I’d get to have. And every morning when I woke up to see Alfie sleeping beside me, I almost had to pinch myself to remind myself I wasn’t still asleep.
Although, Haddock’s grumbled, demanding yowls for breakfast from outside the bedroom door also did a good job of that.
Alfie finished setting up and then checked his phone, chuckling softly as he read whatever was on screen before turning it around to show me. “I think Milo might be taking this cat-sitting thing a bit too seriously.”
I laughed as I looked at the various photos Milo had sent of him and Haddock, including the pair of them in dressing gowns watching TV, eating dinner together with Haddock sat at the table, relaxing with towelling hairbands while Milo did a face mask, Haddock in a papoose like a baby strapped to Milo’s chest outside the fishmonger, and Haddock looking at Milo with adoration as he cooked them some pieces of fish.
“I think we might have been replaced. Where on earth did he get the dressing gown? And the hairband?”
“This is Milo, nothing is beyond him.”
“True,” I said, smiling fondly at the picture of Haddock in the papoose.
He looked so relaxed and comfortable, but that didn’t surprise me because he loved being cuddled and carried.
If he could, Haddock would live inside Alfie’s hoodie or my shirt, so a papoose was a sensible solution.
I had to give Milo credit for that. “I’m glad he’s being spoilt though, Haddock deserves that. ”
“Milo actually wrote, ‘nothing is too good for my precious nephew’, so I think this might go beyond spoiled.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Alfie’s opponent, a smiling and chatty young man with blue hair, and we turned to talking about Sword & Flame while the pair of them set up.
I decided to stay and watch their first round or two before going to find my own table, sipping the last of my cooling tea as I remembered the first day we’d met.
If I could go back in time and tell past-me what was about to happen, that his first opponent of the day was going to change his life, I doubted he’d have believed me.
And while things might not have been smooth sailing at first, I wouldn’t change anything because otherwise things might not have ended up as perfect as they were.
Yes, we both still had very busy periods, but we coped better with them now and knew how to plan for them, giving each other love and support to get through the stressful days.
It helped that Alfie, Darcy, and Milo had gone into Lick It!
’s second summer season armed with a plan which had included more staff, but knowing what was about to hit them had helped too.
Although, I didn’t think being featured on Jude Kane and Austin Carter’s Instagram and TikTok had been on any plan, neither had the influx of visitors that had followed, but they’d managed.
Milo passing out when he’d met Austin Carter for the first time last year hadn’t been part of it either, and I wasn’t sure Alfie and Darcy were ever going to let him forget it.
I almost wished I’d been there, but I’d been at work.
Theo had been there and I’d managed to piece together everything from Alfie’s and Theo’s retelling—though both had notable variations, so I wasn’t completely sure what the truth was.
I still enjoyed my job at Winchester & Sons, and Laurie had been training me to do more funeral planning and delivery, so while I still ran reception, I also worked closely alongside him.
It suited me very well, and I couldn’t see myself wanting to do anything else.
Laurie said I was practically family at this point, a Winchester in all but name, and it made me feel so loved and wanted in a way I’d never expected.
My closeness with Laurie and Theo had only been emphasised when Alfie had moved in and Theo had excitedly presented us with a taxidermy rat sitting in a deckchair holding an ice cream cone, with a little knotted hankie on its head and a blue-and-white striped bathing suit.
Alfie had been politely stunned while I’d almost cried because I knew this was something Theo did for all his loved ones when they moved in with their partner.
It was his way of wishing them luck and happiness, strange as it was.
The rat now lived in our painting room, mostly so Haddock couldn’t get to it, and we’d named it George in tribute to Laurie’s beloved Lord Byron. Fred had laughed when we’d told her and said she felt sorry for the poor rat being stuck with such a terrible legacy.
“I’m going to go and set up,” I said quietly, putting my hand on Alfie’s arm to briefly draw his attention from the battlemap, where he was studying his next move. His opening round had been a good one, and I was sure he’d be able to build on it with ease.
“Good luck,” he said as he closed the gap between us to kiss my cheek. “You’re going to be amazing, and I can’t wait to hear all about it. I love you.”
“I love you too. And come and tell me your result as soon as you’ve finished.”
“I will.” He shot me a fond smile, the same smile that always made my chest ache because I had never imagined being this loved. He really was everything to me, and I loved him more than I’d thought it was possible to love anyone.
“See you in a bit.” I blew him a soft kiss, then picked up my case and began to walk through the hall to find my table, glancing over my shoulder once or twice to look at my beloved. He was deep in concentration, measuring distances with a ruler and rolling dice.
My heart fluttered and I smiled.
I truly was the luckiest man in the world.
The End