Chapter 17
Yuri woke rested for the first he could recall in his entire life.
He was blessedly warm, in fact a little too warm, and his bladder screamed that now was the time to get up and relieve the pressure.
He swallowed his groan, not wanting to wake anyone else, and carefully crawled out from between Star and Theo.
Radu and Lucian took the outer edges of the bed, with Yuri wrapped in the middle, and he wondered how that had come to be, but feared poking a dragon of unsettled proportions.
Everyone had their own rooms, even Yuri, but this bedroom had only the giant bed and a massive ensuite bathroom.
He made his way to the bathroom, relieved his bladder and stepped into the shower, grateful for warm water and sweet-smelling soap. The giant purple cat sleeping beside the door was something he’d have to get used to. It tilted its head at him, curious, interested, and not wary at all.
Yuri tugged on his robe and smiled as Lucian entered the bathroom. “You didn’t have to get up yet,” Yuri told him as the man stepped in to kiss him on the cheek after petting the cat on its snout.
“The rabble will need to eat,” Lucian said. “And, previously immortal beings not used to having to consume food, seem to find recalling their need to eat difficult.”
“I can cook,” Yuri offered.
“You love baking,” Lucian said. “But I understand that cooking is not your passion.”
“I prefer desserts, yes. Donuts for breakfast was a thing for a reason.”
“Donuts?” Lucian said absently as he stripped out of his sleep pants and stepped into the water.
Yuri admired his beautiful form and longed to run his hands over every inch, but his stomach growled.
“See,” Lucian said. “Yours growls. Do you think they pay attention when theirs do?” He washed quickly, keeping his hair out of the spray. “What is a donut?”
“A small, round cake with a hole in the center. Sometimes it’s coated in a sweet glaze, or sugar and cinnamon, sometimes it still has the center and is filled with fruit or custard,” Yuri answered.
Did he have supplies to make donuts here?
How did that even work? “I’m not sure how this world works? Is it real? Is it a dream?”
Lucian stepped out and dried off, sliding into a robe he grabbed from a line of hooks beside the shower.
“It’s not a dream. Think of it like purgatory, perhaps.
A place between? Does that make sense? It’s real, but not an actual world in that you can’t start walking and just keep going.
Eventually it will stop as the creators will only extends so far. ”
“Which creator?”
“Star, Raphael, Uriel, and a handful of others. We all could return to our realms and exist within them, mortal, even though some of us are longer lived.” Lucian put his hand to his chest. “I straddle worlds, human and Onari. Theo didn’t want to return to the celestial realm, and the place of the archangels no longer exists, as Star said it was a void of any real creation.
They spent most of their existence navigating the worlds created by others and marveling in their design.
Star could live among the evolved Onari.
Their cities and technology match some of the human’s from before the last Fracture. ”
“That sounds exciting,” Yuri said. “Is that still on Dahna?”
“It is,” Lucian said. “I’ve been, and it’s…
overwhelming. They aren’t destructive like the humans were, and they are a matriarchal society filled with artisans.
I honestly think Radu would love it the most, and I understand that Star finds it overwhelming because he spent so long in the dark, devoid of most real beauty.
It’s like being blind and suddenly seeing everything. Too much.”
“What about you? You said it’s overwhelming.”
“I like the quiet of the cottage. Curling up in the sun to read a book. I enjoy that.” Lucian stepped in close but hesitated to touch him until Yuri reached out, then he pulled Yuri into his arms and nuzzled his neck. “You smell like breakfast.”
Yuri laughed. “Like donuts, sex, or hope?”
“All of the above?” Lucian asked. “Though I still don’t know what a donut is.”
“I’ll make some if I can find ingredients.”
Theo entered the bathroom with a sleepy half-awake smile looking adorably tousled. “Food?” he asked Lucian.
“Yes, angel. It is my duty to slave in the kitchen for you,” Lucian said. “As much as I do in the bedroom. You are ever demanding.” He held a hand out for Theo and tugged him into a hug which made Theo let out a long sigh of happiness.
“I’ll cook,” Yuri said. “Bake, whatever. Then you can show me how the rest of this world works?”
“Beyond christening every surface with our affection?” Lucian asked.
“I thought you’d already been doing that?” Yuri asked.
“Hmm,” Theo grumbled. “Yes. Except Star. He keeps to the dark…”
Yuri frowned, and Lucian gave a small shake to his head, an understanding conveyed in seconds. Star gave them only bits of himself. “What can I do?” Yuri asked.
“Time? Affection? I don’t really know,” Lucian offered. “Your presence changes us all, perhaps he merely needs to bask in you for a time?”