Ba’an woke to the door opening and closing softly. A delicious, savory smell wafted through the room and she propped herself up on her elbow to look.

“Morning, sweetheart.” Lukios set the tray down on the small table beneath one of the windows. He moved the vase full of hyacinth to the top of the dresser.

“Lukios? You are still here?” She slipped out of bed. Now this was a pleasant surprise. He was often gone early in the morning and returned late in the evening.

He grinned at her. “Yup. And I’ve got a surprise for you, but you’re only getting it after breakfast.”

Ba’an eyed him suspiciously. “A surprise? Lukios, I do not know if I like surprises.”

He laughed. “You’ll like this one, I promise.”

Ba’an glanced around the bedroom. It was a large room, but it was clearly made for sleeping. There was an entire antechamber outside the door which was made for lounging and entertaining. “Should we eat in the outer room?”

“If you want, but…” He gestured to the walls and touched his ear.

That was true. “There is already someone in the servant’s hall, Lukios,” she said in K’Avaari.

“Of course there is,” he sighed in the same language. “Want me to tell bad jokes until they go away?”

“I do not think that will work, Lukios.” She switched to Dolkoi’ri. “This looks very delicious. What is this? Is this dessert?”

He started to laugh. “Yes, sweetheart. It’s like those sweet buns you like, but the filling is different. It’s sweet too, but a bit denser.”

Ba’an picked it up and bit into it before he could dissuade her. He chortled, but only asked, “How is it?”

“It is very good! I like it. What is this?” She licked the filling. It was very sweet, but it wasn’t light and creamy. It was denser, and tasted…earthier? There was more weight to it, more texture. It was delightful.

“I think they’re made with chestnuts.”

“Chestnuts?”

“Yeah. They’re from down south. They’re these hard little nuts about this big.” He held his fingers apart so she could see the general size of it.

“Oh. I have never seen one before. It is very good. I like it.”

His smile widened and lifted the napkin off the little basket he had brought. It was full of treats. “But you really need to eat breakfast first, sweetheart.”

She sighed at him, but otherwise did not complain.

“Lukios,” she said between bites, “I am not complaining, but are you certain you can be here? You do not have a house meeting?”

He shook his head. “Not any I’m going to.” His gazed flicked to the wall and he made a face that made it clear that there was more to the story, but he did not wish for anyone else to hear it. She nodded. He grinned and leaned forward. “Did you have anything planned for today? Because I was thinking…”

Ba’an sat up. He did not have any plans? Oh, this was—it had been a very long time since they had had any time together. Ba’an would have to send a note to Merida to say she was not coming to the surgery today, and a note to Bethos and her tutor as well.

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She shook her head. “Nothing important, Lukios. We will spend the day together, then?”

His grin widened. “Yup. And like I said, I’ve got a surprise for you. But we should have breakfast first.”

Curiosity was a very strong motivator. Ba’an began to eat quickly, until Lukios, laughing, told her to slow down and chew, sweetheart. Well, she was, only very quickly.

“I am chewing, Lukios. I am not five.”

“Oh, I know, sweetheart. I know.” He leered at her, and she rolled her eyes. “But you’re definitely in danger of choking, and not the fun kind of choking, either.”

“You are very perverted, Lukios.”

He beamed. “Yup, and you love it. You can’t get enough of my perverted pervertedness. Be honest.”

“I do not think that is a word, Lukios.”

“It is now!”

With a noise of exasperation, she picked up a bun and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Thank you,” he said, but his mouth was full so it sounded more like mmfk juu. Ba’an covered her mouth, trying to suppress her giggle. His cheeks looked like an anpanku squirrel’s. It was adorable.

Breakfast finished without further incident, though halfway through Lukios felt the need to cut her food up into smaller pieces so she really wouldn’t choke on anything. It was absurd, but Ba’an accepted it, knowing full well this was his way of expressing his devotion. He liked to do things for her. It was very…

Nice. Absurd, but nice.

And he was correct, of course: she did like it.

“Oh, you’re blushing. That’s so cute.” His grin was so wide that Ba’an worried his face would split in half.

She felt her face burn even hotter. She glanced up at him through her lashes and licked the cream from her fingers.

“Um. Fuck. Ba’an, you really…” He was staring at her very intensely now, and she encouraged the direction of his thoughts by putting a plump, red strawberry in her mouth and eating in a way that was somewhat…suggestive of other activities. She heard him swallow.

Ba’an licked the juice from her lips, smiling more than a little coyly.

Lukios reached out and put his hand over hers. “Well,” he said, voice a little raspy, “if that’s how you want it.”

And then, of course, it was back to bed.

Afterwards, they both lay tangled together, limp, sweaty, and pleasantly exhausted. Lukios laughed softly against her ear, kissing her affectionately in between soft chuckles.

“What is so funny?”

“I told myself I wasn’t going to seduce you today until at least dinner time. Shows what I know.”

“You are lucky I was here to correct your assumption.”

His snickers intensified. “Yes, I am. Very, very lucky.” He snuggled against her and she stroked his side gently. “Mmm. That was really nice. It’s been a while since we could go nice and slow, right?” Suddenly he stiffened and sat up. “Oh. Right. We—” He looked outside. “Oh. We’re definitely running late now. Sweetheart, you okay getting ready to go out?”

“Out? Where are we going?”

He grinned at her. “Heard you wanted to take Mai’ra and Vul’kir for a walk.”

She sat up. “Did Altus and Eurosanus tell you…?”

“Oh, sweetheart, they didn’t, but I’ve got my own people around this place too. One of the stable hands told me. You could have just asked me yourself, you know?”

“You are very busy, Lukios.”

“I’m never too busy for you. Besides, you’re right, Mai’ra’s a bit roly-poly now. I think we might actually have to roll her around soon, ha. Vul’kir’s not too far behind, either.”

“Lukios, where are we going?”

“Out.” He grinned at her. “We’re going to go out for a nice day trip to the beach.”

She felt her eyes widen as she said, “Alone?” Her voice sounded eager, even to her.

He shook his head. “Sorry, sweetheart. It’s mostly safe around Heliopolis, but it’s still not a good idea to wander around without guards. We’ll bring faces you know, and they’ll keep their distance. Um…you okay with it? Or…do you want to do something else? Anything you want is fine.”

“The beach? Can I swim in the water?”

“You can, but we’ll have to go a bit further from the city. The water around the ports is just…nasty. We can go up the northern coast. Really nice little beaches there. Pretty safe too—no sharks, but I think there’s some pretty big, bity fish. I think it’ll be fine if we stick to the shallows. Oh! We can catch some shellfish. We’ll have big seafood dinner—how about it?”

She nodded rapidly, far more excited than she had been for weeks. “Yes. Lukios, I wish to go to the beach. You must teach me how to swim, and I wish to eat shellfish.”

He laughed delightedly, kissing her firmly on the lips. “Whatever you want, Ba’an. We’ll pack some fruit and wine too. Clay pots? Yeah, I think—ha, I have a pretty good idea.”

“Yes?”

He only smiled at her mischievously. “You’ll see. You’ll like it—I promise.”