Page 21 of Legends and Longing

Ugh.

I could help my mate.

Well, I could help him with English at the very least.

“I think…I think the word you’re looking for is courtyard.” We had a lot of words for similar concepts, though. “From what…from what Toman said, the language transfer starts out basic and then gets better over time. That…that might’ve been because of his bond with Wren, though.”

“Toman indicated that the first human they obtained English from did not have a good vocabulary.” Zorin’s information was correct but something about his tone made me think he had questions about that. “There may be several reasons for the language transfer slowly developing accuracy.”

Probably.

What else would they need to know?

“Oh, um, Wren said that he has a photographic memory. That…that means he remembers everything he sees, so he…he sends Toman pictures of what words mean.” That had to change something about the whole transfer thing, but language magic wasn’t anything I’d ever heard about, much less researched.

They both got quiet and seemed to be thinking about what I’d said, but it was weird not hearing any sounds to give me clues about it. I hadn’t really thought of us as using noises and movements as another form of language but Zorin was right.

“We must make sure that information is passed along to the mages who designed the original spell.” Zorin’s confidence had me nodding before I realized it might not help them. “Toman is distracted by his mate, so he may not pass along the information in a timely manner.”

A hint of frustration rippled through the thin bond with Raxius. “We are going to be distracted by our new bond as well.”

Technically they were both right.

Was he just trying to pick a fight with Zorin?

My cute professor seemed to think so based on the quick glance and human-looking glare. “Our mate is not what humans call a handful and there are two of us, so we can more easily keep him happy and watch over him.”

Divide and conquer.

Not a bad strategy even if things were crazy, so as we walked down the hallway with its oddly smooth, sandy stone-like walls, I squeezed his hand and mentally prepared to explain what it meant.

Thank the fates.

Zorin squared his shoulders and gave me the impression he was very pleased. “Our mate indicated his agreement with a physical response.”

And he was very proud of himself for getting it.

It got low, confusing feelings coming from Raxius, but he didn’t snip at Zorin, so I thought we were moving in the right direction. I wasn’t sure it would be possible to go more wrong, though. Mates might always work out in the long run but somehow these two had gotten off on the wrong foot.

But when?

What’d happened?

From what I’d heard from Toman, this level of hostility wasn’t reasonable unless they’d pissed each other off several times in the past.

“Then we will make sure we divide our time appropriately, so that he has as much…as much companionship as he requires.” Raxius went quiet and I could almost hear what had to be frustrated mental grumbles.

Before he could reorganize the sentence or change a word, Zorin jumped in. “As much attention as he needs. Submissive individuals from Earth need significant amounts of attention and caretaking, but my observations show they need it in different ways depending on their form of submission.”

Good grief…how had they managed to start fighting over what to call taking care of me?

“He’s not a…” Raxius used a word that definitely wasn’t English as his body felt like it got stiffer. “He is our mate.”

So maybe I wasn’t a pet of some kind?

He was right about that even if I wasn’t sure he understood why Wren would’ve laughed. I was a little not some kind of pup, but it made me wonder what they’d think of that kind of play. Toman clearly didn’t mind anything Wren came up with because I’d heard him talking about having squirrel time, but my mates were a lot more interesting than Toman.

“You may have access to English, but I have already begun to extensively question Toman on what submissives need and the different ways they are cared for.” Zorin loved knowing he’d started researching that kind of stuff before Raxius. “Our mate may need spankings or other form of physical attention that we must provide for him. There are a variety of different forms of submission and he may actually be a…when he submits.”