He really, really had to start paying better attention.
The door opened and Nikki slipped through, quietly, as if expecting Gunter to be asleep. It was a tad early for that, though, and Gunter had no intention of sleeping until Nikki was properly in bed with him.
Halfway through the door, Nikki spied him sitting upright and stopped tiptoeing.
“Oh, you’re up.”
“Waiting on you.” Gunter gave them a smile, shelving his worries for a moment. “You smell like night air and wind.”
“Yeah, I maybe stepped outside for a moment.” Nikki kicked off shoes before crawling over to Gunter, snuggling in.
Gunter immediately folded them in, stroking their back with a soft palm. Never, ever, did he want his mate to feel trapped here with him. He didn’t want Nikki to be driven off by those dark feelings. Or by something Gunter did—or failed to do. But he didn’t have an immediate fix to this problem either. And it wasn’t something that called for an immediate fix.
Time, and love, and patience. That’s what would help heal Nikki.
“Gunter?”
“Hmm?”
“I bumped into Tori outside. And he said dragons like to fly with their mates. Is that true?”
“We enjoy nothing more. It’s immensely satisfying, flying with our mates. I always enjoy flying with you.”
“Oh. The last few flights have all been about business. And I was kind of stressed out about where we were going. I guess I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to enjoy it.”
That sounded like an invitation to Gunter. “Would you like to go flying now?”
Nikki lifted their head, blinking down at him. “Right now? But you’re still injured.”
“Sora would have my head if we went tonight. As soon as I’m healed, we’ll go. Night flying is wonderfully liberating,” Gunter explained, smiling up at them. “The air is cool and crisp and fresh in your lungs. And the night sky envelopes you, makes you feel like you can dance with the stars.”
“Well. If you put it like that, all poetic and shit, of course I’m going to say yes.”
Gunter grinned and smacked a kiss on their lips. “Tonight, how about a drive with the top down? A similar feeling, and it’ll be relaxing to just drive for a while.”
“Done. Sold. Where the hell are my shoes?” Nikki was up in a flash.
Maybe not an immediate fix, but a drive together would do them both good. And maybe, maybe Gunter could quiet those dark fears in Nikki’s head for a little while.
So. Apparently in Burkhard, there was such a thing as game night.
This was news to Nikki, and while it was fun in concept…really? Dragons hundreds to thousands of years old really got together to play Twister?
Dafuq?
Anyway, not only was this a thing, but for some odd reason, their usually very introverted Gunter went right to game night like it was the most natural thing in the world. The man who literally forgot to eat three meals a day. Remembered game night.
Nikki was going to need an intelligence check on this one. Maybe an investigation check. Something. Because this did not make any sense to them whatsoever.
Maybe it was the confusion that prevented Nikki from asking more questions. Or stalling. Whatever it was, in short order they found themself in the dining room, surrounded by the entire clan and visiting clans, multiple games going on in every corner and on every table top. Being surrounded by this many mages made hives break out on Nikki’s skin. Their resolve to be on better terms with the mages notwithstanding, Nikki had planned to do it in stages. Not like this. This felt like being thrown into the deep end.
Gunter didn’t seem to realize, just waved Nikki on. “Go find a game, you can always jump in. I’m heading for snacks first.”
Nikki almost snatched him back but missed the timing. Gunter was headed toward the buffet before they could say something. Dammit. Maybe they could run for it and Gunter wouldn’t notice for a few hours.
Just as they were eyeing the doors, an arm locked in with theirs. Cassie grinned up at them, honestly delighted to see Nikki there.
“You came! Look at you being a little social butterfly.”
Okay, Cassie wasn’t bad. Nikki actually liked Cassie, a little. She was a bundle of energy and mischief, and they couldn’t find her threatening. “Yeah, hi, I had no idea what was going on. Gunter just dragged me up here like it was the most natural thing in the world. I mean, game night?”
“It is hilarious how seriously they take it, too.” Cassie waved a hand around to indicate the room in general. “They’re competitive. Like, Olympian kind of competitive. They will shift in order to win at Twister. I’ve started taking videos and posting them to the Burkhard Facebook page. And our website.”
Nikki stared at her, waiting for the punchline. “We have a social media page. And website?”