Khadgar woke after what seemed like days, blinking up at the wooden beams of the ceiling. He was in his right mind again, and very thankful for it.
The mage raised a hand to rub his forehead, thinking he should probably be at least a little surprised to feel fur there, rather than bare skin. But he wasn't. Clearly he'd retained something of the (relatively short) time between when the curse took effect and when he'd been dosed with the elves' cure.
/Don't call it a curse,/ he told himself, rising slowly to a seated position, trying to get his bearings. /You never did before, and now's not the time to start thinking of it as one. It's a gift, just like you've always told Anduin./
"You ok in there, bookworm?" came the older man's voice from outside. There was affection there, of course, but it was tinged with just the faintest trace of concern.
"Yes…yes, I'm fine, Anduin," he replied, turning towards him and smiling, hoping to assuage any worries he might have. The cure had worked. It always worked, the elves had told them, all those months ago when the worgen affliction had first appeared in Stormwind. And it worked fastest on those who'd only been afflicted for a short time. Like Khadgar.
"Good, because you've been in that cage long enough," Lothar pronounced, moving to the iron bars that separated them. He placed a large key in the heavy, reinforced lock, turning it and stepping inside. Khadgar tried to stand but found himself pitching forward, only to be caught by the regent.
"Sorry," he murmured, as Lothar helped him back down onto the bedding. If the older man hadn't been in his worgen form himself he likely would have collapsed under the mage's weight. Anduin was strong, but not that strong, and full grown worgen were heavy.
"Your balance should come back soon," Anduin promised. "For now, though, just try not to overthink it. Walking, I mean. You were moving around fine a few hours ago." He rested a hand at the side of Khadgar's head, gazing at him intently. "Light, Khadgar, you're beautiful like this."
"You really think so?" All he could tell so far about his new form was that his fur was dark, darker than Anduin's; and that he still enjoyed being held by the warrior as much as he ever had. This close, his lover's scent was warm and comforting, and the mage could feel that warmth deep down in his soul. "Mmm…you smell good. You smell like home," he breathed.
"I've been saying the same about you for a while now," Lothar replied fondly. "Not that I would have ever wished this upon you, but at least now we can share some of the same experiences. I know you were always curious about how worgen shapeshifting would be different from using Atiesh's raven form."
Khadgar nodded, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, trying to process all the new information his heightened senses were sending him. /You're like a wolf now, no wonder some things seem more intense,/ he thought to himself. His vision, hearing, and his sense of smell were all sharper, of course, but there was something else he was experiencing that he didn't think had anything to do with them. Something about the warmth inside him, something to do with Anduin.
/You're like a wolf now,/ echoed through his mind again, and he moved further into his lover's embrace, puzzling over it for a few moments…and then it hit him, as he recognized it for what it was.
"Anduin," he whispered in awe. "How come you never told me?"
"Told you what?" The regent-king's eyes, still blue even in his worgen form, had a feigned innocence that Khadgar knew all too well.
The mage was still surprised at the revelation, and even more so that Anduin would have been experiencing the same thing since he'd been turned, yet had never said anything. "That worgen mate for life."
Lothar looked down for a moment. "I, ah…didn't want you to feel obligated. To stay with me, I mean," he said softly. "I didn't want you to feel like you couldn't leave, if our circumstances ever changed. I didn't want you to feel like you'd be tied to me forever."
Khadgar regarded him earnestly. "And what if I told you that I never had any intention of leaving you, now or before, no matter if we were human or worgen or whatever?" He shook his head in mild exasperation. "And you say that I'm the one who overthinks things," he chuckled.
Lothar smirked. "Just be glad the elves want everyone who's just taken the cure to rest for twenty four hours," he said. "Because starting tomorrow, you're back on duty. You need to learn how to be a worgen."
"And you're going to teach me?"
"Of course. I've been afflicted for three months, I'm an old pro at this," he declared.
"Mmm…good," murmured Khadgar, closing his eyes and leaning into his embrace once more. "Because I'm going to have lots of questions, you know. I'm not like some of the people who ran feral for weeks or more before they were caught and received the cure. This is all very new to me. So you're probably going to have your hands full."
"Oh, I know," Lothar replied, smiling at his lover. "Light help me, I know."