Daine knocked gingerly on the door.
"Who is it?"
Daine opened the door and smiled. It seemed as though Rikash Moonsword would make a full recovery. She had, for one perilous second, thought that he had been killed but then he had wheeled around and laughed wildly at the dying creature.
Rikash was perched upon the bed and the remains of something was lying in a dish on the floor. Daine could feel her stomach turn and she avoided looking in that direction.
"I would have thought you'd be with Numair," Rikash said quietly. "I heard. Congratulations."
Daine blinked. She was surprised that he was being so polite. "What?" she said teasingly. "No making fun of him?"
"Even I'm capable of gaining perspective from a near death experience," Rikash said dryly. "Your lover isn't a bad man. Just a bit pompous for my tastes."
She couldn't help a small laugh at that. Numair was anything but pompous when you got to know him, but she could see how Rikash would think so. "I'm glad you survived," she said softly. "You can rebuild the Stormwing Nation. Even have a family of Moonswords."
Rikash snorted. "Not likely," he said. "I'm not inflicting this name on any progeny of mine." He tilted his head and scratched lightly on the bedpost. "But I did hear that you put in a good word for us to the Gods."
Daine scowled. "What they were considering was plain unfair!" she exclaimed. "It's not fair that you folk get punished for just doing what's in your natures."
Rikash looked like he was about to laugh. "I'm surprised to hear you saying that."
"I've changed," she said sheepishly. "Anyway, I just wanted to come in to make sure that you were okay and recovering."
He stretched out his wings, the metal making a scraping sound. "Never better."
Daine hesitated before holding her breath and giving Rikash a quick hug. To her surprise the Stormwing drew back his wings as to not hurt her. As she was about to let go, she felt lips press against her head.
"Did you…" she began and then decided not to say anything. "Well, I have to go," Daine said awkwardly and backed out of the room.
Once outside, she leant against the wall and wondered at the butterflies in her stomach.
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Author Notes: Liked it? Hated it? Want more? Tell me.
I've wanted to write a Daine/Rikash story for ages, but wasn't really up for a full relationship in the fic yet. So yeah, this is Daine/Rikash if you squint.