Disclaimer:…Not mine…Not mine….Not, whatever.
He couldn't for the life of him remember a time when he wanted the suns to come up less. Generally he enjoyed the mornings along with a strong cup of coffee that accompanied them. It was also the time he caught up with Jeb when he wasn't out with his regiment. They'd meet and have breakfast while the rest of the palace woke up. And he would openly admit that talking to his son was something he was fond of. He smiled slightly as he remembered how uncomfortable they had been around each other for a while.
Jeb had changed over the last ten years and it had taken him time to understand that. The first few months after they had found each other had been strained. Jeb wasn't used to being watched or questioned about anything after leading a rough and tumble group of rebels around for the better part of two years, and he wasn't used to suddenly having a son that no longer took his word as law. Eventually the tension had built up so high that they got into a shouting match that had rocked the walls. It was fortunate, in his opinion, that DG and Raw had happened to be in the room when they had finally snapped.
What had started out as a simple query from DG as she sketched a picture of the viewer quickly turned nasty when they couldn't agree on the answer. Three months of tension that had been bottled up on both sides was unleashed with a bang. He had seen the Furball try to intervene only to have the princess grab him by the arm and yank him back down on the couch they were sitting on. After ten minutes of shouting until they were both red in the face and several hurtful things had been spat out on both sides his son had stormed out of the room with one last hurled curse.
The Princess had simply sat up on her knees and leaned over the back of the sofa as Raw cowered in the corner. "Feel better?"
For the first time ever he had turned on her, showing more anger to her than he ever had, or was even remotely justifiable. "Of course I don't feel better!" His snarled shout left her completely unfazed.
Leaning forward she locked eyes with him. "You should probably go apologize then."
"Apologize?" He remembered having a feeling of incredulity at that remark. "What the hell for?"
"For treating him like he's seven and not seventeen." He'd never seen such a combination of passivity and firmness in his life. "You're not going to get anywhere with him unless you start talking to him like he's a man and not a boy."
He had narrowed his eyes and stormed up to her, his emotions boiling over. "How dare you tell me how to handle my son?"
She raised an eyebrow and poked him hard in the chest as he invaded her space. "Because you've been doing such a good job on your own. Christ, Cain! You two were throwing off so much pent up anger you made Raw start to shake! You need to get a grip or he's going to take off!"
His anger spiked and he grabbed her wrist so she would stop jabbing him. For a moment he forgot that she was a princess, one he had sworn on his life to protect, and had enough magic to blast him into several pieces if she chose. He was too pissed off to care. "And what do you know about being a parent?"
"Nothing, but I have a fair bit of experience with being smothered!" Her eyes glinted at him as she sat up straighter so they were closer to eye level. "Use your head! What would you do if you were his age and couldn't talk to your father without feeling like an idiot kid instead of a well respected military leader?"
His anger suddenly shifted focus. He wasn't sure if he was angrier with her for pointing out the damn obvious or him for not seeing where this was heading. He let her go as his eyes narrowed as he tried to defend himself. "He's my son." He hoped that statement would clarify his need to look out for Jeb. That was what he'd been trying to do.
She rolled her eyes. "No duh. The blond hair and stubborn as a mule attitude kinda give that away."
The viewer had the audacity to chuckle softly. He turned his eyes on him trying to intimidate him back into silence only to have DG grab hold of his face with both hands. His glare melted away when she tilted his head down to her face that was so very open. "I know it's rough, Tin Man. I know what it's like trying to find common ground with your family." She smiled a sad little smile then. "I also know you'd do anything for him." He felt her small hands brush his cheeks as she drove her point home. "You just have to get it through that thick head of yours that he's grown up."
He grunted and her eyes softened at whatever she saw on his face. He was betting it was grudging acceptance. That had been the first time an inkling of what kind of effect she had on him occurred to him. He had belatedly realized, even if she'd been wrong, that he most likely would have done what she'd suggested anyway. "I'll go apologize."
She smiled happily at him. "Good. You'll be happier if you two stop fighting all the time."
He huffed in amusement. "Have you been worrying about how content I am?"
Grinning up at him she moved one of her hands from his cheek to his chest, resting it lightly over his heart. "Nope, been worried you might have a heart attack now that it's beating again. I can't have that." She shoved him with the tips of her fingers. "Now go on. I have things to do." With that she flopped back down and picked up her pencil and sketchpad.
He sighed and stepped away. Grabbing his hat he had walked out the door intent on finding his son. As he closed it behind him he heard Raw rumbling something quietly to the princess and her muffled laughter. He had to admit after another uncomfortable hour with Jeb that she had been right. The fighting between them had stopped after that and while their talks after hadn't always run as smoothly as he'd liked they had reached a comfortable place. A few months after that and the tenseness had melted away entirely. Jeb was a good man with a clever head on his shoulders. He had DG to thank for making him see that.
The memory faded to the back of his mind as the princess in question turned over in his arms and snuggled closer to him in her sleep. Trying to doze off with her spooned up against him had proved to be impossible. He thought that the lack of sleep was an acceptable compromise given the situation. The last few hours had been the most pleasant torture he had ever encountered. He was disappointed that it was going to end.
Reaching up he ran his hand over her hair. "Princess, time to get up." DG muttered something unintelligible under her breath but didn't wake up. He stifled a chuckle. She was stubborn even when she was sleeping. "DG." His hand made its way down to her neck. "Wake up."
A soft sound escaped her as her eyes fluttered open. "Cain?" Her groggy voice was thick with confusion.
He hummed and began to massage her. "You need to get back to your room. The first sun'll be up in a few minutes."
Pressing back into his hand she let her eyes fall closed. "Ok." He smiled as she stretched out along the side of his body, a low sigh of pleasure falling from her lips. She wasn't moving. The woman knew how to break his resolve didn't she?
"Darlin-" He pressed his lips against her hair. "-if you don't leave now you're not going to."
"Ok." Her hand snaked up to catch his forearm as she pressed closer to him.
He groaned into her hair before carefully sitting up. "You promised me you would. Come on now."
"Wrong." He frowned down at her as she reached out and ran a hand up his back leaving a trail of fire in its wake. "I said that I could not that I would."
He rolled his eyes as he bent down and wrapped his arm around her waist hauling her up and into his lap. "Clever." She smiled mischievously at him before leaning forward and catching his lips with hers. Catching the back of her head he couldn't stop himself from drawing her flush against him. The princess sighed in satisfaction as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
Her warm lips caressed his until he couldn't think straight. Twisting around he held her soft body to him as he lowered them both back down to the bed. Tracing her lips with his tongue he let his hand creep up to caress her side sliding over soft cream color silk. DG arched up into him at the same time she hooked a leg over the back of his thigh dragging him closer to her. A ragged gasp escaped him as she rubbed her hips against his. He was going to loose it if she kept this up, it had been too long. "DG-"
Grabbing her face he kissed her hard one last time before propping himself up on his elbow. She rocked against him again and he growled at her. "Stop, Darlin'."
Her blue eyes were slightly unfocused as they flashed up to him. "What's wrong?"
"You deserve more than a quick tumble in the sheets and that's all we're going to have time for this morning." She blinked at him and he cursed himself for sticking to his principals. He was closing in on his limit here. "Please, DG. I want more than that with you. I want to be able to keep you for a while."
"I want that too." Her soft reply was hesitant and shy as her aggressive attitude vanished like smoke on the wind. She leaned up and kissed him sweetly before letting her legs fall away from him. He knew he should get off of her but the uncertainty she was suddenly displaying confused him. With the way she'd been reacting he thought she'd done this before. Now his princess seemed as nervous as the viewer usually was.
He searched her eyes and started to ask her what was wrong when someone knocked on his outer door. He stiffened his head snapping around. "Dad? Are you up yet?"
He sat up and DG scrambled out from under him. She flashed him an embarrassed smile, kissed him on the cheek, and vanished from his side in the blink of an eye. He was left staring at the space she had inhabited her scent clinging to him. Shaking his head to clear it he quickly grabbed a shirt out of his dresser and threw it on. "Coming." Closing his bedroom door behind him he buttoned his shirt up as he walked across his sitting room.
When he opened the main door he found his son lounging against the doorframe with a smirk on his lips. "Too early for you old man?"
He raised an eyebrow and moved back inside. "Hardly."
"Really?" Jeb was smirking at him as he flopped down on one of the chairs near his fireplace. "Sure took you long enough to answer the door. If you need more rest all you have to do is tell me. We can move family hour to midday."
His reply was bland. "I'll keep that in mind."
Blue eyes that reminded him of Adora glinted at him. "If we're going to eat I suggest you finish getting ready. I have to leave on patrol in an hour."
"You young people are always in a hurry." His son chuckled at the jibe as he headed back toward his room. "Give me five minutes."
Heading back to his bathroom he flipped on the light and dug his razor out. He was halfway done shaving when he heard Jeb walk in. Suppressing the urge to chuckle at his son's impatience, sometimes he still acted like he was still five years old; he raised an eyebrow as he sauntered into the doorway. "You can't be that hungry."
Jeb's blue eyes were narrowed as he regarded him. "If I didn't know better I would think you haven't slept."
"And why's that?" He continued to rid himself of the last of his morning stubble as he realized he was slowly getting backed into a corner.
Jeb crossed his arms. "You have circles under your eyes, you haven't shaved, and you're not dressed. This would be the first time in over a year that you haven't been ready to go when I got here."
He grunted as he accidentally nicked his jaw. Picking up a cloth he wiped away the last of the shaving cream on his face and stepped back into the bedroom. "First time for everything."
His son's eyes scanned the room as he shrugged his holster on. "Uhuh."
He needed to get them going before Jeb could ask any more questions. "Now you're holding us up."
He managed to get Jeb out of his rooms with relatively little struggle, which put him on edge. It wasn't often that the boy let something go. They had that in common. But Jeb appeared to be over his bout of inquisitiveness or decided he was too hungry to care. For the life of him he couldn't remember seeing anyone eat the way his son did. He could eat three times as much as he did at a meal and be hungry an hour later. He wasn't sure where he put all of it as thin as he was. Maybe he was making up for the meals he'd lost while living in the woods.
By the time he had made it through his meal and was sipping his coffee in a small parlor they ate in he had relaxed. Jeb swallowed and was reaching for another piece of toast when he sprang, his voice neutral. "How long have you been sleeping with DG?"
He choked as the hot liquid went down the wrong way. "Excuse me?"
His son's face was impassive as he bit into the warm bread. "Dad, please. I'm not stupid. You had someone in your bed last night. Your pillows had two depressions and black hairs on them so unless you got in the way of one nasty spell and grew a second head…"
He tried to think of a way to salvage the situation. "It's not like that, Jeb." Not yet at any rate.
"Really?" He chewed slowly his eyes never wavering. "Tell me what its like then."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose in agitation. He had never expected to have this conversation with Jeb. At least not with the roles reversed. Wasn't it his job to ask his son these questions? Looking up he decided to be as honest as he could. The last thing he wanted was a wedge between them. "Jeb, I know you miss your mother-"
"This has nothing to do with Mom."
He sighed. He wished this wasn't so complicated because he hated this feeling of strangeness between them. "In a way it does. I'm not trying to replace her if that's what you're thinking."
Blonde eyebrows came together. "Dad-"
"And I know you see DG as a friend but I don't."
"Dad-"
He had a feeling he was talking too much. "But I'm not going to pretend that I don't care for her."
"Dad!" He clamped his mouth shut at Jeb's raised voice. "I only wanted to know if anyone else knew. I had wondered why she'd been turning away suitors."
"She what?" He must not have heard that correctly. He hadn't known anything about that. How had he not known about that?
Jeb gave him a hard look. "Aren't you head of security? She's been having Glitch sending them off before they can meet her."
He searched his son's face for a long moment. "I didn't know." He started pondering the implications of that when a low chuckle floated across the table. His eyebrow went up in question.
"You might want to look out for her. If she managed to keep that fact from a trained Tin Man she's better than I thought." She'd managed to keep her nightmares from him as well. They really needed to have that talk. Jeb must have seen his thoughts drifting because he stood picking up an apple. "I've got to go." His son stared down at him and pointed a finger at him. "Don't screw this up old man."
He felt his jaw fall slightly open as his son went out to patrol. He hadn't thought Jeb would accept this so easily. Shaking his head he stood up quickly and headed out the door. He had a princess to talk to.
Author Note: Do you know what makes me write more? I knew you did!