Page 140 of A Soul to Steal

Aleron’s sight shifted to bright yellow, pleased that Gideon intended to share more with him.

“She and I could be pretty similar people at times. We both often put a foot in our mouths, so it got us into a lot of trouble. There was this one time–”

“That is odd. You put your foot in your mouth?” Aleron interjected, humour tickling his chest as he raised a foot and gnawed on his ankle between his fangs. “Why would you do this?”

“What?” Gideon’s eyes widened in shock, before his features crinkled tightly as he laughed. “No! I don’t mean literally!” His pretty green eyes, like a sun soaked, mossy forest, lit up with life in his direction. “It’s a saying, Aleron. It means we often speak before we think.”

I know,he thought warmly, lowering his leg. He just wanted to re-enact the first time Gideon had said it to him, and Aleron had misinterpreted it.I just wanted to see you laugh because of me.

He’d do anything to make this human grow to like him as he once did, even if it meant replaying the conversations and things they’d already done.

He didn’t mind if it made him appear foolish, not when his heart clenched with tenderness from the warmth he received.

When, exactly, this Duskwalker had turned up the charm, Gideon didn’t know. But it’d sent him into a few laughing fits and made him smile.

He peeked out at the entrance of the cave. The rain had eased, and in its place, snow fell. The clouds weren’t as dark and angry, and thunder had long stopped vibrating the world.

Wind still whistled, but after the second day, every hour it settled.

Maybe it’s a good thing the storm happened.They had been stuck in this cave with nothing but sticks, rocks, and each other to keep themselves entertained.I learned a lot about him.

Gideon tried to share as many stories as he could, without touching on things like Beau. He’d started referring to him as his... friend, rather than his boyfriend. As much as talking abouthim hurt, he’d been in a relationship with him for three years, and much of his adult life revolved around him and Emerie. To not speak about his past, simply because of that, would have left him with little to talk about.

In some ways, sharing all the good things from his life made him feel a little better.

He also let Aleron speak of Ingram. And, once he started, he didn’t shut up. Which, to be honest, Gideon didn’t mind. It allowed him to sit quietly and listen, rather than share until his tongue dried.

He...Gideon chewed on his bottom lip when his chest gave a deep pang.He’s laid down with me both nights.

The first night, he’d been unaware of that fact until Aleron disturbed him by moving away. The light drape of a comforting arm being removed brought him out of sleep. With his eyes barely open, he’d watched the Duskwalker move away to lie by himself on the opposite side of the fire. The second time... he’d already been half awake when Aleron snuck over.

He’d remained relaxed, waiting to see what the Duskwalker would do. Then, he just... cuddled him from behind. He held Gideon in the most innocent, yearning of embraces with his hand over his heart, like he wanted to feel it. Like he wanted to capture it.

Gideon never pulled away, even when it seemed to span an hour. Instead, he laid awake, allowing Aleron to fulfil this need andsavouringit himself.

A mixture of hurt and tenderness had flooded his very being. Hurt because he’d forced Aleron to only be comfortable doing this while Gideon was ‘unaware,’ and tenderness because it showed just how much Aleron cared for him.

He also hadn’t realised just how much heneededa hug, and had been disappointed when it ended too soon.

When he slept, he’d been hoping to remember more – something, anything – but nothing new came to him. Only the distressing dream of Emerie, and often nightmares of his own death, although those had started to ease and not be so frightening now that he’d met his murderer.

It also helped he had a pretty funny and sweet Duskwalker constantly keeping him company, helping to remove the negative emotions regarding winged monsters.

At least he seems to be enjoying himself now.

When the conversations dulled, Gideon showed Aleron how to play naughts and crosses, and scissors, paper, rock. Not the most intellectual games to play, but they had little else to use. Just anything to fill in the time as they waited out the violent rainstorm that turned into blizzards throughout the nights.

By the second day, Gideon had taken it upon himself to teach Aleron how to read and write when he discovered he couldn’t do either. It took up time, and he kind of liked teaching people new things. Aleron was also very receptive to learning.

When he found a decent rock, he carved the alphabet into the smoothest wall he could find. He taught him how to say each letter phonetically and then worked on teaching him to write his own name.

Watching the Duskwalker clutch his stone and write with the bottom of his fist had been kind of cute.

Aleron had been very interested in learning how to spell Gideon’s name, then Emerie and Ingram. Gideon didn’t know how to spell many of the other Duskwalkers’ names since he’d never heard of them before. Merikh was a tricky one, as phonetically sounding it out was ‘Merr-ick,’ and he doubted that was correct.

Then he watched Aleron pick his own words to spell – ones that would be more meaningful for him.Maybe in the future, I can find us a book. Something easy to read for a beginner.

At least he learned faster than a human. Much faster.

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