Rogue Sloth

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

None of that mattered. Caspian clenched his jaw to stop himself from arguing with her. Iris was too kind to pin blame on his security head, but her mercy didn’t stop him from feeling angry and betrayed by a man he was supposed to have been able to trust. All this time, Jacob had known she was alive and knew exactly where she was, and yet he’d pretended she was dead to keep him from going after her. He wasn’t going to break his word to Iris and fire the other man, but he definitely had a few choice words he planned on sharing with him later.

Hearing her say that she still loved him sent a wave of relief washing over him, and he pulled her in as tightly to his chest as he could without suffocating her. “I’m not letting you go again,” he promised, his own voice partially muffled behind the curtain of her long hair. And he meant it. Of course, there were still a lot of things he was going to have to work out now that she was back. He was king now, laden with new responsibilities and expectations as he stepped up to manage Aspiria in his late father’s place. If he became publicly involved with a former member of the rebellion, it wasn’t going to be a popular move with the people of the capital.

Even though nothing had been put down in writing, there was also the problem of his prospective courtship with Raine. The Suphate princess had seen his reunion with Iris, and he was sure she was upset and confused. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but when he’d begun to spend time with her and entertain the idea of a future marriage between their kingdoms, he hadn’t believed he would ever see his “dead” girlfriend again. Everything had changed now that she was here again, and the princess’s feelings weren’t enough to stop him from choosing the woman he hadn’t stopped loving since they’d parted months ago. He was going to find a way to be with Iris no matter what.

“You’re what’s better for me, Iris,” Cas insisted, pulling back from their embrace so that he could meet her eyes. “While you were gone… I could barely get through each day. I could barely even think straight sometimes.” He shook his head. “I was surviving, but I was never doing well. Please… if you ever get it in your head again that I’m better off without you, just know that you’re everything to me.” Holding her gaze earnestly, he brought a hand up to gently caress her cheek.

When she brought up the attack at the castle, he winced. The memory was still raw, and he hadn’t yet had time to process all of it, but he managed a flicker of a smile at her compliment. He hadn’t realized she’d seen him that night. The expression gave way to one of interest when she added that she had something to give him, and he pulled her back into his chest, slipping his arms around the small of her back and resting his chin on her shoulder. “I love you too,” he whispered, turning to press a kiss to her cheek. “And I forgive you—for everything.”

Giving her one more squeeze, he drew back once more and let his hands trail down to rest on her legs, searching her eyes with knitted brows. “Now… what did you mean when you said you wanted to give me something to take down the rebels?”

Beta Testers Needed

Does Safari qualify? I typically run RPG on my Mac, but I'd be happy to help out too.

Two Dudes Sitting in a Hot Tub [MxM Search - Slow Burn Preference]

Bump

Two Dudes Sitting in a Hot Tub [MxM Search - Slow Burn Preference]

Bump - added one more plot for an old character I'd like to try again.

Two Dudes Sitting in a Hot Tub [MxM Search - Slow Burn Preference]

Bump. Still looking for partners interested in exploring a dynamic, queer slow burn

Two Dudes Sitting in a Hot Tub [MxM Search - Slow Burn Preference]

Bump

Two Dudes Sitting in a Hot Tub [MxM Search - Slow Burn Preference]

Bump~

Two Dudes Sitting in a Hot Tub [MxM Search - Slow Burn Preference]

Bump. Looking for one or two long term writers.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Through his own excitement, Caspian could see hints that Iris wasn’t as elated about their reunion as he was. It was strange, but she looked almost… nervous to be with him again. The restlessness of her fingers and the quaver in her breath seemed uneasy. He wasn’t sure why that would be. After everything they’d been through, he would have thought she’d be happy they were together again, and she had seemed that way just a few minutes ago. He watched her with a confused frown as she hesitantly joined him on the edge of the bed. He was the one who’d asked her to fill him in on everything that had happened since the day he’d seen her with Ethan, but with the way she was acting now, he was starting to wonder if he was going to like hearing what she had to say.

Still, the touch of her hands against his was a soothing balm against rising nerves. He turned his palms over into hers, reveling in her warmth—further solidifying the fact that she was really there with him again. For a moment, he sat in that relief, and then knitted his brows when Iris began to speak and mentioned a name he hadn’t expected. “Jacob?” He looked up from their intwined hands to her face. Parting his lips, he almost asked her what his guard had to do with anything, but he stopped himself. By the look on Iris’s face, he could tell she wanted to tell him everything, so there was no reason to spring ahead.

Forcing himself to hold onto his questions for now, he let out a sigh and nodded. “Fine… I promise.”

It was difficult to listen without interrupting, but Cas did his best as she began to tell him everything, beginning with the note she’d left for him the day she’d gone missing from the hotel. His throat tightened at the mention of it, old emotions resurfacing as he pictured her handwriting in his mind. Back then, he’d thought she had left him of her own volition, and even though it hadn’t been as painful as believing he’d just watched her die on a screen, it had still hurt. He’d wondered about it ever since, so when she told him Ethan had blackmailed her, his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

The detail slotted a lot of things into place. Now he knew how her ex had gotten ahold of her and why she’d left him so abruptly. It hadn’t been her choice after all—at least, not fully. He felt a mixture of relief and sadness at that. On one hand, it was good to feel certain that he hadn’t done anything to drive her away. But on the other hand… everything about what Ethan had done was despicable.

He was equally surprised to learn the role his security head had played in her disappearance. Even though he’d just promised Iris not to fire Jacob, he felt anger whip through him at the discovery that the other man had known where she was—had helped deliver her to Ethan on a silver platter—and had kept it from him all this time. “He should have told me,” he shook his head, folding his arms stiffly over his chest. “If I’d known, I could have done something to help you, Iris. You didn’t have to go back to him—” Pausing, he took a breath. As frustrated as he was, there was nothing helpful about getting mad at the past. She was here now. That was all that mattered, he reminded himself.

Instead, as her voice broke, and she lowered her head, Cas leaned over to draw her into his arms again, hugging her tightly to his chest. “It’s not your fault,” he murmured. “And even if you disagree with me, I don’t care. I meant it when I said I’m glad you’re here now, so whatever happened before this… It’s behind us.” Closing his eyes, he let out his breath softly and pressed a hand to the back of her head. “I never stopped loving you, even when you disappeared, but do you… still feel the same about me?”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“I don’t care about that,” Caspian shook his head as he ushered Iris insistently with him to the back of the safe house. Being king over Aspiria was complicated enough by itself. At least with Iris, he was happy. He’d been slaving and sacrificing ever since he’d been crowned after his father, so even though he knew there were going to be repercussions if word got out that he was in love with a rebel from the Scourge, he was willing to put himself through the challenges if it meant he could have her back in his life.

Leading her back to the room that had become his most recent home, he closed the door behind them for privacy and let go of her hand. The space itself was small, like the rest of the bunker, with only a bed and an armchair by way of furniture. It was good enough for a conversation spot though, so he planted himself on the edge of the bed and patted the mattress in gesture for her to join him, raising his brow when she told him she was going to need him to make her a promise.

“Anything,” he said on reflex, still too caught up in the emotions of their reunion to consider what she might be asking of him. As far as he was concerned, Iris could ask him to make her queen tomorrow, and he would do it without a second thought. Admittedly, it wasn’t the best headspace to be in when committing to anything, but he couldn’t help it. He’d spent the last month convinced she was dead. Seeing her in front of him now, alive and well enough to hunt him down all on her own in the capital, all he cared about was making sure he didn’t lose her again.

“I just want to know what happened,” he insisted. “I saw Ethan… in the attic…” He swallowed hard. Even though a month had passed, and Iris clearly wasn’t dead, his throat still got tight when he thought about that live feed, so he shook his head again and breathed: “How are you still here?”