Chapter Text
“He is on his way now – oh, he is terribly in love with you. He thinks the sun and the moon rise in your eyes. He is composing a sonnet to your beauty in his head even as we speak. I have to warn you – it doesn’t exactly RHYME…”
Peter blushed and caught his breath and bit his lip all at the same time.
“And I should also warn you… he shall be a bit bruised. And disheveled. And… sweaty. And his armor will be a bit… singed.”
“Oh…” Peter sighed, all but fanning himself. “But… why?”
“From the dragon.”
“There… was a dragon?” Peter turned toward the voice in confusion. The willow branches swayed in the starlight. His benefactor stood beneath them in the shadows.
“I did not wish for a dragon.”
“But he did,” and Peter could hear, rather than see, the smile. “He wanted it. So I decided to be generous. But the price will be the same. You will remember the price, won’t you?”
“Oh yes… I will never forget. My stepmother told me…”
He stopped himself short. He was glad his benefactor couldn’t see his blush in the darkness. “I mean… I meant that I have heard all the stories. All of them. I know that…”
“…that what your stepmother said was certainly true. Ah, Little Peter, your stepmother? She is not quite as clever as she thinks she is…
“But she is clever, little one. More than most mortals. You should remember that, my precious godson. You should be cautious.”
“That’s what she said about you,” Peter joked. Playfully he tugged at his benefactor’s cloak, and was quickly rewarded by being pulled into his godfather’s warm embrace. He loved hearing his godfather laugh, loved feeling the scrape of his godfather’s beard against his cheek.
“I will never try to trick you, I promise. I will keep my word. And if you want my firstborn child…”
Peter grinned. He pulled his hand away from the man’s neck. He took his godfather’s hand in his. He put it on his own stomach. “You can most certainly have all the children I bear.”
They laughed together at their own private joke. Peter flushed, happy and warm. He leaned his head against his godfather’s chest, resting warm in his godfather’s arms, and sighed happily.
He had a loving family. He had a handsome, clever prince fighting his way toward him, even now. He was very, very lucky.
He told the man so.
The two talked about happiness, and stories, and luck, long into the night.