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Hunter was staring as his newest creation: a polo shirt with a tiny wolf embroidered on the neck.
He wasn't sure what he thought of it.
Ever since he finished it, he had been running after anyone who dared cross near him, asking for their opinion on the piece.
"Are you sure? I think I could have used a different shade of grey for the tips of the hair, maybe a little darker? It resembles a grey wolf a little too much, I think, and I really love those, don't get me wrong, but I've already done many of them on handkerchiefs. I wanted to go for another new, cool wolf. It's supposed to be a Mexican wolf, and Luz told me they almost went extinct a few years ago, just like Grimwalkers! I still don't know how I feel about that whole thing, but the similarity is quite cool, don't you think? I think I overdid the yellow highlights, and this one is a little smaller, though," he had rambled to Eber.
“Actually, now I’m thinking about it, it works better like this! Did you know Mexican wolves are the smallest grey wolf subspecies? I thought it looked too little, but it's actually accurate. At least compared to my handkerchiefs, I guess."
Darius was having the time of his life listening at the boy go over and over while he made a cup of tea for everyone. Sometimes, out of the blue Hunter would start talking about anything that interested him that particular day.
It if was Ruler's Reach or wolves in the morning, Ruler's Reach or wolves it would be until the afternoon, night and probably a few days after.
Darius wouldn't let the opportunity to see the shine that appeared on Hunter's eyes whenever he realized people were actually interested in what he had to say go for anything in the world.
It was fun, getting to know all those facts even if he could barely remember half of them by the end of the day, his mind cramped with information.
If it was a Cosmic Frontier day, though, that called for expert measures. He had learned how to politely suggest Hunter to give Camila or Gus a visit by that point. As hard as he tried to keep track of the names, races and types of spacecraft, he had had to accept defeat the day he confused Chief Whatever O'Bailey with some sort of star Selkidomus creature, much to Hunter's outrage.
Even if Hunter would refuse to take a break from talking until his mouth went dry or he got a facial cramp from smiling so much, Darius had realized he simply enjoyed seeing the kid be happy, and well, a kid.
Sometimes, he thought the words that came streaming like waterfalls now might be the ones he had repressed back in the Emperor's Coven.
He always seemed so polite, so quiet. He was so good at placing a dam to his thoughts Darius never noticed it in any other way than in retrospect.
It was still somewhat of a surprise whenever he would awake from a particularly heavy sleep, disorientated and wondering who the kid in his living room might be.
While his tired mind said loudly the Golden Guard, it took a few moments of discombobulation to match names and words.
The boy with messy blonde hair, dressed in a mustard yellow knit sweater Darius had vowed to learn how to knit to repair some day could not be the Golden Guard.
The child who was more often than not responsible for the soft rumble a sewing machine emanated that now filled most of his days.
The same voice muffling curses as he cut a finger and stained a shirt with a drop of blood or two.
That face framed with golden locs was the one of Hunter.
Had he always been like this?
The giggling kid jokingly threatening Eber with a scarily tranquil sing-song voice if Eber didn’t cease their pranks.
The gentle shadow that had made him drop more than one mug from getting behind him a little too sneakily.
The never stopping fighter for solutions.
Those golden locs had once framed the Golden Guard mask too.
But right now, they rested on Eberwolf’s brown fur, still explaining the average sizes and life expectancies of about five different grey wolf subspecies. Hunter’s hair noodle wavered as he turned a little as he moved on to some sort of classification debate regarding one of the subspecies.
That was the life Hunter had always deserved.
And Darius was more than decided to keep on with it, even if it meant making flashcards for the first time since his Hexside years to try and remember at least a few of the Cosmic Frontier characters, or phoning Camila in a hurry.
The kettle whistled, indicating the tea was ready. Darius left it for an extra minute on the stove, though. Hunter loved serving his tea almost boiling, only to add an unholy amount of ice later.
“Hunter, Eber, tea is ready!”
The pair came running, Hunter still clutching his shirt by the neck, careful not to be too rough with the embroidery.
“I think it could have been even better with an extra streak of brown, what do you think?” Hunter asked him as he tested the water with his pinky finger.
“I think it’s a great wolf, I love it.”
Hunter’s eyes lit up at those words. “Really?”
“Just like I said this morning, every wolf you make looks better. This one actually looks a little like you, golden and small,” Darius replied with a teasing smile.
“That was… kind of the whole point of this shirt. I’m doing another two on the other side, for you and Eber! Yours is going to be a wolf from a place called Florida since human animals don’t have as many fun colors as ours and the dark, shiny coating was the closest to purple I could think of!” Hunter took a sip of his tea, burning himself in the process. He squirmed, ran for ice, and added it to his cup before continuing.
“Eber is gonna be a tundra wolf, because the brown ones are practically the same color as him, and the wolves’ winter hair looks like them the other day we all overslept.”
Eber looked very jokingly offended at the remark, and stuck out his tongue at Hunter.
“How many wolf species have you talked about today?” Darius asked rhetorically, his tone going unnoticed by Hunter. “Mind making me a list? I don’t know how the Human Realm fits so many species,” he added before Hunter ranted for long enough his tea would surely be cold by the time he remembered.
“Actually, the ones I’m making are all from different places, just like us!” Hunter said excitedly.
“Have I told you today how smart you are? The human wolf specialists should all fear you,” Darius said as he stood up to leave his now empty mug in the sink just as Hunter did.
“I love you,” Hunter returned the compliment, a slight shake making itself present.
Darius couldn’t help but notice the traces of hesitation in his voice at those words.
“No, it’s fine,” he replied as he stopped to hug Hunter softly.
“I love you too, Hunter.”