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Renarin was the first person Adolin wanted to explain everything to, and once it was all out in the open Renarin was horrified at Dalinar for telling Adolin to hide. Shallan had been similarly horrified, though she admittedly wasn’t as close to Dalinar as the boys were. But she did call Dalinar some rather unladylike things on the phone on a rare occasion that he did pick up.
Things with Kaladin were. . . delicate. They were properly dating now and Adolin loved how Kaladin blushed whenever he called Kaladin his boyfriend.
They were taking things slow. Adolin had admitted that this was his first relationship, and Kaladin had admitted that this was his first relationship with a man, what with it being incredibly illegal in his time, not to mention that he hadn’t gone on a date in centuries. Kaladin still had more bad days than good, but Adolin was getting better at pulling him out of his own head.
They sparred and did Kata regularly, and Adolin even introduced Kaladin to Shallan and Renarin, though that had been a few months after they had officially started dating. They had both been ecstatic to meet Kaladin. They kept joking to Adolin that Kaladin must be pretty special for Adolin to switch sides for him.
Getting Kaladin and Dalinar to meet proved to be a bigger challenge, partly because Adolin wasn’t even sure he wanted to talk to Dalinar again. Too much had happened, too many regrets.
But Dalinar and Renarin were still in contact, and Renarin had invited both Adolin and Kaladin to a family dinner, and Adolin had accepted the invitation.
The dinner was awkward, as all family dinners with your fused boyfriend tend to be, but Dalinar was civil, and so was Kaladin, so all was well, though Adolin didn’t know how many more family dinners he could handle.
That night, after family dinner Adolin and Kaladin lay together in bed. They had been sleeping in the same bed for a while. Kaladin still often woke up with nightmares, and for both of them, after everything that happened they liked waking up and knowing that they weren’t alone.
Kaladin traced Adolin’s patterns with his thumb, the motion soothing both of them. After the new Fabrial had been created Adolin had thought that his patterns would fade back to their usual red, white and black, as Kaladin’s were, but they remained a light blue color.
“That tickles,” Adolin said with a smile.
“Sorry,” Kaladin said, withdrawing his hand.
“It’s ok, I wasn’t complaining. You can touch them if you want.”
Kaladin grabbed Adolin’s hand, tracing a swirl of Adolin’s patterns that crossed from his wrist to the back of his hand. “They’re beautiful, your patterns.”
Adolin found himself blushing. It wasn’t often that Kaladin complemented him, and each time set a new fire in Adolin’s chest.
“I like your patterns too Kal,” Adolin said. “They’re beautiful, just like the rest of you.”
Kaladin smiled, but it was fleeting. He kept tracing Adolin’s pattern. “Do you. . . do you think about her?”
Adolin knew he was talking about Syl. Kaladin usually got sentimental when he was thinking about her, but Adolin’s patterns especially reminded him of her. “All the time.”
“Really?”
“Why is that so surprising?”
“Well, I knew her for hundreds of years, you knew her for a few weeks. I thought you would’ve. . . I don’t know. . . forgotten about her already.”
Adolin grabbed Kaladin’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “I could never forget about her Kal. She saved my life for one. And she also brought me to you. I could never forget her for that alone. I’m glad my patterns are her color, it means that a part of her is always with me, and so long as I’m with you a part of her will always be with you too.”
Kaladin nodded, his expression turning more melancholic than truly sad.
“We should get to bed,” Adolin said. “We have a show tomorrow.”
“How could I forget?” Kaladin said with a smile. “We only practiced the choreography a hundred times.”
Adolin rolled his eyes and turned out the light. “Whatever you say Bridge Boy.”
Adolin could barely see Kaladin’s smile in the faint moonlight.
“I love you Kaladin,” Adolin said. “You know that right?”
“I do.”