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The fireflies danced and sparked in the twilight beyond the haven, unconcerned by war, or by the daemons the coming night would bring.
It had been such a long time since Nyx had seen any, and certainly not in this number. Maybe the glaive were just too noisy when they deployed, or Nyx was too focused on their work. Maybe it just was that they rarely stopped near Saxham this time of year. Or maybe--
"Here," Cor offered, and Nyx nearly jumped. The marshal was too blasted quiet for a man as tall as he was and wearing the heels he wore.
Cor waved the mug at Nyx again and he belatedly took it, feeling the spark of their connection as their fingers brushed. It was faint, after all the time they'd spent together since they'd matched, but still there, still pointing Nyx's attention to his soulmate. As if he needed the help. If anything, Nyx needed something to help him pay attention to things other than Cor when his soulmate was around.
Nyx pulled the mug closer to his chest, letting the warmth sink into his hands and fill his breath, the rich smell of the chocolate making him want to slow down and savor the moment. It all felt indulgent, and he pushed away the voices that said he needed to be alert, needed to be doing something more important. This, here, time with his soulmate was important.
Cor sat down next to him, their shoulders just brushing, leaving space so they could get back up without hitting the other or sloshing their drinks. Nyx wondered if it would be beneath him to fake a shiver so Cor would move closer, make sure there was no space between them at all, then decided he was actually an adult and had some dignity to maintain. Not a lot, but some. He took another sip of his hot chocolate to reward himself. Not that time with Cor wasn't reward enough, but--
"It's been a while since I've seen so many," Nyx said, breaking his circling thoughts and the silence that Cor likely wouldn't. Even if he was, according to his own words, "rusty" on building relationships, the older man was sure of who he was in ways that Nyx envied and that translated to a lot of mostly content silences now that they were past the initial exchange of important details. The quiet moments were nice when Nyx was calmer, but when his mind was jumping like this they just were spaces for doubts to creep in. Hopefully that would change as they got used to each other, which is part of why they were here. For now it left Nyx wanting to run his anxiety off, if it wouldn't make him look insane and probably scare off the fireflies.
Cor nodded, taking a sip of his own drink. It smelled like he'd forgone coffee for once and joined Nyx in drinking hot chocolate, which warmed Nyx inside in places the chocolate itself hadn't. He switched his mug to his left hand and leaned a little into their single point of contact, and Cor leaned back, keeping them both steady.
"Didn't see them much in Insomnia, but they were there during the Great War. Ambulance duty was a lot of hurry up and wait, and on evenings where we were on-call but there was no active fighting," he shrugged his opposite shoulder, then took another sip, "it was calmer outside the medical tents, and you could see them sometimes."
Cor had been doing that a lot, dropping little stories that didn't have any really important information, just... sharing his life. They were both trying to figure out how to actually be soulmates to one another, not really sure of who the other was beyond the fact that they mattered to each other, and the basic respect they both had for the other's work. But they were trying.
"In the jungle proper you didn't see them much, but Da was from the coast and there were plenty of grasslands there. When we went to visit our cousins, Selena and I used to try to catch them." They really were fascinating to watch. The ones here looked a little more green somehow, though that could be a trick of his memory. "She wanted to bring some back home to start a flock? a herd? a...group there so she could see them all the time." Nyx wrinkled his nose at the vagaries of Lucian as a language, but the annoyance couldn't last long against the memory. "Ma told her should wouldn't be able to bring enough for them to have a big enough family, so Selena just recruited me to help her get even more. Da had to convince her they wouldn't be happy there before she actually stopped. Pa just kept saving jars for her and didn't say a word either way."
Nyx took another sip of his drink to try to keep his throat from closing up, trying to focus on the richness of the milk it had been made with and the warmth it left going down past his heart. Cor leaned into his shoulder a little bit more and Nyx nudged him back, and neither of them took their eyes off the fireflies even as Cor's hand laid itself over his between them. They just sat there, drinking their hot chocolates and watching the glow of the little bugs dancing and blinking as the light faded and true night came on.
When Nyx's mug was finally empty he set it aside, dropping his head onto Cor's shoulder. Cor finally scooted in so they were pressed against each other along the whole length of their sides, and Nyx sighed, letting himself lean fully into his soulmate.
Cor stayed steady, and the night somehow stayed calm, and Nyx just breathed and let himself sit in the moment. For the first time in years, it felt almost like peace.