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"Someone being...you?" He asked with a low chuckle, knowing full well that they were each as bad as the other when it came to their late-night activities. He placed one more kiss right where he had nipped at his neck, before pulling away enough to see Ravnos better and to gaze into his softly lit, green eyes.

"Uneventful." He admitted, with a light shrug of his shoulders, a smile curling up his lips as he continued to just drink in the sight of him, awake, and all his for as long as he wanted.

But ah, the pondering. Of course, he'd had nothing better to do all night, unless he wanted to check in on the temple and its inhabitants, or on their newly adult children, but he had refrained from either.

"Mmmm, yes, a little." He admitted. And by a little, he meant off and on throughout the entire day.

"I believe we could fix our mortal problem by making an agreement with a certain God we both met recently." He shivered a little at the feel of the Disciple's hand skimming along his back.

"Once we have a location chosen, of course."

Well. He certainly had the God there. Grendel could only smirk back in reply, and lean forward to kiss the mouth of the man who so lovingly teased him only moments after he had woken up, holding him a little closer just to press their foreheads together before he pulled away again.

"It will be okay, I think. I feel like he is a God we can trust. He seems to like the vampires. I do not know if we would necessarily need to make a deal with him. Sometimes, even Gods will do each other kindness without any ulterior motives. It does not always need to be political."

But since they were on the subject of politics...

"Who knows, perhaps it would even get the Scarlet Queen off of our backs. If the vampires are not feeding off mortals, she should not feel a threat to her domain's food supply. We can make a world where vampires and the Kuei-jin can coexist relatively peacefully."

As for the climate of the fourth city, Grendel only gave his head a small shake, indicating he did not know. "Something similar to Hemlock?"

The God mirrored the Disciple, laying on his side, head propped up on one arm. When Ravnos spoke, Grendel's free hand reached out to brush against his chest, fingertips trailing over the place he had been staked. She had been trying to kill him, Grendel was sure of it, and he still felt as if he owed her angelique the same treatment, tit for tat, but knew if he were to do so, it would likely start a war that he should be trying to avoid. And what would she have done to Kieran had Ravnos not intervened? The same thing she had done to Thorne?

He hated feeling like he needed to just swallow his pride and let these various insults slide, just to save his domain from needless bloodshed. Where would it end? What new threat would rise just as another was squashed? When was it appropriate to finally flex his power and let it be known that he would not be ******** with anymore?

His face had fallen into a broody mask as his hand rested on Ravnos's chest. He wasn't hearing the Disciple's words anymore, just lost in his own tumultuous thoughts.

He snapped out of it with Ravnos's words, his fingers curling slightly against the vampire's chest before he pulled them away. He did not know how to answer the Disciple's question, how to explain that he was only dwelling on a future that was still uncertain. Nothing was ever set in stone, things could always change.

"Nothing important." He said, and smiled, wanting to ease any worry that he might have caused.

"Did you have any plans for today?" He asked as the hand that had been placed on Ravnos's chest before now lifted to trail fingertips down along his arm, starting at the shoulder, tracing a long line across every curve of muscle.

"I am sure." His voice was so low, like a deep, rumbling purr as he continued to stroke along Ravnos's arm, eventually stopping to instead wrap his hand around the back of his neck, fingers lacing through dark hair. Leaning in closer, he placed a soft kiss on the Disciple's lips and then hovered there for a moment.

"Just more of this." He replied to the question about plans and kissed him again. "I would make this my plan for every day if I could." A third kiss followed, but this one lingered longer than the first two, fingers curling against his hair, claws grazing against his skin.

They finally had a chance to just enjoy being around each other and not worry about anything. Why squander it?

He pulled away again with a smirk.

"Yes. Unfortunate." He answered, the smirk growing wider.

"I love you too, Dracian." He murmured quietly against those lips, before letting desire overtake him. He had waited so long to just be able to spend some time alone with Ravnos, the God figured everything else could wait now while they made up for the lost time.

Besides. He liked a challenge.

-------------------

The week that passed was reminiscent of when they had first admitted their feelings for each other all that time ago, except that there was no pressing business to interrupt them this time and the affection they had explored back then had only deepened. Grendel knew that he would never feel a connection like this with anyone else, that their love was just as strong as any, despite how unconventional.

And that was proven again with the appearance of a new set of eggs. This time, he was not so shocked by it. He had recognized that same magical feeling in the air that had overcome them when this had happened last. He was also not so worried when Ravnos slept, his concern more for the eggs themselves, which he needed to find a place for. While the Disciple lie dead the world in the bed, Grendel busied himself with summoning a small crib to keep the eggs in, and blankets to wrap them. He might not have been as present or quite as affectionate as Ravnos was with their first set of children, but he had still watched and learned.

He ran a hand over the surface of each egg and connected with the tiny minds within, only briefly. Already he felt as if he knew them, though they would not hatch for quite some time.

By the next evening, when Ravnos began to stir, Grendel was there next to him, fingers lightly brushing the hair back from the Disciples eyes when they finally blinked open.

"Good morning." He said, his voice, though deep, was low and hushed, though there was a certain brightness to his eyes and a soft smile on his face.

The kiss, however soft and brief, still sent sparks of joy racing through the God, his cheeks warming, and his lips curling into a small smirk at the n**. He had already been awake a few brief moments and already Grendel's gaze filled with a smouldering passion and deep love. The past week's worth of memories played through his mind. His arms slid around the Disciple, fingers trailing along either side of his back until both hands met in the middle and clasped there, his face burrowing into the crook of his neck to place a kiss there, and then several more as he moved up toward his jaw.

"Mmmhmmm," His breath hummed against Ravnos's skin, and he placed one more kiss just beneath his jaw before he pulled away to meet his eyes. "Drained. Lazy. The jury is out." His low voice teased before he glanced back at the eggs themselves.

"Kieran and Vadoma did not give you that much trouble, did they?" He asked, brow furrowing slightly. He knew he had not been around as much as either of them might have liked, but when he had been, things had seemed very easy. But perhaps that was just his disconnect speaking, that part of him that would never truly understand the subtle nuances of being 'mortal'. He did not tire in the same way, did not worry over certain things as he perhaps should, and very little caused him actual fear.

"I am sure they will not be without fault." He shrugged broad shoulders and turned his head back to face him.

"Now what are we going to do tonight?" He asked with another small smirk. Though he knew what he wanted to do, it did seem as though they should perhaps try and spend one night not confined completely to the bedroom.

Though if Ravnos were too tired to leave...ah what a shame that would be.

"I did not think that anything could ever frustrate you if how you have been able to put up with me for so long is any indication." It was only half a tease really. Grendel was fully aware of how difficult he could be. He knew it could not be easy, and that Ravnos had to have the deepest well of patience in existence. Their relationship was complicated, and it always would be, though they seemed to have figured out how to make it work.

"So many options." He murmured. The thought of returning to the task of the fourth city was not exactly daunting, but he was still not sure if he was ready for it. Still...with more eggs, the thought of a more protected space to raise them did have appeal. He tilted his head forward and down slightly to rest gently atop the Disciple's while he mulled it over.

A name for the fourth city seemed pointless until they knew it could actually exist. So the next step, in Grendel's mind, would be to figure out where it would be.

"How well do you know the world?" He asked, closing his eyes briefly as if envisioning it for himself. "Have you been to all of the known realms?"

Unlikely, since there were ones where those of evil nature could not tread, but he asked nonetheless.