Papercuts

Loren not afraid to use every trick in the book At the mention of where he’d set himself up—which was really up in the air at the moment—Loren sighed. His family apparently wanted to try and recreate the Launceleyn family compound here, something he had incredibly mixed feelings about. On the one hand, family first had been drilled into him from birth; on the other hand, the family had a nasty habit of treating him abominably and taking him for granted, and he hadn’t realized how much he valued his independence and his private space until it was threatened. Now that he realized that, he was (as always) having trouble reconciling his conflicting desires. Telling Ronin all of that would just dampen the mood again and lead to a bunch of conversations the former librarian wasn’t willing to have just yet. So, though he’d promised to be honest, the Launceleyn did what he did best: ignored his problems, changed the subject, and deflected wildly. ”I haven’t, yet, actually. Found a place that is. It’s a work in progress, but for now I’ve just been crashing wherever it was convenient.” The corner of his mouth quirked. ”As you may recall, I don’t need much in terms of accommodations.” Ronin didn’t know the whole extent of it, but when the former duke had offered to sleep on the floor, he’d meant it; living in the Launceleyn compound had taught him to sleep where and when he could, since it wasn’t always a given. ”You found a place yet?” Though he’d told himself he was happy for his friend, weirdly enough Loren felt a stab of jealousy, since he assumed that Vanya and Ronin would move in together. They might not be married—which didn’t seem nearly as scandalous as it might have once upon a time—but they had a baby on the way. Therefore, it just made sense for the two of them to live as a couple. They’d been quiet about their courtship, it seemed, but this would change all that. Ronin was worried about nothing, Loren knew—as long as they loved the child, which he was sure they would—the rest would fall into place. While the Launceleyn couldn’t possibly imagine what a normal childhood was like, since his had been denied to him, he knew that the material things mattered so much less than the other types of support. Besides, Ronin just so happened to have a best friend who could help out with the supplies. Pointing at the other man, Loren grinned. ”I’m going to hold you to that. This is unequivocally good.” Turning his hand so the palm was facing upwards, Loren furrowed his brow; his magic had been acting incredibly weirdly, but he had at least some limited abilities in conjuration. An apple popped into existence, and he tossed it at his friend. ”I know so. We’ll make sure you have everything you need, and you’ll take care of the rest.” For once in his life, Loren felt sure about something. He was going to make sure that kid was beloved, and if he had to, he would love the shit out of it himself. No more children would suffer under his watch. It made sense they hadn’t thought about names; this was all so new that they simply hadn’t gotten around to it. Seeing as it really wasn’t his place, Loren wasn’t going to offer suggestions. Well, he wasn’t going to offer suggestions about names: advice about other matters was more than fair game he decided. ”Has she been checked out by a healer?” Loren knew he had some paltry skills in that arena, in healing magic at least, but he was far from an expert, and wouldn’t even know where to start. Regardless, the excitement was still growing in the former duke. He held up both hands now, and a bottle of brandy and two glasses appeared in his hand. Holding out the glasses to Ronin, Loren smiled at his friend. ”I think this certainly calls for a toast, don’t you?” Even surrounded by unknown books—which under any other circumstances nothing would’ve distracted Loren from—the only thing he could focus on was this birth. For some reason, the prospect of a literal new life in the midst of all them trying to forge new lives for themselves carried a special significance to him. Maybe it was just the prospect of somehow righting the wrongs in his own upbringing by showing the Launceleyns there was another way. Of course, this wasn’t actually his kid, nor did he imagine he would ever have one—given who he thought he might be seeing—so this might be the closest he could get.