Chapter Text
Wondaria remained proud, even as all of its lights had been extinguished. Under the sun of noon, it was akin to a sleeping behemoth using the vast greenish plain as its sacred ground. The roller coasters and rides had never seemed so peaceful to Taranza.
The Floralian was on top of the grassy hill that overlooked the valley, not far from where the Starcutter usually landed, observing attentively the landscape. After yesterday’s night, it was the great quiet and it was not to his displeasure. Leaving his comfort zone could literally resume the reasons for his presence in the Forgotten Land and while the Grand Opening certainly helped him loosen up a bit, Taranza was happy to return to the calm. It soothed its mind to smell the warm grass, to hear the birds chirping away, to see the families of trees bathed in sunlight. Everything was at rest and the wizard would have loved to say the same for himself. Unfortunately, there was one last shard of shadow to eclipse out of his life forever.
With utmost care, Taranza plunged one of his hands into his cloak, retrieving a strange dried up rose. The plan was sickly pale and the petals were withered, as if threatening to crumble into dust. It laid into the palm of the spider’s hand, devoid of any life or empty promises, and a sigh escaped the gardener. He glanced at the floral tumor knowing what needed to be done and, without a hint of hesitation, began to raise it slightly into the air and far away from him. Despite everything, are you at peace, old friend?
Of course, his question met no answer and Taranza had not expected less. There was no knife like silence; that a wisdom the boy had assimilated after countless nights where Morpheus had failed him or rather condemned it to relive his worst mistake. Joronia may have had a good heart, it was only natural and fair that she still held him responsible for the pain Sectonia had caused. He knew that never the comfort of being absolved would ever reach him. But the blade was now dull, and at present, Taranza knew that the only one still chaining him to this suffering was the one that stared back in his reflection. Now, he simply wished his queen a serene eternal rest.
Yet, as Taranza held the Tear of Mourning, a warm breeze replied to unspoken words. A zephyr that brought in his wake the quite curious scent of the roses from Royal Road, ruffling his hair and cloak lightly in an almost playful manner. The ex-royal advisor let out a small gasp of surprise but before he could fully register the sensation, the decrepit petals were blown off one by one. At last the noxious rose was carried away by the wind, not without Taranza feeling a mellow caress on his cheek. The ambassador of Floralia then looked into the distance, the fruit of his shame and guilt slipped and vanished in the horizon. A bittersweet smile formed on the tarantula’s face, and a pristine tear slided down his white eye. Farewell, Joronia.
For a full minute, Taranza took some time for himself, to think and to reflect, cherishing the heartbroken yet liberating taste of forgiveness. Once it was done, he turned to his boyfriend who standed a few feet behind him, apprehensively twitching his fingers. Still, the Halcadran gave him a comforting smile. Magolor didn’t exactly understand the whole situation, he only knew that it was very important to Taranza: that was all the reasons he had needed to know for proposing to be his “back-up”. Of course, underneath such a formal qualification, lay the one thing that would make the spider’s sunny day even brighter.
The Floralian felt himself melt as Magolor hugged him and not just because of how hot the air is. It was adorable feeling his boyfriend go back and forth from too tight and too loose, showing his inexperience doing such a thing in general, but also with someone who was more fragile than Marx. Taranza wrapped his arms around his feline boyfriend’s smooth waist, knowing perfectly it’s what made him the most comfortable but didn’t draw attention to it to not fluster the wizard too much. Their foreheads kissed and the insectoid diplomat tried not to giggle as Magolor’s fluff began to tickle him. He caught, dancing in the golden eyes, that little glow of mischief and he laughed knowing it was the intent. In a low voice, Taranza whispered to him his gratitude: “Thank you, it means a lot to me.”
“Everything for you, my little weaver.” For some reason, Taranza knew that it wasn’t just a hyperbole, and he chuckled at the cleverness. But the entirety of the world meant nothing right now. Magolor was giving him his full support and that simple act of kindness was more than enough for the spider-like sorcerer.
Still, as they loosened their embrace and admired each other, Taranza couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow: “Your little arthropod? Is that a new nickname?” He bit his lower lips, attempting to conceal his amusement, “Are you jealous that I found you a cute pet name while your usual creativity is failing you?”
Magolor puffed out his chest, smiling with his eyes as he couldn’t help but try to boast: “Yup! My genius finally made a breakthrough and it’s clear that this is the superior nickname! Far better than the one you gave me! I just needed to analyze all possibilities-” His bravado cracked at the same time his voice did and his ears flopped. Dropping the act, the pilot gave him a half-amused and half-accusatory look. “Ranza, it is so hard to find you a pet name. Like, ‘Taranza’ is already the finest string of letters ever put together!”
With the back of his hand, Taranza badly hid his grin. “I think it’s more of a compliment to my parents than to me!”
“But you were smart enough to realize the beauty of the name and keep it,” shot back Magolor with sneer, “Like I was bright enough to give myself a much cooler name than my original one!” The tarantula rolled his eyes cheekily, admitting defeat and accepting the flattering remark. Taranza enjoyed these verbal jousts and happiness filled him with the prospect that many more would come in the future; Magolor had a way with words that always made something bloom within him. Although, he was a tad curious about his boyfriend’s original name. He couldn’t wait for Magolor to get comfortable enough to share a bit more about his childhood!
But the past being what it is, they both preferred to focus on the present, with the ambassador reassuring the theme park tycoon that a cooler nickname would one day come to him. One as charming as Taranza had given him. However, it only made Magolor jolt: “R-Ranza, you can’t be serious about the pet name you found earlier! It’s so corny!” Just by looking at the other boy, the Halcandran realized that the name had already been set in stone. While Taranza giggled adorably, the mage conceded: “F-fine… But don’t you dare say it out loud near Marx or Susie! They won’t ever take me seriously if they know how I let you call me!”
Before a promise could be utter, the ground shook and both magicians glanced far into the lands, near the frontier of Evercoast Bay. From a gigantic cloud of sand, the Halberd rose to the blue sky. With its aesthetic wings, the Meta Knight's personal battleship was not unlike a dragon waking up from its slumber.
It was their signal. The Star Allies were waiting for them to activate the Dimensional Breacher and let everyone go back to Popstar, in their original dimension. Their group was expected in one hour, but since they had already thanked all the employees and made a rundown on how Wondaria would be managed without them, the small window of time that was left seemed especially heart wrenching. It was not unlike feeling the last pages of a book slipped beneath your finger as you anxiously waited for a sequel.
Magolor and Taranza nodded in agreement that it was time to go, not without intertwining their fingers to keep them close to one another. The couple slowly walked up, the grass underneath shifting to the cold metal of the Starcutter’s ramp. Only at the threshold did they stop and turn behind to give one last look at Wondaria for a very long time. His throat tightening, the tarantula peek at his boyfriend, to see if he also felt emotional about their own departure: Mr. Magolor “It’s just business” Starcutter was currently holding back a floodgate.
Taranza gave his paw a little comforting squeeze and by the tiny sound that Magolor emitted, it did the trick. The Halcandran wiped out a tear, leaned to his lover to blow him a kiss, and without much of a word the pair entered the Lor Starcutter.
Just for a moment, the light that made up the giant sign on the Ferris wheel flickered, as if reciprocating their goodbye.
When the bright light faded out, Magolor and Taranza were welcomed by the blueish interior of the spaceship. The hairs on the back of their necks stood on end as they entered the great hall, the electricity in the air indicating the presence of Lor. Speaking of which, a crystallin voice spoke directly into the minds of the crew, with that usual warm tone: “>Is it already time to go?”
The captain glanced at the tarantula, then after a nod of approval, acquiesced. “I believe it is,” he simply responded with a tinge of melancholy. Almost immediately, the giant keyboard began to take on a rainbow hue, the multiple symbols displayed on it glowing in quick succession while the large holographic screen was being filled with data and calculus. Magolor’s loyal vessel had already taken care to enter the coordinates for him and was simply adjusting certain details. “Thank you a lot, Lor.”
“>You’re welcome,” The AI had been tempted to say it was nothing, but she had always made a point to make her friend understand not to devalue the help he offered to others. It felt only logical to do the same. Furthermore, Magolor really did not seem to be in the mood for piloting right now. None of the people she was taking care of were, at the moment. Therefore, Lor did not hesitate to try to cheer them up a little. “>I’m sure we will have the occasion to go back to Wondaria in the future.”
“That could be a good idea for the anniversary of your relationship!” A voice rang out from the kitchen, which was currently looking like a warzone. The shelves were littered with flour and sugar, as well as dozens of utensils and other ingredients. Because of the countertop, they could only see two blue and red flopping sleeves go back and forth from the refrigerator to the sink. Marx had raided the pantry, on the pretext he wanted to make the biggest snack in existence while being very vocal about the cakes being all for himself. Naturally, it will be to no one's surprise when the jester will “accidentally” bake too many sweets, and how he will “begrudgingly” share them because there was no greater crime than throwing food away.
While the smell of chocolate made him salivate, Magolor was half tempted to stop his best friend, seeing the culinary chaos that was taking place. However, Lor appeared to not mind the mess in the kitchen, probably encouraging Marx to express himself through a less destructive hobby than usual, as long as he promised to clean everything after. The Noddy finally appeared as he gleefully put on the cupboard a new row of cookies, his self-satisfied smile vanishing as he noticed an anomaly in his plate full of bakery. “WHO STOLE A MUFFIN?!”
Glancing at the round dining table a little further away, Taranza caught a glimpse of a chocolate pastry hastily disappearing behind a laptop. No matter the fact they were in the wake of an energy-draining night, Susie had already gone back to her duties as a CEO, eyes on a screen and half of a muffin in her mouth. Her fingertips clicked with rapidity on her machine and the colorful hue being plastered on her face kept changing from one bright tint to another. Without even looking up, she dodged the inquiry: “With the discounts offered by a ‘couple’ coupon? They could literally live in the park for a year with those prices.”
It was an exaggeration, but given Magolor and Taranza’s combined wealths, it wouldn’t have been out of the realm of possibilities
“Susie, is it really wise to go back to work this early? Especially since it might be the last time, we all are together before maybe quite some time,” Taranza asked her, cringing a little at his own overbearingness. Still, now that she moved her computer out of the way, her slightly pale skin and the dark circles around her eyes laid bare. And as Marx walked up to the table to deliver the fresh batch of pastries, the two lovebirds could see similar signs of weariness. Last night still bore its consequences, but deep down, they both knew they had something to do with their friends’ lack of sleep.
However, while their slumber had been less than restful, Susie and Marx did not falter in their occupations and the pink-haired woman’s eyes appeared more sparkly today. Not minding that she was very much not dressed in her usual aseptic business suit, having opted for a grayer hoodie sporting a light blue Haltmann logo on the front, Susanna rotated the laptop so everyone could see the source of her enthusiasm. A red line was currently outlined a rising mountain, waterfalls of numbers flowing on all sides of the screen and while Taranza had trouble understanding what even his eyes were scanning, Magolor seemed enthralled. “It’s exceeding our expectations! I hadn’t realized how many people were there during Opening Night! At the end of a week, we will be sitting on a pile of gold.”
“Most of the costs it took to rebuild the park and create the RADIANT will be covered in less than a month if it continues that way.” With a satisfied smile, Susie laid back into her egg-shaped chair, sipping her cup of chocolate milk. The rigidity of her body from the past few weeks was gone, that mechanical stance of her replaced by a more comfortable, confident attitude. From a flick of her finger, the pages on the screen changed, now revealing a colorful pie. The Floralian remained clueless at these strange data and words but whatever it may have represented, his friend appeared very happy about it and if something managed to make her openly beam, no doubt it was very good news. “Wondaria is gaining in popularity, and so is the Haltmann Company! Our stock market rating has soared…” Her face betrayed a snide smirk and a dark glimmer in her eyes, the kind of self-satisfaction that made even her close friends feel a shiver in their spine. “More and more people are fighting to be my investors, people sharing my vision. The balance of power is going to change and I won’t have to take into account what some old vultures want.”
“>And since everything seems in order, perhaps everyone could benefit from the last hour we have to rest a little? None of you had your height hours of sleep last night,” chirped Lor, once again honoring her unofficial title of being the mother of the group. Despite the lack of enthusiasm, no one could refute her claims nor how inviting a short nap appeared to be. Relaxing for just a moment was not unwarranted, after all their endeavors.
Moreover, listening to the newly formed couple had been a whole adventure on its own. After returning to the Starcutter at 2 am and going to their assigned bedrooms, Magolor and Taranza had each spent the next thirty minutes respectively texting Marx and Susie about the wonders of love. And when their confidants, in spite of their reputation of never letting the sandman dictate their sleeping schedule, had fallen into a deep slumber, it had been the Lor’s turn to maintain a conversation with both of the lovebirds simultaneously. Only the reminder that by going asleep, their reunion in the morning will come faster, had the AI managed them to convince the two to lose themselves to the world of dreams.
“Talking about resting, me and Taranza are going to our garden so don’t disturb us, please. Just call me or ask Lor if you need anything!” announced proudly Magolor, trying to shake up the smug glare the jester was giving him, as if the turn of phrase carried a heavier meaning than intended. For his part, Taranza solely remained fixated on the words used…
‘Our’ garden?
His daydreaming was put to an end when Magolor gave him a placed a scarlet macaroon in one of his hands, himself already chewing one with a smirk. Susie assured them they wouldn’t be bothered and Marx wished them a wonderful time together, the connotation surely varying greatly between all of them. Before Taranza could thank them, his boyfriend began to pull him hurriedly into the corridor, his face reddening from slight embarrassment. Fortunately, a mere smile from his lover lowered the temperature of his cheeks.
The couple walked deeper and deeper into the hallways, taking routes only known by the two of them while giggling and as they delve further into this non-euclidean maze, Taranza felt a strange sensation within him. The feeling that it was somewhere he had yearned for too long: home. It was at the bend in a corridor that the diplomat recognized the door, or rather the cul-de-sac that led to the hidden paradise.
“Lor?” It was all Magolor had to say for the wall to be streaked with luminous lines that soon formed a doorway. However, the Floralian noticed that his Halcandran boyfriend made no movement forwards. He remained frozen, his eyes unloving as if focused on something no one could see. Taranza tenderly tightened his grip on his paw and Magolor finally glanced at him, a little smile discernible. Then, the wizard looked at the ceiling, before muttering with a slight hesitation: “Lor, can I ask you something?”
The angelic voice of the Starcutter almost instantaneously graced the confines of their minds. Despite how seraphic she sounded, there was always that touch of a warm woman's voice beneath. One that, despite being a near omniscient being in this domain, revealed more than a glimpse of humanity. “>Of course, Magolor. My captain can ask me all the questions as his heart desires.”
“I’m not talking as your captain, right now.” There was a pause, and in spite of very much being a stranger to this type of psionic interaction compared to Magolor, Taranza could feel the gears turn inside Lor’s mainframe.
“>Captain or not, you can be open with me. If you are comfortable about it, naturally.” Hearing that, Magolor rearranged the belt around his mouth, but Taranza and the Starcutter had since long established that it was one of his rare nervous tics.
“We… We have a long history, you and I. I found you when I was merely a teen and you have never left my side since.” There was one notable exception but it wasn’t worth reminiscing about. He attempted to remain still, but with the way his tail wagged outside the cloak, the magician was rather unsuccessful. A warm feeling made him vibrate when Taranza carefully gently massaged the back of his hand with his thumb, making him shed the tatters of his fear.
As Lor continued to silently listen, Magolor spoke once again: “Do you… Can we consider ourself… like a ‘family’?”
Almost instantaneously, Lor responded in her caring voice that almost seemed to be casted from heavens to curl him in invisible arms. “I believe our bond extends far beyond simple friendship, Magolor. I care for you and you treat me well, better than anyone has ever bothered to do. I’m forever thankful for the stars to have put me on your path.” Despite her very dignified and refined tone, there was underneath this layer a certain joy that oozed out.
Magolor's face lit up, much to his boyfriend's delight. Yet, the spark in his eyes shifted as he became more sheepish. His lower lip became the prey of his fangs all the while his fingers couldn’t stop intertwining with one another. “I’m glad that you feel the same as I do… I don’t think I would have become the man that I am if it wasn’t for you. But I wanted to know if, given our relationship, I was allowed to…” His question died before it could leave his mouth. Without a second more, Taranza came to rest his head on the crook of his neck, to Magolor’s surprise. The arachnid’s gesture was like fuel rekindling the embers of his courage. “Can I… Would you mind if I consider you as some kind of guardian? A mentor perhaps? A… A maternal figure… If you’re okay with that?”
It took some time for the marvelous machine to find the right thing to say, or rather, express the myriad of feelings that overtook her circuits. Despite the ages and worlds she had experienced and traveled to, only one thing in whole existence had managed to make the Lor Starcutter taste what being alive was about: Magolor. After her initial encounter with him, she had stopped to solely think, and began to truly feel.
Curiosity, when that strange kid had managed to reactivate her system. Happiness, when her new pilot had her sore through uncharted territories. Fear, when her captain had begun to delve deeper in forgotten knowledge. Anger, when her friend had let himself corrupt by hatred and greed. Sadness, when her child had apparently disappeared forever into nothingness without a single goodbye. Love, every moment since Magolor had entered her life, no matter what.
“>I will be more than honored to have the permission to call you my son.”
Taranza had never seen Magolor breath such a sigh of relief, except perhaps for when his declaration of love had been reciprocated, and he could discern small tears at the corner of his eyes. The Halcandran nodded with fervency, wanting to let out a flourish of gratitude and appreciation but only one sentence exited his throat: “Thank you, Lor.”
“>It’s me who should thank you for being the one that made me more than a simple vessel. Because of you, I became a friend and in a way… a mother.” Magolor chuckled, wanting to ask the Lor to stop before he really started to cry. If Marx had been here, he probably would have ruin the moment by making a dumb joke about witnessing a stray cat getting officially adopted or something along these lines… although this idea sounded rather funny in the captain’s head.
For his part, Taranza was hopping up and down, happily clapping his multiple hands. The way the Starcutter’s soft spot for Magolor was unknown to no one, but it was still very inspiring to make their little found-family an official thing. However, the merriness that stemmed from the fact that his boyfriend had now a mother was slowly replaced by another intriguing thought. The tarantula rested an index on his chin, his pensive air attracting the attention of his two companions, before he hesitantly asked: “Wait, does that mean Lor is my mother-in-law? D-Do I have to call you Miss Starcutter now? Madame, if you prefer?”
A few seconds fled until Magolor let out a cry of laughter at the proposition, literally having to bend over and clench his abdomen to try to contain his howling. His mother came out of her stupor rapidly after that to immediately try to salvage the situation with a pleading voice: “>Lor is perfectly fine! No Miss or Madame, please. It makes me feel old to be addressed in such a manner.”
Doubling over in giggles, Magolor got to his feet despite the pain in his ribs. He put a paw on his lover’s shoulder and wiped out a tear, his grin as large as ever behind his scarf as Taranza frantically tried to excuse his words. “Geez, really Ranza? You want to make my millennials-old mother feel ancient?” Further laughter rang out when Taranza realized he was being messed with and cutely pouted. “C’mon, dude, that should be considered elder abuse!”
“Don’t call me ‘dude’! We kissed on the mouth!” It was Magolor’s turn to look all embarrassed, much to the amusement of his spidery boyfriend.
“L-love, don’t say that in front of my mom!” It was not a secret, but the proud Halcandran rather not have this type of things said out loud in front of his nosy and teasing tempered vessel.
“>What if you continued this wonderful discussion while resting in your garden?~” It didn’t take much more invitation for Magolor to delicately take a hold of Taranza's hand and to continue towards the door.
As the pilot disappeared into the threshold, the Starcutter softly spoke one last time into the aristocrat’s mind. “>Taranza?” The Floralian raised its head, his glance drifting to the empty ceiling more by convention knowing the AI wasn’t directly communicating from there. “>I know you will treat my son well.”
The boy acquiesced with more determination than he ever had in his entire life. Taranza would rather die than let anything happen to his boyfriend, or any of his friends. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but swallow hard at the idea of what this machine of war could do to him if he ever broke Magolor’s heart. Probably a chat about what went wrong and how to fix the issue, since the Lor knew very well that he wasn’t a mean-spirited person, but still. If he was one, there would be no dimensions where he would be safe from the wrath of an angry mother.
Finally, the pair of lovebugs stumbled into the secret garden, the screens simulating the cloudless blue sky as bright as ever. Swiftly, the colorful zones of flowers and plants which depicted various planets visited during his journeys, Magolor gleefully dragged Taranza to the centerpiece of their own creation: a small, green hill with a large wisteria tree with a sturdy trunk throning at the top. They overstepped the low garden wall and began to climb the patch of grass with a certain childlike-carefreeness.
The spidery botanist had even outpaced his boyfriend in their race, until the latter suddenly tackled him in the dirt, using a levitation spell to slow their fall. After frolicking in the meadow for a bit, Magolor found himself the gorgeous Taranza, panting but smiling as the other boy huffed. A wondrous and devious idea poisoned his mind and he quickly plunged his face against the silver-haired diplomat to incapacitate him with some snuggle. Immediately, Taranza was transformed into a giggling mess, the chocolate fur of his feline boyfriend stroking smoothly his cheek and neck: “STOP- HAHA! YOU’RE TICKLING ME- HAHAHA, YOU CHEATER! HAHAHA-”
“Oh, what a terrible trap the great Lord Taranza of Floralia finds himself in!” theatrically cried out the blue clothed trickster, shining an apparent smug even with his belt. “At the mercy of the Coolest Wizard in the Universe, Magolor Starcutter! How could you save yourself from this situation?”
“Like this!” Boldly, Taranza approached his face to kiss the triangle-shaped nose of Magolor, which peeked from the scarf. As expected, the boy became absolutely scarlet and stunned from that surprise attack, which allowed the tarantula to shift his weight and make him fall backwards beside him.
Now both laid back on the ground, their bodies sinking into the grass, Magolor glanced at him in a peculiar way. His laughter had faded away and there was something in his gaze that Taranza couldn’t quite decipher. Slightly afraid of having vexed or hurt his friend, he raised an eyebrow to gain a reaction. The Halcandran simply reached for his scarf to pull it down, revealing a small, honest smile full of genuine love. “You’re so beautiful, it’s not even funny.”
“And I would trade all the wonders of this world to see you continue to smile.” Although the connotations of his proclamation of feelings had a rather grim undertone, Taranza knew that Magolor loved when he sounded like a villain. Together, they would prefer to create new marvels with their own hands for the world to gaze at than to destroy the ones already existing.
The two of them expressed their amusement and gratitude to each other, even if it felt corny. Neither Magolor nor Taranza didn’t care to look cliché with his boyfriend: if it was how they showcased their love, then he would gladly be sappy together!
For a long time, none of the lovebirds even lifted a finger nor made a sound, preferring to be engulfed in the present time. They let themselves take an artificial sunbathe, thanks to the Starcutter’s advanced lighting that managed to pierce the ceiling of purple flowers and veins of the tree, the gross around them becoming warm like sand on a cloudless beach. These beautiful minutes no longer satisfied Taranza however, who now missed Magolor’s voice. “Once we come back to Dream Land, what are you going to do?”
The merchant straightened up a little, unhooding himself with the back of his paw to wipe the drops of sweat from his hair. “Well, when we will arrive, it will be the last day of vacation,” sitting up, he cringed a little at the thought, having forgotten that Wondaria had been more of a personal project than anything work-related. “I guess I’m going to see how Merry Magoland is doing. I’m hoping my employees didn’t accidentally burn it to the ground when I was away, hehe. And you?”
Unlike his partner, Taranza already had a project in mind: “I need to weed my garden.” It was said with so much seriousness and determination that Magolor snorted, before becoming quiet as he realized that his boyfriend was being entirely truthful. The ex-royal advisor still remembered the flowered parasite that was overtaking Joronia’s statue in the hanging garden of the palace and he was more than prepared to get them out of this realm and out of mind. But beyond that, Taranza also knew he had some obligations to attend to.
“The day after, I furthermore need to attend a ceremony. We are opening a brand new library in Royal Road!” He noticed how Magolor’s ears perked up. The bookworm within his boyfriend was waking up, which only instilled a little idea in Taranza. “If you are not busy, would you be interested to accompany me there?”
“To accompany you?” asked Magolor contemplatively, as he removed his gloves because of the temperature, exposing unflinchingly in the process the little scares that riddled his furry paw. It would be a public gathering, one that the wizard wouldn’t normally discommode himself to attend to. He would be at Taranza’s side and now knowing themselves, they would probably be unable to keep the charade of two friends for a very long time… But who cared? It wasn’t like they had even managed to hide their secret admiration from the Star Allies, anyway. The prospect of spending a whole day nerding out about old encyclopaedias and novels was too enticing!
“It would be my greatest pleasure to appear at your side, Ranza!” Magolor gladly announced. Then, noticing that his boyfriend had also taken away his pristine gloves, showing off his fluffy tarantula hands. Without missing a beat, he placed his hand on his.
The Halcandran jolted a little out of surprise as he felt another warm hand joined in, but his heart was accelerated in delight, seeing to who it belonged to. Taranza looked at him affectionately, taking a closer look at Magolor’s cheerful face. “It would make me the happiest person in the whole universe, Kit-Kat.”
Before Magolor could grumble at what he considered to be an undignified pet name for his ‘badassness’, Taranza planted a kiss on his lips. The cat shut up, preferring far more to smooch than complain. The more spider’s face turned a blue hue due to the blood rushing to his cheeks, the more the Halcandran seemed to purr loudly.
Finally, both pulled away after a dozen seconds, a satisfied smirk on each of their faces. As Taranza quietly noted they shouldn’t attempt a french kiss while they still were unversed with the normal one, a continuous, adorable giggle slipped from Magolor. Charmed by his boyfriend’s strange but endearing giddiness, the wizard could only pry: “What is so humorous, my love?”
“It’s- hehe… It’s our- hehehe! It’s so stupid, s-sorry! Hehe.” Magolor used his other paw to cover his mouth and his laugh, before pointing at the intertwined hands. “Our hands, hehe… It’s like a sandwich… A sandwich of hands! Hehehe!”
With Taranza’s hands as the bread and Magolor’s single one as the garnish, the gardener could see where his boyfriend was coming from. It was simple, a bit foolish and yet it very much amused the proud and intelligent magician. The insectoid aristocrat knew he had found the one.
And Taranza of Floralia launched on the love of his friend, to peck his fluffy cheeks even more, and Magolor Starcutter welcomed him with a loving embrace.
They laughed, and they hugged, and they kissed in the grass until fatigue took them and soon Taranza fell asleep on the pleasant dirt, the head of the equally exhausted Magolor resting on his abdomen.
The two wizards remained there, snuggled against one another in the shadow of a wisteria tree, both drifting into the lake of unconsciousness but impatient to wake up in each other's arms.
The End.