Archive of Our Own

Perhaps, he thinks, he shouldn’t have encouraged Anaxa to go to the new merch drop. It had been a great idea at the time, a way to get Anaxa out of the house more (since it also doubled as his office unless Aglaea forcibly dragged him out of it to go into the main office), but now…

Now he regrets it.

One well manicured finger taps the tiny card in front of him and he wishes for the couch to eat him whole.

“Explain.”

“I’d rather not…”

“Then you can spend the next few nights at Mydeimos’s.”

“Babe.”

“No.” That finger, so delicate and scarred, taps the tiny card again, moving it just a little on the table. “Explain.”

“Sweetheart…” He tries again, reaching forward to try to take the card. His hand is slapped away and he brings it to his chest with a pout, sniffing dramatically. “So mean to me…”

“Explain, Phainon.”

“Fine! Fine, fine, fine!” He crosses his arms, sticking his nose up. “A rep from the local dromas sanctuary reached out and spoke with my agent about a collab. According to my manager, it wasn’t a lot of money for me, which I don’t care about, but the expected revenue gain for the sanctuary is said to be a lot. I just had to take a serious few photos at the sanctuary and some cute fun ones in a casual setting wearing dromas merch and that was all. But I was under an NDA and look you’ve been so busy with your research recently and this was such a quick collab that I forgot to mention it.”

“You got to hold a dromas runt, a little baby dromas, Phainon, and you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me?” Anaxa grits out, eye flashing in anger.

“Wah! ‘Naxa, don’t look at me like that! Honeybun, I’m sorry!”

“No one, and I mean no one, has been allowed to see her, Phainon. They only have the occasional photo to show. No one even knows if she’s at the sanctuary because she needs to be protected. I couldn’t even bribe them to see her, me, and you got to hold her?”

“She even ate Redsoil Feed out of my hand… I cried… I wanted to give her the sticky blacksoil but she already had some for the day.”

“WHAT?!”

“WAH! Anaxa, be nice to me!” He shrivels under Anaxa’s glare. “Would you be nice to me if I said that I talked to the director of the sanctuary and asked them if I could bring you to see her? It would have to be either early in the morning or late at night though. They know about you cause you know I love talking about you and because my collab is expected to bring in a lot of money, they are going to make an exception… Maybe you can…talk to them about your ideas? I am happy to donate more. I uh, had them change the profit clause to one hundred percent to the sanctuary because I know how much you love dromases…”

“...” Anaxa goes silent for a moment, glancing down at the photocard of Phainon holding Eclipse very carefully. “...will they let me hold her if she is okay with it?”

“Yes. I asked.” He responds, looking up through his eyelashes at Anaxa. Aanxa hums in response, taking the card in front of Phainon back and picking up the others as well.

“I see. Very well, call them and schedule a time when you are free. I will make time wherever you decide.” He nods at Anaxa’s words, going for his phone, when his lover hums. “Did they let you keep any of the items you wore?”

Phainon watches as Anaxa’s thumb runs over the card of Phainon in a pure white dromas onesie, his sun tattoo on the neck. “Uh, I think so. It’s in my penthouse in the city.”

“...” He can sense Anaxa getting angry again. In hindsight, he doesn’t know what he was thinking in not telling Anaxa. Anaxa wouldn’t have told a soul, but he’s just so busy that Phainon hadn’t wanted to be a distraction or cause him to get behind. They already missed out on three of their weekly dromas sanctuary visits because of Anaxa’s current workload, so Phainon didn’t want to be the reason he got behind.

“I’ll go get all the stuff tomorrow…”

“See to it that you do.” Anaxa firmly states, flipping through the rest of the photocards. One, that he can’t tell what’s on it, is taken from the pile and put into Anaxa’s wallet which had been sitting on the table. “You look good in all of these. The camera really loves you.”

“Thanks… I did try really hard to make this set the best I could… Not just for the sanctuary, but for you as well. I know that dromases mean a lot to you and wanted to help support their continued survival…”

“...I’m still mad at you.”

“I know…but I love you?”

“I love you too. Still mad though.” Anaxa murmurs, setting the photocards down. “...do you have any photos of you with Eclipse?”

“Yeah.” They had wanted a few close ups and had used his phone to get the best angle. He knows the sanctuary is very strict about info about Eclipse getting out, and he felt honored they trusted him enough to not make him delete the photos.

“Show me.” And then Anaxa is in his lap, making grabby fingers for his phone. He wraps one arm around his lover, using his chin to move the hood of Anaxa’s light blue dromas onesie, and uses his other hand to unlock his phone. When he gets to his photo album, the device is taken from his hand and he watches as Anaxa scrolls past all the shirtless and basically naked photos of Phainon to find the ones of him and Eclipse. He feels like he should be offended that Anaxa isn’t interested in any sexy photos of him, but he knew even before they began their relationship that Anaxa was weird.

So he smiles to himself, buries his face in Anaxa’s neck, and recounts all the cute little things that Eclipse had done while he was playing with and holding her.

And if most of them get sent to Anaxa’s phone, even the duplicates…well he’s still upset it’s not any of the sexy photos, but he’s happy Anaxa wants photos of him.

(But is it because of him or the baby dromas that Anaxa wants the photos…

He’s not going to think further on that.)

☼

The next day, they make the trip to his penthouse in the city. It’s a rarely used space and he really only keeps it to crash at during the day when he’s working and Anaxa isn’t at the Grove. Though he doesn’t teach much these days, much to the collective relief of the Sages and students, he still does research there and the occasional study group, so he makes somewhat frequent visits. Far more to there than his Okhema office.

It’s a nice space, with floor to ceiling windows and furniture from the magazines. It’s just a space to rest in for a while, not to live. It’s not home, unlike his and Anaxa’s comfy little home just outside the city. Sure, traffic’s a bitch, and he really does feel bad for his driver when he’s too tired to drive himself, but he wouldn’t trade it for this. This place…it’s sterile.

“I do not understand why you keep this place if you insist on not doing anything with it.” Anaxa comments as he breezes past him, tossing his messenger bag on the white leather couch and immediately snooping around like anything could have possibly changed.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I just…” It was the first place he bought when that first big paycheck came through. And it had been a paycheck. So many zeroes… So he had done what he had heard all his fellow models and idols do and bought himself the fanciest penthouse he could. The furniture came with the place, and even though everything was top of the line, best that money could buy, he still slept on the floor on a few blankets and some yoga mats, remembering the days when he didn’t have a mattress. He had spent that first night texting Anaxa, telling him that he had found a place and sending him the worst possible photo ever.

Anaxa had told him he was proud of him for finally finding his calling, saying his newest song had been good, and that had warmed him despite the air conditioner being on full blast. And then, when he had finally finally got the nerve to ask Anaxa on a date and let’s go back to your place was mumbled against his lips, Phainon had felt so self-conscious that he had pushed Anaxa back and looked away, ashamed all of the sudden.

But Anaxa, all-knowing and clever Anaxa, had merely pulled him back in for another kiss and said let’s go to mine instead and they had spent the rest of the night curled up on Anaxa’s old worn out couch in matching dromas onesies watching chimera videos that were being mirrored on Anaxa’s hundred inch tv. And after that, he had never gone back to that penthouse unless he just needed a place to take a breather during long rehearsal or shoot days.

“—phoreus to Phainon. Amphoreus to Phainon.”

“This is Major Phainon to Amphoreus.” He grins, grabbing Anaxa’s hand, which is folded into motion to snap his fingers.

“I swear, sometimes you should have been a pilot or astronaut with your interest in space.”

“Awwww! But then I’d be gone for so long and wouldn’t be able to come home to you every day! Who would keep you warm at night if I weren’t home to hold you?” He grins at Anaxa, who purses his lips and looks away, cheeks turning red.

“Fool boy. Don’t say such frivolous things.” Anaxa crosses his arms and still keeps looking away.

“But the truth! And don’t you always want the truth?” He reaches out to pull the mint-haired man close, nuzzling into his hair. Anaxa relaxes in his hold for a moment, before— “Oh! What was that for?!?”

He pulls back to rub at his chest where Anaxa had just jabbed him with one of his boney fingers. Anaxa’s eye sets into a glare. “What I want is the location of all the dromas items you obtained from your collab. Show me.”

Phainon gasps and clenches his hands over his heart, pretending to be hurt by Anaxa’s words. “Ack! My love only wants me for what I can get him. He doesn’t love me for my gentle heart, good looks, or even large—”

The twitch of Anaxa’s eye has his grin growing even more. “—bank account! I was totally going to say bank account!”

“What were you just saying about telling the truth?”

“I love you!”

“Phainon.”

“Awww. Okay, okay. Come on, it’s in the bedroom. I just sort of dumped it all on the bed after the shoot then went to pick you up, so it’s all a mess. Sorry.” While Anaxa often says Phainon is hard to teach, Phainon has learned where Anaxa’s teasing limits lie. It often varies by his mood, but there’s always clear signs Phainon doesn’t miss anymore. His teasing had gone a bit too far during the early stages of their relationship and Anaxa had shut down on him, closing his gates, but Phainon had learned when to stop and just how to get Anaxa to come back to him if he did accidentally take it too far.

It’s that end of that thought that brings them to the stairs to head up to the second floor where the master bedroom is. Anaxa on a mission, it seems, dragging Phainon by the hand. As they walk up the steps Phainon thinks back to the photocard holder on Anaxa’s bag. It’s one of the ones that was released with the dromas collab, the case a soft blue in the shape of a dromas head. The center of its face is where the photocard is and while Phainon had expected to see one of his new photocards, he was shocked to see it was one of the selfies Phainon had taken of them when they went to the dromas sanctuary a few months back. Phainon had taken his facemask down for a brief moment to smile at the camera and Anaxa had one of his shy smiles on his face. Of course, Phainon had blond hair in the picture to not make it too obvious he was an idol in disguise, but it still made his heart swell at seeing that Anaxa had chosen a photo of them to put in the case and not just one of him.

Or, if he’s being truly honest, one of his hundreds of dromas photos he has taken over the years.

“I know I have told you this, but I will say it again—a second floor in a penthouse is ridiculous." Anaxa grumbles as they finally make it to the bedroom door.

“And I told you I agree. But I was young and stupid and rich and I bought whatever I could. Blame youth and money!”

“...I’ll refrain from commenting.” Anaxa breezily responds even though Phainon knows exactly what he wants to spend. “Now show me what…you…Phainon.”

“Wah! What did I do now?” Because that Anaxa’s I’m very angry at you tone and he knows Phainon can be a messy person, so he shouldn’t be surprised.

“You have the limited edition Dreamweaver exclusive onesies just crumpled up on your bed! They only made ten of those, Phainon!”

“...teehee?”

“Phainon!”

“My bad!” He watches as Anaxa goes over to the bed and picks up the item in question. If you asked him, he doesn’t think it’s anything special, but apparently it is. “What’s so special about it? Not being mean! Just asking. They didn’t tell me anything, just handed it to me and told me to wear it.”

Anaxa breathes deeply once, then twice. He has learned long ago that sometimes Phainon was told very little about things and always implored him to ask questions so he didn’t get blindsided by an article or interview. This just happened to be one of those moments that Phainon forgot to ask. He carefully picks up the onesie, beckoning Phainon closer. “Do you see here how the dromas horns are in the shape of feathers? These feathers are similar to the origami birds native to Penacony. Somehow, Gopher Wood was able to convince Glaux out of retirement to make this exclusive set for The Watchmaker’s Clockie’s 50th anniversary clothing line. Each onesie is a different color with a unique set of feathers.”

“Oh. That’s…really cool!” He had no idea that this was something that had been done. He watches as Anaxa runs his fingers along the soft feathers, staring at the item with such a gentle stare and want clearly in his eyes. This must be one of his holy grail items. “Well…it’s yours.”

Anaxa lets out ‌a choked-off sound. “P-Phainon. You can’t just give me this. It’s worth an insane amount of money. Only ten were made!”

“Well, it’s mine and I can. I can’t think of anyone more worthy of it than you. But,” he cuts Anaxa off before he can speak. “Since I know you like an equivalent exchange…I want your old onesie. The one with the ripped leg.”

It was the first thing he had ever worn of Anaxa’s, when they had fallen into bed that night after the first date, sharing kisses back and forth and the cold air had Phainon shivering. Anaxa had offered him one of his onesies, shyly handing it to him. It was too small for Phainon, not even able to zip up, but it smelled like Anaxa and that was enough for him. But when he woke up the next day, he had torn a hole in the right leg. He had apologized over and over, but Anaxa had waved him off and went to hunt for a pair of lounge pants that fit him. He never saw Anaxa wear that onesie again, forever on its hanger in his closet.

“...alright. I suppose that is a fair exchange. Here, hold my sweater.” The fluffy article of clothing is thrown at him and he quickly catches it, watching as Anaxa carefully undoes the zipper and steps into the onesie. Tossing the sweater on the bed, Phainon quickly closes the space between them and catches Anaxa’s hands as he brings the zipper up.

“Let me…” He whispers, finishing the task. When he meets the top, he lets go of the zipper and reaches behind Anaxa to pull the hood up, covering his mint hair. Like this, swamped in the too big onesie, Anaxa looks so cute and adorable. It makes Phainon want to lock him away forever, just for him.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, he leans forward to kiss Anaxa’s nose. “My Anaxa is so cute~”

That gets him a huff and a weak slap to the chest as Anaxa looks away. He merely catches his hand and brings it to his lips, kissing Anaxa’s tattoo. “You wanna see what else I got?”

Anaxa looks at him for a moment, head tilted sideways like he’s assessing Phainon. That gaze pierces him like no camera, interviewer, or audience ever has. He swallows thickly, patiently waiting until Anaxa finds what he is looking for. So distracted, he blinks when something is pushed onto his head. Reaching his free hand up, he meets Anaxa’s other hand from where it’s holding the edge of the dromas horn headband that’s now in his hair.

“There we go. You look very handsome, Phainon.”

“Aw~ Thanks, darling.” He coos, letting go go Anaxa’s tattooed hand to make it easier to adjust the headband. “Say, Anaxa—if I were to turn into a dromas, would you still love me?”

“Of course.” Anaxa answers without hesitation and Phainon feels himself preening. “I love dromases.”

“Aw~ I love you—wait. No! Anaxa, you are supposed to say that you love me!” His partner merely grins in response, eye twinkling in mirth. Anaxa looks like he is going to respond, but instead he turns and walks back to the pile of all of the merch and clothing Phainon got from his photoshoot. “Anaxa!”

“Dromases do not speak, they roar.”

“Wha? But I’m still a human! I’m still Phainon! You love me, right?”

“Hm.”

That has him stumbling, walking briskly toward Anaxa, collapsing on him before Anaxa can step out of the way. He sniffs dramatically, nuzzling his nose into Anaxa’s fabric-covered neck. “Tell me you love me…my Anaxa loves me, right?”

“Well, you did withhold information about this collab shoot from me, which I do understand that I have been busy at work and you had an NDA but…” Anaxa turns to look at him, gaze soft. “I love you, Phainon.”

And that has Phainon melting, holding Anaxa tight to the point the man squeaks from being squeezed too hard. “Yay! My Anaxagoras loves me!”

“Silly boy, you never have to doubt that. Now, let me go and show me everything else you got. I’m seeing things I didn’t see on the photocards.” Anaxa gently pats his hands once and then twice, before he points at a dromas patterned banana.

“Oh! That’s from a quick video I took. It’ll be released next week, I think. That water bottle is from—”

☼

The days pass and he finally finds the time to call the director of the sanctuary.

Upon further researching the matter, he decides to schedule them to meet Eclipse at night. According to the few books he had read, baby dromases were said to be more active at night and he wanted to make sure Anaxa got his full time with her.

Though he knows that even if Eclipse was sleeping, Anaxa would watch over her to make sure she wouldn’t catch a cold or need anything.

So he calls the director of the sanctuary up, who is ecstatic to hear from him again. They tell him that ticket sales are through the roof, as well as donations. With the profits from the collab, they are even able to sponsor visits from some of the lower income schools to come visit the sanctuary.

“That’s great! I’m really happy to hear everything is going well!” He is, truly. Not that fake happiness he often tells other collab companies and sponsors. He had done this one for Anaxa and his love for dromases, so he is truly happy that the sanctuary is doing well. “I’m actually calling about cashing in that favor you mention? My partner really wants to meet Eclipse.”

“Oh! I see. Yes, we can fit you in at any time. Did you have a time preference?”

“At night. I was borrowing one of his books about dromases and it mentioned the babies are more active at night, so I want Anaxa to get the full experience that I had.” He can’t help but grin at the thought of Anaxa seeing Eclipse for the first time.

“That works fine. We are actually having an all hands on deck meeting next week, so you both are— I’m sorry what is your partner's name?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, Anaxa. Anaxagoras Nousporist.”

“...” He hears rustling on the other side of the line and murmurs too low to comprehend.

“Hello?”

“My apologies. Did you say Anaxagoras Nousporist?”

“Yeah. You’ve probably heard of him. I know he’s been trying to get in contact with you.”

“Yes…yes he has. We have been meaning to get back to him, but…”

He laughs. “No, no, I get it. He can be a handful. He means well. I’m assuming you have a lot of documentation from him.”

“Yes… It’s somewhat astounding. I’m glancing through this now and…”

“He’s like that. Dromases mean a lot to him, ever since he was a child. He’s been going to your sanctuary since he was a kid with his older sister. We go every weekend, even if it’s just for a quick walk.”

“I see. Please apologize to him on the entire sanctuary's behalf. I am not sure why this got buried, but I’ll find out why. If I had known such a man was willing to help us…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it! Anaxa understands. He’s made a lot of enemies over the years and even if you never respond, he’s never going to stop supporting the sanctuary. I had no idea you guys even existed before we started dating, and now I feel like I know enough about dromases to be an expert.”

The director laughs, a somewhat nervous sound. Phainon has a feeling they are flipping through one of Anaxa’s many proposals. “Honestly, if you are learning from this man, I would bet money you are one. This is…insanely thorough. Almost like…”

“He was a professor for the longest time before he retired and moved into the tech field. He used to teach at the Grove.”

“Oh! I remember that now. I never took one of his classes, but I heard stories. But I have digressed perhaps a bit too much. You mentioned that a night visit works best for you?”

“Yep! If that works with you as well.”

“It works fine. How about next Thursday? We are doing an enclosure shift, so it’ll be of no issue for you two to come and spend time with Eclipse. She gets very curious about all the sounds, so her caretakers often have to keep her distracted so her calls won’t distract the adult dromases.”

Phainon laughs. “I am an excellent distraction! And I have a feeling she’s going to adore Anaxa.”

“Fantastic. When you arrive, just tell them your name at the ticket booth and they’ll have tickets for you. I’ll meet you in front of her building, where we met last time. Say…eight o’clock?”

“Gotcha! Eight it is! Thank you so much!”

The director goes silent for a moment. “No…thank you…” And then even quieter. “I need to call a meeting…”

And then the line goes dead.

Shrugging, he rises from his comfy chair, break time over. Pocketing his phone, he giddily heads back into the studio, ready to record.

☼

The day arrives far sooner than Phainon expected it would, and he finds himself giddy with excitement. Not as much for visiting the sanctuary, but because this is one of Anaxa’s happy places and Phainon gets to experience it with him.

Phainon gets to experience this with him. What Anaxa would never dare say out loud but was a fact—this was one of his dreams.

And Phainon was able to grant him this.

Though he keeps his hands wrapped tight together, Phainon can tell they are shaking. He merely pulls Anaxa a little closer, pressing a kiss into his hair.

He wants to tease, wants to poke at Anaxa, but refrains. This is a fragile moment and he would dare not ruin it for Anaxa.

The director of the sanctuary greets them in front of one of the nondescript buildings that he was directed to last time. They shake his hand when he offers it while Anaxa gives a stiff nod. The director just smiles at Anaxa, remembering Phainon’s words from the other week.

“We told her earlier that the man who let her have as much Redsoil Feed as she wanted was coming back and she’s been eagerly running around waiting for you.” The director says as they usher them into the building, nodding to various staff members as they pass. “Don’t mind them. Because of Phainon, we have been able to move forward with our reconstruction, so we are doing it at night to not affect patrons during the day. We have been rotating the dromases through different enclosures which has been an interesting research opportunity. They seem to like the movement! So we are considering doing a monthly enclosure swap if this period doesn’t cause them stress. And here we are, gentlemen!”

They stop in front of a large light blue door, Eclipse written in gold in the middle. Anaxa’s shoulders are now shaking.

“Oh! I forgot to mention! We have not given her her daily allotment of sticky blacksoil, so that is available for you to feed her.” The director smiles at Anaxa, who is looking through the window of the door. He’s glad that he explained Anaxa’s interest in dromases so the director doesn’t think him rude, but given they seemed to already know about Anaxa, he hopes the director finds it charming enough to consider Anaxa’s proposals. “Now, the way we are going to do this is to lead you both in and up to the gate of the enclosure. Then, since she is familiar with Phainon, we will let him in first and then we will let you, Professor Anaxagoras, in a few minutes later once she has acclimated to him. She has had no issues with new people, but she has been very anxious and excited all day, so we don’t want to overwhelm her.”

“Cool! That sounds great.”

“Understood.”

“Fantastic! Then let us head in, gentlemen.” And then the door is opened and a soft roar fills the large space. He can’t help but glance at Anaxa, who is frozen in place, eye wide. He places a hand on Anaxa’s back to hopefully help center him, leaning down to whisper in his ear.

“Do you need a moment?” Anaxa shakes his head in response and leads them both forward. They walk until the director stops them. He watches as Eclipse rushes up to the gate on her short stubby little legs, looking up at him with her mouth open.

“Ah! She’s so cute. I think she’s gotten even cuter since I last saw her, director.”

They laugh. “That might be because she also had a bath today. While dromases don’t often need baths, her caretakers wipe her down twice a day to help keep her from getting sick. However, she grabbed her sponge and kept smacking her caretaker with it until she got a bath. It was quite cute. If you remind me, I can show you the footage. We have been documenting her growth to compile into a presentation once she is old enough to be released into the media. In fact,” and at that, the director turns to Anaxa, who begrudgingly takes his eyes off Eclipse to meet the director’s gaze. “I would be happy to share our archival footage with you, Professor, and get your thoughts.”

Anaxa nods, his love-struck grin tightening into a more professional smile. “I would like that. If my observations will be of help to the sanctuary and the continued survival of the dromas species, then you will have my help.”

The director nods and is about to speak when an annoyed roar echoes around them. All three of them turn to see Eclipse standing on her back legs, her front legs on the walls of the enclosure. She’s looking between him and Anaxa, eyes wide. “Oh dear, it seems she is getting impatient. Phainon, why don’t you reach over the gate and convince her to back up a little bit and then you can go in.”

“Roger, roger!”

☼

He thinks he should have known, and he feels foolish for even believing that he would still be Eclipse’s favorite once she had seen Anaxa. He knows the feeling of being enamoured with the man very well, after all.

Sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, he plays with Eclipse, patting her flank and giving her Redsoil Feed. Yet, every minute or so, her gaze turns away from Phainon to look at Anaxa. He always follows her gaze and sometimes, Anaxa is looking at them, not doing anything but watching, and sometimes he is talking to the director. Then, her attention is back on him and it’s nice.

It’s really nice. Even though her gaze is strong, staring at him with her large eyes, he doesn’t feel judged. Between the cameras and his fans, he finds himself more often than not avoiding people’s gazes. What do they think of him? Are they tired of him? Is he a good enough singer? Good enough dancer? Is his wig on right? Can they see his tattoo? Every car he owns has the strongest window tint available and he avoids looking at his reflections when he’s walking around town.

But this small creature looks at him with no judgment. He knows she has no idea what an idol is or how famous he is, but even then, he thinks that if she somehow understood who he was, she would never judge him. Anaxa often talked about how dromases were simple and kind creatures, and he has seen that over their dozens of visits to the sanctuary. Refocusing, he lifts his head to look at Eclipse again only to see that she is glaring at him. He tilts his head in confusion before realizing that his hand feels too light.

Ah, he ran out of Feed.

Whoops.

☼

Finally, Anaxa joins him. Phainon hears his soft steps and he turns to see him hovering just a few paces back.

“Hi honey, did you enjoy your talk with the director?”

“I did.” Anaxa responds, keeping his distance. “It was very productive. Plus, you looked quite happy and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

He smiles shyly, rubbing his head. “It’s nice. She doesn’t judge me.”

“Dromases have no reason to judge. They are peaceful, simple creatures.”

“They are.” He nods and gestures with his head for Anaxa to join him. “Come on, come meet her.”

“...okay.” Anaxa says, but he doesn’t move forward. Phainon smiles and waits. He can tell Anaxa is nervous.

A soft roar cuts him off before he can speak and he turns back to the baby dromas to watch as Eclipse stands up, walking around Phainon to stand in front of Anaxa. She roars again, lowering her head to bump it again Anaxa’s leg.

Immediately, Anaxa takes a step back and then another. Eclipse follows him each time, letting out a happy roar. Phainon can’t help but laugh. She thinks Anaxa is playing a game, while the man is trying to not panic. He stands and moves until he can intercept Anaxa’s backwards path, lifting his hands to rest on Anaxa’s arms when the man’s back runs into his chest.

“Sweetheart, she thinks you want to play and will continue to chase you. Why don’t you sit down and pet her?”

“Oh. O-okay.” But Anaxa doesn’t move. Phainon finds himself endeared with how cute Anaxa is like this, and how easily he allows Phainon to get them both seated on the ground. Eclipse tilts her head at them, confused why they stopped playing.

“Don’t be nervous, love. I think she’s really happy to meet you.” He presses a quick kiss to Anaxa’s ear and moves to sit on his right side. He never sits on Anaxa’s left unless there is someone else sitting with them.

Eclipse looks at him for a few seconds, before turning back to Anaxa.

“…Phainon…” For the first time ever, Phainon sees Anaxa stunned. The Anaxagoras, stunned. He’s sitting crosslegged on the floor, arms lax at his sides, but his hands are shaking. Phainon can see the quick rise and fall of his chest.

Anaxagoras is nervous.

“…Phainon…Phainon what do I do…oh dear Cerces, what do I do…” His gazes shift away from his anxious partner to see little Eclipse taking slow, wobbly steps toward them. She gives out little tiny roars as she does, quickly closing the distance between her and Anaxa. It seems that any interest she had in Phainon is now gone. And Anaxa…Anaxa looks so scared and so taken at the same time that Phainon wishes he could take a photo. “Phainon, help me.”

“Me? Darling, you are the one with more knowledge about dromases. I was just here to look pretty, take pictures, and do what they told me.”

“Well they must have given you instructions on how to hold her. Quick, tell me before she—oh sweet Cerces.” And then Eclipse is stepping onto Anaxa’s lap and Anaxa looks like he’s in love. “Oh. Oh, hello little one. Careful, now.”

Eclipse roars again, now fully in Anaxa’s lap. She butts her head against his chest, and while he can see how her strength moves Anaxa, the man doesn’t stop her. Anaxa’s frail hands hover above the baby dromas and with very clear movements, he moves one of his hands to rest over Anaxa’s and gently brings their hands down so Anaxa’s hand rests on Eclipse’s head. The little dromas lets out a happy sound, lifting her head to bump into Anaxa’s hand.

The choked sound Anaxa lets out has Phainon’s heart aching.

“Phainon…Phainon, she’s touching me…she’s…” Phainon says nothing, letting Anaxa have his moment. He knows that baby dromases are incredibly rare, so rare that dromases are on the verge of being classified as critically endangered with how rare babies are for the species. He knows that if Anaxa’s life had worked out differently, he would be one of the researchers or caretakers here at the sanctuary, but life doesn’t always work out how they want and so Anaxa is just a guest.

He knows that this is one of Anaxa’s dreams. To be able to see a baby dromas, to being able to see one and be able to interact with it. And maybe it’s self-centered on Phainon’s part, but he was able to grant Anaxa his wish. It’s why he became an idol. Perhaps it was a weird way of accomplishing his goals, but if he could make not only his loved ones but other people’s wishes come true, then he would do what he could to make it happen. The dromas sanctuary was not the first non-profit he had donated to or the last one that he will. For as long as he has the means to do so, Phainon will continue to help grant people’s wishes in the ways that he can.

“Phainon…”

“Yes, love?”

“I want to feed her. Can you get the sticky blacksoil?”

“Of course.” He nods and stands to go get the small bucket filled to the brim with the feed, set on a hook high enough so Eclipse couldn’t get to it.

He walks slowly to give Anaxa enough time to clean his face of his tears.

Bucket now in hand, he makes his return, sitting back down next to Anaxa. Eclipse doesn’t even turn toward him, still looking and softly roaring at Anaxa, who is now petting her flank and cooing at her.

“Alright, time for snacks! Look, Eclipse, your favorite!” The little dromas looks at him with a glare, as if angry he interrupted her Anaxa time… Which honestly, so valid. “Hey, don’t look at me like that! Look what I have.”

He holds out a small bit of the sticky blacksoil to her and the dromas looks at his hand, then back at Anaxa. Anaxa just nods and smiles, tapping her head gently. Like a mother dromas does to her baby…or at least that’s what the documentaries he’s watched have said.

“Go on, go eat.” And then Eclipse is wobbling over to him, roaring. Phainon moves the bucket so it’s in between him and Anaxa and together, they feed Eclipse.

☼

Though it’s late, Phainon finds himself still awake. Anaxa is asleep early for once, but Phainon understands. While not stressful, today was a lot for Anaxa and he knows that the man will be cheerful for days. If he recalls correctly, he is subbing for a class at the Grove in two days. He stifles his laugh at the thought that the students won’t know what hit them when a happy Professor Anaxagoras begins his lecture. He wraps his arm a little tighter around his partner, flipping through his phone. He’s not really doing anything, just going from app to app, mindlessly watching a video or reading a post, trying to get his body to get ready to sleep. He’s about to click on a video of what appears to be a chimera playing with a dromas plushie when a notification pops up.

[email] Regarding today’s visit.

He normally doesn’t take care of work in bed, one of his and Anaxa’s household rules, but since their visit wasn’t really work, he clicks it.

Good evening Phainon,

Thank you for visiting the sanctuary with your partner today. When you left, one of Eclipse’s caretakers spoke with me and said that she has never been happier. In fact, when you both left, she did try to follow you out, which she has never done before. We don’t tell visitors this, or even those that don’t tend to her, but Eclipse has a fear of the outside. We have been attempting to acclimate her to the outside world so that when she is grown up enough, she can enter the enclosures, but she has refused to go within three feet of the door. When you and Professor Anaxagoras left, she rushed after you and actually made it past the gate before one of her caretakers caught her. She has never done that before and while other folks may take that as an alarm that she tried to escape, we do not see it as such. If she was willing to go after you, then that means you made an impression. Additionally, I had spoken with our board of directors after our phone meeting the other day and heard back from them during your visit, but felt that it wasn’t appropriate to mention work during such a precious moment. When you have time, let us schedule a professional meeting with you and your manager, as well as Professor Anaxagoras. I believe we may be looking at a bright future of partnership ahead of us.

Lastly, I have attached a folder with photos from this evening. I thank you and Professor Anaxagoras for respecting our no photographs rule. If there are any that you wish to use, we kindly ask that you tag the sanctuary's social media.

Thank you and have a lovely night.

Phainon blinks his eyes when he’s done reading. There’s a lot of words in front of him and he’s a little too tired to focus on the professional aspect of the email. However, the folder does intrigue him, so he clicks on it.

And immediately his chest aches and he finds himself falling in love over and over again.

It’s photos of him, of Anaxa, of them, and Eclipse. The first one in the folder, the one that makes his heart clench in his chest, is…it’s beautiful. He doesn’t have any other words for how perfect Anaxa and Eclipse look in the photo.

The photo is of Eclipse, proudly standing with her two front legs on Anaxa’s lap, looking up at the scholar. Her eyes are wide and her mouth is slightly open as well. Anaxa’s face had smoothed out of its anxious expression, now morphed into one of awe and revere. His left hand is raised, fingers curled toward his palm as he gently runs the back of them against the dromas’s still-growing horns. Phainon isn’t even in the photo and he doesn’t care; he doesn’t want to be. That moment was for Anaxa and Eclipse.

When he can finally tear his eyes away, he quickly saves the photo and then swipes down on his screen, hard pressing to add a new set of lockscreen and wallpapers to his phone’s already extensive list of them. For now, the lockscreen remains of him kissing an annoyed Anaxa’s cheek, faux dromas horns on both their heads, but the homescreen becomes the photo of Anaxa and Eclipse. Once set, he flips through all his pages until it’s a blank one and he can stare at the photo again.

He’s so in love.

Going back to the email, he goes into the folder again. There’s so many photos…over a hundred it seems. He hadn’t even realized there was someone taking photos and he wonders if perhaps the director had gotten ahold of his manager. But…no. He takes that back. The director had just asked for him to tag them, meaning his manager hadn’t been involved and they hadn’t asked for permission to post them either…so they had done this for them. That was…really nice. He had been a bit bummed he couldn’t take photos, but had respected the rule. But to think they had done this for them… He’ll contact his manager in the morning. Care deserved care and he wanted to make sure that the dromas sanctuary was well cared for.

“Mm…Phainon? Are you…still awake? Silly…boy…” He turns away from his phone to look down at Anaxa, who is slowly blinking his eyes. Despite their many years together, he is still sometimes not used to seeing both of Anaxa’s eyes. The left one is so dull, the skin around it a mess of scar tissue. Anaxa sometimes wore a covering over it at night so as not agitate it, but oftentimes he didn’t since the wound was so old. This was one of the nights where Anaxa opted to not cover his eye.

“I’m just about to sleep. Reading an email, that’s all.” He whispers, leaning down to press a kiss into Anaxa’s tousled hair.

“No work…” Anaxa yawns, burrowing a little deeper into Phainon’s chest. Phainon wonders if his partner can feel how loud his heart is pounding. “...in bed…”

“It’s not work, at least not for now.” He hesitates for a moment, knowing his next action could wake Anaxa up and getting Anaxa to sleep was sometimes a big ordeal. “The director sent me photos.”

“Mm…of your photo…shoot?” Another yawn and Phainon bites his lip to not coo at how cute his lover looks as he raises his hand to use the back of it to cover his mouth.

“No…from tonight.” That gets Anaxa blinking even more, shuffling around a bit before slowly sitting up.

“From…tonight?”

“Yeah… I guess the director figured we would want photos. They are crazy good quality too and I would know. Look…this one is my favorite.” Now that Anaxa is sitting up, Phainon pulls him a little more onto him, so Anaxa is practically laying on him now. He likes it that way—Anaxa’s weight on him, grounding him, reminding Phainon that Anaxa is there with him and he’s not alone.

“Let me…oh… Oh…”

“I think that’s the happiest I’ve ever seen you look, sweetheart. And look at her, she looks so happy to see you. A perfect match, I feel.” Anaxa doesn’t respond, taking his phone from him and staring at the photo of him and Eclipse for a few more seconds, before flicking to the next one. He moves through the folder, sometimes going back and then moving forward. After a few minutes, Anaxa finally stops on a photo, showing it to him.

“This one. This one is my favorite.”

Phainon finds himself biting his lip.

It’s him, Anaxa, and Eclipse. The little dromas is sitting on Anaxa’s lap—which Phainon firmly believes might be her new favorite place to sit and he’s not even upset he’s been dethroned—limbs all spread. She’s covered in a small blanket that Phainon had brought over, eating sticky blacksoil from his hand. One of Anaxa’s hands is moving down her head to make sure she doesn’t eat too fast, while the other one is resting on top of Phainon’s hand in between them.

They almost…look like a family. He, Anaxa, and their little baby dromas. He tries not to get teary eyed at the thought.

“Yeah, I like this one too. I can get it printed for us and we can put it in the office if you want?” If he had it his way, this photo would sit on the wall where all their collective achievements are—Anaxa’s degrees, his publications, and the like and all of Phainon’s magazine covers, important contracts and more—and then the one of Anaxa and Eclipse would be blown up as large as he could get it and proudly hung over his desk.

Anaxa probably wouldn’t like it but Phainon has a lot of bribes in his back pocket, one is bound to work.

“Whatever idiotic idea you are forming in that questionable brain of yours, knock it off.”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“You were smiling the crazed grin of yours. That one that usually involves me in some strange capacity.” Anaxa huffs, clicking through the photo album again and sending himself more photos. On the nightstand, he can see Anaxa’s phone lighting up.

“Aww! It’s nothing too bad, promise! I’m debating getting that photo of you and Eclipse framed on my wall, that’s all.”

“How big?”

“...movie poster size?”

“No.”

“‘Naxa! You look so cute though, I can’t resist! I’ll even get a nice custom frame too.” The glare Anaxa sends him has him grinning.

“No.”

“Aw…”

“...you can print it for your desk though.”

A compromise! He loved when they compromised because it means Anaxa understands him and his needs, even if he’s bad at saying them. Sure, he hides behind jokes and smiles, but even those closest to him have a hard time reading through them sometimes. He never…has to worry about that with Anaxa. “I am still going to get a custom frame.”

His lover sighs and hands him back his phone. “Of course you are. I suppose fair is fair, so maybe I’ll print a photo of you for my desk as well.”

And that gets Phainon excited! Anaxa’s desk is void of any and all knicknacks since he often covers every inch in paperwork from tech specs to the newest studies to game guides. To know Anaxa wants to put a photo of Phainon on his sacred desk…

“Which one? The underwear shoot, the lingerie shoot, the swimsuit shoot…Ooh or maybe one of me sweating on stage? Maybe one from my Deliverer era with the water on stage.” He can totally get photos from each and every one of those events. The less clothes the better he thinks…

“Nevermind. I take my words back. I don’t need a photo of you on my desk.” Anaxa glares at him, then pushes off his chest and rolls away back to his side of the bed.

“Wah!?! No, babe, come back! Babe, I’m sorry.” Anaxa doesn’t respond, just continues to get closer to his side of their large bed. “No! My cuddles. Anaxa come back, I want my cuddles.”

“No. You and your weird thoughts can stay over on your side of the bed.” And then Anaxa brings the covers over his head so Phainon can’t see him.

“Noooooo! Sweetie, come back!” He turns to drop his phone on his nightstand before diving under the covers to find Anaxa and bring him back into his arms.

“Good night, Phainon. Stay on your side of the bed.”

“Never!”

“Phai—non!” He gets a strong kick to his shin, then his knee. “Brute! Let me go!”

“Nope! It’s sleepy time and I always get Anaxa cuddles during sleepy time. Good night, Anaxa.” He pulls Anaxa even closer, nuzzling his face into mint colored hair. Anaxa just grumbles and gets comfortable, accepting his fate.

He gives Anaxa’s head one last kiss before closing his eyes to sleep.

☼☼

[New post from KHASLANA!]

@KHASLANA Thank you so much to @DromasSanctuary for allowing my partner and I the opportunity to spend time with Eclipse! She’s such a little sweetheart, my heart can’t take it!

[33550336 Loves] [10K Comments]

[tribbietribbietribbie] Cute!!

[starsalign] OMG OMG OMG HE’S SO HOT

[CyRENE] THE BABY DROMASSSSS SO CUTEE I WANNA PET HER

[stoneheartfan] partner??? since WHEN

[catneedsmoney] YO ARE THEY HOLDING HANDS?? whatttttttttttttttt??? that’s so indecent :P

[penaconysodaPOP] KHASLANA is dATING someone that’s NOT me WHO DOES THAT HAND BELONG TO?

[galaticbaseballer] BABY DROMAS

[greatperformer] maybe consult me before you hard launch our relationship

[KHASLANA] my bad babe ;~; i’ll do better next time… BUT LOOK HOW CUTE SHE IS! AHHHHH