Tani frowned and Dante smiled, brushing a second kiss on Tani’s right cheek. Tani was cute when he was upset and unsure of himself. Dante decided to take advantage of the indecision. He led Tani to the front door of Artri House, and gave an approving nod when the house opened the door without his prompting.
The manor felt empty.
His grandmaster was out, and his mom was somewhere in the vineyard handling daily chores with the vineyard manager. His father had yet to arrive it seemed.
The old grandfather clock in the main hall said it was fifteen minutes after four. Holding Tani’s hand tight, Dante led him up the staircase heading to the third floor where his suite of rooms was located. Dante opened the door to his rooms and turned to meet Tani’s gaze, knowing they were crossing an invisible line, one he wanted gone but needed Tani’s consent.
Tani hesitated for a short moment, then he gave the subtlest of nods and Dante led him into his room. He closed the door, and they both stood at the entrance for a moment, Dante still holding Tani’s right hand. He used his left hand to sink his fingers into Tani’s wet hair.
“You need a hot shower,” Dante said, then turned to lead the way into the bathroom on his right.
Dante opened the sizeable shower stall and turned on the water, using his own temperature preferences. He stepped back out and turned to Tani who stood behind him seErming in deep thought.
“Wanna talk about it?” Dante asked, letting go of Tani’s right hand. He stepped in closer and rubbed his hands up and down Tani’s arms, drawing his attention. He frowned when he noted the red mark on Tani’s right cheek. “You were smiling when I left you. Who ruined your mood?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Tani said, shaking his head, and then looked at his wet shirt, and started unbuttoning it.
“Okay, don’t talk about it,” Dante said. “I’ll make dinner for us, and we can spend the evening together. We can get to know more about each other.”
Tani pulled off his wet shirt without unbuttoning it all the way and dropped it on the sink counter.
“Sounds delicious,” Tani said with a small nod. He reached for the button on his trousers, and paused when Dante held his hands in place.
“Thank you for coming,” Dante said, and smiled when Tani looked at him, amber eyes filled with surprise. “I’m really happy you came when I called, Tani.”
Tani made a face at him, and Dante bit back a chuckle.
“Take a shower,” Dante said, taking in Tani’s body naked as he removed his pants. “Have I told you how exciting it is to have you stripping in my bathroom? I don’t think I’ll forget this one for years. It is fantastic sexy.”
Tani chuckled and picked up his trousers and boxer briefs. He shook them out and placed them on the sink counter. He blew a kiss at Dante before he entered the shower stall and closed the opaque glass door.
Dante sighed wishing they were at a stage where he could follow Tani into the shower. It was a tragedy not being able to yet. He took Tani’s wet clothes and dropped them into the hamper. This was the second set of clothes he was going to have in his closet for Tani. The first set was from the day Tani healed their soil. Dante let out a happy hum and hurried to his closet. He found a t-shirt and comfortable grey slacks.
Dante spelled them to fit Tani’s size and placed them on the sink counter. He found a towel and a new toothbrush. When he was sure Tani had everything he needed, he listened to Tani shower for a few minutes, then called out.
“I’m going downstairs to the kitchen. Find me when you’re done.”
“Okay.”
Dante grinned and left his suite, heading downstairs. In the kitchen, he washed his hands and headed to the fridge. He took stock of the ingredients in the fridge and was happy to see his mother had the makings of chicken rice pilaf and a veggie salad.
Dante pulled out shredded chicken in a sealed bowl, and another bowl with chicken broth. He carried them to the kitchen range counter and went in search of long-grain rice and orzo in the pantry. He measured enough of both to include his parents and the grand-master.
Although, he and Tani would have a private dinner. No one was taking his time with Tani tonight.
Besides, Tani did not look in the mood to socialize. His parents would have to wait until tomorrow for Tani.
Dante wore an apron, washing his hands again, and got to work.
Tani came downstairs when Dante was busy adding the required chicken broth to the sautéed rice and orzo. He looked calmer, and laid back in the borrowed t-shirt and sweatpants. His hair was dry and messy, as though he had finger combed it. A lock of it fell over his right eye, and all Dante wanted to do was reach out and pushed it back so he could see Tani’s eyes.
Scents of cinnamon and all spice filled the kitchen.
“It’s smells so good in here,” Tani said, walking on bare feet. He pulled out a chair at the island table, sat and watched Dante add a teaspoon of salt and then reach for the black pepper crusher. “You look at home in the kitchen.”
“Mom made sure I knew how to cook,” Dante said, finishing with the black pepper. “She did not want to have a son who cannot take care of himself.”
“Nora is admirable,” Tani said, with a small sigh. He rested his elbows on the kitchen table and watched Dante cover the pot, and lower the heat. “Do you have cousins?”
“I do,” Dante nodded. “My mother has siblings. Two sisters who have made their lives in Istanbul. Between the two aunts, I have five cousins who now have made families and are living in Greece, and Spain.”
“Do you visit them?” Tani asked.
“Yes, when they have occasions they call us. Mom makes it mandatory to attend so I cannot ignore them. They all come here for family celebrations too. Artri House comes alive those times. Those days we have almost a hundred people in these halls. My mom loves it.”
“Do you love it?” Tani asked.
“Sometimes,” Dante said, with a shrug.
Dante got a baking pan from a shelf under the kitchen range counter. He greased the pan with olive oil and spread out the pieces of shredded chicken on the pan. He turned on the oven and got to work sprinkling the shredded chicken with chopped cilantro, salt and garlic.
“What do you mean sometimes?” Tani asked.
Dante met his gaze and braced his hands on the counter.
“I do try to avoid spending too much time in the festivities. It gets noisy and I find the level of affection I have for everyone is not at par with theirs,” Dante said, and then stared at the shredded chicken on the baking sheet. “Viola called me cold. She believes my emotions are locked away behind a cold wall. I agree with her. I was locked away.”
“Was?” Tani asked.
Dante glanced at Tani.
Tani’s gaze set his heart dancing in a wild rhythm inside his chest. He had never felt this surge of excitement over a person before. Not even with Viola. He was happy just having Tani sit across him at the island kitchen table.
“Dante?” Tani’s amber gaze filled with concern.
Dante smiled and picked up the baking sheet. He opened the oven and slid the baking sheet in to warm up the shredded chicken for ten minutes. He set the timer and closed the door. Wiping his hands on the hand towel in his apron pocket, Dante returned to the stove to check on the rice.
“Are you saying you’re free now?” Tani asked, not letting the topic fade away.
“Perhaps,” Dante said, getting a clean spoon. He used it to scoop out a bit of rice to check doneness. “I might be thawing out because of you. I feel too much when I’m around you, Tani.”
Dante walked around the island table to where Tani sat and held out the spoon of cooling rice.
“Taste,” he said, and Tani studied him for a moment before he took in the spoon into his mouth, and ate the rice. “Is it good?”
“Mm,” Tani nodded when he swallowed.
Dante leaned on the chair next to Tani, holding the empty spoon.
“You should have been a chef.”
“No,” Dante shook his head. “I’d be a terrible task master. I would chase away all the staff with a bad temper.”
Tani grinned and rested his chin on his right hand.
“What were you like as a boy?”
“Full of myself and out of control,” Dante said. “I had to learn how to control the fire inside me. There were very many near misses. Mom had her hands full. One summer, I burned the grapevines closest to the manor when I tried to roast potatoes in the firewood pit in the back garden. Nora gained a few gray hairs that day.”
“Were the vines saved?”
“No,” Dante shook his head. “We only managed to stop the fire from spreading to the rest of the vineyard. We had to uproot the damaged vines, restore the soil, and plant a new batch. Mom and Dad punished me to work with the crew for a month. I helped with the digging, no spells allowed to make it easier.”
“It must have been an adventure.” Tani chuckled
“I did not think so at the time,” Dante said, shaking his head. “It was the first time I understood how tiring tilling the land can be.”
He moved away from Tani and returned to remove the rice from the stove.
“What can I help with?” Tani asked, as Dante picked up the pot and placed it on a wooden board on the island table.
“I just need to put the chicken rice pilaf together. Then we can toss a veggie salad together. Give me a minute, I’ll bring the salad ingredients to you,” Dante said, checking the oven timer. He had five minutes on the chicken.
Dante hurried to the sink. He had rinsed the iceberg lettuce and cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces. He added in a mix of herbs he had chopped into fine pieces: sorrel, parsley, dill, and fresh mint, and mixed them in with the lettuce.
Dante took the colander to where Tani sat, together with a clean glass salad dish.
Dante then went to the fridge and brought out lemon juice squeezed by his mother into a small jug and a slice of white cheese. Closing the fridge, he got the salt container and the olive oil. He carried everything to Tani.
“What’s missing?” Dante asked, leaning on the table smiling at Tani.
“Something to mix everything,” Tani said.
“Okay, coming right up.”
Dante found a tablespoon, and the wooden spoon they used to mix salads. He brought them back to Tani and stole a kiss on Tani’s cheek. Tani smiled, and it felt like a little win.
Tani took a small clean bowl from a pile on the island table and got to work. He poured about three tablespoons of olive oil into the bowl, adding a pinch of salt and half the juice in the jug. He used the tablespoon to mix the liquids together.
Dante returned to the other side of the table.
“Did you get to eat your roasted potatoes?” Tani asked, as he put the lettuce mix into the glass dish.
“I did,” Dante said. “I had gotten them from the vineyard manager’s patch. They were very big, and looked delicious. So, I ate them in the evening when my mother thought I was repenting my sins in my room.”
“You didn’t even share with her after burning the vines. Sneaky child,” Tani said.
“I was determined to keep my roasted potatoes to myself,” Dante said. “If I offered them, then I would have to explain how I got them in the first place. I didn’t want my potato supply cut off.”
Tani laughed then, and Dante paused in the act of chopping up parsley and dill to stare at him.
“What now?” Tani asked, when he noticed Dante staring.
He was pouring the mix of olive oil into the lettuce in the dish. He used the wooden spoon to toss the salad and make sure every bit of the lettuce was covered with olive oil.
“I should find more funny stories to tell you,” Dante said. “I love your laugh.”
Tani took a piece of lettuce and popped it into his mouth. He nodded in satisfaction and reached for the slice of white cheese.
“Your childhood sounds so interesting,” Tani said. “I wish I could have seen it.”
Dante started to ask if Tani had tried to see him when he was younger, then stopped himself. He did not want to see Tani sad tonight. Their past was already so difficult to deal with, better to keep things light, cheerful.
“Did you have a girl or boy you liked during your teenage years?” Tani asked, as though reading his thoughts.
“There was one,” Dante said, finishing with the parsley and dill. He got four stalks of scallions and chopped up the green parts only. He left them all on the chopping board and went to check on the warming shredded chicken. Opening the oven, he pulled out the baking sheet without an oven mitt, relying on his fire magik to shield his fingers. In any case, heat had never burned him.
Placing the baking sheet on the cooker, he turned off the oven and the timer.
“Who was he?” Tani asked.
Dante stole a glance at him and found Tani concentrating on breaking pieces of white cheese and tossing them into the salad bowl. He bit back a smile, remembering his torrid infatuation with Ermin, a boy whose family lived by the docks. Ermin’s family ran a tourism business, taking tourists on boats to see the surrounding islands. Ermin was handsome, and loved the waters too much.
Dante always found him on a boat dressed in swimming shorts and nothing else. He could not be blamed for wanting to find out what a kiss between them tasted like, or all the exploration they did with each other on the beach of a small tiny deserted island where Ermin liked to fish.
Dante grinned at the memory of Ermin now.
“He must have been something if he still has you smiling,” Tani said, pushing the salad bowl to the middle of the table.
“He was,” Dante said. “Ermin was a summer fling I thought I would never get over. We were experimental with each other. He taught me how to kiss, and how to make my partner feel good. We had a lot of oral sex. I was young, excited to be getting off whenever I felt like it. Ermin denied me nothing. We celebrated each other until my mother caught us in the fertilizer storage room.”
“What did Nora do?”
“Of course she was shocked,” Dante said, opening the pan with the rice.
Dante added the shredded chicken on top, and placed the chopped herbs on top of the chicken. He took the chopping board to the sink, thinking about his mother’s wide gaze when she opened the store and saw him coming as he clung to a shelf as Ermin sucked him off. He could not have stopped himself if he wanted.
She truly chose the wrong moment to check on their fertilizer stock.
“Were you scared?” Tani asked, studying him now.
“No,” Dante said, placing the chopping board on the drainage rack. “I didn’t really care about it, but Ermin did. He was mortified. I guess I was scared of losing access to him. Nora left us alone and we cleaned up in the shower behind the store. We found her waiting for us at the back of the manor. She gave us both a glass of lemon tea and made us sit with her. She asked Ermin if he was serious about me, and he got scared and ran off.”
Dante wiped his hands on his cloth and leaned on the sink counter. He met Tani’s gaze and shrugged.
“Mom did not mind that I liked having sex with boys,” Dante said. “She just cared that the boy I was with was serious about me. He wasn’t. Ermin was terrified Nora would tell others about us. When the summer season ended, he moved to Istanbul.”
“His loss,” Tani said.
“Nora’s exact words to the whole incident,” Dante said with a small smile. “After that, Nora made my Dad have the sex talk with me.”
Tani grinned.
“Did he? What was it like?”
“Christophe is not like my mother, or like the Grandmaster with many words,” Dante said. “He’s laid back with me. He took me out to the beach beyond the olive grove. He brought a pack of beer and a cooler filled with fish. We camped out, roasting fish, and he gave me my first beer. I told him I liked both boys and girls. I thought he would lecture me, but he gave me two rules. One, to learn how to commit when a relationship is serious, and two, to learn how to take responsibility if my partner gets kids.”
Dante thought about his stint with Viola and his father’s eternal disappointment that his grandchildren were not Ekho-blessed.
“I failed with the first rule, but I have learned how to take responsibility of the consequences to the best of my ability,” Dante said.
“You’re a lucky man, Dante. Your parents are present for you, each in their own way. You should be proud of it.”
Dante nodded, and wondered why he read a wistful note in Tani’s voice.
“I am,” Dante said, pushing off the counter. He went to get two plates from the cupboard and two wine glasses. “Come serve food, Tani. We’ll leave the rest warming for Mom, and Grandmaster Landi. Dad might also be around, but I want to be selfish tonight and hide away with you.”
Tani got up, bringing the salad bowl with him. They spent the next few minutes serving up plates. Dante cleaned up the remaining dishes and left the pot of chicken rice pilaf on the cooker. They sealed the salad bowl with cling film and left it in the fridge.
Dante got a new bottle of a medium-bodied rosé from the wine cellar next to the pantry. He handed it to Tani, along with the pair of glasses.
“I’ll carry the food,” Dante said, taking their plates and spoons now on a tray.
“Where to?” Tani asked.
“My rooms, no one will disturb us,” Dante said, leading the way out of the kitchen.
Tani followed without question.
“Artri House watches the happenings within its walls,” Tani said, as they went up the stairs. “Does it bother you?”
“No,” Dante said. “I wouldn’t call it watching because that sounds creepy. I think of it as logging, like remembrance. The manor will let us know when something is amiss, or someone is in danger, or when an intruder comes in.”
“That’s useful,” Tani said, as Dante’s door opened when he got close. “Very useful when you’re carrying stuff.”
“Yes,” Dante said, taking their plates to a low table in the middle of the living area in his suite.
His suite was his sanctuary. It was built with three major rooms. Two rooms on each side of the living area. Floor to ceiling windows filled the living area with natural light and a great view of the vineyard. Dante had decorated the space with an eclectic antique style. He collected pieces during his travels and brought them back to add to the comfort. His most exciting piece of furniture was the comfortable couch with large deep burgundy cushions facing the windows. It was the perfect spot to watch the vineyard, the olive grove beyond, and the seas in the horizon
Dante could already imagine an evening spent sitting with Tani on the comfortable cushions watching the sunset.
“My bedroom is to the right,” Dante said, pointing to the open door into his sleeping space. “The closed door on the left is a library/office/study/research room. I clutter it with a lot of paperwork on good days.”
“What happens on bad days?” Tani asked, taking in the living area with an air of curiosity.
“I fill this place with chests packed with artifacts and old papers. They spill over into this room, and my bedroom,” Dante said. “Mom calls them my obsession moments.”
Tani placed the bottle of wine on the low table, and the wine glasses next to it. He reached for a cushion from one of the regular couches by the wall and dropped it on the floor near the table. He sat down and smiled up at Dante.
“I can’t wait to discover those days for myself,” Tani said. “Let’s eat, Dante. I’m suddenly starving.”
***
Sui Writes 
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