Arik choked.

It was a sharp, contained sound caught halfway between his throat and the piece of fish he had been unfortunate enough to be swallowing at the exact moment Liam decided to detonate the conversation without warning.

His hand moved to his mouth. His shoulders tightened. His golden eyes watered once, just enough that Liam stared at him in immediate disbelief.

The Crown Prince of Agaron, heir to Damian Lyon, chosen by old Ether, recognized by an ancient gate, and feared by half of Wrohan’s political class, looked at Liam as if Liam had grown a second head over dinner.

Liam blinked.

Then, despite himself, he said, "That was not the reaction I expected."

Arik reached for his water with the composure of a man trying to recover his dignity before it died publicly, despite the fact that there was no one in the suite except them and possibly Kamal judging from three rooms away.

He drank.

Set the glass down.

Looked at Liam again.

"Children," he repeated.

"Yes."

"Children."

"You do know what they are."

Arik’s expression did not change, but his eyes were still faintly wet at the corners, which made him look less like an imperial threat and more like an extremely handsome man who had been betrayed by dinner.

"I had intended," Arik said carefully, "to begin with something smaller."

Liam looked at him. "Such as?"

"What you like."

Liam paused.

Arik gestured faintly toward the table, the suite, the city beyond the glass. "What you dislike. What makes the suite feel like a place you can rest instead of a gilded holding chamber. Whether you prefer coffee in the morning or whether Kamal’s suspicious hot chocolate campaign is more extensive than I first assumed."

"It is very extensive."

"I noticed." Arik’s mouth twitched, though he was still watching Liam with visible caution now, as if the word "children" might attack again from another direction. "I also intended to tell you that my parents want to meet you."

Liam’s fingers tightened around the cup.

Arik noticed at once.

"Not as a formal audience," he said. "Just to know you as my mate."

Liam stared at him.

The city lights shifted beyond the smart glass, blue transit lines moving in clean arcs between towers while the suite remained suspended above Alexandria’s restless glow. The table between them had become strange now: cooling food, half-finished soup, Liam’s hot chocolate, Arik’s abandoned water glass, and a conversation that had taken a turn sharp enough to bruise.

"Your parents," Liam said.

"Yes."

"Want to meet me casually."

Arik’s expression became faintly pained. "They will attempt casual."

"That is not reassuring."

"No."

Liam stared.

"My parents want to know the person I chose," Arik said. His voice had softened, and that did something unpleasantly warm to Liam’s chest. "Not the title. Not the engineer who built the Vanguard. Not Felix’s problem, or George’s bargaining chip, or Wrohan’s unexpected diplomatic catastrophe. You."

Liam looked down into his cup.

The hot chocolate had gone slightly cooler, thicker at the surface, fragrant with cocoa and cinnamon. It felt absurdly comforting to hold it while discussing emperors, parents, and children.

"That is not smaller," he said.

"No," Arik admitted. "But it is smaller than children."

Liam’s mouth moved despite himself.

Arik saw it and relaxed by one degree.

Liam leaned back slightly in his chair. "I thought you would want to talk about the future."

"I did."

"That is the future."

"It is one possible part of the future." Arik picked up his napkin and set it beside his plate with unnecessary care, likely because his hands needed something to do. "But it is not something we should talk about right now."

Liam studied him.

There was no mockery in Arik’s face. No impatience either. The earlier shock had not vanished completely, his eyes still held the faint incredulity of a man who had expected a discussion about breakfast preferences and somehow found himself facing dynastic continuity over grilled fish, but beneath it was care.

Real care.

The sort that made Liam’s throat tighten because he did not know where to put it.

"I’m not asking because I want them now," Liam said quietly.

"I know."

"I’m asking because other people will."

Arik’s expression quickly cooled into that of a prince, predator, and man who could sit in a modern suite above an ether-powered city and make the air feel older than architecture.

"If they do," Arik said, "they will regret it."

Liam sighed. "You cannot threaten everyone who mentions heirs."

"I can threaten the first few. The rest will learn by observation."

"That is not diplomacy."

"It is efficient education."

Liam gave him a look.

Arik looked back, entirely serious.

Then Liam laughed.

It slipped out before he could stop it, not loud enough to echo but enough to change the room. Arik’s face softened at once, as if the sound had done more to calm him than any explanation could have.

"That was awful," Liam said.

"It was accurate."

Liam set the cup down and ran his thumb over the rim. "We are both dominants."

"Yes."

"There will be expectations."

"And?"

"We are not... politically inconvenient in that regard."

Arik’s mouth tightened faintly. "Liam."

The tone stopped him.

Liam looked up.

"I do not want children yet," Arik said.

The sentence was plain. Direct. Almost abrupt in its honesty.

Liam went still.

Arik held his gaze. "And even if I did, I would wait until you wanted them. Not until you agreed because it was useful. Not until court pressure became inconvenient. Not until some minister or relative or Agaronian noble decided our bodies belonged on a succession chart."

The warded glass hummed faintly behind them.

Outside, a blue transit line slid along the avenue below, clean and silent.

Inside, Liam felt the bond warm, steady and sure.

"There is no urgency," Arik continued. "I have four siblings. Three are still under eighteen. Two of them are barely eight. Agaron is not starving for heirs, and my parents are not waiting outside the door with a cradle and a constitution."

Liam stared at him.

Then, unfortunately, he imagined Gabriel Lyon with a cradle and a constitution.

He covered his mouth.

Arik’s eyes narrowed faintly. "What?"

"Nothing."

"That was not nothing."

"It was your mother."

Arik paused.

Then said, very seriously, "My mother would bring paperwork before the cradle."

Liam lost the battle and laughed again.

This time Arik smiled properly, and that smile did things to Liam’s mind and body.

Liam looked away, but the warmth remained.

"So," Arik said after a moment, gentler now. "No children tonight."

Liam glanced at him. "That phrasing is terrible."

"Yes." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Never say it again."

"I will try."

"That means nothing from you."

"It means I will remember you objected."

Liam shook his head, but the sharpness had left his shoulders.

The conversation had not solved anything. Not really. Agaron still waited somewhere beyond the treaty. Gabriel and Damian still wanted to meet him. Ravenwood and Armstrong were still planning a reception like a social execution. Felix was still alive. George was still a problem. The Vanguard still had an ancient gate beneath it that apparently adored Arik on sight.

But the future had not swallowed the room.

It had sat down at the table and become something they could look at without immediately bleeding.

Arik reached across the small distance between them and placed his hand palm-up beside Liam’s cup.

Liam looked at it.

Then placed his hand in Arik’s.

Arik’s fingers closed around his with quiet warmth.

"There," Arik said.

Liam narrowed his eyes. "There?"

"One thing."

"That was not one thing. That was children, your parents, hot chocolate, succession, and your mother’s theoretical paperwork."

"It began as one thing."

"It multiplied."

"Most important conversations do."

Liam looked at their joined hands, at the mark visible near Arik’s inner wrist, dark beside the thin old scar.

His mark.

His place.

The thought came without panic this time.

That was new.

"I can meet your parents," Liam said.

Arik’s fingers stilled.

Liam kept his gaze on their hands. "Casually. If they understand that word."

"They will try."