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She shook her head. "It's okay."

It was not.

"It really is. I shouldn't have assumed. Different cultures and... demon things." She laughed again, but it wobbled badly. "Forget it."

Another tear escaped despite her obvious effort to stop it. Something inside me broke. Like an ancient chain finally giving way. I reached for her, because every fiber of my being rebelled against the sight of tears in her eyes.

Especially tears I had caused. My hands settled carefully on her shoulders. She looked up. Confusion shimmered through unshed tears. Then, very slowly, I drew her toward me. Her body went completely still.

"So..." My voice sounded unfamiliar. Rougher. "I was wrong."

She blinked. "What?"

I closed my eyes. Drew a slow breath. Accepted the truth I had spent the last hour trying to explain away. "It wasn't unpleasant." A tiny crease appeared between her brows. With a sigh I explained. "I wasn't prepared."

I felt her inhale against my chest. "It felt..." There should have been a word. There wasn't. "...good."

The admission left me strangely exposed. As though I'd lowered a shield in the middle of a raging battle. For one long heartbeat, Poppy didn't move. Finally I felt her smile. Not saw. Felt.

It spread against my shirt before I ever opened my eyes.

"...Good?" she whispered.

I nodded once. I might as well admit this too. "Too good."

Her breath caught. Then, with infinite care, as though afraid I might change my mind, she rested her cheek against my chest once more. This time... I didn't freeze. I let my arms settle around her. Tentatively at first. Then more firmly. She fit.

The absurd thought arrived uninvited. As though she'd always belonged there. I frowned. That made no sense. Nothing about this made sense. My pulse had accelerated. My body had reacted with familiar desire the moment she'd bent over moments earlier. That part I understood. Desire had always been simple. Temporary.

This... this I was afraid was something else entirely. She sighed softly. The sound vibrated against my chest. A strange warmth spread through me, quieting something I hadn't even realized had been restless. Peace.

Low against my spine, my tail uncoiled from where I habitually kept it tucked away and brushed, feather-light, against the back of her leg before I wrestled it still. She didn't seem to notice. I was grateful. I was not yet prepared to explain that too.

I had crossed burning plains where the infernal sky rained ash for decades without pause. I had stood before kings. Faced monsters older than memory. Never... not once... had I experienced this.

Poppy's arms tightened around my waist. "Oh," she murmured. "This is much better."

Despite myself one corner of my mouth lifted. "It is."

She laughed quietly. "I knew you'd like hugs."

"I did not say that."

"You kinda did."

"I admitted this one was..." I searched for the word. "...acceptable."

She tipped her head back, looking up at me with eyes still bright from tears. "Acceptable?"

"Perhaps..." I hesitated. The truth seemed increasingly unavoidable. "...considerably better than acceptable."

Her smile stole what remained of my composure. She reached up and rested her palm lightly against my cheek. "So what now?"

I looked into her eyes. For the first time in centuries... I had no strategy. No battle plan. No certainty. Only one undeniable truth remained.

The thought settled with startling clarity. Whatever this strange, impossible thing growing inside my chest was... I never wanted to be the reason tears filled her eyes again. Ever.

So I bent my head and, for the first time in my very long existence, simply held someone because I needed to. Not because duty demanded it. Not because she needed saving. Because somewhere between infernal fire and Screaming Woods... between beetles, impossible quests, and a nurse who smiled too much... Poppy Hale had quietly become the safest place I had ever known.