A light rain was falling on the cottage when the carriage pulled up the long drive and stopped in front of it.
Warden stepped down out of the carriage carefully, followed shortly after by Kuno in her pegasus form. The light rain sprinkled down over their heads and wings, and Warden extended his left wing over Kuno to keep her dry. Kuno smile, nuzzling into his wing and then pressing close to his side, ducking her head to keep under the wing.
Both of them paused then, to stare at the cottage where it had all began. For Warden, it was where he had spent his happiest years with Swarm. It was where he had lived when he lost her, lost his battle with addiction, and lost his battles with Daggertail’s tyranny. It was also where he had found Kuno, where she had helped him out of the pits. It was a place of mixed feelings for him.
For Kuno, it was the cottage where she had fallen in love, where she had discovered the true meaning of the thing she fed upon.
The year since the incident with Sunshine and Daggertail’s cronies had left the building in a state of disrepair. The front windows were broken, with a single jagged shard of glass left in one pane. The front door was crooked from where it had been kicked in. One of the panes of glass were missing.
Warden walked up to the front door, while the draw-horses started unloading the luggage, erecting a flimsy shelter to place the bags under so the rain wouldn’t get to them immediately. Kuno kept close to his side, peering up at the dark cottage.
“No place like home, huh?” Kuno asked with a wry smile.
Warden nodded, pushing open the door and stepping inside.
Damp, mildew, and the scent of mold met their entrance. Water was seeping in from a crack in the roof, and was running down one of the walls, creating a dark stain in the carpet.
“Promising,” Warden stated, and waiting for Kuno to walk ahead a few steps before he shook himself off to get the beading water off his wings.
Warden followed after Kuno, as she twisted and shivered, her entire form flash green and revealing her true form. She cast her gaze back and forth, wrinkling her nose. “Smells... strange.”
“We had another tenant here for a few months. He was strangely obsessed with mushrooms,” Warden explained, grimacing. “Turns out he wasn’t a dab hoof at fixing things, either.”
“I hope our room is okay,” Kuno said, bounding away. A gasp from the changeling and then a low moan of apprehension didn’t lend itself to any kind of hope in Warden’s mind.
Peeking around the corner, Warden saw what Kuno was groaning about. The window in their former room had been shattered, and the rain was coming in uninhibited, splashing directly across the bed. The covers were visibly wet, and the entire thing had the moth-eaten, discoloured look of mildew. It wasn’t fit for a mouse to sleep on, let alone a pony and changeling.
“Lovely,” Warden said with a slow shake of his head and a soft sigh.
Kuno huffed. “I’m not sleeping on that. My chitin will get all discoloured.”
Warden nodded, frowning. “We’ll find somewhere to sleep. I’ll try get somewhere dry set up before nightfall.”
Warden hummed faintly as he banged nails into the walls, boarding up the broken windows, trying to keep the rain out. The bags had been dragged into the laundry, which was one of the only rooms, outside of the bathroom, that was completely dry. The laundry, however, had a cement floor, and that was no good for sleeping on.
Kuno say beside him, watching with interest.
“The last tenant must have been a slob,” Kuno said with a shake of her head, as she held up a board for Warden to nail in.
Warden nodded. “A bit, I guess. He grew mushrooms though. So a bit of moisture wouldn’t have bothered him too much.”
“Still!” Kuno huffed. “Left the house in such a shambles!”
“And I kept his security deposit,” Warden said with a wry smile. “I think I’ll use it to buy candy canes and alcohol.”
“And cotton candy!” Kuno said, bouncing in place slightly.
Warden grinned, nodding. “If only to see the smile on your face.”
Kuno beamed at him, giving him a toothy grin.
“So...” Kuno said after a few moments, “Now that Green Hoof is staying back at the farm and we’ll never see her again, did you ever do anything with her?”
“Do anything with her?” Warden asked blankly.
Kuno nodded.
Warden gave an awkward sound at that. “Erm... yeah. Once.”
The changeling tilted her head. “Tell me about it.”
“Well... we’d been drinking brandy to keep warm, the radiator was broken, and we were snuggling up to eachother for the warmth... and you’d been gone for like, eight months...” Warden trailed off awkwardly, his ears pinned back.
Kuno raised a brow. “Don’t feel the need to defend your actions. I am not exactly ‘chaste’ as it were. And I certainly wasn’t chaste while I was away.”
Warden blinked, feeling an unfair stab of jealousy.
Snorting once, Kuno nudged him. “Oh come on. It’s just sex. It’s just two bits of anatomy rubbing against eachother to create pleasurable friction for a while.”
“I know... but still...” Warden trailed off, still holding a nail against the board, frowning deeply. “I just...”
“You’re jealous. Males are naturally jealous,” Kuno said with a smile.
“Aye, indeed we are,” Warden admitted, smiling wryly.
“So... was she any good?” Kuno asked with a leer.
Warden chuckled. “A gentlestallion never tells.”
“So you’ll tell me every groan and grunt, huh?” Kuno teased.
“She was lousy,” Warden admitted, shuddering faintly. “All hooves and lips, drooling over my face.”
“So I was better than her?” Kuno asked brightly.
“Definitely,” Warden said, leaning sideways to kiss her nose. “You’re the best. Ever.”
“Not just saying that to make me feel awesome?” Kuno asked warily.
Warden shook his head. “There’s something there when I’m with you... something different. It feels like... well... it feels like when I with Swarm...”
An uneasy silence settled over them, and kuno hugged him tightly from behind. “I understand... I felt the same thing, too. I get more than just sustenance when we do that... so much more. It makes me feel... whole. Like there’s a piece of the puzzle that you’re fitting into.”
Warden coughed uneasily. “Graphic.”
Kuno rolled her eyes and swatted his good shoulder with a hoof. “Pervert.”
An easy silence settled between them, before Kuno asked, “Why didn’t you and Swarm ever have any kids?”
Warden paused at that, going quiet. “I... we were young... we tried once or twice. Or well, we tried a lot of times without that goal in mind, to be frank. But it never took. I’d been checked out for my guard duties, part of the complete physical. Swarm had an appointment scheduled for a fertility doctor, but that was.... well that was just before she died...”
Kuno nodded gently, rubbing her cheek against his neck slowly. “So you wanted kids?”
“Aye, kids would be nice,” Warden admitted, banging the last nail into place. “But I’m happy with you. Lord knows you’re enough of a child as it is.”
“You’re no better!” Kuno complained, poking her tongue out at him and giggling.
After dragging their bags into the laundry, Warden pulled the blankets and pillows out of one of the bags, and took them to the bathroom.
Kuno watched with a raised brow, blinking at Warden slowly as he laid a doona out at the base of the tub, and then crawled in atop it. With some wriggling, he managed to make room for the changeling, patting the part of the tub besides him.
“You want us to sleep... in the bathtub?” Kuno asked, staring at him.
Warden nodded. “Only dry place in the house.”
Giving a rather unsure expression, Kuno delicately lowered herself into the tub as well, splaying out besides the pegasus. Warden pulled a blanket over them, tucking the sides in nice and neat.
“Hey, this is kinda cozy!” Kuno said with a giggle, leaning in to nuzzle at Warden’s throat.
Warden nodded with a smile, licking Kuno’s nose happily. “Indeed. And it’s only for a night.”
“And here I thought baths were the most fun you could have in the tub,” Kuno said with a happy smile.
Warden raised a brow slowly. “Obviously I’ve never seduced you in the tub.”
“I am a terrible influence on you,” Kuno said with a smile, kissing his nose and then kissing him on the lips firmly, purring.
Warden smiled and hugged the changeling, kissing her in response and then nodding. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The two of them lapsed into silence then, and Warden stared into Kuno’s eyes, looking thoughtful.
“What’s the matter?” Kuno asked after a few moments.
“Oh... Nothing. Just thinking.” Warden rubbed a hoof against the back of his head, ruffling his mane sheepishly.
“Thinking about what?” Kuno queried.
“Do you really want to know?” Warden asked with a faint sigh.
Kuno nodded earnestly.
“I was just... thinking about the possibility that I’ve been under a changeling spell this entire time, and that I’d wake up next to you with it worn off...” Warden admitted, frowning slightly.
Kuno’s ears splayed back at that. “You’re scared of that?”
“Absolutely terrified,” Warden admitted, hugging the changeling close and rubbing his nose against her neck slowly.
“I don’t have you under a spell...” Kuno said quietly, frowning herself and hugging him tightly, careful of his wing and hoof.
“I know... but the thought is still there,” Warden said with an apologetic smile. “And it’s scary...”
Kuno nodded gently, nuzzling into his neck. “Nopony wants to feel as though they’re not in control.”
Warden drew back, shaking his head at her and frowning deeply. “No, no... it’s not that. I just...” Sighing faintly, he leaned in to kiss the changeling again, squeezing her with his hooves. “I’m just terrified that there’s even the remotest chance that I’d wake up one day and no longer be in love with you.”
Kuno blinked at that, feeling her heart melt, swallowing past the lump rising in her throat and blinking the tears out of her eyes, before she buried her nose against Warden’s throat and held him close.