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The truth of the matter was Isshi had long since stopped counting the passing years. When you were older than the rivers, the flow of time just felt different. As such, Isshi couldn"t say how many years it had been since realizing San was his mate. So much had changed in their lives, both personally and professionally, and yet the love between them endured, growing deeper and warmer. The soft glowing center of Isshi"s personal life.
The shouji slid open behind him and Isshi turned and smiled. Speaking of the center of his universe….
“You"re up early,” he murmured, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of black behind San"s ear.
San mumbled something indistinct and clutched his blanket more tightly around himself, carefully standing close to the house to keep himself shaded. The weak winter sun couldn"t hurt the vampire now, Isshi had made certain of that, but some instincts were harder to resist than others. And, too, it was kind of adorable, the way San stood there wrapped in a blanket not unlike a small child, pouting and sleepy. Almost too cute for words.
“Hungry,” the vampire mumbled, hunching even more into his heavy blanket.
“You know where everything is, kitten,” Isshi said, biting back the urge to laugh when his mate just pouted at him even more. “What?”
“Don"t want to eat alone,” San mumbled, averting his gaze.
Isshi glanced out across his sleeping garden with its soft covering of snow. Warm as the sunlight was, it was still full winter. Too cold for his vampire mate to be standing outside in it for long, especially if he really was hungry. And that was fine; Isshi could appreciate the beauty of winter from inside his house just as easily.
“Is this where I offer to cook something or…?”
“Pretty sure someone already started,” San said with another wan smile. “Don"t know what, though.”
“Then I suppose we"ll just have to find out,” Isshi decided, smiling and brushing a quick kiss to San"s cheek.
Isshi knew he would never forgive the vampire who had first turned his precious San-kitten all those years ago. He also knew he would treasure every moment they had together, from now until the far distant end. Starting with breakfast together.