"I wonder if we should move this conversation somewhere more comfortable," he murmurs next time they pause to breathe.

"That sounds like an excellent idea."

"Thoughts on inviting Siva along?"

"...Enh. If you want. I'm not going to get anything out of it, but." Shrug.

"Well, she seems to be enjoying the show so far." He turns to Siva. "I'm going to carry this lovely man off and ravish him; want to come along and watch?"

"I'm in favor!"

So he sweeps up both of them and carries them on the wind to a nearby guest room. It's very pretty. He pulls Necori into bed and kisses him some more.

Siva finds a nice convenient chair to watch from.

Necori has absolutely zero attention to spare for this fact.

Serik is delighted to command Necori's attention!

He doesn't seem to have any trouble at all leaving pain out of it. He's maybe a little rough, but only to the extent that Necori seems to like it. His goal here is for Necori to have a very good time.

Necori is fine with a little rough, and has a very excellent time indeed.

"Well, that was fun," he declares. "You're a treat, Necori."

"Thanks, I think."

"I like you. You're fun. You're interesting."

Loooong, leonine stretch. "I try."

Serik laughs.

"Well, I'm going to go work on duplicating the fountains in the old capital," he says cheerfully. "I'll see you both later."

And he's away on the wind.

"Did you know he was doing that?"

"Not specifically, but it doesn't surprise me. He's...really nice to the people he isn't horrible to."

"Heh. And isn't that just the kicker."

"It's a reasonable deal-breaker."

"Given the givens, I'd rather be one of the people he likes. Trying to do that while resenting him seems...unproductive."

"That's a reasonable way of looking at things."

"I do try."

"Yeah.

...I know it doesn't mean much, considering that he still has to go out and get one, but...I'm glad you're not a swan."

"I know I am."