[FweepFwopFwoop]

Delas leapt upon Marius' back, whooping and hollering. Astien was just so relieved he was practically frozen in place, letting it all sink in. "Yes, yes, I understand you're all relieved, now please leave. We have a lot of paperwork to do now."

As everyone walked out, Seroteth pulled Delas to the side. "It takes course to call out the board like you did. And the research, you clearly spent much time poring over books to get all that information."

Delas nodded and pulled out his other books. "I got much more. I didn't think I'd new so little of it." Seroteth took the books and began flipping through them, going each a cursory glance.

"And the information is accurate, too! I must admit, I'm rather impressed with you. You displayed courage and intelligence, and you also must have patience and dedication to get all of this information, with much loyalty to Astien. Here, take this." Seroteth reached into his robes and pulled out a golden medallion bearig the drake insignia. Delas was about to protest, but Seroteth waved it away, shoving the medallion into his hand. "Take it, I have spares. Come by Dragonperch sometime; I'm certain I can find a fitting job for you." He smiled at the aghast young raceless, and turned and walked away with the books. "Siran, lets get some lunch."

[Eskal]

Cormac beamed. "Let's go home and have hot chocolate."
Marius lifted Astien into his arms and placed a long kiss on his lips.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Once everyone went outside, they were faced with a crowd, all deadly silent, an waiting for a word on Astien's fate. Delas raised his hands in the air ad cried, "He's okay!" And the crowd cheered and cheered. Astien's jaw dropped at the number of people gathered for him.

[Eskal]

Cormac and Marius could only smile at the crowd.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Everyone was smiling and clapping, and Delas carved a path through the crowd for the four to walk through.

[Eskal]

Marius carried Astien all the way home and only put him down on the couch in the living room. Cormac immediately went to the kitchen to make hot chocolate and gather some sweets.
"You really did some amazing work back there, Delas," Marius praised.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Delas was sitting on the couch, staring at his new medallion. "Seroteth said he'd give me a job. I could work for the drakes. Did I really do that good?"

[Eskal]

"You saved Astien, Delas. You were amazing."
Cormac came in with mugs of decked out hot chocolate and a stack of cookies and small cakes.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"That really was impressive, Delas. I should hire you to be my assistant. You can replace Cormac!" Astien teased.

[Eskal]

"At least Delas won't set your carriage on fire," Marius chuckled briefly until Cormac's glare sent a shiver down his spine. "We all helped in our own way." He added. "If it weren't for Cormac, we wouldn't have gotten that rally together last night. I know I certainly didn't think about researching the academy's history. In all honesty, I was pretty much at a loss of what to do."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Cormac, don't glare at Marius like that; you did set my carriage on fire. Along with muh of my work." Astien chided. He smiled and changed the subject. "You all did so much for me. An for Aiden, too. Thank you all so much. I don't know what I'd do without you three."

[Eskal]

"Let's not think about it and just celebrate," Marius said as he handed a mug of hot cocoa to Astien.
Cormac nodded and sipped his drink.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien sipped his cocoa, and rested his head against Marius' shoulder. He leaned his head up and whispered in his ear. "You and I should be celebrating alone…"

[Eskal]

Marius blushed. "There's plenty of time for that later," he whispered back.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien blew gently into Marius' ear.

[Eskal]

Marius chuckled and quickly finished his drink. "I think I'm going to take a nap. All this stress has taken a lot out of me."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien finished his drink, and hefted himself off the couch. "I could use a rest too. Marius, could you carry me to bed?"

[Eskal]

Marius took Astien into his arms and went up to their room. He lay him down on the bed and kissed his neck.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien lolled his head back, one of his hands caressing his lover's face, the other working down the front of his pants and cupping his balls.

[Eskal]

Marius moaned. He nuzzled Astien's neck before kissing his lips.