"Okay." Delas nodded.
Seroteth came up from behind and addressed Cormac, Delas, and Wyn. "Alright you three, we're leaving for Dragonperch. And I believe these two have a lovely getaway to get to."
"Don't load them up on sugar now," Marius chuckled. "Cormac, enjoy your time off."
Cormac nodded. "You too. I'll see you when you get back."
"No, let me hold him for a little longer..." Astien said, refusing to let go of Delas.
Delas squirmed away from Astien's hold. "Bye, guys. I'm gonna miss you." Delas hugged Marius before turning and following Seroteth. "Thank you! Thank you for everything!" He called over his shoulder with a wave.
Astien stood there, waving back as tears streamed from his eyes. "Be good! Do your best and keep a positive mindset!" he called.
Cormac and Wyn both gave Astien and Marius quick hugs before joining Seroteth and Delas. Marius picked up his and Astien's bag. "Whelp, we should get on board before they leave without us."
Astien followed Marius up the gangplank, and handed their tickets to the inspector. He handed their tickets back to them, and showed them to their cabin. "The trip shouldn't be too long. About two days, and then we should be there. Enjoy yourselves." And then he was gone from the cabin.
Marius set their bags down and flopped onto the bed. "I would woo you right now, but I'm full of food and ale. I just want to nap."
Astien yawned and began stripping out of his clothes. Once he was completely naked, he eased himself onto the mattress. He smiled as he rubbed his belly, shifting as its occupant tossed and turned. "I think Aiden's on a bit of a sugar high from all that cake and ice cream." He chuckled. "I swear, I eat an entire layer's worth of cake."
Marius snuggled up against Astien. "It was a really good cake."
"Mmmmmmmmmm, it really, really was. Astien purred as he ran his fingers through his lover's chest hair. He giggled. "Husbands. We're married. It's kind of weird to say, but it feels sooo right."
Marius nodded and sat up. "It does." He kissed Astien's lips. "Now that we're husbands, you should know the significance of these beads in my hair. The beads are a blessing from my family and a sort of good luck charm for a successful marriage. Following the wedding, on the first night the spouse is to remove each and every bead and put them in a box or bag for safe keeping. So that we can pass them onto our children when they marry. Each year on our anniversary and the birthdays of our children, we add more beads to the box."
"That sounds so sweet. I wish you'd told me sooner, though. I don't think I have anything I could put these in."
"Maybe there's something in here we can use."
"Aaaah...." Astien looked over to their bags and saw a sock hanging out. "Well, I wouldn't say it's respectful to your family's tradition, but...."
Marius chuckled and picked up the sock. "We can get a nice box in Bora-Bora."
"Sounds like a plan. It'll be a souvenir we'll actually use. Okay, sit me up, and I'll start getting them out."
Marius helped Astien sit up.
Astien began slowly working the beads out of Marius' hair. "Your hair is really soft today. Did your mom and sister wash it? They did a good job."
"They had conditioner in it for a good twenty minutes while they were brushing it out." Marius chuckled. "My hair is hard to manage since I've traveled so much. Can't really deep condition when you don't have constant access to a bath."
"That's true. These are some lovely beads." One by one, the beads were pulled out of Marius' hair, until they were all in the sock. The pregnant man handed the sock back to Marius. "Well, here are the beads." He settled back down into the mattress and stretched out, letting his limbs splay all across the mattress.
Marius chuckled and tied off the sock so that they wouldn't lose any of the beads. He put it back with their belongings and laid down beside Astien and gently rubbed his belly. "I love you so much."