Damian left a few minutes later, the heavy fall of his boots fading into the corridor until the sound was swallowed by the palace's layered silence.
Gabriel shifted Arik higher against his chest, the boy curling instinctively toward the warmth, small fingers still hooked around a fold of Damian's shirt that Gabriel hadn't bothered to change out of.
Edward lingered near the door, arms crossed, eyes fixed on him with the kind of scrutiny that made Gabriel's mouth twitch.
"You worry too much," Gabriel said lightly, a laugh in his voice as he bounced Arik once, earning a sleepy murmur in return. "We're fine. I'm fine. You'll give yourself wrinkles before your time if you keep glaring like that."
Edward didn't blink. "You're planning something."
Gabriel's smirk deepened, but he didn't bother denying it. Silence, after all, was a far more effective confession.
