WULFRIC was not sure if he had heard correctly or if his ears were playing tricks on him. Surely his brain was not so fried that the fantasy he had imagined countless times was actually happening right in front of him. So he just stared at Aster like an idiot, unable to form a single word.
Aster tilted his head to the side. "And here I thought you would be happy." He pinched Wulfric’s cheek and smiled, clearly amused. "Do you not want us to be official?"
Hearing that, Wulfric’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed hold of Aster’s hands. What Aster had just said could only mean one thing, right? Right?
"You really said you wanted us to be an official couple, right? I am not just imagining things? I really heard you correctly?"
Astrid stared at the mix of happiness, panic, and disbelief on Wulfric’s face. It made him look almost unhinged. He cupped Wulfric’s face in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of his nose.
"Yes, you heard me right. I want us to be officially together. So you are definitely not imagining things."
He watched as the tension in Wulfric’s shoulders melted away the moment those words left his mouth. The chaotic mix of emotions on his face finally settled into pure happiness. It poured off him in waves. Then Wulfric pulled him into a sudden hug, his arms wrapping around Astrid so tight it felt like being held by a coiled snake. But it was a good kind of tight. The kind that made Astrid feel like his whole body was being wrapped in love.
"You’re mine now," Wulfric said, his voice muffled against Astrid’s shoulder. "You can’t take it back."
Astrid let out a soft laugh and hugged him back. "I would rather think of it as us belonging to each other."
"Of course we do," Wulfric said, his voice thick with emotion. "You’re mine and I’m yours. Forever."
"Forever is a long time," Astrid said in a light and teasing tone. "Are you sure you won’t tire of me?"
"Never. I’m pretty sure I’ll be in love with you forever, so no, there’s no chance I’d ever tire of you," Wulfric said. "In fact, even if you asked me to let you go, I wouldn’t allow it. I’d fight it until my last breath. I’d probably turn into a toxic piece of shit if that happened, but I don’t care." He pulled back slightly and pressed his forehead against Astrid’s. "You’re mine and I’m yours. That’ll be the truth until the very end."
Astrid smiled inwardly. Wulfric’s words should have been alarming. Anyone else would have backed away slowly from a declaration that intense. But all Astrid felt was warmth spreading through his chest. He enjoyed knowing that Wulfric would fight for him, that he would not let go so easily. There was something comforting about that kind of certainty.
"Is it bad that I’m not scared when you say things like that?" he asked. "In fact, I find it quite romantic."
Wulfric’s expression suddenly turned serious. "No, you should be scared. You’re supposed to be the voice of reason between us. You’re supposed to tell me how crazy I am."
Astrid chuckled at the contradiction. Wulfric was being a possessive caveman one moment and the next he was worried about being too much. It was endearing, really. This man who commanded armies and struck fear into the hearts of his enemies was sitting here asking to be kept in check. And in that request, Astrid saw something Wulfric himself probably did not notice.
The fact that he wanted someone to stop him, to tell him when he went too far, meant that despite all his talk about never letting go, he would likely still step back if Astrid truly asked him to. He would hate it, he would fight against it, but he would do it if he believed it was what Astrid really wanted.
That knowledge settled deep in Astrid’s heart, easing a tension he hadn’t even realized was there. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the corner of Wulfric’s mouth.
"I don’t know," he said. "I feel like your brand of crazy is rubbing off on me."
Wulfric leaned back just enough to meet Aster’s eyes. "You can’t," he said. "One crazy is enough for this relationship. We need at least one of us to have some sense left."
And he truly believed that. If Aster would not be the one to rein him in, he was afraid he would just keep doing crazier and crazier shit until Aster decided it was not worth it anymore. So he needed Aster to hold his leash.
Aster laughed softly, the sound warm in the quiet space between them. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he looked at Wulfric’s serious face. "Fine, I’ll be the sensible one. But don’t complain when I tell you no."
"Always tell me no if I do something you don’t like," Wulfric said firmly.
Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t you just say you wouldn’t let me go, no matter what? And now you’re telling me to say no if I don’t like something?"
"This and that are different," Wulfric said, his voice calm but his eyes intense. He held Astrid’s gaze like he was trying to make sure every word registered in him. "Respecting your boundaries is like putting in the work so you won’t want to leave me in the first place. And if you don’t want to leave, then I won’t have to go crazy and lock you up in my bedroom."
The gap between those two things was enormous, and Astrid could not help but find it a little funny. On one end, Wulfric talked about respecting boundaries and listening when Astrid said no. On the other end, he mentioned locking Astrid up in his bedroom like it was a perfectly normal option. The fact that both ideas came from the same mouth, in the same conversation, showed that no matter how hard Wulfric tried to be reasonable, the crazy never really went away.
It’s just so... Wulfric.
Astrid just cupped Wulfric’s face in both hands and kissed him, a laugh escaping against his lips. "Oh, you’re adorable."
