Merith hummed in pleasure as hands stroked through his long hair. A soft chuckle was heard above him, causing a soft pout to form on his face. Fluttering green eyes open, Merith stared up at the upside-down image of Kozmotis gazing down in fond amusement.

"What?" murmured Merith.

"Nothing at all Merith," Kozmotis said as he bent over to kiss Merith's forehead, causing another pleased hum. "But now I see how you and that panther of yours get along so well."

"I'll take that as a compliment. She is a joy to be around you know." said Merith as he began poking Kozmotis' midsection in mock offense. This pulled out a throaty laugh from Kozmotis as he caught the poking hands and pulled their mischievous owner further into his lap, watching Merith half-heartedly struggle for the sake of being difficult. Now practically on Kozmotis' lap, back to chest, Merith snuggled into the other spirit's chest, ready to resume his dozing.

"Actually, I'd have to take your word for it." At Merith's sidelong glance, Kozmotis elaborated. "I've never met your panther helper or the other two familiars you've mentioned before."

"What? No, you've met them before." Now fully awake and puzzled, Merith tried to think back on when his boyfriend had met Myst and his familiars- but found himself falling short on a time they would've met. As Myst was a creature of the Nether Realm, she needed his permission every time she wanted to cross over, so it wasn't something they often did. And despite being created to be either resting on his arms as tattoos or their corporeal forms, Merith often chose the latter because Soreth and Talath liked the independence. So Kozmotis hadn't even seen them detailed on his arms by the time they started dating.

"Shit, I'm sorry Koz. I thought you had already been introduced, well, no time's better than the present, let's go!" Giving a quick apologetic kiss to the older spirit, Merith rolled off the bed, straightening any wrinkles gathered from the hour-long snuggle session the two were having within Kozmotis' lair. It was still a relatively new part of their relationship, but they both seemed to enjoy it.

"But-wha-cuddle time?"

"We can finish it later; all of my important people need to meet up so they can get along...what? Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Merith, eyeing the look on Kozmotis' face with slight suspicion as the older spirit got off the bed.

"I like knowing that I'm one of the important people in your life." drawled Kozmotis with a small smirk towards his flustered boyfriend.

"Shaddup and take my hand, you big sap." muttered Merith.

Still smirking, Kozmotis and Merith entwined hands and with a hard jerk to the left and then forward through blurry surroundings, Kozmotis found himself in the Nether Realms for the first time ever.

Everything around him seemed dull, the monochromatic shades of white, black, and gray made Kozmotis suddenly long for color. There were shadows all over the lands, but any curious attempts to use them were useless.

Where Merith had brought them seemed to be heavily forested, excluding the path that they were on and, looking in both directions, seemed to go on forever.

"The Nether Realms doesn't really mimic the mortal realm except for vague geographic vegetation. I take souls on the roads like this one because it helps me to get to a nearby Gate quicker as well as seeing potential dangers pretty early." explained Merith as he began leading his boyfriend down the pathway.

"How fascinating love. But is this safe? You've mentioned before that there's many dangerous creatures that prey on souls." inquired Kozmotis.

"It can be a bit dangerous, but I know what I'm doing Kozzie. I have my three familiars, my magically formed shades, as well as my own reserve of magic to protect me. Besides," Merith said as they finally reached a bend in the road. "I've placed warded areas all over these paths as little rest stops." Out of seemingly nowhere, a campsite flickered into sight and a snap of Merith's fingers made the campfire blaze with a merry crackle of light and warmth. Throwing Kozmotis a cheeky smile, Merith sat close to the fire and began humming softly, the feeling of Kozmotis settling behind him and engulfing him in long arms not distracting him.

Kozmotis hooked his chin over Merith's shoulder, gently playing with Merith's fingers, absentmindedly admiring the differences in their hands and how well they fit together.

"Here they come."

Kozmotis looked up to see two small dots that gradually grew closer until the shape of two miniature dragons finally landed in Merith's warded zone.

"Koz, meet Soreth," the green dragon puffed a plume of smoke in their general direction, "and Talath." The reddish-brown) dragon merely huffed and made his way towards the couple to sniff at Kozmotis' robes curiously before making eye contact with the shadow spirit. After a long, tense moment of staring the spirit down, Talath huffed again and curled next to Kozmotis like a large scaly cat and promptly began napping.

Merith laughed at the confused expression on Kozmotis' face. "He tends to do that, but if he's napping next to you, that means he likes you. You should worry more about Soreth if you're looking for approval."

They looked over at Soreth, who indeed was still huffing and puffing smoke, eyes narrowed pointedly at Kozmotis as she prowled back and forth.

"Soreth! Stop your posturing and come over here!"

Soreth grumbled and whined as a small flicker of fire erupted from her snout.

"Watch your tone missy! Now come over here before I drag you over here!"

She grumbled as she inched over to them, smoke trailing from her mouth until she stopped a foot away from them. Tapping Koz to loosen his hold, Merith, stuck quickly and grabbed the struggling dragon until she was wrestled onto his lap, wings pinned down until she gave up in exhaustion and plopped fully over his legs. With years of expertise, Merith's nimble fingers found Soreth's favorite scratching spots and worked the scaly skin until a rumbly purr began emanating from deep within her. Making eye contact with Kozmotis behind him and tilting his head down, Kozmotis cautiously replaced his boyfriend's fingers; he listened to the brief pause in humming and smiled softly as Soreth opened one content eye to stare at him before closing it, head nudging firmly into his hand.

Merith relaxed against Kozmotis' chest with a relaxed sigh. "Now you've met all of my important people and they've met you."

"I'm glad to learn more about your family." said Kozmotis as he curled around Merith for his long-awaited snuggles.

"I'm glad you are part of my family." replied Merith as he wiggled around until he was touching each member of his family. He knew as he closed his eyes to take a nap that Myst would probably come bounding in to join the snuggle-pile when she finally found them, but until then, he was taking a nap.