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stepped away in the next minute, and Amantea shut his eyes.
    Everything would make better sense in the morning, Amantea was sure of it.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Isaia was sleeping in his small form. Settled on the edge of his silk nest, Amantea stared at him, wondering why Isaia was sleeping both not in dragon form, which would surely be more comfortable, and also a bare few feet from where Amantea's nest was set up.
    He looked softer in sleep, less intimidating, and Amantea still wanted to touch his scales, to see how they felt. Were they warm? Soft? Rough?
    He liked breathing, though, so Amantea kept his hands to himself. He'd woken up only a few minutes previously, and he was seriously considering returning to sleep. He didn't want to, though. He'd rather stay awake and stare at Isaia than deal with more dreams of being smothered by water.
    Biting his lip, Amantea wobbled his way to his feet, his movements undermined by the shifting of the silk nest under his feet. He launched himself into the air, heading for the kitchen part of Isaia's threadbare house. Once there, he shifted to his large size, grabbing at the wrap around his waist when it tried to slide free of his hips. How did Isaia deal with these things? But then, he was always losing them.
    Amantea glanced at where Isaia was still sleeping. He didn't have a nest or anything to cushion his head. His wrap had rucked up slightly, showing off his thick, muscular thighs, and Amantea looked away before he started staring again. Food. He was hungry. The cabinets turned up nothing, which shouldn't have been surprising given Amantea had looked through them the other day and found nothing. Sighing, he turned toward the root cellar; surely he could find something there.
    "There's some jerky in the third cupboard," Isaia said, his voice rough with sleep. It sent a shiver down Amantea's spine.
    "Faeries don't eat meat," Amantea said. He shot Isaia a glare, ostensibly for his suggestion, but more because it wasn't fair he could have that effect on Amantea when he was two-thirds asleep and had only said a few words.
    "Oh." Isaia's brow furrowed, making his nose do the cute wrinkling thing, and Amantea huffed. "Um. What do you eat, then?"
    Amantea didn't answer that, stomping over to the root cellar. What did he eat? Honestly, Isaia was insufferable. Why was Amantea trying to like him? He yanked the cellar hatch open and slipped inside, grabbing at the wrap when the knot tried to come undone again. He was going to find food, and Isaia could cook it for him, and then he was finding his clothes again. These scarves were ridiculous.
    When he emerged from the root cellar a few minutes later, Isaia was up and standing in the kitchen. He'd managed to start a fire, and Amantea marched across the room and shoved a few potatoes at him. "Cook those."
    "Yes, sir," Isaia said, his eyebrows raising. Amantea huffed again, turning away, and went to storm across the room to where his clothing was. He didn't get more than half a step before Isaia snagged his arm and pulled him around. "Fl-" Isaia started, and Amantea glowered. "Amantea. What is the matter with you this morning?"
    Amantea jerked at his arm, but as usual, he was no match for Isaia's strength. "Nothing. Let me go."
    "Nothing?" Isaia repeated, and Amantea tried to pull his arm free again as his traitorous mind wondered if all of Isaia was as warm as his hand was. "Which is why you're storming around the house like someone stepped on your wings?"
    "No one stepped on my wings," Amantea snapped. He twisted slightly, but that only caused the stupid knot in the stupid scarf to slip. Amantea grabbed at it with his free hand, barely managing to catch it before it fell free completely. Tugging it back into place awkwardly, he added, "These are useless."
    Isaia laughed, his eyes traveling up from Amantea's hips to meet his eyes. He finally let go of Amantea's arm, and Amantea's traitorous heart started beating too fast. "I can show you a better