Could Gabriel please stop making him feel warm and fuzzy for one moment? Actually, please don't. Dal enjoyed hearing those things; he's wanted to hear them for so long. To be important to someone... To be seen and accepted and even wanted after that!

Dal smiled with such fondness and leaned closer to offer Gabriel another bite of curry. Those dark eyes watched him closely, studying, as if he was trying to peer into his mind to discover everything that makes him who he is: what he loves, what bothers him, his favorite music and movies and colors, the places he's been, even the horrors he's seen.

He takes another small bite and almost immediately pockets it in his cheek.

"Gabriel," he asked slowly. "You ever been in love before?"