After Adam and Luna had nearly dropped both their teacups—and their metaphorical jaws—they managed, barely, to recover. The silence lingered only a moment before the conversation resumed.
Thalion leaned back in his chair, eyes steady and thoughtful. Then, with deliberate care, he spoke.
"Adam, don't take this the wrong way, but Paladins… you're not like luminaries or acolytes. You don't exactly have anywhere to stay in Elysia, do you? And no coin to keep an inn indefinitely, since Paladins are usually more charitable than their stations allow."
The words weren't sharp, but matter-of-fact, softened by the faintest curve of his lips. Not mocking. Not pitying. If anything, it was approval—like he saw something in Adam worth respecting.
Adam opened his mouth, closed it again, then tried once more, only to falter. For the third time that day, no words came. His lips pressed together, and his head dipped, the faintest blush coloring his face. He knew what they were implying.
And then came what everyone had been expecting.
"You should stay here, with us! You saved Luna. You're practically family already!" Elenor declared, clapping her hands together with unrestrained glee. Her whole face lit up, her smile so wide it threatened to split her cheeks. To her, the matter was already settled. Adam was hers now—another child to fuss over, feed, and spoil rotten.
And she was right.
Because what other choice did he have?
Adam swallowed what pride he had left and forced his voice to work.
"I-I would like that very much… th-thank you…"
The words slipped out barely louder than a whisper, shaky and small. He sat with his hands folded neatly in his lap, shoulders drawn inward, eyes fixed stubbornly on his fingernails. His cheeks burned a furious red, his posture almost childlike.
Luna turned red herself, not from shyness but from second-hand embarrassment, stifling a laugh that threatened to bubble out anyway.
Elenor practically bounced in her seat, her hands flying up to cover her mouth before she blurted out, voice high with sheer delight:
"Oh, my sweet boy! Look at you—so polite, so shy! You're mine now, Adam. No arguments, no buts! I'm going to take such good care of you, just you wait!"
She leaned forward with an excited squeal, very nearly throwing her arms around him then and there, stopping only because he looked like he might faint under too much sudden affection.
Thalion's deep chuckle rumbled through the room.
"Welcome to the family, son. You'll fit right in. You've already saved Luna like she was your kin—think of this as a reward for that."
He said it so warmly, so simply, that it made the absurdity of gaining a nineteen-year-old son overnight feel utterly ordinary.
"Don't be shy, Adam. You saved my daughter—by elven custom, that makes you mine as surely as if you were born to me!", Elenor declared, clapping her hands together with radiant glee, as though she'd just revealed the simplest, happiest truth in the world.
Luna smirked, crossing her arms with casual defiance.
"Don't expect me to call you 'big brother' or anything, Adam," she teased, her tone sharp but not carrying the weight of protest.
Adam blinked. Once. Twice. A third time. His eyes stung as tears welled, unbidden, until his vision blurred.
He'd been accepted that easily?
Why?
The question swelled in his chest, but he didn't voice it. He didn't need to.
Instead—he smiled.
And it was not a timid smile. Not a forced courtesy. This one broke through him raw, trembling, unstoppable. His lips wavered at the corners, unsteady, but lifted anyway. His eyes, bright with unshed tears, softened as they met theirs. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't practiced. It was fragile, messy, utterly sincere.
It was the smile of someone who had been adrift for far too long and had, at last, found safe harbor.
For a moment, the room stilled.
Elenor squealed into her hands, kicking her feet like an overjoyed child. "Too precious! Far too adorable for your own good! Adam, you've no chance of escaping me now—I'm your mother, and that's final!"
Thalion's grin gentled into quiet pride, his gaze steady and approving.
Luna flushed scarlet, whipping her head away even as her ears twitched, betraying her.
Adam wiped his tears with the heel of his hand, still smiling through the tremor in his lips, and looked at them—his family now.
"I won't let you down," he said, voice thick but steady.
No one minded the tears. If anything, they made that smile shine all the brighter.
And thus, a family gained a new son.