Lion Head Mesa [m]dawn

Sayf waited with bated breath. He didn't know what the mazoi would say. He was just a fellahin, after all, answering to anyone above him, and Sakai could have practically anyone he wanted. So he worried he would see the fellahin for what he was—broken and duty-bound. 

but then—You are my favorite. 

He almost doubted he had heard the words properly. Maybe he his heart wanted that answer so much that he just thought that was what the giant said. But he hadn't heard incorrectly; The mazoi had called him his favorite. Sayf's eyes lit up just before he pressed his face into the wolf's large chest. I'm glad, he murmured. The dark parts of his mind whispered that he shouldn't get used to it—that the handsome mazoi would get tired of him eventually. But the fellahin was able to push that away while completely surrounded by the giant's warmth. 

Sakai's next words pulled a yawn from Sayf, and he nodded in response to the suggestion that he get some sleep. He had been awake for a very long time. He snuggled into the mazoi's side and rested his head on his paws. I hope so, the fellahin said through another yawn. The idea that he would wake next to the stunning wolf filled him with so much warmth that he knew he would sleep soundly for the first time in a long time. It wouldn't take long for his eyes to drift close and his breathing to become shallow and rhythmic.