One eyebrow went up at that reaction. Ronan wasn't sure if it was from fear or amusement. He didn't question what his body did and why. "My boyfriend's the magician," he said wryly, tongue in cheek.

But Ronan never lies.

"It's Latin. 'Onward and upward.' So what, is magic a thing where you come from?"

The forced slouch to his shoulders and casual but tight way Ronan spoke sent a message he didn't intend. The Ronan before hadn't been an act. The act began in the pause it took from 'Onward and upward' to asking about magic. Some, perhaps most, people wouldn't notice it. But even inside his realm of dreams, Ronan was no master of deception.