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When Thog had bedrooms added to the bar so everyone wouldn’t have to sleep on the tables, he probably didn’t expect the sleeping arrangement it began.
Thog, of course, took the first room to be built, claiming that he was sick and tired of getting woken up in the middle of the night. Markus and Gregor shared the second until the third one was built. Ashe kept insisting that she didn’t need a room, even after the fourth one was finished, and continued to leave the bar and wander off into the forest at the end of the night. Kyr slept in the extra room when he wasn’t back at his lab.
That’s how it was. For a while, at least.
Markus and Ashe had slowly grown more affectionate towards each other after their midnight confession. The tiefling even stopped flirting with Kyl’il. Soon, Ashe began to join Markus in his room.
It started out innocent enough. Markus got himself knockout drunk and Ashe carried him up to his bed. The tiefling, in his drunken stupor, grabbed Ashe’s arm and refused to let go. She had little other choice than to sleep beside him for the night. Then, it started to become a more regular thing.
Thog either pretended not to notice or just didn’t care, and so said nothing when they came down for breakfast together. Kier often made comments to Markus, though the tiefling wisely kept his mouth shut on the matter. Gregor, innocent as he was, never suspected anything. And he was right. The pair’s nights together were entirely chaste.
Markus and Ashe lay beside each other in the bed. Sunlight was filtering through the curtains on the window and birds could be heard singing outside. Everyone else had already filtered out of the bar for the day, all having various errands to attend to.
Ashe lay beneath the blankets, not yet ready to face the morning. Markus was just waking up. He smiled when he saw the white-haired girl lying beside him.
“Did you know your hair glows like an angel in the morning?” he greeted her, brushing a hand over her shoulder.
Ashe rolled over to face the tiefling with a smirk. “You tell me that every morning."
“Only because it’s true. You were very beautiful in my dream last night.” Markus’ smile wavered. Ashe looked tired. Very tired. He could see it in her eyes. “Did you sleep at all?”
“A bit,” Ashe started to lie, then sighed when she saw the look Markus gave her. “No.”
“Ashe, I keep telling you to take it easy. You can’t push yourself so hard when we fight and then not rest after.” Ashe propped herself up on her elbow and started to turn away, frowning. “If this is about that golem hand you summoned, I won’t ask any questions about it. You can tell me whenever you’re ready, but you know I worry when you get like this.”
“I’m sorry, Markus, it’s just… I need some time to recenter myself.”
“Do you want me to help you with that?” Markus said with a sly grin. Without waiting for her response, Markus pulled himself up close to Ashe. He wrapped one arm around her waist, cupping her face in his other hand. He paused for a moment, waiting to see if Ashe would protest.
She didn’t.
With a soft smile, Markus brushed his lips along Ashe’s cheekbone, tracing down her jaw and finding her lips. It was a gentle kiss at first, his soft lips meeting hers. She kissed him back, just a bit stronger. His tongue ran across her lower lip, and Ashe pulled back. Her eyes were foggy and cheeks slightly flushed.
Markus smiled at her. Ashe gave him a timid smile back. With a gentle push on her shoulder, Markus was over top of Ashe. She looked away again, smile vanishing. Markus took a hand and brushed it over the tattoos on Ashe’s arms. She shivered and he leaned in to kiss her again. When their lips parted, the tiefling leaned closer, putting his mouth to her ear.
“I love you, Aesling,” he whispered. He couldn’t help but grin when she shivered again and turned to kiss him. Markus could feel a longing behind her kiss, a sort of passion that was just begging to be fueled. He pressed the kiss deeper, pressing his body against hers. One hand found the hem of Ashe’s night shirt and began creeping along the bare skin of her waist.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his chest, pushing him away. “No. Markus, stop.” Ashe turned away from him, shame painted across her features. Confused, the tiefling backed off and watched the woman sit up and turn away from him.
“Ashe?” He sat up as well.
“I can’t, Markus… I just can’t.”
“But why not? You do this every time. It gets harder to hold back, you know.” The words came out a little sharper than the tiefling had intended.
“I’m sorry, Markus. It’s… I have my reasons. If it’s too difficult on you… I’ll stop sleeping here.”
Markus frowned. He made sure his voice was gentler this time. “Ashe, I didn’t mean it like that. You know I won’t try to force you into anything, but I would like to know why. You can trust me. What are you afraid of?”
Ashe stood and straightened her nightshirt before answering. "What if... What if I got pregnant?" Markus opened his mouth to object, but Ashe cut him off. "Don't go off saying it's ridiculous or anything like that. It could happen, and if it does... I could die."
Markus stared dumbfounded at the woman. "Ashe, come on," he said, trying to force a smile. "I thought I was supposed to be the dramatic one here. The odds are pretty low for you to get pregnant. Even lower that you’d die from it. If you're that worried, though, I can learn some protection spells."
Markus stood and tried to hold Ashe, but she just brushed him away. “You still can’t control your magic properly since you awakened your demon blood! What if the spell fails? What then? Would you be ready to play single father?”
Markus noticeably stiffened. He recovered quickly, however, and wrapped his arms around her. “Ashe, you’re a strong woman — one of the strongest people I know, in fact. I know… childbirth is difficult for some women… but if anyone could get through that, it would be you.”
Ashe shook her head, stepping away from Markus. “No! That has nothing to do with it…. Markus, my mother was the island’s guardian before me. She died giving birth to me. Do you know why? Because all her power passed to me when I was born! I wouldn’t survive…” Her voice withered as she hugged herself tighter.
“Ashe…” This was one of those rare occasions where Markus was at a loss for words. He felt so helpless. What could he do to help the woman he loved? A sudden determination filled the tiefling. He crossed the distance between them with purposeful strides and grabbed Ashe by the arms, making her face him. “Aesling, by all the gods I don’t care if I have to search through every wizard tower and every sorcerer's musty old tomes, I promise I will find a way for you to survive.”
Ashe looked up at Markus, eyes wide. “M-Markus, you… you’d really do that?”
“Of course, I would, Ashe. I’m not going to just sit by and let you live in fear. We’ll fight this, just like we do with everything else. And then… then you can have a real choice in the matter.”
“Markus…” Ashe couldn’t speak anymore. Tears choked out her words as she pulled Markus into a tight embrace, feeling his heartbeat against her ear. Markus held her just as tight.