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Markus and Ashe were spending some time together outside the bar. It was a warm sunny day with not much to do, and so they’d decided to enjoy the weather on the cool grass. Markus lay on his back, staring up at the clouds and telling stories about the various things they reminded him of. Ashe sat next to him, smiling as she half-listened and wrote in her journal.
It was a quiet day. Gregor could be heard practicing over at the front of the bar, and birds were singing. A bee buzzed lazily by. Ashe frowned at the page she was writing on and tore it out, crumpling the paper and stuffing it into her pocket. A butterfly settled in her hair, though she did not notice.
Markus looked over with a smile. “What’re you trying to write, Ashe?”
“Nothing much. Just thoughts.” Ashe continued to stare at her journal, pen moving slowly as she practiced her letters. She was hunched over the book with her tongue sticking out ever so slightly in her concentration.
Markus peered over at the pages. The guardian’s penmanship was certainly improving; her writing was almost legible now. That wasn’t to say Markus could actually read any of it, because most of the words were still lost to him.
“You know, I’m sure Thog could help you with your writing if you just ask him.” Markus pulled himself up into a sitting position and draped himself over the smaller woman’s shoulders. “Unless you’d like me to tutor you instead,” he whispered seductively into her ear.
Ashe shivered, then frowned and gently pushed the tiefling away. “Markus, you’re going to get yourself worked up for nothing if you keep that up. Cut it out.”
“I’ll stop if you show me what was on that bit of paper you stuffed in your pocket.” The blonde gave a mischievous grin and tackled Ashe, knocking the quill and book out of her hands.
“Gah, Markus!” Ashe pushed the near weightless sorcelock off herself with little effort. She tried to turn away from him, only for him to tackle her once again, catching her off guard enough to bring her to the ground.
Markus wrapped his arms around Ashe as tightly as he possibly could and nuzzled her hair playfully. He couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as Ashe squirmed beneath him.
“Markus, stop it. You’re making it difficult.”
“Not until you tell me what you were really writing.”
Ashe managed to get a hand free to jab at Markus’ side with her fingers, making him loosen his grip enough for her to flip him off herself and escape. The tiefling managed to grab the girl’s ankle before she could get away, causing her to stumble and fall forward. She turned on Markus, leaping at him from her prone position and pinning him to the ground beneath her. Ashe gave the blonde a little victory smirk, but Markus’ expression remained as a grin. At the young woman’s questioning look, the tiefling produced a crumpled sheet of paper for her to see, then made it vanish just as quickly.
Markus dissipated into mist and reformed in the branches of a tree just a few feet from where they had been. “Now, let’s see what you’ve been writing that’s got you so embarassed.”
“Markus, I swear to the gods I will strangle you if you read that.” Ashe stood at the foot of the tree and glared up at the tiefling.
Markus kept grinning as his eyes scanned the paper, then his smile disappeared as he realized he couldn’t read a word it said. He looked down at Ashe, who was currently considering whether or not to just pull the tiefling down by his ankles and let him fall on his face.
“Tell you what,” he proposed, “if you read this aloud to me, I’ll stop making holes in the bar and I’ll have Kyr move his lab back to his house.” Ashe just stood at the base of the tree, hands on her hips and staring up at Markus with a distrustful raised eyebrow. “I’ll throw in a massage…. And no more obsidian fife near the bar. I swear on my tail.”
The starlight-haired girl pondered for a moment before heaving a sigh, letting her hands drop to her sides. “Fine. Get down here and I’ll read it. You have to promise not to interrupt, though.”
“You have my word, Aesling.” Markus shimmied down the tree trunk and sat down next to Ashe, handing her the paper.
Ashe took it, looked over the ink markings on the page, and gave another sigh before taking a deep breath.
“Dear Markus,” she read, ignoring how the tiefling perked up at the mention of his name. “You’ve been a great friend to me these past few years, probably the best I’ve ever had. You’ve supported me when my ideas differed from everyone else’s, and have always been willing to listen to my side of an argument, even when you don’t agree. I appreciate that so much.
“Now that we’re something more than friends, I’ve been wanting to tell you how much you mean to me. But, you know I’ve never been good with talking about my feelings out loud. I get embarrassed and awkward then I can’t get the words out. You’re always trying to comfort me when I’m upset about anything, and you’re so honest with me about how you feel. I want to be able to do the same with you, so that’s why I’m writing this letter.
“Markus, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. You’ve seen and done so much, and while I may not always believe everything you say, I’m still impressed. You’re patient and you’re kind, and even though you have an ego that probably weighs more than you do, I feel like you make me a better person just by being around.
“I am horribly insecure, as you well know. If it’s not social anxiety, then it’s me being afraid of… well, you know what I mean. I’m not always receptive towards you and I may not always want you to be close to me, but I want you to know that I still love you. No matter what, despite how I act or the things I might say when I’m upset, I always love you. Your warmth, your smile, your goofiness, and your kind patience with me. Even if you can sometimes be a massive idiot and even if it seems like I’d rather strangle you than let you hold me, I love you no matter what….”
Birds sang in the woods and the breeze rustled leaves, but there were no words between the two for a few minutes. Ashe sat where she was, red-faced and trying to hide herself with the sheet of paper. Markus sat beside her, stunned that the girl had managed to read all that without trying to escape or breaking down into a hysterical mess.
Finally, after what felt like ages to Ashe, Markus gave a broad, gentle smile to the girl. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead, on the eyes, on her cheek, then rested his lips on hers.
He pulled away, touching his forehead to hers, and spoke softly, his sky-blue eyes meeting her sunshine-yellow ones. “I love you too, Aesling. I’d give up anything for you, you know. My life, my soul. Heck, if giving up being a tiefling was still an option, I’d give that up for you too if I had to.”
Ashe smiled and let out a little chuckle. “Idiot,” she sniffed, trying hard to hold back the happy tears.