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One of the challenges of traveling to remote settlements with a large party is finding lodging for everyone. The growing party of Nine Shrines adventurers encounters this problem increasingly. Fitting comfortably into to the rooms available at the single inn in the frontier town of Edgewood would have been a challenge for even a party of five, particularly on Thog’s budget.
There are four rooms at Edgewood’s inn, each of them containing a single large bed and a two chests. The Nine Shrines party now has six official members, Thog, Ashe, Markus, Gregor, Kyr, and Inien. However, for this mission they are traveling with Moren, and, out of nowhere, Zalvetta joined them as they entered town. The innkeepers eyes light up as the seven of them enter the lobby of the inn.
“Don’t break anything while I negotiate with the innkeeper. If we’re lucky we might be able to still make profit on this job,” Thog grumbles to the noisy crew, walking away with Moren.
“Kyr, don’t touch that!” Ashe says almost immediately after Thog walks away. Kyr is fascinated by this island’s revolutionary lighting devices.
“But, Ashe, I need to know how they work! They have no obvious fuel source and don’t use magic. I have innumerable ideas for this technology, Ashe. Innumerable!”
“You can look at the ones outside before we leave, Kyr. Just leave these alone for now,” Ashe says with a sigh. Dealing with a hyperactive inventor after a long two week trip on a boat is a challenge.
At that, Kyr deflates significantly and slumps into the one available chair. Inien is reading an arcane looking tome, lounging in a chair with her feet on the coffee table. Well, actually the tome is more of a journal, a magical research journal to be exact, but it is certainly arcane.
Markus is playing with a small orb of shadow, morphing it between various shapes by waggling his fingers. He’s splayed out dramatically on one half of the elegant couch, which is upholstered in a delicate cream with a dark colored wood (mahogony, the minds of Gregor, Markus, and Ashe supply) frame, skirted with a beaded fringe. The other half of the couch is occupied by Gregor and Zalvetta.
Gregor is fixing Zalvetta’s braid while relating how he defeated the gigantic frost spider in detail. Tucking a rogue lock into place, Gregor regales Zalvetta with how he sliced off the spiders appendages before plunging his glaive into its forehead-ish region.
Ashe sighs heavily from her place against the wall, which is wallpapered in a reddish-brown and cream stripe pattern. Markus glances up from his shadows and shifts to create space at the end of the couch. He pats the now open seat next to him. Ashe pauses and then settles into the narrow space. Thog continues to barter at the counter as the sun sets.
Finally, Thog and Moren return, standing in front of the seating arrangement.
“All right, I we’ve managed to rent out all of the rooms at discount. There are four rooms and four beds. I’m bunking with Moren, the rest of you can fight out the sleeping arrangements amongst yourselves.” Thog then stalks off down the hall.
Moren gives a nonchalant salute and a crooked smile as he calls“good night” and follows Thog.
“I’ll bunk with Zalvetta,” Gregor says with a grin.
“Yeah, sure,” Zalvetta affirms.
No one objects much as the two leave, though Kyr slumps further. Inien rises to her feet.
“Well, taking Ashe’s obvious preferences into account, there’s really only one configuration we can have. Let’s go, Kyr,” Inien calls over her shoulder as she walks out of the lobby. Kyr follows dejectedly. Ashe opens her mouth to protest and then snaps it shut silently. Markus grins manically.
“I’ll take that as a complement,” He says full of smart.
“Don’t,” Ashe tells him while glaring at his back as he rises to to leave. “You are the best of my options. That doesn’t mean I want to share a room with you for any amount of time. You will be annoying, but not as annoying as Inien. You will cause all sorts of grief if you want to, but Kyr would cause plenty more. I could have dealt with sharing with Gregor, but with Zalvetta around that was never an option. The same is true of Moren, because he wouldn’t be awful but his first choice is Thog. Thog and Zalvetta are just… No.”
Markus at this point has wandered to the entrance of the hall and turns to face Ashe.
“All I’m hearing is that you find me preferable to the other fine people we travel with.”
“Then your ears are defective.” Ashe says pushing past him.
Glancing down the hall, Ashe easily identifies the empty room by looking for the door that has no light leaking from underneath. She enters the room with Markus trailing behind.
— — — — —
Ashe and Markus prepare for bed. That mostly means they remove the pieces of their outfits that would be uncomfortable to sleep in. Markus’ cloak, ass-sack, and other pouches are discarded into the chest on the left wall. Ashe leans her sword against the chest on the opposite wall along with her dagger, belt, and armor. Soon, Markus is settled into the bed, but Ashe hesitates and then takes a seat on her chest, leaning back against the wall.
The room is now lit only by silvery moonlight that steals into the room through the window above the bed. Markus lies on his side, facing the left wall of the room. Ashe sits, staring out the window. She assumes Markus is asleep until he speaks, his voice shockingly quiet and serious.
“Do you trust us all so little that you can’t sleep in our presence? I could understand that with some of us I suppose, but surely you know I would never harm you.”
Ashe is surprised that Markus spoke and is struck by the weight of the question.
“I haven’t trusted anyone enough to sleep in their company in many years. If we were in a forest somewhere in this situation…I don’t know…maybe I’d sleep. I’m not used to sleeping in buildings.”
“So why aren’t you outside?”
Ashe, a little irritated by the feeling that Markus requires an explanation from her, tries to restrain her temper.
“Sleeping on the streets of a town like this isn’t exactly safe. It would cause trouble for everyone involved.”
Markus nods, still facing away from Ashe. Silence stretches between them for a while. Ashe watches Markus, waiting, expecting him to continue. The moon rises to the meridian, and Markus speak up again.
“We’ll be in this town for at least a week. You’ll need to sleep before we leave.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“You should try to sleep.”
Ashe stares at Markus’ back for a long moment, then rises with a rough sigh. She sits on the right edge of the bed, looking away from Markus and the window. Her nervous expression is hidden from the moonlight.
“I doubt that I’ll get any sleep.”
“I know.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
They stare at the walls until they drift to sleep.
— — — — —
Ashe wakes in the morning, surprised that she had fallen asleep at all. Sunlight flows in through the window, painting a rectangle of light over the right side of the room. Ashe notices that she feels warmer than she would expect and she shifts slightly, still dazed with sleep. Her movement is inhibited slightly by a light grasp around her waist. There’s a quiet snuffling noise from somewhere directly behind the top of Ashe’s head. Ashe blinks her half open eyes and then opens them fully.
Ashe glances around, unable to see much from her current vantage point. She wriggles a bit and turns on to her opposite side, facing the center of the bed. Markus snuffles again, this time directly on Ashe’s forehead, and makes a surprisingly strong, sleepy attempt to pull Ashe closer. Ashe finds herself tucked under Markus’ head.
Ashe leaps out the bed and snatches up her belongings and leaves the room in a flash. Markus blinks sleepliy in the sunlight as the door slams behind Ashe. She dashes through the lobby ignoring the rest of the party.
“Ashe! We were wondering when you two would wake up,” Kyr calls as she darts by.
“Yeah, you lazy bums,” Gregor adds. Inien grins in a devious manner over his shoulder. The door swings closed behind Ashe.
Ashe races across the empty street into the saloon.
“In here a tad early, aren’t you miss?” Says a woman behind the bar as Ashe seats herself at the bar, slamming her head on the counter.
“Just pour me a drink.” The woman slides Ashe a drink and goes to wipe off the saloons tables.
— — — — —
“What the fuck did you do?” Thog says as greeting to a still bleary Markus as he stumbles into the lobby.
“What? No good morning?” Markus asks.
“No. People who disrupt their colleagues, disrupt workflow, and therefore disrupt profit, these people deserve even fewer pleasantries than the average bozos, and you, Markus, are one of those people. So, I ask again, what the fuck did you do?”
“Nothing! I was sleeping and then Ashe was slamming the door. Look, I’ll find out what bee is in her bonnet when she decides to come out of hiding. Ashe would not appreciate any of us going after her before she’s had time to cool down.” Thog glares at Markus and then sighs heavily.
“Alright, but if we need her expertise, you’re going to be the one to risk your neck getting her.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Markus says with a stretch, heading toward the door. “Where are we reporting for this job?”
“I have a map,” Moren says, and the group heads out.
— — — — —
After Ashe has downed several drinks, she begins to calm a small bit and begins to notice the effects of a full night’s sleep. The rest has done her more good than she ever would have imagined. The tension in Ashe’s shoulders from lack of rest has been mostly removed, though that tension has been replaced by her stress from her wake up call.
Ashe doesn’t know how she even fell asleep the night before. She’s never been good at sleeping in manmade structures, or at letting her guard down around others. Ashe had relented and laid down the night before expecting to lie awake awkwardly until sunrise. Falling asleep and getting an entirely restful night was not at all expected. Even less expected was waking up cuddled up to Markus.
Ashe slams her head down on the top of the bar. The sun is threatening to cross the meridian. The rest of the day proceeds similarly.
— — — — —
Ashe doesn’t come back to their room until the nearly full moon is visible in the sky. Markus had been being to think that she wouldn’t come back that night, when the door swings open with a plaintive whine. Markus sits up on his side of the bed.
“Hey,” Markus greets her.
Ashe stands in the door not looking toward him. She has that look on her face, the one that says she wants to bolt. Her head is ducked down, eyes cast to the floor. Markus fights back his irritation, tries his hardest to be reasonable. He knows why Ashe is like this. He understands it, respects it, but that doesn’t mean that Markus doesn’t wish that this could be simpler, for Ashe’s sake at least. He would never expect it to be easy, but…
“So, what did I do?”
Guilt strikes Ashe’s mind suddenly. She may have been surprised by their position that morning, but that didn’t give her the right to make Markus feel like he was in the wrong for something that he didn’t even mean to do. Ashe sighs, running a hand up her arm.
“It’s not your fault.”
Ashe sits on the edge of the empty side of the bed. Markus watches her.
“Are you sure?”
“It—It doesn’t matter. You didn’t mean to do anything.”
There’s a longer pause before Ashe lies down, tucking herself beneath the quilt. Markus lies back down soon after her. They fall asleep staring at the walls on their respective sides.
— — — — —
Ashe is prepared this time. At least somewhat. The light is a soft and golden aura, cocooning the room from the outside world. Markus’ arms are wrapped around her, his chest rises evenly beneath her head. Markus’ breathe ruffles her hair as she breathes in his smoky and slightly sulfury scent. She’s less surprised by the situation as a concept this time, but this allows her to be astonished by its individual aspects. Like how despite being freakishly thin, Markus makes for a rather comfortable pillow. Even more shocking, Ashe enjoys being so close to him. She hesitates, but then allows herself to snuggle into the warm tiefling. In response, Markus tightens his hold and makes a humming sound that trails off into a chuckle. Ashe twists her head around to look at him.
Markus looks down at her with a half-open, sleepy eye and a drowsy, genuine smile.
“Good mornin’,” He murmurs. Ashe feels the phrase as much as she hears it. Markus’ arms loosen around her.
“Good morning,” She whispers quietly in response. Markus’ hand comes up to run through Ashe’s poofy bedhead. His own hair is only slightly ruffled by comparison, but being only in his bedclothes makes Markus seem just as casual, just as vulnerable as Ashe in this moment. When Ashe makes no motion to bolt at his affectionate gesture, Markus’ smile widens. They’re both mostly awake now, as the light from the window becomes stronger.
“Was this what freaked you out yesterday?” Markus asks. Outside their room there’s the creak of a board, someone else waking and beginning their day. Ashe nods silently. Markus runs his fingers through her hair again. Ashe closes her eyes suddenly feeling embarrassed by the entire situation. Markus wraps his arms tightly around her again.
“Your thinking too much, Ashe. The world isn’t ending, its changing. The only way you can direct the change is by being involved in it. Running away just ends things.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
They lie there quietly until the door across from the window is illuminated by a solid rectangle of golden light. That’s when there’s the throughly audible sound of footsteps stomping down the hall, followed by a loud banging on their door. They both jump at the racket, sitting up and apart.
“We have work to do, you know? Get your lazy asses out here!” Thog yells through the door. Markus and Ashe leap out of bed gather their things, the bubble surrounding them earlier popped by their boss’ yelling.
“We’ll be there in a minute!” Ashe yells back through the door. Thog grumbles and stomps back down the hall. Markus and Ashe glance at one another and giggle slightly as they hurry out the door.
The world keeps turning.