Morning came too soon. Niala got ready to man her store for the day, David having explained how he'd had Karline do it during her absence.

  She asked how they knew what price to sell the potions for, he said they had used the price list she had left in the office. Her features fell, and she explained that those were guild prices, that they were way too expensive, that this was going to ruin her shop's reputation.

  He interrupted and told her that the customers had said similar things on the first day, and that the next two days had only a few people show up. But by the fourth day, the number of customers had swelled, people apparently willing to pay for the higher-quality potions available at this shop, and the business had only picked up afterwards.

  He tried to convince her three times to keep the same prices up, before resorting to making a bet with her that none of today's customers would complain about the prices.

  If he lost, he'd clean up her brewing room for her. If he won, she'd have to prepare old woman herbs in bulk.

  She accepted the bet, certain of victory. There was no way everyone would accept the standard guild prices; those were halfway to robbery!

  And that was how, later that day, after the store front closed, and several bells of cleaning up the brewing room, Niala ended up preparing a large amount of old woman herbs, and stored them in small barrels.

  She still thought he was playing a prank on her, and he'd somehow suborned the day's customers to maintain the lie. Those prices were much too high for it to be otherwise.

  He sighed, but as he watched her tally up the day's proceedings and saw her traitorous tail wagging at all the profit, he made a vow to continue protecting Niala's finances from Niala's bleeding heart.

  After dinner, early in the evening, with Niala curled up against David on the couch, she recounted her expedition to him.

  “Hmm, so you bumbled your way north and threw random potions at your problems?”

  “No! Not random! I had them all planned! Mostly planned! I didn't have time to find the correct one sometimes... and I didn't bumble! I followed your map! That means it's your fault I got lost; I needed a better map!”

  “The map was perfect.”

  “It was just a bunch of scribbles and arrows and doodles!”

  “Hmm, just like your formula book. Should have been easy to read.”

  She pinched him. He groaned. She started tickling him. He kept a straight face. She tickled him more. He lost his battle and began giggling through clenched teeth.

  Her prey now defenceless, she pounded on his flanks, both hands raking up and down as he tried pushing her away to no avail.

  He went on the offensive, counter-tickling the savage beast who, it turns out, was extremely ticklish. Her own attack forgotten as she folded in half, giggling herself ragged.

  The battle ended with him hovering over his aggressor, staring into each other's eyes.

  He went in and kissed her. She laced her arms over his back and pulled him in, his bulk crushing her into the couch's cushions, much to her delight. She let him know with a few contented whimpers, which encouraged him to kiss her with more ardour.

  She felt her face flush, her body warming up, her heartbeat accelerating. She...

  He pulled back, a cool inrush of air sweeping over her body.

  She blinked in surprise and saw that he'd sat at her feet. Puzzlement and disappointment mingling, she pulled her legs in and crawled back to him, laying her body against his, as he put an arm over her.

  “...is something wrong?” She cooed.

  He looked at her. Was he... blushing?

  He averted his gaze, looking back at the wall. “Nothing wrong. At all.”

  “...if you say so.”

  Sighing, he planted a light kiss on her head.

  “What happened after the Amaroks?”

  “Amaroks? The wolf-like creatures that stepped on my caltrops?”

  “Yes, those.”

  She thought for a second. “Not much. I crossed the depression, into the stone pillar forest, I found the mound, and I made my way down. At least in there, your directions made sense. I found the mushrooms and I came back.”

  “I'm glad you didn't meet the Fel. I'm not sure h-”

  “I met it. It found me.”

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  He froze, bringing his gaze towards her, meeting her eyes as she looked up at him.

  He swallowed. “You... did? How did you get away?”

  She spoke listlessly, the memories of the fight still haunting her mind.

  “I couldn't. By the time I noticed it, it was already sprinting at me. I threw a handful of potions at it, and somehow that slowed him down enough for me to weave a tale into the wall, for it to jut out stone spikes, try and give me enough time to run away.”

  She took in a deep breath.

  “But, David, something happened. My woven tale, it... was way too powerful. The stone spikes became stone pillars that pinned the thing across the corridor.”

  “Huh.”

  “That's all? Huh?”

  He shrugged. “It makes sense. My imbuements were glowing by themselves while in there. I think the place was saturated with ambient mana.”

  Understanding flickered within her. “And! And that means my weave pulled in all that mana to power itself, instead of mostly relying on my own!”

  “Most likely.” He took a second before continuing. “The stone pillars, they stopped the Fel long enough for you to run away?”

  She shook her head. “I was going to, but then I wondered what would happen if I took the time to weave a more powerful tale, so I did.”

  “...and?”

  She remembered the Fel's life fading from its eyes.

  “And... it did the same thing, except even more. The other wall erupted in drilling stone spikes that tore the thing's body to shreds.”

  David's eyes widened as his head snapped toward Niala.

  “Are you... You're saying you killed it?” He didn't even believe the words he was saying.

  “I think so. It looked dead when I left.”

  He spun from under her and put one knee to the floor, placing his hands on her shoulders.

  “You killed a Fel.”

  She shrank into the couch. “I... maybe?”

  “It's ridiculous.”

  “What? Why? Do you not... believe me?”

  He shook his head. “I believe you. It's just ridiculous. The tutor told me that a single Fel could take on a whole company of soldiers unscathed, that at least a platoon of Azure Guards was needed to have a chance at defeating one.”

  His gaze bore through her. “You did it alone. And you're out of shape!” He said, smiling.

  She pulled out her tongue at him before turning her head and raising her nose. “Yeah, well! That just means I'm awesome and you need to be nice to me!”

  He grabbed her chin and gently pulled her head back towards him. She didn't resist.

  He planted a kiss on her mouth. All of her mock affront melted away.

  Pulling back from her lips, he sat back on the couch, next to her. “You are awesome, and I'm so very blessed to have you.”

  She pressed herself back into his side, poking his flank once. “That's right, and don't forget it.”

  “Every clear breath I take reminds me of it, you know?”

  She burrowed her face into his chest. Her voice was muffled. “I was really, really scared I'd come back and I was too late.”

  He embraced her, held her tight against him.

  And that restless... warmth came roaring back, infecting his entire body. He felt his cheeks flush.

  He gently pushed Niala away from him, before it overwhelmed him, looking away from her.

  From the side of his eye, he could see her stare at him, puzzled.

  Her eyebrows lowered. “Is something wrong?” She asked.

  He glanced at her before averting his eyes and scratching his neck. “No, it's just...”

  She crawled over him, positioning her face in front of his, her big, wide amethyst eyes staring deep into him. “What's wrong, David?”

  He looked up at the ceiling. Why is this so embarrassing? Or am I scared about her reaction?

  He looked back down at her, clearing his throat. “I... do you...” He groaned, closing his eyes, beating his insecurity into a useless puddle.

  He lifted his eyelids and stared back into Niala's eyes. “Do you have contraceptive potions?”

  She stared at him, unblinking, before her brain made sense of his question, and her face turned an ever-increasing shade of red. She lowered her face into his neck, hiding her blush from him. Her words came back weak, muffled.

  “In the nightstand's drawer...”

  His pulse quickened. He let out a huff and lifted the rapidly warming catkin alongside him as he got up and walked to the bedroom. She coiled in his arms, pressing herself into his chest.

  Closing the door with his foot, he approached the bed and laid Niala upon it, her face a crimson red, her arms pressed against her chest, her gaze never leaving his face.

  Opening the nightstand, he retrieved one of several small phials, filled with a cream-white liquid. He cocked an eyebrow, turning his sight to her. “Is this it? I thought they were supposed to be pink or blue, depending on whether they are man's or women's ?”

  She slightly shook her head, her voice like a mouse's. “Not mine, they're universal.”

  He let his head hang. Of course, his genius alchemist girlfriend would make the rarest kind of contraceptives.

  He uncorked the phial and made to drink it when he felt a hand on his leg. He looked down to see Niala, arm outstretched and touching him.

  “...Give me one too.” She murmured.

  Smiling, he retrieved another phial and gave it to her. She sat up in bed, uncorking the phial, and looking at him, waiting.

  He sat down on the bed, facing her, brought the phial up to his mouth, and locked gaze with her.

  They tipped the phials up and drank their contents as one, staring into each other's souls.

  He retrieved her empty phial, put them both back into the drawer, and then positioned himself over Niala, as she lay back down onto the bed, the redness on her face as radiant as before.

  He bent down, stopping just before their lips touched, and whispered. “Niala, I love you.”

  Sparkles erupted in her eyes. “I love you too! I love you so much!” She said, wrapping her arms around his neck, as he pressed down into the deepest, warmest kiss he'd ever had.

  That night, David found out that Niala was somewhat of a screamer and a bit of a biter.