I’d beg her to remember, because I can’t fucking forget.
Just one more event for the Gods amusement, I suppose. I’ll never voice it but I think they’ve had enough of our strife and suffering to fuel their amusement for centuries to come.
I fight back a smile. Ash would kick my ass for thinking negatively about the Gods.
Hours later, she is still wrapped up in what she thinks is a story. I can feel my stomach rumbling and Calida has made her presence known. Despite eating numerous rats at the book shop, she’s whining in my head that she needs food. Fuck. Ash probably needs food, too, although she is too wrapped up in what she’s doing to do anything about it. I know damn well she’s had nothing but that bagel from earlier today and her ridiculous amounts of coffee.
Ash is nothing if not determined.
From my spot on the couch, I examine the kitchen. I used to do the majority of the cooking and I can’t imagine things in this world are that different. Heat and food — it can’t be that difficult, right? I can probably make dinner for the three of us. If I remember correctly, women of this world positively swoon over a man who knows his way around domestic tasks.
Rising, I make my way to the kitchen. I examine what she purchased at the store with all three of us in mind. It still makes my heart swell that she took both Calida and I into account while she shopped. Sometimes, the smallest kindnesses are the most telling. As far as she’s concerned, we’re two strangers in a strange land. She has no idea what the offering of food, that consideration, would mean to both of us, to say nothing of the offering of her home.
I go through the icebox and pull out the vegetables she’s purchased. I think I can make a decent salad of this, provided she has some sort of salad bowl. Some rummaging in her cupboards yields a bowl big enough for what I have in mind.
I chop the various leafy things she has on hand, hoping in an offhand way that they all can go togetherand that I’m not about to make a fool of myself. Calida will have no interest in this — it’s not furry or squealy — but I’m hoping that since she bought it, it means she likes it.
After some hit and miss with the flame on this contraption, I manage to cook the meat she’s purchased. Calidas gets only the barest hint of heat, as she prefers her meat bloody. I take a plate from the cupboard – I watched her closely last night — and put the barely warmed steak on it. Placing it on the floor, I call for Calida with my mind.
‘Foods on,’I say.
‘About time,’she replies.
Spoiled brat.
Going back to the kitchen, I eye the bag of potatoes she put on the counter. These were always her favorite. Looking around, I realize she has nowhere for me to cook them. There has to be something.
I spy a door on the cooking box I used to cook the meat. It has a power and temperature button. How hard can this be?
I set it to what I feel is an appropriate number and throw them inside. While they are cooking, I wrap the finished meat in the weird tin paper I spotted last night. That should keep everything warm until Ash comes back to the world. The potatoes will need time to cook anyway.
Feeling like everything is under control, I go back to the book I borrowed. So far, there’s a human female who appears to be interested in at least two different men and I feel like I am about to get an education. Is this a widespread thing? Do many women want multiple men? Maybe it’s a human thing? Then again, Fae Females are amystery on a good day, so it’s possible they also have these desires. It just… sounds like so much work.
For her, I mean. Really, for the men, it may be half the work. I don’t think I could do it, though. I’m not built for sharing, especially notmyfemale.
I go back to the story, resolutely ignoring Ash who has taken to muttering to herself. I assume she’s either stuck or the story isn’t cooperating the way she’d hoped. Either way, I’m reluctant to make myself known and pull her back to the here and now. If I did so, she might have questions, want me to fill in her story holes and, based solely on what she’s said up until now, I’m almost positive she’s writing about home.
In the back of my mind, I wonder how that’s possible. The aftermath of the battle, the powers that were in play… she shouldn’t rememberanything.Her reaction to me confirms that she doesn’t. But then, how is she writing about the battle, about Goira, at all?
The Gods and their fucking balances. While none of the wise women in Goira will tell me exactly what happened, it’s obvious that the consequences of her wielding the type of power she did in that final battle had disastrous consequences. There’s no other explanation for how Ash came to be here. She’s living in the mortal world as Casie, with no recollection of her life, our life. She’s living as a human, working in a bookshop and feeling inferior. While my powers have never been even close to hers, I do have the ability to detect the emotions of those around us and Ash is spending entirely too much time feeling less than. The trouble is, I can’t detect if she feels that way in general or if it’s due to what she sees as her inability to write.
Her lack of memory may prove difficult with thetimeline I’ve been given. If she isn’t able to remember in time… if I don’t fix this by the deadline, then we’re all fucked.
Suddenly, it smells like something is on fire.Shitfuckdamn.
I lurch to my feet to investigate, noting that Ash is still engrossed in her machine and story. Great. Maybe I can salvage this without looking like a total asshole.
The second I open the door, a large plume of smoke escapes. And, of course, Ash chooses that moment to look up and start paying attention. Sure, she can’t acknowledge me when I’m looking good, but has no problem focusing when I’ve created an inadvertent shit show.
Peering through the haze, I note that the potatoes are small black lumps by now. Ash shoves me aside and closes the door.
“What the actual fuck?” she demands.
I’d forgotten how sexy she is when she’s flustered, but force myself to focus on the problem at hand.
I glare at the contraption, oddly offended. “I’m generally a very good cook.”
“Clearly you would excel at smoking!”
