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Ariella makes a small noise next to me and rolls in her sleep, curling around the blankets like she’s trying to hide from the world. I trace the length of her cheek with one of my claws gently, so as to not wake her up, and her skin is still soft as the fabrics that rich humans and elves like to brag and parade around with.
Even the scars on Ariella don’t change how smooth her skin is, a fact that makes me marvel.
She is not unlike these blankets that lay across the room, soft and pretty yet have no real use compared to a coarse, thick set of furs like the ones back in my cave.
Yet I still need her.
“Perhaps there is something to these creature comforts after all,” I whisper, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Perhaps indeed…”
Ariella chooses this moment to wake up, rubbing at her eyes and stretching her arms up to yawn. The image is probably what most would call cute, but Ariella’s gaze quickly turns to teasing.
“I didn’t think you’d be the one to watch me in my sleep,” she says but hums afterward. “Actually, that’s not true, I just didn’t think you’d be so tender about it.”
“I simply worry about your soft body melting into all these blankets,” I tell her, though I can tell she knows I’m teasing from her smile. “Someone has to watch out for a frail thing like you.”
“Oh, I know that’s not true, Zyranth,” she says and rolls over so she can lay on top of me. “I’m not frail.”
“Compared to me you are.”
“Most things compared to you are frail, my love.” Ariella places a hand on my cheek, a gesture I am growing more and more used to these days. “That doesn’t mean that I am not strong or necessary.”
I close my eyes to the soft ministrations of Ariella’s hands. “I suppose so.”
“It’s not like you to be so introspective, Zyranth.”
“I was bored amongst these blankets and began to think.”
“A dangerous activity.” She laughs and I feel her body shake with giggles atop mine. “Did anything come of it?”
I pause for a moment. I still do not pretend to understand things like decorations and embellishments. Still, looking at Ariella and knowing that I could still have an easy life without her but wanting to keep her just the same makes me realize that I am not too different from these humanoids who crave these creature comforts after all.
“Yes,” I tell her. “I believe something did.”
Soon enough she crawls off of my body when her stomach growls. She tells me we should go have breakfast, and I follow her through the halls of Dirnyn’s manor.
“I could easily hunt something for us outside these walls,” I point out.
“Of course, you could, but you do not need to. There’s plenty of food here.”
I tear into my breakfast with fervor, having not had a proper meal in what feels like days. Once again I’m faced with these comforts, spices that I do not recognize on my tongue, and sweet things that I would never find outside of Ariella’s natural taste. Ariella picks at her food while I devour mine, using those useless tools on either side of her plate.
“You should eat,” I tell her, juice dripping down my chin. “You won’t recover otherwise.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” she says distractedly. “I was just thinking-”
“A dangerous activity.”
She laughs. “Indeed, but I wanted to ask you if you would be my mate, Zyranth.”
The question is confusing. Does she think what I do for her I would do for others? Perhaps I overestimated how oblivious Ariella is… This is a conversation we should have later.
“We are already mates,” I say with finality, daring her to say otherwise. “That’s why I keep you around so much.”
Amongst other reasons I do not dare say out loud lest they make me look soft.
Ariella smiles. “Well, yes, I know that we are mates but I wanted to have a proper mateship, with a ceremony and a party with our friends.”
“I do not have friends.”
