Cormac was silent, as he drove the pair back home.

Cormac was silent because as long as he didn’t talk, he had time to think.

Cormac’s knuckles were whiter than he previously thought possible as he gripped the steering wheel.

Cormac’s knuckles were whiter than he previously thought possible because the discomfort kept him focused.

Cormac was focused on thinking over something impossible enigma, knuckles whiter than he previously thought possible, and in complete silence because Ixia had just blindsided him with what may have been a trick.

Cormac’s eyes were on the road, and not the dryad reclining in the seat next to him as she smiled and looked him over.

Cormac’s eyes were on the road, because there was no way he had heard her right.

And Cormac was doing his absolute best not to screw all of this up.

Because obviously, things were exactly as complicated as Cormac thought.

Because obviously, what Ixia really meant was…

Why wasn’t he just asking her in the first place? They did share a blood oath, and he assumed that had as much gravity as he thought. Which may have been yet another in a long line of assumptions that he should really just get a clear answer already no matter the possible danger. He was already thrown into a new life of danger with her, and he trusted her.

What was a little more danger, with the added possibility of something good?

Cormac was home, and he cleared his throat as he nodded to Ixia.

Ixia was silent, and had just been enjoying the sight of her Guardian deep in thought and trying not to stare despite her insistence otherwise.

“Home again home again!” Cormac finally broke the silence, eyes staring straight ahead at the stairs and teeth bared in a pain grin.

One that shrunk into a guilty frown as Ixia walked ahead of him up the stairs leaving him to follow. And not stare. Not at all. Only just a bit. But only because it was hard not to with so much to stare at. Not in that way! But also in that way.

“Damnit.” Cormac swore to himself in his mind, shook his head and unlocked the door for the pair as Ixia waited with a smile at his side.

“Alright! Time to prepare for another dangerous adventure!” Cormac announced to the empty apartment, turning around to find Ixia had already shed her clothes and illusions of humanity and was now walking over to the couch. Which was completely normal for her, but the tiniest smirk had him biting his tongue before relenting. “Alright. Time to talk!”

The human rolled his shoulders as he walked over and took a seat on the couch next to the dryad. He drummed his palms on his knees, stretching his neck this way and that as Ixia looked on with a raised brow as she propped her head up on the armrest.

“So when you said you don’t mind me looking at you like that…” Cormac leaned towards her as he motioned with his hands for her to finish the thought for him.

“I meant that I would find nothing wrong with you doing so.” She responded, smirk easing into a smile sweet like honey.

Cormac’s green eyes narrowed as he nodded, biting his lip, and put a hand to his chin. “Right. Yeah. And when you say you would find nothing wrong with it….?”

Ixia hung on the end of his sentence, shifting in her seat as she followed his train of thought...somewhere? “I mean my body is a perfectly natural thing and nothing to be ashamed of so there is no guilt to be found in taking in my form.”

“Okay!” Cormac breathed a sigh of relief, finally getting it.

“And I wouldn’t mind you appreciating my natural form.”

“Okay…” Cormac grit his teeth, no longer getting it.

The dryad tilted her head, green brows pushing together into a knot. “You still have concerns.”

It wasn’t a question, despite Cormac’s questions and concerns being equal in number. He shrugged, leaning back against the couch as he ran a hand through his long red hair.

“Yeah...yeah I-” He rubbed at his face, dragging them down until his eyes were free to stare at the ceiling and decide to just use his stupid words already. “Okay, so I am a great big idiot when it comes to women. But momma didn’t raise no coward so...when you say these things. Like you don’t mind me…appreciating you, do you mean it as a friend or a...as a Guardian or did you mean something more than those things because I’m still a little hazy on what even being a Guardian means. Much less my qualifications for that title-”

She silenced him with a hand on his knee, brushing it against his hand that immediately stopped its nervous drumming. “You should try believing in yourself more. I do. And not just because I like you.

Cormac stared back into her violet eyes, taking a good solid minute to manage one whole blink. “Now when you say you like me, do you mean like as a friend? Or like as a Guardian? Or just in a general fashion?”

“Cormac…” It was only through determination that her leaves weren’t wilting right now.

“For the record, I stated I am very bad at this.” He said holding up a lone finger before continuing. “I guess I just...don’t want to assume?”

Ixia moved her hand on top of his, studying him even as he blushed. “Assume what?”

“That you would like me beyond a...platonic, or even familial way. Or co-worker way.” He chewed on his lip before pressing on. “I found you in a forest, all alone. And how many people do you know besides me who are still around?”

The dryad’s eyes dropped, and she stared at where their hands met. She looked at the back of her hand, visually tracing all the patches of green and brown as she thought. “I know you, that shopkeeper, and Old Night.”

“If I lose to a giant nightmare eating snake then there’s just no way I can be mad.” Cormac admitted, rolling his head back and forth with a grimace and staring off into oblivion. “I’d get it.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ixia was unable to contain her laugh, squeezing his hand as she did. “No, he’s a nice fellow but I already told you I like you. Also you’re far more handsome.”

“Now when you say handsome, did you mean like as a fri-”

“Stop.” Her laughter was back as her free hand playfully pushed at his arm.

“I’m serious! Mostly!” He held up a hand to defend from more half hearted blows from the fiersom dryad, hiding the smile slowly growing on his lips. It was then a shame that he had to redirect to more somber things. “But uh...that’s still not a lot of people that you know. And we did the whole blood oath thing. And I am still your Guardian. So I don’t want you to feel forced into anything.”

Ixia leaned against the arm rest once more, head propped up as she smiled at Cormac. “I know full well that you would always respect my choices. And my choice is you, if you’ll have me.”

Just as Cormac was about to open his fool mouth to say fool things, Ixia put a green finger to his lips.

“Don’t say it.” A giggle accompanied her more serious command. “You still trust me, don’t you?”

Cormac grumbled before relenting into a sigh. “Yeah…”

“Then trust me when I say from the moment you freed me you have shown yourself to be kind, caring, and brave in the face of everything.”

“No no.” He shook his head. “I am very certain much of this isn't so much a bad idea as it is a lethal idea.”

“And yet you’re still here?”

“Well I’m not just going to leave you to fend for yourself in a strange world I unleashed you into!”

The Dryad’s grin grew wider, and she fluttered her eyes at Cormac who gained the largest frown as he realized he had been had.

“Damnit!”

Ixia burst out laughing, and pulled Cormac into a hug no sooner than he had crossed his arms and glared away. He relented a moment later to return the hug, fingers lingering on her plant skin. Not at all unpleasant, though very different now that he had a chance to not try to pretend he wasn’t eager to feel more of her. Feel the soft, velvety texture that still had more firmness than human skin as her hand was carefully combing through his red mane.

Maybe too eager, he thought as he cleared his throat and pulled back from the hug to see a dryad with tilted head and raised brow.

“I am still coming to grips with the fact that all of this is real, and am only just now convincing myself that you don’t feel trapped in this.” He spoke from the heart, eyes locked to hers as he placed a hand on hers and traced over her knuckles. “So just...pardon me if I’m moving slow on this.”

The smallest scoff escaped in an exhale from her nose. “I waited, trapped in my own forest, for untold ages until you found me. I am a patient woman.”

“Alright, good.” Cormac settled back into his seat, relaxing as he put his arm back around Ixia who snuggled up to him on the couch with a contented smile to match his own. “Wanna watch an episode before we go fight horrifying nightmares?”

“I’d love to!” The Dryad said, eyes lighting up as Cormac clicked on the T.V. as the two settled in to find out just how bad of an idea it had been for the crew of The HSS Tomahawk to explore that ancient derelict ship.

Five minutes in, at about the time the entire crew agreed it was a very bad idea and that they had no better options available than to hop into this very bad idea where time was of utmost importance, Cormac turned the T.V. off as the pair stared at the blank black screen and their reflections that sat unmoving except for intermittent blinking.

“We can get back to that episode later.” Cormac said in an even tone, staring at his reflection.

“Yes I...I’m not certain I want to find out how it ends yet.” Ixia met his eyes in the reflection, tracing a finger along his arm.

The redhead nodded. “The season not even being halfway over could be a misdirect. All these serious shows love killing characters these days.”

“It was like that back in my days as well.” The Dryad took his hand in hers. “Though the stories have gotten a good deal more complex and characters more intricate.”

“That’s the point!” Cormac waved his free hand about. “These days they kill characters in the middle of an arc just for cheap shock value and ratings, with absolutely no respect for ongoing character development and satisfying plot lines!”

“Hmmm.” Ixia hummed aloud. “I think they should be fine, they’re still teasing no less than two couples on the crew of The HSS Tomahawk. Would the writers really just kill off characters before an advancement of romantic development?”

Cormac sucked in air over his teeth, having flashbacks to too many things to count as he wondered if there was an easy way to break the news. “Well, yes. Cheap shock value remember. But! Those same writers like to tease pairings for multiple seasons, and the fans eat it up.”

The Guardian chuckled to himself. “Like anyone could ever be that oblivious for that long!”

His own chuckling and amused smile died with but one smirk and batting of lashes from a certain Dryad.

“Wait-”

Ixia let go of his arm to hold her stomach as she burst into laughter and tears, falling over on the couch in the process as Cormac was left to sulk.

“In my defense-”

The laughter continued.

“It has only been a little over a week!” He sat with crossed arms in answer to the tidal wave of laughter. “Way different than several seasons!”

Nope, still more melodious yet hearty laughter.

“In my other defense! I am very bad at this!”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Cormac’s eyes were rolling though he was unable to hold back a smile from seeing Ixia laughing this heartily. “But really, we need to prepare for this new horror. I have to go back to work tomorrow and if I die my boss is going to fire me.”

All laughter was immediately extinguished as Ixia sat straight up with a frown of horror to match widening eyes. “Your...boss is going to set fire to you after you die?”

Cormac laughed despite her unabashed horror. “No, see it’s just an expression that mea- actually you know I wouldn’t put it past her….”

A hand of contemplation on his chin that he had increasingly been neglecting to shave helped him in wondering if that possibly actually a Hag really would. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Ixia had already come to her own conclusion.

“If she lays one single finger on you she will know the true wrath of nature itself!” The Dryad’s voice gained the faintest echo and eyes burned like violet embers. “NO MERE CALM AND SERENE MEADOW BUT A RAVENOUS PREDATOR THIRSTING FOR BLOOD IN A STORM THAT RENDS THE EARTH!”

Cormac cleared his throat, resting his hand on her knee this time. “Honey?”

The fire died down in her eyes in an instant and her voice returned to normal. “Hmm?”

“As exciting as all of this is in multiple ways that I won’t get into right now, let’s focus on being as prepared as possible so we don’t die.” He said with a smile. “Alright?”

“Oh. Yes that is a much better idea.” She nodded, joy returning to her eyes and a bright smile on full lips as she took his hand and stood to lead him onward. “To my glade, I should have some things to show you there.”

He followed after her, being dragged along until she stopped just before his bedroom opened up into an impossible forest. The Dryad looked up at him, grin reaching up to her eyes as Cormac looked down in pure confusion.

“...honey?”

Cormac held up a hand as he tried to explain, though words failed to form in his mouth as he rolled his eyes and groaned in another defeat.

“Damn. It!” He swore again and the Dryad laughed in another lighthearted victory.