I stared up at the freshly fixed hole in the ceiling, and wondered again how it had happened.

Renn had asked me to fix a hole in Merit’s floor… but neither of them had been around as I had done so, or had given me a chance to ask of its origin. Odds are it was Renn’s fault though, considering it had been her who had sheepishly asked me to fix it and not Merit herself.

It was of course now fixed. I had chosen to just replace the boards and repair the subfloor between the ceiling and floor of these two rooms, and as such it had been an easy and quick fix… but…

Why had Merit chosen the room above Renn anyway…? Although one could just assume it was a coincidence, I knew better… though…

“I was going to invite Sap, be thankful!” Renn teased as she happily crawled into bed, moving aside the thick blankets upon it. She, like many who had come here had brought clothing and bedding suited for the colder northern climate… but honestly I wondered if she didn’t feel hot under such thick blankets. One was a thick wool kind, the type that made even me feel stuffy just looking at it.

“Lilly used to sleep on my shoulders when we traveled. Back when she was young… her wings would droop and drag sometimes,” I said as I remembered such times. They had been a tad simpler.

Renn’s teasing smirk died a little as it turned into a soft happy one. “She probably still would do such a thing, if you’d allow it,” she said.

“Probably… Sometimes I feel as if she sees me as some kind of brother or father, then sometimes she acts even weirder. She’s hard to pin sometimes,” I said as I stepped over to the only chair in the room. I had made basic furniture for everyone, but had somewhat neglected Renn as I had done so. Everyone else already had tables, multiple chairs, dressers and stuff… while Renn only had the bare basics. The bed, a single chair, a small stool-table, and a singular trunk alongside the few she had brought with her from Telmik. In comparison her room was half empty to the others.

Usually I’d feel bad for doing such a thing, not focusing on her… but I had not wanted anyone to feel as if I had prioritized her. They all knew I favored her; and of course I did, but I didn’t need to rub it in their faces and actually do so. Plus, Renn was kind enough to not be bothered by such a thing.

Sitting down on the chair, I went to undoing my boots. As I undressed, Renn kept shuffling the blankets around in an attempt to find what she considered the most comfortable placement.

“Vim, how long does it take, you think, to eliminate smells?” she asked as she lifted one of the pillows to smell it.

“No idea Renn. It doesn’t take too long though, at least for me,” I said. Renn seemingly had something akin to my own ability now, though if it was actually her having it or simply my ability impacting her I couldn’t and didn’t know.

“Hm… It’s a good thing it doesn’t happen too fast, I guess. Even if I kind of want it to, concerning stuff like this,” she said softly as she went to smell another pillow.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Food? If food lost its smell as you cooked it or something, that’d be terrible! Half the fun is smelling how tasty it is,” she said.

I smiled at her and nodded. She had been snacking a few moments ago, and even now there were some apples still sitting on the small table near me. I was a little surprised actually she wasn’t munching on them even now in bed.

You’d think she was pregnant with how often she liked to snack throughout the day… though I knew better than to say such a thing aloud.

“Funny considering you’ve mentioned before how you wished I eliminated the smell of my cooking before,” I said as I got my other boot off.

Renn giggled at that. “Right! Really, Vim, why can’t you just be perfect?”

“As my father would say, perfection is too perfect even for itself,” I said as I finished taking off my boots and socks.

Renn hummed a little as I sat back for a moment and just… spent a small second to appreciate the world around me.

The dormitory I’d built was sturdy. People were maybe not loving it, but they were happy to have a real roof over their heads and real doors that locked. Everyone here was, relatively, happy with the progress so far too. The old woman’s death, Krass, had put a small hamper on their excitement but… death did that. And death always came, no matter where or when. And in this instance it had not come unexpectedly, her age had been a concerning factor since before they had even left Telmik.

It was hard sometimes to consider the human members of the Society… but I did try my best to make sure they were as safe and comfortable as the rest of our members, when I could. I was actually a tad concerned over her son, this Tristin… I’d not seen him leave his room once since his mother’s funeral, though Randle has said he was keeping an eye on the lad.

Regrettably, like always for me, such death and sorrow was not at the forefront of my mind. I was too busy with other things, focused on bigger problems… at least in the grander scheme of things. Though one might argue building homes and such for people were not as important as the lives of members, even human ones, the truth was a bit different. These homes and buildings would ensure far more lives would be safe and secure. And not just the non-human members who needed such things as to stay hidden and safe, such as Liora or Sap. Sturdy homes over tents provided a lot of layers of security. Like Renn’s thick blankets, they added up and became stuffy even once you added enough such layers of protection.

And I wasn’t done with those layers. I planned to begin working on the fencing and walls soon, which would be another nice layer. I planned to make a large area around the back of the church, and then again here near the dormitory and the other buildings I was planning to finish up such as a warehouse and a barn.

Renn slipped her tail out from under the covers as to mess with it, poking at the end of the tip as if something had gotten stuck on it though I didn’t see any such thing. She had a really nice smile on her face, obviously enjoying the moment… and I felt a little wrong to have the same emotions.

I should be a worried mess right now. As should she. There was so much on my mind, and thrice more I was doing all I could to keep off my mind… Yet here we were… about to pretend nothing was wrong at all and all was right in the world…

A small sound drew my attention back to Renn as I watched her blow out the lone candle that had been lighting up the room. There was a small shelf fashioned into the wall near her bed, for exactly its current use. A small candle holder sat upon it, as did another on the other side of the bed though that one was not lit. Her putting the candle out made the room dark. It took no time at all for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, and I glanced at the nearby window and its wooden shutters. The outside world was a bit darker than usual too, it seemed the moon was lighting up the other side of the world at the moment.

The darkness of course was not an issue for me, or Renn… but it was still a silly action on her part. Especially since it wasn’t as if she was going to actually lie down and fall asleep. She planned to get up and leave with Sap a tad before sunrise, which was only in a few hours.

Another thing I wanted to worry about, but knew better than to not to.

I didn’t want Renn to leave my side. Not with potential threats out there waiting for her.

But…

“Looking forward to meeting the rest of your family?” I asked as I stood from the chair. I kept my under-shorts on, and not just to prove a point.

“Yes…! I especially want to meet Branches, supposedly he’s a lot more like Windle than not!”

Was he…? “He is in certain ways, I suppose…” I admitted. I’d always seen him as more like his mother than his father, but that was likely just because I really only knew the owl in certain ways.

Sitting on the side of the bed that was mine, I tried not to notice the way she grinned at me in apprehension.

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Renn loved it when we laid in bed and whispered about… anything really. From really important topics to the most inane or silly, she found such moments utterly delectable. It actually worried me that one day, when we actually decided to further our relationship… she’d find it not as appealing or fun as our little talks. Though I suppose I also wouldn’t be too bothered, since I too enjoyed them as well.

“Feels a bit lumpy,” I said as I carefully patted the mattress. It was, like most mattresses of this era, just a layered mix of feathers and cotton. It was soft enough to be comfortable, warm enough in the winter and cool enough in the summer and also well made… but it was still not as nice as I wanted it to be. My wife deserved better, especially since I could make much nicer ones without much effort.

“It’ll even out,” Renn said simply as she patted the bed next to her, ushering me to join her.

“Usually I’d make a joke about that, but I’ll just pretend I didn’t think of one for now,” I said as I went ahead and laid down. She pulled back the covers for me, and before I knew it I was lying next to her as she giggled at me.

Glancing at her, and seeing how she was angled a bit above me… I frowned at the realization she had all the pillows. The only one I had was thin, and cold.

“That one stinks,” she said.

I smirked at that. “I shall endeavor to fix that then,” I said.

“Please do!”

Shaking my head at her, I relaxed a little… and nodded as I realized the bed was fine. It did indeed need to be broken in a little, but she was right. It’d even out and be fine… until of course it started to dip and curve as the cotton and feathers got too flat. But by then I’d likely have made a nicer one, so it was of no concern.

“It’s been awhile hasn’t it…?” I noted as I stared up at the ceiling I’d just made a few days ago.

“Too long! Do you know how many nights it’s been since we’ve talked like this?” she asked.

“If you mean in a bed, then…” I pretended to think for a moment, since I didn’t want her to realize I had already long since thought of it and knew the answer. “One hundred and seven days,” I answered after a moment.

Renn then sat up, which made me glance at her in worry. Had I answered wrongly…?

“Wow…” Renn whispered as her tail smacked me on the stomach. I pretended to not notice it as it wiggled above me, over the covers. She had sat up enough for it to be able to do so, having made the covers move back a bit. “You knew,” she said softly.

“Why wouldn’t I…?” Did she think I didn’t enjoy such moments with her or something? I might not get as much utter glee from them as she did… but I did love our little talks. I really did.

“Hm… just didn’t think you’d remember the actual number, I guess…” she said, still speaking softly. I could tell she wasn’t speaking quietly because she was still shocked, but instead another reason. The dormitory was quiet, since most were sleeping. She likely didn’t want anyone hearing our conversation, no matter how silly and simple it was.

Renn was odd like that. She didn’t mind flirting and saying things in front of even complete strangers, yet then acted as if she didn’t want anyone to know how we acted when alone. Not even those she utterly loved and trusted, like Lilly or Merit. I wasn’t sure yet if it was just her being embarrassed, or if she was actually a bit more of an introvert than most thought.

“Have you ever dreamt of me Vim?” Renn then asked quietly.

“Hm…?” What’d she mean?

“In your dreams,” she added.

I smirked at her gentle silhouette in the dark. Her ears were standing up straight, and hadn’t moved an inch since she had sat up. They were completely still, as if on edge and listening with all her might. “Most of my dreams, when I do dream, are nightmares Renn. I’d rather you not be in them, to be honest,” I said.

Her ears didn’t flutter, but she did lean a bit closer. “So… you don’t?”

Resisting the urge to sit up as well, since I didn’t like the way she was leaning towards me… I gently nodded. “I do. Or rather, I have. Though you might not like the kind of dreams I’ve had,” I said, warning her gently.

“Oh…? What kinds?”

The kind that I didn’t want to talk about here and now. “Your ears itch my nose sometimes when we sleep together, or your tail goes somewhere it shouldn’t, and so I sometimes dream of you tickling me or something,” I said.

Her left ear finally moved, twitching just once as she smiled at me. “What’s with that?” she asked.

Falling in love with her happy tone, and the way her tail had started to coil around my left wrist… I nodded. “I’ve also dreamed of you and me sitting at a table. One that’s full of food, and you stuffing your face,” I said. That was one of my more recent dreams of her. I decided to omit the fact my parents had been there too, though.

Renn’s smile grew. “So I’m either tickling you, thus annoying you, or you’re watching me eat!”

“Basically,” I said, telling her a tiny white lie.

She chuckled for a moment and leaned back and away from me. Although insanely glad she had decided to do so, I also… regretted it.

Maybe I should have just reached out and grabbed her.

“I dream about you all the time, you know? In fact I don’t think I’ve had a dream without you in… a long time,” she said.

The fact she couldn’t outright tell me the exact night, the exact dream, told me how long ago it must have been. She likely could remember, once she spent a moment to ponder it, but didn’t seem in any hurry to do so.

“Don’t lie now, how many are you eating in yours?” I asked.

“Quite a few…” she groaned.

“Then I have nothing to be ashamed of,” I said, defending myself.

Renn huffed, but it was a happy one as she reached over and grabbed her tail. It was wrapped around my wrist, but she tugged it free… as if it had a mind of its own and hadn’t wanted to release me. She lifted it up a bit to her face, and I heard her sniff it.

Rolling over onto my side, I rested my head against a balled fist as I watched her study the tip of her tail… as if it was now dirty for having touched me or something. “You sure you’re okay with me leaving, Vim…?” Renn then asked while still half-hiding her face with her tail.

“No,” I answered truthfully. “But…” I stopped her from saying anything as I raised a hand lazily. “One cannot live in fear, Renn. The things that make you happy, truly happy, are your friends and family. So who am I to keep you from them?”

Her ears fluttered as her eyes narrowed. “Being with you makes me happiest, though?”

Why’s she got to say stuff like that here and now? “Going to stay then?”

“Not a chance!” she said as she happily smacked me with her tail.

Figured. “Just promise me you’ll only be a few days,” I said.

“Sure. Does this mean you’re going to not leave to help the Society, Vim…? Don’t you have some requests?” she asked, noting the fact I really didn’t like us separating at the moment. What with the gods threatening her and all.

I sighed at that. “I know… my hope was to somehow convince you to leave with me, but if you keep getting dazzled by everyone and everything that obviously isn’t going to happen,” I said. I didn’t just have a few requests, such as from Martin and others… but I also had some promises to fulfill. Berri and her family had wanted me to help them move closer, since Narli might still need assistance, for example.

“Dazzled?” she giggled at the word.

“Enjoy yourself, Renn. We’ll deal with the consequences later,” I said simply.

“You’re speaking as if I’m always causing trouble, so you just have given up trying to fix me,” she said.

“Actually it’s me who can’t be fixed,” I said.

“Oh, I bet you can…! It just takes a long time for you is all. Like how a stone gets all small and smooth in the river, you just need a few dozen years or so,” Renn teased.

Smiling at my wife who giggled at her own self, she again shook the tip of her tail at me in a playful way. As she did I heard a distant door open, somewhere on the other side of the building. Likely someone going to the bathroom, or something. Although a normal sound in the middle of the night, especially here where so many people lived under the same roof… it was an annoying reminder to the obvious.

We weren’t alone.

This wasn’t our home. I’ve yet to make it for her.

So not only had I not ensured her safety, by not destroying all the gods as I should have long ago… I also hadn’t done something as simple and basic as provide her with what was expected from a partner and husband. A safe place to live and call home.

Seems I was a failure in far more ways than ever, now. Maybe Liora’s dream, fake or misinterpreted or not, wasn’t wrong at all. Mother would indeed call me a failure here and now, wouldn’t she?

“So…? We could go on and on about the drama and worries… but your hours are short, Renn,” I said gently, warning her that the handful of hours she had started with had already diminished by one.

Renn’s ears fluttered as she hummed and glanced at the nearby window, it of course was still as dark as before… but I knew she could feel and tell I was right.

“You’re right… I’ve got a few things I want to talk about, before I leave…” she whispered as she decided to focus. She returned to under the blankets, this time a bit closer to me as she did.

Figured. As much as she enjoyed these moments, I knew this was also her way of wanting to ask certain things… odds are most of them were mundane, but a few might be rather important. Either way I’d answer them as best as I could, since they’d also keep me from doing something stupid myself.

“By the way… why’s Merit the one in the room above us?” I asked.

Renn giggled as she pulled the blankets back over her, getting comfortable once again. “I asked her to take it for me.”

“Why…?”

“Well, she’ll either sleep through the nights, snoring and not paying attention… or she’ll listen in for a bit and snoop on us. But I figured if anyone does it, at least it should be someone who won’t really tell anyone else what they heard,” Renn said.

I sighed at her line of reasoning. “Should have just chosen the mute.”

“Ah.”

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