? Grim collapsed into the plush cushions of the common area inside the guild hall, letting out a sigh of relief. Every muscle–even those he hadn’t known he had–was aching, and the remnants of his wounds itched fiercely in spite of being fully healed. He couldn’t muster the energy to scratch at them, let alone climb the stairs to find his bed.

  ? Many other guild members were in a similar state. The lucky few, like him, had managed to take a bath before dropping onto a sofa. The others were sprawled out across the floor, forming a dangerous network of arms and legs to avoid. He opened his eyes long enough to see a few healers walking among them, checking to see if any injuries needed tending to. Even as he watched, one man was picked up and carried off, his right arm heavily bandaged and favoring one leg.

  ? Glad he’d avoided such heavy injuries, Grim allowed his eyes to drift closed once more. He wasn’t quite sure he could sleep, what with the fresh essence currently roiling inside him. He was hungry too, and didn’t much like the idea of waking up with an aching stomach to match the rest of his body. So he just lay there for a little bit, waiting for some of his energy to return to finish his duties for the night.

  ? His body shook slightly as someone plopped down onto the sofa beside him, and it jolted him out of the half-awake state he’d been in. He lifted his eyelids to see a face peering into his own; two cinnamon-brown eyes under a furrowed brow. A thin pair of spectacles sat at the end of a slightly uplifted nose, at danger of slipping off with one sudden movement. Cute.

  ? “You alright, Grim? Want me to call a healer?”

  ? He recognized Maven’s voice, even in his daze. Then, with a lurch, his attention sharpened, and he realized it was Maven leaning over him. She had one knee planted on the sofa beside his, and her entire body was mere inches away from his own. He gave a small start of surprise. “Maven! I didn’t see you coming, sorry!”

  ? “Well of course you didn’t, half-conscious like that,” she retorted, and she brought her face a little closer. “Hmm. You don’t seem to be suffering any lingering effects.”

  ? “J-Just exhaustion,” he confirmed, trying and failing to suppress a huge yawn. He turned his head to the side, both to get a reprieve from the sudden closeness and to avoid breathing heavily right into her face. “What’s up?”

  ? “Oh, nothing. Just finished the mountain of paperwork this all brought up, and now I’m seeing if i can be of use somewhere. I’m no healer, but I’m sure I can do something.”

  ? “That’s kind of you,” he said, yawning again. “But I’m alright. Nothing a night or two of sleep won’t fix. ‘s matter of fact, I should get up to bed.”

  ? He tried to rise, then remembered her precarious position. She, however, wouldn’t hear of it, and pushed him back down into the sofa. Her furrow deepened as she looked him over once more. “Well, you took a bath at least. Have you eaten anything?”

  ? Weakly, he shook his head. She let out a sigh of exasperation and stood up. “Wait here. I mean it, don’t move. If I come back and you’ve gone upstairs, I’m breaking into your room.”

  ? He chuckled at that idea, then stopped, realizing she meant it. “Fine, fine. I’ll wait… here…”

  ? She came back within minutes–or it could have been over an hour. Time was hard to track at that moment. When she returned, she slid a hand behind his back and under one knee, pushing him into a more upright position. He was surprised at how strong she was. “Open your mouth.”

  ? “Huh? What are you-” He was cut off by something cold being shoved into his mouth, and nearly choking. Instinctively, he bit down and felt the food burst, flooding his mouth with a slightly sour juice. Grapes, he thought. After the long day of wading through the hot swamp, they tasted divine.

  ? He tried to rouse himself to eat, to tell her that she didn’t have to feed him, but she pointedly ignored him. After the grapes came a cup of cold coffee, revitalizing him a little. After that, he was more alert and acutely aware of the embarrassment–not to mention the stares of passing guildmates–as Maven continued to feed him by hand.

  ? “Alright,” he said weakly, shoving off her attempt to feed him a fourth round of food. “That’s enough. Thank you.”

  ? She frowned thoughtfully at him for a few seconds, then shoved the warm biscuit she’d been holding into his mouth anyway. “I’ll decide when it’s enough. Don’t argue with me, Grim. I’ll make your life a living hell.”

  ? “I don’t know, this is pretty peaceful so far,” he mumbled, finally giving in to her care. At least it wasn’t anything too awkward. “Being handfed by… Well, thanks. It’s helping a lot.”

  ? He half-expected her to be annoyed with his view on the matter. But to his surprise, she merely smiled. “Good. Obey me, and life can be pretty good.”

  ? “Yes mam.”

  ? She glanced around the room for a few minutes as he finished chewing his way through the biscuit, watching the other exchanges. Grim stole a glance too, but the exhaustion had already started to claim him again, so he couldn’t take in much. All he knew was the heavy weight of sleep pressing in on him, and the faint flowery scent of Maven’s hair as she settled onto the sofa beside him.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  —

  Grim awoke slowly, conscious of the sound of low chatter in the common area. Someone had let the fire die down, and its failing, flickering light was nearly outshone by the candles shining through the windows from the yard outside. That was also the source of most of the chatter, he thought. How long had he slept? It still looked dark outside, so it couldn’t have been that long. As he stretched, he became aware of two things. First, the aches in his body didn’t seem to have lessened while he slept. If anything, they seemed more severe.

  ? The second was the weight pressing down on him. A mass of bushy, light-brown hair, and the sound of breathing. His heart paused as he recognized Maven, half-sprawled across his chest, her arms wrapped snugly around his torso. When the hell had that happened? He noticed that one of his arms was around her shoulders as well. A small flare of panic rose in his chest, as if he’d been caught doing something indecent.

  ? Shadowy, indistinct figures still moved through the room at odd intervals. He thought he recognized a few faces, but nobody paid him any mind. A small voice in the back of his mind said that, if Maven had stayed there, she wouldn’t be too angry at how it had ended. Right? Still, best to play it safe. He carefully reached for the edge of the blanket he’d found and pulled it over her shoulders. He tried to wriggle free then, to leave her to sleep in peace, but her arms tightened around his chest, holding him firmly in place.

  ? Laughing quietly, he simply patted her awkwardly on the back and did his best to relax. In spite of the nerves that came with her using him as a pillow, he found that sleep was quick to return. It was kind of relaxing, being held by someone and holding them in return. He stuck to that thought as he drifted off again, his mind full of the flowery scent of her hair.

  —

  ? When he next awoke, it was to a painful thump to his head. Disoriented, he opened his eyes to see Miranda leaning over him, her hair in disarray and grinning so widely that her eyes were reduced to slits. “My, my, Grim. Took the very first chance you got, didn’t you? Look at you two. So comfy, curled up under that blanket.”

  ? Too tired and bruised to entertain her teasing at the moment, he made a shooing gesture. “It’s too early, Miranda. Leave me alone.”

  ? “Oh, no no,” she said, laughing. “Not after I’ve seen this cute little tableau. You owe me an explanation. After all the trouble I went through to give you a hand, and you don’t even thank me?”

  ? Maven stirred slightly on his chest, her head lifting to reveal her barely open eyes. They had a hint of green in them in the bright sunlight that filled the room, he thought, mesmerized by the sight. She blinked sleepily at him, then to the side and up, where they met Miranda’s leer. “Oh. Morning, Miranda.”

  ? “More like mid-day,” the icy woman cackled. “You lovebirds slept through breakfast. Thought I’d wake you if you wanted lunch.”

  ? “Loveb-” Maven looked back around at Grim, then down at his chest, where her arms were clearly holding him in place. She was an amusing sight, looking between his chest and his eyes. Then she let out a small squeak and retracted her arms, shooting up into a sitting position. She stumbled slightly as she clambered off the sofa, and paused only long enough to offer a slightly muffled ‘morning!’ before racing off, her face bright red.?

  ? Miranda watched her leave with her grin still in place, then turned back to Grim. “I’ll understand if you, ah, need a minute before getting up. Make sure you’re… calmed down.”

  ? He hurled the pillow he’d been using at her face, but she ducked it easily, cackling louder, then sauntered away. He pushed himself into a sitting position, then yawned and stretched again, preparing for the pain of his sore and tired muscles protesting. But, to his surprise, he found that, apart from the usual stiffness that came with an unfamiliar sleeping position, he didn’t hurt at all. Had someone giving him a healing touch before he woke?

  ? Deciding to shelve the matter for later, he got off the sofa and made his way toward the eating hall. The energy was considerably higher than he would have expected the day after such a long night of fighting. Nearly everyone he saw was laughing with each other, and toasts rang out so often that they were already well past coherent, or even jovial. Insults flew just as often as cheers, and he was almost expecting a food fight to break out at any second.

  ? He chose a quieter table toward the edge of the room and slumped into it. Somehow, even the short walk from the common room to this table had drained what little energy he had, despite his body feeling fine. He was ravenous too, and almost drooled on the table when one of Frankie’s helpers appeared before him. The woman set a plate piled with pasta and chicken in front of him, smiling as he snatched it closer toward him and digging in.

  ? He was lost to the food for a while, uninterested in the goings on in the mess hall. The sauce that coated the noodles was thick and creamy, and tasted like a kind of cheese. He wasn’t sure if it was his empty stomach or tired brain, but he was sure he’d never tasted anything so delicious. Then, quite without meaning to, he remembered the grape that Maven had fed him last night and paused in the middle of devouring his meal, feeling his face flush.

  ? Someone settled into the seat next to him, and he caught another whiff of that faint flower scent. Maven. Stealing a glance to the side, he saw that she’d dressed in day clothes, a simple set of green robes that matched her eyes perfectly. She offered a quiet word of thanks as a plate was set before her, but she didn’t start eating immediately. That was odd, given her prodigious appetite. Was something upsetting her? It wasn’t him… right?

  ? “I’m… sorry,” she said, after a moment of awkward silence. “Sorry for falling asleep on you. I was just… I was super tired. And I didn’t think you’d mind… But that’s just my assumption, and I should have asked before-”

  ? “‘S Alright,” he said through a mouthful of noodles. Then, realizing how rude that was, he hurriedly swallowed his food, and for good measure, swiped at his face with a napkin. “I mean, I thought you’d be embarrassed when you woke up, so I didn’t want to startle you. I… didn’t mind at all.”

  ? The shadow of a smile flickered across her face, but she still kept her eyes focused on the plate she refused to touch. “Right. Well, I’m not… embarrassed.”

  ? “Duly noted.” He wasn’t sure what else to offer. The silence had started awkward, and now it was almost painful. Deciding he should say more, he forced out, “Thank you for taking care of me last night and making sure I ate something. It was… nice. I haven’t had anyone to care in a really long time.”

  ? She only nodded her acceptance of his thanks, offering no actual words. Then, after another half minute of silence, she reached forward to pick up her fork and began eating. That’d have to do for now, he thought. If they wanted to delve further into the topic, it could happen later. Once they were both fed, got more rest, and maybe even had time to digest it. He knew he’d been extremely comfortable once the nerves had faded, and wished that the next day hadn’t come so quickly.

  ? But that’d have to wait for a later discussion. Still, he made a mental note to take her on another date, and as soon as possible.