“Welcome home, Lapis.”

My grandfather always said, “What sets man apart from the beast is their willingness to repeat stupid courses of action until such actions are no longer stupid.”

I think I finally understand that today, standing on the threshold of a place where I will inevitably be eaten.

“Uh. Yeah. Hi! I’m… I’m home!” I whisper, stepping inside of the apartment a few paces.

I shake my head of stupid thoughts and attempt to smile. No matter the spider’s web I am in, he is right, this is now my home, and I shall make it my castle.

“Do you have anything else? Is it outside? Do you want me to bring it up for you?” He asks me, proving once again that he has some gentle-manner.

“There are two more in the car. Is that okay?” I accept.

“Well, I cleared out the left-hand chest of drawers for you, and there is space in the wardrobe for some things. I’m sorry if it’s not much space; I can get some more storage in a couple of days if you need it. But this happened quite suddenly for the both of us, didn’t it?”

It rather did. I look up and realise he is pointing over his shoulder.

“Right. Thank you.” I reply.

He passes by me, being careful to leave a good foot of space. Even though its rude, I exhale in relief as he passes out of the door. Lily might be right. I hope so.

I hope he won’t resent me for not having much. I mean; a fourth daughter is fed and kept well enough, but compared to sister Ruby, I have very little. After all, why bother with paying for a weak daughters’ things when a more powerful sibling exists? I am sure he’ll come to regret not asking father for more dowry; but there is not much I can do about that now.

Huh? It smells good in here. Tomatoes, basil and other spices? He was cooking? He can cook? Right; the profile photos had him barbequing. But the table is set for two. He made me some lunch!

Goodness… that’s right, in smaller households, doesn’t the wife cook!? I never even considered that. I wouldn’t know a ladle from a spatula!

Oh no… maybe six pancakes were a bad plan!?!

I groan, and roll my suitcase into the indicated doorway, but as I go inside, I freeze shock still again. Yes Lapis; you idiot, the bedroom and storage are not separate spaces either. Why do you keep expecting to walk through doors and find manor houses?

But I’m mostly shock still because this is the bedroom. His bedroom. I blush furiously for a moment at the thought that here is… but no… I had that kiss on the sofa. It doesn’t have to be here. Everywhere. Everywhere that could fit two bodies. I know I’m just insanely paranoid but… Uuuuuu…

“Lapis?”

AHHHHH! I practically jump out of my skin.

I don’t understand how, but I’m now staring at his face, cradled up to his chest like I’m home in a different sense. And all my stupid cotton filled head can think of is ‘its warm!’ and ‘you should kiss again!’.

AHAFAGAGAHHAHAH? What is wrong with you? Are you just an insane pervert, Lapis!?

Before steam starts to come out my ears; he sets me back on my feet.

“Don’t worry, by the way. I know it’s a single bed right now. You can sleep there by yourself, I changed out the sheets, and you can close the door for privacy. I promise you I won’t ever come in without knocking. Like I said before, I wasn’t prepared for this in slightest.”

He scratches his cheek whilst I try to get my overheating brain to process this information.

“Y-Y-you won’t be sleeping with me?”

He goes wide eyed.

WHY WAS THAT THE FIRST THING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT LILY WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!

He clears his throat. “Now, Lapis, don’t take this the wrong way, but uh… you’re very dangerous, you know?”

OH THANK THE GODS ABOVE. He understands me!

I crouch down on the floor and go into a foetal position. He looks concerned, and rightly so.

“I know. My friends told me the same thing.” I squeak. “I’m not! It’s not! Not my intent to be so… suggestive! But its… it just keeps happening. Its not your fault at all that I keep giving out all these pervy signals! I! Just… WHAT AM I EVEN SAYING?”

“Hah… thank goodness.” He says.

What? I peer up at him.

“That makes a lot more sense.” He nods, and then he chuckles. “I haven’t said anything false to you so far, and I’ll try not to in the future. I will only do whatever you’re… no… what we’re both comfortable with. It’s already been a shocking day for me, as it has been for you as well, I’m sure. We’ll take it one step at a time. Is that okay for you?”

I’m speechless. Who even thinks like that?

“At least, for me…” he continues. “Perhaps we can start by having a chat. I hardly even know you. And we need to start there, if we’re ever going to live in the same place for any length of time. So; do you want some lunch?”

I have no idea what is going on, honestly. But I don’t dislike what he’s saying. We shared a kiss before even a few hundred words. That’s the normal way of things for a mage’s wife, but now he says it that way…

“I’d like that, I think.” I stand up, and he smiles.

. . .

I have never tasted this dish before. Jim calls it Arrabiata, but no Arrabiata I have ever experienced would ever be this simple. It has a mild spicy, sweetness. The rice is plain. It would never pass merit for a second from our old family chef.

And yet, I can’t stop putting my spoon into my mouth. Does all food have to be an orchestra of flavour? I guess it doesn’t; but had I not tasted this, I would never have questioned such a simple thing.

Whilst I eat, I swap questions with Jim. Simple, strange questions with simple answers. He asks me things no one ever asks me; what colour I like most (Blue, duh!), who’s my favourite actor (Simona Sharpe, I was shocked Jim never heard of her), what the best thing about cats was (their purring) and why I like Hyper-Tennis (I don’t but its by far the best way to exercise for Mage girls).

And simultaneously, I also learnt lots of things I didn’t know about him. He likes cooking (thank goodness!), reading mystery books (the one he talked about sounded dumb, they didn’t even get a diviner mage in to check!), and he also likes cats a lot (good!).

Afterwards, he cleaned up the dishes himself. It made me realise Donna did quite a lot of things that maybe I used to be aware of, but now dismiss.

Does that make me a bad person? I don’t know.

And then, we simply continued talking, whilst sat on the sofa. Apart from sleepovers with Kris; I don’t know if there is ever a time in my life where I have just talked so much to a single person.

“Why did you become a doctor, Jim?” I finally get to this one. It has been nagging me now for a while.

“Haha! It’s pretty dumb! When I five, I fell from a climbing frame and I broke my leg. I went to hospital to get it fixed.”

“There wasn’t a necromancer you could see? They can usually fix bone breaks, right?” I ask the obvious.

“Ah… well, no. Remember, I was a… normie.” He has a strange expression.

Of course; it would have cost a lot for his family. The ones who can do that have quite high power.

“Anyway; it was painful, but there was a really kind doctor there. I hated him at first; he couldn’t make it better straight away, but he came to check me three times a day and always had a smile on his face. For some reason, I grew to think that he was really cool and wanted to be like him. He didn’t have to be kind to everyone, or go around seeing them all, but he did it anyway. I wanted to be like that, helping out people who were hurt or sick, making their day a little better. If even one has a better day because of that, then I think I’ve done a good job. Pretty dumb, eh?”

“No. I think that’s really admirable, actually.” I smile. I really do mean it. He shuts his eyes.

“Thanks.” He chuckles. I look into at the picture on the far wall. He is graduating from university with one of those silly hats. Now I’m married, maybe I can do the same someday. Ah; after I’ve had his child, of course. I couldn’t abandon my duty. I’ll never be a new Seria Sesshouin, but perhaps I can study Magical Engineering. That would be nice. Maybe Fran will join me?

That doctor in his story; must not have had magic either. He called it a hospital, but he must have meant a clinic in the slums. There is so much about the world that I’m ignorant about, isn’t there? Those without magic; its easy to forget them; but they must suffer quite a lot, even with technology to help them.

“When did your latent power manifest, Jim?” I ask.

But there is no answer. I look to my left, and his eyes are still closed, his chest gently rising.

My husband is sleeping.

And I realise in that moment, he is not just a man, but a person. He has dreams, thoughts, preferences, experiences, memories.

I smile wryly. Well, duh! Course he does!

But I think, all my life, I’ve been reminded constantly what my duty as a woman is. And so, the idea of my husband has been lifted onto a pedestal. A man is someone who you will bear children with, and follow the orders of, and in time, perhaps respect and understand, but nothing more.

But that’s not true at all. At least not here. Perhaps, because this man has already come from below, he can stand with me, rather than above me?

All my fears from today evaporate with that simple thought. I stand, stretch, unfold a blanket from the footstool, and sit back down using it to cover both of us, sharing it with him. Then I pick up my phone, and start to type in my diary about today.

This is… ‘snuggling’, right?

It’s nice.