Authors Notes: Hello all! Thanks for clicking on my story and reading! This will be a multi chapter fic. It takes place about 6 months after my other one-shot I posted, A New Level. I want to update as often as I can, but irl seems to always get in the way. This story has its rating because of violence and a bit of lemon down the road...if you don't like lemon, I will be warning of it and will give you the ability to skip it if you like to. I will say, however, that my lemon tends to be more smut with feeling and less of the smut for smut's sake. Thanks for reading and any reviews...I really do love and appreciate them. I have no beta reader, so if you find mistakes I apologize.

I wanted to write this as a short introductory chapter, just to set the tone for their relationship. This particular chapter was inspired by a piece of fan art. It can be found here /pin/560064903654257410/?source_app=android

It was a normal day in the Ainsworth household. Silky was in the kitchen making breakfast, her action sending the smell of breakfast meats and pancakes throughout the entire house. Elias was in the tub and Chise, who was always the first one of the couple awake, had already taken her bath for the day and was drying her hair in the mirror. She stood in just her fluffy terrycloth robe. As she went from drying to brushing her hair, Elias stood in the tub and used his foot to remove the stopper from the drain. Though they had been together for four years now and she saw him naked frequently, the sight still gave her butterflies in her stomach. Why did he have to be so damn breath-taking? Not that she was complaining, mind you. She honestly felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Not only was he loving and caring and a complete gentleman, but he was incredibly sexy and had an amazingly well-built body. Sometimes it took all her control not to act like a besotted schoolgirl around him. On top of all that, he treated her like she was the most precious thing in the world, he spoiled her with love and affection, he spent a considerable amount of time worrying for and about her, he had quite literally saved her life. She felt like she should be the one putting him on a pedestal, not the other way around.

Elias finished drying himself and wrapped his large towel around his waist, he made his way to the double counter that Chise was at. She gave him a small smile and he felt his heart twinge with his favorite emotion, love for her. He found her to be the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. It wasn't just her glorious verdant eyes, soft flame-colored hair, or creamy porcelain skin; those he did find drawing his eyes and compelling him to stare at her in quiet adoration. No, what he found most beautiful about his wonderful Robin was her heart and soul. Whatever god, in heaven or on earth, had deemed to bless him with Chise's daily presence in his life he was eternally grateful to. His life hadn't been very meaningful, in his opinion, until he had made the spur of the moment decision to buy her at the auction house that fateful day. Now he had a purpose and a reason to leave bed every morning and she stood before him, slowly running a brush through her hair. Pulling his eyes away from her, he looked into the mirror. Taking a cloth in his hand he started the meticulous work of drying all the nooks and crannies of his skeletal face. He found the necessary activity extremely tedious and a tiresome chore.

Chise glanced over at him and could tell from the set of his shoulders and the look in his eyes that he wasn't enjoying what he was doing. Most people had a hard time reading him, since he didn't have the ability to make facial expressions like everyone else. He didn't have skin on his face to do so, after all. But, she seemed to never have a problem reading him. She figured it had something to do with their closeness and how much she loved him.

"Does that get tiring to you?"

He looked down at her, "Mmm, at times. Yes."

She gave him a thoughtful look before putting down her brush, grabbing his unoccupied hand in her own, and giving him a small tug. "Come here."

He had learned fairly early on with Chise to just go along with her and discover along the way what she had planned, so he obediently followed her. She was leading him out of the bathroom and back to their bedroom. She then stopped when they reached the bed.

"Lay down. Oh, and make sure you lay in the middle of the bed."

"May I inquire as to why?"

"Just do it." She gave him a little shove at the small of his back and, as he crawled up on to the bed and laid on his belly, she took the cloth out of his hand.

He couldn't see her for a few seconds, since she was standing outside of his peripheral vision, but she came into view as she sat against the headboard, cloth still in hand. He was taken aback when she leaned forward and started drying his face in the same way that he had been in the mirror. It felt very nice indeed on the sensitive bone of his face and his eyes showed his enjoyment by forming a crescent shape, a soft, almost inaudible purr escaping his throat.

She smiled at him and leaned forward a bit more to plant a small kiss on the part of his face she had just finish drying. "I figured you would enjoy me doing this a lot more than doing it yourself, but I had to have you lay down, your too tall."

Her other hand was braced on the bed in front of his snout and he slipped his tongue out from behind his teeth to lightly run it over her wrist, his imitation of a kiss. He sighed contentedly, "It is indeed quite enjoyable, and I very much appreciate it."

Once she had finished his whole face, she scooted herself forward on the bed and began moving the cloth over his long, spiraled horns. A deeper purr resonated from his throat. She knew that his horns were very sensitive and that he loved it when she would trail her hands along them when they laid in bed. She figured that having this much attention paid to them must be very pleasurable for him. She placed a kiss at the space between his horns and moved to his other side to take care of the other horn.

Elias had to admit to himself that having Chise pamper him a bit was very pleasant. He knew that there were times that she struggled to show affection since she had spent so much of her life being shown none. He had made it one of his missions in their relationship to pamper her as much as he could. But, it was nice to have it reciprocated. He was a bit disappointed that it would soon end, since it seemed she was almost done with the other horn. That's why it was a bit of a surprise to him when she set the cloth down next to him and moved out of his line of sight again. What was she up to?

That question was answered quickly when he felt her put each of her knees along his sides, straddling his lower back, and sit on his rear. He was surprised but intrigued and lifted his head a bit to crane his neck, hoping to look at what she was doing. She gave him a light smirk, put her hand on his head, and pushed it back down to the pillow.

"Just lay there and relax."

Chise had been enjoying how relaxed and comfortable Elias had seemed. He always took such good care of her and always made her feel special, she wanted to do the same for him. She had been given a spark of inspiration when she saw how he disliked drying his face himself. Why not do it for him? And, while she was at it, why not pamper him a bit? He always did things like that for her and she liked the idea of returning the attention he was always so ready to give her. Leaning forward, she ran her hands softly up the center of his back, to his shoulders. She followed the lines of his muscles, pushing into them until she felt the tension in them melt away. As she worked her way down his back, she placed little kisses along his spine.

Elias groaned and sighed at the relaxation that settled into his back where ever her hands had been. He had never really experienced anything like that. He had not been touched much in his long life and certainly not in such an intimate way. Most humans were uncomfortable with just shaking his hand. To think that Chise, who had been treated so terrible before coming to his home, was not only willing but initiated such contact was a profound thought to him. It caused a warm feeling to fill his whole body, a feeling it had taken him far too long to recognize as love. When it had finally occurred to him, it had been a revelation and it had changed their relationship. Being able to truly reciprocate the emotions she had expressed to him had been almost shattering, certainly it had been life altering.

He felt a sudden need to pull her to him and show her just much she meant to him. So, he did. Flipping onto his side, he grabbed Chise by the waist and laid her on the bed. He then leaned over her and ran his hand through her hair. She made a small squeak of surprise that was quickly muffled by his tongue, which slide out from behind his teeth and slipped behind hers. It had become the only way they could kiss while he was in his current form, and it had become her favorite way too. After a few moments of moving around her mouth, he pulled away, giving her the opportunity to breath.

"Elias, were you not enjoying your massage?"

His jaw chittered softly, and a small chuckle escaped his throat, "Of course I was enjoying it. I was just showing you my appreciation."

She ran her hand along the underside of his jaw, lightly scratching. It was something that always felt very nice to him and elicited a purr from deep in his throat. She adored that purr, it always vibrated through her and made her toes curl. "I'm glad you liked it. You always take such good care of me, I thought it might be nice to reciprocate."

"Hhmm, it's my job to take care of you. It just happens to be my most favorite job." He made a small, disgruntled noise in his throat when he heard the clock in the hall chime. "Chise, I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of the day laying her with you, but I have that delivery to make in the village."

She smiled at him, "Oh that right, that old lady who is really sick, you said you would take her medication directly to her. I guess it just can't be helped." The last sentence was said with mock sadness, though her smile still lit her face.

Nuzzling her head one last time Elias stood and started getting dressed, "What do you have planned for today?"

Chise had stood and started to dress as well, "I have some gardening to do. I also want to harvest a few things for drying that are running low."

"That is much appreciated, Chise. Just make sure you drink plenty of water, it is supposed to be a bit warm today."

She gave him a teasingly, exasperated look, "Yes, yes, I know."

"Let's go down to breakfast before Silky and Ruth think we are sleeping in and he eats it all."

"Good idea. Knowing him, he would."

Laughing, hand in hand, the two made their way down the stairs and to the kitchen.