A/N: It looks like I'm starting two long stories (besides DIWK; check it out if you haven't read it) to challenge myself, but I don't know how that's going to go. So I don't know how often I'll update this. Be prepared for any time ranging from two days to… two decades. I'm sorry in advance. This just a one-shot originally for my story Carefree (so much promo) but my friend and I thought it would be a fun idea if I turned it into something more. So here it is. I hope you like it. :)
Will woke up to heavy rain that day. In the morning it fluctuated back and forth from a downpour to a light sprinkle, then finally blew east sometime in the afternoon. By the early evening, the ground was still soaked and the air was reeking with humidity. Wouldn't be fun traveling through that, Will thought, feeling sorry for Alyss.
Neither of them knew when she would get there, and with the ground so wet, maybe it would delay her even more. She told him she'd be there "whenever she finished her work", and it was kind of hard to tell when that would be. Will finished his day early so he could clean up. He lit a few candles, made sure all the sheets on his bed were washed, and checked that the flowers he had placed decoratively around the room were in full bloom, all besides the normal housekeeping.
The sun was going down and bringing with it that beautiful time between sunset and dusk, twilight. The lines of trees turned as dark as shadows, hiding under the cover of orange and pink colors that swept over the sky like brush strokes. Will was done making dinner and setting the table, and Alyss still wasn't there when the sun disappeared under the horizon.
Will knew he should be worried. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't feel like anything bad was going to happen. Maybe that was a good sign, he thought. His intuition was telling him this time that everything was fine and she was just late, so why should he be worried?
Then he laughed at himself as soon as he thought that. Alyss would probably make fun of him for being so easygoing about a potentially dangerous situation. He'd done it before. Finally, when he was done laughing at himself, he decided to trust his intuition that night until he found a reason not to. So he waited. Patiently, or not so patiently.
Then she happened to get there during the only time he was out.
Will bought too many carrots for their dinner, and instead of putting the rest away for later, he decided to give some to Tug. Will had learned to not give Tug so many snacks since his apprentice days, but once in awhile it didn't hurt.
He went out to the stables. Tug looked happy to see him, and he padded up to him excitedly. It could've been the carrots in Will's hand, though.
"Now don't get used to this," Will mumbled, rubbing and patting Tug on the neck as he ate. "You deserve something like this sometimes."
Tug nodded his head and whinnied, but not in a reply. That was a signal. Somebody was approaching the cabin, and it wasn't an enemy.
Will grinned. The quiet sound of a horse approaching the cabin reached him, but instead of running out to meet her, he ducked into the corner of darkness in the back of the stables. He got a glimpse of her riding up, just enough to know that yes, it was Alyss. His heart leapt. When she left his line of sight, he crept out of the stables.
A plan formed in his mind.
Will emerged from the stables and saw his wife climbing off her horse, and walking up the porch steps. Her hair was pulled over one shoulder, over a short cloak covering her shoulders and a white dress that reached below her knees. He recognized her outfit as the regular courier uniform, so she'd come straight from work, but she looked as beautiful as she would dressed for a banquet.
Lucky him. Will found even before this night that when he was excited, it made him even quieter. It inspired him to move faster, and shoot straighter. He used it to is advantage whenever he could, like now. Adrenaline pumped through him until he was totally in control of his body and aware of every little movement he made, every beat of his heart.
Will timed his footsteps with hers. He took larger strides than her and by the time she was on the porch, he was directly behind her, just a few yards away.
He inched closer, and closer…
Alyss sensed someone was behind her, but in not enough time to turn around. Suddenly he leaped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, and she jumped in his arms.
"Will!" she exclaimed.
"My love." He grinned against her ear. It had been too long since he could be this close to her. The natural smell of her mixed with a little bit of perfume caressed his senses.
Alyss scoffed, finally calming herself down. Her heart was still racing. "Well that's not very fair," she said, a laugh shaping her voice. "I didn't stand a chance."
"Well, that's what you're here for, isn't it?" Will turned her around so she looked at him, holding her at the same distance as before. She smiled pointedly up at him, directly looking into his eyes. For a second it felt like they froze, like they could stop and start time at their leisure. Will wished that were the case.
"I missed you," he whispered, and Alyss didn't have to agree because she'd given him an answer. Her face was shining, overflowing with excitement; it said a thousand words more than what her lips could say. Her smile was so broad it made her face look fuller and flushed her cheeks a light red. Her eyes said 'I love you'.
But she did anyway. "I missed you, too," she said, and she cupped his face in her hands, and pulled him down to kiss him.
Will carried her bags in for her and put them in their room, even after she insisted she could do it herself. Alyss said she had waited to eat in case Will made something, so Will gestured for her to sit and they didn't waste any time starting dinner. Only then did Alyss notice the unopened bottle of wine in the middle of the table.
She smiled. Will never drank wine, or any kind of alcohol, so this was obviously for her.
He saw her take interest. "It's your favorite," he said, taking it to the counter to open and serve it.
"You went all out," Alyss said. She rested her chin on her hand, looking at the food at first, then turning her eyes up to the side of his face.
"I have to spoil you a little before I start cracking down," Will replied, a smile teasing him. "Enjoy it while it lasts." He poured her a glassful, but left his glass with just water.
With all this, Alyss almost forgot what she was there for. It felt like a date and not the start of a training camp.
Alyss was not there to flirt for three weeks and drink wine. She was there because, as good of a courier as she was, she would be even better if she had sharper self defense skills.
Pauline taught her how to use a knife, how to throw a knife, how to punch, and so on… What she had was enough for most of the situations she got into, but over time those skills had gotten a little rusty, and she knew that she had never been taught in the same minute detail that Will had.
It started when Alyss was ambushed on a mission. She survived, only because she happened to have a guard by her side, but even then it was too close of a call to consider it a win. She mentioned it to Will, and he was the one who suggested she could learn a few tricks from him. It would even be good practice for when Will got a real apprentice someday.
And then it was also an excuse to spend some time with Will. Some time, meaning three weeks. Three weeks was more than enough time for Alyss to learn some simple self-defense skills, but who needed to do the math?
"So, how has ranger life been going?" Alyss asked. Will was sitting across from her, now, and they were eating.
"It's been fine," Will said, eyes turned down to his food. "I've noticed that when you're a ranger, things are in absolute chaos or they're dead quiet. Right now it's quiet."
"It's like that for us, too. Just wait for the chaos. It's coming."
He chuckled. "Yup, I'm on the edge of my seat."
After the delicious food, they decided to talk more on the couch. Alyss took her wine glass and sat next to Will, an arm draped around her protectively. They didn't need a fire when it was summer, and Alyss got all the warmth she needed from the body next to her.
Outside, the sun had finally set, and the cabin was enshrouded in darkness. Will and Alyss were safely inside, the only things untouched by the lack of light. The windows of the cabin were the only lights within miles; rangers always had to be aware that if somebody were tracking them down, the cabin would be an obvious target during nighttime. Will kept that in mind this night, but his intuition still kept telling him that everything was fine.
At some point during dinner he mentioned his intuition to Alyss. She did just what he expected: she laughed at him. But it didn't change; nothing ever felt wrong. It was quite the opposite.
"So… what kind of things are we going to do?" Alyss asked.
"I was thinking just a little knife defense," said Will. "Knife throwing, close-quarters combat, maybe some lessons in stealth. I don't think you'll need to know archery, but we might touch on it."
Thinking about it just made Alyss more eager for the next day. She enjoyed combat more than she let on sometimes. "Sounds great," she said.
"And, you know…" Will turned his head enough to meet her eyes. "This makes you my apprentice, doesn't it? Temporarily," he added.
"Yeah, technically."
"Technical temporary apprentice."
"Yup."
"Well, I was thinking, how about you borrow my bronze oakleaf I wore as a kid?"
Her eyebrows rose. Will went on, "That, or I can get you a brand new one. When you 'graduate'," he quoted with his fingers, "I can get you your own silver oakleaf."
"Silver is for rangers," Alyss said. "I won't be a ranger when I 'graduate'," she quoted, "I'll just be really good at stabbing people."
Will laughed. "You will. And you're right, maybe we can find something in between."
"My own cloak?"
"No, that's for rangers. And don't couriers have cloaks?" he asked. She'd walked in with one that day.
"Yeah, but…" Alyss pouted, looked away and took a sip of her wine. "It's not nearly as cool as yours," she mumbled.
Will's shoulders shook with laughter. He pulled her closer with the arm draped over the edge of the couch. "When you're practicing I might give you my cloak," he said. "Just for fun."
"Thanks."
"And now that I think about it, you're gonna borrow my bronze oakleaf anyway, so why don't you just keep it after you graduate?"
Alyss stared at him like he was mad. "No, I can't do that," she said in disbelief. "That's yours. It's important to you."
"And so are you."
Alyss blushed. She tried to look away again, but enough of her didn't want to that she stayed and just scooted closer to his chest. She leaned forward, and gave him a kiss that barely missed his lips. "I love you," she said. "Still…"
"I can buy you another bronze oakleaf. I'll get it engraved."
"That sounds good."
"Good. And I love you too."
He bent his head down to kiss her again, and it lasted longer than just a moment. Will could taste a little bit of the wine on her lips, but this time he didn't mind. He even liked it. The kiss got deeper and longer and then Alyss pulled back.
"How will this work?" she asked. "I mean, when I'm training, are we still going to act like husband and wife, or do we have to be professional about it?"
She was still close enough to feel Will grinning against her cheek. "Three weeks of pretending we're not married…" Will mumbled, "that sounds terrible. No, this doesn't change a thing."
Alyss was relieved. "Good," she said, and she pushed their lips together again.
That night, Alyss understood perfectly what Will meant when he said his intuition told him everything was alright. Suddenly she wasn't worried about how stressful the training would be. She surprised herself by being, in fact, excited for it.
Alyss expected to be exhausted by the end of the day, barely able to walk, but Will knew firsthand how difficult it was so he would understand and wouldn't push her too hard. And if she couldn't walk, Will would carry her.
She went to bed that night anticipating the next day, Will's arm around her, and a bronze oakleaf laying on her chest.