"Do you have to leave in the morning?" Trailing one finger up from Casey's bare elbow to her shoulder, Derek drinks the other elf in. In the past hour or so, he's found that he loves to explore her body. He's used to smooth skin in bed. With Casey, his finger rises and dips around faded scars. As he explores, he looks for any fresh marks, worried about her always.

As the question leaves his lips, though, he hates himself a bit for asking. Casey doesn't seem to mind, though, smiling up at him through lidded eyes. "Yes."

"I thought you would say that."

"I'm sorry."

He shakes his head, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead, smoothing out the furrowed brow. "Don't be. I know you have things to do, people depending on you, lives to save." It didn't stop his wanting, though, or the ache at the thought of her leaving again. Especially now that they had reached this point. "I shouldn't have asked."

"This is probably really unfair to you." Casey gestures at their naked bodies, intertwined at the legs. "Even more so when you take into account that I come and go without any real schedule, and my visits here are always so brief."

Derek thinks about telling her. The words are on the tip of his tongue, but he decides to wait. They'll address it in the morning. "I assume you got my letter."

Humming, Casey leans off the bed to dig through her discarded clothes and equipment. When she hauls herself back up, adjusting the blanket over her middle, she triumphantly waves a bit of parchment in his face. Clearing her throat-with more dramatics than strictly necessary-Casey reads," 'I have a deep adoration for your resilience and your spirit. Moreover, I adore you. I have scarcely stopped thinking of you since the date we met and I-'"

She laughs, stretching her arms to keep Derek from reaching the letter he's just lunged for. No need for him to hear his words read back to him. Still laughing, she shoves him away. 'You may be aware of my reputation, and though I maintain it is largely exaggerated, where there is truth in those stories, I no longer wish such a life.' Derek," she swats his reaching hands away. Hearing his name like that sends a strange shiver down his spine, and perhaps it's time for round three. "This is mine, and I'm reading. Stop, we're at my favorite part."

Pouting, Derek falls back on his bed. "I know what it says. I wrote it."

Ignoring him, she reads on. "' I no longer wish such a life. For you, I would be nothing but devoted. Even should you not feel the same, though I think you do, I am devoted and faithful to your memory." She drops the parchment on her lap, heaving a dramatic sigh. "You have such pretty words when you put ink to parchment."

"Thanks," he snorts, feeling a bit like she's poking fun.

"How come your mouth can't match it?"

She laughs when he pokes her in the side, shaking his head. "You find my words so pretty, and yet you did not write me back." It is a question he has, until this moment, refrained from asking. At first, they were much too busy, and then he was too afraid. However, it has sat in the back of his mind. His letter, Derek is confident, made clear his feelings for Casey. She, however, has yet to say anything back.

"Derek!" Casey shifts to sit up, not even bothering to cover herself with the sheet. Her hair, usually pulled back in a neat braid, spills over her shoulder and brushes against him as she leans to look at him, biting back a smile. "Why do you think I'm here?"

"You remembered the part in all those rumors where I'm good in bed."

That earns him a shove to the shoulder. "No," she insists, studying him closely. "I didn't write back because I didn't have time; I was in such a hurry to get back here to you."

This confession results in her face buried in her hands, and Derek gently pries them away. "I'm glad you're here."

"We'll work on you learning to show proper gratitude."

"Proper grat—" Derek gapes at her, and it is his turn to gesture at their naked forms. "I'm sorry, but did I not just show you how happy I am to see you? Twice!"

She fixes him with a coy smile, shrugging one shoulder. "I've had better."

"You—" floundering, he tugs Casey flush against him, rolling over so he can hover over her. Insulted (and strangely aroused) beyond measure, Derek sets about to prove her wrong. "Better," he scoffs between kisses, exploring her body with his lips, taking his time to cover every. Single. Inch.

There's a good chance she's toying with him. Regardless, by the end of the night, he's going to have every curve and scar memorized. More importantly, Casey will not remember "better" when he's through.

Breathless laughter turns into quiet panting, her fingers fisting in his hair. "Derek," she gasps when he lingers between her legs but doesn't stay. Casey tries pulling him back, tugging him by the roots of his hair.

He's moved onto her thigh at this point, laughing breathlessly against her skin. "So demanding. Who died and made you royalty? Be patient, princess."

The rest of the evening follows in a similar vein. Needless to say, neither of them sleep much.

In the morning, Derek wakes to find Casey sliding from the bed and, more importantly, his arms. "Shh." She smiles down at him, smoothing his hair out of his eyes. She bends to start gathering her clothes. "I didn't mean to wake you." Her tone is soft, gentle as if to lull him back to sleep.

There's something important, though, that Derek's forgetting. "You're leaving?" He manages, confused.

Casey leans over and kisses his forehead, then his lips. "I'll come back as soon as I can."

Derek wipes the sleep from his eyes. "Wait," he mutters. He knew she'd be leaving today; he hadn't expected it to be so early. What was so important? It catches up with him, and he scrambles to sit up with more urgency. "Wait!"

"I have to get going." But she doesn't move to leave or dress.

"No, I know." He manages to get to a sitting position, wiping a palm down his face as he examines his room. Maybe he should have raised the issue last night. "I'm coming with."

She blinks at him. "What? You can't—Derek, this isn't a decision you can make on a whim."

"It's not a whim. I just forgot to mention it last night."

She stands there naked and with wide eyes, watching him dress. "Overnight is not enough time—"

"Casey." Derek stops, striding over to cup her face in his hands. It feels right, natural. He can read the worry in her eyes. "I decided this before you left the last time. I've been training Emily to run the inn."

"I—what?"

He grins. Loves seeing her speechless. "I'm coming with you."

"I can't ask you to give up your inn, your life." Even as she says it, her eyes have brightened, her smile taking over her face. She may not feel like she can ask, but this is something Derek wants to give her.

"You're not asking, and I'm not giving anything up. It's still mine, only I won't be there for the day-to-day." He pulls his bag—already packed and ready—out of his trunk. Casey laughs when she sees it.

"But—"

"I could never ask you to give up this life. I have no problem living dangerously. I want this, I want to be with you, as long as you're okay with me coming with."

Nodding, Casey starts to dress, pulling her clothes on in a hurry.

"Great." Derek nods, too. "And you swing this way periodically, so I can check in. Emily is prepared. It's all taken care of."

She beams at him. "You planned for this."

"I did. Granted," Derek attempts to fix her with a stern look, but he's too happy and smiling too much for it to have much of an effect, "I didn't expect you to be gone for so long."

"We traveled a bit further out than we had been the last few times." Hands perched on her (unfortunately) clothed hips, Casey studies him carefully. "And you're sure about this? Let me see what you have packed."

"Casey."

"Derek."

"I'm not going into this blind, I promise. When I mentioned it to Sam and Ralph—"

"What? When?"

"—they," Derek continues, ignoring her, "thought I would make a great addition to the team. Said they could use someone with better negotiating skills who knows how to lie."

Pouting, she crosses her arms. "I know how to lie." A beat. "And negotiate!"

"Sure, yeah, I know. But I'm better at it."

She snorts, resuming the hunt for her belongings. "Is that something you really want to be bragging about right now?"

"Yes. It's a skill for the job I'm applying for, separate from our relationship. Why are you making this so difficult?" It's clear the idea of him going is something she wants, something that makes her happy. Why argue with him?

She pauses, fingering the straps of her backpack. "I don't know. I guess… I guess I'm worried you'll go and grow sick of it too quickly, then you'll regret coming with."

"Are you afraid I'll get sick of adventuring, or I'll grow tired of you?"

Her head snaps toward him. At first, he thinks it's anger, and he misread the situation, but then he registers the surprise on her face. "Both?"

"You're a terrible liar." Derek can't help but laugh. He sobers immediately, though. "I'm not going to get sick of you. I've spent the last, I don't know how many months, wishing that I could be spending more time with you. If I'm honest, I've been playing with this idea for a lot longer than your last visit."

The packing begins again. Casey is avoiding his gaze, taking care to keep her eyes focused on her things.

"You're so brave and fearless when it comes to your work, and the dangers there are far worse. I will not hurt you, but if you tell me that you don't want me there, then I'll stay. I won't go."

Lying or not, if Casey tells him she doesn't want him to go with her, he will listen. Derek waits with bated breath as she pauses, studying the ceiling.

"I suppose… well, I did say it was unfair to you that I would be leaving."

He hums, feeling like he's standing on the edge of a cliff, and Casey's words are the only thing that will prevent him from falling. His chest feels tight. "You did."

"Okay," she says.

"Okay?"

She whirls on him. "But this is a trial run. If you're not good at it, if no amount of training will turn you into an adventurer, then I'm bringing you home, and we'll figure something else out. It's one thing to risk your neck with competence; it's another if you can't handle it."

That seemed fair. Not everyone is cut out for adventuring, and if it turns out, Derek isn't good at it, then he can't really fault her for getting rid of something that endangers her and her team. He doesn't want any of them getting hurt because of him. "I'll be fine." He says it with more confidence than he feels. There's some worry there, but it will be fine! "The whole team gets to weigh in on my competence, though, not just you."

After a moment's consideration, Casey extends her hand to him. "Deal."

They shake.

"And that," Derek grins at the bored-looking barkeep, "is how I got into adventuring."

It's six months from the night he left his inn. They've stopped for the night on their way to rescue the mayor's daughter from goblins. It's the first time he'll get to sleep in a bed in two weeks, and Derek's looking forward to it.

He also likes sharing his adventure story, despite Casey's protests. It feels good to be the one telling it for once. "It's a cute story," he tells her, even as he allows her to tug him away from the bar. "After all the stories I've had to endure—"

"What about all the stories they've had to sit through."

Shrugging, he throws his arms around her shoulders, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "They need my story even more."

They have come a long way since Derek left the Crane Inn with Casey. In a dangerous profession like hers—theirs—it makes sense that she takes her role as party leader seriously. Derek hadn't been prepared for the level of ferocity she had when making plans. In the safety of the inn, Casey had seemed carefree. On the road, Casey is—not necessarily a different person, but intense. The woman who practiced with a bow and arrow daily despite an injury was calm in comparison.

Sam, who was ordinarily upbeat and cheerful no matter the circumstances, seemed more severe on the road. The group dynamics had to be altered, and that took some getting used to. Though, he understood why they were that way.

There was an… adjustment period, but Derek managed to survive his month-long trial period.

Barely.

The first week, he'd found there was a bit of a learning curve. That was something he had expected. He was used to being in charge at the inn, and he forgot that out here he wasn't. Derek learned very quickly to trust Casey's orders—most of the time-, but he doesn't like talking about that incident.

Neither does Ralph, as his eyebrows still haven't grown back.

Now, however, things are better. Easier. Derek's found a rhythm with the group. Not for one second has he regretted his decision to come along.

Casey kisses his jaw. "Ready for bed?"

It's still early, but Derek and Casey have found a rhythm, too.

"Yeah." He scoops her into arms, loving the way she laughs, breaking his name in two as he whisks her off to their room for the night.