I'm back and alive! I took a little impromptu vacation after exams and I may have got addicted to Fallout 3, and I may be awake at 4 am with a cat sitting on my laptop... BUT here's the next chapter.

Please take notice that I wrote this just now, sleepy and everything. I'll correct any mistake you tell me.

"Marianne?" Bog asked, worried about the fairy. She suddenly spaced out after telling her how he felt about her. Well, not that exactly, but if you read between lines…

"What?" she blinked as she came back to the world of the living. Was he being that boring? Or did he say something that triggered her? He hoped that it wasn't the case.

"You were spacing out," he pointed out to her, expecting some kind of explanation.

"Oh, sorry," she blushed. Actually blushed . "I guess I was thinking about something else."

If she were watching him closely, she would have seen the shine leave his vibrant blue eyes as he looked back to the scenery; but as she was internally freaking out about her new discovery all she could actually say next wasn't really fitting for the mood that has built in the balcony.

"Would you… like to spar?" her voice came too weak for her comfort, but at least she said something.

"Spar? At this time of the night?" the fairy nodded purposely not looking at him, waiting for her blush to be completely gone. "Here?" Bog's voice was almost a whisper when he said that.

Marianne forced herself to smile and turned back to him, trying to make the most noncommittal shrug of her career.

"I have energy to spare."

"How about we make it interesting?" her voice echoed on the big cave they were in. Marianne had explained that these were the training grounds of the Royal Guard, so they found plenty of sword to choose from for their little midnight sparring session.

"What do you have in mind?" Bog asked looking at the selection of weapons. He wasn't a big fan of swords as they weren't usually made for his big claw-like hands, but he could defend himself pretty well with one. His troubling thoughts from before had calmed down a bit by now, having accepted that Marianne was way out of his reach and, as such, he was allowed to give up on her. He could still support her.

"Why don't we make a bet? The loser has to tell a secret, something that no one else knows."

Bog froze in his place, hand half reaching his chosen weapon, and looked nervously at his sparring partner. Marianne was simply playing with her chosen sword, which was very similar to the one that was usually on her hip, her eyes fixed on the way her delicate hands ghosted around the sharp blade.

"A… A secret?" Dammit! His voice came too shaky for his liking. If Marianne noticed, she didn't acknowledge it.

"Yeah, why not?" she was smiling, making his heart skip a beat a his mind went immediately to the newest secret he had to offer, one that he wasn't willing to forsake. "Anything counts, as long as no one else knows it. An embarrassing tale from childhood counts." She added like in an afterthought.

The goblin gulped and took his weapon, getting ready in a fighting stance. If he didn't want her to know all he had to do was not losing against his student. He cracked his neck and buried his angsty thoughts in the back of his mind trying to focus on the task of not getting his ass whooped by the woman he loved, as much as the thought was inviting. But no, not today.

He had to win.

But he didn't win. He didn't lose either.

They ended in the most tiring and exhausting tie of his life, after what felt like hours going back and forth, feinting and jumping around, flying to the highest point of the cave to dive back down and getting dangerously near the floor in a risky move.

Their swords locked over their heads, their panting breaths and equally flushed faces from the exercise; Bog and Marianne looked at each other knowing that neither of them was going to win or lose. They were just too tired to care about the spar anymore.

"I guess no one loses…" Bog whispered, not having the energy to speak any louder. He relaxed his arms and let the sword fall to the ground unceremoniously with a loud clashing sound.

"Or we both lose," Marianne also whispered and doing the same with her weapon. "Meaning we both have to confess."

A few seconds passed, their eyes still on the other's, waiting for anyone to speak first. Bog gulped and let his panicked thoughts flood his mind once more, his heart going at full speed. His mind voice reminding him again and again that he had to find something else, anything else, to confess because he would lose her the moment the words "I love you" came out of his mouth. But he couldn't think of any other secret that no one knew, and he wasn't willing to lie to Marianne.

"I…," she finally said first and Bog thanked any deity that was listening for the extra seconds to calm down. "I… I-I may…" Marianne looked down, breaking the spell between them and freeing the goblin from his hyperventilating state. If he were looking closely, he would have taken notice of the blush on the fairy's cheeks.

Bog leaned in while she wasn't looking, maybe trying to register her flowery scent for the last time so he at least something good to think about when he went back to being alone; when the impossible became possible.

"I like you."

What.