It had been a couple days since Ashwyn had realized her feelings towards the Alpha. Within that time, she had found that the knowledge was effecting how she interacted with him. Some of the symptoms would be more exaggerated. Her heart rate would pick up more, her cheeks would flush, and she had issues making eye contact with him.
The Alpha wasn’t stupid. If this kept up, he might suspect her feelings. Then what would he do? She still hadn’t figured out how she wanted to proceed. Whether she wanted to swallow her fears and simply tell him or do something else. Sadly, it seemed she was on a timer.
She was starting to wish she had a friend other than Aurick. Perhaps then she could talk to them about it. The closest thing she had was that Twilight mare.
The two hadn’t talked much, but Ashwyn would be lying if she said that the mare was unpleasant. Seemed like a mare who spent more time in a book then socializing.
She briefly wondered if Twilight had ever read one of Inkheart’s books. It didn’t really matter, as she mentally wasn’t the same mare as she was, but… It was still an idea that pleased her.
Ashwyn shook her head. Her mind was wandering.
She might be able to talk to Twilight, but that didn’t seem like a great idea. She doubted the mare would be nearly as accepting of her presence without the Alpha around. Not to mention a bookish mare like her probably knew about as much on the subject as Ashwyn did.
No, she had to deal with this on her own.
Again, the question was asked. What would she do?
She was brought out of her thoughts as something grabbed her by the shoulder. Running off instincts, she jumped away, a claw slashing out as she did so. She felt it connect with something. Not deep but enough to draw blood. A fact that pleased her. It seemed despite her peaceful days, she was still fairly sharp.
That feeling of satisfaction quickly disappeared when she realized who was on the receiving end.
The Alpha stood at the edge of the couch, a small frown on his face as he stared at his palm. A small trail of blood ran down his hand, dripping off when it reached the end.
Fear began to grip her heart as she watched that blood. Of course it was the Alpha. Who else would it have been? Now she hurt him. All chances romance were slashed like his hand! She-
“I really should have expected that.” The Alpha sighed. The words pulled the mare back into the present in time for the Alpha’s eyes to meet her’s. As was becoming the norm, she averted her gaze. The Alpha frowned at that, a fact that Ashwyn did not miss. “You feeling okay? You’ve been acting weird the past couple days.” Ashwyn stiffened at the question. That timer she was on had become much shorter. The Alpha’s frown deepened when she didn’t respond, but instead grew a mild blush. “Don’t tell me that incident in the Bathroom is still bothering you.” Her cheeks grew even hotter.
The images flashed in her mind once more. Feelings bloomed in her heart, and she found that a lump in her throat prevented her from speaking. She would have found it irritating if her mind wasn’t busy panicking.
The Alpha waited for a moment more, before sighing and giving up. A hand went up to massage his temples. “Whatever. I came to tell you breakfast is done.” His message delivered, her turned and made his way back to the kitchen as he tried to heal his still bleeding hand.
With his disappearance, Ashwyn let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She visibly hunched over as she let the panic wash out of her.
This was getting ridiculous. These feeling were playing with her in ways that she was not comfortable with.
This had to end. She needed to deal with this. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she made her decision.
She would have to tell the Alpha. Whether he rejected her or not, she needed to confront these feelings. Now a new question rang through her mind.
When would she tell him? Swallowing a lump in her throat, she decided that it would be best to do so as soon as she could. There was no use in sitting around and fretting about it. It was better to get it done with quick. Like ripping off a bandage.
Now if only her beating heart would agree with her.
~-~
Aurick closed the door after the last pony left. A tired sigh escaping him as he did so. He had been getting busier and busier as the days passed. Word had already spread far enough that he had a couple nobles come down and commision items. A couple were projects that would actually take some time to do, and he had been working on them in the evenings. Ashwyn looked up from her place on the couch, spitting the quill out of her mouth.
“Last?” She asked, her voice hopeful. Aurick smile at the fact that he could nod in response. A smile that she mirrored. Then their eyes met, her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. His smile diminished, he ran a hand through his hair.
The mare had been acting strangely over the past few days. At first he had assumed it was because of her coming into the bathroom while he was taking a bath. The fact that that was a taboo here was still weird, but he digressed. It had been well over a week since then, she should have gotten over it by now.
There was also the fact that her reactions had gotten more severe a couple days ago. He was starting to think that that was only a part of the cause for her new behavior. Perhaps she-
He was brought from his thoughts when he felt something poke him in the side. Looking down, he found the subject of said thoughts there. She was still avoiding his gaze and still had a heavy blush on her face.
“Need talk.” She told him in an uncertain voice.
“Okay?” He frowned slightly. Was this about why she had been acting the way that she had been? He certainly hoped so. It was beginning to get mildly annoying. The mare nervously pawed at the ground. She opened her mouth to speak when the door behind him burst open.
“Aurick!” The familiar voice was quickly followed by something impacting his back, knocking him to the ground. Lifting his head, his sight was quickly filled with a diamond. A familiar diamond. A familiar diamond that was filled with mana. “I did it!” The now recognized voice of Twilight exclaimed in exhilaration.
“That’s great.” He told her. “Get off me.” He felt her freeze on his back, a hoof lifting off him as if she just realized.
“Oh. Hehe. Sorry.” Embarrassment filled her voice, even as Aurick rolled his eyes. Glancing at Ashwyn, he found that the mare was glaring at the new arrival. A small frown on his face, he placed a hand on her head, making the mare look up at him.
“Is it important?” He asked. Ashwyn’s gaze flicked between Aurick and Twilight, a small frown crossing her face as she looked down at her paws.
“Can wait.” The voice sounded depressed by the words it had to form.
“You sure?” She merely nodded, not looking at him. He noticed she was blushing again, this time so bad that even her ears had started to turn red. “Alright. We’ll talk after this then.” He scratched her behind the ear for a moment before returning to Twilight.
“Er… Did I interrupt something?” She asked, her gaze flicking towards Ashwyn.
“Yeah, but she said she can wait.” Aurick told her, placing a hand on her withers as he led her towards the couch.
“You sure?”
“Knowing her, if it was important enough, she’d probably have tossed you out. If she says it can wait, then that’s her choice. For now, why don’t I give you your first actual lesson, hmm?” All traces of uncertainty faded from her eyes, replaced with a familiar hunger for knowledge he had seen in her before. She nodded furiously, a grin on her face. “Good, then let me start with the basics.”
~-~
With a tired sigh, Aurick flopped onto the bed. Twilight had been relentless in her thirst for knowledge. She had kept him going into the night, and he was certain she would have gone on further if he hadn’t stopped her. By the end of it, she had enough notes to fill a book. Not a novel, but one of those thick books that are hidden in places like the grand archives.
Either way, the lessons were surprisingly tiring, and Aurick simply wanted to go to sleep. Sadly, that wasn’t to be, as he felt a paw poke him in the side. Opening an eye, he found Ashwyn was frowning at him, her face still red.
“Need talk.” Right. He had completely forgotten about this with the lecturing. With a yawn, he turned over to face her.
“Alright. I doubt anything’s going to interrupt us now.” He told her. She visibly gulped at that, making Aurick frown. What did she have to tell him? Normally she was more confident, especially since Luna had rid her mind of Test Tube’s influence. What could make her so nervous?
“I… Er, I…” She struggled to speak, her face growing redder. Aurick reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. At least she didn’t claw him this time.
“It’s alright.” The two words seemed to have enough of an effect.
“I… like Alpha.” She choked out. He blinked at her for a moment before a brow slowly raised.
“You like me?” He asked unsure what she meant by that. She frowned, clearly picking up on his confusion.
“Am…” She clenched her eyes shut before speaking further. “In love with Alpha.” Aurick’s eyes widened at that. She… was in love with him? When the hell did that happen? Better yet, why?
Then again, it didn’t really matter why or how or when. She had apparently fallen for him and he hadn’t even noticed. Wonderful. Now he had to ask himself a question. Was this something he should let happen. Perhaps the better question, was if he could possibly love her back.
He had no intention of leading the mare on. If he didn’t see this relationship happening, he would tell her so. It would be cruel to break her heart after knowing that it wouldn’t work out. So did he like her back?
He… didn’t really feel strongly about her in one way or the other. He had only really known her for a month or so. Sure he had been living with her for all that time, but they didn’t have the deepest of conversations. It was kinda hard with the way she spoke. So the question became did he want to try and pursue this.
He certainly didn’t mind her presence. In fact, he rather enjoyed spending time with her. Her mentality was closer to his own. Most of the ponies he had met had been far too peaceful for him. Ashwyn was like a little slice of home .
He could certainly admit she was adorable when she wanted to be. She didn’t even have to try half the time. Especially when she was asleep. When she was awake, she was always a little tense. Something in her made her always search for anything wishing to attack her. It was evident with how her ears acted. Though there were times when she didn’t do so, mostly when she was focusing on a conversation.
The main issue he could see arising was her species. The mere thought of intimacy with her set off alarms in his head for beastiality. An issue that posed a significant threat. Also on that he could learn to get past. His vision refocused on her, to find her eyes open once more. She was staring at him, meeting his gaze after all this time.
In those eyes, he saw many things. Hope, fear, anticipation… love. As he stared into those eyes, he came to a realization.
He couldn’t say no. He wanted to make this work. It was weird. It was unconventional. Yet… he wanted it. Without Ashwyn around, he had no doubt he’d have been lonely. He was alone in this world, but with Ashwyn around, he didn’t seem to notice. He wanted Ashwyn to stay close.
With a smile, he made his choice. An arm reached out to pull her close.
“I can work with that.”