Not Alone

Chapter 8: Mom said no tattoos

AN: Uploaded in tandem with another chapter. 

Using a small mirror in my bag, I take a look at the two new marks decorating my skin, a reminder of the.... activities from early this morning.

A golden silhouette of a bat directly above my heart, its wings spread wide. It shimmers ever so slightly in direct sunlight, almost as if my skin was infused with flecks of gold. I trace the golden wings, noticing Dias shudder from across the cave. From what I know about how mating marks work here? I fully expected his position over my heart.

A silver snake wraps around my throat like a fancy choker, its head resting in the hollow of my collarbones and pointing toward my heart. Curiously, I trace the head of the snake and watch as the tip of Asper's tail quivers a little, his head turns towards me briefly, a questioning gaze in his eyes before he turns back to his tunnel project. I'm fond of Asper, and maybe I don't quite love him yet, at least not like I love Dias, but judging from the way the snake is looking towards my heart, I would say that love isn't exactly off the table.

I look over to Dias, watching as he finishes carving out a groove into the boulder and sets it on top of the half-stacked wall, the groove slotting almost perfectly into a series of small ledges her left sticking out of the other boulder. I snicker a little as I realize he basically just made bigger versions of Lego but with boulders.

Dias looks over at the sound, he smiles when he notices where I'm looking, obviously aware of the comparison "Laugh it up, but my architectural professors are all simultaneously sensing a crime against god and engineering," Dias steps back, resting his hands on his waist, his chest bare "Actually, I'm fairly certain that if they took one look around they would have a stroke"

I shake my head "Apart from it looking like a toddler's attempt at making Lego? It looks fine to me," I smile conspiratorily "Probably why it's for the best I stuck with Psychology and not engineering"

Asper slithers over to us, looking very pleased with himself "The tunnel is completed," He looks to me "What do we have planned next?"

I lean back on my forearms, still sat on the sleeping bags "Well, Dias should be done with the wall pretty soon, then all it will need is some sealing in the cracks. Not super sure on what we should do next, there is just... so much to do"

Asper contorts his tail, moving his torso lower until he is almost sitting on the same level as me. He speaks gently "Well, what would you like?"

I tilt my head to the side a little, watching Dias work as I think "Well, we definitely need to start collecting food. And curing some food for the winter as well. We could also do with some more space, just not sure how we can get that"

Asper furrows his brow in slight confusion "Curing? What do you mean? The meat here is not poisonous?"

I shake my head "Nah, not like that. Curing means being able to preserve food for a long period of time, preventing it from rotting so we can eat over a longer period of time"

Asper's eyebrows raise in surprise "I've never heard of preserving food like that. How do you 'cure' food?"

"Well, there are a couple of ways, but the easiest method right now would be to smoke it. Basically, you get a very smokey fire going, then hang or drape the meat directly above the smoke. Not sure how it actually cures the meat, but I do know that the smoke dries it out, and the meat won't rot for a long time as a result. The trick is making sure the meat is smoked all the way and doesn't get wet again"

Asper hums "That shouldn't be too difficult to build," he slowly inches his hand across the bed, until his fingers are just a hairbreadth away from mine "And you said you wanted more space as well?"

I move my hand over until my fingers loosely intertwine with his, politely ignoring Asper's faint blush "Yeah. Ideally another room or two. Something for storage and then a bedroom would be nice, but storage is the big one"

Asper licks his lips nervously as he looks down at our intertwined fingers "Would you want another room for cubs?"

My eyes shoot over to look at him, my face twisting into a mix of dismay, disgust, and horror "Right, kids. That's a big thing here..." I look away from Asper, my eyes roaming around the cave as I try to avoid his concerned gaze "I've, uh, never been super fond of the idea of kids. I don't mind kids. But the thought of having my own? I've never really been a fan"

Asper takes my hand into his more securely, properly holding it this time. I look back at him and can see only understanding in his face and posture "If you decide that you never want offspring, then I will support you. My Inheritance has shown me dozens of females who died in childbirth, or who simply hated their snake offspring. I do not want you to experience either of those things"

Dias, who stopped working in order to listen to the conversation chimes in gently "You know my opinion on kids, babe. If you want them, then I want them. If you don't? Then I'm just as happy spending my days with just you. You don't need to pump out crotch critters if that's not what you want"

I take a shaky breath in, trying to maintain my composure in the face of these two incredibly sweet men I have tied my life to "You have no idea how much it means to me that you think that"

A grin starts to crawl up the side of Dias' face "Plus, you still have your IUD, so you can't have any snot goblins anyways," Dias waggles his eyebrows "Taking it out might be fun though, I would have to use several fingers in order to grasp the tail of that little sucker"

I roll my eyes fondly as Asper blushes, sensing that the topic became crude, but looking a little confused. I pat him on the arm, poor guy will have to adapt to our humor soon, or we will be forced to start teasing him about the never-ending blush.