Side Story: Thera's Day Back

Contextual author's note

You can look at this side story taking place the day after they return from the dark tower

It wasn’t often that Thera woke up early, but on that day it was practically unavoidable. She was tight in Ben’s arms and while normally she would have been happy to enjoy that while she could, in the moment her heart was pounding and she slid away just enough to grab her card from the bedside table, seeing the exact words her still sleepy mind had feared might have all been a dream.

Spiritual dark magic. A new skill taking the second spot of her blessed ones, completely replacing the charm that had merged into it when it had awakened.

Seeing it didn’t still her heart, but instead set it aflutter for a different reason. After dealing with it and suffering under it for her whole life, she was finally freed from her charm, no longer forced to worry about driving the people around her mad if she wasn’t careful enough. It was freedom from her greatest burden, one that she’d been forced to care for so long that not being crushed by it made her feel like she could fly. Even with all that was going on in the world, in that moment she couldn’t feel a single worry.

And I never could have done this alone.

With her worries gone, she went back to resting on Ben’s chest, staring up at his face while he still slept.

She never would have taken on the dark tower if he hadn’t asked her to and if he hadn’t worked so hard they never would have had such a smooth time through it. He’d basically spent weeks working to cheat the gods for her, how could that not keep her heart from fluttering?

With the exception of a couple of the great spirits the times her parents drove her insane, she had a good relationship with her family but none of them could make her feel loved like he kept on doing. It made it feel so obvious that if she’d never given in to her feelings for him after he freed himself from the dead god’s trial, there was always going to have ended up being something else that would have torn down her walls but she was glad she hadn’t put it off any longer. Despite any past misgivings and despite any lingering worries for the future, she was loving being in love.

Not able to resist, she leaned in and kissed his sleeping lips, or what she had thought had been sleeping lips until his arms were around her, kissing her back before she eventually pulled away.

“Hey,” He smiled. “You're up early.”

“Maybe I was just feeling too good to sleep.”

“Then I hope you keep feeling that good. I could get used to you waking me up like that.”

“Ha, maybe that’s a little too hopeful. Still,  if it happens again then you can look forward to it.”

“I totally will. So then what’s up for the day? Just want to relax?”

“Tempting, but I think I want to go to the clinic.”

As nice as a potential day off would be, she liked the staff there and wanted to share her good news with them, something Ben could see.

“Well then, in that case, I’ll start breakfast. You do have one more person to tell here first after all.”

There was no doubt Sonya would be just as thrilled as they were for how things had worked out so Ben did the one thing he knew for sure would rouse the woman by preparing a nice meal while Thera was left looking in her wardrobe, trying to decide what she’d wear that day.

It usually wasn’t much of a choice. After having spent so much of her life wearing her cloak, even after she’d stopped needing it she’d typically just grabbed the first thing she would see, but that day was different. There were a few shirts she owned that she’d only ever wear at home, namely T-shirts, which until that point she’d still never worn out for fear that someone might accidentally brush against her arms, with that little bit of skin contact being enough to infect someone with her power. But now that wasn’t an issue. It was warm enough out anyway, why not be comfortable if she wanted to?

It was another small bit of freedom she’d gained after all, it was never too soon to enjoy it, so with a smile she grabbed one she thought would look nice and put it on, ready to start the day.

---

When they’d told Sonya of their success over breakfast, her aunt had cried. It wasn’t surprising to Thera, there’d been enough tears going around in the tower when it happened too, but it did make her own emotions well up a bit, leaving the two to take a minute before they went off to the clinic that day to share the good news with the other workers, with all of the healers having gotten to know Thera thanks to the amount she’d done to help ease their burden and all of them overjoyed to know that she’d gotten her troubling power under control before they moved on to the actual day’s work.

Not that there was a lot of it. With both Sonya and Thera there that day, that meant the town’s clinic had two awakened life mages around, leaving it an easy day with plenty of downtime for them all, with one in particular happy to take advantage of it.

“Aso, how long are you going to keep touching me like this?”

“Don’t try to stop me Thera, you don’t know how long I’ve been having to hold myself back,” Her friend told her.

“I just feel like this isn’t the most appropriate use of time.”

“Shh, just a little more,” The half-harpy told her as she ran her fingers through her friend's golden hair. The nature of her maternal race had left her a strong love of the shiny and Thera more than qualified, even if that level of attention was feeling like a bit much and left both staff and patients alike to giggle at the side. “This is as great as I thought it would be. I’m so happy right now.”

With the other girl basically transfixed, Thera was already seeing a lot more of that coming in her future, not that she’d particularly minded. Ben had been a little touchy since she’d met him, along with many of the friends she’d made through him. It was basically training for that level of affection as she put up with the newfound flood of attention she could receive from her friend, right up until Aso’s father put a stop to it.

“Aso, even if we aren’t busy right now, you’re still at work,” Drari sighed. “Can you please pretend to look respectable for the patients?”

“Never! You can take Thera from my cold dead hands!”

“That’s something for her partner to be saying, not you,” The dragonewt sighed before picking up his daughter and tossing her over his shoulder and turning to address Thera. “Sorry about her, but it will probably take a couple days before she’s really adjusted to being able to touch you without going overboard, why not head home for the day and come back tomorrow to act as a bit of exposure therapy?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

As her friend struggled against her father’s grasp, Thera said her goodbyes to the rest of the staff and left early for the day, passing through town to head back home.

She noticed the eyes falling on her as she went, but for once, she couldn’t have cared less. Let the people of Stonewall think whatever they would of her, she now had the confidence to know that she was going to be free of the guilt from the madness of anyone around her. Her life was completely her own and she carried that confidence all the way home, being seduced by a range of smells the moment she went through the door.

“Ben?” She asked as she made her way to the kitchen, finding him working as a range of baked goods were piling up around him.

“Oh hey, welcome home. You’re back sooner than I expected.”

“Aso was getting a little too excited to be able to touch me so I left early. What is all this?”

“A celebration, obviously,” He told her with a smile. “Sure, getting your charm under control was great but now we need to properly enjoy the accomplishment. I was aiming to have everything finished by the time you guys finished work but since you’re off early, sit back and relax while I prepare the best meal for you I can.”

How can being loved be this great?

She kept that as a private thought to herself as she moved beside him, kissing his cheek as she did.

“Well then, let me help out, even if it’s going to leave the meal a little worse off.”

“You sure? You shouldn’t need to do anything when this is all for you.”

“I am. What could be a nicer way to spend the day than by cooking with my wonderful boyfriend?”

“Ha, well if you’re going to sweet talk me like that, how can I say no? In that case, it looks like Sonya alone is going to be surprised by a great meal.”

“Then I’m sure she’ll love it.”

Talking and laughing as they went, the two made a peaceful evening for themselves until Sonya came home, letting them celebrate the good news in earnest together.

Author's note

Sorry this is up a couple days later than usual, the holidays have been hectic. The poll should be up tomorrow so look forward to that and otherwise enjoy the day!