"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" 

Skepticism contorts Ash's face as if dead-set on proving me wrong. The little human plants his hands on my arm. "Let go of me before I bite you."

No, I'm convinced no one ever has!

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D O M

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"I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot--"

Ash steps around me to collect his walking sticks. "You got off on the wrong foot."

"You have to understand, I was only--"

"Trying to kill me!" Ash yells with a cracked voice. He's inching his way into the living room without ever breaking eye contact. How do I get him to understand? 

"That's because you--" betrayed me!

...

At least I...thought so?

"Because I what?" Each word stabs at my skin like pinpricks, all the while he stumbles towards the stairs on the far side of the living room. He then leans his sticks against the wall in favor of grasping an unstable wooden railing. 

I have no answer for him.

"Stop following me!" he shouts again. I can hear his heartbeat accelerating, and it's not just from ascending the staircase. He is honest-to-goodness scared of me. 

Speaking of me--I hadn't noticed I'd been following him so closely. No wonder he's afraid. "My apologies. I'm just worried you'll hurt yourself."

 At this moment, Ash spins on his good heel, his long black curtain of hair tossing around in a mesmerizing sheet. His fiery red eyes are ablaze as he growls, "Are you fucking kidding me? I want to strangle you right now."

I'm beginning to think Ash is more prickly cactus than human. I can smell the fear on him, yet still, he bristles and threatens at every perceived slight imaginable. It's adorable. 

"Why don't we sit down and have a talk? Get to know each other. I promise, I won't harm a hair on your head."

"Oh yes, I'll take your word for it." Ash limps towards a cramped hallway with three doors. One straight on, with two more on either side. I assume one of these are his bedchambers. Surely he's not thinking of sleeping at this early hour? When he at first opens a door I fully expect he'd slam it in my face, but to my surprise, he peeks back at me and offers, "Fine, but wait outside."

Then the door is slammed in my face.

It's not as painful as one might expect.

The sound of clothes rustling behind the wall tickle my curiosity but I'm not an animal. We talk for a while with the barrier between us, though to be frank, he is doing most of the talking...

"...until you pay me back," Ash grumbles the same phrase for the third time.

"Of course, my love," I hum back, which seems to make him madder.

The angrier he gets, the less fear I smell, so...worth it? Indubitably.

Before I realize, we're downstairs again--though I can't seem to remember how? I feel like I lost a few minutes... Either way, Ash is in the living room currently, flipping around the clean sheets on the couch--I presume he's looking for something. I pad behind him, though not too close, and offer a hand, "Might I assist you in your endeavor?" 

"You might not, thanks," he retorts.

"Then I won't... Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" I'm sure he'll need some fuel to keep the temper burning.

For the first time this afternoon he pauses his pacing and actually turns to address me properly. His piercing gaze might be intimidating if he were not so short in stature... "Listen, if you won't leave then the least you can do is be quiet."

Ah. So cute.

"That is not going to happen, I'm afraid. I quite like talking," I say to him. 

"...Fine. Then go--go hunt something. Outside," he bellows with a sharp gesture towards the back door. 

I give him my most pitiable expression. "You would have me go alone?"

Ash lowers his lashes in a show of seductive annoyance before pointing--accusingly?--at my face. He says, "The last time we were in the woods together you almost killed me. Get lost out there forever for all I care."

"I'm hurt," I reply in earnest. It really does hurt! I never meant to harm anyone, especially not him. 

...but who is he, anyway? Who am I? And where are we, exactly? The questions pop into my mind one after the other until a pounding headache takes hold, threatening to squeeze all brain matter out my ears. Ash is shouting something now, looking frightened, but I can not seem to make heads or tails of what direction I'm falling--

...

...

...

"Hello? Hey!" 

The distant voice grows louder as does the throbbing pain to my temple. My eyes blink away in a haze of blurry colors. Mercifully, it is darker now. The more I blink, I realize I am resting on the couch with Ash's face hovering over mine, wearing what might be the first concerned expression he's ever worn. 

"Thank fuck, I thought you were gonna go psycho on me again," he breathes a heavy sigh of relief (apparently) and drops a wet towel over my eyes.

"I'm touched. You're worried about me," I laugh louder than intended because suddenly my head is throbbing again. I'll have to thank him deeply for the cool towel once my head stops splitting.

He huffs indignantly. "Don't flatter yourself. By the way, I went shopping since you threw out all my shit. You're not welcome to any of it," he hisses at a considerately low volume. What a sweetheart.

"I think I'm falling in love."

Ash bristles away from me before I can take his hand. In fact, he practically leaps to his feet like a man on fire. 

"Don't."