This chapter has been edited due to content. If you want to see the unedited version GO HERE.
ALEX CASEY
With a great amount of effort, I had guided a stumbling Jash into the bathroom. The entire time I thought his illusion would fail and people would start screaming about the Saxhleel. But the man I loved had kept it up and now he was resting in the tub as I thoroughly cleaned him.
“You would give this up?” Jash mused.
I looked at him in confusion. When I put him into the bathtub, we had both agreed that I would eventually leave with him. The years without him had carved a deep wound in my chest along with my messy divorce that Saga had barely been able to help heal. I couldn’t survive in a world where he didn’t exist.
I had stopped trying to understand why I loved him so much. We had barely interacted and yet I couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. Out of all the echoes of me, he had come to me. He had chosen me.
“The quickness you have here of heating water is astounding.” Jash added.
I shrugged and continued to clean the blood off of every scale. It had taken some time to bring out the black shade of his scales. Right now it looked like the night itself had been massacred.
“How do you usually take a bath?” I asked.
“It depends where I am.” Jash replied. “If I am traveling I will go in the nearest river with soap and a spell to heat up the water. If I am at one of my properties with a housecarl or steward, they prepare a bath for me. After the bath is ready, I use a spell to heat up the water.”
I felt the tiniest bit if jealousy course through my bloodstream at the thought of someone else’s hand touching his skin. I shouldn’t feel this way as he had chosen me and I sure as **** wasn’t a virgin.
“So did you have an affair with them?” I hissed in his ear. “I can’t believe they wouldn’t insist on washing you like this.”
“I had needs and no spouse to unleash them on.” Jash said after a moment. “When I married Scouts-Many-Marshes and later my second husband, I felt no need to seek pleasure from housecarls and stewards. Nor anyone else.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. “That sound and your crest just moved. Is that Jel?”
“In simple terms it was me reprimanding not telling you at the beginning of the bath about something important. The only way I am able to bring you back to Skyrim is to also marry someone else. Hircine, Daedric Prince of the Hunt, has accepted my marriage proposal.”
The rest of the bath was given in silence. Jash was clearly exhausted from our brief conversation and I needed time to think on Hircine. After meeting the Saxhleel for the first time, I had done some digging into who he was. Those sessions had lead me to the Elder Scrolls games. From there it had been relatively simple to find out about the Daedric Princes.
As I finished washing him and started to dry him off, I was uncertain about being a husband to two Daedric Princes. But if Jash showed such devotion to Hircine, I knew I could trust that decision. Maybe Jash’s appetite was big enough to accommodate two men in his bed.
The moment Jash was completely dried, I started to dress him in the outfit Saga had picked out. It was a struggle to get the outfit on him. He was nearly seven feet tall with a tail and horns. No one on Earth had the right sized clothing for him.
“I’ll get you better clothes later.” I promised.
“If I am given the materials, I can make clothing that fits me better.” Jash said. “Earth does not have Saxhleel and so I doubt getting comfortable clothing here will be possible for me.”
“I’ll have to ask Saga for suggestions.” I agreed once he was fully clothed except for shoes.
It had been hard enough to put underwear, pants, and a shirt on him. So neither of us was in the mood to try and put shoes over has vicious looking claws. Jash was never without a weapon at his disposal. Even if he was naked he could easily tear a person apart. Meanwhile if you took away my gun I would basically be helpless.
“I’ll take you to a guest room so you can get some sleep.” I said. “Unless some kid decides to knock on your door.”
“My love, if I fall asleep then my illusion will quickly fade.” Jash replied as I helped him stumble to the guest room. “But it is ours to thank you for the attempt at comfort.”
Once I opened the door, we both tried to race to the bed to the point I nearly forgot to close the door. Our talk and walk seemed to have taken nearly everything from him. When he lay down he closed his eyes briefly before regaining control over himself.
Was this really what I would wake up to every morning now? Minus when the job kept me away from his side.
“Once this party is over we’ll go back to m-our apartment.” I said.
Jash leaned up for a kiss and so I leaned down to receive it. It was just as hungry as the one in the garage. For the first time in a long time I felt like a **** teenager. The future didn’t seem impossible as before. But when the kiss ended everything settled back into its proper place.
“I won’t leave you, uxith-beeko.” Jash promised as I opened the door.
I looked at him one last time before I shut the door. If I could, I would have abandoned the party in favor of lying next to the man I loved. The man who had given everything to be by my side.
I nearly jumped up in fear when I shut the door behind me. Saga was barely a foot in front of me with her arms uncrossed while her eyes bore into mine.
“Who is he?” Saga asked as if I were a suspect. “He just appeared in my garage naked and covered in blood. What if Logan was hurt? What if he came here specifically to kill Logan on her birthday? And now he is resting in the guest room? Christ, Alex.”
It was a testament to her faith in me that she had allowed my wants. Since he was now resting in a guest room, Saga must trust me that Jash would not hurt anyone. It helped that when I had walked him to the bathroom, that he had barely been able to walk. So even if I was wrong about him, he was in no condition to hurt anyone.
In return I wanted to answer all of her questions with honesty but I couldn’t. She wouldn’t believe he was anything but human unless he took off his illusion. And it seemed like if he took his illusion down now he might not be able to put it back up. It must take the greatest of effort to keep it up in his condition.
When I had proof for Saga, I would tell her the truth. But for today I could only be as honest as possible and hope she didn’t question the parts I left out.
“I met Jash during 2013.” I began.
“Isn’t that when the Cult of the Word was active?” Saga asked.
“Yes. When I needed a shoulder to lean on the most, he was there.”
“But that was nearly ten years ago. Has he contacted you before now?”
“No.”
“Alex, you’re not someone that trusts anyone if they’re silent for a week. And now you trust someone that hasn’t talked to you in nearly a decade? He appeared naked and covered in blood. Logan found him.”
“He didn’t leave because he wanted to, Saga.”
I couldn’t tell her now how he had disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared. Without proof she would think I was crazy. ****, she already thought that and I didn’t blame her. I had insisted on taking care of a man that wouldn’t normally garner any pity from me.
“Do you love Jash?” Saga asked.
“Yes.” I replied and was surprised at how quickly I had answered. “He returned. He kept his promise.”
Saga’s eyes became even more intense. She couldn’t actually see into my cursed soul. Could she? Her abilities felt nearly magical at times. Because of Jash I could no longer ignore the possibility of my partner’s gift being supernatural in origin.
“If you trust him so do I.” Saga said and I held back a sigh of relief.
“Something is still bothering you.” I said.
“He reminds me of someone. Almost like I’ve seen him before.”
“Jash is missing part of his ring finger. Which is the same injury a character from a certain series has.”
Saga started to laugh. Jash in the other room and her acceptance of him made a smile and soft chuckle exit my lips. The sight must have been amusing as Saga began to laugh louder.
“A certain series.” Saga said once our laughter died down. “Yeah, Half-Finger is barely mentioned but his disfigurement is always talked about.”
With the remnants of a smile still on my lips, we walked back to the party.
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