Ashton didn't mean to get carried away. He really didn't. But he was so thrilled to finally be close to his human that he went too far and nearly marked Niles— which was too much, too fast.

Marking someone was a sprite thing, something that humans and other faeries didn't know about. Sprites didn't have hoklas the way that woodlands did, but they had something similar. When sprites paired up with someone, they'd mark them with a bite that would scar, one that wouldn't be healed with magic.

Ashton was sure his mother had such a mark, as she always carried his father's scent on her. He had no idea where it was, though. Marks were usually made in places that weren't easily visible.

Ashton didn't want to mark Niles without his permission, so he managed to reel himself in just in time, giving Niles a little nibble instead of a full-on mark. At least doing so gave Ashton a chance to figure out where he'd like to mark Niles in the future. He quite liked the placement of this bite, too, right along Niles' left collarbone, just above his heart.

Niles didn't understand what Ashton was up to. He just complained about the sharp bite, grumbling and trying to push Ashton off him. Ashton almost brought up the mark right then and there, but he figured that if Niles wasn't ready to be hoklas, then he wouldn't be ready for a sprite mark. 

So, Ashton decided that he would explain everything once Niles agreed to be his hokla. He had no idea how long that'd take, but he didn't mind waiting. After pining for Niles for four years, Ashton was ready to be in it for the long haul.

Sometimes, though... Ashton would take out the little stone his mother had given him and just look at it. He had known he'd be homesick for his family, but he figured having Niles would be enough. He wasn't expecting how much he'd have to resist the urge to draw the home symbol on the enchanted rock each time he looked at it.

But Ashton had to wait. He couldn't introduce Niles to his family until the human was his hokla.

***

Niles thought that adjusting to the shift in their relationship would be challenging, but there was something natural and comforting about it. He had a sneaking suspicion that Ashton was the touchy-feely type in relationships, but even that prediction wasn't enough to prepare him for how much Ashton wanted to touch him— which was all the time.

If they were on a walk or running errands, Ashton was holding his hand the whole time. If Niles was washing dishes, Ashton would sneak up behind him to wrap his arms around his waist and surprise him with kisses on his neck. If they were watching a movie, Ashton's head would be resting in his lap so that Niles could play with his hair.

Niles asked him about it once, and Ashton had just looked at him, completely puzzled. "Why wouldn't I touch you if we're in the same room?" he had wanted to know. "We don't get to touch at all when we're apart. So, when you're here, and I don't touch you, it feels like a missed opportunity. It feels like we're not together at all."

Niles didn't quite understand his reasoning, but he shrugged it off. If it made Ashton happy, then it was fine with him. In fact, he was just glad that Ashton was at a point where he could touch and be touched without any fear or issues. And Ashton certainly seemed to be enjoying that fact, too.

Before long, Ashton had moved into Niles' bedroom, much to Niles' absolute bewilderment. He had no idea how things had moved so fast between them, but there he was, holding a giant sleeping faerie each night.

Ashton was a stomach sleeper, as most winged faeries were, and he liked to sleep with his arm around Niles' waist and his head on Niles' chest.

Niles usually slept on his back anyway— he had done so for years so that Lucy could sleep in his pocket— so he didn't mind Ashton's insistence that he could only fall asleep if he was listening to Niles' heartbeat. It was sweet, and Niles had to admit that he liked stroking Ashton's hair until he fell asleep himself.

Even though their relationship progressed faster than Niles expected, he found that he was quite happy with how things were turning out. He already knew that Ashton was a wonderful person to be friends with, but it caught him off guard to learn that he was also an attentive and devoted lover.

***

Niles paused at the front door a few weeks later, feeling utterly drained. He was too tired to feel relieved to be home. Taking his time with the keys, he finally unlocked the door and walked in. "Hey, I'm back," he called unenthusiastically.

Ashton usually came to the university or clinic with him, but Niles had gone down to the office today to work on a paper about deep woods faeries. It was a big project, too, so he had made Ashton stay home. It was too easy to get distracted otherwise.

"Hey, Niles!" came Ashton's voice from the other room. "I'm in the kitchen."

Niles hung up his keys and trudged into the next room. He found Ashton at the sink, washing the dishes. Niles wordlessly shuffled up to him and wrapped his arms around his waist, pressing his face against Ashton's back.

"Oh?" Ashton said. He made to turn around, but Niles held him fast.

"No, just stay like this," he ordered petulantly, his voice muffled by Ashton's shirt.

Ashton patted his arm. "But I want to hug you back," he explained.

"Fine," Niles sighed, and Ashton turned to face him, wrapping his arms around Niles and holding him close.

They were quiet for a long time. Niles listened to Ashton's heartbeat, and his shoulders started to relax at the familiar feeling of Ashton's closeness. Finally, Ashton spoke.

"Long day?" he asked, rubbing Niles' shoulders. Niles nodded but kept his face pressed against Ashton's shirt.

Ashton patted his back. "Go get changed out of your work clothes and meet me on the couch," he said.

"What? No, I can't move. I want to stay here." Niles knew he was being childish, but he couldn't help it. Nothing had gone right today, and he was exhausted.

Ashton just laughed. He let go of Niles and tilted his chin up, bending down to shower his face in little kisses.

"Go. Get. Changed." he ordered between kisses.

Niles finally pushed away from him. "Ugh, ok, fine," he grumbled, walking away.

Ashton turned back to washing the dishes. "Damn stubborn faerie," Niles mumbled under his breath as he walked, thinking that the running water would hide his voice. 

"I heard that!" Ashton called after him.

"Damn stubborn faerie with inconveniently good hearing," Niles shot back, and he heard Ashton laugh.

By the time Niles had changed and wandered into the living room, Ashton was already waiting for him on the couch. He had gotten Niles a mug of tea, which he handed to him.

Niles sat down next to him and sipped at the tea sheepishly. Ashton raised his eyebrows. "Better?"

"A little," Niles admitted.

"Wait, that's not all," Ashton told him.

Niles watched curiously as Ashton reached into the basket beside the couch and pulled out a blanket. "Tadaa," he announced, mimicking the little magic sound that Dr. Loren at the clinic always used with younger patients. He took the mug back from Niles, placed it on the table, and wrapped Niles up in the blanket.

Niles stared at him, speechless, until Ashton wrapped him up in his arms and pulled him down to lay on the couch with him.

"Ashton, what the heck?" Niles protested, smushed between Ashton's chest and the back of the couch. Ashton had never done anything like this before.

"I watched a video," Ashton explained. "This is what you're supposed to do for your partner after a long day. You turn them into a blanket burrito and hold them on the couch until they feel better."

Niles burst out laughing, and Ashton grinned while watching him. Niles knew that Ashton liked to watch videos to "learn how to be human," but this was too funny.

"Is it working?" Ashton wanted to know.

"Oh, it's working," Niles assured him.

"Good." Ashton kissed his forehead and rested his chin on the top of Niles' head.

They stayed like that for a while, and Niles quickly forgot how tired he was, all of his problems seemingly melting away as Ashton held him. He's so sweet, Niles thought, closing his eyes. How did I go this long without him?

"So, what's got you so tired today?" Ashton asked after several minutes like this.

"I have a huge research paper that I'm co-authoring with a couple members from the board," Niles explained with a tired sigh. "We're presenting it to the rest of the board in preparation for the winter ELCoF conference this year, and, well... it's a lot. That's what I'm mostly stressed about. We're trying to get the ELCoF to conserve more land for deep woods faeries. There's been a lot of land development recently that's putting magic sources at risk."

Ashton hmmed in sympathy. "When does the paper have to be done?"

"Two weeks. The board needs time to make notes so that we can edit it before the ELCoF quarterly meeting." Niles sighed again. "I am not looking forward to it. Especially since I also need to be prepping my students for finals. At least Dr. Loren is taking over my patients at the clinic for now. That's helping a lot."

Ashton was quiet for minute before speaking again, his tone suggestive. "You know what else would help a lot?"

Niles raised his eyebrows, figuring that Ashton would suggest something like kissing. They hadn't moved past that stage, as Niles wanted to slow down a little. Ashton was happy to take things at Niles' pace, but he still wanted to kiss Niles whenever he could. "What?"

"Watching a nature documentary with me," came the excited yet unexpected answer.

Niles just burst out laughing. Back when Ashton was a patient, Niles often had to distract him from bandage changes by putting on an animal or nature doc for him to watch. The faerie absolutely loved them, and even now, they were one of the few things that Ashton would actually sit still for.

"Fine," Niles agreed. "After dinner, though."

***

Ashton settled on the couch with his head in Niles' lap about an hour later. It was his absolute favorite way to watch movies now that they were together, and he always tugged Niles' hand down to play with his hair. Niles rested his hand lightly on Ashton's hair and flipped through the films with his free hand.

"Oh, what about that one, with the hawks?" Ashton asked suddenly, pointing. Niles paused and squinted at the screen.

"You... want to watch this one?" Niles asked, surprised. Hawks usually ate faeries if they could get their talons into one. Niles didn't expect that Ashton would want to watch a whole film about a very real predator he would have faced back home.

"Sure," was Ashton's surprising answer, so Niles shrugged and hit play.

Ashton settled in happily, leaving Niles to ask his next question. "Aren't hawks predators for deep woods faeries?" he asked. "They're bad for the pixies around here."

Ashton just shrugged. "Nah, hawks can be dangerous, but they're pretty easy to avoid. It's really owls you have to watch out for. They're nearly silent when they swoop down on you."

Niles shivered just thinking about it. Being small sounded terrifying. There were so many ways to die. They sat there quietly for a while before Ashton suddenly spoke up again.

"You know, I used to have a hawk," Ashton revealed, and Niles, who was absentmindedly running his fingertips along Ashton's brow and temple, froze.

"Excuse me, what?" Niles asked in disbelief.

Ashton laughed. "Erden dared me to ride a hawk once. Honestly, I'm lucky the bird didn't kill me, even though she tried to at first. But we became friends. That's how I was able to go places so far from the mother tree so often, like visiting Erden's clan. I'd just hitch a ride."

Niles shook his head in amazement. "How on earth did you manage that?"

"I literally have no idea." Ashton was quiet for a minute. "I don't know what happened to her, though. She was gone by the time I got back. Otherwise, I would have come back to see you."

Niles sighed. "You really have no sense of self-preservation," he accused, thinking about how this wasn't even the most dangerous thing he heard Ashton had done as a faerie. Fighting a badger over a beehive was probably one of Ashton's worse ideas. "You just make one bad decision after another."

Ashton raised his eyebrows. "You're not a bad decision," he pointed out.

Niles just rolled his eyes. "Oh my gosh," he responded. "Calm down and watch the documentary that you picked out."

They both turned back to the TV. Ashton was engrossed in the documentary, as usual, but Niles took the time to study the faerie in his lap as he ran his fingers through the soft waves of his hair.

Well, he wasn't wrong, Niles thought fondly. This really did make me feel better.

__________________________________________________________

A/N: Aaaaannnnddd we're back! Thanks for everyone's patience during this unexpected hiatus. Now that I've officially completed Out of the Walls, I can focus on my beloved firstborns, Niles and Ashton. They still have a lot of story to tell. 

If you're still reading, thanks for sticking around and see you in the next part!