Niles dropped Lucy off at Mara's a few days later, not wanting her to fly in such cold weather. It was a two-day flight for a pixie, but only an hour drive for a human. Ashton went with them, as Niles didn't like leaving him for long periods of time. He was curious about the woodlands clan, anyway, so he was secretly glad to not be left behind. 

Niles didn't load him up in the carrier this time, choosing instead to have him sit in the specialized faerie seats that strapped into the front seat of his car. Lucy settled into the seat next to him, prattling happily about Mara and explaining her clan to Ashton.

Apparently, Mara belonged to the Oaken clan, a formerly deep woods settlement. However, as humans built up their own housing subdivisions, much of the forest was torn down. Now at the fringes of the forest, the Oaken clan had decided to register their oak tree with the ELCoF so that their settlement site could be protected. With the protection clause in place, humans were no longer allowed to tear down any more trees or build in the area, nor were any humans allowed near the Oaken clan's tree. 

"More woodlands clans are registering with the ELCoF these days," Lucy explained as Ashton alternated between staring at her and looking out the car windows in wonder. "It's a good way for faeries to have protected rights among humans. And there have been more humans getting their gardens registered to be protected sites for pixies, too. The ELCoF has its hands full nowadays."

Ashton nodded, though he didn't fully understand what she was talking about. The ELCoF, or Emergency Legal Council on Faeries, had apparently been formed soon after humans discovered faeries. They were in charge of drafting and passing laws regarding human interactions with faeries. Lucy said that their laws always went into immediate effect, but that individual human governments could contest them over time. 

The politics of humans were very different from clan affairs, and Ashton's head was spinning with everything that Lucy was telling him. He was relieved when she finally switched topics and returned to swooning over Mara. Niles was mostly quiet as he drove, and Ashton kept sneaking glances up at him, studying his pointy chin and the way he had tied his dark hair back. 

The hour went by quickly, and they were soon at the drop-off point. Ashton was a bit disappointed when he realized that he and Niles weren't going to head into the woods to see the clan, but he perked up when he saw that Mara was waiting by the human road for Lucy. At least he would get to meet Mara. Ashton was very curious about her, given how Lucy wouldn't stop gushing about her the whole car ride. 

Ashton wasn't sure what type of person he was expecting, but he certainly wasn't expecting Mara. A quiet, stoic winter faerie, Mara was polite and unfazed by anything, not even Lucy's excited squeals at the sight of her or the way the little pixie zoomed to her side and glued herself to her arm.

"Mara, Mara! Good news! I already submitted my work reports and got approved for a leave of absence from the upcoming ELCoF conference!" Lucy exclaimed. "So that means I can stay here all winter without any interruptions!"

"That is good news, sunflower," Mara said, greeting her with a light kiss on her nose. "You're so bright." 

She said hello to Niles and Ashton, too, and Ashton was surprised to see how calm she looked around the human. They must be familiar with each other. 

Lucy kept going, her bright pink wings moving animatedly to match her expressions and tone. Mara just listened, her soft brown wings relaxed against her back as Lucy chattered. They seemed to have completely forgotten about Niles and Ashton.

"Lucy," the woodlands eventually chided her when the pixie stopped to catch her breath. "I'm happy to see you, too, but say goodbye to Niles and your friend. They drove all the way up here to see you off."

Lucy pouted, but she let go of Mara to flutter up to where Niles was seated on a nearby rock to peck him on the cheek. 

"Bye," she said dismissively, and Niles laughed and caught her before she could fly back to Mara.

"Bye," he said, his voice affectionate as he trapped her in a gentle hug. "Be safe."

Ashton saw that Lucy clung to Niles' coat for a minute before kicking impatiently at his fingers, and he released her lazily. She swooped back down to the ground and stopped in front of Ashton, who was sneaking glances at Mara and trying to figure out why someone who was so composed was into a wild pixie like Lucy. Just a few nights ago, Lucy had led the other garden pixies in a rousing concert of howling at the full moon. The neighbors had called Niles in the middle of the night to get him to put a stop to the racket. Needless to say, Niles was not impressed with Lucy, and he seemed very glad to drop her off at Mara's. Mara would certainly have her hands full over the next few months. 

Lucy's red eyes and wide grin suddenly popped up in Ashton's line of sight, and he took an involuntary step back.

"Bye, Ashton!" Lucy chirped, throwing her twig-like arms around his waist. 

Ashton was taken aback by the unexpected show of affection, and he carefully patted her shoulder in return. 

"This is the worst hug I've ever received," Lucy complained, and Ashton glanced at Mara helplessly. Mara just shrugged and smiled, motioning for Ashton to hug the pixie back. He did so gingerly, but that seemed be enough to satisfy Lucy.

Pulling back, she flashed him another bright smile before grabbing Mara's hand and waving. "Bye!" she called. "I'll see you guys later!"

And then the two faeries were gone, and it was just Ashton and Niles. 

***

Back at Niles' house, Ashton retreated immediately to his carrier, trying to figure out how he was going to manage the winter months alone with Niles. The last two weeks without Lucy hadn't been too bad, but that was mostly because Svernin and Alexo had unexpectedly shown up. Ashton doubted the same thing would happen twice.

He sat there, chewing on his knuckles and thinking. It had only been a few days since he had found himself waking up next to Niles, and he didn't know what to do about that. He almost wanted to do it again, to be close to the human and feel safe in his warmth and his scent. But just thinking that made him feel crazy. Humans were dangerous, and Niles was a human.

But Niles wasn't dangerous, and that's what stumped Ashton. If Niles wasn't dangerous, then why was he still so afraid of him?

Ashton ran his hands down his face, frustrated. I'm so tired of this, he realized. I hate being scared of everything all the time. How am I going to get over this?

He thought back to Lucy and Alexo, two faeries who never showed any fear at the sight of Niles. What did they do differently from him? He tapped his chin as he thought. Well, for starters, they touched Niles all the time. Landing on his shoulder, climbing into his hands, sleeping on his lap. 

Exposure therapy, Lucy had told him on more than one occasion. You're not going to get less scared of Niles unless you actually experience for yourself that he's not going to hurt you. And for you to realize that, you have to start intentionally placing yourself in situations that scare you.

Ashton had never taken her suggestion seriously before, but after his confusing encounter with the sprites and his nightmare that had driven him to find Niles last week, Ashton realized that Niles' presence had become oddly comforting over the last few months. It had something to do with his calm voice. Or maybe the gentleness of his hands. Or his reliable consistency in the way that he treated Ashton. Whatever it was, Ashton was realizing more and more that he was starting to feel safest when Niles was in the room with him. 

But he was torn. Part of him wanted to be near Niles, but a bigger part of him instinctively warned him to stay away. Ashton didn't know what to do. All of his experiences with Niles suggested that Niles was gentle and kind. And Niles had other faeries vouching for his trustworthiness. Ashton had no reason to be so wary and afraid of him. Yet here he was, hiding in a cat carrier. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck doing that all winter. 

Ashton took a deep breath and stood up, squaring his shoulders. Exposure therapy, he thought. Maybe that will help.

Ashton walked to the entrance of his carrier and hovered there, staring intently at Niles, who was working at his desk. Niles finally glanced down and noticed him. "Oh, hey, Ash," he said, smiling. "Do you need something?"

Ashton gripped the sides of the carrier and looked down, feeling shy. "Ashton?" Came Niles' voice again, this time sounding concerned. "Is something wrong?"

Ashton shook his head, and then nodded, hesitating. He bit his lip, and Niles waited patiently.

"Can you hold me?" he finally whispered.

He braved a glance at the human and saw that Niles looked taken aback. "You want me to hold you?" he asked incredulously.

Ashton fidgeted and took a step back into the carrier but nodded. "Ah, sure Ash, I can do that," Niles was quick to say. He knelt down on the floor and held his hand out to Ashton expectantly.

Ashton took another step back into the safety of his carrier and stared at Niles' hand. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest, and he took a few breaths to try to calm it. It's Niles, he reminded himself. It's just Niles.

He took another shaky breath and willed his legs to move, but they stood there rooted to the spot. Niles' long, slender fingers swam before his eyes, and he blinked to try to clear his vision, digging his talons into the palms of his hands in frustration.

Niles noticed. "Ash, hey, it's ok," he said. "We don't have to do this right now."

Ashton shook his head and stared up into Niles' dark eyes. He could do this. He wanted to do this. 

He took a step forward, then another one. He placed a hand hesitantly on one of Niles' fingers and looked back up at Niles, who nodded encouragingly. Niles moved his free hand to Ashton's side, and Ashton took hold of Niles' finger for support as he shakily stepped up onto Niles' palm.

Niles didn't say anything, but he guided Ashton to the center of his hand and gestured for him to sit down.

Ashton closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he sat. A sudden image of Niles snapping his fingers closed around him flooded into his mind, and he struggled to push it away, digging his nails into his palms again. 

Stop it, he told himself firmly. That's not going to happen. Niles would never do that to you. The other human would, but not Niles. Never Niles. 

Still, the suspenseful possibility hovered in his mind, and it took all of his willpower to stay in Niles' hand instead of bolting for the carrier. Niles had held him plenty of times before, but Ashton had never sat in the human's hand to... just be held. It was wildly unnerving, and Ashton tried to focus on his surroundings so that he wouldn't dissolve into a panic. He was distantly aware of the warm stillness of Niles' palm as the human waited for him to say something. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. 

"You can..." Ashton paused and took a breath. "You can pick me up and touch me when you need to," he said quickly, before he could lose his nerve. "Like you... do with Lucy. You..." he took a breath again, his heart still pounding. He couldn't believe he was saying all this. He imagined Lucy giving him a thumbs up and mouthing the words "exposure therapy" to him. "You don't have to be so cautious with me all the time."

"Oh." Ashton risked a peek at Niles, who looked confused. "Ok, sounds good." Niles paused before asking casually, "Any particular reason for this?"

Ashton bit his lip and shook his head. "I... I don't know," he said softly. "I just want to get more used to this."

"Alright," Niles said agreeably. "Do you want to get down now?"

"Please," Ashton gasped, a rush of relief washing over him. That was enough exposure therapy for today. He slid off Niles' fingers and stumbled to his carrier. I'll try again tomorrow. 

_______________________________________________________________

A/N: Ashton's taking some big steps here! Look at him taking initiative like this. Amazing. 

Thanks for reading! Do you think Lucy's advice of "exposure therapy" is a good idea? Or nah? See you in the next part!