That weekend found them checking out another water way for the sprites— this time the one by the river. Svernin was interested in it at first, but he quickly changed his mind as soon as he spent some time in the water.

"Too close to humans," was all he would say. "The current's all wrong. You can feel them in their boats all the way upstream." And so, they had headed back to Niles' house. 

Ashton fell asleep on the way back again. The rocking motion of the car always lulled him into a doze, no matter how hard he tried to stay awake to look out the window at the trees and clouds zooming by. It was so frustrating. He had no idea why he was still so tired all the time, but he couldn't fight it at all. It was one of the biggest reminders that he still wasn't fully recovered.

When Ashton got his bearings again, he was very disoriented. The last thing he remembered was sitting in the car next to Svernin and Alexo. Now, he was on his side, bundled up in something warm and soft.

He blinked his eyes a few times before opening them fully, catching his breath. This was Niles' office, the window overlooking the garden on his left. He was in his hammock, which meant that Niles... he turned his head and sure enough, there was the human doctor, sitting at his desk and working on the door of a faerie house.

Ashton lay there silently and studied him for a moment. Niles didn't notice that he was awake yet, his slender brows furrowed as he concentrated on his task.

Glancing out the window, Ashton saw that Lucy and Alexo were out by the pond, the pixie's bright pink wings catching the glare from the sun above them. Oh, he realized. It's just me and Niles.

The thought made him perk up a bit. He hadn't been alone with Niles since Alexo came back a few weeks ago, and now that Lucy and the sprites were added to the mix, Niles' attention was quite divided between all the faeries clamoring for him. Niles always found time to work with Ashton, but he still found himself dissatisfied with the lack of one-on-one interactions with the human doctor.

With all the other faeries around, Ashton didn't spend nearly as much time being held by Niles or resting in his pocket. He realized that he even missed Niles' careful touch, which came as a big surprise. Ashton used to hate it when Niles handled him, but now, instead of feeling helpless, it made him feel cared for. When Niles picked him up and repositioned his arms or legs to settle him in his hands, it didn't feel controlling; it felt like Niles was aware of his needs and making him more comfortable.

Ashton never knew what it was like to trust another person as wholeheartedly as he did Niles, but Niles had proven time and time again that Ashton's life was utterly safe cupped between his gentle and capable fingers. And Ashton realized that he missed that feeling.

Now that it was just the two of them, Ashton wanted Niles' attention, but he wasn't sure how to ask for it. He slipped out of his hammock and approached quietly, watching to see when Niles would notice him.

Niles finally caught sight of his small movement on the desk and paused in his task to smile at Ashton. Ashton stared at the dimple that deepened as the human's soft smile grew.

"Hey, Ash," he said. "What are you up to?"

Ashton looked down at the desk, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, an idea came to him. It was a weak excuse, but he suddenly felt shy asking for attention, and this might be the next best thing.

"Umm, we haven't done any physical therapy exercises in a while," he said, staring determinedly at the desk.

He looked up at Niles' silence and saw that the human had furrowed his brows in confusion. "Physical therapy exercises?" he echoed. "I thought you hated those. I thought that swimming had replaced them."

Ashton bit his lip. "Well... I was just thinking I could use a little more help, that's all."

Niles studied him for a moment but finally shrugged. "Ok." He moved the faerie house to the side and rolled the little foam mat open on his desk before patting it. "Well, come here, then," he said. "Have a seat."

Ashton did so, sitting cross-legged and eyeing Niles curiously. Is Niles going to have me stretch today? he wondered. Or are we doing more strength exercises?

"Give me your hands," Niles instructed. Ashton held his hands out, feeling confused, and Niles took them lightly between his fingers.

Suddenly, Niles was pulling his arms upwards. It didn't hurt, but it was fast and caught him off guard, especially since Niles didn't explain what he was going to do, like he always did.

Ashton started to frown at Niles in confusion when Niles tugged his arms to the right, the force of the pull tilting his body at a crazy angle.

Ashton was so unprepared for the sudden movement that he would have lost his balance if Niles hadn't caught him with his pinky and nudged him upright.

"Whoa, there, bud, come on, now," Niles chided. This is an easy move. "Take this a little more seriously, hmm?"

Niles' dimple was showing, and Ashton finally realized that Niles was... teasing him?

It was so ridiculous and unexpected that Ashton felt a grin break out across his face. Niles suddenly pulled his arms to the left, and as Ashton toppled over in the opposite direction, he erupted into peals of surprised laughter.

Niles watched him, grinning, and Ashton struggled to catch his breath.

"Wait, Niles, stop, I can't breathe," he gasped, and Niles dropped his hands. Ashton collapsed onto his side in the palm of Niles' hand, still laughing. Niles nudged him gently, and Ashton pushed his fingers away.

"I don't think this is a real physical therapy exercise," Ashton complained once he could speak again.

Niles looked offended. "Excuse me? Do you know how many years of school I had to go to in order to come up with this very good and very real therapy technique? You should consider yourself lucky to have such an innovative and genius doctor."

"I do consider myself lucky, but not for whatever in the abyss's name that was," Ashton retorted, and Niles rewarded him with a laugh of his own.

***

Niles had never seen Ashton fully smile let alone heard him laugh. But there he was, doubled over and cracking up. All Niles could do was stare, trying to rein in the look of shock that was spreading across his face.

Niles wasn't sure how Ashton was going to react to his little prank. But the faerie seemed completely fine with Niles handling him these days, and he wondered if Ashton would be comfortable with a little bit of teasing. Lucy, the garden pixies, and even Alexo loved it when Niles played with them. And based off Ashton's very transparent bid for attention, Niles thought that the surprise would be fun rather than scary.

Ashton had the brightest laughter that Niles had ever heard. It sounded like sunshine and summer, and while Niles couldn't help but grin at the happy sound, his heart broke a little that it had taken so long for him to hear it.

How could he have taken even this away from you? he wondered. Tears threatened to well up as he watched Ashton, and he quickly blinked them away. Ashton hadn't been able to experience the simple joy of laughter in over a year.

Ashton struggled to sit up, wiping his eyes. His laughter had finally died out, and now he was rubbing at his cheeks.

"Ah, my face hurts," he commented. "I can't even remember the last time I smiled this much."

Niles brushed his fingertips against Ashton's face, and the faerie tilted his chin up so Niles could touch him easier. Niles had never seen such a relaxed and content expression on Ashton's face before, and as the faerie leaned his cheek against Niles' fingers, Niles wondered if this meant that he would get to see it more often.

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A/N: Just a bit of fluff before things happen in a few chapters. 

Thanks for reading!