Felt a drought of Ceony and Emery. Here we are, my weird confusing story, as per usual.

Also, I saw on reddit a post calling to say that we should be calling this series "Material Magicians". We should definitely, by all means, have that. :P

'Come on Ceony, you are engaged to him. It's not taboo to sleep with him in the same bed! It's not like anything promiscuous is going to happen, knowing Emery...' Ceony thought to herself, eying Emery's closed bedroom in a frustrated thought race.

On one hand, she had already slept with him once when she had a nightmare. By all means, she had planned to keep it that way, but her excitement bubbled within her after today. Her instatement as a magician, the engagement, and the delight that everything was going to be okay in her life had mixed within her after they parted ways for their separate rooms. She felt as though she couldn't sleep—not like this.

On the other hand, if Emery was a gentleman with all things, would he not refuse to keep her in his bed considering how soon the engagement was? Did she truly want to handle that tonight? Even if such a rejection was incredibly trivial, it would still sting like a bee for the night, leaving a sour note in her mouth.

After a long moment of deciding, she brought her fist close to the door and knocked. A muffled "Yes?" came from behind the wood. She opened the door hesitantly and looked to her fiancé. Like the last time she had interrupted his late night reading, the covers were to his hips and a large tome that she couldn't identify was in his hands.

Without looking up, he remarked, "I had honestly believed you wouldn't be joining me tonight."

His candle still had half of it's wax, indicating she caught him at an opportune time. She let out a low breath, surprised by his words.

"Uhm...Were you anticipating me?" She inquired, head tilted slightly as she leaned against the door frame. He hummed, his eyes still not away from the words of the book.

"In a sense. You have been particularly keen in moving onto the next base before we were engaged that I had assumed you would have...well, automatically chosen to make yourself a permanent resident of my bed." He licked a finger, turning the page. "I also heard your footsteps. You pace quite loudly for your small stature."

"I do not!"

"If you say so." Emery smiled as he continued to read, "You were keen that one time."

"It was one night! I had nightmares." She retorted and Emery looked at her, the candle light shining in his emerald eyes. The hue of spring growth examined her, the softness that made her heart melt with a hardness that could only be attributed to the years of experience. The reflection of the light in his eyes reminded her of the summertime, when leaf was sun kissed. It brought her a brief memory of when he caught her hand on fire prior to their fight with Saraj not too long ago—minus the recklessness and untamed look it held before.

"It's going to be every night of our lives now. Nightmares or no nightmares." He responded back, his smile wide enough to almost create a dimple. Red flushed her cheeks, her shyness magnified, and deep affection sprouted from her chest. "Now, do you plan on standing there all night or joining me?"

"And you say I am too keen." Stepping forward and shutting the door lightly, she came close and plopped the pillow next to his. He eyed her carefully as she crawled into the bed, stiff and straight, unsure how she should act. Before, he had snuffed the candle and looped her close. He wasn't finished reading yet and surely, he didn't want to stop simply for her benefit.

Rather, he brought her head close to his warm chest, his arm around her waist as though it was meant to be there. He propped his legs up to hold the tome steady. After a few seconds of reading, he shook his head absentmindedly and closed the book with segue.

"Do you not get lost in your novels? You didn't make a mark indicating where you were." She questioned as he put the book on the nightstand, snuffing the candle out without turning too much. He made himself comfortable, her head still on his chest regardless.

"Not necessarily. You may have photographic memory and I have something of equivalent. Though, rather than information, it is moments. I will be able to recall it the following night, probably." He responded, his hand absentmindedly playing with the free locks of her hair that wasn't in her signature braid. His other hand snaked carefully to her right hand that rested on her side, placing his atop. He brought the hand to his chest, stroking it gently as though it was fragile velvet.

If he could see her blush now, she wondered of his facial expression. Though, by all means, he wasn't the most expressive so it wouldn't matter. She smiled at that thought of him being expressive—it may have made things easier for her to decipher his thoughts in the past. But where was the fun in that? She smiled against his chest at the thought of her young self wondering where it all went wrong.

"You're smiling." He pointed out and Ceony laughed.

"I was just thinking of how my old self would be appalled if she knew this was the future."

"Of you being a magician of paper, defeating three skilled Excisioners, learning the crafts of all magics, and becoming my fiancé?" He paused, "I think it's quite the good future, all things considered."

"I vehemently did not like my circumstances when I came to live here if you recall—Smelting seemed to be a thing for me. I did not want to learn Folding out of all crafts—make me a Polymaker or a Siper, I could care less. Just not a Folder." She snuggled closer to his chest, "It would be confusing to my previous self to see that I had, well, married my mentor out of all people and became a magician of paper regardless of my disgust." He chuckled at that, the movements of his chest moving her as well.

"I understand the dislike of Folding, but could you really not believe that you would be marrying me? Am I not to your satisfaction?" He joked and Ceony rolled her eyes in the looming dark.

"I didn't think I would be marrying in general, Mg. Thane. May I remind you that I was focused on making my family's life in the Mill Squats better after fate gave me a chance to do more than just culinary school." She chided lightly, "Though this is a bonus."

"Ceony, if you told me..."

"It's alright, Emery." She cut him short, "I didn't want to make it seem like I needed to rely on you that way. You already gave me an opportunity, no need to overuse your kindness that way."

"You would have been impressive in culinary school."

"That's only because I feed you well since you don't know how to do it yourself." She thought of how bare the kitchen was when she searched for ingredients that first day. She shook her head, "I know how to fight. Much more useful than just cooking."

Silence enveloped them for a moment, the stroking of her hand paused. It would be no surprise that the events over the past two years had brought him pause. Her experiences of walking through his heart, fighting his ex-wife and her associates, learning how to break the bond that had originally kept her to their shared craft, and seeing people they cared for die, among other things. It wasn't the most generic of apprenticeships, but it was filled with experience.

"There won't be anymore dangers in your life. I swear upon it." He murmured quietly, kissing the top of her head lovingly.

"I know." She held onto his hand, feeling the tension in his body. "You know it wasn't your fault that everything happened, right? With everyone's preoccupation in regards to me since I was so inexperienced at the time, nobody has properly asked how you felt about all of it."

He didn't say anything. Ceony had almost assumed he had fallen asleep, but the lack of deep breathing indicated he was still awake.

"I did blame myself for awhile after you met Lira in the worst way possible." He sighed, "It plagued my mind for the longest time; I put an apprentice in danger because of my problematic past. It wasn't something to be proud of considering my track record. I already had to give up one and now my most recent one was put into harm's way. By all means, I had thought that Patrice would have taken you away already."

She listened tentatively, for it was one of the first time she had properly heard him speak on the matter that she could recall. The tension was still in his body, as though the thoughts that he was having irked him entirely. Not that she could blame him.

"Then Grath came along, Saraj..." He trailed off, "Each time, I felt like your apprenticeship was not worth your life by any degree. I stood by the telegraph sometimes, trying to see if I should just tell Patrice to remove you from my care for the better. Though, that meant I couldn't protect you, so I made a choice despite my original wishes."

"I was the one who kept getting into in danger." She reminded him and he scoffed.

"Doesn't mean that you were the one who started this trend of constant danger thrown your way." He retorted.

"Do you regret it?" She asked quietly and he shook his head.

"Hardly. I wish I protected you better, that's all. Delilah, Juliet, and everyone else that was placed in harm."

The sounds of the night were the only thing that filled the void. Ceony bit her lip.

"If you are to ask me if I regret having you in my heart and falling in love with you, I don't. How things happened wasn't to my imagination for the next woman to come into my life, but it happened nonetheless. What I said when I asked you to be my wife today still applies. What I've said ever since our love became official between the two of us has not changed either. I love you nonetheless. Even through everything, there are no regrets. Life continues on, hardly as a fairytale that we envision. I learned that the hard way, Ceony."

A short pause between the two of them transpired as Ceony processed it all.

"That was very poetic. You should write a book." She suggested, snuggling close to his neck instead of offering more food for a thought spiral. She wasn't sure of his thought process entirely, but if it meant for him to think further, it wouldn't serve him well.

"You think so?"

"Mhmm. This whole experience could be a book, all things considered."

"I'll keep that in mind." His body relaxed with an exhale and she pushed herself up slightly to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thank you." She added, feeling his head shift to look at her in the dark.

"What for?" He inquired.

"Doing what you could to protect me and all around us. Yes, you may have brought me into the mess, but we got out of it together. That's what's important." She moved a bit to make herself comfortable and closed her eyes, "I love you too, Emery."

She heard his response, but her mind did not cling to it. Rather, she fell into a lulled sleep, the comfort from his emanating care gave her one of the best rests of her life.