92 I'm Occasionally Brillian

Things continued on as if Ash was in a dream. Ruby did manage to find land she wanted and the three of them went up to Alaska to inspect it and (unfortunately) hire some humans to begin working on the castle. She said it would be fine because once it was done the barrier would go up and they would never be able to find it again. He couldn't argue with her logic.

Over the next year or so as work on the castle continued they visited twice more to check on the progress. The rest of the time they remained at home to give Flora some consistency.

Ash got into the habit of showing up in the bedroom around 5:30 so he could cuddle Ruby for a little while before she got up for the day and he had to go to sleep. It quickly became one of his favorite parts of the day because she was so adorable when she was half asleep.

Of course, she was adorable all the time. It was fascinating to see what changed about her every day too.

After a while he was able to notice certain patterns recurring in different places. Gazing at his girlfriend certainly never got boring because it took a while for patterns and colors to cycle through and they rarely showed up in the exact same place.

Her eyes were the least changeable thing about her. Their cycle consisted of much fewer options though the color combos weren't repeated terribly often.

Ruby was unusual but beautiful nevertheless. That sunny smile he loved never changed.

Ash never tired of spending time with her though he had to admit that Flora could be a handful at times. Even so, he wouldn't trade his little family for anything. Blair had been right; vampires truly weren't meant to be alone.

Nights were the hardest because he didn't have much to do with both of the fairies asleep. Most of the time he ended up spending at least a few hours sitting on the bed and making sure he was touching Ruby somehow so he could do blood magic research.

The blood lightning spell he was able to pull off for the first time ever during the attack on the Cromwells was useful in more ways than one. He looked up the phenomenon later on his phone, wondering why the lightning was able to help restart Ruby's heart, and discovered a human concept known as defibrillation during CPR.

That was good information to know in case he ever had to try and save either of his fairies in that way again. One of the werewolves had managed to recover his coven's stolen research notes as well.

He noticed a stack of parchment with the name 'Mayhew' written on the top and was curious enough to grab it but didn't bother to hand it over to Blair to pass it on until after Ash paid in full.

Getting those notes back was bittersweet. It was proof his coven had existed outside of his memory alone. He continued the research partly to honor them and partly because it gave him something to do during those long nights being the only one awake.

Ash couldn't deny that there were certain challenges to this relationship but he could tolerate anything as long as he had Ruby by his side. They worked through things together, often laughing as they went. They were still partners even though their deal had long-since been forgotten.

===

The day they heard construction was finally complete on the castle they made plans to move immediately. Ash had to bring down the barrier so the humans could come in and pack everything up.

Ruby had already packed up all the little things—particularly any magic items so the humans wouldn't see—so all they had to do was move boxes and furniture. It took three trucks to fit everything.

Once the humans had left the three of them looked around the castle one last time. Ash had purchased some human repelling charms from Philomena and they got to work placing them around where the barrier used to be so any fae in need who came across this place someday could use it without interference.

They gave the car to the Breezes as a gift and took a plane up to Alaska because it was way too far to drive. Flora was NOT happy because they had a layover in San Francisco and then another nearly seven hours on a plane to get there.

Ruby had bought an iPad to play her favorite children's shows on during the wait and it was the only thing that saved the adults' sanity.

"Good call buying that thing," Ash said fervently in a low voice as they were on their third hour of being on the plane to Juneau.

She grinned at him and teased, "I'm occasionally brilliant."

They even brought along one of the magic electricity devices in a carryon so the thing could be charged as needed. There was no way it would last that long playing nothing but videos otherwise.

Ruby hated being on the plane even without Flora's complaints and shifted constantly because of discomfort in her wings. Ash wished there was something he could do to make her more comfortable but his hands were tied. When in human society, you had to follow human rules or risk getting caught.

The only thing he could do was offer her some licorice straws he had in his backpack when she shifted uncomfortably for the thousandth time.

She tilted her head at him curiously. "Why do you have these?"

Ash shrugged. "I thought you could use a sugary distraction so I bought them in one of the little airport shops back in San Francisco while you were in the bathroom."

He was rewarded with a brilliant smile and a quick, sneaky kiss on the lips since Flora was absorbed in her show. "Thanks, Ash. Have I mentioned you're the best?"

"Yes but I could stand to hear it a few more times."

"You're the best, you're the best, you're the best, you're the be—" Ruby teased and he couldn't resist kissing her again.

She pulled away quickly, blushing as she frantically checked to see if Flora had noticed. She hadn't. Ruby heaved a sigh of relief and began chomping down on her licorice to prevent him from doing it again.

Ash couldn't help but laugh at the determined yet embarrassed expression on her face as she chewed. She truly was too cute.