Written January 20th 2022 12:20 AM

It wasn’t often that Ailith thought she had a good idea, let alone a brilliant one. It had been weeks of trekking through the Under, surviving by the skin of their teeth, before they came to Baliganromus, an real city where they could resupply and rest in an actual building. It was here that Ailith had planned on surprising Feyra with something that maybe, just maybe, would allow them to touch each other without the redhead hissing in pain.

Ailith’s solution was quite simple, really: gloves. She didn’t know if it would work, but it was worth a shot. She’d try anything, at this point. What she hadn’t counted on was Feyra having the exact same idea, and beating her to it.

“How much for the gloves?” Feyra asked, already rummaging through her coin purse.

“Feyra, I can buy the gloves, I was already planning on-” Ailith cut herself off when Feyra’s eyes cut to hers, blazing with something Ailith couldn’t decipher.

“Ailith. Let me buy the gloves. Please.”

Seeing that there was no room for negotiation, Ailith raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, you can buy the gloves,” she conceded, gesturing at the dark elf waiting impatiently for payment.

Feyra merely nodded, handing the elf a couple coins in exchange for the two pairs of spiderhide gloves. “Here,” she said, offering Ailith a pair. Ailith didn’t waste a second putting them on, flexing her hands inside the soft leather. She waited for Feyra to do the same, heartrate accelerating in anticipation.

What if it didn’t work. What if whatever dark magic had cursed Feyra had taken loopholes like this into consideration, and they were doomed to an existence of never touching again? Feyra cleared her throat and Ailith shook away the panic laced thoughts clouding her mind. “If it still hurts, you have to tell me,” Ailith demanded. “Promise me.”

Feyra nodded, reaching out her hands to Ailith. Ailith kept eye contact with the redhead as she slowly took hold of her hands, watching for any sign of pain. She heard Feyra release a slow breath, a look of relief coming over her face. “It doesn’t hurt.” Feyra’s voice was full of wonderment and Ailith’s heart soared. “There’s an ache, but Ailith, it doesn’t hurt. Not like before, I swear!”

Ailith clutched Feyra’s hands tighter, tears pricking her eyes. “Thank the gods!” She exclaimed, a grin splitting her face at the sheer excitement lighting up Feyra’s face. She turned back to where the dark elf still stood, watching the whole exchange with raised brows. “Thank you so much for these, truly,” Ailith said earnestly before pulling Feyra down the street, never letting go once. She didn’t plan on letting go for a long while yet.

“Topsiders,” the elf muttered to themselves, shaking their head at the retreating figures.