Oh boy, here we go again-
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Note: POV changes
TW/CW: Panic attack
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"Ash!" Malik yells. "Have you seen Altaïr anywhere? He was a fucking Novice earlier-"
"What'd he do, take your shirt instead of his?" I joke.
The answering silence held my answer. "Hello Ash!" Waffle says as they walk into the room. "Wait, where's Edward?"
"I think he challenged Jacob to a fistfight or something, check the basement?" I reply, remembering what I had overheard earlier. "I'll go make sure they don't tear each other apart."
"They'll tear each other apart in a way regardless." Waffle replies with a chuckle. Rolling my eyes, I go to the basement, where I see Connor cheering Edward on and Arno cheering Jacob on. Jacob was known as the best brawler in the house, but Edward had more muscle. Anyways, Edward manages to knock Jacob down. With a laugh, he pulls the British Assassin up and says, "Good job, lad." before walking away and giving me a side hug as he stands next to me.
"Hey Ash," Jacob says. "You want to go next?"
"Sure, why not. Just don't go easy on me, alright?"
"Your wish is my command, my liege." he replies jokingly.
"Shut up, Top Hat." I say with a smile as I get onto the mat. I held my own for a few minutes, but was knocked on my ass eventually. "You need lessons," Jacob remarks as he helps me up. "Want me to teach you?"
"I taught myself the basics, but I could use some improvement," I reply. "Let's do it."
"Ash, this is one of the many reasons I lo-" Jacob says before he's cut off by a death glare from Edward. "Platonically, of course."
"Don't mind Edward," I say, giving the pirate a bit of a glare. "I think he's just cranky because he didn't get any cuddles this morning. I woke up too early."
"Oi!" Edward replies in protest.
"Sorry babe, you snooze you lose." I say with a shrug.
"I did n-Wait. Did you just call me babe?"
"Maybe." I reply sheepishly.
"Okay, enough with the couple shit," Jacob says jokingly. "Do you want to learn or not?"
"Yes."
"Alright, then get into a stance like so," he says with his feet about shoulder length apart, shoulders back and fists up protecting the face. I mirror him, clenching my feet to the ground for good measure.(Note: *COUGH COUGH* A COURT OF MIST AND FURY SPOILERS AHEAD SKIP AHEAD A BIT IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS *COUGH COUGH*) Jacob notices and asks with a grin, "Pulling a Cassian?"
"Yep, when he starts training Feyre."
"I have no idea what you two are talking about." Connor says.
"The series I'm absolutely in love with that I'm reading for the third time that Jacob read behind my back?" I ask, trying to jog his memory.
"Oh, the smut?" Arno asks. "I may have stolen the books from Jacob and read them in my spare time while he read them-"
"Anyways, I'm taking what Feyre learned from Cassian and putting it in here." I say, silently pissed at both Jacob and Arno for reading my books without asking me first.
"Creative." Edward says, giving me a small smile.
Giving him a smile in return, I turn my attention back to Jacob.
Timeskip brought to you by the writer's mental health crumbling like a soft cookie-
I walk up to the main floor from the basement, panting and skin slick with sweat. I see Night who says, "You were down there for a while. What'd you do?"
"Got some fistfighting lessons from Jacob," I reply, leaning on the wall a bit. Every muscle in my body ached and I bit down on my wince to hide the pain. "I can hold my own, but he says he wants to channel my raw strength and talent-his words-into something more refined."
"Hm," they reply. "And how's Edward?"
"Pissy that I woke up too early for him to cuddle me, but otherwise fine."
A chuckle from Night. "I think you missed his birthday too."
"Wait...When was it?"
"I'm pretty sure the tenth of March."
"Shit, I forgot."
"Go wish him a happy belated birthday?"
"Yeah, I should do that." I reply.
"Anyway, where's Waffle?" they ask.
"I think in their room, why?"
"I just need to talk to them. Thanks, though."
Night walks off, leaving me alone. Which left me alone, but that was fine. I like to be alone, anyway. Now, I could think of oneshot ideas. An Aveline x Reader? Or a Kassandra x Reader?
All these thoughts rushed through my head, making my head hurt a bit. With my pounding headache, I head to the medicine cabinet in the kitchen and pop an Advil and then drink some water.
"Are you okay, love?" I hear Edward ask from behind me. Yes. No. Yes. "Just a headache, nothing to worry about."
"Hm...You're sure?"
"Yeah," I reply, even though I knew it was a total lie. "Also, happy belated birthday. Sorry I forgot about it."
"No, it's fine. And thank you."
Timeskip brought to you by Altaïr getting swimming (read: drowning) lessons-
"Ash?" I hear Shay ask as I'm getting a mug of coffee. "Yeah?" I reply, focused on making my coffee. "What's this?" he asks, showing me my laptop opened to Pinterest. Oh, Odin help me, Shay had found my pinboard of Edward images. (Note: Don't mind me exposing myself as a simp-)
"Uh..."
"Why do you have 528 images of Edward?" he asks me.
"I like to sketch and I needed reference images." I lie.
"Five hundred images?" he asks, brows raising a bit.
"Just...Give me my laptop back." I say quickly, taking my laptop from him and feeling my cheeks burn a bit. Leaving the kitchen to head up to my room, Fundip waves me down. "When are you going to tell Edward about the pinboard?" they ask me with a small smirk.
"Probably never," I reply. "And don't you dare try to tell him yourself or I'll tell Arno about your 'Handsome Creed' moment."
"You wouldn't-"
"I would," I reply with a bit of a wicked smile. "Don't underestimate me, Fundip."
They nod and I continue walking to my room. When I finally get there, I close and lock the door. Putting my laptop and mug on my desk, I go back to the door. I start to shake and the room-despite its size-started to feel squeezed in. Silent tears roll down my face and my sight dims to a dark ring of vignette and a loud, dull roaring sounds in my ears.
I vaguely hear a banging on the door and a voice calling my name-Edward, maybe?
Edward's POV
"Ash! Ash, are you in there?" I yell, banging on their door. I've been at this for ten minutes now and they still haven't responded. Are they-No. They couldn't be...Right..?
"Edward? What's going on?" I hear Aveline ask. "Ash locked themself in their room and they haven't responded to me, I've been at this for ten minutes." I reply, feeling dread pool in the pit of my stomach. "Here," Aveline says, walking over to the door. "I'll help you."
"Lass, what exactly are you planning to-" I'm cut off by Aveline kicking the door open. I see Ash through the now opened door lying on their bed looking okay, but...I realized they were shaking violently. "Looks like a panic attack." Aveline says as she stands next to me.
I nod and walk over to their bed, shaking their shoulder to get them out of whatever this...trance was.
Writer's POV
Someone shakes my shoulder, then pulls me in for a hug. My sight isn't dimmed anymore and I can hear properly now, so I look up and see Edward. "What..?" I mumble, disoriented.
"Ash?" Edward asks, looking at me. "Are you okay?"
"What happened..?" I ask, rubbing my eyes a bit.
"You had a panic attack again. We need to get you a doctor."
"I'm fine."
"Ash..." Edward says, his sea blue eyes dimmed compared to their usual vibrant coloring. "This is the third time this week..."
"I'm okay." I reply, hating being coddled and fussed over. I know Edward means well, but...I've always hated being coddled.
"No you're not. You're going to-"
He stops talking as I black out. The only thing I remember after that is drifting into consciousness for a brief second and seeing Edward's concerned face.
Timeskip, Edward's POV
It's been two hours and Ash still hasn't regained consciousness. Now that I think about it, they looked paler than usual earlier. Like their skin was white as snow and more translucent than usual. How did I not notice that earlier? And they said they had a headache earlier...Shit, I hadn't noticed anything.
I see Ash's eyes flutter open, taking in their surroundings. "Ash?" I ask tentatively. "What...What happened..?" they ask, their voice sounding raspy and quieter than usual-and that was saying much as they didn't speak that loud. They look at me, their hazel green eyes-usually more vibrant than now-dull, vacant and tears threatening to appear. I have a feeling we've been in this situation before, but I shrug it off. "You blacked out," I reply. "At this point, I'm inclined to haul you to the doctor myself."
"I told you, I'm fine."
"No, you're not," I say. "You think having a panic attack-either silently or like this-multiple times a week is normal? Not to mention you breaking down a while back."
"I don't need a doctor."
I decide not to push the subject...For now. "I-I didn't mean to, uh, be...be a burden..." Ash says, their voice barely above an audible whisper and choked with raw emotion. "Stop," I say. "You're not a burden, love. Not to me, or to anyone else. You should know this by now."
"Are you sure..?"
"Yes. Come on love, you think I'd be joking about something like this?"
"No, you wouldn't."
"In any case," I say. "I'm glad you're alright. I assumed the worst."
"Of course you did." Ash deadpans.
"I'm serious!"
They nod in acknowledgement. I smile a bit and cup Ash's face in my hand. "You know I love you...Right?" I ask.
"I know." they reply before pulling me in for a kiss.
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Well, that's done-
I just finished AC3 and Desmond dying made me sad but so did having to kill Haytham (because I actually think his character isn't that bad)-