{Over A Year Later}
~Alador POV~
"That everything?" The saleswitch asked as I put down some things on the counter.
"Yeah." I said.
"Before I can ring it up, I need to see your coven sigil." They said.
"...I'm sorry what?" I asked.
"New policy from the Emperor's coven. 'Any witch purchasing supplies that can be used for making weapons must show their coven sigil'." They answered. "You are part of a coven, aren't you, sir?"
What do I do now?
"What seems to be the problem?" A coven scout asked, approaching us.
{A Couple Hours Later}
"Where were you?!" Darius asked as I went into the apartment.
He held my shoulders. Benjamin stared at him from a top my head.
"I got arrested." I told Darius. "For being a wild witch."
"How did you get out?" He asked.
"Lilith was there." I told him. "She let me out and said she'd say it was a misunderstanding."
{A Few Weeks Later}
~Darius POV~
It's been a little over 2 years since Alador and I moved in together.
I finished my most recent sewing project so I went into mine and Alador's room. Alador is hunched over his workbench.
~Alador POV~
"Hey, Babe." Darius said, leaning over my shoulder. "I completed that project. Wanna see it?"
"Sure. Give me a second." I said.
I crossed a couple wires in my invention so it didn't explode when I walked away.
"Okay. Done." I noted.
I turned around. Darius had on a lavender sundress. It's not the first time I've seen him in the dress.
"Looks great, my love." I told him.
He grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet. He spun me around. I laughed and kissed him.
"I love you." I told him.
"I love you too." He told me.
We looked over. Ace had on a dress that matched Darius's dress. Ace twirled around a few times before stopping. Benjamin Rattington nuzzled with them. I think nuzzling maybe Benjamin's way of marking his territory. The two palismen jumped on my desk chair and curled up together. Benjamin was on Ace's back. I love that our palismen fell in love too. It just so cute.
I laughed and Darius held my hands.
"Your nail polish is chipped." He noted.
"What do you expect when I'm working with tools." I replied.
"Can I redo it for you?" He asked.
"Yeah, if you want to, I guess." I shrugged.
{A Little While Later}
I sat on the bed and quietly watched Darius as he painted my nails. He was slow and precise.
"There." Darius said.
"Thank you." I said.
"You're welcome." He replied as he capped the bottle of nail polish.
He kissed me.
"Darius." I laughed after he kissed me again.
"Just a couple minutes..." He said, kissing me a third time.
He kept going. I held his face in my hands. Before I could say anything, Darius grabbed my arm and looked at my wrist. Oh, crap. The concealer smudged!
"Alador, is this a coven sigil?" Darius asked.
"Yeah." I sighed. "I joined the abomination coven yesterday. I was gonna tell you, I promise. Just...not...yet."
"Why didn't you say anything before you did?" He asked.
"You'd be mad. You hate the coven system. You're always saying it's corrupt. I was just tired of getting arrested." I answered. "I couldn't even buy tools or materials without getting arrested."
He stared at the sigil on my arm and ran his thumb over it.
"Are you mad?" I asked.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." He answered.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered.
Darius didn't say anything. He just continued staring at the sigil.
"Darius." I said, trying not to sound like I wanted to cry.
"You should have talked to me before you did this." He said.
"Why? So you could stop me?" I asked.
"No, if you really wanted to I wouldn't have maybe we could've figured some else out." He answered. "There could've been a better way than locking away most of your magic, Alador."
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Is that why you hid it? Because you're sorry you joined a coven? No, if you were sorry, you'd have told me." He snapped.
A bark came from next to the bed. Darius let go of my arm and reached over to pick up Eber. Eber barked.
"Don't worry about it, Eber." Darius said, sounding less mad and more sad.
He sniffled and picked up Eber.
"Why do you have peanut butter breath?" He asked the demon.
Eber barked.
"You...broke the lock on the cabinet?" Darius said.
"I'll go clean the kitchen." I offered.
Darius nodded. I got up and went into the kitchen. Both jars of peanut butter we had were ripped apart and the contents were all over the floor and cabinets. How the hell is Eber clean after that?!
{A Month Later}
I'm still trying to make it up to Darius for joining a coven without telling him before and hiding it. He says he isn't mad or sad anymore but I know he is. Today is our anniversary, I managed to set a reminder for myself so I didn't forget this year. I set up a surprise for him.
"This is going to be the most romantic night ever." I told Eber as I lit a candle on the table. "Darius is going to love it!"
Eber snickered.
The front door unlocked and I dashed to the living room. I clicked a button on the remote I left on the coffee table and flower petals started slowly falling around the room. Candles and flowers everywhere for a nice romantic mood. Curtains are closed to limit light that isn't from the candles. Darius opened the door and stopped in the doorway. He stared at everything.
"Wow. Um. What's all this for?" He asked.
"It's our 3rd anniversary." I answered. "I wanted to do something nice and special and romantic."
Eber started laughing from the kitchen doorway. Darius took a deep breath, closed the front door, and came over to me. He put his hands on my shoulders.
"Alador. Surdoué. Babe." Darius said. "Our anniversary is next week."
"What?! I got the date wrong?!" I exclaimed.
He nodded.
"Eber, you knew I was wrong, didn't you?" I asked.
Eber nodded and kept laughing. Darius wrapped his arms around me. I leaned my head on him.
"I just wanted you to stop being mad about my joining a coven." I said.
"Alador, I've told you I'm not upset anymore." Darius told me. "At first I was but it settled in. As long as you don't try to get me to join a coven, we're fine."
"But I messed up again and got our anniversary wrong. Nothing I do is right. I'm the worst boyfriend ever..." I replied.
"You're not the worst boyfriend." He assured me. "Trust me, I've had worse. And so what if you got our anniversary wrong. This is amazing. Messy but amazing. I love it and I love you."
I wrapped my arms around his torso. We just held each other for a bit.
"Stop talking about yourself so negatively. I don't like it." He demanded, letting go of me.
I nodded. He grinned and kissed me.
"Good." He said, cupping my face in his hands. "Now, it may not be out anniversary but you set all this up, let's have a romantic night."
{A Few Hours Later}
I blew out the candle on the bedside table. Darius ruffled my hair.
"Hey!" I laughed.
I put my hands on his so he'd stop moving it.
"You know, I was gonna wait until our actual anniversary but how about I give it to you now." Darius said.
He reached into the drawer in the bedside table on his side of the bed. He handed me a small box.
"Give me a second." I said, putting the box down.
I knelt by the side of the bed and grabbed a box from under the bed. I sat next to Darius and handed it to him.
"I forgot it was under there." I smiled, picking up the small box.
We each opened our boxes. I picked up a necklace with an eclipse pendant.
"Whoa! So cool!" I exclaimed. "Thank you."
"You always say the eclipse is a fascinating phenomenon." Darius noted.
Darius looked at what's in his box. He stood up and put on the magenta cloak. He positioned it over his one shoulder. That's how Archer always wears his cloaks, I guess Darius is trying to emulate him.
"This is really nice." Darius said. "Thank you."
He spun then sat back down. I kissed his cheek. He grinned then pulled me onto his lap.
"I love you so much." He told me.
"I love you too." I told him. "I'm sorry I joined a coven."
"Shut up." He muttered into my shoulder. "We're having a good time now, don't ruin it with that coven nonsense."
He placed his hand on mine and intertwined our fingers. He lifted our arms and turned my wrist to face him then kissed the sigil. It tickled and I laughed.
"Even if you're a coven witch now, you're still mine, Alador." He told me. "All mine. Always. There's no escape."
"Should I feel scared?" I asked.
"No, you're safe because you're mine." He answered, nuzzling my cheek.
"Alright." I laughed.
I stared at Darius for a minute.
"What?" He asked.
"...can we cuddle?" I asked. "Please?"
"Of course." He answered.
I grinned at him.
"Je t'aime Darius." I told him.
"Je t'aime aussi Alador." He replied.