Dimitrius smiled as he climbed out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Slipping his arms around her waist, he gently pulled her against him; placing a gentle kiss upon her neck before resting his chin gently upon her shoulder.

"When I asked if you were hungry, I meant I would cook you something," he murmured sleepily.

"Nonsense." Ariala said, putting her hands on top of his. "I'm perfectly capable of making breakfast." She said, leaning back against him.

Dimitrius smiled as he kissed her cheek, "That afraid of my cooking? Emelaide and my Aunt Lina's influence has already taken a toll on you; they never let me cook either."

"I specialize in breakfast foods." Ariala said. "Other then that I'm basically useless in the kitchen." She said, lifting the egg to let the liquid run underneath for it to set before sprinkling cheese on one half of the omelet.

Dimitrius chuckled as he teased, "Then it looks like it's a good thing I know how to make a mean peanut butter sandwich then, huh. We'll just have to starve at dinner every night and wait for morning so we can have breakfast. But hey, at least we'll have two meals a day! That's better than only one, right?"

Ariala folded the omelet and slid it onto a plate. Turning to hand him the plate she smiled at him. "Always the optimistic." She said. "There's juice in the fridge." She said before making her own omelet.

Dimitrius nodded as he placed the omelet on the table before heading to the cupboard and grabbing to glasses. Setting them on the table before heading to the fridge, he inquired, "What would you like to drink, love?"

"Juice please." Ariala said, placing her finished omelet on a plate and sitting in the chair across the table from Dimitrius.

Taking out the juice, Dimitrius brought it to the table and poured some in each glass. Setting the pitcher down on the table, Dimitrius sat across from Ariala and began eating his omelet, "Will you be alright at lessons, love? They're at the palace, right?"

"Right." She said. "I'll be fine. Just working harder today. But my magic is coming easier so maybe it won't be so bad." She said, taking a bite out of her omelet. "When am I going to see you again?" She asked.

"I wasn't really concerned with your lessons, my dear. I know you'll do well with them. It was the matter for which I stayed the night, that I'm worried about," he replied softly as he took a bite of his omelet, "As for seeing me, I will come whenever you wish, love. We have no lessons or lectures except on occasion now that Spring as officially gone underway. We're simply advised to continue practicing is all, so I am free anytime you wish for me."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked. "I'm going to be worn out after my lesson today." She said, finishing her omelet.

Dimitrius nodded as he finished his breakfast. Taking both his dishes and her dishes to the sink, Dimitrius began to fill the sink with soapy water to wash the dishes, "Of course, love. I'll be at Aunt Lina's all day, so just stop in when you get time alright?"

"You don't have to do the dishes." Ariala said, stnading behind him to give him a kiss on the neck. "But thank you." She said before turning to her bedroom to change.

"Aye, but if I don't and make you do them, they'll either sit here all day and become untouchable or they will make you late for your classes. If it causes the first, you may fall ill. If it causes the second, I'd be disappointed. Either way, I'm preventing both such outcomes by simply doing them for you. Besides, it's the last I can do after you made me both breakfast and dinner, love."

Finishing the dishes and putting them away, Dimitrius dried his hands and leaned back against the counter, waiting for Ariala to emerge from the bedroom.

Ariala pulled her hair into a high ponytail, letting her curls hang. She pulled on a pink, knee high skirt and flowy white blouse. She moved to her closet, finding pink flats to complete her look before walking back out into the kitchen.

"How do I look?" She asked, twirling for Dimitrius.

Dimitrius smiled as he walked over to her. Slipping his arms around her waist, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss upon her cheek, "You look wonderful. Now run off to your lessons and try not to pay him any mind, alright love? I'll see you tomorrow."

Ariala took his face in her hands, pulling him towards her for a kiss before leaving for her lessons.

Running across the fields, Ariala arrived in front of her Master. "Begin with some rain." He commanded her. Ariala bowed her head and began to concentrate on her magic.

After making sure everything was in order and the bed was made, Dimitrius headed out of Ariala's home and began his walk back to Winterglade, his thoughts filled with their future life together - where they would live, how they would tend to their seasons, etc.

Marreck rubbed his eyes, forcing away the desire to forget about the fire and sleep for another hour. He made his way to Emelaide's room and placed more wood on the fire. Marreck bent over to give Emelaide a small kiss on the forehead. "I hope you're warm enough, love." He told her, brushing her hair back.

'Finally!' Emelaide exclaimed in her thoughts as she heard her clock strike noon, 'Now to see if I can move my feet enough to kick of these blankets.'

After a good five minutes of trying, Emelaide finally got her feet to function as she pulled little by little to get the blankets to slowly move off of her. When they reached her stomach, Emelaide stopped for her strength had been used up with that little effort.

As Marreck spoke, Emelaide felt herself blush. Until this moment, she hadn't even wondered what Dimitrius had put on her the previous night. She didn't think it mattered much with the blankets covering her. Now that she was have exposed, Emelaide began to wonder. All she could feel was that it was one of her short, satin nightgowns that was thin and light. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite make out just how much of her chest was showing, nor how much her gown had ridden up from moving her feet. All Emelaide could do is wait it out a couple more hours and pray that Marreck either wouldn't notice or would be kind enough to fix whatever was out of place instead of gawking at her.

Marreck felt a blush rise to his cheeks as Emelaide's nightgown shifted, exposing the top of her chest. He moved over to her, moving the fabric delicately to cover her. He kissed her forehead another time before leaving to rest.

Now it was Emelaide's turn to blush. 'I'm going to kill that Dimitrius.. he knew Marreck would be watching over me, yet he still dressed me in this gown, out of all those in my dresser! Surely he could have chosen one of the less revealing gowns from his Aunt's collection!'

Marreck woke an hour later, coming into Emelaide's room to rebuild the fire, adding extra wood then his usual. He sat quietly by the fireplace, resting his head against the wall behind him. "I wish you could speak." He said, his voice strained from his lack of sleep.

'And I'd wish you'd quit putting wood on that fire!' thought Emelaide miserably, the heat causing her to become irritable. In her frustration, she kicked the blankets as hard as she could. This only resulted in the blankets moving down less than a foot. 'Dammit.. only another hour and I'll be able to bite his head off for all of this bloody heat..'