Sleep came difficult.

Between tossing myself back and forth doing all I could to ignore the throbbing in my bones, and stuffing pillows into my ears trying to drown out the overzealous whoopings from directly beneath the floorboards... let's just say a chronic insomniac would have had a better time counting his sheeps than I did at that moment.

But being the big boy of great resilience that I was, I toughed it out.

Now, I don't exactly remember just how long it took for the sandman to come lull me into dreamland... granted, no one does, it's the waking up part that we all remember.

And in this case... I don't think I'll ever fucking forget it.

Something boomed from somwhere.

Snapping my eyes wide open like a zombie in a horror movie jumpscare. The boom was loud, not shotgun loud, not heavy metal concert - nope, it's as if someone decided my room was the perfect testing grounds for nuclear explosion experiments.

Dead of night and you hear a loud noise. What's a person to think, right? Especially after the things I've seen and been in... needless to say, I was a more vigilant person than I was months prior.

Both my hands sprang out in front of me on impulse. Same impulse had my fingertips tingling with all the focus, determination and intent I could then possibly muster.

Then the lights flickered on, and the source for my rude awakening was made known.

"B-bro! D-dude!" stammered my intruder. "There's - what - why didn't you - !"

All I could do was sigh away as my heart rate climbed back down from how high it skyrocketed. I suppose there were much worser things to wake up to than a frantic-eyed bumbling excuse of an internet sensation.

"Future reference, Tyler. People knock on doors," I said, rubbing one eye. "You should too."

"I did!" He exclaimed, battering further my already battered hearing. "You didn't answer me!"

"Oh man, I wonder why that was?"

"Look!" He pointed a trembling finger. "You only got yourself to blame, man. I won't even be standing here right now if you had at least given me some warning!"

Warning, wha - ?

"About what?" I asked, briefly wondering if I just stumbled into one big vivid lucid dream.

Then he furiously swung that same finger off to the side and out into the hallway, and I knew at once that this was no fever dream.

"About her!" He yelled, his jaw slacking their wildest yet. "I mean, seriously?! No, for real - seriously?!"

Guess she's finally back home. She's been gone almost twice as long as yesterday today... what kept her, I wonder?

Oh wait, Tyler's still in my room. Can't let my mind drift yet.

I yawned. "Amanda left yet?"

"Hours ago, dude," He replied. "Brush ain't nowhere here, so she went."

Sad.

"Adalia?"

"Asleep!" He replied again, a little bit more vehemently than the first. "Was having a good conversation too! We were just talking about the time I broke five mil subs in just seven months and then she decided to knock out on me out of nowhere five minutes in!"

Frankly, I'm just amazed she even managed to last that long.

"Dude, never mind all that shit - I asked a question!" He slammed both hands at the foot of my bed, nearly hitting my own feet in the process. "White hair! Green eyes! Pointy ears! Came in just now! Went into the room at the end of the hall! Who that?!"

Knowing Tyler, I highly doubt he just sat there in silence and watched the whole thing unfold before his very eyes. He's always gotta be in the thick of things one way or another.

"Mmm," I rubbed my other eye. "And what'd you say to her?"

"Say to her?! Dude, for real - how she looked at me when she first saw me. I thought she was gonna kill me!"

"Oh, whoops, I got it backwards," I let out a little laugh. "What did she say to you?"

That look of disbelief on his face, this was the third time now I've seen that expression. First time, Adalia left him breathless. Second instance, Amanda had him almost shell-shocked. And now... I don't even know how to describe him now.

"Who art... thou... waddafuck..." He clicked his tongue and threw his arms. "I dunno, she talks weird! I just told her I'm a guest and that I ain't no robber... she walked away after that, lucky me."

"And did you - "

"No, no! You cut the shit!" He slammed his fists down again. "One more question and I'm seriously gonna freaking freak! Who is - "

"Alright!" I said, finally conceding.

It was amusing watching him have a meltdown. Ah well, fun while it lasted.

"You met Ash," I explained. "The other other person that lives in this house."

"The other other...?" He raised a brow. "'Kay, is there also an other other other?"

Formed a smirk. "Maybe."

Tyler's eyes froze trying to process it all. "Okay, I'm sorry, is there something you're not telling me? Cause I feel like you're not telling me something here."

I did my best to keep my face straight and my eyes empty, as I said so innocently, "Like what, Tyler?"

"Like wha-wha-what is this place here, really? What is this house? Heaven? Haven for Babes? You got Adalia, you got Amanda... and now you got this girl and she's just so freaking..."

Oh, here we go. Another one of Tyler's famous assessments. How you gonna objectify Ash, I wonder? Hotter than hell like Adalia? A thicc-alicous snack like Amanda? Or maybe...historical

"Beautiful," He softly murmured, his eyes practically melting with tenderness. "Seriously, I've never seen someone like her before."

I guess you wouldn't. Last I check, Elves aren't exactly particularly common in this part of the universe.

"Right..." I nodded, slowly settling my head back down on the pillow. "So... is there anything else, or did you seriously just woke me up to tell me that?"

I got no answer. Suddenly, Tyler was miles away inside his own head, like he was under a spell or something.

"Um, Tyler?"

He sighed, grinning stupidly away.

"Big man..."

Oh, suddenly I'm big man again?

"Can I ask you a big favor?"

No, you can't. But I have a feeling you're going to go ask away anyway.

"This girl, right... Ash, you say?" He squirmed his fingers, and his cheeks turned flushed. "Do you think you could... introduce me sometime?"

I blinked. "You can't be serious."

"What?" He formed a frowned. "No good? Why? Is she taken? She ain't single too?"

You know, I'm a firm believer of third time's the charm. So...

"Yeah, she isn't, actually," I told him. "Take a guess who's the lucky guy."

"Oh, I fucking knew it!" He clapped his hands, taking one big room around my room in a sprint. "I knew it! Called it! Why the hell am I still surprise?!"

Maybe don't go for every girl that comes directly into your line of sight?

"Nope! No, though. Nuh-uh!" Tyler shook his head frantically. "I ain't giving up that easy this time. Not just gonna take your word for it - nope! I'll ask her. I'll walk up to her door myself, and then I'll really find out just what you are to - "

"Ah, it seems my concerns truly were unfounded," interjected a voice from the doorframe where a pair of emerald eyes and a gentle smile were poking through. "Forgive me, I wasn't aware you'd be bringing a guest today... Master."

Tyler's face stuck frozen as it was mid-sentence.

"M-mas... ter...?" He stammered, glazed-over eyes staring my way for answers.

Alas, I was not in an answering mood. I ignored him.

"Don't worry about it, Ash," I said, smiling back at her. "Neither did I, believe me."

Ash walked her graceful walk into the bedroom, with her head held high and her hands crossed down the middle.

"Have you been resting well today?" She stopped and stood by the bed. "Has the training today bore any progress?"

Same questions, different day. Each time with that gentle look on her face. Almost hard to believe that hers was the face that frightened Tyler to bits.

"Reached the front door this time," I replied, subtly shifting an eye towards Tyler. "How's that for progress, huh?"

"That is splendid news," Ash beamed proudly.

The entire took around thirty seconds, coincidentally that's also the amount of time it took for Tyler to arrive at a conclusion.

"So, wait, no way..." He backed away like reality was collapsing in front of his eyes. "All this time - you! The things I read back then... this 'Master' guy was you?!"

The expression on his face, man... and I thought I had it hard discovering all this fantasy stuff.

Clearly, having three different relationships with women was so much more harder to disgest.

"Why didn't you say anything back then?" He wailed, no longer looking like the smug big shot big guy that knocked on my doors those fair few hours ago.

There's a probably a moral lesson to be learned here somewhere, but that's his lesson to learn not mine, I ain't gonna agonize over it.

Yeah, I just simply shrugged my shoulders as I have so many times before, and casually replied, "You didn't ask me back then."

And it was like a knife slowly sinking into his chest the was he just collapsed to his knees. There's a video idea for you 'Finding my will to live again challenge'. I'm sure it'll do great.

Ash stared at our exchanged, bemused by it all.

I guess I got some explaining to do...