My Priority

"Come on, don't make fun of me," he said with a pout. "I would show you but I'm really tired and it's not working."

"Don't bother, I'm sure I will like the real you just fine. But you know, there's something more important that I need to know," I stated.

"What is that?" he said with a confused expression.

"If you would like to be my girlfriend?" I asked with a wide grin.

Trevor's eyes went wide, his eyes darted to the ceiling, and then he settled them on me.

"I said I was a guy, right?" he giggled. "You know, the cross-dressing thing?"

"So I guess I should rephrase; will you be my boyfriend?" I said with a giggle.

"OK, I like girlfriend better, but can I switch it to boyfriend if I need to?" he asked with a little uneasy smile.

"I can call you anything that you like," I said with a wry smile.

"Girlfriend...I'll go with girlfriend for now," he said with an adorable little smile.

"OK; Trevor, will you be my girlfriend?" I asked once again.

"Yes, I would like that very much," he said, then he sat up, his legs curled softly underneath him, and bent up to kiss me.

Soft, candy flavored lips pressed against mine as my hands gripped his pretty waist, holding him close and trying not to stare down his small cleavage that the corset was sure to detail all too well.

"I had fun tonight," he whispered, his lips a mere centimeters away from mine.

"Thanks; so did I," I said with a sweet tone.

"You look tired; I think you should come inside and snuggle with me," he said all too whimsically.

"I don't take drunk girls to bed," I said with a challenging little smirk before I kissed his pretty lips.

"Aw, don't be mean," he said with a giggle.

"I'm not mean, I'm making sure you get home safe, and that's it," I cooed.

"Your a gentleman," he said before our lips met.

-- Chapter 3 - Our Apartment --

I opened my eyes to my dimly lit bedroom, the flicker of the fire from my living rooms hearth was mostly concealed by my partially closed door.

"Owe," I groaned as my muscles protested, my right hand giving me jolts of stiff pain as I attempted to move it, and the side of my mouth being sore.

"What?" I said to myself as I expended what seemed like great effort to get out of bed, trying to remember what had happened the night before. "But, I wasn't drunk anymore?"

The lantern in my bathroom flared to show me a bruised, pained mouth that looked like it took a punch, the obvious marks of knuckles splayed across my jaw in a fashion that could be better, but could also be worse. I blearily inspected my hand, noting that it was bruised with raw knuckles and sure to sting.

Removing my clothes proved that I had a bruise on my shoulder, but ultimately did not look that I took an entire beating.

"Oh geez, I got into a fight," I said, groaning at my reflection.

I quickly took a bath and donned some clean clothes, quickly inspecting my coat for any additional clues. Nope, clean.

"Well, at least I managed to not bleed all over the damn thing," I said with a huff.

I exited the room and headed for my front door, noting a few unfamiliar chests that sat near the sofa.

"I don't...what happened?" I said to myself once again, shaking my head.

The lodge opposite from my front door was slowly waking up as tiny flecks of early morning light had begun to caress the windows. No one was awake enough to really request anything, many of them appearing to fight hangovers from the previous night. It was a weekend morning, so most people were not expected to return to work while in their rather unwell state of being.

"Morning, sunshine! Looks like you had a wild night," Mom said with a beaming smile from behind the counter.

I slipped into the chair that was her usual spot, me trying to rub my tired eyes and woefully reminding myself of my facial injuries.

"Oh, come here," she said as she swung by my side to catchy my painful face within her hands.

"Mom, I don't need you to..." I protested, but she grinned and kissed me on the forehead anyway, my face feeling a warm comfort before she released me.

"There, you should be feeling better now," she said.

"Um, thanks, Mom," I sincerely said, noting that my face and hand no longer boasted the lot of pain that was previously there.

"It's not full heal, so your body will have to take care of the rest naturally, but it will at least get you through the day," she stated before grabbing a mirror and facing it towards me. "See, you already look better!"

"Yeah, I could still see the knuckle mark, but most of the bruising is gone; that really helps," I said. "Do you know what happened last night? I left the festival; I wasn't even there anymore."

"I have no idea, I went to bed early and you must have managed not to make too much of a racket in the lodge when you got back. But I'm guessing you had fun! Been a while since my Gemini had a good-old bar fight," she mused.

"Yeah, but I wasn't in a bar...at least, I don't think I was? It's...hazy," I groaned. "I had some of that magic wine or beer or whatever, the kind that makes you belch colors and lights?"

"Seriously, you drank that stuff? Pretty bold move without magic," she said. "That's one hell of an enchantment to deal with."

"So, can you like, disenchant it or something?" I asked.

"Nope, because it already done what it's intended to do; which is blank out your fight. You won't know who to hold a grudge against or why; the dragonkin find it useful and fun," she said.

"Fun if you intend to get into a fight, just confusing if you ended up in one without knowing why," I stated. "I was in a chariot...no, at Trevor's house?"

"Maybe you punched your driver?" Mom asked, being of no help.

"No, no, he was nice. I...I guess I will ask Trevor if he knows anything," I stated.

"Well, you got me," she said with a shrug as she handed me breakfast. "I'm just glad that you had fun, for a change."

"Well, thanks for giving me the night off," I said with a smile.

"I figured I at least owned you that since I'm going to abandon you on the holiday itself," she stated.

"Yeah, give Dad a hug for me," I stated.

"Will do," she confirmed. "Let me know when you are going to be ready for work. With Hunter out until later today, we will need some firewood soon enough. Your hand should be good to go now, but let me know if you would rather that I do it."

"Yeah, I can do that," I said as I sipped my soup. "Do you think maybe someone tried to rob us last night? But it seems that there are more items in my apartment than usual...unfamiliar items."

"Maybe you robbed someone else," she mocked, giggling unhelpfully as I rolled my eyes at her.

"Hey, Mom," I said, remembering a detail of my tired night.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I...I asked Trevor out. I have a girlfriend; or at least, I did before whatever fight I managed to get into. If he broke up with me, I would not remember," I said, my confusion increasing as the statement left my mouth.

"Well look at that, my weird daughter finally catching a real date," she said a little too gleefully. "I'm proud that you finally let Samantha go."

"No, Mom, I have to go check on him. He was the last thing I remember and he could be in trouble or something," I said with concern.

"Have you checked your apartment? You said there were unfamiliar items there, and that's only ever happened to me when I brought people to my house during my youth," she said with a wink.

---

I wanted to protest; to say I was not the kind of person to drag someone to my home after so little time knowing them, and much less before a first date. But inspection proved that familar blonde hair poked from the covers of the guest bed that sat in my guest bedroom. I quietly closed the door to allow him to sleep and briefly opened one of the chests to find a stack of frilly dresses and scarves.

Not wanting to violate the chest's privacy any further, I closed it and inspected my items for any clues. There was mud on my boots, my money was still secured within my coat, and the bread I had brought from the fair laid in it's packaging on my table, undisturbed. I had noted that a few of the items Trevor had purchased during the festival were also there, but none of them were damaged. I slipped out of the apartment to rejoin Mom.

"I don't think someone tried to rob me; all my money's there and none of my items are gone," I stated to Mom as we cleaned up the lodge together. "But that was definitely Trevor, so I guess I will wait until he wakes up. But man, I really wish I remember what happened."

"Glad that you found him; but you are better off waiting for him rather than delving into further speculation. That enchantment is designed pretty well, so I would not rely on those memories to come back to you," she said with a shrug. "Even dragonkin will get the memories back in a matter of days if they dampen the enchantment with their natural magic."

"Seriously, how do they find that fun?" I asked.

"Trust me, it's fun," she said with a laugh.

"Good to know; never drinking that stuff again," I said more to myself as Mom laughed at me.

"The many times I have said that," she mused with a little laugh at herself.

---

Loud cracks ricochet off of the mountain side behind me, from the trees all around, and even the frozen lake nearby as my axe heavily met the wood, splitting it cleanly in half.

Beads of sweat fell from my face in the freezing cold and falling snow, the activity proving to not only manage the cold, but coat me in a fine layer of sweat underneath my thick frock coat and ear flap hat. Another crack and another set of wood later, I sat on a large log to gaze at the now gray sky that made the snow nearly have a blue or purple shadow.

Snow crunched to my right and I quickly looked up to anticipate the presence of an animal such as elk or even a bear; but in it's place was Trevor, his pretty dress coat providing a set of deep black colors with bright pink accents to the rest of the winter scenery.

"Hi," he said and gave me a little wave as he approached, bright hazel eyes peering at me through his thick furred hood.

"Hi," I responded, my heart giddy and cheeks ablaze as he gently sat down near me.

"So, I talked to Boss, but figured I should explain things to you before I give her the whole story.

"Yeah, I've been trying to shake it all morning," I said. "But it's comforting to know that you are all right."

"Because of you," he said with a pretty smile.

He inched close, now rubbing shoulders with me while giving me a pouty little smile. I must have looked rather flustered because he giggled at me and wrapped his arms around mine. But little did he know, it was my turn to surprise him; I easily pulled his light weight into my lap, my arms just holding him.

"Hey!" he said in surprise as he swung his legs to the right of mine, pressed his back into me, and turned his neck to give me sly smile.

"Good morning," I said as I hugged him, pressing my face into his shoulder and sighing. "I don't remember what happened last night, but I'm glad you are OK."

"Yeah," he whispered, closing his eyes and pausing to enjoy the moment.

"Are you warm enough in that pretty coat of yours? It's freezing out here," I chuckled.

"Don't confuse pretty for non-functional," he retorted, sticking his tongue out at me.

"Heh, fair enough," I grinned.

"Is that why you don't like pretty things? You think they are weak?" he challenged.

I shook my head and grinned. "Not fair, I never said such a thing. Just not to my taste, really. I like this frock coat; it's warm, functional, but to me, it looks amazing. It's detailed, and has a cut that makes me feel a little regal, you know?"

"Would you mind adding just a bit of pretty to your regal look?" he asked.

"Wait, why?" I said a little flatly as I raised an eyebrow.

Trevor exited my lap and walked around the log in order to stand behind me.

"May I?" he asked lightly, me giving him a worried look but nodded all the same.

He delicately took my brunet, shoulder length hair into his gloved hands and undid the thin green ribbon that kept it back. He pulled something out of his coat and clipped it in place of the ribbon, then gracefully walked around to sit right back into my lap.

"Wait, what is this?" I asked as my fingers felt a metal clip that now held my hair.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to glam you up in jewels, but this is nice. It's light metal clip, and I think it looks cute on you," he said, then handed me a small mirror from his pocket. "See, it's still your style."

"Oh, um, thanks," I said, the mirror showing a smaller silver metal leaf held in a celtic knot that tied around itself elegantly, the decor wrapped of a silver clip that actually managed to keep the hair in place that stuck out from under my hat. "It looks awesome."

"You are welcome," he said with rosy cheeks and a large smile.

"I should have brought something or you," I said a little sheepishly as I scratched the back of my neck.

"You already gave me something," he said. "At least, you already did something."

He took a long breath as the snow gracefully fell to the planet and the wind gently rustled the evergreen trees.

"Last night; we had a confrontation with my roommate. She was drunk, and she came out to slam her fists onto the carriage door, yelling at the driver to take me back to wherever he got me. She did not expect you," he said.

"Wait, I didn't hit her, right?" I asked in slight alarm.

"Well, yes, but not until she grabbed me. We stepped out, you asked questions, and it made her angrier. She grabbed me, you hit her, and I'm guessing she hit you back. It was rather a mess. Her boyfriend came out, noticed how tall you were, cursed, and walked right back in. After that, you insisted that I stay with you over and over again until I agreed," he said, now biting his lip.

"So that's it, it was that simple," I asked, a little stunned.

"Well, not entirely, I was still getting up from the snow when she hit you back, so I didn't see it all, and there was a lot of yelling. You placed my trunks on the carriage and carried them upstairs to your apartment," he said sheepishly. "And I have cleanup to do. I have to go to the lease office before my shift today and explain everything to the landlord."

We sat there for a moment, considering so many of the complications of our very new relationship.

Trevor suddenly got up, abandoning my lap, and turned to me.

"Well, I should not keep you from your work, and I need to get a move on so I won't be late for my shift," he said softly. "I owed you an explanation, especially after remembering what you drank last night. Anyway, thank you, for everything."

"You are welcome," I said. "I really hope you slept well last night."

He smiled at me and walked off, not giving me an answer.

---

"That's the last of them," I said to Mom as I set the chopped wood next to the hearth and fed more into its flames.

"You are going to have a interesting little life from now on," she said with amusement.

"Heh, going to take some getting used to, but I'm more concerned with him than anything...I mean, I've always lived here; don't know what it's like to live with a terrible roommate," I stated.

Mom set the broom behind the counter and sat down, soaking up the warmth of the hearth.

"I dunno, you can almost consider these jerks to be your roommates," she laughed mostly at Gunther, one of the guests that passed the two of us.

"Right back at you, Boss!" Gunther cheered, handing beer to his friends.

"He seems happy," I laughed.

"Yup, gave him and his friends a discount for trying some of my new recipes yesterday," she said.

"Ah, so you baked a bit. How did they end up?" I asked.

"So, so. One of them was pretty good, but not good enough to be added to the menu," she said.

"Better luck next time," I replied with a smile.

---

The rest of the crew returned shortly to start their shift, Trevor coming in with them and chatting happily to Lorelei. Everyone was in an excellent mood after the festival with ample time to rest, so we got quickly to work and made the night short, cooking extra food to ensure there was enough for both dinner and the next day's breakfast accordingly.

Everything seemed briefly normal; as if nothing had changed. We worked fluidly to get everything done before it was closing time. I walked briefly with Lorelei in order to get her home as the snow fell, her making light fun at how easily Trevor and I got along during the festival.

"Yeah, we totally ditched you so that you and him could have some interesting conversations and make googley eyes," she said with a giggle.

"You're kidding, right?" I said with a tease.

"Nope, everyone could see there was something going on; so you just needed a little push is all," she said with a grin. "So, any developments?"

"Not telling," I said, returning her grin.

"You are just no fun," she teased with a fake pout before laughing.

"And never say 'googley eyes' every again; it sounds gross!" I laughed.

We waved goodnight and I headed home; realizing that Trevor was actually going to be there and quickly overthinking the ordeal. I was certainly happy that Lorelei of all people had not yet known of our situation.

---

The bar was empty and a few guests were having a conversation outside as I headed in.

I stood close to my apartment door, looked at the knob, exhaled, and stood there a little longer. A few passing guests stared at me for a moment or two before turning from me to cross their hallways for the night. I gave a nervous sigh and went inside.

"Hi," Trevor lightly said, him curled up on the couch under a blanket with a book. "I have already started a fire in your hearth, so I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all. It's nice," I said with a nervous smile before removing my coat, boots, and hat.

There we were, a new couple suddenly sharing the same living space; not knowing how to fully proceed. It was, understandably, awkward.

In the end, I had decided to take a bath and make an early trip to bed; but not before checking on Trevor. "Hey, let me know if there is anything I can get you. I can grab some extra towels or change out the bed sheets if you need."

"I love the bed sheets, and I have my own towels and soaps; so thank you," he said lightly.

"I'm glad...anyway, you have a good night," I said with a smile.

Trevor waived with a little blush before I closed my door and sighed, trying not to think too hard about the beautiful person that occupied my living room.

---

The hearth was dim by morning and I had exited my bedroom to peer about.

The apartment was rather large, boasting a spacious living room that had vaulted ceilings as high as the rest of the lodge; which was one of the reasons that Mom had the apartments built on the third floor. The bedrooms were towards the back, and the bathroom and dining room was to the right. The place was never built with a kitchen in mind due to those amenities being located down stairs but the dining room at least provided a private place to eat.

I made my usual route to the bathroom before emerging, getting dressed, and clipping my hair back with the new accessory that Trevor gifted me. I noted how solidly it held my brunette locks, the thing being sturdy enough not to slip out immediately. I smiled at my reflection, turned down the oil lamp, and exited the room.

"Good morning, Trevor," I said kindly, finding him at the dining table snacking on some tarts.

"Would you like one?" he asked.

"Yeah, but where did you get them? They look a bit expensive," I asked, almost reluctant to agree to eat one.

"Not expensive, but I purchased them yesterday after talking the the landlord. She allowed me to be removed from the lease, but I can't get any money back for this month," he said in more of an upbeat tone than I would have expected for such news.