Almost 2 months had passed, but Ykril was still in this lifeless state. The Eilistraeen in the temple gave us shelter, food, and work for the meantime. While Miara maintained the temple's gardens and Sanise, as a bard in the tavern, entertained the Drow with her jittery ways and music, I assisted in the local tailoring shop, taking care of the priests' robes and the mages' robes. To my surprise, they were very impressed by my work, so they offered me a permanent position. But because I would rather not make the decision without Ykril, I was not ready to accept.
Miara and Sanise returned to their quarters at the tavern every night, while I spent an hour after work with Arishonna and then joined Ykril in the infirmary. I was allowed to take care of Ykril's daily routine, such as washing and shaving him, as the doctors wanted to observe the progress of an Aasimar-Drow half-breed, which was noticeably pressing against my stomach wall now, and why it disabled my regular magic.
They even taught me about cooking and gave me some recipes that would support the child's healthy development. I also shortened my hair, which Ykril sometimes mentioned that he was wondering what I would look like if I wore my hair as short as Miara. I must admit that I sometimes wondered if he didn't have a crush on Miara or if it was just simple admiration, the way he sometimes spoke about her. ›Oh, wow. That's what I call a strong woman‹ I grumpily repeated in my mind one of his statements when he saw Miara naked for the first time, and didn't even want to recall his remark about his comparison between Miara's and my breasts in my mind. They were just comments from a man, as my father once explained to me, whose brain seemed to stop functioning correctly at the sight of a naked woman due to lack of blood flow. According to dad, an instinctive behavior to guarantee the existence of male bloodlines. Even if I never understood how stupidity should help in reproduction. But I also occasionally took advantage of this behavior. While at times, I wasn't really sure if my darling was actually vulnerable to such a manipulation. He proved quite often that he was still fully aware and clear-headed.

I used the time to study my staff's entry from the book in Baldur's Gate and was surprised to discover that it was named. ›Storm's Bane. Sounds intimidating.‹ I thought to myself as I was marveling that it had been lost in the War of the Fiends 732 DR and wanted since then. According to the inscription in the book, no one was able to unleash its full potential yet, as the staff was very selective in choosing its bearer already at the time of its attunement and allowed only a few mages to be able to use it as a focus at all.
Furthermore, I took care of a ring for Ykril. This gesture would not be necessary for the Love-Binding ceremony in front of Eilistraee, but from father, as well as my research the last few days about humans, I had learned that humans were very traditional, and since he was very sensitive about my traditions, I thought I could make him happy by respecting his. Moreover, I appreciated the symbolism of the ring, the eternal bond, very honorable.

Like every evening, I joined him in his bed, put his hand on my belly and told him what I had done during the day. I was very pleased each time he pressed softly on my belly during his sleep, seemingly to sense our child.
As I was sitting like this next to him, coloring his fingernails purple out of boredom, Miara entered the room.
»Why are you still taking care of him?« she asked calmly.
»Because I love him, and he is my own little world to retreat to. I'm not going to leave him!« I replied to her
»He's boring. Even in his current state, he's not much different than if he was awake.« she threw in response, to which I just chuckled gently
»Why are you laughing now?« she grumbled
»Because you don't know him like I do. Yes, he might be boring, but that's accurately what it needs. His dullness makes it possible to just relax and surrender to your mind for the moment. He is my balance.« I proudly mentioned and whispered with a warm smirk »Plus, when we have sex, he knows some really lustful tricks, which are far away from any boredom.« while I continued to paint his fingernails
Miara stared at me blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly grabbed a chair and sat down next to me.
»Really, what tricks? He doesn't seem really well-equipped.« she came with great interest
»You peeked under the blanket?« I asked with a raised eyebrow.
»I was cheeky, and I will not apologize for it!« she just said while shrugging her shoulders
»Believe me, it gets larger when it's shaved and« I paused briefly »aroused.«
»You're kidding me!« »No, seriously. It's like a magic trick, really. I don't even have to take off all my clothing, and it increases to three or four times its size.« I chuckled softly, hoping Miara didn't notice my soft, longing sigh.
»I will only believe you when I see it with my own eyes.« she said with curiosity.
»Do you want to tell me something?« I asked her, again with a raised eyebrow and slightly tilted head.
»Depends on how you understood it.« she said cheekily in response and began to laugh.
Miara had an incredibly infectious laugh, especially when it came from the heart. So I had no choice but to laugh along.