Journal #36: Life before The Lost Ones

Across a dimly lit bedroom, the soft pitter-patter of rainfall could be heard across their roof. In the dark, the ebony elf’s sleep had always been restless. Not since his time as a child, before he has a real sense of fear, has he had a restful night of sleep. This restlessness was instilled in him because of the years he spent in the Underdark. Sleep in the Underdark often lead to the dreams of assassination and being kidnapped and forced into servitude. Those years of worry clearly weighted heavily on the layers of dark elf ’s subconsciousness. Even on the surface now safe from the terrors of his kin, his guard will always be up. Since even people on the surface despised the drow as much as two rival drow houses hated each out while they struggled for power. This tension was noticeable to anyone who could see the drow sleep, even comfy sheet and bed would not ease this drow body into a more relaxed state. A fact that Claire took a clear note of the past couple of years living with her husband. Her husband, the thought alone was odd for her, married so young into her adventures and to a drow. Her eyes reminded closed, but she had been awake for half an hour at least.
 
Through her closed eyes a flash of light. Lightning crawled across the sky, it’s brief light illuminated the dark bedroom. The clap of thunder soon followed and shook the house. Out of reflex, the dark elf’s body lurched forward searching for a sign of danger. His veins felt like ice as his golden eyes scanned the room. His eyes lingered on his wife's twin short swords that were sheathed on the wall, then to daggers not far from them. Nothing was out of place the drow noted. His ears also perked up as to listen past the rain to see if he heard anything that was abnormal. The dark elf’s face smirked at his own stupidity, it was just a stormed he chastised himself. His body slowly went back to a position he felt he could get a comfortable amount of sleep in. Aniks attempted to relax, yet his body remained rigid across the bed. Even now under the covers, his bare chest felt cold. The bedroom only seemed to have a draft when there was a rather strong storm.
 
The wind howled as it blew quite violently against the couple’s windows. The ebony elf turned his head to look at his wife, how did he ever get this lucky he thought to himself. People within the Underdark do not care the same way humans do. His feelings for this human, ‘Love’ as it’s known in common, is always looked down upon by his kin. In fact, love of this nature is always hidden in fear that it would easily be taken advantage of. He let a small smile come to his rather tired face as he gazed at her. Despite all that she knew about him since she was the only human or person that he has spoken to openly about his past, she had accepted that. Her justification for that was simply ‘You cannot be like a typical drow, else I would already be dead’ she teased him about being a drow and all the ‘terrible’ things he could do. This would often lead to the drow blushing and finding something besides Claire to pay attention to.
 
See the drow initially didn’t think much of Claire. She was a simple adventurer with a group that had captured an evil drow on the surface. Aniks was that unlucky drow that had been in the wrong place at the right time on the surface during winter. Claire’s adventuring group wanted to leave the dark elf tied up to a tree, so he could freeze to death but the human protest. She protested so much that she created an ultimatum for them.
 
“We take the dark elf with us he’ll freeze in a couple of hours, or you leave without me!” Aniks always asked why she chose to spare some random drow she knew nothing about. It was the simple fact that Aniks never shown any violence toward the group. Leaving him to freeze Claire thought was worse than turning him in at the nearest town. Aniks always did admire that stubborn determination that humans seem to all poses, at least the humans that he knew.
 
Aniks was slightly jealous of the fact Claire could sleep so peacefully.
 
“Niks, it’s just a storm,” she said without opening her eyes. Aniks was slightly taken aback by her being awake but understood this wasn’t the first time he had woke her from her sleep.
 
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Aniks said in a whisper that the rain could easily have drowned out if they hadn’t been so close.
There was silence between the two only to be broken by a clap thunder. Being a dark elf, sudden changes in light creates temporary blindness for Aniks. Another shot of ice ran through his veins, the total greyness of his sight always but him on edge. Their bed creaked as Claire moved closer to the blind drow, she could easily tell what was going on since he was blinking rapidly. Something brushed against his lips while unable to see. That graying blindness clearing from his eyes, he was meet with a pair of open, bright greenish blue eyes were about six inches from his face. There was a small laugh from the human. Claire often did small thing like that when she knew Aniks was temporarily blind. Aniks felt blood rush to his face and was glad the darkness hid that from Claire. She wasn’t gifted with the superior dark vision of the drow so she couldn’t get a truly clear depiction of Aniks blushing currently. Through his vision, her curly brown was all over the place and curled around her cheeks. Her eyes scanned as if she was trying to figure out what was wrong. She had a pretty good idea of what it was. Claire turned to face the window and had her back was facing him. She closed the remaining distance between the two of them.
 
“I could say the same to you, we only have so many nights left of peaceful rest,” she whispered, sounding like she was drifting off back into slumber. Then in more of a murmur, “I hope it’s…it’s a …. girl.”
 
Another brief moment of lightning and blindness followed up by a very close crack of loud thunder. His slender arms wrapped around his tired wife she slipped one of her hands into the drows, as she nuzzled herself as close to her dark elf as possible. After all, they were both rather cold in that drafty house of theirs. Each of them chose an appropriate position for them to sleep comfortably together. Through Claire's sleepy haze her voice attempted to mumble something. Aniks, of course, new a handful of languages, incoherent sleepy babbling was one he was not quite familiar with. Sorting through his knowledge of common, the closest language to nonsense tired mumbles, his interpretation of this babbling coming from his wife was a question. She had asked, “What do you hope they are?”
 
The couple had been married for less year and their time together as a whole was coming up on five years in total. The idea of a child was nothing more than a joke between the two, at least that was the case. Early on Claire would mention wanting a child with him, mainly to see his face grow warm and change color. This was almost always the easiest way to see a drastic change in his persona, this sudden change often showed that the surface had changed him for the better. No longer the stereotypical dark elf who’s every action was deliberately evil. Aniks only returned the teasing when under the influence of drinks or often when they’re alone. However, the two of them have had conversations seriously considering the possibility of having children.
 
Aniks had always voiced some concerns for any children he had with Claire, his ties to his house would still have some looming treat over them. Though Claire often disregarded this personal problem. Saying she’ll deal with her new extended relatives, often raising one of her twin swords making gestures of attacking dark elves she’s never meet. This put Aniks mind at eases, to his family he’s basically dead. As far as he was aware of the past fifty years, they have not searched for him. Which was suitable for this hypothetical family they spoke of. There was also the concern of how the child would be seen to the world at large. Though technically their children would be Half-Elves. It’s more accurate to use the term Half-Drow. Aniks only knew of a handful of Half Drow, and most were under the disturbing care of house umbra. They were oddities they are often never truly accepted by the surface and used for terrible means in the Underdark.
 
This changed recently at the news that Claire had been expecting. Both the soon to be parents were ecstatic. At least one list of male names have already been created, Claire had made at least double that in female names. Aniks stressed that he didn’t want their kid to have a name that would be used by a Drow. Both of them decided it would be for the best for their child to take her last name. The Drow in whisper careful not to wake his wife said: “ I would very much like a girl as well, though I would not mind a boy.”
 
The ebony elf’s eyes slowly closed as his mind drifted, it felt odd to him. Aniks body was no longer tense while trying to sleep. For the first time since he was a baby, he slept with a smile on his face. Within a minutes Aniks felt her breathing become slower. He still didn’t want to wake her, it’s not a pleasant experience when his wife did not get a restful night sleep. Especially as of late. In the back of his head, Aniks thought she was doing this as a way to get both of them some well-needed rest. Aniks pulled the cover up to their shoulders and placed his arm across Claire once again intangling his fingers with hers, in his thoughts he remarked how warm she was.
 
It was peaceful and perfect.