Neither of us knew what time it was when we finally called it a night, it might have even been early hours of the morning.
Our bodies healed quickly, but we weren't fully transcended yet and Eve seemed to be a step behind me in divine development. What that meant was our bodies were perfectly fine, but fatigue had set in and we had phantom aches and pains racking every inch of our depleted bodies when we awoke.
"Don't take this the wrong way but I feel gross." Eve groaned as I handed her a large glass of water. "Amazing, satisfied, more in control than I have in weeks, but gross."
"I feel the same, don't worry." I mumbled. Sitting down as we both took some pain killers I had produced and downed a full pint of water before falling back. We didn't care that the glasses rolled across the bed.
"We should sterilise ourselves and get into the hot spring, it wont help the headaches but our bodies will feel better." My voice was weak, with an almost whiny undertone.
"The thought of using magic right now is painful, I can't say the words or think. You do it, but outside, we'll be gross again the moment we touch anything in here. Pull me up.... Gently!" I did just that, then we stumbled toward the steaming water, I stepped in first then helped her in.
"I would sit on your lap so you can hold me, but that thing's done enough damage." she chuckled, before groaning with the effort settling for slumping against me.
"Well we learned two things we need to bare in mind. Both have pros and cons." I declared as I slumped against her in turn.
"Yes, strategy meeting, we need to make sure we don't do this to ourselves again."
"Agreed... First, we are apparently forever virgins, our bodies will heal any damage exactly as they were. The pros are that it means we won't be horribly effected as the decades tick on... Con is that every time will be as sensitive as the first, which means the same recovery time, which is slowed by the fatigue."
"Yes, we also burn through mana for some reason, instinctual healing spells maybe?"
"We will have to try and not use it, maybe slower recovery will get us past the virgin stage at least. Second, and most importantly, we cannot afford to get that carried away everytime, so we need to keep our appetites satisfied."
"Completely... Once in a while though..." She said, the suggestive tone indicating we shouldn't rule out nights like the previous one completely.
"Completely..." I agreed, to both sentiments.
"When we do, go like that though..."
"Snacks and drinks." The suggestion was a big issue and one we suspected played a large role in our extended recovery time.
"Snacks and drinks." She echoed. "Seriously though, I can still feel it all, if I don't get pregnant I'll be more amazed than disappointed."
The sentence left me a bit guilty. "If you don't it's my fault, remember that, I ne-"
"If I don't... You gave me Quatal and we can adopt the little one as planned. I will have two amazing daughters, and we can simply keep adopting. I love you for who you are Adam, not what you can and have given me."
I kissed her briefly before we both sunk deeper into the water.
An hour ticked by and our bodies definitely felt smoother both to the touch and in their movements. When we stepped out we stood at the door way and cleaned the cabin from top to bottom, then I conjured some some simple clothes for us to wear whilst we stored the wedding attire we had in our dimensional pockets.
When I checked my time piece, it was nearly lunch time, Quatal was most likely hangry and parental attention deprived and Auntie Astra would be needing a break, even if she would never admit it.
Every so often Eve would stumble and moan about when she would stop feeling it, but we were still making and having a good time. Eve invented a new game called what species next, which was based upon the planning of we were unable to conceive a child.
"I want a demi-human kitten or dragon-kin."
"Byurik will either hate or love it if it's dragon-kin, but what about a bunny-kin and have you ever even met a demi-human yet?"
"Not in this time no, I feel like I have been busy since I got her, I don't even know how long anymore. Less than a year I know that."
"I'm not sure exactly either, but from what I remember maybe less than a half. You were unconscious for a lot of it and it is kind of scary how quickly we fell so head over heels, the human heart is not to be underestimated. I can feel your love for me from across town these days."
We kept talking, then getting stuck in conversational detours, forgetting what stated them all the way home.
"You know I think it's officially time to call this place "The Garden" rather than the other side, it feels too much like home these days." I sighed.
"I know, I knew we spoke about it but we spend more and more time over here, so I agree "the other side" feels like we're not treasuring it enough."
When we took another step, Quatal burst out the door, transforming and coiling tightly around us in a way our still recovering bodies were not a fan of.
"Sweetie.... Mama... and Papa... Need... some time... to rest." Eve wheezed as our bones creaked.
"What do you mean? You were sleeping in the special cabin all night weren't you." We could hear the scepticism in her voice.
"No.... We... Were... Working... On... Something..." I grunted between deep breaths.
"What? A present? Did daddy do something sill and need to say sorry? Or is it for me?"
"Kind of a present...." I gasped as she relaxed considerably so we could breathe. "... We we're trying to make sure we could make Cosmael your little sister as soon as possible." I was not thinking fast and that was the best I could come up with, luckily Eve was completely understanding about my brain not working.
"Ew, solid grossness..." Astrael laughed, but we could only chuckle, it was a gross thing to hear for anyone that knew what it meant. "Lunch is on the table, Auntie Astrael is officially off duty. Oh and Eve, unfortunately Vedna asked at breakfast for you to go see him as soon as possible, so he definitely knows what you were doing,"
We didn't even care anymore, we knew what we did, everyone in the know knew what we did... It was our wedding night, we had to accept that most people you speak to the day after know exactly what you were doing the night before and it was just an unspoken rule of polite society that you didn't mention it.
Our friends were not part of a polite society however, which we soon discovered.
Our divinity empowered killing intent was enough to shut them up, unfortunately it nearly knocked the less resistant out and we got lectured by Fala and Quatal, who just thought it was funny to lecture her parents.
When we got to Vedna he barely looked us in the eye and we sat in silence for a while until he had prepared himself to speak. "I will be leaving tonight... I have to return for the time being so that things do not get mes-... Ahem!... So that I can catch up on my responsibilities to Abelegia, I wanted to know if you could collect me in time for the coronation, I wish to hand over your dowry then since it is not quite ready."
"Father, that isn't necessary, I heard what you gave Adam in the temple, that memory, feeling like his parents were still in his heart, that was plenty... You can't empty the coffers on a disowned dau-"
"Do not finish that thought. You were liberated from the church, not from our familial connection. Even Adam wouldn't make that mistake." The final phrase making them both mad at me for some reason whilst I just chuckled heavily wondering why it was my fault.
"If it makes you feel any better, we are planning to go on a guild work hunting trip for our honeymoon after the selection for our party, Why don't we come for a visit after, spend a night in Abelegia, I would love to study the architecture a bit more to come up with ways to make things a bit more familiar whilst we travel."
"That would be splendid... I admit, I don't quite feel ready to let her go yet... I doubt I ever would be, but I'm glad she found someone I can trust to bring her home and not let her forget her roots."
"Father, how can I forget my roots when I'm not a plant."
"Even if she has picked up certain idiot-syncracies."
"Yeah I think the wordplay is on you pops."