Ranger's Apprentice Quick Stories

Just Another Day in Paradise

Will sat at the kitchen table going over reports. He absently rubbed his head with his hand. His head was beginning to hurt. He'd been reading the same reports for well over an hour now, trying to find the missing link, but whatever it was that he was missing continued to evade him.

The door to the cabin creaked open and Will glanced up. Despite how stressed he was, he couldn't help but smile at the person that entered.

His wife.

His Alyss.

"Hi honey," Alyss' sweet voice washed over Will's exhausted, stretched-thin mind like a summer breeze. He closed his eyes and smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"Hi yourself," he replied. He opened his eyes to see Alyss setting her work bag down on the table, careful to avoid his stack of reports. Then she leaned down to kiss him. Her hand ran through his disheveled brown hair and he smiled again.

"How was your day?"

Will's smile faded.

"Good," he lied, a little too quickly. "How was yours?"

Alyss, intelligent, observant and caring as she was, easily picked up on Will's change of tone. Rather than pressure her husband, however, she pulled up another chair to sit near him and smiled over at him.

"It went well," she said. "Lady Pauline and I managed to improve the courier code a bit."

Will turned a playful smile on her.

"I thought that code was already perfect?"

Alyss' eyes twinkled.

"Not quite," she admitted. "Although it's certainly more advanced than anything you Rangers could come up with."

Will narrowed his eyes at her. Surely she hadn't just insulted the entirety of the Ranger Corps! He felt a rueful grin pulling at his lips.

"Are you calling me dumb?" He challenged.

His wife assumed a superior expression.

"Oh no, honey, I would never..." she said. Will noticed the corners of her mouth twitching up. He rolled his eyes.

"Yes you would," he stated plainly. Beside him, Alyss chuckled softly.

"Perhaps," she teased. She leaned over and placed her hand on Will's muscled bicep. Then she stood and took her work bag to the bedroom.

"What's the plan for dinner?" She asked as she returned to the outer room. She took a seat in front of the fireplace. Will sighed, pushing his reports aside.

"I was thinking I would make some of those dumplings we ate with Shigeru back in Nihon-Ja," Will replied. He stood and made his way to the kitchen's cooking area.

Will and Alyss, while beloved by many in Redmont, were also teased quite often for one simple fact; they switched many typical gender roles around the house.

To the rest of the fief, for the most part anyway, it was strange to see the man cooking the meals. But Will and Alyss both knew which of them had the best skills in that area. Will loved to cook, especially for his beautiful wife. And Alyss was content to let him. Because Will did most of the cooking, Alyss often ran errands into the village for supplies around the house, a job that most men took up.

Secretly, both Will and Alyss liked that they were different. And Alyss had to admit, she enjoyed watching Will cook with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and that adorable curious smirk on his face when he tried new recipes.

"That sounds delicious," Alyss replied. As Will began to prepare the meal, the tall courier stood and made her way to stand directly behind her husband. Sensing her presence, Will turned.

"You know, it usually takes about an hour before the food is actually ready," he teased with that same playful grin on his face. Alyss allowed herself to shoot back with an undignified smirk.

"I know that," she replied. She wrapped her arms around Will's midsection as she spoke, forcing herself not to laugh as Will froze at her touch. They had been married for nearly a year now, and the young Ranger still seemed to stiffen in anticipation whenever his wife so much as gave him a certain look.

"Maybe I just missed you," she whispered in his ear. She felt a tiny grain of satisfaction when she noticed the goosebumps that ran down Will's arms.

"I...erm... I missed you too," Will stammered.

Ever the smooth talker, Alyss thought in amusement as she noted Will's difficulty forming a sentence. She kissed the back of Will's neck, and he froze again. This time, Alyss couldn't help but giggle.

Will heard the sound and, knowing she was laughing at him, turned to look at her slowly.

"You're laughing at me!" he accused. Alyss was still laughing, her smile kind enough to rid Will of any hurt feelings.

"You're just cute," she told him. "I can't help it."

Will feigned a pout.

"You're very rude, you know that?"

Alyss smiled innocently at him.

"And you're very slow at cooking. I'm hungry."

For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then, Will suddenly kissed his wife before stepping away from her and toward the stove top.

"Now get out of my kitchen," he demanded playfully. "You're distracting me with your beauty."

"Yes sir," Alyss teased back, and returned to her place by the fire.

As Will returned to his cooking, he felt a small smile still playing on his lips. To everyone else in the world, today had been just another day. In fact, even Will himself had experienced a hard and stressful day of work, just like any other day as a Ranger. But to Will, every day in the last year was even more special that the one before it. Because in his mind, he was married to the most perfect woman in the world.

To Will, it was just another day in paradise.

So I had to do a story like this because we never got any wholesome Will + Alyss context. Also, I'm finally publishing my own novel. Hopefully you have all heard me talk about it in chapters previously, but stay tuned for more info so you guys can check out my novel!