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She was right. She had been busy and there had never been much time to think about marriage before. Granted Ash didn’t particularly have to go through any of this. For all intents and purposes Dakota had always been his one and only. A ring on her fingers and vows spoken in front of their families wasn’t going to change that it just made things more official. There was some truth in what she said though but now it looked like things were going to be changing in the best way possible.

Ash thought about her question for a moment. Truthfully he had never considered himself a family man either but there was a certain appeal. His experiences with Lucas? Perhaps they would be a part of the decision for some but it wasn’t that Ash disliked Lucas. He just liked him better when he was behaved. Something he didn’t see as being a problem with Dakota and him as parents. “I think you could give me no greater gift than to be the mother of our child when that time comes. We’ll just have to wait and see. As for Ali. I think we would both find things a little more peaceful if we avoided certain family entanglements don’t you?”

There was a certain truth to Dakota's words and indeed he had expected no less but it was still good to hear Dakota say them herself. Saying things had always had a way of making them more definite and concrete for Ash and it was no different here. The details weren't really important right now. What was important was that they would be together one way or the other. "If I had known getting more time together was as simple as putting something shiny on your finger I would have tried that earlier. Not that you have been waiting patiently for long enough or anything like that."

What she said next brought an actual full chuckle from his lips. A family man? He didn't know many people who would have labeled him that way but he couldn't exactly discount it either. There were few people that knew him the way Dakota did mostly because she had been such a constant in his life for so long. "A family man huh? Maybe, but what kind of family will we be I wonder. A family of two or..." he let himself trail of there but the question was easy enough to figure out. They had never talked much about being a family but there were certain things that came along with that.

Ash huffed at the idea of a book about bravery. Even if there were such a thing he wasn't sure how much good it would do anyone. He had never seen anything written down that was half as scary as some of the things that they confronted on a daily basis. In his opinion people made up horrors so that they didn't have to think about the ones that were real and if that was the case a book just wouldn't help at all.

"Bravery is a moment by moment choice, a personal decision." He said wondering how she could possibly face her fears when she wouldn't try. "Courage is not a skill to be learned or forgotten. When your fears threaten to overtake you there is a moment of truth. Will you run or will you stand and be true? It's nothing that you can plan for. Instead, it is something that you have to make yourself do one way or the other." He thought for a moment wondering how she might begin to do so but it wasn't that easy. This wasn't something that someone could actually train themselves in like he had said. "Perhaps you should start small. Maybe with something you aren't as scared of our maybe just not running when it comes to spiders. Remember, you can choose to stand."

Ash held her for a few moments letting her cry into his shoulder but when she tried to free herself from his arms he let her go willingly. She wasn't cried out, not by a long shot by the look of things, but she had something to say and Ash thought that he wanted to hear it. Thought being the key word. He thought he was ready for anything, thought that he was somehow responsible for Dakota's pain but he wasn't quite ready for what she said next.

She used charm speak on him? She made him act like a robot? He hadn't even known she could do that and yet she had taken away his will, made him do...something, and for what? What did she accomplish by doing this? Unfortunately Ash couldn't remember and didn't know if he could understand. This was...well it was certainly unexpected. What did all this mean? How was he supposed to react to this news that she had controlled him somehow? Honestly it was a lot to take in and in an effort to do so Ash walked over and took a seat on the bed of whoever occupied this room.

There was something important here that he was missing, something more important than those missing hours of his memory and like a Hepheastus kid working to bring forth some fantastic metal out of an unprocessed ore Ash let his mind work at it. After a few moments he thought he had found it and looked up at her from his seat. "Why Dakota? Why would you do that? Despite what you believe you obviously feel bad about what you've done and that doesn't sound like the attitude of a horrible person but why would you charm speak me?"

The explanation seemed to help. Once Ash understood the comparison he saw why she might make it. Granted he still didn't get the joke but he was a pretty big sick in the mud so that was no fault of Tanya's. In Ash's mind you saw something that needed to be done and you did it. Eyes on the prize as it were. Tonya could act with courage if she really wanted to, Ash had no doubt, the only question to him was, what would it take to push her towards that choice?

"That doesn't sound stupid to me." He said to her after she had finished telling him about her hobbies. Ash couldn't really talk about popular tv shows that much but stories were something that he could agree with her on. "Stories are important. They inspire us, entertain us and give us hope. A person is never to old for stories whether they are told orally or read in a book. Your love for books and stories is not something to be ashamed of, it just means you have an imagination, that you crave knowledge." Ash of course was no great intellectual but he didn't think a thirst for knowledge was a bad thing. Perhaps she wasn't the strongest or the most courageous fighter but knowledge did have it's uses. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

Ash couldn't explain it. He could remember catching Dakota, remember kissing her and...remember getting back to his cabin after that night in the woods but he couldn't remember anything that happened in between. He didn't know what it was but it was almost as if several hours of his memory had been stolen from him. It was impossible of course. It couldn't happen without the aid of some powerful magic and yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember the moments after the kiss or the walk home, two things that would have been very important to him if for no other reason than he wanted some answers.

He still wanted those answer, probably had even more questions now but the only person who could give them to him was Dakota. Like it or not she was the only other one there and she had to know. So realizing she was probably avoiding him again he did what his stubborn, persistent nature always told him to do and went to confront her himself whether she wanted to see him or not. He just wished he had some idea of what had happened. Surely it wasn't so bad that he blocked it from his memory but only Dakota knew for sure.

He arrived at the Aphrodite cabin but it didn't look like anyone was there. Still he approached hoping he might at least catch one of Dakota's siblings that could tell him where she was. When he got closer however he found that the cabin was apparently not empty after all. Despite everything else being still and quiet he thought he could hear someone crying inside. That he could hear them at all meant that a good amount of pretty serious tears were being shed and he thought he could recognize who was shedding them.

"Dakota..." He whispered under his breath and didn't bother knocking as he pushed his way into the cabin. If lady Aphrodite had a problem with it then she could take it up with him later. Right now there was only one thing that was important, to see what had Dakota so upset. "Dakota? It’s Ash. I’m coming back." He called into the cabin as he looked around trying to get a sense for where the sobs were coming from and like the good hunter he was once he got a good idea about his surroundings he began following the sound of her crying through the cabin.

The crying led him back to one of the rooms of the cabin. Not Dakota's surely but she was there nonetheless and by the look of things she was in pretty pitiful shape. He wasn’t sure what had caused it. He hoped it wasn’t him but she had definitely had a rough go of things. Crying, obviously a drunken mess and yet still beautiful despite of the situation. "Gods Dakota. Why are you in the floor drinking? What’s wrong?"

Ash shook his head apparently Tanya had missed his meaning. "Unpredictability backed by reason is battle tactic. Unpredictability of character is foolishness and will likely get someone killed. The history books tell us of all the glorious heroes who went against their commanders and ended up accomplishing great things. Few record the times that such tactics have failed with disastrous consequences. Originality and ingenuity have their place but if a person can't be trusted to act soundly in the heat of battle things rarely turn out well."

Ash gave a single huffing chuckle. It was no wonder Tanya had guessed him an Ares kid from the beginning. He sounded like an Ares kid to himself. All this talk of strategy and conflict wasn't really his thing however. Tactics were all well and good but in the end they meant nothing if you couldn't count on your own instincts and your ability to improvise as the needed arose. Perhaps that was why Ash was more singular in nature. He trusted himself and his skill far more than he would ever trust anyone else.

"Cowardice is a tough vice to overcome." He said distantly. "But like all of our flaws we can rise above them if we're willing. Someone once told me that a coward judges everything he sees by what he is. It seems to me then that the trick is seeing things through more courageous eyes." Ash didn't have much use for cowards. Much worse than being sometimes unpredictable cowards could not be counted on at all. That didn't put them in very company in Ash's mind. “I would hesitate to judge myself by the standards of others however. Bravery can be a very deceptive thing.”

Ash thought about the poetry question for a moment or two and then finally gave the redhead a shrug. "I know some poetry. What is poetry save for stories put to lyric? I'm not much of a reciter or story teller however so don't expect anything if you want me to tell you some." He considered what else she might be looking for. Obviously she was probing for his interests. Maybe he could save her a little trouble there and just give her what she was looking for right now. "I hunt mostly but I also take care of the animals. I was a ranch hand back home and I've picked up on most of it."