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[Axyl]

In silence, he thought about what she said. It would make sense that Seline would hate the lying but he had returned safely. Then that sensitivity could have only stemmed from her previous treatment by the cruel hands of Damien. Axyl had seen enough in the house that night which seemed to be forever ago.

He let out a deep sigh now understanding the choice he had to make. “What am I supposed to say?” he spoke absently in soft words. The truth granted, but… “what part if it?” he finished to no one.

Finishing the last spoonful, Axyl stood committed now to approaching Seline about the current situation he found himself in. “Thanks for the hand,” said the soldier to the local healer and Seline’s friend as he turned into the hall towards their rooms.

Axyl came humbly to Seline’s door regretful of his most recent mistakes with her – the list that had begun soon after he met her.

“Seline,” he called quietly. “I needa apologize.” Axyl paused knowing he had already spoken to a closed door long enough. “May I comin?”


ooc: shortness... yuck... i'll make it up next time around

[untamed]

Seline turned on to her side, careful on how she laid on her injured side. Olive eyes watched the door. She had heard Axyl speak from the other side of the door. She contemplated answering. Her mind divided into two main thoughts. One told her that he had suffered enough and wanted to apologize. The other half told her that her pride and trust had been injured and she was still lacking a level attitude to talk to someone.

She sat up on her bed. Dark strands of hair fell to cradle her face. Her olive skin paler in complexion. She was torn between her past and present. Lies of the past resurfaced in her memory as hurtful, stinging actions and words. Simple at first, sure, but they evolved.

She shook her head. Axyl wouldn't hurt her, she knew this. But Damien wasn't suppose to hurt her either. She went between the past and present. Her head swarmed with what could happen, what should happen, what would, what wouldn't. She grasped her head and threw her head back. She landed back on her bed and curled up.

Her sides hurt. Seline's head now ached. She choked out a come in to Axyl. She prayed he closed the door when he came in. She wasn't crying just yet, but she thought if she did, she would feel better. Her mind was just so muddled with everything.

[Axyl]

Whispering its protests into the empty hall, the door opened enough for Axyl to look inside. He flinched when he saw Seline, who had been doing fairly well a little while ago when he had returned with Jackson, now curled up against pain. Pushing the door closed behind him, Axyl rushed to Seline’s side. His wary air evaporated opening for a need to comfort her again and take her pain.

Cliché? Perhaps, but true nonetheless. He could not come close to denying his attachment to her. The soldier had found himself loyal to her and highly protective of her. Since he had pulled her from that stool at the bar, that feeling had been growing. It didn’t help if he needed to keep distance with her to make her comfortable.

“Seline?” he whispered. His bandaged hand wrapped around to hover at her shoulders while the other hand held in front of her in case she wanted a little contact. He knew her head ached, but beyond that anything could be hurting.

“I don’t know what to do,” he whined. “Ice? Should I git Kyla?” Axyl began to move back to the door, but lowered himself back to lean on the edge of Seline’s cot instead.

“What do ya wanna hear, Seline? What do ya need?” He thought about their current standings and her allowing him to enter in the first place after being so furious with him. Frantically, he wanted to apologize to Seline and swear to her he would take care of her and help her get back on her feet as he first had promised.

“What do ya need me to do? Ta say?”

ooc: uhg... more shortness... next time? and I'll try to respond quicker next time. the muse really wasn't there.

[untamed]

"I don't need anything. Nothing."

Seline's voice was gritted against her teeth. Her teeth grounded against the pain she was in. Her body easing it's tension. The tension wouldn't ease the pain much, but the loose muscles did help. She eased her body out of the fetal position so she could lay comfortably on the mattress.

Her olive eyes that were once shut to ease the amount of light filtering between her eyelashes were now open. They scanned Axyl's worried face as he sat near her on the mattress. Her head pounded with the headache she had given herself from the stress and grief.

Slowly, she reached over. She tenderly took his bandaged hand into hers. "Just stay here......with me...." she answered weakly. The words that slipped through her lips seemed dream-like to her. She had never requested somebody to stay with her when she was weak. She preferred to allow herself to wallow in her misery and bring herself up stronger than before. She hated for people to see her weak.

Yet, she had finally broken down. She had the weirdest, but strongest desire to be near Axyl. Seline felt like she needed the support. When she was stronger, she would probably push him away again. But that was something that would come up later, not until she was completely healed.

[Axyl]

Nothing…

He lifted his weight slightly off her mattress giving her spare room to move. Pain can prove to be the worse shackles on a person and he understood that. Movement would be restricted, slow, and careful. The man did not want to find himself in Seline’s way out of compassion.

Lowering himself lightly back to the narrow bed, Axyl kicked his boots to the floor and pulled the extra chair closer. With his feet supported by the chair, he settled to the mattress with a firmer foundation, less of a balancing act for him.

Brown eyes looked down drinking in the emotion in her olive-colored eyes. A small smile crossed his lips. His gaze wandered to his hand in hers. Soon enough it found its way back to her face not able to stay away for long.

“Sure,” he agreed quietly. “I can do that.”

Silence settled into the room. With his good hand, he traced lightly along Seline’s skin from enveloping her hand resting with his injured hand up over her elbow and around her shoulder. Continuing on the path, his fingers brushed up the side of her neck ending behind her ear entwined in her beautiful hair. His thumb wrapped around to caress her cheek gently.

Slowly his good hand pulled away from her flesh… when he remembered the last time they were this close. I can’t hurt her again.

Axyl gave her what she wanted, his presence. Beyond that, he didn’t know what she wanted. Silence? Conversation? He scolded himself mutely. It wasn’t like he knew what to say anyway.

[untamed]

Her olive eyes watched as Axyl reached out to her. His hand glided up to her elbow to her shoulder. She tensed slightly at the intimate touch. Emotional walls were still stiff against any emotional attachment. His fingers continued up to her neck to cradle her face. Her lips parted in a sharp gasp at the sensitive touch.

He pulled his hand away. Her eyes watching him as he began to back away from her. She shifted slightly on the bed. Her black hair cradled her face and cushioned her head on the pillow. A slow realization fluttered into her eyes. She eased herself up, careful of her injuries.

She slowly reached up for Axyl. Her hand settling on his face gently. "I can't, Axyl....not yet..." she whispered. She figured he would know what she was referring to. The relationship they had was still on rocks. The uneasiness to push each others limits was strong. Neither seemingly wanted to push the other away. She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder so her face was looking towards the bed. Her mind would seemingly always be muddled with the pros and cons of trusting, especially men.

[Axyl]

His eyes wandered to the floor beneath them. In short time, a stinging of sorts began to build beneath the surface around his nose and under his eyes. Axyl lifted a hand to his mouth and turned away from Seline. A sneeze relieved the pressure in his sinuses though the pressure on anything else would remain. Despite this, the interruption allowed him to place enough distance between him and the brink to back away safely from the subject.

Suddenly, her touch caused him to flinch away from her hand slightly.

“No… a… of course,” stuttered his quieted voice. “I understand,” he said with a quick smile. The compliance stood for more than recognition of her request. It was the soldier consciously stepping back from a forbidden cliff and rebuilding the walls that had seemingly so easily crumbled to pieces. Lack of sleep and food,he rationalized.

He wished selfishly she had not rested her head on his shoulder. Desperately he wanted to move away putting physical space between them. Everything rational called for such a concrete symbol of his commitment. But he remained still. This was his promise to her – devoted as her solid foundation. Cornerstones are silent; they only support the structure.

With his hands resting back on his lap, Axyl remained still, his breathing the only pattern of movement on his body.

“Hit me if I come that close again.” The statement was quiet but direct all the same aimed through the thick silence. He was serious but the tone in his voice came across with a hint of the jesting attitude he usually used around friends.

The topic was far too morbid now for him especially if he wanted or rather needed to remain distant. Back on her feet, he reminded himself.

His hands… They felt especially…

Callous.

[untamed]

Seline pulled away. Olive irises gave him an odd look due to his comment. Her hands fell from him and she shifted on the bed. A slight emotional irritation causing her to move on the bed.

Her hand glided down the side of her body. Slender fingers cradling the bruised flesh that protected her broken ribs. The bones were sore. Too much movement would make her wince or make some sort of facial expression that would put Axyl into a tizzy.

She decided it would be worth the pain not to draw attention. Without making any comment to what he said, she laid back down on her bed and turned over. She laid with her back to him, unable to put acceptable words together to reply.

Seline was unable to control her reflex. A reflex that was to push whoever she met away, despite their good intentions. Axyl was just another victim of this reflex. No alarms were going off her in her head about Axyl's true intentions. There was nothing wrong with him. However, years and years of conditioning could not be broken in a few days. It would take months, maybe years to undo what had been done.

Seline rolled into her pillow. Her hands laid next to her face and her legs drawn close to her body. Her eyes closed. Muscles relaxed allowing the mattress to absorb her sore body. No weapon laid under her pillow. She could actually fall asleep and fall into deep sleep. Something she couldn't do before.

She opened her eyes and turned on to her back. Her fingers reached for Axyl's sleeve and tried to pull him to her. Her eyes searched his. Seline didn't speak, just her eyes as they ran over his face and bore into his eyes. She was trying so hard to find a flaw. Something that she could use to reason with her cruel instincts that every man was evil. But she couldn't. Therefore, there was no reason to push him away. There was no reason for her to keep him at an arm's distance. He could stay close, right where he was, and there was no reason against it.

[Axyl]

Her silence picked at him. His view of the calluses on his unwrapped hand and beneath the bandages prevented him from seeing her voiceless response. Briefly, he almost felt abandoned despite his promise to her and himself to not feel in this way. Dammit I needa drink.

He glanced over his shoulder having felt Seline make significant movement considering the pain she would be in. Her back was to him. ’Bout time she slept.

Quietly, Axyl stood. His movement had no urgency though the determination was definite. The soldier’s certainty, however, wavered between commitment and emotions.

Before he could get far, Seline pulled him back around by a sleeve. Axyl looked to her, watched her, and allowed her the chance for scrutiny. This seems to be what she needed. Seline was weighing him against her standards for trust, he believed, and Axyl Griess would give her the time she needs. It’s not like he has another choice.

Without being able to avoid making noise, he pulled the chair with a foot to him. As the chair came into close proximity, Axyl sat facing Seline. He crossed his arms on her mattress and leaned his chin on them.

Swallowing back, he tried again. Brown eyes opened again to search for her. He smiled and cocked his head cheerfully while trying to hold a connection with her.

“So here we are agin,” stated the blacksmith with a light tone of voice. “Seline,” her name rolled off his tongue, “where do we go from here? I mean Kyla’s great ‘n all but you think we’re ever gonna git outta here?” he joked with an ease desperation allowed.

Axyl had had enough with the depressing tension in the air. Simply, he wanted to see her smile again.


ooc: Untamed! So glad to see you back though I wish I had more to welcome you with... but YAY! ;D