Tracian Empire wrote:Somewhere
A village
An inn
A room
Celio just tried to close his eyes and to go to sleep. A part of him really, desperately wanted to be anywhere else but there, to find a way to leave the room, to get away from her.., but truly, he was just afraid that faced with such an embarrassing situation, she was just going to throw him out of the room or something. He had no idea what to do in such a situation, and even if he had absolutely no intention to do anything weird, he didn't want her to feel bad because of him. It really seemed as if his presence here was really, really inconvenient for her... but still, truth be told.. he really didn't mind the idea of sleeping so close to her that much. He had no bad intentions, it was just that.. he had been meaning to ask her to hug him again for quite some time now..back during the morning, it was her hug that had snapped him out of it. When he was lost, surrounded by a storm of dark thoughts, hating himself and feeling filthy, it was her who had saved him. Maybe he was imagining it, or maybe it really was because of his dead heart, but he was always cold..and it was her warmth that for those precious, fleeting moments, had pushed the coldness of his cursed body away. And during the evening, the way in which she had hugged him like that had strengthened his resolve, it had made him sure that he had made the right choice.. that he had really found a reason to live...a reason not to hate himself for.
But oh well, he couldn't just ask her that.. and hopefully, him sleeping on the floor was going to be alright.. and it wasn't going to make her feel too uncomfortable. So the black haired boy simply closed his eyes, trying to pretend that he was asleep while desperately trying not to sleep at the same time.. when she said that she wasn't going to let him sleep on the floor. Was she going to just kick him out of the room? It might have been for the best, but much to his suprise, she said that it would be difficult for him to sleep there - so as she nudged him with her foot, she told him to get in the bed, trying to make him feel better with a joke at the same time. He tried to close his eyes again, to pretend that he was already asleep, but it was too awkward.. so he slowly started to get up. She smiled, clearly satisfied that she had managed to convince him..and then she removed her boots, and then.. she began unbuttoning her skirt, before poor Celio was even able to react. Confused and blushing just as furiously as her, the boy covered his eyes with hands, clearly expecting something else...to which the girl simply said that it wasn't anything like that, that she just couldn't sleep with that on. Taking his hands away, he tried not to look at her, but he couldn't but steal a glance, just as she was pulling her white shirt down, so that her attire would appear at least a little bit decent.. but she seemed to notice that he was looking her, telling him not to stare as she quickly hid underneath the bed's covers, her voice muffled as she seemed to explain her actions once again.
It would be difficult to explain just how confused poor Celio was, or just how much he wanted to just disappear.. but it was a bit too late for that. He hesitated for a few good moments, until it became far too awkward to just stay there doing nothing, as he also realized that he couldn't just sleep dressed like that. Reluctantly, he removed his own boots from his feet, and then he took off his coat - the piece of clothing falling to the floor with a bump and the sound of heavy, metallic objects hitting each other. A clearly embarassed Celio quickly picked it up, and placed it it on a nearby chair. His short sleeved shirt made the web of scars on his arms extremely visible, not that they were no longer hidden, and there was nothing that he could do about the metallic cuffs - they were still there, on his wrists, as they had always been. At least the bruising wasn't that bad right now.. Taking a deep breath, and trying to calm himself down, the crimson eyed boy climbed into the bed on the other side, also getting under the covers but turning around, to sleep with his back at and as far away from her as he could. "Good night..", he whispered, closing his eyes and wishing that this night would pass as quickly as possible...
But it didn't end like that. No matter of what he or others were going to believe, he was still an abomination, someone who deserved to suffer for his crimes. And the nightmares were there every night.. A black throne room, blood flowing on the ground, people laughing, suffering and despair, the slash of a sword and a moment of excruciating pain.. and then darkness. Hooded figures wearing black robes moving slowly through a camp, with knights and soldiers sleeping, the air filled with green dust. A red eyed boy, moving from tent to tent, his scythe stained with crimson, the blade cutting through flesh as if it was nothing, bringing death and darkness with it. Figures wearing black robes running through a forest in the middle of a great battle, metal meeting metal, the smell of burning flesh. A hail of burning arrows, and a white haired boy being the only to react in time with a shield of black mist in front of him, with the others pierced, their burning bodies falling on the ground next to him. Death, envy, hate, fear.
Still sleeping, Celio suddenly started to shiver, tears rolling down his cheeks even his eyes were still closed, desperately grasping the metallic collar around his neck as if he wanted to take it off..
As she hid her face with the covers, still blushing furiously, her heart racing from the wild idea of what was really happening right now...was she really doing this? How could she be so careless to show herself like this..? What would the other Servants of Light think of her? What would Benevolentia think of her..? No, it didn't matter now! None of it mattered...what was done was done...it was too late to take it back now. Though, she had to admit, it was kind of exciting...she had never done something so rash and daring before. And, well, she had to admit that the fact that he had taken a glance to her, even in such a state of indecency, well--it did make her heart race faster. It was exciting, almost. Now, there was no need to go wrong with this train of thought; she didn't want to do anything...bad with him, that wasn't the case, but it really, truly seemed to prove to her that maybe, just maybe, he really did like her as much as she liked him. She couldn't help but smile a little at the thought, blushing more as she gleefully hid her red face still.
She only lifted her eyes once more as she heard him shuffle to remove his boots, and then his coat; which she lifted her eyes more as she watched him quickly pick up the coat and placed it on a nearby chair. Funny; she thought it was cute that he took the time to care for something so simple. It felt like another sign of the humanity he still had. She...liked it. She also noticed then, as he did so, even in the dim light, the scars that were scratched deep into his pale skin. It...made her heart ache for him. It seemed like a constant reminder of all the pain and sorrow he had been through. Though, as he turned to get into the bed himself, she quickly hid her face with the covers again as she had before, to try and mask the fact that she truly had been staring at him. She lifted her eyes again as he whispered a good night, his back to her. She smiled, her cheeks still glowing red. "Good night, Celio." She told him softly, turning on her side to face him, kindly studying his back, and watching him simply breathe until she finally let sleep succumb her as well.
Well, she wasn't asleep for long, atleast. Luckily, she really was a light sleeper; she always had been. So, when Celio began to shiver and grasp his collar in his sleep, it didn't take long for Julie to awaken in notice of this. She slowly opened her eyes, sighing softly as she looked to him, frowning as she noticed his sleepy behavior. Well, there...weren't many ways to fix this, were there? She didn't want to wake him, but she could tell he was in a nightmare, too. So, well, she had one idea...and being half-asleep didn't help her disprove it. Gently, she eased over to him, taking his hands in hers as she gently moved them back away from his collar before she used her thumbs to wipe away his tears.
"It's okay..." She told him softly. "I'm here. You don't need to be afraid anymore. I'll protect you..." She whispered to him, albeit a bit sleepily as she gently kissed his cheek, slipping a hand under the nape of his neck to shield it slightly from his collar before she placed her other arm around his, and gently wrapping one of her legs around his waist before she pulled him closer to her, closing her eyes again as she did. She probably should've considered how awkward this could be considering she was kind of pants-less, but it was decided that it would be a problem for the morning. All that mattered was making him comfortable...and, well, as she held him close, she fell asleep once more with a gentle smile on her face.