aftermath ║ one on one w/ avior.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

"I guess..." That hadn't been much of a question. Her hands squeezed the fabric, her face burrowing into her knees for a moment before she pulled it out of it's cocoon. She could feel the dull throb returning with every movement. Forcing a slight smile Arrana turned her head to face her companion. So he didn't sleep much, well there was only so long someone could go without sleep. "So... are you some sort of insomniac?" She couldn't help but chuckled a bit, allowing it to fade into a cruel silence. She'd know people, good people, who had given their lives for some argument. With a quick sigh Arrana leaned over, resting her head on Arlen's shoulder. She wanted to cry, to get some sort of vengeance, and here was a solder from the other side. The perfect opportunity, and yet he hadn't done anything to deserve death. No one had, it was a dispute between people of influence, people who could order others around.

Her eyes blurred for a moment, a silent curse going out towards the queen, a foolish ruler who simply had to have everything her way. The one person who could ruin her people's lives with one word, war.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen tensed up involuntarily when she leaned her head against him, but then slowly relaxed, carefully shifting his position slightly so it would be a little more comfortable to her. He wasn’t used to much physical contact, but he didn’t hate this. Moving cautiously, almost as if he was afraid he’d scare her away like a rabbit or a deer, he tipped his head to the side slightly until it was resting lightly against hers. He let out a short laugh that stirred her dark hair. ”I’ve never seen a... a medic on that topic, but that’s probably it.” He wasn’t sure if conversation provided any sort of distraction or comfort to her, but to be fair, small talk wasn’t his strong suit. Or any talk, for that matter. Still, he’d try his best if it meant hopefully diverting her attention from the nightmare. ”I would not recommend it,” he continued, a forced lightness in his tone. ”Don’t ever make it a habit.” He let out a heavy breath of air, then changed the topic, his curiosity on her early life growing. He didn’t want to ask her why she’d become a ranger- no, that would head down unwanted territory. He searched his brain for a moment. ”So, when you were young, what was it you wanted to do when you reached adulthood?”

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

A slight chuckle escaped her lips as she closed her eyes for a moment. She could feel the weight of his head on hers, it was different than a simple hood or something similar. Arrana tilted her head a bit under the weight, burying her face a little more into his shoulder. "Yeah... as long as you promise to actually get some sleep later..." She stayed there for a bit, on the brink of returning to some dream world until Arlen asked her about her childhood. She exhaled slowly, shifting her weight to lean a bit on her companion. She could feel her hands squeezing her knees again, a slight sense of discomfort setting in before she said, "I... I kind of ended up where I wanted to but I don't think I realized just how hard it would be once I got here..." This was true in some sense, she'd always take the role or a fighter or a knight as a child. Nimithil would be a princess and it was the two of them for most of her life.

She released her legs, hands falling to her side as she mumbled, "I was a pretty dumb then..." She paused for a moment, blinking smarting tears out of her eyes before looking up at Arlen. She couldn't help but notice the odd angle, but simply smiled up at him before taking her chance to ask a question. "Its my turn now, and-" her breath caught for a moment as she thought of a question before finishing with, "what's it with the gloves, you haven't taken them off since the battle and I'm pretty sure you had the on there too."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen nodded, understanding. His future had always been pretty much laid out for him, but he could agree with how hard it had been. He'd served in various battles already despite his youth, and he suspected Arrana's story was similar. He'd never really thought about it before, but now it felt like each fight had robbed him of at least a few years. He felt completely exhausted, and not just physically. It was some sort of emotional weariness that he couldn't place his finger on.

He frowned when she asked about the gloves, subconsciously glancing down at the black leather accessories. He'd never thought about that before either"The gloves?" He asked, a little surprised at the question. "I mean, there's... really not much to them... they're convenient in battle. Your hands are protected somewhat, but you can still move freely, and they're good for cold weather, too." He lifted his bad shoulder in a shrug, not wanting to move the one Arrana was leaning against. He glanced down, meeting her gaze, then pulled one of them off, revealing nothing more than a few small scars, from nicks by swords and daggers in fights, across the back. he gave her a lopsided grin. "See? I'm not trying to hide much, if that's what you're wondering. I'm just used to them by now. It feels strange to not wear them."

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Her eyes followed the glove for a moment before focusing on his hand. She sighed a bit, looking up at him as she mumbled, "So... did those come from your father?" Arrana's hand moved over to his, hesitating before touching one of the larger scars. After a moment her hand closed around his. Sleep was calling her once again as her head began to put more of it's weight on Arlen's shoulder. A few strands of dark hair fell over her face as she closed her eyes and drifted off into a slumber deeper than the one before, her hand intertwined with his.

The nightmares didn't come, but rather stayed further back in her mind. There was still a battle raging, but this time she was farther away. There weren't any beasts, she couldn't see bodies falling to the ground, it felt as if it was supposed to be peaceful. Someone was by her side when she turned her head, only to greet her dead ally. The two hugged briefly, tears flooding Arrana's eyes as she stared at the beaming face. Then it all dissipated, and everything was grey. The colors were gone, the spirits were gone, the war had vanished. A sense of loneliness set in, and all that was left was to wait for morning to give her purpose once again.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen shifted slightly, a little bit surprised by her grip on his hand but deciding to accept it. "Only one of them on this hand," he replied, letting the glove drop by his side. "About half of them come from fights." He adjusted his hand around hers a bit, falling silent when he realized she was on the verge of going back to sleep. Rest would be good for her, there was no point in keeping her up with more conversation. Sighing, he lifted the hand she wasn't holding and used it to gently brush aside the hair in front of her face so it wouldn't tickle her and disturb her sleep. His eyelids felt heavy and he could probably drop off too, if he was being honest. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he did- the scent of pine would mask them considerably, and the sweeping branches of the tree kept them practically out of sight. He yawned, then settled lower against the tree, slouched against it with Arrana's warmth at his side. They'd be stiff the next morning, but that didn't really matter. They could walk it off. He let out a heavy sigh, letting his eyes flutter shut. He fell asleep almost immediately, and this time it was almost completely dreamless.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

The sun was shining again, though it wasn't all that bright. She was slumped over ,her head resting on her companion's shoulder, though it could have fallen to his chest with relative ease during the night. Arrana lifted her head a bit, in the rich. She could feel Arlen's hand in hers, squeezing it in an effort to make sure that this wasn't a dream too. she knew they had to move, and yet part of her simply wanted to stay here. Yes, it was a bit cold and wet, but she wasn't alone. Or, so to speak, she wasn't being alienated.

Finally she sat up, pulling out some bread from it's container. Breaking it in half she set it on her leap, then reached over to Arlen's face, lightly patting the top of his head in an effort to wake him up. Her hand was still intertwined with his, even after the somewhat clumsy practice of retrieving the bread. With a slight smile she said, "You know we can't stay here forever right," with a chuckle. With that she stood up, her hand drifting out of his before she ended up stumbling a bit before regaining her balance on the tree. The pounding came back shortly afterwards as she let out a slow hiss of pain. She could walk, but it had managed to get a bit worse. Her neck tensed as she began lifting a free hand to the back of her skull where the pain was emanating from. She brought it back to see a bit of red. Blood. Rubbing it off on her pants she looked back at Arlen and muttered, "we should leave soon..."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen, always the light sleeper, was pulled from his state by the gentle patting of his head. He couldn't help a faint flush, unaccustomed to that sort of gesture. Blinking a few times, he heaved out a sigh and then linked his hands above his head, stretching despite his injured shoulder's protests. He was right; he was sore, but he still felt considerably well rested. "Right," he murmured reluctantly, wishing they could just rest longer instead. That wasn't an option, of course. Sitting up straighter, he pulled himself to his feet, having to duck his head slightly to avoid brushing against the tree branches above them.

His concerned gaze followed her as she stood up as well, clearly still not feeling well. He took a small step closer to her, a frown forming on his face. "Are you alright? We can stay a while yet if you need." They had to get to the city, but that didn't seem to matter as much anymore. They could spare a few hours if they needed to. Or at least, he'd be willing to wait longer until she felt better, not that he really knew what the problem was. Infection, maybe? A cold? If either one was the case, they would want to seek professional help as soon as possible.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Arrana stood there for a moment, her mind analyzing the possible modes of action. Sternly she said, "if we stay here then there's a higher chance of something or someone finding us, not to mention an increase in the possibility of the infection of one of our wounds." Her breath slowed for a bit, then picked back up as she pushed off of the tree and added, "and there's the bonus of being able to sleep in abed when we get there." Her hand ran through a portion of her hair, snagging on tangles and shaking out flakes of mud and brown bits of dried blood. With a reluctant sigh she stepped back to Arlen's side, taking his hand as a precaution should she fall.

With that she stepped forward, her head getting better for what must have been two hours or so before the pain returned. It was abrupt, piercing the silence that had once engulfed her. With a soft hiss of pain she tightened her grip on Arlen's hand, refusing to let go. Her breath became erratic as she said, "can we stay here for a bit..."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen, letting Arrana take hold of his hand, walking next to her. Everything seemed to be going better than usual, for a short while at least, until her condition suddenly worsened. Deep frown lines formed on his brow as he hurried to support her, letting go of her hand in order to quickly bring her arm across his shoulders the same way theyd' done it yesterday. He wrapped his other arm securely around her waist, one hand going up to hold hers, dangling over his shoulder. "Of course," he replied worriedly, using his position to gently lower her to the ground against one of the broad tree trunks. Then he pulled away slightly, taking her hand again and removing the glove on the other one before resting it on her forehead to see if she'd come down with a fever. He stared into her eyes, visibly concerned. "We'll rest here for a while. Are you alright?"