aftermath ║ one on one w/ avior.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She could feel his hand against her forehead, checking to see if she was sick. With a slight groan Arrana lifted the hand that wasn't entangled with Arlen's to the back of her head. After a moment of searching within the dark mess that was her hair now she felt blood. The warm and sticky substance that had started leaking out of whatever wound she'd received during the battle. Her eyes met her companions, brow furrowed as she said, "If it's bad then we have to get to the town... or find someone who can treat it." She knew that he question had remained unanswered, but it hurt to speak. It hurt to think, to move, the only thing she could do without experiencing some sort of pain was sleep. She leaned forward, resting her chin on his head as the bloodstained hand pushed his hand away from her forehead. After a moment she mumbled, "this is going to sound odd, but how far do you think you can go carrying someone..."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen looked down at her bloodied hand and let out a soft huff of air. If her head was bleeding, this could potentially be really serious. There wasn’t much he could do, either, besides try to bandage it. But he didn’t know much at all about medicine and they couldn’t waste any more time than they already had. She was right; the sooner they got there the better. He pulled his glove back on, considering her question for a brief moment. He wouldn’t hesitate to carry her, he knew he was strong and could potentially support her weight for some distance. The only problem was his shoulder, but if he held her so most of her weight was on his good side, he was sure he could manage. He didn’t answer the question directly, instead already moving to gather her up in his arms.

”I don’t think the city is very far by now,” he said, lifting her carefully and trying not to move her any more than what was necessary. As expected, it hurt his shoulder a little and he imagined it would get worn out before long, but if his estimates were correct he would be able to bring her the rest of the way there. Naturally, he didn’t want any more blood flowing to her wound than what was already coming out, so he was careful to keep her head above the rest of her body. Luckily, that wasn’t too hard, considering he was carrying her bridal style. He cracked a smile that he didn’t really feel. ”Comfortable enough?”

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Her arms moved to loop around his neck as Arrana proceeded to pull herself up a bit more, her head resting on her companion's shoulder. He had asked her about how comfortable she was. Reluctantly she moved her gaze for focus on his face, forcing her own hollow smile to match his. "I guess..." Her head returned to it's original position with relative difficulty. She waited a few more minutes before mumbling, "I'm sorry about asking you to do all of this for me..." Her face burrowed into his shoulder so she could still see, but didn't have to actively balance her head on his shoulder.

Hours passed, though they felt like days, before Arrana heard something that wasn't birds or other wildlife. Hesitantly she moved her head to face the source, only to see a few people running towards them and two or three others running off in some other direction. She allowed herself a brief sigh of relief, moving to rest her head on Arlen's chest before the two figures reached them. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying as one of them moved to take her from Arlen.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen shook his head wearily, taking the first few steps slowly. He gave her a reassuring smile. ”I’m just glad to be able to help you,” he replied genuinely. Then, deciding to save his breath, he fell silent, trying to stay on the most even ground he could find. Still, he quickly began to tire, Arrana’s weight becoming a burden that he refused to give up. After a few hours, his steps were faltering, with sweat sticking his hair to his forehead as his wound throbbed, fresh blood soaking from the bandage. He was about to suggest they take a short break when he heard footsteps coming towards them, then voices. He couldn’t help a relieved smile.

He didn’t really hear most of what they said, but there was mentions of an inn and medical help, so he trusted they were friendly. He wanted to resist when they moved to take Arrana from him, but then reluctantly gave her up, eyes watching them for a moment as they left. He probably could’ve fainted with relief and exhaustion right there, but another elf was there in a heartbeat, quick to support him as he lead Arlen in the same direction as the others were heading. The two probably made a strange looking pair, one a high elf and the other a wood elf, but they didn’t seem interested in asking questions just yet.

Arlen barely noticed when they entered the city, but he did feel the sensation as he was brought into a small room and deposited on a bed. He was itching to ask where Arrana was, but exhaustion tugged at him and he passed out immediately, even as a medic was brought into the room.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She couldn't tell where they were taking her, although it felt as if they were rushing to get her somewhere. An older woman came into whatever room she'd been put in, and one of the other elves pointed to her head. They were whispering to each other, something about her hair getting in the way of whatever procedure they were going to do. Then she felt weight falling off her head, and now sticky black masses of hair falling on a makeshift bed-sheet. After what felt like the majority of her hair was gone the older woman applied a salve of sorts, forcing to archer to hiss in pain. It stung for a bit, before they added something else to a roll of gauze and applied it to her head. They began wrapping it around the back of her head to her forehead, the stark white contrasting with muddy black.

Two of the assistants began re-wrapping her arm, rubbing a different mixture of herbs on the reddened wounds. She wanted to ask them who they were, where they were, and exactly where Arlen was. However, the strength evaded her as she simply lay there, the medic ordering her assistants to tend to the other wounds.

It had been maybe an hour before they moved her to an actual bed. She could see Arlen on the other bed, his wound being tended to by the woman who seemed to be the head medic. He'd passed out, probably from exhaustion. She could feel the same force pulling her to some fantasy world again. Finally Arrana gave in and let sleep take her.


(small reference for the hair)

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen woke up slowly, reluctant to to leave the thick blanket of sleep. When he finally opened his eyes, however, he realized he was in considerably less pain than he had been since this whole ordeal began. He even felt well-rested. For a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was, gaze shifting around the room as he struggled to get a grip on his bearings. Then it all came flooding back and he let out a soft sigh of relief, realizing he was in one of the rooms in the inn. Apparently he’d been out for a while, seeing as the whole room was dim with the light of evening time. He carefully pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing at his shoulder, which had been redbandaged. Whatever medicine they had used had helped incredibly, the raw, burning pain was gone to be replaced by a subtle coolness. He was still covered in dirt and sweat- hopefully he would get a chance to bathe soon- but at least the wound had been cleaned.

The next thought that occurred to him was Arrana. He could hear her breathing, though, and she was there across the room from him when he looked over. It took him a moment to recognize her with her long hair cut short, but he couldn’t help the relief at knowing she would be alright. The urge to wake her was almost unbearable, but he knew she needed to rest, so he settled for slipping out rom underneath the sheets and slowly walking over to her. For what seemed the first time in ages, he was able to walk without an underlying fear of collapsing with exhaustion. When he neared her, he sat down on the end of the bed, careful not to let it creak and content to just sit there with her.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Her dreams were rather peaceful for now. It wasn't much, just a few colors dancing behind her eyes, forming new shades of deep blue, bright green, and the like. She felt something send a tremor through the waves of colors, but ignored it for the time being. It had been maybe an hour after she witnessed this before she got up. Doing do Arrana opened her eyes, still dazed with sleep, and lifted her head. The world seemed too bright as her mind began to stir, then she saw a figure on the end of the bed. Arrana jumped back with a quickness that seemed unrealistic for the injuries she had suffered. A soft sigh of relief escaped as she realized that is was Arlen rather than some stranger.

After a moment she slowly moved to sit next to him, resting a tired head on his shoulders as she asked, "what time is it?" It appeared to be a orangeish gold outside, the sun a ways above the horizon. However, she already knew that she wasn't talking about time within a day, but rather the days she could have been unconscious. She couldn't help but notice how hungry she was too, as if there was a sharp pain in her stomach from moving and fighting with hardly anything for energy. With another sigh she lifted her hed from Arlen's shoulder and asked with a furrowed brow, "did they treat you?" Her mind immediately criticized her for asking such a foolish question, knowing it would be yes if he'd received treatment or not. Within this turmoil her hand strayed up to the sloppily cut mess of hair, familiarizing itself with the new shortness.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen looked up as she moved, coming awake with surprising alertness. He was quick to relax, however, when she took up a position with her head resting on his shoulder. He leaned a bit more of his weight against her, tipping his head to the side to rest it against hers for a brief moment. Then he thought about her question. He didn’t think too much time had passed- he’d be a lot hungrier if anything more than a day had gone by. To be fair, he was hungry, but he didn’t feel starved or anything like that. ”I don’t think it’s been too long. It’s still the same day, probably.”

He shifted slightly when she lifted her head again, one hand automatically starting up to touchy the fresh bandages under his shirt. ”They did,” he confirmed, the question making him feel a little warmer than he’d expected. He had never thought concern from someone would be a good thing before. He took his hand away and after a moment of hesitating, reached out and tentatively brushed his fingers against one of her short stands. ”I like your hair.”

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She could feel her hair moving ever so slightly as Arlen brushed his had against it. With a smile she lifted a hand to meet his and looked over to face him, grinning as she said, "well at least someone likes it..." She already knew that the smile felt somewhat hollow, but at the same time she meant it. It hadn't been too long before the door creaked open, snatching the high elf's attention. Someone who appeared to either run or help run the inn walked in, somewhat surprised to see both of their patients awake.

They left a couple rolls, a bird of some sort, and some sort of cheese. She set down a jug of water along with two cups before leaving the room and closing the door. With that Arrana leaned her weight against Arlen once again, her hand entwining itself in his. The woman re-entered the room, placing a steaming cup of some sort of herbal tea next to them before looking to Arlen and ordering him to make sure that his companion drank it before she fell asleep. Arrana wrinkled her nose at the woman as she left, mumbling to herself, "you can't tell me what to do..."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen couldn't help a soft smile, squeezing Arrana's hand and then standing up, gently pulling his hand back out. "I can tell you what to do," he replied, surprised to hear a joking tone in his own voice. It felt strange, to say something that he didn't mean seriously. He went over to the table and took up the tray of food, then making his way back and setting it on the bed next to her. "And I'm telling you to drink your tea." He took the cup and handed it to her, then went to get himself a cup of water. The realization hadn't really fully settled on him until now. Somehow, they'd survived battle wounds, rogues, and sickness. In the back of his mind, he hadn't really expected to live through any of it. Naturally, he hadn't thought that while it was happening, but now it was obvious. The feeling of peace was strange and unexpected. He let out a quiet sigh, looking at her and then away, unable to really express how he felt but wanting to all the same. "I can't believe we're safe," he voiced at last, feeling a little awkward. He didn't talk about how he felt much. "Or at least, safer. "It'll take a bit to get used to, I mean. To get used to the fact that it's finally mostly over." He yawned, feeling a little silly. "I don't know. I'm probably just tired."