aftermath ║ one on one w/ avior.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She chuckled a bit before mumbling, "That's a good idea... although I doubt that you'll have to wash your shoulder..." In all honesty whoever had tended to their wounds had also cleaned, however it had just been the wound rather than the entire body. She sighed, watching his warmth leave with his physical form, but something remained. That strange feeling, bubbling in her chest as it emitted a new sense of wholeness. Arrana waited a moment before standing up with her companion. No, he was more than a companion now but she couldn't quite find the word to express whatever had been said or done. She found herself believing that it was better unsaid, allowing them so simply revel within each moment rather than try and peel back the layers to find what lay underneath.

(eehhh I kinda screwed up the hair but here's one I re-did on my computer...)

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen cracked a smile. ”No, I guess not,” he agreed. He was a little worried about her standing up and being out and about so soon, but he figured the tea she’d been given must have helped her headache a lot. Besides, he wouldn’t want to be constrained to a bed all day, so he doubted she would want to. ”Okay. Let’s go find someone.” He started walking towards the door, waiting a moment for Arrana and holding out his hand just in case she needed any support. And also because it felt nice. Holding open the door for her, he looked down the hall, trying to spot someone who looked like they worked at the inn.

[sorry this is late and shorter than usual! but that drawing looks great aahhh]

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She smiled, gently taking his hand as she stepped out the door. There didn't seem to be anyone within the immediate vicinity, but a younger woman stepped out of another room after Arrana had managed to take a few shaky steps down the hall. Her hand tightened around Arlen's whenever she felt the cool boards touch her bare feet. The woman looked over at them, seemingly concerned at first before confusion took over. Finally Arrana found the strength to break the silence. "You... you wouldn't happen to know if there's a bath here would you?" The girls answer was more than useful, pointing to a room at the end of the hall.

With a reluctant sigh Arrana thanked her, turning around to face the room. She was becoming light headed again, leaning more of her weight against Arlen's side until the had reached the point where she could extend her other arm to gain support from a wall. The room had one cauldron of sorts. It was dug into the ground, lined with tiles and smooth stones. With a slight smile Arrana turned her head to face her new support structure. The smile grew, her head tipping to the side as she said, "You can go first... I should be able to make it back to the room..." In reality she was probably going to simply lie down outside and get some form of sleep in the hallway. He'd done enough for her in the past few days, and it was her turn to allow him to treat himself to something nice.

(that's fine! and thank you! aaa it's really not that good though...)

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen willingly left the room with Arrana, content to hold her hand and let her do the talking when they found someone. The bath looked inviting, but he didn’t miss his companion’s wobbling steps. Frowning, he watched her for a moment, hesitant and reluctant to comply. ”Are you alright? You can go first, if you want...” he trailed off, then looked at the bath. To be fair, it would do him some good, and afterwards he’d be refreshed and able to help Arrana if she needed it. ”Actually, I’ll go first if you promise to stay right here,” he stated decidedly, using his grip on her hand to gently tug her toward the floor. He really wasn’t confident in her ability to make it back, and was reluctant to let her. Naturally, there wasn’t much he could do to stop her if she so chose. ”Just sit down and wait for me, alright?”

[I disagree, it’s definitely good c:]

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

The floor was cool, smooth, and a better bed than what she'd had to deal with since the war started. With a reluctant sigh she felt her hand slip out of his, falling back into her lap as she gave him a distant nod. "I promise..." It didn't take long for her to nod off after Arlen left, her head tipping to the side before she curled up on the floor. Time passes quickly, or it felt like it through the disillusion of sleep. Her arm was tucked under her head, providing a sort of pillow for her head... although it failed in comparison to the real thing. She wasn't dreaming this time, not that she could get very far into a dream. It was rather unlikely that Arlen would take too long, though part of her wished that he would. If not then she'd simply force him to sleep in the next day, regardless of whether or no they had to cover a certain amount of distance that day.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen was quick to slip into the warm water, a sigh that he couldn't hold back escaping his lips. It had been far too long since he'd been able to bathe. The water seemed to be seeping straight into him, cleaning him from the inside out. It was heavenly. After spending a while in the basin, however, he realized he should probably be getting back to check on Arrana. He reluctantly finished up and got out, changing into the clean clothes that had been provided and running a towel through his hair a few times. Then he opened the door, looking down to see his companion still asleep on the floor. He was reluctant to wake her up, but chances were she would want to bathe too. Using his fingers to brush a few damp curls out of his eyes, he crouched down and rested a hand on her shoulder, shaking her ever so slightly. "Wake up, it's your turn."

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

After a moment Arlen's shaking woke her up, allowing him to receive a narrow glance as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her hands stiffly moved up to her eyes, rubbing the remnants of sleep out of them. It took a moment for her to process what he'd said, but once she had it was simply a matter of standing up. Thankfully she had both a wall and a person as support devices of sorts when standing up. Arrana's hand drifted into and out of Arlen's hair as she stepped into the room. "I won't take too long... you can wait in the room if you'd like..." Silently she slipped behind the door, closing it before dipping into the bath. It was arguable the most relaxed she'd been since the war had started, however her mind forced her to retreat from it's warm embrace immediately after she'd finished bathing. There was a change of clothes, although her nose wrinkled at the dress she'd received. Reluctantly Arrana slipped into it, the sleeves reaching her elbows before loosening and becoming nothing more than pieces of fabric hanging from her arms. Thankfully it was somewhat long, falling just below her knee when she stood still. She dried off her hair, needless to say she'd simply reduced it from wet to damp, before stepping out of the room and walking down the hall. The skirt of the dress was drifting behind her, along with the sleeves, although they simply swung around her legs when she stopped outside the door to her room and opened it.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen nodded and moved to go back to their room, glancing back once to make sure Arrana made it inside safely. He was somewhat reluctant to leave her, considering her dizzy spells, but chances were she could take care of herself. Besides, she seemed to trust in her own abilities. He closed the door behind him and flopped onto the bed he had originally been laid down on, head hanging off one side and legs dangling off the other. He really wasn’t very tired anymore, but a sort of laziness had settled over him. He was content to do nothing but wait for Arrana. After a few moments, the blood rushing to his head forced him to change his position so he was lying length-wise along the bed, one hand absently toying with his damp hair. He really should cut it- it was starting to get in his eyes.

Lost in thought, Arlen was startled by the sound of the door opening, though a smile spread across his face when he recognized the person. ”Felt good?” The elf asked, the question obviously being more of a rhetoric.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Arrana matched his smile, nodding as she stepped over to her own bed, sitting down across form him. After a moment she stood up again, sitting down on Arlen's bed, although just before she'd been wandering around the space in between the beds like some lost puppy. "It was nice..." With a childish grin she moved to pull Arlen's damp hair over his eyes, leaving her hand there as she moved to lay down next to him. "Your hair's actually pretty fun to play with when it's wet..." Her breath was slowing a bit, nearly stopping as she yawned. It was getting later, the stars coming out to dance alongside the moon. In reality she wasn't all that tired, just sore and somewhat lightheaded, however the simple habit of sleeping was calling to her again.

With a stubborn sense of determination Arrana sat up, leaning back against the wall as she said, "We also have to leave tomorrow so I'd suggest that you get some sleep."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen grinned at her words and the way his wet hair flopped over his eyes, blocking out all the light. He felt genuinely happy- almost like he could forget about everything that had happened his whole life up until this point. But there was still the nagging reminder in the back of his mind that made him realize things would not stay this way. Try as they might to keep it like this, it wouldn’t change the fact that he was a wood elf and she was a high elf, and others would almost certainly start to notice that. Still, he felt nice around her. That had to account for something. At the very least, he would fight for what they had- whatever that was, of course.

”Right,” he replied, pulled from his thoughts. He brushed his hair aside, able to see once more. Blinking against the droplets of water still resting on his lashes, he laced his fingers behind his head and glanced over at her. ”Do we have any idea where we want to go yet?”