She was surprised by him. He had spent the majority of the time pushing her away. Just as much as she had been pushing him away actually. Her face was flush but it was hard to see if it was because of the water or because of him. Taking the white cloth and soap from him she washed herself up. She made eye contact with him as he looked at her. She almost lost her breathe in that second.

“Could you? It’s been weeks… I can’t quite do it myself.” Her heart skipped a beat and she turned around to him. “I don’t mind at all Jace.” Her face flushed a bit. “It’s awkward but it doesn’t bother me.” She turned back around and looked at her wings. “You start at the bottom and work your way up.”

While he worked on her wings she was sort of lost in thought. "I don't dislike you, Jace… I did get worried about you when you were fighting that dragon. It's just hard for me to let people in."

He was actually shocked when she accepted his help and even turned around to face him. The water was too high for him to have been able to get a good look at anything, but the fact that she wasn't yelling at him or getting mad for having made such an offer surprised him quite a bit. He nodded to her instruction and deftly and skillfully began preening her wings from the bottom up as she had told him. The proficiency he had in doing such a task suggested that he'd had practice. He removed dirt, mites, and broken feathers that were in the process of molting. 

"I know," he told her softly. "I have a hard time letting people in too," he admitted. "Shocker, right?" he said with the barest hint of a laugh. He sighed. "I've just lost so many that… it's hard to want to open up…" he admitted. "So I put on this mean grumpy façade to keep people away…" he explained. He finished preening her wings and slowly placed his hand and claw on her upper arms. He took a step closer to her, his normally calm heart thumping a little harder in his chest as he leaned in and gently placed his lips to her neck. As he did, thunder rumbled across the sky and he looked up and stepped away from her. The sky had turned a dark angry gray and the wind that blew through the trees was a chilly one that brought the promise of heavy rains. 

"We should go in. This is supposed to be a really bad series of storms…" he said before he turned and climbed out of the hot spring and wrapped his towel around his waist before he paused to gather his things and give Remedy the privacy she needed to exit the spring. 

Sure to his word, the storm struck with a vengeance, heavy rains, fog and vicious thunder and lightning. Throughout the evening, Jace was visibly on edge as he kept the fire going in the hearth to stave off the chill that the storm brought with it. Every flash of lightning and crash of thunder made Jace flinch, though he did his best not to show how it was bothering him. 

He was actually really good at doing this for her. Remedy laughed with him but it was just as light. She knew he had a hard time letting people in. They were a lot alike in that instance. “I understand all about that… Losing people you love.” She reminded him gently. There was a shiver as he put his hands on her. Even the claw was on her upper arms. The more he came closer the more she reeled back into him. She could feel his heart through the necklace between her breasts. A soft noise left her lips as Jace kissed her neck. She wanted to continue with him but the storm ruined the moment.

“Aye, would be bad if we were caught out here when the lightning starts up.” She collected her stuff and went inside with a towel wrapped around her. She found some of her nice pajamas and put them on before grabbing her heavy blanket and dragging it with her.

Remedy could tell that Jace was suffering alone. After a whole of watching him, she came over to him and wrapped the blanket around both of them. “No point in you being lonely.” She snuggled up to him and kissed him softly. “You don’t have to be on edge anymore by yourself.” Her blanket was warm and she gave him a smile before moving them to the floor.

Jace jumped a little when Remedy came over and wrapped herself and the blanket around him. But the embrace calmed him down at little and he allowed her to pull him towards the fireplace. The kiss was light and gentle and it made him smile softly. He lightly caressed her cheek before he sat down on the floor with her in his lap and held on to her. The closeness helped chase away the anxiety a bit. 

"Thanks, Rem," he said softly as he held her. "I haven't had anyone to hold like this before…" he admitted to her quietly. He turned his gaze to the flames and watched them dance across the logs, the sap in the wood popping and snapping. He lightly nuzzled the side of her face. "Rem… I know you mentioned you had a boyfriend before, and that he hurt you… but I have been wondering… how serious were the two of you? I have guessed that you must have been really close if he hurt you as bad as you say…" he knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but he wanted to know. 

She liked the fact that she could make Jace feel better. It comforted her that she could do something for him. So there they were sitting by the fire. She was in his lap with his around her. It was a feeling she had certainly missed. “It’s good for me too so don’t thank me too much.” She smirked at him as she joked.

For a moment she stopped herself and thought about. “He had kids ya know? Thought he was safe just because of that. I loved his kids. I loved him too. We were pretty close and we got intimate a few times. Found out he had been running around on me with another woman. I cut it off. It hurt me bad. So I pushed people away even more so than I already did.” She snuggled into him. “Then Grandma forced me here… and you wore me down. For better or worse I would say.”

Remedy turned herself in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Doesn’t matter now does it?” There was a bit of hurt in her eyes but she gave him a smile. “I’m here with you.” She kissed him by pulling him down to her. They kissed for a long time and felt each other up at various times. Though it didn’t go any further than that. Soon Remedy was asleep in his arms after the long day. Emotionally she was drained.

At first he worried she wasn't going to tell him. He wouldn't have blamed her however, but when she explained as succinctly as possible what had gone on between her and her former lover, he nodded slowly. He gave her a wry smile when she ended her tale with being forced to live with him on Horae Island. 

"Well, it only took you three months to warm up to me," he teased gently as she turned on his lap, and lifted her arms up around his neck. He saw the hurt in her eyes, and wondered what it was that she would see in his. Not that it mattered as he followed her lead and proceeded to kiss her. At first it was soft and almost timid, but as they sat there in each other's arms, things quickly went from timid to passionate. Hands and claw moved over and under clothing, touching and exploring without crossing lines. It was exhausting, and over time the passion faded and became gentle as fatigue overtook them both. For a while Jace just enjoyed holding Remedy as she slipped into dreams, before he carefully carried her to her bed up in the loft where he tucked her in. 

The storm showed no sign of letting up, but Jace felt too tired, and despite the anxiety that still lurked there, he fell asleep. His sleep however, wasn't restful. He tossed, and turned in his sleep muttering, occasionally crying out. After a couple hours, the storm became particularly violent, and Jace sat bolt upright in his bed. In his hand was a katana that for years had laid hidden but always within his reach. He held the blade at the ready as he slowly moved throughout the cottage, his bare feet soft upon the wood plank floor. He stalked up to the window above his food preparation counter and carefully peeked through the gaps in the shutters. Lightning lit the world as thunder shook the world, and he watched invisible intruders as they surrounded the cottage. Deftly he moved and barricaded the door with beams he had set aside just for this. He made noise, but they already knew he was there. As a matter of fact, they could have already infiltrated the cottage. 

Remedy didn’t know when she fell asleep. The sound of the fire popping was relaxing to her. Jace was warm and she didn’t even notice when he moved her to her bed. She was so light that it was easy enough to put her up in the loft.

It was a while after that when she woke up to the noise downstairs. Her green eyes peered down to see Jace acting weird. Her blonde hair was a mess from her own tossing and turning. She was quiet but only because she had no weight to her. Her eyes went to the barricade and to the katana. Something wasn’t right. “Jace?”

Her voice spooked him and he turned around. There was a look in his eyes. She could tell in that moment he didn’t know her. He was quick to grab her dominant wrist. “Jace let me go,” her voice was threatening. It wasn’t long before there was a question or two. “I am the wrong person you want to piss off Jace.” She warned him again. She knew he wasn’t himself but when he cut her with the katana she lost her shit.

“THAT MOTHERFUCKING HURTS,” and she swung her right fist. Unlucky for Jace she hit like a rampaging dragon with either of her fists. “Now snap out of it before I beat the snot out of you.” She had knocked them both down and her face was hurting and bruised from her own hit. She picked him up by the collar. “Wake up.”

He had been keenly aware of someone coming down the stairs. He held absolutely still as she came down the stairs. He didn't hear her call his name. Instead, at that moment he moved with alarming speed halfway up the ladder and grabbed her by her dominant arm and held her roughly against the rungs with his katana pressed against her neck. 

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice a sinister growl. Her threat fell on unhearing ears. He didn't see the pretty angel that just some hours before he had been locked in a passionate embrace with. The person he saw was shrouded in shadow, with glowing eyes and no discernable face. "Who are you?!" he demanded again. "Who do you work for?!" He applied a little force with his katana and it bit into the figure's collar bone a bit. 

What surprised him most, was that despite the fact he had he thing in a position where it could not draw a blade on him, he felt the bite of his own katana on his own collar bone. It made him draw back in surprise and shock for a second, and the fog broke. He saw the figure as Remedy just as her left fist connected solidly with his jaw. He fell backwards, still holding on to her, his blade clattering away in the dark. He landed hard on his back, and he was seeing stars. His face hurt and he was pretty sure that some teeth had been knocked loose. She was sitting on his chest now, lifting him up by his collar and shaking him. He snapped out of his daze and gazed up at her as lightning filled the world again. 

"Remedy? You hit me… oh gods, you're bleeding… I'm bleeding… I hurt you!" 

Oh, this was getting old fast. If she didn’t love… wait love? There was an audible groan in her head. She should just kill him now and save him the trouble… Well, she couldn’t and wouldn’t do that but she about turned her head just to knock sense into herself. The katana to the collarbone hurt but it only hurt a little compared to the force she brought with her.

“About damn time Jace.” She didn’t let him go just yet. “Yes, I’m bleeding and yes you hurt me… but are you okay?” There was concern in her voice. “I’ll heal look.” She took off her shirt though she was nude underneath that wasn’t the point. She put his fingers were the blade had cut her and it wasn’t that bad. “See? I’m fine. You are the one I’m worried about… Besides the fact I could have just killed you with my fist just now,” she rubbed the back of her head before putting her shirt back on.

She pulled him up and hugged him tightly. “You’ve been through some rough shit haven’t you?” She kept him close and kissed his forehead. “I’ve seen that look before when Grandma would go off the deep end. That’s why it’s okay that you hurt me… It wasn’t so bad. I could have stayed upstairs if I thought it was going to be easy but I knew it wasn’t.” She pushed his hair back. “How long have you been having problems like this?”

After a minute or two she got up and dragged him over to his bed pushing him down. "You are an idiot. If you try and shut yourself off from me now I will kill you. I didn't open myself up to you after three months for you to turn me away because you are afraid of hurting me." She climbed into the bed with him and looked at him. "I'll sleep with you and make sure nothing else happens."

He was absolutely mortified that he had hurt her. But despite that, he was even more shocked that despite that, she was more concerned about him. She was quick to show him that she was ok and removed her shirt so she could press his fingertips to her relatively shallow cut. He could feel the minor injury healing beneath his touch and he fell back his hands on his face as he moaned loudly. His face throbbed and touching it didn’t help much.
“Well, let’s just consider us lucky that I have such a hard head,” he said as he dropped his hands to his sides and looked up at her, getting a nice view of her exposed chest before she pulled her shirt back on and pulled him up into a tight hug. He was trembling slightly as he embraced her back weakly. When she asked how long he’d been suffering like that, he sighed and decided it was probably best to be honest. “Since I first came to Revaliir… after my world was consumed by the Void,” he admitted. “Unlike worlds that the void consumes when they are at the end of their time… we were engaged with war with the Void for years before it finally succumbed,” he explained. He stood up with her shakily and picked up his katana before he followed her over to his bed and sat down upon the edge of the bed.

He looked at the ceiling, trying to decide if he was ready to talk about what had happened. Finally he let out a resigned sigh and ran his hands through his hair.

“In my world, those who had powers that could compare with Revaliir’s deities were called Gods or Guardians. All my family were of that power type, and it was our job to stand against the Void that was spilling over into our world and threatened to consume it completely. It raged on for years, and I watched family members and friends fall to the denizens of the Void. Eventually it came down to a choice. To either reverse everything and bring back the fallen, but undo all that they had done in the past… or allow our Worlds to fall and bring an end to it by either moving on to a new world to live, or join our fallen in eternal rest. In the end, we made the choice to let the World fall. Otherwise, reversing the events would have made the sacrifice of all those we lost pointless. I decided that I was going to go and find a new world to call home. So I came here to Revaliir,” he explained. He collapsed back on the bed and curled up beside Remedy.

“In all honesty… I should not have survived the war. Sometimes I wish it had been me who had fallen instead of my other family members. I was the least skilled, the least trained out of all of them… I should not have lived…” he said softly. His eyes were sunken with dark circles around them, making him look even more tired than he normally appeared. Tired, haunted, and scared.