Echo-Rose had only woken enough to put her good arm around him only to find him holding her hand tightly. A smile came to her lips and she let out a gentle sigh. She didn’t mind herself being naked, she never had. She was rather not shy with Naota as it was. The time didn’t really seem to pass for her as she slept. They slept a good ten hours before Belle woke them back up. “Dinner time!” Belle’s cheerful voice as she brought in a good stew for them. “I had to go back home to get this. I figured there wouldn’t be a good meal around here without blood for miles but you’ll be fine.”

She set it down and smiled at the two of them. “You two should get a bath, the blood will come off just fine. I can ask Aaryona if you can use a wash room. The tubs look large enough for the two of you if you wish.” Echo-Rose gave her a nod before getting help up next  to Naota once more. She was getting her energy back but she was still trying not to use her arm. That made things hard.

“Did all of them get killed?” There was anger burning in Echo’s eyes and Belle froze for a moment with her back to them.

“No, one made it but Aaryona has something planned. Not sure what, but when you are ready she will proceed. She wants you two to watch and enjoy. Her words not mine, I don’t take pleasure in torture.” Belle moved healing items around the room.

“What is she going to do? Kill it if it doesn’t talk? I don’t know Aaryona.”

“Vampire Masters have their own way of handling things Echo. Aaryona may be a Rosenite but her father gave her the gift of leadership. I’m sure it has something to do with that. The stories that surround Aaryona… leave me nervous about what she is going to do.”

Echo-Rose frowned as she moved to the edge of the bed. Her hand went up to the necklace now, only leaving Naota’s fingers idle for a few seconds. “You gave this to me? How did you know about Lapis? Did Lily tell you about it?” She mused before leaning over to him and finally returning his kiss. She could taste dried blood on him but it didn’t bother her. A blush came to her face as much as it could in her condition. “I couldn’t return it and it made me feel terrible. For whatever reason it was the last thing on my mind as the gray land took over… before Angela arrived.”

She left her forehead to his and moved her hand back to his. “Thank you for staying with me. I really thought I was gone… We both know if it wasn’t for Angela we would have died… We should find out how she found out but I imagine if we’re in Kurayo then Aaryona had something to do with it.” More musing as she leaned against him and gently wrapped his arms around her. That’s what she wanted, not food. She pushed her head up under his, “I’m dirty, tired, and I hurt.. hungry is not one of them.”

The sleep did him good, but he was still left with sharp aches and pains.  At least he was much more healed now, the haziness was gone and his heart beat felt stronger.  Good, his blood was more replenished, and while he was grateful for Angela’s brew, he was still nervous about being in a place where he couldn’t heal himself like he normally did.  Belle told them about the captive and his stomach was sour thinking about one of them surviving, but even more so at her description of what Aaryona might do.  Her vagueness didn’t leave him with much comfort or even a delusion of a peaceful interrogation.  And yet…he wasn’t angry.  More so he was disgusted with himself for being glad for it. 
 
He was taught to move forward, never hold a grudge, that it would weigh him down and revenge never truly made anyone feel better.  In his youth that had been a harder lesson to live by, but now it was much easier to do so.  Not this time though.  Had it only been an attack against himself then maybe, but they’d tried to hurt a comrade of his, a partner, a woman that was gradually becoming more than that to him.  She mentioned the Lapis and his blood ran cold, his eyes widening as he tried to come up with a reason for why he had it and luckily her lips pressed to his; giving him a good enough excuse to not respond and pass off his reaction as surprise. 
 
His lips melded back with hers and gently pressed back as his eyes slowly closed, enjoying the warmth of her lips where before they had been so cold…When they were gone he pulled his own in to keep from following her lips into another kiss.  Instead he opened his eyes and looked back at her, feeling nothing short of cautious relief.  His forehead rested back against hers, easing more when she pulled his arms around herself.  They wrapped even more when her head tucked in under his chin and his eyes closed again, reveling in her warmth and strengthening heartbeat.  For now, he didn’t speak of the Lapis and focused on other matters,
 
“I agree: food is the last thing on my mind.  I feel like I could sleep forever…she’s right about one thing though, we do need to bathe.”  He was getting more uncomfortable from so much blood, especially since some of it was hers…His skin was itching where it had dried and his clothing was stiff.  In their travels they had bathed around one another, though he always tried to keep his eyes at a respectful focus, but this would be different.
 
“As for the prisoner, I’m not sure if I want to be anywhere near that interrogation.  I haven’t even seen anything for it and already I feel guilty knowing that I’d enjoy every second.”  Completely unlike him.  Even in his younger years where his prejudice towards vampires was much stronger than it was now, he’d never been one for torture and pain.  Now he was thinking about his recent years, how each slaughter brought him a sick form of glee…he tried his best to stay cold and detached during a fight now, but it was growing harder as time went on.
 
“I’ll leave it up to you, though I’d be perfectly fine with us cleaning ourselves and resting, but having no more to do with this outside of facts and information.”  He couldn’t allow himself to delight in torture, no matter how wicked the individual, but a side of himself he always tried to ignore was pushing for it. “Do you want to try a little of what she’s brought us at least, that way we can say we’ve eaten something?”  Despite his question he didn’t move one bit, not even to look down at her, if anything his arms tightened around her as if she were about to be ripped from them merely for thinking it.

Echo-Rose cuddled into him more after the kiss, that was all she needed to know about their current situation. She let the lapis and why he had it go. It was a very special stone to her people but it was just curious that he had it. Still, she let it go and snuggled him.

Nodding to him she chuckled a bit. “We’re absolutely filthy. We haven’t been this filthy since we fell into that mud pit when we took on that job near Feeorin.” Echo nodded and cuddled herself tightly into him. It was the only thing she could think of. “I’m fine with not being at the interrogation. I’m sure that Aaryona will tell us when it is done and what she found out.” She offered him a smile against his chest while they cuddled.

She rolled her mind on the question and shook her head. “I’m sure it’s hot right now. If we go to take a bath right now… It will be cool by the time we are done. Is that fine? I would rather eat when we are clean anyways.” It took him helping her for them to get to the washroom. Belle was able to direct them. When the warm water hit her skin for a moment she winced. “That is really hot to me where the salve was.” She chuckled and looked over at Naota. “Are you going to come in too? I do need help since I can’t move my arm just yet.”

She reached up to her hair and tried to get the blood out.

He smiled though it was laced in sadness as he remembered happier times.  It still stung to think about how close they were to never having anything like that again, and once more his arms tightened around her.  Some of the tension left him when she expressed her similar feelings towards the interrogation.  At least that was one less stressful thing for them to worry about.  His arms loosened around her, but never moved away as his eyes landed on the food.  It was a good compromise and he nodded in agreement, “That’s more than fine for me…”

His hands were as gentle as if he’d been handling a newborn as he helped her from the bed and carefully led her into the washroom; glad that his strength had returned more.  As she moved into the tub he looked down at himself and out of morbid curiosity walked to a mirror.  His lips parted when he saw his own reflection.  Barely an inch of his skin was clean, and the parts that you could see were much paler than usual…no doubt from the blood loss he’d suffered.  What had he looked like when the damage was fresh with absolutely no healing…?  Dark rings lined his eyes and he looked older, his hair was matted in places from the blood and the green in his eyes had faded to a dull gray with absolutely no light behind them.

It was then that he realized that he hadn’t heard from Minasé once since they’d been taken out of the lair.  Where was he…?  He’d never been so close to death, what kind of repercussions would that have on his daemon?  And why in the world was he worried about him…?  As much as the two hated one another, they were still connected, it made him more than a little uncomfortable when he couldn’t feel him and it was too similar to the way he felt when Natsumi’s lock was activated.  

Her voice pulled him away from staring at himself though, and when he looked over at her his eyes widened.  Of course she had gotten naked, but for some reason it surprised him this time…he’d been too lost in thought.  And after the events that had just taken place, things felt…different now.  His eyes began to drift down but he quickly settled them on her face and walked over to the tub, peeling his ruined clothing off once he was at the edge,  “H-Hey don’t do that.”  He reached out, gently taking her wrist and lowering her arm back down, that arm was safe but he still didn’t want her making any unnecessary stretches,

“I can help, hold on…”  He drew his hand back and continued getting his clothing off, trying not to think about his own nakedness.  The two had bathed around each other countless times before out of necessity and he was bound and determined to not let it get awkward now.  Being careful, he moved into the tub behind her and gently scooped her hair over her shoulders so that it fell down her back.  His hands were filthy, but he quickly washed them in the water and brought water up in his hands to move through her hair, “How long do you think it will be before your arm is back to what it used to be…?”

Echo-Rose watched him look at himself in the mirror. She was content on trying to wash her own hair but he had other plans. Her amber eyes looked over at him and gave a smile. “Alright, if you insist but I get to wash your back. At least I have one good arm to wash with.” She chuckled a little bit more and closed her eyes as he set to washing the blood out of her hair.

She thought about her arm and slowly moved it. It made her wince but it also made her smile. “Give me a day and I should be better. The salve worked wonders on it and I image whatever damage was done is almost reversed. Even in Parvpora the healing properties of Angela’s blood is amazing.”

When he was done washing her hair, she moved back to him and snuggled into his body. She made sure her freshly cleaned hair was out of the way of what could be all over his chest. “We can leave here soon. I don’t want to be in Kurayo anymore. We could leave right now but I have a feeling Belle would tie me down to the bed in order to make sure I heal fine.” She looked back at him and blushed a bit.

“I get the feeling we have a lot we should talk about but I know that we’re both not very good with words.” Her voice faded out as she thought about it. “We’re both doers and not talkers. I’m not so sure we can just do and not speak about it.” She blushed more and laughed. “It’s funny and yet it’s not how we had to come out about it.”

Hopefully she was right and the healing would be as quick as she was anticipating.  He didn’t like her out of commission like this, it was too dangerous for people like them.  Look what had just happened?  If they were ambushed again then they might not get out so easily given their current states.  At least he still had all of his limbs perfectly intact, but still…No, there wouldn’t be another ambush like that.  Now his reluctance towards dead zones was even stronger, but he didn’t like having an area he avoided: it made him feel weak, vulnerable.

Finally her hair was back to it’s fair sheen and the water began to run clear on her back.   His fingers gently moved down her back, making sure that all of the muck and blood was off of her, and welcomed her into his arms.  Being careful he lowered himself into a sit, keeping her against his chest and being mindful of her arm and where he let his own rest.  He nodded in agreement, he was ready to get out of this blasted place and go home.  Not inns or barns, no, he wanted to go to his airship.  He usually only used it for serious recuperation, but this seemed as good a time as any…she’d be one of three people that had ever been on it and he felt a pit of guilt for having kept it from her.

Talking about their feelings though…?  That was a much more difficult task.  Things like this he preferred to be kept unspoken because she was right: he was a doer.  Words were easy for him in every other regard, but not for subjects like this.  It took near death to even pull it out of him in the first place… “We can talk about it…but not right now.  I’d rather us both be back to our usual selves.  It’s…”  How to describe this, “It’s a hard topic to put into words.”

Tilting his head he gently kissed the top of hers through her dampened hair and then rested his cheek there.  His eyes closed, reveling in the warmth of the water around them and her skin against his own, “I have a safe place we could go, no one could harm us there…”  Or at least, the chances of harm went down exponentially.  It would be nice to have her there, though a bit nerve wracking as it was so extremely personal to him, but the airship was his home.  As soon as they were out of this dead zone he’d take them there without so much as a blink.