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Bella flinched as Nex moved over her, but then shook herself once she was free of cat. She flopped down happily near the hearth...though it had burned down to just coals from the lack of tending.

Arien went over to stir up the fire, throwing more wood over the hot coals, and then winced as he finally sat down. "Oh man, it feels good to be off my feet." He started to work his boots off, wincing as his injured ankle throbbed. He lost his grip on the boot and it landed a foot away, a piece of paper falling out of it as Arien flopped onto his back with a sigh.

Red put her head between her knees, the pain getting worse then subsiding. Letting out a sigh of relief when the pain subsided, she looked up and saw the paper flutter out. Crawling over to it, she picked it up and looked at it.

It was the note she had left for Arien, before taking off and ditching him--or rather, trying to ditch him. He'd saved it.

He propped himself up again and saw she held a piece of paper. "Whatcha...oh. Yeah, I, er, wasn't sure I'd see you again..." he trailed off and stared up at the ceiling.

"So you kept the note?" Red said puzzled.
She looked at Arien, confused.

Nex and Neo had settled themselves outside, to keep guard. Even though it was rather chilly. Patch hopped back inside and curled up close to the fireplace.

"Well, yeah. You've got nice handwriting and..." he made a face and turned to look at her. "I didn't want to throw it away because you actually took time to write to me. If you hadn't wanted me to follow, you could have just left and not said or wrote anything." His voice turned bitter. For something to do, he rummaged through his pack to find gauze to wrap around his ankle for support.

Bella shifted so that she lay closer to the kitten, her tail curling around her feet as she heaved a sigh and closed her eyes.

Red looked at the floor, suddenly feeling like she did something very wrong. Standing up, she went to her room and crawled into her bed, feeling like a little kid being scolded. Not to mention the way he probably hated her now for trying to leave. Red buried her head in her pillow, then got up, undressed to her under shirts and shorts. Finally she crawled back into bed and buried her head back in her pillow.

Neo and Nex felt the air shift in the house and knew something had gone wrong.

He hadn't meant to scold--honest. But he sighed and ran his hand through his short black hair. "Well, that worked like a charm." He reclaimed the note and looked it over before tucking it back into his boot.

Stiffly he climbed back to his feet and slowly walked to Red's bedroom. He peered into her room and saw her vague shape on the bed. Softly, thinking she was asleep, he said:"I only meant to say that I appreciate your concern for me. Thanks...for caring."

He turned to amble back to the hearth.

Red heard him and smiled a little. Thanks huh?.. she thought about it then decided to reply.
"Your welcome..Arien," she replied.
Sitting up a little in her bed, she felt much better. In fact, Red hadnt felt this good since she was a kid.

Arien flinched but didn't turn around right away. He hadn't thought she was awake, but more than that, he hadn't realized how much those two words would affect him.

He returned to the main room without another word and flopped down before the fire. He gently pet Bella, who sighed. "I thought she was asleep," he muttered, and then buried his head into his hands.

Red felt dissapointment when Arien walked away. Biting her lip, she looked out her window. It was dark out already and Red knew she wouldnt get any sleep tonight. Especially with it this cold out and she had literally givin all her blankets to those people. Shivering, she thought of old memories and new ones as well.
Red smiled when she thought of Arien kissing her. That is something i wont forget. she thought to herself. Shivering she leaned against the wall and hugged herself, trying to warm up. As much as she liked Arien, she thought it was better to give him sometime with himself. He had seemed quite...distant just now.

Arien shivered as night fell. Stiffly, he rose to his feet and entered the kitchen. He grabbed a pan, filled it with water, and then set it to warm. Once the water was boiling he fetched some dried leaves out of his pack and put them in the water.

Letting the tea brew, he found two mugs in Red's cupboards and these he filled. He'd half-expected Red to come out of her room, but she hadn't.

Slowly he walked back to Red's doorway and he leaned against it. "You awake? I brought you something warm to drink."

Red jumped a little when Arien spoke.
"Hm? Oh yea im awake," she spoke softly for some reason.
Red had been lost in her thoughts, on how she could prevent Ash getting to Arien. Surely there was some way to stop her; after all Red knew her best. But Ash had never been much to talk about her weaknesses.

Arien hesitated and then entered. He offered her one of the mugs. "Sorry for...earlier. I was just surprised, that was all." Internally he winced. He'd apologized more in the last two days than he had in the last six years combined.

"You were helping the villagers, too, weren't you?"

Red smiled. "Oh it's fine. Yea i was.. Not the smartest thing to do.. You know giving them all the blankets in the house. We're gonna be cold now," she said and laughed a little about the blanket thing.
She took one of the mugs and sipped the tea in it.
"Thank you. Its definitly a warmer upper. Wanna sit down?" Red offered, motioning to the spot on the bed beside of her.

"It was nice of you to do," said Arien, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. He sighed as he took his weight off his ankle. "Even if it did leave us a bit short."

"Well, actually, I do have a tent and a decent blanket in my pack. Plus the very nice cloak you gave me--we're not so bad off." Looking on the bright side, that was Arien. "There's also the fire on the hearth."

Red stared at Arien for a minute before looking out the window.
"Positive thinker," she said, looking out the window.
Red had already finished the mug of tea, she leaned over the side of the bed and put it on the floor.
"How is your ankle feeling?" Red asked, looking at his ankle. "It looks a bit swollen. Here lemme see," she motioned for Arien to put his leg up on the bed so she could have a better look at it.

Arien drained his mug of tea with a grin at her comment. When she mentioned his ankle, he rolled his eyes. "It's just a sprain," he mumbled, "nothing serious." But he lifted his leg up onto the bed to let her look at it. He'd already applied a bandage to it, but the swelling had obviously been pretty bad if she could see it. "It'll heal in a few days. If I don't overexert myself."

Red very gently unwrapped his ankle, trying not to hurt him. She looked slightly concerned but didnt show it too much. Reaching over the side of her bed, grabbing a vile of cold, blue liquid.
"Stay still ok? It will sting a little but trust me, your ankle will feel alot better afterwards," she said softly.
Opening the vile, she poured it onto his ankle slowly. A stinging pain set in and it was really bad. Red knew it would hurt alot bu she just wanted to reassure him the first time.

Stinging didn't quite describe the pain of the blue liquid. He'd have used something stronger, like, maybe scalding. Or flesh-searing.

He clenched his hands into fists, grabbing a wad of the remaining bed sheet as he clenched his jaw. He might have whimpered a little. But then as the initial pain subsided, he realized his ankle felt more...numb.

"Did...did my ankle fall off?" he squeaked, opening one eye to check that he was still intact.

"The pain is worse the second time around which should be in like a couple of seconds," informed Red.
As soon as the pain started again, Red made a spilt-second desicion.
I hope this works or i will be thoroughly embarassed.. she thought to herself. Red kissed Arien, hoping to distract him from the pain.