Thread: When all is Dark (with Reddy)

A r a s h i The man had the audacity to look confused over touching her ears. Idiot. She almost rolled her eyes at him. Almost but she caught herself. Best not to make enemies if he was seemingly going to be somewhat decent. He seemed that way, at least a little. So, she let it slide as she took a deep breath. Did it hurt? Her green eyes cut to him once more with a dark look but she didn't deign to answer. No, it hadn't hurt. Just she hadn't been expecting some sort of condolence from a human. It'd felt wrong on so many levels. So very wrong and yet, she couldn't find it in herself to truly be angry at Tathlyn. He hadn't done anything wrong yet. There were some operative words there that could change in an instant. So, she was still wary. A Kodachi? Her ears flicked out to the side as a few more memories drifted up over her. That's funny. I had a friend that was a Kodachi too. A little smile tried to come across her face but the set of it was still grim unable to rise above that feeling just yet. They make good friends, she agreed thinking about how the Kodachi merchants liked to visit the Frillen villages often to share their wares. They were a good people. Wait, had she just agreed with him? She had best let that thought go. She really didn't feel like eating at all and it was understandable but it felt like she hadn't eaten in a long while. Before waking up in the castle, she'd been held in a tent trussed up like some animal as she'd laid upon the dirt floor cursing, screaming the anguish out of her soul and struggling against her bonds after they'd... oh... Rono... the pain flashed up in an instant seeing the fierce determination and love in his eyes as he'd stared into her own willing her to live even as he accepted his fate to not. A cry threatened to spill from her mouth but she stifled it and drew her knees to her chest watching him cook with a hollow gaze. That knot in her stomach twisted harder and she let her body lean back against the couch as she held onto her knees and rested her chin on them. Her beautiful tail curled about her calves as the feeling of being strong felt very hard to keep up at the moment. Someone must've drugged her in the tent to keep her from hurting herself and since she didn't remember anything of a journey from there to here, she must've stayed drugged the whole time. Suddenly, her body felt gross. What had they done to her while she was unconscious or since she had been a gift for the king, had they left the pleasure of defiling her. A shudder went through her at the thought. It took a moment for Arashi to come back from that dark memory that she'd gone to and notice that Tathlyn had spoken to her as well as settled close with a bowl of food between them. Those vivid green eyes of hers looked from the bowl up to him. Try to eat? A soft sigh left her and yet, hadn't he said something about taking her collar off. Those ears lifted from her hair and she hadn't even realized that they'd flicked back once more. Do you mean it? She asked meeting his gaze. I don't have to wear this infernal thing? She asked about the collar. It was annoying to her physically and weighing on her soul because of the meaning behind it. Taking a carefully measured breath, she glanced at the food staring a long moment trying to will herself to try to eat it. The scent teased her nostrils. It did smell good. Not anything that she'd scented before. A long moment passed and then another as she stared at the food trying to get her stomach to relax but there was so much stressing her out. Well, she'd just have to force herself to. That was all there was to it. Letting her legs shift until they were just tucked under her, she picked up the bowl eyeing the food and got a bit up on some sort of utensil mimicking what Tathlyn was doing since using a tool to eat a food was new. She put a bit in her mouth and had to turn her face away from him quick and close her eyes feeling her stomach clench threatening to rebel. Just holding the food in her mouth, she took another breath carefully and forced herself to chew slowly. The taste rolled across her tongue slowly and it was pleasing to her tastebuds. Such a simple pleasure really but it got her ears to relax out to the side and the rest of her body slowly followed suit allowing her to eat slowly. After a few fortifying breaths, she looked toward him. It's good food, she said quietly. It was. She'd not had anything quite like it and now, that she'd had a little bit and gotten over the initial refusal of her belly, now it was sending her a completely different message. A low growl from her stomach made it perfectly clear to the both of them that she was hungry. Her ears flicked back a little embarrassed. Really good...