|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 9, 2019 16:37:25 GMT
By the time they had made it to his little abandoned house at the edge of the forest, Allan’s head and eyes were throbbing; it didn’t take long before he realized that he must have left the glasses behind, but he wasn’t about to put Ariane through anything else for the sake of those lenses. Besides… by the time he noticed, he knew, somehow, that going back would be a mistake. What he didn’t know was that by the time anyone found those glasses, broken in the fall, all they’d find next to it would be bloody smears.
Getting his keys out for the door, and the door itself was… interesting, carrying Ariane, but he somehow managed, using a foot to close the door behind them. The inside was arguably as dark as the forest just outside, across a small, flat creek, with the heavy shades preventing the light from the streetlamp outside. The most that could be seen by normal eyes were vague shapes, outlining the usual, including a television screen, some chairs, a table in the corner, another room just nearby, quite probably a kitchen. Allan moved with perfect ease, apart from the headache, and seemed unperturbed by the intense darkness even as he set Ariane down, moving to the table in the corner to handle something, hesitating only because Ariane began speaking.
The darkness was quickly dispelled, however, when Pip slipped in through an unlatched window, the soft glow of her fur and bright eyes providing an unusual source of light in the space. Curiously enough, in the darkness, she was in fact fairly bright and visible, but did not cause Allan’s eyes to squint as he turned around, noticing the curious ferret approaching the intruder to their home. “Easy,” he quickly chided, Pip letting out a defensive little chirup before hopping onto a shadow that proved to be a bookcase rather than a hallway. She still eyed Ariane warily, evidently not liking her presence there, but accepting it.
Allan waited a few moments to make sure Pip was settled before answering Ariane’s question, unaware of how his own eyes shone in the darkness as he watched her, the slits more obvious as they were relaxed. “This is my place. You’re safe here… for as long as you need.”
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Jan 9, 2019 22:45:48 GMT
Her attention was drawn to a source of light, and it took her a moment to realise that the steadily approaching glow was coming from an animal. Lost for words, she merely watched it approach, hypnotized by it’s languid movements, but at Allan’s uttered word it scurried away. Finally, she found her voice again. “Your place.” She echoed, merely a breath, evidently still taking in the odd experience she had just been presented with as she took that que to look around. As most people, she knew that such creatures in the dark existed, but to have one so close, and seemingly actually answering to Allan was not something she had expected to see. Then again, none of tonight’s events were what she had expected.
Another glow drew her attention, and she turned to follow it in the dark. It took her a moment to realise what it was. Now, she was convinced she was hallucinating. “Allan, your eyes… How…” She paused, raising her hands to her face in an attempt to block out everything. “I don’t understand.” She mumbled unhappily. Her thoughts and emotions seemed to be running a mile at a minute. She was safe now, he had taken her away, and yet, something was bothering her. Something that had happened, and yet every-time she tried to think back to the moment Allan had found her, to the fight that had ensued- she just remembered being back here. She was missing a chunk out of what had happened. An important chunk. And now, seeing that strange animal, seeing a heady blue glow coming from where Allan’s eyes should be... she was clearly hallucinating. She was afraid to move her hands from her face, lest her brain conjure up something nightmarish for her to see.
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 10, 2019 1:12:36 GMT
Allan’s concern for Ariane prevented him from responding to the question she had begun to ask, or noticing how similar it was to little Tristan’s own odd response to his eyes. As she covered her face, Allan turned towards the sink, turning it on for a few moments, his actions mostly blurred by the darkness. He gingerly approached Ariane with the damp cloth, not wanting to startle her. He knew that, on top of her ordeal, it was dark in his house, even if he didn’t realize to what extent.
Instead of approaching from the side, standing over her, he knelt down in front of her, draping the cloth over his knee as he reached for her hands, gently brushing his fingers against the backs of her hands to let her know he was there. Silently, his hands coaxed hers down, letting her take the time she needed to look back at him, her hands held as carefully as if she were made of glass. “You’re safe here,” he repeated, softly, and even his gaze tried to softly reassure her. The iridescent blue-green of his irises were a faint glow contrasted to the bright slitted pupils, but it was in color that the similarity between his gaze and that of the alien predators of the planet ended. This was the gaze of someone who had long harbored feelings for someone special, were uncertain of this new proximity, but faithful to every word said.
“I will never let anyone touch you again. I will keep you safe.”
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Feb 8, 2019 18:04:37 GMT
She studied his eyes; still certain she was hallucinating, but appearing much calmer for his words, as well as the gentle touch that accompanied them. As he began to tend to her wounds, carefully washing away the blood from her face, she let him do so, eyes moving from his face to look about herself, face turning slightly as she did so. Well, these were certainly not the conditions she had thought would lead to her seeing the inside of Allan’s home!
She tried to piece together the evening’s events, feeling much calmer now. Something horrific had happened. In the haze of her pain she had seen the men grappling with each other… but then her recollection stopped there, her mind simply refusing to let her access the part she was trying to. So she thought back instead, to the events before Allan had found her. At the thought, she glanced back at Allan, but dropped her eyes quickly, ashamed, and worried that he might somehow be able to read on her face what she was thinking. She couldn’t believe she had almost gone through with it, almost let that man… Even as she thought this, she reminded herself as to why she had even considered it, and the thought caused her eyes to widen suddenly.
“Tristan!” She cried out, abruptly trying to stand, before stumbling back and falling back into her sitting position, her legs clearly refusing to work right now, her head swimming. “Allan… please, we have to get Tristan…” The man Allan had beaten up, he would go back empty-handed, - the deal he had struck with her mother had been broken. That meant he would cease the house, leaving Angelika, but most importantly, Tristan, homeless. And Malik, who would certainly let his anger be known. She had to get to Tristan and make sure he was safe…
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 9, 2019 5:14:18 GMT
Allan was focused on gently cleaning her face rather than watching her expression, only seeing that she tilted her head as she looked about. He was glad to see most of the blood wasn’t hers, at least, given the size of the injuries. But he was silently thinking of what he’d do to the man if he ever laid his eyes on him again, given Ariane’s injuries.
As Ariane tried to jump to her feet, Allan stood quickly, his balance far better as he was soon leaning over to try to steady her as she fell back to the sofa. He cupped his hand against her cheek gently in an attempt to calm her, still earnest in his words and voice.
“I will get Tristan,” he said firmly before standing, making his way towards the door, but not before he checked the weapon at his side, a click confirming it was fully loaded. “Stay here, you’ll be safe here,” he said, hesitating before adding, “It’ll be safest for Tristan as well, if he comes to you.”
He didn’t know why she was being chased by that man, but if he got word back to his friends, they might go after her family. She would be safe at his place, as no one really dared go so close to the forest unless they had to, and so wouldn’t know the house was occupied. Allan simply didn’t want to be unprepared when going to get Tristan. All he could hope for was that the child wouldn’t make too much of a fuss and attract too much attention.
---
While he knew the path to Ariane’s house by heart now, he kept out of the lights as he walked for two reasons. One was his splitting headache, eyes squinting almost nonstop at the glaring lights, the other… well, he was ready for that.
He strode up to the front steps and looked over the front of the house as he waited for sounds of life, determining first if he should sneak in, or simply knock. Allan finally settled for knocking, his hand heavy against the door even as his other hand brushed against the gun on his hip.
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Feb 22, 2019 0:01:14 GMT
Allan’s words appeared to calm Ariane, her wide eyes fixed on his as he spoke, and nodding mutely as he told her he would get her brother. He would protect Tristan, as he had protected her, this she was sure. As he checked the gun at his side, Ariane spoke up, her voice small. “Be careful.” The gun would come in handy in terms of intimidating Malik to give up Tristan, but she hoped little else would be necessary. In truth, she wanted to go, if Malik and Allan should come to a head, she wanted to be there to soothe her little brother. Yet, she was also aware that in her state, she could do nothing but hope that Allan would keep things under control.
***
Angelika was a wreck, which was not unusual. What was unusual was what she was in a wreck over.
“She’ll be fine.” Malik growled, impatient with the woman’s whines and sick of her tear-streaked face. Her salty tears had smeared her mascara down her cheeks. As he spoke, he moved his hand to the remote to turn up the volume of the TV, in an attempt to drown out her insufferable snuffling. “They’ve probably just gone somewhere more private, somewhere without bar-workers sniffing around the door like a bad smell.” “I think something’s wrong! He was only supposed to have half an hour with her. You don’t suppose she’s hurt, do you?” Angelika whined, unwilling to let the subject drop despite her boyfriend’s obvious disinterest in continuing the conversation. There was a pause, Malik’s eyes fixed on the TV, Angelika’s on his face. When she could no longer take it anymore, she stood up from her seat on the sofa in an attempt to command his attention. “Malik!” Exasperated, Malik looked towards her for a moment, only a brief second, before returning his gaze back to the TV. “Look, I’m sure nothing’s happened. But anyway, it’s about time someone did something to put that girl in line…"
Angelika slapped him then, hard, across the face.
For a moment, there was a stunned silence between the two, both as equally shocked by the woman’s action. Then Malik’s face had darkened with silent fury, and suddenly he had leapt up, grabbing Angelika by the throat as she began a string of desperate apologies…
As they heard the banging on the door.
For a moment neither moved, Angelika’s pleas dying her throat… then Malik brought his face closer to hers, growling, “Don’t you ever fucking do that again.” Before losing her roughly and heading to the door. He could still hear her soft whimpering as he swung the door open, expecting to see Ariane and finding… someone else.
“What the fuck do you want?” he spoke gruffly, angry at being interrupted by a stranger. Clearly, he was a speak-before-thinking kind of guy, as he was too het up in his anger to notice the gun at Allan’s side.
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 22, 2019 0:35:27 GMT
From the lights around him, Allan’s eyes were forced to remain narrowed, making the glow less obvious and more like he had pale blue eyes that reflected the light rather well. As the door opened, his eyes would have narrowed anyway at seeing the man standing there. Tristan’s words about Malik not being nice ran through his mind again in a flash, as he was too focused on the task at hand to mull over the concept.
It did keep him more on edge, unsure if this was the same man.
“I’m here for Tristan,” Allan replied calmly in spite of the aggressive question, but with a tone that did not invite argument. As if to back up his words, he stepped forward, one arm shoving the man into the door and out of his way as he went inside, not waiting to be invited in. The man didn’t take well to this, immediately trying to attack. Allan was not in the mood.
Again, he slammed the man into the wall, but this time accompanied the move with a strong left hook, letting the man slide down the wall to the floor. Walking into the house, he looked over at the woman, with her wide, teary eyes staring at him. Allan merely looked about the room and moved on when he didn’t see the little boy, moving about as he listened for noises beyond the TV. He didn’t speak again, not calling out for the boy in case there were others like the man there. Allan wanted to be the one surprising anyone else there.
Finally he made his way up the stairs, opening doors as he went, his vision easing as he moved into the darker spaces. He finally found the right room when he opened the door to find a few toys strewn about. He took in the dim room, finding a bed with one small form in it, but his gaze was drawn to a photo on the wall. It was an old photo, with a crease in one corner, but it showed a man Allan didn’t recognize. As quiet as ever, he walked over to the bed and the small form, checking first it was who he thought it was before reaching out, gently touching the child’s shoulder.
“Tristan… wake up, it’s time to go.”
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Mar 2, 2019 21:18:57 GMT
The child stirred, and was motionless for a moment. Then he turned over slowly, his blue eyes blinking open and searching for the source of the voice. In the dark, for a moment he could only see a blurry, towering figure, which should have been frightening given the circumstances… but strangely enough, instead of fear, he felt an overwhelming sense of calm. His eyes were wide in the dark, his eyesight not as good as the adults’. “Allan?” He muttered, drowsily, although he asked more out of a desire for confirmation, for he could tell that it was him from the soft glow of the man’s eyes. At the insistence that they go, the child did not even object, sitting up slowly and sluggishly rubbing his eyes, before reaching up to Allan, clearly expecting to be picked up. He accepted the odd request without question, and perhaps most notedly, did not even ask for his mother.
Downstairs, a curse could be heard. Evidently, Malik had recovered, at least marginally. Enough to be angry. Tristan, now in Allan’s arms, whipped his head round towards the door in alarm, his small hand tightening on the fabric of Allan’s jacket in his nervousness.
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Mar 2, 2019 23:30:10 GMT
Allan watched Tristan wake, prepared to try and calm the child upon awaking… but to his surprise, he was more than happy to go, even reaching for him. Allan hesitated, but reached down gingerly, picking him up with both arms before settling him to one side. “Yes… I’m taking you to-“
The man’s voice downstairs interrupted him, his own gaze jumping to the door. If he was awake… he wasn’t likely to just let them walk out of there. But Allan didn’t really want to kill someone in front of the kid… even if they might deserve it. Even so, he unholstered his weapon, glancing at Tristan while keeping his now armed hand down. “Just keep your eyes closed, alright?” he said softly, grateful to see the boy nod solemnly before putting his head down on Allan’s shoulder.
When the man came around the corner to the stairs, once more cursing and ready to throttle the intruder, his eyes instead became very focused on the barrel of the pistol now aimed at him. Allan’s expression was calm, which only cemented the unspoken threat. Walking down the steps slowly to keep Tristan steady and his gaze solidly on Malik, Allan’s hand raised as he came closer to the ground floor, his gaze cold. It was about then that they noticed the strange glow of Allan’s narrowed gaze, clearly unsettled in a way that it was easy for Allan to mistake. He did have a gun trained on the man’s forehead, after all. But as the man turned to try and keep his front to Allan he paused, his lip curling.
“Don’t,” he growled, motioning with the gun for him to turn back towards the stairs. Malik was clearly seething, but didn’t challenge the gun, even as Allan walked behind him, his steps soft and slow. Then, with a sharp move, pushed forward and snapped his hand around, the butt of his pistol connecting hard with the back of the man’s head. This dropped him yet again, but the gun was momentarily trained on the woman. Allan’s gaze fell back to the man at seeing a lack of resistance, moving back towards the door carefully and only turning his own back on them when he was sure they wouldn’t follow. Holstering the gun in order to close the door, Allan turned and hastened his step out of the area. With Tristan in his arms, he didn’t want it to turn into a gunfight.
Fortunately, they made it back to Allan’s without incident, he opening the door with a lot less difficulty with a child in his arms instead of a grown woman. “Ariane,” he called out as he closed the door behind him, half to make sure she was still there, half to make sure she knew it was him. Pip’s eyes opened as an excited flush of illumination shuddered down her striped form at his voice, chirruping at him and his bundle, ears flicked forward in curiosity.
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Mar 4, 2019 0:20:49 GMT
Ariane had had time to think.
Alone in this empty, dark house, there was nothing she could do but think.
She had back thought back again, although she was reluctant to revisit in any detail what had happened, to the moment Allan had found her. Something was missing in her recollection, the moments between Allan finding her and then bringing her here. Her train of thought just seemed to suddenly stop, first there was pain and fear, then there was a blank space, and then she remembered falling into Allan and… Something caught her attention in the gloom, and she jumped a little. She hadn’t properly realised until now, but she was not alone, a soft blue glow drawing her attention to the corner of the room. She recognised the creature as the same one from earlier, but at the time, she had not been sure it hadn’t been a hallucination. Hallucination or not, there it was all the same, with it’s fluorescent blue eyes so like Allan’s…
… The taste of blood. Her sight wavering and unclear. Allan reaching for her, his blue eyes glowing…
She closed her eyes for a moment, willing the memory to the forefront of her mind, catching it’s tendrils and drawing it towards her before it could slip away again.
… “Leave her alone.” “YOU don’t get to tell ME what to do!”…
By the time Allan had returned, she had remembered everything.
***
As soon as she heard the click of the door, Ariane had leapt up. Before Allan had finished calling her name, she was already upon them, reaching for Tristan, who reached back automatically, arms wide. “Tristan! Are you okay? What happened?” She sounded panicked as she took her brother swiftly from Allan, which was to be expected, under the circumstances, holding him close, protectively. “I’m fine, Allan saved me.” Tristan merely answered, punctuating his statement with a yawn, clearly un-phased by the evening’s events, especially considering as he hadn’t actually seen anything untoward, thanks to Allan. But he paused as he looked at Ariane’s face, noticing the darkening purple flush of bruises, his bottom lip beginning to quiver as he realised all was not okay after all. Seeing his face, Ariane quickly pressed him against her again, cradling his head on her shoulder. “It’s fine, everything’s fine.” She soothed, although her breathing was heavy, catching in her throat in her concern for him. She began rocking him where they stood, swaying slowly from side to side. Then, looking over Tristan’s head to Allan, her words were soft, an edge of wariness to her voice as she spoke. “Thank you.”
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Mar 5, 2019 22:39:37 GMT
Allan handed Tristan over to Ariane without a word or a moment’s hesitation, but he had caught her worried tone. If it was worry about Allan getting Tristan, or of something else… he wasn’t sure. But he wondered about whether or not it was a worry of him that had Ariane’s voice on edge, merely nodding to her thanks.
“There’re beds upstairs, and food in the kitchen. Light switch next to the doors,” he noted quietly, moving past them towards the table in the dark corner, kneeling as he pulled his weapon out of its holster yet again. Was that what had scared Ariane? His taking a gun? Or was it how he had chased off her attacker?
As Allan moved away, Pip chirruped at the newcomer curiously, a little more settled at the presence of intruders given how long Ariane had been there. The twin-pupil eyes blinked lazily as she followed them, albeit at a distance, content for now to leave Allan on his own.
Still kneeling, Allan rubbed at his eyes, which felt sore after squinting for so long. But he knew that his night vision was better than most… probably should have left a light on for Ariane when he left. But then that would have indicated someone was there… and that wasn’t always a safe idea at the edge of town.
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Mar 11, 2019 2:15:34 GMT
Allan had sounded suddenly cold when he spoke… or was that just Ariane’s interpretation, knowing what she knew? Either way, she thought it a good idea to take Tristan upstairs, he had had a rude awakening and he would need to rest. Besides, Ariane needed to think about what they were going to do. Lowering Tristan to the ground, they walked up the stairs, a little warily in the dark, the young boy holding his sister’s hand, his other hand holding the banister. Pip had followed curiously until Ariane had switched the light on at the top of the stairs, which sent the animal skittering away into a nearby room. Ariane jumped a little at the sudden movement, relaxing once she realised there was no threat, and loosed her brother's hand as she had a quick poke around. There was a small, narrow room with a single bed, and another with a double. A glance at Tristan and she knew they were both thinking the same thing. At 'home', Tristan had his own room, but would often opt to sleep in Ariane’s bed for comfort. In a strange place such as this, the last thing she was going to do was leave him alone. “Come on,” she motioned, stepping into the larger room and patting the bed, switching on the lamp on the bedside table. A warm, comforting glow filled the room as the child climbed up towards the pillows, Ariane pulling back the covers so that he could slip inside.
“You don’t need to be afraid of him, y’know.” Tristan commented conversationally. Ariane paused for a moment before drawing the covers back up. “What do you mean?” She asked, curiously. “Allan.” Tristan continued, “He’s safe. He won’t hurt us.” Suddenly, Ariane’s thoughts were running a mile a minute, and she thought she might be able to hear her heart thrumming in her chest as she regarded him. The phrase might have seemed entirely innocent to anyone else, but Ariane knew not to take his words lightly. Throughout his life, he’d always seemed to have a strange kind of second sight when it came to people, sometimes, when Angelika would bring him to the bar, he would conversationally speak up about the patrons. Things that wouldn’t make sense at the time, but would always be confirmed later on.
If Tristan said Allan was to be trusted, then he was.
The boy snuggled down, and looked up at her expectantly.
She knew what was coming, and so did he. So she smiled, and jumped onto the bed, the movement sending him bouncing up and down for a few seconds, giggling. “Right then! Lets see about this story.” She crossed her legs at her ankles, and leant her back against the backboard, miming whipping a book into existence, holding her hand flat and moving her other to turn the imaginary pages. “Ah! Sleeping beauty, Tristan’s favourite. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful…” she paused, a look of confusion coming over her face. Tristan giggled in anticipation. Ariane moved her hand as if she was picking something out of the imaginary book, something clearly disgusting judging by how she scrunched up her nose, ignoring the tweak of pain in her split lip. “What… what is a dirty sock doing between the pages?” She gasped. Then, in a frenzy, she leapt off the bed, whipping the covers aside. Tristan immediately brought his knees up, and howled with laughter as Ariane grabbed his foot and began tickling. “Was it you? Was it your sock?”
***
Ariane had stayed with Tristan until he had fallen asleep. It hadn’t been long, their clowning around being all he had needed to release the tension he had been feeling, the familiar routine being all he had needed to show him that they were safe, and he was okay to sleep. Sometimes the game was different, she might whip out a sticky lollypop from between the pages, for example. It had been something they had started when Tristan had begun to have night terrors, the bit of laughter before bedtime doing well to distract him from whatever anxiety had been plaguing him. Slowly slipping her arm from beneath him, for he had quite literally fallen asleep in her arms, she climbed carefully out of the bed. She switched off the lamp but kept the door open a crack so that the light from the landing fell into the room, and her footsteps were soft as she descended the stairs, to ensure that she wouldn’t wake him. She only breathed easily at the foot of the stairs, but merely a second later, a new anxiety had overcome her. Instead of walking into the living room, she sat down on the bottom step, shuffling through her tumultuous thoughts and trying to gather her bearings. Moments before taking Tristan upstairs she had been wondering on what they should do. Remembering what Allan had done… it was enough to make her want to whip Tristan into her arms and get as far away from the man as possible. Should she really choose to stay just because of Tristan’s inkling that it was safe to do so? But where could they go? They couldn’t go back ‘home’. A shiver ran through her at the thought. The whole point of Ariane agreeing to go through with… what she’d almost gone through with, was to keep a roof over Tristan’s head. If she stayed here, Tristan would have that, and she could avoid being put into the same position again. But was it safe? Well, perhaps it would be. Allan had done what he had done for her- to help her. And then he had brought Tristan here at her request, no questions asked. He had rescued them both.
She stood up then, rubbing her hands on her trousers a few times, nervous at the idea of facing Allan again. Nervous because she knew she needed to talk to him before deciding whether they should stay or not.
She stepped inside the living room, which seemed even darker now after leaving the light of the stairs, and hesitated for a moment. “Allan?” she asked softly, momentarily blind.
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Mar 12, 2019 1:11:03 GMT
Given Ariane’s apparent concern with Tristan, Allan was already on edge when he heard something from upstairs. He nearly raced up the stairs, ready to fight whatever might have been attacking them, but stopped at the base of the stairs, eyes narrowed against the light as he finally recognized some of the sounds. Laughter… A child’s hysterical giggling and a woman’s laughter. Had it been that long since he’d heard such a thing?
He’d gone back to the dark sanctuary of his living room, still carefully listening for sounds of danger, noting when it seemed to finally grow still again. Which in of itself was odd; he’d never viewed his temporary house as anything but that, but knowing there were others there… the quiet became obvious very quickly in the absence of those brief moments of sound. Sitting in the dark, a glass of water in his hand, Allan studied the wall as he became lost in thought. He took a slow sip of water, controlling its cool slide down his throat.
Allan didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He had gotten Ariane out of danger, and had brought Tristan to her, out of a possible danger. Usually, that was when he’d part ways with people. But they were upstairs, no longer in danger… and still with him. Perhaps that meant they were still in danger after all. His thumb idly rubbed on the edge of his cup, trying to think of what he was supposed to do next. Should he do anything? Or should he wait until he was asked to? But would they ask him if they needed something?
Ariane’s voice cut through the silence sharply, Allan’s gaze immediately jumping over to her as she entered the room, hesitating; his first thought had been to stand, but he wasn’t sure if that would simply startle her further. As she looked about, clearly blind in the darkness, Allan finally decided to move, walking over to her as he spoke, hoping he wouldn’t scare her. “Here,” he said simply, the one word enough to show he wasn’t sure what else to say. He reached out for her hand, his fingers brushing against hers, able to see her as clear as day, but aware she seemed as lost as he was with her.
|
|
|
Post by Kelathi on Mar 13, 2019 15:42:18 GMT
Seeing a slightly darker shape break away from the shadows and move before her might otherwise have given her cause for alarm, had she not known it was Allan. How could she not be able to tell, when his eyes seemed to glow in the gloom? Because of this, her own gaze locked on his easily, but she was only mildly hesitant as he reached for her, swayed by his gentle touch not to be afraid, despite the strangeness of what she was seeing. She took his hand gratefully, letting him lead her into the room, and as they were walking slowly she was able to feel the sofa press against her leg gently, rather stumbling into it, as she would have done without his guidance. At that point she broke contact gently and sat down. “Thank you, it’s very dark in here.” She commented with a chuckle in an attempt to break the awkwardness, but immediately biting her lips at the ridiculousness of her stating of the obvious, momentarily forgetting that he would surely be able to see the action. “Are your… eyes giving you trouble?” She asked, broaching the subject tentatively.
|
|
|
Post by Red Irish Dragon on Mar 13, 2019 17:32:38 GMT
Allan drew to a slow stop as Ariane let go of his hand, more out of knowing he didn’t need to lead her further rather than out of concern. She’d accepted his touch without fear or hesitation, after all. Maybe he was doing alright. Her comment, however, meant he awkwardly glanced away. He didn’t speak at first, watching her awkward shifts, unsure what he could do, finally settling on sitting down on the table sitting opposite the sofa, still trying to provide her with enough room to be comfortable.
As she asked about his eyes, however, his brow furrowed, clearly confused. “No…” he began, tentatively, softly letting out a slow breath as he considered his answer. “I… I have trouble with bright lights,” he decided to say, even though he knew he had said so before. All he could guess was that she wondered about why he preferred the dark… “If… if you need to, you can turn on the lights.”
Even in the darkness, the glow of his eyes made it difficult to miss the way he’d look over to her and let his gaze fall away again, as if even staring at her for too long in the dark would somehow put her less at ease. It was a gesture he was clearly used to doing unseen, as it wasn’t dissimilar to how he had watched her in the bar, the slight shifts of his head as he’d drink, trying not to stare but finding his gaze always coming back to her. Clearly, he had no idea that she could follow his gaze so easily in the dark.
|
|