Going Out Tonight, She Changes Into Something Red

Ulric smiled softly as Aranea pressed tighter into his chest and he gently squeezed her in his embrace. There were no more words to be shared, but he didn't suppose that there needed to be. He laid awake for a little while after he felt her form relax a bit as she eased into sleep. The visual of peeking over the edge of the cliff, seeing her surrounded by a pool of blood, the dark liquid icy and frozen in the frigid coldness of this second winter... It made him hold her just a little tighter. Just as he was about to finally join her in sleep himself, Azariah took her place in that memory and his ears flicked back with worry. He had searched high and low for Azariah when she first went missing, but hadn't found any trace of her... and now his biggest fear was finding her hurt like he had Aranea tonight or worse.

He sighed and forced himself to focus on the warmth of Aranea against him as he eased into exhaustion driven sleep. He wasn't sure how many hours passed between when sleep claimed him to when Aranea's whines woke him up, but he opened his eyes a bit so he could look down at her, squinting against the early morning sunlight. He frowned and gently nuzzled the top of her head as she tucked her head back into his chest again. He was still half asleep so deciphering what the exact cause of it was beyond his current capacity, but that didn't stop him from worrying over her. He held her close as he eventually drifted back to sleep, his worn out body not allowing him to stay awake for more than a few minutes to check on her.

Later in the morning he blinked his eyes open again and very quickly recognized the lack of warmth from where Aranea had once been laying. He lifted his head and looked around for her, but the room was empty. He surprised himself with the pang of disappointment he felt at her disappearance and had to remind himself as he rested his head on the bed again that there was no reason for her to stay. In fact, there was every reason for her not to. Her scent still hung on the furs beside him and when he shifted on the bed a bit the wounds and bruises ached painfully - reminding him that the previous night had truly happened and wasn't a nightmare. His ears flicked back as he battled with his own conflicting emotions and desires for a while before eventually slipping back into a fitful sleep.

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