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Nero pointedly ignored the guards that had brought him down and thrown him in this cell as they were posted just outside of his cell. It was a lot easier to act as if they weren’t there, even though he knew that they were. It wasn’t like they made a lot of noise anyhow, so ignoring them really wasn’t that hard. Besides, he was far more concerned with trying to relieve his eyes and his head some than to sit there and concern himself with two guards standing ‘watch’ over him. He had all but relaxed while he was seated in his little make-shift tent on the floor, at least until the more abusive of the two guards came inside. He hadn’t really even noticed that the nicer of the two had left, nor that the abusive one had come inside… well… he was aware of it as soon as he felt sharp pain resonating in his arms as well as the discomfort of pulled hair. He bit back the urge to voice his utter discomfort even as he hit the floor, although when his hands got stepped on and the shirt got ripped from his arms to the point that he was no longer wearing it at all he couldn’t help but growl out a bit of pain. His shoulders had still been dislocated so the force behind ripping the shirt from his body had only made that pain worse, then of course his hands were being held in place and the fabric had a full arm length to be ripped… After the shirt had been taken from him he just kind of laid there, waiting for the sound of the guard walking away… but that sound didn’t come; instead he felt a sharp pain flair up in his abdomen. It had been so unexpected that he choked and couldn’t catch his breath right away, especially seeing as the pain started to intensify with the increasing number of kicks he was receiving. When the barrage of kicks to his abdomen seemed to cease he took that opening to try and get his breath back, even with the pain he was in but before he successfully managed to do that he felt his teeth crunch together hard with an extremely high amount of pain following that emanated from the jaw. He laid there in a bit of obvious pain but didn’t say anything right away, didn’t make a sound, he just laid there. He was hurting quite a bit and honestly it was pissing him off. He hadn’t done a damn thing to deserve being attacked like this… well, other than his scales weren’t all prissy and white. He was still lying on the floor with his jaw aching and his eyes clenched shut for a few moments after he heard the cell door slam shut. He was really, really fed up with this. If he was going to get beaten up than he may as well have a good damn reason for it. “…Bet you feel good, don’t you…” He said in a gravelly voice before pausing to open his mouth and shift his jaw around a little. “Beating up on me…” He paused. “When you know you’re safe.” He prodded. “Safe… because the big ol’ mean dark dragon can’t fight back.” He continued. “Pfft… shows the type of man you are… and it’s pathetic.” He riled.
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The guard had been content with leaving Nero alone after he had gotten in a few good hits. After all, he couldn't hurt the guy as much as he would have liked to. Even what he had done was pushing it, but he was certain that it was still far less than what his people would have done if they had taken in a light dragon captive. Unfortunately, Nero just had to go and open his mouth. As soon as he heard him, the guard turned back to the door, already glaring daggers through the bars at him. "If you want to fight back, be my guest," he retorted angrily, "By all means, make my day." He turned once again and opened the door to the cell before stepping inside. "I'm not afraid of you, or any of your kind. You think I'm doing any more to you than what your lot would do to me if they got their chance?" He reached down and grabbed Nero roughly by the arm once again, hauling him up off of the floor. He balled up his fist and struck Nero hard across the face. "If I were you, I think I would be keeping my wise cracks to myself."
"What are you doing!?" Selenity's shrill voice came from the doorway. After being shuffled upstairs, she immediately had taken to getting out of that obnoxiously large dress. Her hair was down and falling freely down her back and her face had been scrubbed clean of makeup. All that she had on was a thin white night gown, and she looked much more like the Hikari that the group had gotten to know than she ever had since she had come back here. Her eyes were wide as she stared in at the guard and her hand grasped the door frame tightly. She had been worried about Nero, which was why she had taken to her window as soon as she was in something that she was capable of climbing around in. Over the years, she had mastered slipping out of her room and getting past the guards, even when they were right outside of her bedroom. She knew her way around the servant's quarters and the several twists, turns, and loops that went through the castle. The guard paused quickly in mid-motion and stared back at the door, looking stunned. For a moment, he didn't even recognize the wild-haired girl who was glaring at him. "Who the....Princess!?" he exclaimed once he realized who he was looking at. The only thing that gave her away was the gem in the center of her forehead, which by chance was showing between her bangs. "What are you doing!?" she repeated again angrily, "What have you done to him!?" "Yes, what have you done?" Ishta's voice resounded from just behind Selenity, giving her a good start. She had just come back downstairs to check in on Nero herself, and brought the guard that had been called away back down with her. Her eyes were narrow, and it was evident on her face that she was not pleased with any of this. Not only was Selenity not supposed to be down here, but this was not what he had been ordered to do. The guard almost looked like a cornered rabbit as soon as Ishta walked up behind Selenity. Clearly, he was in trouble...in more ways than one. He released Nero immediately, rather unceremoniously and straightened himself up. "I...," he choked out, but he didn't even get a word out before he was cut off. "I do not even want to hear your excuses!" Ishta roared angrily, "I do not care what your personal feelings are, this is not how we run things here!" She saw the guard start to open his mouth again and she cut him off before he was even able to speak. "Get. Out," she snapped slowly, barking each word menacingly. "I will deal with you later...." With that she stepped off to the side, allowing the guard to make his silent, and rather hasty getaway. she was not overly concerned with him. He would not be difficult to find when the time came. Selenity let out a squeak when the guard let Nero fall to the floor, and she moved forward without a thought, though she did stop after only a couple of steps. As soon as the guard had moved away from him, she moved closer to him and knelt down next to him. There was blood on the floor, but that was the least of her worries right now. "Sele--," Ishta began when she noticed Selenity going into the cell, but she only stopped herself and let out a heavy sigh before looking back to the other guard. "...Bring some clean zzzzzs and warm water," she instructed him simply before she stepped a little further into the room. She eyed Selenity's back for a few minutes before simply crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall. "...You know you are not allowed down here...," she pointed out dryly, though she clearly knew that trying to get her to leave now was going to be difficult. Selenity did not even bother turning her head to acknowledge Ishta when she spoke. Her eyes were locked on Nero's swollen and bleeding face. He looked terrible, and she hated to think that it was one of her own guards who had done this to him. She looked him over a little more carefully and then cringed a bit when she saw how badly the hand restraints had been cutting into him. She reached down to try and undo them herself, but she couldn't even really get a good hold on them. "Ishta...," she said finally, turning her attention back to her briefly. Once again, Ishta sighed heavily and pushed away from the wall before walking over to where Nero was laying, her boots clicking quietly on the cold, hard floor. She came to a stop near him and then reached for one of the daggers on her belt. She didn't say a word as she knelt down and positioned the blade between Nero's hands, at least not until she was ready to make the cut. "This may hurt," she warned him before she sliced the blade up forcefully, cutting through he wires. They had already been pulled so tightly that simply unwrapping him was pretty much out of the question. As soon as the restraints were cut, she holstered her dagger and began to carefully remove the bits of wire from his wrists. Normally, she would have been a little more cautious about how she went about this, but it was apparent that right now both of his arms were dislocated and that he was in considerably enough pain that he was probably not going to fight. Then again, she wasn't really expecting fight out of him anyway at this point. Selenity watched as Ishta cut Nero's hands free and she placed her hand against his head lightly just as Ishta made the cut. She was sure that Nero had seen worse than this in his days, but that didn't really matter to her. She still felt terrible for him. He really had not done a single thing to deserve this. "...Nero...I...I...," she choked out quietly. Tears had already started running down her face and a few trickled off of her chin only to splatter across Nero's forehead. She moved her hand over his head gently, carefully sweeping it away from his eyes in what was intended to be a soothing motion. Part of her still could not believe what she was looking at, and the other part was trying to tell her that she should have known better from the start that something like this was bound to happen. |
Nero had known full well that egging the guard on was only going to lead to more physical abuse but he couldn’t contain himself. It angered him that he was tied up and in a room far too bright for him to be able to fight back and this imbecile of guard thought he would just take his frustrations with the whole dark clan out on him. He stared with closed eyes from his position on the floor in the direction of the idiot when he started responding to what he had said. He wanted to laugh, but it’d hurt… he couldn’t fight back. Not like this. He couldn’t see, not that was that big of a hindrance… but his arms were bound and the wires were cutting into them terribly. His shoulders were dislocated and frankly… if he even so much as breathed wrong around a light dragon guard he knew they’d blame something else on him just to keep him in trouble. Physically he could fight back… if not for a couple slight problems. Mentally… he couldn’t fight back. He’d just cause more trouble for Selenity and the group if he touched the guard. He had half expected the guard to come in kicking again so he was surprised when he felt him grab his arm and his own weight started to weigh against his dislocated shoulder. He hissed in pain from that alone but the hiss was cut short when he felt a fist connect with his face hard enough to send a wave of daze right through him. He had been through a lot worse than he was experiencing right now… but that didn’t mean much when it had been quite some time since he had been banged up this badly. Your body was more resilient when you went through pain like this often and frequently… in his case… it’d been awhile since he’d last been beaten quite like this.
Nero hadn’t needed to see to recognize the voice that flowed into the cell. He had spent enough time around Selenity to recognize her voice just by the way it sounded, but then… he could tell anyone’s voice in the group just by hearing it. He almost immediately wished she weren’t there and wondered why it was so hard to wish that the guards here were at least capable of keeping her at bay. “…You idiot…” He murmured quietly when the guard seemed to realize that was the Princess who caught him, though the comment was hard to place; whether it was meant for the guard… or the Princess. He couldn’t say that he was surprised to hear the next voice either. He had expected to hear from Ishta eventually… but… well… this hadn’t exactly been how he had thought he would see her next. If the one guard hadn’t gotten a spur up his ass he would probably have still been sitting on the floor in his makeshift tent. He was vaguely aware that he was still in the guards hands, hanging by his arm… although it became all the more clear to him when the guy finally let him go… and he did just that let him go. He hit the floor with a thud and sucked in his breath almost immediately, letting it out in a slow hiss between clenched teeth. He was slowly starting to regret dislocating his own shoulders just to protect his eyes… he’d wound up in even more pain than he had been in to begin with. After hitting the floor he hadn’t bothered to move, even to try and make himself more comfortable. Everything just kind of… hurt… so there was no point trying to find what was most comfortable. He was barely listening to the exchanges between the people involved once he had hit the floor and frankly he wasn’t really even paying attention to the fact that Selenity had gotten closer to him, at least not until he heard her voice even closer to him than it had been. The next thing he focused on was the sound of Ishta’s boots clicking on the floor soon followed by the faint feel of blade against his skin as Ishta was warning him that it may hurt. He didn’t so much as flinch when Ishta finally cut the wires from around his wrists. He’d felt worse tonight already, what was a couple wires? He felt his wrists fall away from each other slowly once the wires were removed and that sent a twinge of pain up his arms. He wanted to sit up and relocate his shoulders but he didn’t feel like wasting the energy to do that right this minute… plus… he was becoming more aware of just how close Selenity was to him. He didn’t like the idea of her being down here in the cell with him, especially with him in the condition that he was in. He didn’t like it at all… He remained silent for a few moments, mostly because his jaw still hurt and it was hard to talk through all the pain he was feeling. He was hurting a lot in a bunch of different places but even still he was more concerned with her being here. “…Get her …out of here …Ishta.” He bit out. “Even if she has to go ...kicking and screaming….” He knew he shouldn’t just going telling someone of Ishta’s standing what to do… but he didn’t want Selenity down here and she wasn’t supposed to be down here. And the last thing he needed was her sitting there crying and trying to apologize for this. She needed to be up in her room or wherever not concerning herself with him. It was already going to look bad that she had managed to get down here and people saw her… she didn’t need to add this little rescue to the reasons the people of her clan were pissed at dark dragons and disappointed in her. |
Ishta was busying herself with trying to remove the restraints on Nero's wrists without really hurting him. Honestly, at this point she was sure that the guard in charge of him had done quite enough. She had no idea how he wound up dislocating his shoulders, and she almost didn't want to ask. Her eyes did trail up to Selenity briefly when she heard her trying to stammer out something, but she only looked away. She knew how Selenity felt on matters like this...so she was not surprised to see the state that she was in. Even still, she was well aware that Selenity was not the fragile minded princess that everyone seemed to think her to be. She looked back down to Nero when she heard him telling her to get her out of here. She stared at him for a few moments, looking almost a little surprised and then sighed softly. "You say that as if you think it would do any good," she responded simply. After a moment, she shifted positions and then shooed Selenity away so that she could get to Nero a bit better. She was busy checking over his injuries, trying to judge how severe they were. She rolled him carefully onto his back and then began to gently prod his chest where the reddest marks were, checking his ribs to see if any of them had broken. "I could take her back to her room, lock the door, bar the windows, and throw away the key and she would still find some way to get back down here. She is a regular escape artists, and a royal pain in my tail. The only one who is really going to get into any trouble for her being down here is me," she pointed out bluntly. Clearly, she did not care to speak her mind about the princess, even if she was sitting right there listening. Once she had confirmed that he did not seem to have any bones actually broken, she pulled her hand away and then reached down to help pull him up to a sitting position against the wall so that his face was not pressed against the tiles.
Selenity stared down at Nero in mild surprise when he heard him telling Ishta to get her out of here, even if it meant she would go kicking and screaming. Did he just not want her to see him like this? She shook her head a little and then looked back to Ishta defiantly, almost as if daring her to try and get her to go back to her room. Thankfully, Ishta did not even seem interested in trying to make her leave right this moment. She did back off a little when Ishta took to looking Nero over, but she still did not move back very far. She didn't say a word when Ishta started talking about what a pain she was. She couldn't argue; she knew that she gave her and the other guards hell. Of course, she did feel a little bad that Ishta was going to be the one to get yelled at, mostly, because they could not keep her contained, but at the same time she was not terribly worried about it. After all...everyone knew that it was nearly impossible, and right now she was more concerned with Nero's health than anything. She had wanted to sneak down just to talk to him and make sure that he was alright...she had not expected to find something quite like this. As soon as Ishta took to trying to set Nero up, she moved closer again so that she could help her get him upright, although unlike Ishta, she did not back off immediately afterwards. Instead, she edged even closer to him and very carefully slipped her arms around him, wrapping one around his back and the other around his neck. She was very conscious that his arms were not located properly, so she tried her absolute best to avoid them and not to put very much pressure on him. Her chin came to rest over his shoulder lightly and she leaned her head against his, heedless of the blood on his face. "...I am so sorry, Nero," she whispered quietly, her voice a little calmer than it had been before, though it was still full of sincerity. "...I should have never made you come down tonight. I just...I thought it would be good...for people to meet someone like you. I...I guess...I was wrong...," she admitted quietly before her voice broke again. She couldn't help but start crying again quietly. She really did feel terrible that this had happened, and she knew that it was partially her own fault. She had wanted everyone to see Nero and see how he interacted with her and her little sister and anyone who would be civil with him. As far as she was concerned, he was not a bad person, even if he was a little callous. He was sweet when he was with Sri, and he had proven to her at least that he was not soulless the way many of her kind seemed to view his. The fact that their clans were constantly at war over something that none of them could even remember killed her, and she wanted everyone to see that not every dark dragon was horrible. Ishta sighed softly when Selenity wound up wrapping her arms around Nero and apologizing to him. "...So long as she considers you a friend, you are going to have a hard time getting rid of her," she pointed out to him simply. "...Selenity, that's enough. He doesn't need you hanging off of him right now." She looked down at Nero's shoulders and then lightly placed her hand against his arm. "...How did he even manage this?" she muttered out loud, not particularly directing the question to anyone. |
Nero had all but prayed that Ishta would do as he said, but couldn’t say he wasn’t surprised that Ishta didn’t listen to him. He knew that Selenity was stubborn… he had just hoped that someone could get her away from him. He didn’t utter a word while Ishta spoke after moving him onto his back. He hadn’t wanted to move but hadn’t had a choice in the matter. He kept relatively to himself through the motion as well as while Ishta was checking his injuries. He was trying his very best to be his quiet stoic self but unfortunately some spots really were tender, to say the least… and he couldn’t help a flinch or muffled pained sound. He really hadn’t been looking forward to the action of sitting up and couldn’t really fight it once Ishta had started trying to get him seated upright. He had wanted to sit up and fix his arms… but he knew it was going to hurt so he hadn’t been in a hurry. He bit down, clenching his teeth together as the two of them helped to get him upright and then let out a heavy held breath once he was up. He still kept his eyes shut tightly but even with them shut he could feel that Selenity wasn’t leaving him alone. He had felt Ishta back off but rather than following suit Selenity just clung to him. She hadn’t hurt him in the process of wrapping her arms around him… but he still didn’t want her that close to him right now. He sighed heavily, or at least started to before it was broken off by a cough. Nothing was broken as far as his ribs went… but he had come out of that beating with some bruises and his breathing wasn’t completely perfect. It would be with a little time, but right now some things caused him to cough a little which just upset everything else and made the pain flare. He hated being stuck sitting there with her on him like she was… crying… and apologizing. He couldn’t escape it and she wasn’t leaving and it was just annoying him more and more. He was frustrated at the whole situation and her crying like a pansy ass wasn’t helping. “…Shut up already…” He muttered quietly. “…and stop crying on me…” He added in a tired tone. He just wanted to get cleaned up and rest… not sit here and listen to her apologies about how this was her fault. “You’re annoying…” He added lastly before turning his head away from hers all together so that he was looking in a different direction. He ignored Ishta’s comment about having a hard time getting rid of her since Selenity considered him a friend. He could get rid of her just fine… just not in this condition. He turned his shut eyes in Ishta’s general direction when she brought up, what he assumed was his dislocated arms. He huffed quietly. “…He didn’t do that, I did.” He responded easily. “…I can put them back, don’t fret.”
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Selenity had not come down here with the intention of windup up a sobbing mess. She had wanted to come down to talk to him, and apologize for this happening to him...but she had only thought she was going to have to apologize for him having to be locked up like an animal, not beaten worse than one. Between everything that had been going on recently and the events of today, finding Nero like this had finally made her crack. She had been wanting to sit down and cry her eyes out for days now, but had managed to keep the urge in check since she knew that it would not do anyone a bit of good. She cringed a little when Nero's only response was to tell her to shut up, but it was short lived. She sniffed when he told her to stop crying on him, but she didn't move right away. "...I'm sorry...," she repeated quietly after he had told her that she was annoying. She gave him one very light squeeze before finally forcing herself to sit back on her legs and set her hands in her lap. She wanted to do something to help Nero, but aside from getting him taken back up to his own room, she had no idea what she could do for him right this moment.
Ishta blinked when Nero just told Selenity to shut up, though she didn't say anything. She wasn't surprised that directly after all of that he was not in the mood to be clung to and cried on. She wouldn't be either. She sighed heavily as she watched Selenity sit back and take up staring at Nero's face with a lost expression on her face. She shook her head a little and then looked back to Nero when he told her that he had dislocated his own arms. "...I wasn't fretting," she responded bluntly, "I know how to reset dislocated joints. I will refrain from asking what in blue blazes you were trying to accomplish." She was glad to hear, at least, that he had done that part to himself. She would have hated to have to imagine what the guard would have had to have done to him in order to dislocate both his shoulders like that. She turned her head when the guard she had sent after something to clean Nero up with returned and walked over to them. He didn't make a sound as he entered and sat the bowl of warm water down near Ishta, although he was looking at Selenity with a quirked eyebrow before turning a questioning gaze back to Ishta. "Leave her," she told him simply. "Go wait by the main door, and if you can help it do not let anyone else in necessary." The guard gave a slight bow and left the room without so much as a word. She sighed heavily and reached for one of the zzzzzs that had been brought to them before dipping it into the water and squeezing out the excess. "I am afraid that you will have to settle for basic first aid for now. All of our healers are indisposed," she told him simply. "I will have you looked at as soon as there is one available." With that, she started to reach over to him so that she could clean his face, but she paused before even touching him and let out a heavy sigh. "...Selen," she began gently, her voice softer than it had been since she had entered the room. "I know that you are upset, but sitting there crying is not helping anyone. If that is all that you can do right now, then please return to your room." Selenity really hadn't moved at all after she had set back since she was so busy trying to get a hold of herself. She didn't offer to move until Ishta had addressed her again and asked her to return to her room. Finally, she raised her hand to her face to dry her eyes and then shook her head. She didn't want to go back to her room. She felt even more useless locked away in there. "...I'm done crying," she told her simply before she reached over to take the zzzzz from her. "...I want to do something," she insisted quietly. "I can't help Ellior, at least let me do this. I know how to heal." |
Nero really was wishing that Selenity would just go away and leave him alone. He was tired of her crying on him and tired of the little woe party she was throwing. He looked in Ishta’s general direction again once Selenity had let him go and sat back from him. He hadn’t exactly thought that Ishta would worry about his arms being dislocated… it was more a general statement seeing as Selenity was sitting here too and probably more worried about it than Ishta was. He lifted his head slightly to look in the direction of the other set of footsteps but obviously he didn’t open his eyes to actually look. It was still blinding down here and he had no protection whatsoever from the light so he was still trying to keep his eyes pinned tightly shut. He took it upon himself while Ishta was addressing the guard that had come in to shift himself enough that he could press a shoulder to the wall and slowly maneuver it back into its socket with a crappy assist from his other dislocated arm. He needed to have at least one shoulder back in play in order to get the other, so the wall made for a good support while he fumbled around with that process. He winced once he had successfully popped the one shoulder back into place and just fell against the wall to try and rest a little. He almost lazily lifted his eyes in Ishta’s direction again when she started telling him that their healers were busy but she would have him looked at as soon as one was free to. He almost automatically shook his head a little. “No need.” He told her quietly. He was banged up, bloody and bruising… but if nothing was broken than there was no need for a healer. His body would heal on its own. He was perfectly content with just basic first aid… and besides, all he really wanted was a dark corner to rest in. He’d feel a hell of a lot better once he was out of this light and able to actually rest. He continued to be silent while Ishta turned her attention on Selenity and told her to return to her room if all she was going to do was sit there and cry. He couldn’t see her but after a statement like that he was sure that her stubborn side was showing itself and she was trying to collect herself enough to not be asked to leave again. He remained perfectly silent while he lay against the wall, at least until he heard the last thing that Selenity said. “I don’t want to be healed.” He said as sternly as he could muster. For one in his opinion the injuries weren’t that bad and for two… he’d had enough of this damn light… he didn’t want to be subjected to a light dragon’s healing magic on top of everything else. That was just like… icing on a poisonous cake… or something equally as dangerous… in his opinion anyway. “If you must do something… just help me with the blood…” He paused. “…Then let me rest somewhere dark… please.”
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Ishta nodded her head slightly in understanding when Nero told her that there was no need for a healer. If he would rather not be healed, she was not going to force one on him, especially not when they were needed more elsewhere. She sighed again once Selenity had told her that she knew how to heal, and then looked over to Nero when she responded to her so sternly. "...Just clean him up for now, and then leave him alone," she told Selenity simply as she passed the cloth over to her. She sighed when Nero added that he just wanted to go and rest somewhere dark. "...Technically...you are still under arrest...but I will see what I can do," she told him simply. She finally stood and glanced back to the door momentarily. "I will be right back," she told him simply, "I trust you not to try anything stupid." For one, he did not strike her as an idiot, and for another she was pretty sure that with the shape that he was in, even Selenity could tear him a new one right now. She knew that he'd had a pair of glasses on when he was arrested...at the very least she could try to find those for him.
Selenity sighed quietly when Nero told her that he did not want to be healed. "...You never do," she pointed out dully. She raised her hand to his face and gently tried to turn his head so that she could get to the gash on his face. She started to dab at it gently with the cloth she had taken. she paused momentarily when Ishta told her that she would be right back and stared back at her in surprise. She never imagined that Ishta would leave her alone with a dark dragon. Obviously, Nero must have won over her trust at some point or another. As soon as Ishta left the room, she went right back to trying to clean Nero's face. She was trying very hard to be careful with him so that she didn't cause him and more pain, although at the rate that her hands were shaking, she was still probably applying more pressure than needed here and there unintentionally. She she realized that she was having trouble maintaining a steady pressure she took in a deep breath and pulled her hands away for a moment, trying to will them to stop shaking so that she could work. For god sakes, she was almost never this shaky and pathetic. After a moment she let out her breath again slowly and then raised her hands back to Nero's face again, trying to focus on what she was doing. That seemed to help a little at least. She was able to keep her hand steady and lightly wipe the blood from his face without much hassle then. Once she had finished with his cheek and neck where the blood had run, she traded the zzzzz out for a clean one and dunked it into the water again before reaching over to take a hold of his hand gently, going for the arm that he had already put back into it's socket. She held her hand beneath his to hold it up and lightly ran the cloth over the cuts there, although these were still bleeding considerably. She sighed softly as she tried to clean the blood from his wrist and then looked back up to him again sadly before turning her eyes back down to her work. "...You know...I just came down here to tell you that it was going to be alright...," she said quietly, "...or something like that. ...I guess I just wanted to...make sure that you were alright." |
Nero didn’t even grace Ishta with a response when she said that she would be right back, after telling him that he was still under arrest… and in a roundabout way warned him not to do anything stupid. It was almost an insult to his intelligence to say such a thing, but he didn’t really care. He wasn’t going to do anything and Ishta should have known that by now. He wasn’t the least bit happy to hear that he was still, technically under arrest. At the rate this was going he wasn’t going to get to see a dark room any time soon. He tried to relax against the wall a little more once Ishta had left the cell. He continued to sit quietly even though Selenity was still in the cell with him. He didn’t really have anything to say, not that he was really in the mood to say a whole lot right now anyway… or ever for that matter. He was almost always a man of few words. He remained relatively still once he felt Selenity start to try and clean his face up. The only movement he made was moving his eyes under their lids. He automatically shifted his shut eyes to focus on where her hand was at work first. He could feel that she wasn’t quite steady in the hand but he didn’t say anything and kept any discomfort he may have been feeling to himself. He hated how this night had turned out… this was just a mess… and he hadn’t even done anything except stand against a wall for several hours. He shifted his attention towards his hand when he felt Selenity take hold of it and start to try and clean the cuts there. He could feel that those were still rather fresh… so they were probably going to need to be wrapped up, at least for a little while. He still didn’t say anything and just let her work on cleaning up the blood. He couldn’t help but shake his head a little when he heard Selenity speak up and start saying that she had just wanted to make sure that he was alright, she guessed. He averted his shut eyes and sighed quietly. “…You did not need to concern yourself with me.” He told her quietly. “I’m fine.” He added in a surprisingly honest sounding tone. In his opinion since he was still able to breathe, nothing was broken and he wasn’t missing any body parts… he was fine. “…How’s Reyes?” He asked quietly. After the beating that he had taken he just kind of wanted to make sure that Reyes hadn’t been arrested too or something stupid like that. He couldn’t begin to fathom Reyes having to go through something like he did… He just hoped that Kanone had been able to keep Reyes safe from something like this.
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Selenity couldn't help but smile just a little when Nero said that she didn't need to concern herself with him. "...You don't look very fine," she pointed out quietly, "...but I will take your word for it. ...I imagine it probably could have been worse...." Honestly, the thought of that disturbed her a little, and it was probably evident when she shivered slightly just after saying as much. As much as she liked to imagine her people as being diplomatic and understanding...she knew that when it came to dark dragons, that was rarely the case. She sighed softly and carefully lowered Nero's hand from where she had picked it up, though rather than let it go she just closed her fingers around his lightly. "...Even still, I couldn't help but worry.... I know that you did not do anything wrong...there was no sense in any of this. I...I didn't think that anyone would actually hurt you, but...all things considered...I just...hoped that you weren't...too upset...even though you have every right to be...." She looked up when he asked about Reyes and then sighed softly, finally releasing his hand. "She is fine," she assured him quietly, "...A few people wanted her put away as well, but we managed to keep her out of here. Kanone was with her practically all night anyway, and everyone saw them.... He put up too much of an argument for anyone to do anything to her, and I talked my father into just letting her go back to her room with Kanone." After she had finished explaining what had happened, she looked down to Nero's other wrist. "...Do you want any help resetting this one?" she asked him quietly. "...I don't want to go moving your arm around too much with it like that..."
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Nero couldn’t see himself but he could certainly feel everything and he was pretty sure that Selenity was right. He didn’t look fine, but he was not worried about it too much. He was a little mad that all of this had happened but right now expressing any emotion about that wasn’t going to help anything, nor would complaining even the slightest about the pain he was in. He continued to sit there in silence even after Selenity had taken to holding his hand lightly and speaking. He should have known better than to hope that she’d just help get him cleaned up, answer a couple very brief questions and then leave him alone. The leave him alone part was probably going to be the most difficult thing for her to do. He hadn’t really been that upset with the turn of events, at least not while they had been happening. It had only started to get on his nerves more and more as he was stuck dealing with that imbecile of a guard. Then of course their idea of a prison cell didn’t help matters that much either… He listened quietly once she had started to answer his question about his cousin. He was glad to hear that Reyes was alright and that he hadn’t been dragging into this mess. He was also glad that Kanone had done as he had asked. Reyes hadn’t had the training that he had so he didn’t think that his cousin could put up with a beating like this, if it happened to happen to him. He was kind of content after hearing Reyes was alright and it probably showed a little. He lifted his head a little and glanced towards his other arm when Selenity brought it up. He hadn’t been in a huge hurry to pop it back into place, partially because he knew it was going to hurt and he wanted to try and relax a little before he did that. Although… his better sense told him he should’ve just done it after the first and gotten all of the pain out of the way. He sighed quietly and lifted up his arm that was already reset and took hold of the top of his arm near the shoulder and moved it around until he could forcefully put his shoulder back in its socket. He winced mostly and clenched his teeth a little during the process. Once it was back in place he just dropped the arm he had been using to his lap. He could already feel that Selenity was probably going to have to clean that wrist again… not that he really cared. After he was done he leaned his head back against the wall and let out a tired sigh. He was silent for a few minutes before he opened his mouth again to speak. “…How is Ellior?” He asked quietly. He didn’t really know the guy but he kinda felt bad. The guy had been standing with him most of the night and he’d been poisoned… it probably sounded bad for him to be asking… but he was a little concerned with the guys well being.
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It didn't escape notice that Nero seemed to relax a little more after being reassured that Reyes was alright. She sighed softly, glad that she was able to at least put his mind at ease a little. "...I promise I will do everything in my power not to let anything like this happen to her, Nero," she tried to reassure him quietly. "So far so good." She watched silently as he moved his arm back into the socket and sucked in her breath a little right along with him when it finally popped back into place. Once he had fixed it she instinctively raised her hand to rest very lightly on his shoulder. She did not apply the least bit of pressure, merely made gently contact with the area for a moment before pulling her hand back again. She looked down to his hand and sighed softly when she saw that his wrist was bleeding again. She reached down to take his hand once again and gently began to dab at the wounds again. She really wished that Ishta had thought to tell the guard to bring them some bandages as well while he was at it. Once she had finished cleaning up those cuts for the second time, she reached down to take his other hand carefully and began the process all over after dampening the cloth again. She raised her eyes to Nero's face when she heard him ask about Ellior and then lowered her gaze. She was quiet for a moment before letting out her breath in a quiet sigh. "...I don't really know," she responded almost inaudibly. "...I asked around but...no one really knew, or if they did they wouldn't give me a straight answer." She was silent for a few moments before she spoke again. "...I do not believe he is doing well.... If he were, someone would have told me something."
Ishta had just reached the cell door when she heard the tail end of what Selenity was saying. She sighed softly as she slipped back inside, Nero's shades and a roll of bandages occupying her hands. "...He was not doing well when I last saw him," she informed Selenity quietly. "...I have not seen him personally since he was taken to the infirmary, but I did drop by earlier to check in on him. His fever is still dangerously high and he's been going through convulsions every so often. They finally put him to sleep so that he would be more comfortable, but right now...he could go either way. They believe that they have identified the poison, but it is too early to know how he is going to respond to treatment. If he makes it through the night, I would say that his chances are good." She came to a stop just beside Selenity and sat down the roll of bandages as she knelt to the floor once again. Once her hand was free she opened up the glasses which she had retrieved from the guard after tracking him down and then very carefully placed down over Nero's eyes and adjusted them to rest atop his ears comfortably. "There," she said simply before she reached for the hand that Selenity had already cleaned and began to unroll the bandages so that she could start wrapping up his wrists. She was not quite as gentle as Selenity was, simply because she could see that Nero wasn't exactly the fragile type. She was still trying to be careful, but she did not go out of her way not to cause him any discomfort whatsoever. "I sent word to the king that I intend to move to back to your room. We have already confirmed that you are no longer a viable suspect and are willing to cooperate with us. I also made sure that he was made aware of your condition, so he should not have any complaints. That guard will be dealt with accordingly for acting on his vindictive impulses." Selenity raised her head slightly when she heard Ishta return, and her hand paused in it's cleaning motion on Nero's wrist. She listened silently while Ishta tried to explain to her what Ellior's condition was. It really didn't sound very good, but she knew that everyone was doing everything that they could to help him. Still, her hand absently tightened on Nero's a little while she listened, but she didn't make a sound. "...I see," she responded quietly once Ishta had finished speaking. She turned her attention back down to Nero's wrist and started to focus hard on what she was doing again. Her hands remained steady, but her eyes already looked wet again, although she was clearly trying hard not to let the tears fall from them. She hoped that Ellior would be alright, although she knew better than to hold out too much hope. Poison was one thing that was a bit tricky to get rid of. It wasn't like a cut or broken bone that could be healed. Much like an illness, it had to ride it's course. There was only so much that they could do to counteract it. She knew that, but she still wanted to hear better news than what she had been told. As much as she did not want to marry Ellior, she still did not want something so terrible to happen to him. He was a sweet person, and she hated to think that he may die simply because their parents decided that it would be a good idea for them to get married. |
Nero remained silent while Selenity had to clean the same wrist all over again and waited patiently for her to answer his last question. He was on the fence a little on whether or not he should have asked or whether or not he was going to get an answer. He hadn’t done anything to Ellior but that didn’t mean people wouldn’t want him to know things. He knew that Selenity would tell him what she knew but he supposed there was always a chance that people wouldn’t tell her just so that he wouldn’t find out… or maybe that was just his thinking too much. He couldn’t say that he was surprised to hear what she said when she finally answered him. He wasn’t really all that savvy when it came to things like poison. He was aware of the stuff but nothing really detailed. If he was going to kill someone… well, he’d do it with his own two hands… not rely on something as underhanded as poison. He didn’t have anything to say after Selenity had finished speaking so he continued to remain silent. He did shift his attention slightly when he heard Ishta again. He listened to what she was saying while she was coming closer. Ishta barely knew more than Selenity on the subject, which was kind of sad… but he supposed it wasn’t that surprising. He still couldn’t believe that someone would go out of their way to poison someone like Ellior. The guy was a pansy as far as he was concerned and he didn’t look like he could hurt a fly… He stiffened very slightly when he felt one of the two of them very close to his face again. He hadn’t noticed it right away but once he had recognized the feeling of glasses being put on his face he relaxed again. He felt faintly embarrassed for stiffening but just as quickly as the feeling came, it left and he was fine again. He didn’t open his eyes right away after Ishta was done putting the glasses on his face. He waited a few moments before slowly cracking his eyes open.
Even with the shades on the cell was still bright but at least it didn’t hurt his eyes as bad as it had without them. He remained silent while he tried to wait out his eyes as they re-focused and just listened to Ishta when she started to speak again. He knew that she was wrapping up his wrist but didn’t pay it any mind. He was kind of fine just sitting there letting them do what they needed, or well… wanted. Although he wouldn’t deny it… it was a little weird to be sitting there with Selenity cleaning the wounds and Ishta bandaging them. It probably looked weird to anyone else who might happen by, not that he expected anyone else other than that one guard who was nicer of the two from earlier. He was happy to hear that Ishta did intend to move him back to the room that he had been occupying. His eyes had for the most part come back into focus by then and he shifted his glance towards Selenity and stared at her for a moment. It hadn’t escaped him that she wasn’t dressed to be down here around him but he was more focused on the fact that she was trying not to outright start crying again. He sighed a little more like himself and shook his head a little. “If you’ve got the energy to sit there and cry about it…” He paused. “…Why don’t you carry your ass somewhere and figure out a way to help him that maybe no one else has thought of yet.” He told her. “That’s a better use of your energy than to sit around moping and crying because you have to sit and wait it out.” He added. He wasn’t sure that there was anything else that could be done but it wasn’t like it would hurt to go find a book or something and find another answer if there was one to be found. |
Ishta noticed the way that Nero tensed up when she got close to his face, but she did not comment on it. After the beating he had taken, she was not all that surprised to see that he was probably just a little prone to flinching. She assumed that he was probably embarrassed enough by the action that she did not need to draw any more attention to it. Rather, she just pretended that she did not even notice it in the first place. She continued to bandage Nero's wrist in silence, until she had managed to cover everything with a few layers. Once she was finished, she tied off the ends and tore the bandage away from the rest of the roll.
Selenity was still struggling with trying to keep her eyes dry when Nero spoke to her again. She raise her head to look at him and narrowed her wet, shimmering eyes a little. She wasn't sure if he was trying to be helpful or not...but right this minute, she could have done without his tone. "...I am not crying," she told him quietly before looking away. "...I am not sure what it is that you expect me to find, Nero.... I know next to nothing about poisons, and what little I do know is not of very much help when I do not even have a list of symptoms to go by." Ishta took a deep breath and sighed softly before closing her eyes. "Fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, headache, fatigue, blurred vision, convulsions, slowed breathing...," she rattled off before opening her eyes. "...That was all that I could remember. I looked at their notes briefly. That was what they had written down." She turned her gaze over to Selenity pointedly. "...There is your list. You taught yourself how to heal using books...surely you can find something." Selenity turned her head in Ishta's direction and stared at her for a moment in mild surprise when she started rattling off a list of symptoms like some kind of encyclopedia. It must pay sometimes to have a photographic memory. She continued to stare at her for a few moments, her hand still locked around Nero's while she seemed to be taking in what she was telling her. After a moment, she turned her gaze back to Nero and then looked down at his wrist. It was more or less clean...she just still hadn't bothered to let his hand go. Finally, she relaxed her fingers and pulled her hand back slowly before standing up without saying a word. Now that Ishta had given her more to work with than anyone else had previously, her mind was busy shuffling through everything that she could remember having read, and she looked a little distracted. She stood there, apparently deep in thought for a moment before turning her attention back down to Nero. Once again, without saying a word, she moved closer to him and knelt down, giving him a light little kiss on top of the head. "Thanks," she said quietly before turning around and hurrying out of the room. "Selenity," Ishta called after her before she got out of the room. "You're bloody. Stay out of sight," she told her simply, knowing that shouldn't be a problem for her. She looked over her shoulder until Selenity nodded in acknowledgement and then sighed. The girl had gotten blood all over her gown, as well as on the side of her face from hugging on Nero. Now that Selenity was out of the way, she moved over to Nero's other side and reached down to his hand so that she could start wrapping up his other wrist. "...Honestly...it takes you saying it for her to figure it out," she muttered quietly. "Normally, she would have already been looking through those things. I don't know what's gotten into her." |
Nero stared at Selenity briefly once she started to come back at him for what he told her to do rather than cry like a helpless little girl. He had no cares to listen to her excuses and clearly Ishta didn’t care for the excuses either since she piped up with the list of symptoms that Selenity had complained about not having. He hadn’t exactly expected her to find something… he had wanted her to busy herself with something constructive and potentially helpful rather than sit around on her tail and cry because she couldn’t do anything. He watched without saying a word as Selenity eventually let go of his hand after finishing the cleaning process and stood up. He only stared after her for a moment before averting his eyes all together. She thinking, that was obvious and there wasn’t a damn thing entertaining about watching her stand there and think. He wound up shutting his eyes briefly, at least until she wound up coming back over to him and doing something rather unsightly for a light clan Princess. She probably couldn’t see but he had cracked an eye open and just stared at her like she’d lost a marble somewhere. He opened his other eye and gave them both a slight roll before shaking his head. He couldn’t believe her sometimes… He refrained from showing any real sign of being amused when Ishta told her to stay out of sight. He could easily imagine her covered in his blood running off through the palace alarming everyone she passed while she was far too focused on her present task. He watched Selenity leave and just kind of stared after she had left, at least until he heard Ishta muttering. He lowered his gaze towards her and stared for a second or two before averting his eyes once again. “She has a lot on her mind.” He stated easily. “She’s got the stress of this mission we’re on, indefinitely.” She didn’t have a choice about that.... “She’s come back here with not one, but two dark dragons.” He paused. “She’s found out that she’s all but married without her permission… and she’s already involved with someone that she couldn’t be with to begin with and now he knows about the arranged marriage as well and has been avoiding her like the plague.” He rattled off without a care. “Oh, and her fiancé is kind of dying as we speak.” He shook his head a little. “So no, I don’t know what’s gotten into her either.” He said a little sarcastically. He may not do a lot of talking half of the time but he certainly did a lot of watching and listening and frankly, he probably shouldn’t have said half of what he said… but he didn’t care. It was all going wrong right now anyway so what more could go wrong.
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Ishta was just a little disgruntled at watching Selenity kiss Nero on top of the head...but she did not say anything. She had learned long ago that it did no good, and Selenity clearly did not see it as her place to tell her how she should treat certain people. If she wanted to kiss Nero on the cheek, it was not her place to say anything to her about it. As soon as she was gone, she had already started busying herself with bandaging Nero's other wrist. She did glance up to Nero briefly when he started to speak to her and then turned her gaze back down to his wrist. She could not see his eyes through his glasses, so it was pointless trying to make eye contact with him. She kept herself quiet while he explained what was wrong with Selenity, from his point of view. She knew that Selenity had to be stressed over their mission, and that she was not happy with having been engaged, even though she did not quite see what she did not like about Ellior. He was nothing like the usual pompous bastards who tried courting her. She didn't see why she couldn't at least give him a ruddy chance. Of course, she understood the answer to her own question as soon as Nero continued. She had not known that Selenity was involved with anyone else, although she had suspected as much. Nero simply confirmed her suspicion. She looked up to Nero again and stared at him briefly before trying to finish up what she was doing. She sighed softly when Nero pointed out that Selenity's fiance was practically dying as they spoke. Once again, she ripped off the end of the bandage and started to tie it off, although when he made his little sarcastic jab she clenched her jaw and gave the knot that she was tying an unnecessarily hard tug, pulling it far too tightly to be comfortable on his sore wrist. She did not say a word about his remark, but that alone probably said enough. Thankfully for Nero, she had only tied the first knot so when she loosened her grip, the fabric loosened a bit as well and when she tied off the bandage, it was not much tighter than the other one. "...You seem awfully well informed...," she commented simply without really looking at him. She finally got to her feet and looked down at him again. "...Naturally, she has not told me about this...nor, I wager, has she told anyone else. Rules of engagement are very strict here in the palace, and she knows this." She sighed again and shook her head. She would not say it out loud, but she was clearly thinking that Selenity was stupid for even looking at another man outside of her own clan in that sense. Finally, she held out her hand to Nero and just looked at him. "...Well, come on. Unless you want to spend the night down here," she added flatly.
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Nero hadn’t exactly expected Ishta to respond to his sarcasm by tugging as hard as she did on the knot of the bandage she was tying. Although he couldn’t say that he was surprised either… Selenity probably would have done the same thing if she hadn’t liked his sarcasm while bandaging him up. He reacted no more than to grit his teeth a bit and tighten the muscles in the hand corresponding to the knot. He didn’t speak on the matter just made a mental memo that certain degrees of sarcasm should probably be done with care around Ishta. He just kind of stared at her for a moment after she commented that he was awfully well informed. Naturally he wanted to be snarky but for the time being resisted the urge to comment. He wasn’t surprised to hear Ishta say that Selenity hadn’t told her about the subject matter or anyone else for that matter. He stared up at Ishta as she eventually offered her hand to him and told him to come on. He didn’t bother taking her hand, but not because it was below him to do so or anything… he just didn’t want to add undue stress to his wrists by having her help haul his ass off the ground via his arms, which were obviously connected to his wrists. He waved her off very slightly and started getting to his feet on his own. Thankfully his legs and his feet hadn’t been injured so using them as the sole means of getting upright wasn’t difficult. Straightening up on the other hand… that hurt and took him a moment and even then he wasn’t perfectly straight. His whole abdomen still ached and it flared horrendously with all the movement. Once he was finally on his feet and able to glance in Ishta’s direction without grimacing he started to open his mouth. “If it’s any conciliation… she hasn’t really told me about it either.” He started. “It’s just obvious when you see them together …and I’ve seen a lot of certain people together this trip…” That was true enough. He’d seen Celestine and Aamori together a lot… same with Kanone and Aamori… Then there was Nanashi and LaRae and of course Kyran and Selenity. When you were in the group it was almost blatantly obvious who could be considered ‘together’. He shook his head a little. “I do believe she will try and kill me later for opening my mouth.” He commented quietly.
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Ishta waited patiently for Nero to get up, although as soon as he waved her off, she lowered her arm. Once again, if he did not want her help, then she would not force it on him. She stood perfectly still in front of him, watching him as he climbed to his feet and struggled to straighten himself up. She did not bother to say anything at all to Nero until he looked at her and told him that Selenity had not told him any of this either. "...Yes, it is," she responded gravely when she told him that it was obvious when you saw people together. Her tone alone was enough to reveal that she did not particularly like what she was seeing. After all...she had just seen Selenity sneak out of her room, go out of her way to make it down here to see Nero, have a conniption because he was injured, cling to him, and start crying...and refuse to leave. Now, granted, there was the possibility that she would have done that to any one of her friends on this little trip, but there was something about the way that she acted around him that made her a little uncomfortable. She did not go around kissing everyone on the head or hugging them quite so tenderly. She sighed heavily again and tried to push the thoughts from her mind when Nero said that he believed that Selenity would try to kill him for opening his mouth later. "...Possibly," she responded simply, "although what you have said to me will not leave this cell unless you repeat it." She started to turn so that she could make her way to the door, although she did pause at least to wait for Nero. "As her friend, I do not care who she chooses to be with. So long as she is happy, that is all that really matters to me. As her servant, it is none of my business. That is between her and her father. My only job is to keep her from getting herself into trouble or killed." After she made it to the door, she looked down the hallway and then sighed before glancing back to Nero again. Finally, she moved over to help him a little, very carefully sliding her hand behind his back as she walked him down the hall, although that was only once they had reached the stairway that led up to the rest of the palace. Despite her harsh tone and previous actions, her touch was very gentle, even though it was still very firm. She wanted to make sure that he didn't wind up falling on the narrow, twisting stairway, so she decided to put her arm there as a sort of barrier to at least keep him from going backwards.
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Nero hadn’t really thought of the implications of what he was saying but that was primarily because he knew that Selenity had a thing for Kyran, not him. So it was unfathomable in his eyes that he could have ever been talking about himself. He didn’t feel any relief in hearing Ishta tell him that what he had said to her wouldn’t leave the cell unless he repeated it. He knew that even with that said and his obviously not saying a word… that she’d still find out somehow, one way or another. Walls had ears… and eyes… and then there was a woman’s intuition. She’d know… eventually. He didn’t really care if she found out per-say… he just hoped that if and when she did that he was feeling better. The last thing he needed was a secondary beating on top of the one that he had already taken. He had every intention of following after Ishta once she got walking but of course it took him a little more time and effort than he would have liked. Even though his legs were working just fine, it was hard to move as you once would when your abdomen hurt like it did. He listened quietly to Ishta when she spoke but didn’t offer to say anything. There wasn’t a whole lot to comment on other than to make a snide remark about how keeping Selenity out of trouble was clearly too difficult. He didn’t say a word about the help that was given with getting him moving, even once they had reached the staircase. He would have much rather done all the walking on his own accord, even with climbing the stairs… but he wasn’t dumb enough to brush her off and make her leave him alone. The last thing he needed while trying to traverse the stairs was to lose his balance and wind up cascading down them only to land in a broken heap somewhere on the floor at the bottom. Once they reached the top of the stairs, when and wherever that was he planned to try and do the rest of the walking on his own… partially because the last thing any light dragon was going to want to see was the Captain of the Guard lugging around an injured dark dragon.
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Ishta did not bother to say anything more on the matter once they had gotten moving. She did not particularly care for the topic or the mess that it could lead to. She knew that Selenity was extremely picky when it came to men, but at the same time...her choices had always been so limited that she could never quite settle on anything. Personally, she was sure that Selenity did not care who she was with, so long as it was someone of her own choosing. Honestly, as much as she hated to admit it, she was fairly certain that Selenity was at least mildly interested in any male who showed interest in her because of they liked her for the way that she was, and not because of her stature. Aside from her, the poor girl had never really been able to meet anyone whom she was able to open up to and be herself around, so it honestly did not surprise her that she had taken a fancy to one of these men. It would not have even surprised her for it to have been Nero above all of them.
Once they had reached the top of the stairs, she lowered her hand away from Nero's back almost as if he had asked her to do so, although neither of them had spoken a word on the way up. She knew that it was probably a bruse enough to his pride to have let her help him up the stairs, so she doubted that he was going to want help anywhere else. She turned her attention to the guard who was at the door momentarily, since he was looking at them both in mild surprise. "Where is the Princess?" he asked after a moment. Ishta merely looked at the guard, looking just a bit dumbfounded. "...She left well ahead of us. Did you not see her come by you?" she asked flatly, although she did not seem in the least surprised. She sighed and shook her head before continuing to make her way down the hallway. "...Geez...I think she learns some things a little too well...," she muttered under her breath. She had asked Selenity not to let anyone see her...but she hadn't really needed to sneak past that guard quite so thoroughly. Honestly, she was not even entirely sure how she had managed it. There was only one way out, and he was standing right next to it. Once they had made it back up to the main level, she started to lead Nero back to the upstairs bedrooms through one of the the back halls, rather than drag him all the way back to the front of the palace. This way, aside from Nero's sluggish pace, it did not take them terribly long to reach the rooms that the others had been staying in. She did put her arm behind Nero once again whenever they had to climb a set of stairs, but she always let him go as soon as they had reached the top or a large enough landing. This pace was practically all stairs as it was...so for all intents and purposes, she may as well have just carried Nero the whole way. "Well...here we are," she commented simply as she reached Nero's door. She turned her attention to him briefly and then sighed softly. "...Until it is deemed unnecessary, a guard will be posted outside of your room. This is as much for your own safety as anything. Your friends will be allowed to come and go as they please, or as you choose to allow them, but no one else will be permitted inside. There are still many who are not convinced that you had nothing to do with tonight's events, and so until things settle down, I am going to have an eye kept on you." |
Nero hadn’t had a word to say even once they had reached the top of the stairs and the guard had looked at them the way he had and asked about the Princess. He was mildly amused however to hear that Selenity had apparently slipped right past him without him even noticing. That… was kind of sad, for the guard anyway. He wasn’t even able to notice someone who had to move right past him in order to get out. He merely shook his head a little and continued moving once Ishta was ready. It hadn’t gone unnoticed during the trek that every time they came to stairs, which was often, that Ishta took to watching his back rather closely. He didn’t say anything about it… he was secretly kind of glad that she was watching him closely. He had faith in his ability to stay upright and keep moving, because he had to move… but there was still always a chance that he could lose his balance and on stairs was a terrible place to lose your balance. Of course after every break in stairs he noticed that she backed off, which he appreciated and kept to himself. He hadn’t minded the length of time it took to get from the cell to the room he had been using but that was mostly because he was just looking forward to getting out of brightened areas and into a dark space. He paused along with Ishta once they had reached the door to the room he was using. He glanced to her when she started speaking more than to announce that they were here. He wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that there was going to be a guard placed outside of his door. He wanted to tell her that it wasn’t necessary… but he knew better than to argue that. He sighed quietly after a moment and shook his head a little. “…It goes without saying, I know… but it would be of benefit that the guard or guards that are posted aren’t like the one today.” He paused. “I understand the reasoning behind why I was beaten, I do… but I will not stand for it happening again or to my cousin.” He told her. “If I feel that I or my cousin is in danger because of a guard who is supposed to be there to protect, regardless of the fact that I am in this palace, I will disarm and restrain him.” He continued honestly. He figured that she would understand his apprehension on the matter and hopefully respect his will regardless of his scale color. He had no intention of harming any of the guards but it wasn’t beyond him to make it so that they couldn’t harm him or his cousin unlawfully.
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Ishta kept a steady gaze on Nero when he started to respond to what she had told him about the guard post. She did not make a sound when he told her that it would benefit if the guard posted was not like the one that had taken him in. She sighed softly when he told her that he was not going to stand for that happening a second time, or to his little cousin, although her ears did lay back just a little when he told her that he understood why he was beaten. "As you have every right to do," she replied simply, as soon as he had finished telling her that he would disarm and restrain any guard whom he felt was a danger to him. She took a step closer to him and then reached over to place her hand on his shoulder lightly, while her eyes trained on his face intently. After a moment, she pulled her hand away and lowered her head before kneeling down on one knee before him. "Oh behalf of the royal guard, I humbly apologize for any and all tribulation that you have endured at the hands of one of my men," she said in a formal, yet very sincere voice. "Please accept this apology." She continued to kneel there for a few moments with her head lowered before she started to stand upright again. She pushed her hair back away from her face and looked at Nero again before sighing softly. "...I will see to it that none of my guards attempt to harm you or your cousin again. He will be made an example for everyone else. That is not how we treat our prisoners, regardless of the color of their scales and regardless of the personal feelings of the individuals on duty." She turned her gaze on Nero again intently for a moment before closing her eyes momentarily. "I will be sure to post someone whom I trust at your door. ...Now go rest," she told him simply.
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Nero didn’t say a word when Ishta took it upon herself to apologize to him the way that she did. He knew what a big deal it was for her to apologize like that, which was part of the reason why he hadn’t said that it was unnecessary. He would have been happy with a totally informal apology or no apology at all for that matter, but he didn’t voice that. He gave a slight nod of his head once she had stood again and told him that she would see to it that none of her guards attempted to harm him or his cousin again. “That would be appreciated.” He commented, somewhat ignoring the part about the guard who hurt him being made an example of. He knew that too was necessary but that didn’t change the fact that he wouldn’t mind meeting him in a dark hallway somewhere… He gave another slight nod of his head after Ishta was done speaking and told him to go rest. “Thank you.” Was all he bothered to say before he turned away from her and more so to the door. He was ready to get off of his feet and certainly ready to get into the dark so he wasted very little time reaching for the handle to open the door. He bit back the urge to wince at opening the door himself and simply slipped inside seeing as he had been given the go ahead by Ishta.
Reyes was still quite impatiently sitting on Nero’s bed waiting for something to happen. He had been pissed that the light dragons had the nerve to haul Nero off and even more so had the audacity to try and get him hauled off too. He hadn’t wanted to just sit around and wait for news and he was so wound up that he felt like he could pop out of his own skin at any moment. All of that aside though he had at least taken the time to get out of the dress and makeup he had been in and back into his usual clothes, minus the shoes of course. He hadn’t bothered getting into any type of sleep clothing or anything mostly because in the back of his mind he felt he needed to be prepared to go bust his cousin out of prison. Without a doubt though… that would prove difficult, especially with Kanone watching him and keeping an eye on him to keep him out of trouble. As soon as the door opened he perked up slightly and focused intently on the door. His first instinct was that he was ecstatic that it was Nero coming through the door but secondly… he was noticing just how beat up he looked which just made him a little mad all over again. |
Kanone was still sitting in his room quietly. He had taken enough time to wash the makeup off of his face, but other than that, he had not even bothered getting undressed. He was still wearing the fancy suit he had been wearing downstairs. He had been trying so hard to keep an eye on Reyes, and he didn't even think about making himself comfortable. He, too, was worried about Nero...but he knew better than to go attempting any prison breaks. He was sure that Selenity would clear things up as soon as was physically possible, so he was focusing his efforts on trying to keep Reyes calm and keep him from doing something stupid. As soon as the door opened, his ears perked up a little and he stared a Nero as he slipped into the room. The relief was evident on his face when he saw him, although it did not take him terribly long to see that the poor guy looked pretty beaten up. "Oh geez...," he muttered quietly as he got to his feet. He made his way over to Nero quietly, his ears laying back a little as he got closer and could see just how bad the damage was. "...You alright, Mate?" he asked quietly, concern evident in his voice. He reached over to place a hand on Nero's shoulder lightly and then sighed softly before shaking his head. He couldn't say that he was surprised to see the state that Nero was in, though he did look rather disappointed.
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Nero had entered the room as quietly as he possibly could and honestly had kind of hoped that maybe Reyes and Kanone would have gone to sleep or something. He didn’t particularly want to deal with Reyes right now and well, Kanone was easy enough to drown out. He lifted his eyes after he shut the door behind him, having heard Kanone move long before he heard Reyes. Reyes hadn’t moved yet, but he could tell his cousin wasn’t in the best of moods. You could practically feel the unhappiness coming off of Reyes in waves. He ignored his cousin for now though and looked at Kanone after he had asked if he was alright. He sighed quietly. “I’ve been better.” He responded simply before reaching up to slide the glasses off of his face. Reyes didn’t like a lot of light either so the room wasn’t that bright. There was just enough light to actually see where you were going, which was comfortable enough for him right now. His face was still sore, especially from the cut he had across one side of his face… so it was a relief to actually remove the glasses. He pushed away from the door and Kanone slowly and edged closer to his bed and his cousin. He set the glasses down on the little side table before turning his back to the bed and carefully lowering himself down onto it. He wanted to lie down but right this second he wasn’t in a hurry to go horizontal. He wanted to take a moment of sitting before he went and moved that much. He could feel Reyes’ displeasure even stronger now that he was so much closer to him. He heard his cousin start to open his mouth and complain, he knew what he was going to say before he even managed to get the words out completely. He threw his hand up in a stop motion and very tiredly uttered “Ishta said she would take care of it, so drop it, Reyes.”
Of course Reyes wasn’t happy to hear Nero tell him to drop it. He was probably more pissed off than even Nero was at the moment and he wanted to take some sort of revenge for this happening. It wasn’t fair, everyone knew it… He didn’t care for hearing that Ishta was going to take care of it either… In his opinion the guard should be beaten just as much as Nero was… and it should be done by a dark dragon, not a light dragon that’d show mercy. He was clearly peeved and started to throw a little bit of a fit as he crossed his arms over his chest and averted his face from Nero to rather angrily pout. This really wasn’t fair… it just wasn’t. He could tell too that Nero wasn’t going to do anything about it… you could tell from Nero’s demeanor. He really did believe that Ishta was going to take care of it and he was going to let her. His tail flicked angrily off the bed as he shook his head in disbelief. This was so not right… not right at all. |
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