By this point, Sinclair was cornered and didn't have time to bolt. So, he stayed where he was, pressed up against the wall as much as possible. He was possibly more timid than Arra was--afraid of more than just horses and violence--and needed a strong guardian. He had that in Cinnabar...but there was no attraction between them.

Tristian sighed looking at him. "you just don't trust me do you?" He said a small hint of a smirk was there. "ah well…" He said.

Arra watched them, closely. He'd voice his disdain if Tristian hurt Sinclair.

Sinclair stayed put, his knees trembling. Through his thin clothing, his heart could been seen beating rather rapidly in his chest.

Tristian sighed seeing his legs trembling. Slowly he placed a hand on him. "Calm down I won't. Hurt. You…" Tristian said. He was getting tired of it.

Sinclair jumped when he was touched, but since he had nowhere to run to, he just stayed put. He was frightened of older males--Cinnabar seemed to be the only exception to this.

Tristian sighed backing off going back to Arra on the bed. "Whelp I tried and for now that's all I can do....I won't force him..." He said shrugging.

Arra frowned. "...Why...don't you take him and the one he trusts out to do something fun once we get back?" he asked, curiously. "If that one he trusts is around, he won't be as frightened..."

Cinder poked his head into the room at this point. "We are having issues with fighting..." he admitted, sheepishly. "You can take Sinclair back with you. The rest have to stay here, since they are fighting and don't want to leave."

"Right....well how exactly do we get back....I can't do whatever it was you did....and I don't know about Arra...." Tristian said looking at Arra then to Cinder.

"I can send you back alone, but you have to hold onto both of them tightly..." Cinder seemed to sense this would be a problem with Sinclair, for he glanced in his direction.

Sinclair seemed quite unnerved about going back alone, and even more sketchy about having Tristian hold him in any way, shape, or form.

"Allright that would work…I don't know if Sinclair will let me touch him though." Tristian said with a heavy sigh.

"Have you tried to gain his trust?" Cinder asked, already knowing the answer. "He does not like close contact from anyone, even from people he trusts. He's quite childlike in many ways...why don't you..." he paused, and then walked closer to Tristian, leaning in so Sinclair wouldn't hear him.

"Why don't you try to make him happy, amused...smile, even?"

Tristian sighed thinking, "I'll right…I'm not very good at making people smile or laugh…" He said thinking, "I could try telling a story would that work?" He asked looking at Cinder as he thought. He had plenty of short stories to tell he liked stories. He had plenty of practice reading to his brother when he was younger.

"Go ahead. Just don't mention anything that might scare him, or something along those lines..." Cinder offered, smiling.

Sinclair stayed put in his corner. Being as adorable as he was...he had to have problems all the time with unwanted suitors and attention. Thus, he was afraid of other males in general, and sometimes of women, as well.

Tristian nodded thinking for a bit about what story to tell. He was thinking about Peter Pan but didn't want to insult him with the evil pirates idea. So after thinking a but more he decided to tell the story of the Polar Express. Nothing bad happened in that story. And it had a happy ending.

Tristian cleared his throat and began to weave the story telling it happily.

Sinclair seemed to be fascinated with the story, and eventually, he began to draw closer. After a while, he was sitting on the floor a few feet away, listening very intently.

Sinclair was not the only one interested in the story--Arra, who had a similar mindset to Sinclair, was also fascinated, and listened intently.

Tristian smiled as he slowly came to a close, "But even as the boy grew older he could hear the sound of the bell ringing. Even when his children and their children could no longer hear the sound of the magical bell." Tristian smiled. "The end!"

Sinclair bounced up and down slightly where he sat, a small smile on his face. He couldn't talk...so he had to compensate for it somehow.

Arra just smiled, contently.

Tristian chuckled a bit watching Sinclair, "I'm glad you liked the story…" He said smiling at the boy.

Sinclair, now that the story was over, seemed to suddenly notice how close he was to Tristian, but he didn't move. He just seemed a little wary. His smile faded almost as quickly as it came, and he just sat there, eyes on the ground.

At least he wasn't trying to run away.

Tristian leaned away from him to assure Sinclair then smiled gently, "Would you like to hear another?"

Sinclair shrugged, absently. He didn't feel like moving, despite his twitchy and jumpy manner. Perhaps he was tired?

Cinder cleared his throat. "You should probably head back, now...Sinclair looks tired."

Tristian sighed, "Allright…" He said pulling Arra closer slowly holding out his hand to Sinclair, "Trust me?" he asked worried.

Sinclair shied away at once, leaning away but not scrambling up to escape. He wouldn't bother attempting to escape, however, if Tristian were to grab him...he wasn't going to take his hand.

Tristian groaned a bit as he slowly, and gently pulled Sinclair in, "Come one kid…I told you I don't bite…"

Sinclair opened his mouth as if he were making some sort of 'eep!' noise. But, of course, nothing came out. He was still mute...

Arra smiled at this, fully relaxed.