Erik hated seeing that look of shame cross her face, but there was nothing he could do about it if he was going to keep this facade of being feared. All that rushed right out of his mind as soon as Kari's bandage came all the way off. His eyes widened and he took in a sharp breath. Her hand.... Erik knew she was hiding something under there, but this, this was terrible. A terrible rage built up inside of him. Who could have hurt her like this? No, he knew exactly who had done it. It was all he could do to keep himself calm in front of her. He would kill that man one day.

Gently he took her hand into his. All of his demeanor changed in that instant. Gone was the recluse that had everyone scared of him. His face softening with what could only be described as sorrow, he looked at her. "Come with me please, we need to get this taken care of as soon as possible. I have a first aid kit over in the living room." Not wanting to hurt her any more, he took a step and merely looked back at her, to see if she would follow him.

Kari gasped slightly when he took her injured hand, but he was gentle. More gentle than anyone had ever been with her before. "Oh, no, I'm fine..." She started, but of course it was useless to lie now. He had seen the burn. She followed him slowly wherever he was leading her. "It's nothing bad, really. I just...tripped...and fell on the stove last night." She said. She didn't know why she was hiding what had really happened. It wasn't as if her father deserved her protection. She just didn't want to say that she had been beaten.

Eric looked back at her as he heard her fumbled excuse as to why her hand was burned. There was a sadness in his face that he wasn't able to hide. He spoke softly and gently, "Please don't insult me by making up excuses. I can tell by the tone of your voice and they way you just said that, that's not what really happened. I won't push you to tell me the real story, but I could hazard a guess about how you got burnt." He turned back around and continued towards the living room.

Coming into the room, the first thing anyone would notice, was the fireplace. It was a unusual color of marble, blue mixed with grey and with hints of gold running throughout the entire face of the fireplace. There was currently a fire going inside of it and the gold shone as the light played upon the surface of the marble. There was a plush burgundy rug in front of the fireplace, big enough that two people could stretch out quite comfortably without running out of room. Comfortable looking chairs and small couches were scattered around the room in various places for guests to sit. There were enough places that up to 20 people would be able to fit comfortably into the room. Not that Eric had any social gatherings here since he had been turned into his current self.

He led Kari over towards the couch nearest the fire. It was a rich emerald color and the cushions were the kind you could sink into and never want to get up from again. The color of the couch complimented the rug very well. "I will just be a moment, please make yourself comfortable." He left her and went over to the right side of the room where a wooden cabinet stood, embellished with beautiful carvings of roses throughout the entire piece. He opened the doors and rummaged around though the contents, finally coming out with a first aid kit. Closing the doors to the cabinet, he went back over to where he had left the girl. He stood beside the couch uncertainty, not sure if she would allow him to sit by her so that he could tend to her burn.

Kari's face turned red, and she didn't answer at first. Instead she concentrated on not being impressed with her surroundings. Sure, it was beautiful and under any other circumstances she would have killed to live in a place like that, but currently it was nothing more than a fancy prison. After a few moments, she opened her mouth. "Don't presume to know me well enough to tell whether I'm lying. You know nothing about me." She retorted angrily. When instructed to make herself comfortable, she simply stood rigidly next to the couch that he had indicated. She refused to sit down and be at his mercy, no matter how nice he seemed. He returned with a first aid kit, and Kari continued to stand, not looking at him or acknowledging his presence at all. She didn't offer her hand, but instead kept it cradled tightly to her chest.

Eric sighed slightly. He could tell it was going to be a challenge living with her if she was going to keep acting this way. He understood of course, it was very hard to have to live in a place when you were forced there. She wouldn't know that he only did it to protect her. "Please, I won't hurt you. I know that must hurt. If you'd like I'll just put it here on the couch for you to use yourself. It's going to be a bit hard to work one handed though."

It really was going to be a challenge for her to do all that herself, but what more could he do? She obviously didn't want anything to do with him and he really couldn't blame her in the least. He wasn't aware of it, but a look of hurt and sadness played onto his face when she rejected his help. "I'll be over there in that chair if you perhaps need assistance." He hesitated, not knowing if it was wise to say anything else but really unable to help himself. "That man will never hurt you again, I promise you this." Before she could muster up a reply, he quickly left her side, going over to the darkest corner of the room and sitting down. Ugh I'm such a fool. Of course she doesn't want me anywhere near her....

Kari stiffened, then wheeled around to stare at him. "How do you know about that? There is no way he told you that he hurt me, and I never said anything. So how did you know? This whole setup...it wasn't an accident, was it? You knew about me. I don't know how, but somehow you knew, and now you think you're saving me or something." Shaking, she turned away again, still not touching the first aid kit. "I can't believe this. Isn't it just like a man, trying to play the hero, probably expecting me to be grateful and want to repay you. But I didn't need your help. I didn't need anyone's help." It was a lie, and she knew it, but her pride was hurt. She didn't want to need anyone. "I don't want your pity. You think you saved me, but you only transferred me from one prison to another." Tears pricked in her eyes, but she hid it by taking the first aid kit and trying to redress her wound. Being one-handed, in addition to the tears blurring her vision, made it impossible, and she dropped things. Finally, she simply stopped trying and knelt there, sobbing.

Eric wasn't ready to tell her about the mirror, but he knew he was going to have to tell her eventually. For the moment, however, she didn't need to know about it. He was taken aback by her sudden outburst and was at a complete loss when she broke down and started to sob. "Look, I could tell by the way he acted that he had hurt you. Anyone could see that if they paid enough attention to you."

Knowing she didn't want him near her but unable to watch her cry, he quickly came over to her and knelt beside her on the floor. "Please. Let me help you. I promise I won't do anything you don't want." Before he could stop himself, he gently wiped the tears from her face. It was then that he realized what he had done and he froze. If he got slapped in the face, it would be his own fault. The panic raced across his faced, mixed in with a look of understanding.

Instinctively, she froze at his touch, but relaxed slightly when she realized that he wasn't hurting her. Trying to get her sobs under control, she looked up at him with broken eyes. After a moment, she slowly offered her injured hand, wordlessly telling him that she trusted him. "No one...has ever looked closely enough to realize. I thought I hid it well." She said quietly, not sure why she was telling him this. She was just so tired. Tired of hiding, tired of having no one to count on. Tired of the pain, both physical and mental. Tired of feeling so worthless. Bone tired from nights spent awake and scared, or crying herself to sleep. She wanted someone to know, even if that person was her captor.