Ian was surprised when Konran fell asleep. Unsure of what to do, he carefully lay down, leaning on a tree. Seeing Konran asleep brought a smile to Ian's face. Pausing, he tied to figure out why that was, but the only answer he could come up with, was impossible. There was no way he loved her..... right? Besides, even if he did, there was no way to know for certain if she felt the same way. "Best keep this under wraps." he said quietly to himself. Drawing his sword, he looked to the forest, alert for the smallest sign of danger. Luckily, it seemed that the battle was over, and the animals in the forest knew better than to bother him. It was a rather quiet night. He looked down at Konran again. He may not know much, but what he knew for certain was that he would protect her, and may the powers that be have mercy on anybody who dared hurt her.

(sorry about it being so cheesy... I couldn't think of anything else..... <(T _ T)>)

(It's fine)

Konran had fallen asleep in a matter of minutes and seemed quite comfortable leaning against Ian. She murmured slightly in her sleep and started moving some and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead and neck. Her ice powers started acting up from her nightmare and she started whimpering and shivering in her sleep seeming to really be having a bad dream or something.

(should we maybe have them be walking to a new town or city or something? Maybe Konran's old gang finds them and starts to mess with Konran when she's away from Ian to go to the store or something?)

(I like the sound of the gang finding them However, they won't be in the city just yet. Sorry, i'm nitpicking i know, but if they fall asleep in a forest, they wake up in a forest. However, i see no problem in them moving as soon as they wake up, and finding somewhere to stay almost immediately. my apologies... T_T)

Ian felt her get colder and colder, He put the blanket over her, but to no avail. He was in a near panicked state. He was sure it wasn't natural for her to do this. She must be sick or something. He grabbed on to her tighter, and began to rub her shoulder. It probably wouldn't do any good, but it made him feel better. The whole time he kept whispering to her, "Its okay... It's okay... We're going to be fine.... It's okay....." He wasn't sure why he was doing that, or even if it was doing any good, but it was all he could do for now. A few seconds ago, he'd been almost falling asleep, but now he was almost panicking . He would have laughed, but he was too worried to do so. He glanced up at the sky, and saw that morning was almost here. For some reason, he felt that morning couldn't come fast enough. while he waited, he held Konran tightly, as if she were about to drift away.

(of course XD I meant after this... maybe a time skip to when they get to the city or something XP )

Konran's body temperature continued to drop until her lips were a soft shade of blue though it wasn't like she was dead or dieing or that it was cold out... it was just her powers acting up. She curled into Ian a bit more shaking and whimpering in her sleep muttering something... almost like a plead for someone not to hurt her. Bringing up the past really bothered and effected her in such a way that it caused physical issues in her sleep.

(*nods* I was thinking something similar. Sorry about that, its a knee jerk reaction, cuz a while back when i was doing tabletop rpgs. (shuddup i nkow i'm a nerd) the dude in charge would do that all the time, and it just became a habit. I'll try to keep an eye on it ^_^)

Ian forced himself to calm down. Panicking wouldn't help Konran. Suddenly, he heard her muttering something. leaning in, it almost sounded like she was saying she didn't want to be hurt. "It'll all be fine. I'm here to protect you" Ian told her, worry in his voice. Changing tactic, he said in a soothing tone, "I'll always be here to protect you. So long as I'm around, nobody will hurt you ever again."

(table top? What's that?)

Slowly Konran calmed and her body temperature started to rise. She stopped trashing and just curled into Ian's side at it seemed that his words had really helped her calm down. After awhile she slowly started to wake up and suddenly noticed that she was leaning on Ian and how close he was holding her. She blushed some though didn't move... she was actually quite comfortable here in his arms.

( Dungeons and Dragons is a table top RPG., like i said, i'm somewhat of a nerd lol)

When Konran's temperature returned to normal, Ian began to relax. A wave of tiredness hit Ian like a brick wall, but he wasn't about to sleep. not yet. He still had to protect Konran. He was so tired though.... Shaking his head, Ian grabbed a sharp stick and jabbed himself with it until he was wide awake. He placed the stick in the ground next to him, in case he started to nod off again. He glanced down at Konran again. Smiling, he brushed some of her hair behind her ear absent minded. Jerking, he looked back up, and resumed watching the forest. yawning, he thought, I can sleep when we get to the next city. We're almost there. I just need to hold out a little longer.

(ah okay XD lol)

Konran looked at Ian worriedly when she saw him stab himself in the leg. "You should get some sleep... you really need it." she said softly and tiredly leaning her head on his chest without much thought. She felt tired and a bit weak from not having much sleep for the last week.

Ian shook his head saying, "I can't. I need to pro- I mean keep watch." He'd almost said 'protect you', but he wasn't sure that Konran would like that. "Go ahead and get some sleep. you look like you need it." Grinning, he continued, "Don't worry. While your night in rusty armor is around, nothing will hurt you. so just relax ans get some sleep." He had been absentmindedly stroking the back of her head while he talked, but stopped and drew his hand away as soon as he noticed. He continued to scan the forest, but still nothing appeared. Maybe he could sleep to? he shook his head, and went back to looking around. If everything was quiet in an hour or so, then he'd sleep, but not before.

Konran started to nod a bit though it was just her head bobbing some from being tired and feeling him stroking the back of her head. "Ah... I wouldn't say rusty armor... you seem strong to me... and you've pretty much saved me already from the others." she smiled softly then yawned and curled into him again with thinking too much about it.

Ian kept attentive watch, jabbing himself with the stick when he started to sleep. One hour passed. Then two. Then another, before he finally allowed himself to relax enough to sleep. he cast an invisibility ward on them, and sheathed his weapon. He would have cast it before, however it didn't last very long.He settled down in a comfortable position, with Konran next to him. He curld up around her, and slowly drifted off to sleep. He couldn't remember a time when he'd been happier.

Konran smiled some in her sleep as she felt Ian curl around her and unknowingly gripped her hand softly in his shirt not seeming to want to take any chance on him being taken from her. She was growing to really care for him though she didn't think it was right... she had only known him for about two days though it felt longer... allot longer... though allot had happened in those two days and she was surprised it didn't seem even longer then it did already. When the sun rose the next morning she stirred some though stayed asleep just burrying her face in Ian's chest not wanting to be woken right now... she was still too tired to care.

(have I already asked you if you've read The Host?)

(sorry. I haven't. I'll keep an eye out for it however. T~T)

Ian felt Konran moving beside him, and woke up. He was about to get up, when she buried her face in his chest. Smiling, He decided that they could lay there for a bit. He started to rub her back absentmindedly. He considered what they would do next. Going to the next city was obvious for now, but what then? Mentally shrugging, he put the matter aside, content to lie here for a while with Konran.

(okay... it's but Stephenie Meyer)

Konran stayed like that for a little while longer drifting in a out of sleep before she finally moved her face some just enough so you could see one of her eye from under her long pure whitish-blue hair. "Morning" she murmured softly with a slight smile though you could still hear the tiredness in her voice. She started to drop her own body temperature though and it perked her up a bit. She yawned some and blinked some before opening her eyes fully and letting her body temp go back down to normal.

Stretching, Ian replied, "Morning to you too." He carefully got out from under her, and stretched again. He dispelled the invisibility, and began to pack up. When he had completed that, he walked over to Konran, and leaned on a nearby tree. He kept trying to think of something to say, but the only thing he could think of was 'hey'. Grinning to himself, he thought, Better to keep my mouth shut, then to open it up and should like an idiot.

"How'd you sleep?" Konran asked softly then realized that she had been wrapped in the covers. "Why did you wrap the blankets around me? I don't get that cold easily... you need it more then me." she said softly and worriedly not knowing that her body temp had dropped so very low... she actually could have really done come damage to her body.

"Pretty well," Ian answered, "I put the blanket on you because you started turning really cold. I mean, you turned blue. Nearly gave me a heart attack." It did far worse than that, but I'm not about to tell you that. He shuffled his feet, and wondered how much he should tell her. Should he mention that he brushed her hair? Rubbed her back?: Held her tight through most of the night? She obviously knew that they slept together, but how much did she know besides that? And was she okay with it? He stood there lost in these thoughts for a couple of minutes, then another thought occurred to him. What if she didn't like him in that way? He'd of made a fool of himself, and probably lost what little trust was there. He shook his head, telling himself to focus. He could answer those questions when they were finally able to settle down.

"Ow... um... was I having a nightmare? Sometimes when I have nightmares or I get really scared my own body temperature drops... it's scared a few people though it doesn't do much since I normally wake up after my body heat gets too far below 0... sorry about scaring you." Konran said softly then blushed some as she then wiggled out of the cuckoon that was the covers around her. She then slowly got to her feet and stretched for a few minutes then smiled at him. She grabbed her backpack and started searching. She got out a can of cat food and sat it on the ground beside her whistling some for her cat who climbed down out of the tree. She then got out two water bottles and some granola bars. "Hungry? I have enough to last for awhile." she offered him holding out one of them and a water bottle with a smile.

Smiling, Ian said, "No worries" He wasn't going to tell her she had a nightmare. Ian was tempted to make a face at the granola, but he said, "Sure, I was getting kinda hungry anyway." Munching on it, he found it wasn't as bad as he'd feared. When the cat came down from the tree, it was all he could do not to scoop it up and start petting it. Holding the granola in his teeth, he opened up a map that he got from his bag. They were almost to the city, they would definitely get there before night fell. He marked out their path on the map and concentrated. After a strange shimmering, there were two maps. Exactly the same. Handing one to Konran, he said, "Hold on to this just in case someth-..... we get separated."

"I have chocolate if you would like that better? The chocolate granola bars almost taste like candy." Konran smiled some after laying at his attempt to hide a face. After her small kitten was done eating she walked over to Ian and started rubbing against him purring happily. "You can pet her if you like... she's very loving." she smiled some as she scratched behind the kittens ears and she purred even louder.

Wincing, Ian said, "You saw that huh? No thanks, I'll just eat the granola." He quickly finished the bar, the stood up and brushed the crumbs off his pants. He walked over to the kitten, and picked it up. It began to purr. Slowly, a giant smile began to spread across his face. Ever since he'd been a kid he'd loved animals, but since his transformation, they'd always either tried to attack him, or been terrified of him. He looked up to grin at Konran, but as soon as his eyes met hers, he looked away with a jerk. He was afraid, but he didn't know why. He tried to recall his mortal experiences, but he couldn't think of any time he'd felt like this before.

"No no I mean that I have more granola bars if you want some though they're not like the one you just had... they have chocolate in them instead... not everyone likes granola and it's okay it doesn't bother me." Konran smiled a bit then looked at him a bit confused when he looked away and looked in the direction... though nothing was there. "What's wrong? She asked worriedly as she looked at him and hoped that everything was okay.

Ian shuffled his feet and stammered, "I-its nothing." He really wanted to walk up to her, put his arms around her, and just stay there like that for all eternity, but they had to get moving, Standing up again, He stretched one last time, and said softly, "Sorry, but we need to get moving." He held his hand out to help her up.

"No... it's something or I wouldn't be asking and you wouldn't be stammering... please tell me." Konran pleaded softly as she put her kitten back in it's little hiding place and then took his hand. She let him help her up though then stumbled some her legs still bothering her from thawing them. She ended up falling into his chest and blushed brightly for she had to wrap her arm around his waist to keep her up.

"The truth is," Ian said, "I don't know what it is, as soon as I do, I'll let you know" When she fell and was holding on to him, he asked quickly, "Are you okay?" Then he froze. He wasn't sure how to react. Should he put his arms around her? So in the end, they just stood there like that for several minutes.