((Played out in IM 2/27/2008))
Izira was outside the inn, perched on the ledge of the fountain out front. Fingertips dipping into the ice cold water of the fountain. Her hair was loose, falling over her face as she leaned forward. She wore a soft grey dress, fit to form and black belt about her waist. Short capped sleeves. The hem of a white slip just noticeable. Her heels were black, covered toe. The woman's body was healing from more bruised and cuts than she had during Alain's last visit.
It's not a Jeep that arrives at the Forgotten Layers, but Alain's Vincent Black Shadow, handling the rough paths surprisingly well - though he's only going maybe 20 mph when he approaches. He cuts the engine off, tugs off his helmet, and finds himself ruffling up his helmet hair into a more normal state. Not nearly as dressed up as Izira in a red t-shirt, jeans, and brown leather jacket. His revolver's holstered in the usual place. He lifts a hand in a simple wave as he walks towards the fountain.
Having looked up at the sound of the car, it caught her interest as very few came through and those things were quite a wonder. Her face being revealed, it look that her lip had a few healing cuts as well. A couple of light bruises near her right cheek and left temple. She stood, moving to greet Alain. Soft smile, "New?"
"Old one - someone blew up the Wrangler." He smiles a little bit, and it softens when he gets near enough to see the cuts and bruises. His eyes flicker over them, then to her eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Seems like misfortune is a friend of yours. Small wonder the fates introduced us. I am okay. I've been... coherent for a few days. Since Sunday afternoon." Her expression wavering as she spoke, but she ended on an assuring smile. "How are you?"
"I'm in no condition to run any marathons, but I don't think I'll be needing the cane again." He wiggles a silver ring off of his finger, with a simple red gemstone set in it - a bit like a class ring, though there's nothing inscribed on it. "I don't know if you recall me telling you... but I've come to my decision." He holds up the ring. "If you can bind yourself to me and somehow contain the bond in this? ...I'll do it."
Izira could not find her voice to respond. And even with Alain willingly offering she looked torn to not accept the offer. Not that life was so great with the blacking out and the getting cut up from time to time... waking up in odd places over and over again. But she had been having second thoughts of her willingness to ask Alain to make such a sacrifice for her. It was etched upon her face.
He lets her have that silence for a few moments... but then he reaches out and touches her arm, and says gently, "I want to help."
She bit her lip, before giving him a nod. "Okay. If you are sure." A swallow and she turned towards the inn, "Do you want anything?"
"Coffee, if you have any," he replies, following her in.
"Always." The inside of the inn was in better condition - no animals in sight, however. Izira easily moved behind the bar and fetched Alain a mug of the hot brew.
He raises it for a sip. "So how are we doing this?"
"There's a ritual. Nothing bloody, no... goats or anything." A forced smile, yes... I can be funny in the face of life changing events. "Words, time, breathing."
"Grain alcohol poured over our heads?" He raises his eyebrows, grinning a bit.
A smile, she shook her head. "No, sorry." Taking her seat across from him on the tender's stool behind the bar. Awkward silence from her...
Apparently he's waiting for her to make the next move. He sips his coffee and waits for her to say something.
"When do you want to do it?" The question coming out haulted and odd feeling.
"Well..." He rubs the back of his neck. "When can you? I'm free now - or I can come back another time. Or if you need a few hours to get ready, it won't kill me to take an evening off."
"It might take a moment to get ready... you could finish you coffee." She would have been up for waiting, but she also feared how long she would be in control of herself. Not that -she- wasn't in control those other times, it was still her... but a part of herself better kept inside... the knowledge and feeling of everything she had ever experienced.
He nods and, since he hasn't had an opportunity to before, rises to poke around the common room and take a look at everything while he nurses his coffee.
Izira vanished into her personal rooms leaving Alain to poke. The common room was fairly common, though lots of trinkets and books from various places sat upon higher shelves.
When she comes back, he's leaning against the counter, thumbing through a book, his coffee mostly finished.
It would be a while. She had to find stuff for the ritual as well as items for the spell to hide their bond. Also, the fire flared up for a moment and she had to fight to stay on top of things. Soon the floor of the library was set up. A tall pillar candle resting at the center of a silver bowl. The notebook laid out open to a page that had the words of the ritual. Izira returned, somewhat nervous. "Ready?"
He looks at her... and gives a squeeze to her shoulder as he passes by into the library. Surprisingly, while he's a little bit wary and knows he needs to be alert, he's not particularly nervous - after the trippy psychic experience with Sid, he figures it can't get much worse. The perils of RhyDin.
She followed him, approaching the candle and standing near it. "You will need to read the words shown here." Said as she indicated the notebook. "We need to keep physical contact and share our breath. Our lips don't have to be touching though..." Her cheeks only faintly colored, thinking Alain would think this all a ruse to get closer to him. "Just... our hands."
"Good, then Cassie won't be skinning me tonight." He grins a little, makes sure he can read the notebook from where he is, and holds out his hands to hers. "I should read that right now, or...?"
He wouldn't make a good mage or summoner, apparently.
A nod she put her hands into his entwining her fingers...but speaking before he could start. "When you're finished we need to focus on the breathing and our heart beats." Eyes closed, she was trying to be calm.
He breathes out slowly through his noses, preparing himself ahead of the ritual words, and then he recites them. The moment he's done, his eyes drift shut, and he clears his mind of everything but the two rhythms, of his breath and his heart.
It was a different rippling of the fire. Not a rising, but a reaching. It filled her and stretched reaching out for the other. Izira's heart was faster than Alain's, though she kept her breath matching his. At the first caress of the flame against Alain, Izira's heart thudded in time with his - her intake coming stronger as she felt both beats within her. It missed twice and then caught again. And Izira held firmly onto Alain's hands.
At the first caress, he shudders, but makes sure to keep in time with her the best that he can. What an odd feeling... but he forces himself not to dwell on it.
What an odd feeling... the thought echoed in her mind just before her felt her heart again beat in time with his, slowing - matching. The fire slipped further into Alain, sharing them as their breathing and heartbeats met. Izira felt a rushed of intimacy that she had never felt before, not from the few she loved and not from the many that had taken her in one way or another. As her heart matched Alain's more and more, it filled her with a freedom she had not previously experienced. A tear trickled down her cheek.
So warm... It's the cold that he's used to, making this all the more interesting for him. And then... a rush of intimacy? It takes him a few confused moments until he sorts out he's aware of her feelings. His heartbeat sounds heavier - no, that's hers in time with his...
Then the beats were matching. It was a rush, that every
thudthud came together. A beautiful music that her fingers longed to learn to play. The fire was in both of them, equally moving through their veins. She felt Alain's moment of confusion. Izira understood now why her father's people would wish to bond with their lovers in their adulthood. She longed for their lips to be touching, but did not move from her spot in this place. Only saw it in her mind.
There is a gentle ache, but a nonspecific ache - the ache you get whenever you think about love, regardless of the feeling. Still, the bond makes him think about love, and it's a struggle not to sigh, to keep their breath matching. And then, in their intimate silence, in the midst of their bond, is a voice. I'll take that. The heat that Alain feels washing over him fluctuates suddenly, as the shattered spirit of the archangel makes an impulsive grab for that power. Kael!
The voices echo in her head, the tug made for the power pulling her forward into Alain. The power from the fire flared, angrily. Twisting about the two as it went from being pulled to being on the attack. It was rooted to Izira and would not leave her, the being lurking in wait was found offensive and the fire sought to destroy him. Izira emotions twisting with the fire's attack. Still lingered her want. An echo of hate at what had reared its ugly head and worry.
There is a scream, not Alain's, not from his voice and not echoing in the air around them, but echoing between their minds as Kael tries to take what would have gone to Alain and is almost consumed by it. He falls silent to nurse his wounds, leaving Alain... still breathing, heart still beating, trying once more to match with Izira.
Izira's eyes squeezed tighter at the echoing scream. Hands holding Alain's in a manner that put their forearms against each other as well. Her power filled her, but no longer to the breaking point. A soft roll in from the power in her body, it was comfortable within her. Thumb lightly brushing against Alain's hand as the heightened sounds faded from her ears. Peace and the lingering want.
He holds onto her hands - uncertain about the ritual, he vaguely supposes they might be done, but isn't willing to make the first move on it, either.
She slightly moved towards Alain moving to kiss him, then suddenly her hands broke from his and she move quickly several steps back. Eyes open, she looked a little flushed and ashamed. But the lingering want was not dissipating. She wanted to be held and caressed. She felt wrong for even considering Alain the person to do that with after all he had done for her. Her eyes went down, hands clasped before her. A cold shower is what she needed. Still... she had to hide the bond first. It was then that she wondered how Alain faired. "Are... are you alright?"
Apparently Alain's more or less fine - he's blinking a lot and rubbing at his eyes some, but doesn't seem to be in any pain. He massages his right hand as if to check the feeling in it, shakes it out a few times, and appears satisfied. "I'm okay." He clasps his hand over the back of his neck, thinking to ask what she was approaching for - but no, he knows. He certainly knows now, anyway. "Sorry about, ah... Kael. He's one of the burdens I mentioned."
Izira moved to keep her hands busy, setting about the task to hide the bond. Anything to distract from the need, which she was unaware Alain could read from her. She bit her lip, visually looking to concentrate - inwardly trying to banish the thoughts she was having. Ten years!!! A little pile of herbs was set to burning, she looked for the ring.
It's back on his finger. After she searches for a little while, he figures it out, and takes it off to offer to her.
She freezes, watching him. Then hesitantly takes the ring. Think of something else, anything else. But the thoughts that rolled through her head were kinder versions of what had been cruelly done before. "Do you... feel the fire?"
He shakes his head slowly. "I don't know what happened - maybe it kind of... shorted out, when Kael touched it?" Which means a brushfire may have randomly started in a parallel dimension. Such is space-time. "I can... feel your emotions, a little bit. Not much, though."
She almost paled at that, somewhat recovered when he added 'not much' of course... she had just mentally gone over nearly every intimate scenario imaginable. She swore she would never do that (the bonding) again... if this was how it was going to end up for her. Perhaps she was lucky to be a female and the frustration was all that was bothering her. An inner ache rather than an outer one. She did turn red and turned so as not to be facing him. Then she did panic. Wondering what he was picking up, or wondering if he was just being kind and he could... oh dear gods no.
He watches her for a moment, and when he realizes she's blushing, he reaches a hand out - not to reach for her, but as a gesture. "All I'm reading off you, right now, is you're embarrassed and nervous... which I could otherwise read from your body language anyway."
A soft chuckle. "Yes, sorry. The bonding left me a little..." drowned in desire "out of sorts." She tucked a strand of hair behind an ear, and longed for it to be some other movement from another's hand. She forced herself to focus on the ring, working on the enchantment. A pause after speaking soft words... her mouth opened thinking the words she was going to say I need you... "Alain, I need you to touch the ring with me."
He watches her while she thinks and struggles with... Well, he's not sure exactly what. Desire? But then she speaks, and he tells himself he shouldn't be reading things off of her, anyway. Just let the little feelings slip by. "Okay." He reaches out and touches the ring.
The ring held in the palm of her hand, Alain reaching to touch it from above. That both of them were touching the ring was important, as it showed the magic what it needed to hide. Izira held it, finishing the spell and just as it was set - a flare came from the ring and into her - making her aware that Alain was perfectly aware of her struggle. She was a deer in the headlights. No words yet again coming, eyes wide.
He looks at her, and appears to be thinking for a while of something appropriate to say. All he says, finally, is, "It happens to everyone. You can't very well control what..." And then he's thinking about sex. Not as intensely as her, but still, flashes of lustful images through his mind. "See? I'm your average male. I didn't even mean to do that."
Weak smile. She didn't know how to tell him that she hadn't been with anyone in ten years. And that wasn't simply general companionship but being intimate as well. That while there had been a few tender moments in her life with another, that the lines of those who used her otherwise weren?t short ones. While it happened to folks all the time, it was a rare thing indeed for her to want this badly without first wading into the idea of it willingly. Of course, now she didn't have to tell him... or did she? She moved her hand to put the ring into his care and withdraw her hand from it. It was easier not reading him. "I guess... with what happened.... this must be the outcome." And Izira could only think to curse her need and that which kept her from stating it.
He replaces the ring on his finger. "Maybe it'll cool off with time." He pauses. "If that's the case... I could go now, and return tomorrow - see if it's changed any? If that makes you more comfortable."
There was a weak, almost sad smile. "That would probably be for the best, yes." Underlying her desire was sadness. A regret that her life hadn't magically changed instantly after the bonding, she was tired of being alone... truly. "You know the way out?" He was kind, he had helped her... the fire shouldn't overwhelm like it had before. Still with other aches, her heart stabbed a little.
He nods slowly... "I'll see you tomorrow evening." Another pause. "Let me know if anything happens - I'll do the same." He fingers the ring thoughtfully, watching her a little while longer... and then he steps out of the library.
Izira watched him move out of sight. Keeping in check. She noted that the fire wasn't bothering her at this heightened emotional moment, but couldn't bring herself to be grateful for it. She waited quietly for a while, giving Alain time to get away, before tilting her head back and letting out her various frustrations into a loud scream.
Izira was outside the inn, perched on the ledge of the fountain out front. Fingertips dipping into the ice cold water of the fountain. Her hair was loose, falling over her face as she leaned forward. She wore a soft grey dress, fit to form and black belt about her waist. Short capped sleeves. The hem of a white slip just noticeable. Her heels were black, covered toe. The woman's body was healing from more bruised and cuts than she had during Alain's last visit.
It's not a Jeep that arrives at the Forgotten Layers, but Alain's Vincent Black Shadow, handling the rough paths surprisingly well - though he's only going maybe 20 mph when he approaches. He cuts the engine off, tugs off his helmet, and finds himself ruffling up his helmet hair into a more normal state. Not nearly as dressed up as Izira in a red t-shirt, jeans, and brown leather jacket. His revolver's holstered in the usual place. He lifts a hand in a simple wave as he walks towards the fountain.
Having looked up at the sound of the car, it caught her interest as very few came through and those things were quite a wonder. Her face being revealed, it look that her lip had a few healing cuts as well. A couple of light bruises near her right cheek and left temple. She stood, moving to greet Alain. Soft smile, "New?"
"Old one - someone blew up the Wrangler." He smiles a little bit, and it softens when he gets near enough to see the cuts and bruises. His eyes flicker over them, then to her eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Seems like misfortune is a friend of yours. Small wonder the fates introduced us. I am okay. I've been... coherent for a few days. Since Sunday afternoon." Her expression wavering as she spoke, but she ended on an assuring smile. "How are you?"
"I'm in no condition to run any marathons, but I don't think I'll be needing the cane again." He wiggles a silver ring off of his finger, with a simple red gemstone set in it - a bit like a class ring, though there's nothing inscribed on it. "I don't know if you recall me telling you... but I've come to my decision." He holds up the ring. "If you can bind yourself to me and somehow contain the bond in this? ...I'll do it."
Izira could not find her voice to respond. And even with Alain willingly offering she looked torn to not accept the offer. Not that life was so great with the blacking out and the getting cut up from time to time... waking up in odd places over and over again. But she had been having second thoughts of her willingness to ask Alain to make such a sacrifice for her. It was etched upon her face.
He lets her have that silence for a few moments... but then he reaches out and touches her arm, and says gently, "I want to help."
She bit her lip, before giving him a nod. "Okay. If you are sure." A swallow and she turned towards the inn, "Do you want anything?"
"Coffee, if you have any," he replies, following her in.
"Always." The inside of the inn was in better condition - no animals in sight, however. Izira easily moved behind the bar and fetched Alain a mug of the hot brew.
He raises it for a sip. "So how are we doing this?"
"There's a ritual. Nothing bloody, no... goats or anything." A forced smile, yes... I can be funny in the face of life changing events. "Words, time, breathing."
"Grain alcohol poured over our heads?" He raises his eyebrows, grinning a bit.
A smile, she shook her head. "No, sorry." Taking her seat across from him on the tender's stool behind the bar. Awkward silence from her...
Apparently he's waiting for her to make the next move. He sips his coffee and waits for her to say something.
"When do you want to do it?" The question coming out haulted and odd feeling.
"Well..." He rubs the back of his neck. "When can you? I'm free now - or I can come back another time. Or if you need a few hours to get ready, it won't kill me to take an evening off."
"It might take a moment to get ready... you could finish you coffee." She would have been up for waiting, but she also feared how long she would be in control of herself. Not that -she- wasn't in control those other times, it was still her... but a part of herself better kept inside... the knowledge and feeling of everything she had ever experienced.
He nods and, since he hasn't had an opportunity to before, rises to poke around the common room and take a look at everything while he nurses his coffee.
Izira vanished into her personal rooms leaving Alain to poke. The common room was fairly common, though lots of trinkets and books from various places sat upon higher shelves.
When she comes back, he's leaning against the counter, thumbing through a book, his coffee mostly finished.
It would be a while. She had to find stuff for the ritual as well as items for the spell to hide their bond. Also, the fire flared up for a moment and she had to fight to stay on top of things. Soon the floor of the library was set up. A tall pillar candle resting at the center of a silver bowl. The notebook laid out open to a page that had the words of the ritual. Izira returned, somewhat nervous. "Ready?"
He looks at her... and gives a squeeze to her shoulder as he passes by into the library. Surprisingly, while he's a little bit wary and knows he needs to be alert, he's not particularly nervous - after the trippy psychic experience with Sid, he figures it can't get much worse. The perils of RhyDin.
She followed him, approaching the candle and standing near it. "You will need to read the words shown here." Said as she indicated the notebook. "We need to keep physical contact and share our breath. Our lips don't have to be touching though..." Her cheeks only faintly colored, thinking Alain would think this all a ruse to get closer to him. "Just... our hands."
"Good, then Cassie won't be skinning me tonight." He grins a little, makes sure he can read the notebook from where he is, and holds out his hands to hers. "I should read that right now, or...?"
He wouldn't make a good mage or summoner, apparently.
A nod she put her hands into his entwining her fingers...but speaking before he could start. "When you're finished we need to focus on the breathing and our heart beats." Eyes closed, she was trying to be calm.
He breathes out slowly through his noses, preparing himself ahead of the ritual words, and then he recites them. The moment he's done, his eyes drift shut, and he clears his mind of everything but the two rhythms, of his breath and his heart.
It was a different rippling of the fire. Not a rising, but a reaching. It filled her and stretched reaching out for the other. Izira's heart was faster than Alain's, though she kept her breath matching his. At the first caress of the flame against Alain, Izira's heart thudded in time with his - her intake coming stronger as she felt both beats within her. It missed twice and then caught again. And Izira held firmly onto Alain's hands.
At the first caress, he shudders, but makes sure to keep in time with her the best that he can. What an odd feeling... but he forces himself not to dwell on it.
What an odd feeling... the thought echoed in her mind just before her felt her heart again beat in time with his, slowing - matching. The fire slipped further into Alain, sharing them as their breathing and heartbeats met. Izira felt a rushed of intimacy that she had never felt before, not from the few she loved and not from the many that had taken her in one way or another. As her heart matched Alain's more and more, it filled her with a freedom she had not previously experienced. A tear trickled down her cheek.
So warm... It's the cold that he's used to, making this all the more interesting for him. And then... a rush of intimacy? It takes him a few confused moments until he sorts out he's aware of her feelings. His heartbeat sounds heavier - no, that's hers in time with his...
Then the beats were matching. It was a rush, that every
thudthud came together. A beautiful music that her fingers longed to learn to play. The fire was in both of them, equally moving through their veins. She felt Alain's moment of confusion. Izira understood now why her father's people would wish to bond with their lovers in their adulthood. She longed for their lips to be touching, but did not move from her spot in this place. Only saw it in her mind.
There is a gentle ache, but a nonspecific ache - the ache you get whenever you think about love, regardless of the feeling. Still, the bond makes him think about love, and it's a struggle not to sigh, to keep their breath matching. And then, in their intimate silence, in the midst of their bond, is a voice. I'll take that. The heat that Alain feels washing over him fluctuates suddenly, as the shattered spirit of the archangel makes an impulsive grab for that power. Kael!
The voices echo in her head, the tug made for the power pulling her forward into Alain. The power from the fire flared, angrily. Twisting about the two as it went from being pulled to being on the attack. It was rooted to Izira and would not leave her, the being lurking in wait was found offensive and the fire sought to destroy him. Izira emotions twisting with the fire's attack. Still lingered her want. An echo of hate at what had reared its ugly head and worry.
There is a scream, not Alain's, not from his voice and not echoing in the air around them, but echoing between their minds as Kael tries to take what would have gone to Alain and is almost consumed by it. He falls silent to nurse his wounds, leaving Alain... still breathing, heart still beating, trying once more to match with Izira.
Izira's eyes squeezed tighter at the echoing scream. Hands holding Alain's in a manner that put their forearms against each other as well. Her power filled her, but no longer to the breaking point. A soft roll in from the power in her body, it was comfortable within her. Thumb lightly brushing against Alain's hand as the heightened sounds faded from her ears. Peace and the lingering want.
He holds onto her hands - uncertain about the ritual, he vaguely supposes they might be done, but isn't willing to make the first move on it, either.
She slightly moved towards Alain moving to kiss him, then suddenly her hands broke from his and she move quickly several steps back. Eyes open, she looked a little flushed and ashamed. But the lingering want was not dissipating. She wanted to be held and caressed. She felt wrong for even considering Alain the person to do that with after all he had done for her. Her eyes went down, hands clasped before her. A cold shower is what she needed. Still... she had to hide the bond first. It was then that she wondered how Alain faired. "Are... are you alright?"
Apparently Alain's more or less fine - he's blinking a lot and rubbing at his eyes some, but doesn't seem to be in any pain. He massages his right hand as if to check the feeling in it, shakes it out a few times, and appears satisfied. "I'm okay." He clasps his hand over the back of his neck, thinking to ask what she was approaching for - but no, he knows. He certainly knows now, anyway. "Sorry about, ah... Kael. He's one of the burdens I mentioned."
Izira moved to keep her hands busy, setting about the task to hide the bond. Anything to distract from the need, which she was unaware Alain could read from her. She bit her lip, visually looking to concentrate - inwardly trying to banish the thoughts she was having. Ten years!!! A little pile of herbs was set to burning, she looked for the ring.
It's back on his finger. After she searches for a little while, he figures it out, and takes it off to offer to her.
She freezes, watching him. Then hesitantly takes the ring. Think of something else, anything else. But the thoughts that rolled through her head were kinder versions of what had been cruelly done before. "Do you... feel the fire?"
He shakes his head slowly. "I don't know what happened - maybe it kind of... shorted out, when Kael touched it?" Which means a brushfire may have randomly started in a parallel dimension. Such is space-time. "I can... feel your emotions, a little bit. Not much, though."
She almost paled at that, somewhat recovered when he added 'not much' of course... she had just mentally gone over nearly every intimate scenario imaginable. She swore she would never do that (the bonding) again... if this was how it was going to end up for her. Perhaps she was lucky to be a female and the frustration was all that was bothering her. An inner ache rather than an outer one. She did turn red and turned so as not to be facing him. Then she did panic. Wondering what he was picking up, or wondering if he was just being kind and he could... oh dear gods no.
He watches her for a moment, and when he realizes she's blushing, he reaches a hand out - not to reach for her, but as a gesture. "All I'm reading off you, right now, is you're embarrassed and nervous... which I could otherwise read from your body language anyway."
A soft chuckle. "Yes, sorry. The bonding left me a little..." drowned in desire "out of sorts." She tucked a strand of hair behind an ear, and longed for it to be some other movement from another's hand. She forced herself to focus on the ring, working on the enchantment. A pause after speaking soft words... her mouth opened thinking the words she was going to say I need you... "Alain, I need you to touch the ring with me."
He watches her while she thinks and struggles with... Well, he's not sure exactly what. Desire? But then she speaks, and he tells himself he shouldn't be reading things off of her, anyway. Just let the little feelings slip by. "Okay." He reaches out and touches the ring.
The ring held in the palm of her hand, Alain reaching to touch it from above. That both of them were touching the ring was important, as it showed the magic what it needed to hide. Izira held it, finishing the spell and just as it was set - a flare came from the ring and into her - making her aware that Alain was perfectly aware of her struggle. She was a deer in the headlights. No words yet again coming, eyes wide.
He looks at her, and appears to be thinking for a while of something appropriate to say. All he says, finally, is, "It happens to everyone. You can't very well control what..." And then he's thinking about sex. Not as intensely as her, but still, flashes of lustful images through his mind. "See? I'm your average male. I didn't even mean to do that."
Weak smile. She didn't know how to tell him that she hadn't been with anyone in ten years. And that wasn't simply general companionship but being intimate as well. That while there had been a few tender moments in her life with another, that the lines of those who used her otherwise weren?t short ones. While it happened to folks all the time, it was a rare thing indeed for her to want this badly without first wading into the idea of it willingly. Of course, now she didn't have to tell him... or did she? She moved her hand to put the ring into his care and withdraw her hand from it. It was easier not reading him. "I guess... with what happened.... this must be the outcome." And Izira could only think to curse her need and that which kept her from stating it.
He replaces the ring on his finger. "Maybe it'll cool off with time." He pauses. "If that's the case... I could go now, and return tomorrow - see if it's changed any? If that makes you more comfortable."
There was a weak, almost sad smile. "That would probably be for the best, yes." Underlying her desire was sadness. A regret that her life hadn't magically changed instantly after the bonding, she was tired of being alone... truly. "You know the way out?" He was kind, he had helped her... the fire shouldn't overwhelm like it had before. Still with other aches, her heart stabbed a little.
He nods slowly... "I'll see you tomorrow evening." Another pause. "Let me know if anything happens - I'll do the same." He fingers the ring thoughtfully, watching her a little while longer... and then he steps out of the library.
Izira watched him move out of sight. Keeping in check. She noted that the fire wasn't bothering her at this heightened emotional moment, but couldn't bring herself to be grateful for it. She waited quietly for a while, giving Alain time to get away, before tilting her head back and letting out her various frustrations into a loud scream.