Carley had been walking for quite some time, as the trip from the Outback to the southern edges of town where farmland lied was pretty lengthy, especially traveling by foot rather than carriage or horse back. Honestly she had no business traveling that way on foot either. Limping along, her left knee was swollen and bruised as well as the left side of her face. Lip split and swollen, dried blood had caked around her mouth and chin as she hadn't taken the time to clean up just yet.

She was absolutely livid at the moment, fuming as she shuffled along the dirt and granite paths. She was furious at her loss with the unknown man wearing the eyeliner- furious at how badly she had let him beat her. She got a few good blows in, but it wasn't enough to contain the rage she felt brimming up inside of her. More prevalent than the rage though, was the sadness and feeling of hopelessness that threatened to overwhelm her.

The words of the emerald-eyed minstrel stuck with her, stinging every time she heard them echoing in her mind. Lydia had been hurt. Hurt by a werewolf. Carley wasn't so stupid to not know what that meant... she wasn't so stupid to know there was anything to be done about it. Not by her at least. What could she do? Nothing, that's what. It's probably why her friend didn't come to her about it...

But when did any of them go to each other anymore? It was like Erin had drifted away. She was there at The Stitch sure, but were they as close as they once were? Now Lydia was slipping away- a fact that reiterated itself by what the elf would inevitably turn into.

Glenn's barn in sight Carley kept moving in that direction. Even as the rage succumbed to the wave of sorrow and pangs of sadness. Even as her shoulders started to shudder. Even as she sobbed. The scowl was gone and replaced by tears as she wept. She hesitated at Glenn's door, not wanting him to see her in her condition. So hurt. So vulnerable. What was the time anyways? 2 AM? 3 AM? He'd likely be sleeping... but she knew he wouldn't be mad if she woke him up. And if there was any time she ever felt she needed him?

It was now.

Small hand balled into a fist as she pounded desperately at his door, slumping against it as she waited.

It had been a long and tiring day for the carpenter. More time spent working too much. Not enough time spent with friends, having fun, or just relaxing. He had sacked out a couple of hours ago, exhausted, dressed only in a pair of blue boxers and a white t-shirt. Hearing the rather insistent knocking on his door was enough to wake Glenn up, although it took him a little bit of time to pull himself out from under his covers and slide the door to his room open. Bare feet padded along the packed dirt in the main room, as he clapped his hands together to turn on the magic lanterns. A red-orange glow suffused throughout the barn. Quickly, he remembered to go and grab a hammer from his work room. He flung the door open and looked out. Nobody. Then down, quickly. "Carley?" He immediately dropped the hammer to the floor.

She couldn't formulate any words for Glenn, even as she peered up at him, face soaked in tears and blood. Any time she tried to talk she could only cry. The physical beating wasn't too bad, honestly, but the mental and emotional beating that had been building up? She broke. Stepping forward Carley slipped her arms around Glenn and buried her face in his chest in an attempt to hide it.

Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around Carley, firmly but gently. He rocked her carefully as she pressed her face against his chest. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes as well, at the sight of his girlfriend, bruised, battered, and despondent in the early morning hours. It was quite enough to remove him from his previously bleary-eyed state.

It was comforting just to be held like that. Even as a child it wasn't treatment she got to enjoy very much. Now? She was soaking it in. Moments passed and tears fell slower and less frequently. Her shoulders stopped shaking, and soon she was just standing there, slumped against Glenn. Still, she didn't move or let him see her face again, even as she finally spoke up, words barely audible as they cracked. "S-sorry to wake you..."

His voice was quiet, tremulous, almost lost in the night. "No...no. I'm glad you came. What-what happened to you?" Very, very reluctantly, and after another minute or two of hugging, he pulled himself back a little bit, although his hands were still on her shoulders. The fact that she was looking down made it very difficult to re-examine the extent of the injuries to her face.

Still clad in her shorts and a short sleeved blouse the chill of the night caught up with her and caused her to shiver faintly. Slowly peering back up, red-rimmed blues locked on Glenn's eyes as she frowned, wincing at the pain it brought on account of the split lip. "Lost a duel."

Without the necklace, his irises were a warm, deep green, almost black in the darkness outside his barn. He removed his hands from her shoulders, then backpedaled inside, where the faint glow of magic lighting illuminated the interior of the barn. He gestured for her to step inside. "You look like you got hurt really bad."

"Probably looks worse than it is..." Which was the truth, really. Sure, she got beaten a bit, but it wasn't nearly bad enough for her to have been crying the way she was. Wrapping her arms around herself she quickly slipped into the barn after Glenn, favoring the uninjured leg. "He got me pretty good, but I got some good hits in too. I'm not hurt real bad or anything."

"Wait there." He pointed toward a spot in the main room. Then, he gestured towards one of the chairs sitting off to the side, a finished one in a sea of unfinished and unsanded projects of his. "Sit there, if you want. I'll be right back." He headed further into the barn, up closer to where his work room was, then turned left and slid a door open. After a couple of minutes, Glenn re-emerged with a wet cloth in his hands. He held it out for Carley to take. "I'll go see what I have in my first aid kit."

Rather than argue over him making a fuss over her, Carley did exactly as instructed and shuffled over to the chair he pointed out to take a seat. It did feel good to get weight off her leg. With Glenn out of sight she sniffled again and wiped at her face with the back of her hand. Spotting him and the offered cloth then, she took it, looking it over in her hand. "I don't think I need any first aid Glenny..." Wet cloth was lifted to her lip then.

"Alright." He sat down right in front of her chair, then leaned forward to rest his cheek against her good knee. He glanced up at her, slight confusion crossing his features. If she'd been hurt worse, she wouldn't have been able to come here. Like the time she had fought Koyliak and he had been spirited away before he could take care of her. The guilt of not having been there in her moment of need gnawed on him again. Still, the question remained... "Something else really bad happened?"

Still holding the damp rag in her hand, she reached up to pull her beret off with the same one, dropping it to the chair she just got out of. "Could I borrow some of your clothes too? I don't think these are too comfortable to sleep in..." She started walking towards his bedroom at a slow, leisurely pace, leaning against him some as she did so.

"Yeah, that's fine. Don't know how well they'll fit you though." He slid the door open to his bedroom, revealing a relatively spartan living arrangement there. There was a nightstand and a dresser, on the left side of the room, with a futon on the floor on the right. Near the entrance was a low table, covered in a thick grey cloth, almost like a blanket. There were various books sitting on top of this, and other books spread around the foot of the futon.

Pausing just inside his room Carley took a cursory glance around. "That's okay.. I didn't figure they would. But they'll be comfortable I'm sure." She looked around again, more studious of the environment. "You ought to clean up more after yourself." Though it was a jest, it came out a little half-hearted in spite of her effort.

He stepped inside, pulling open the top drawer. Inside there were his underwear (boxers and boxer-briefs, in solid shades like black, white, grey and blue), socks, and plain white t-shirts. He stepped back from the open drawer, and looked about ready to step outside, when she wanted him to. "That work?" A slight chuckle, at her second statement. "Yeah, you know...busy."

Walking over, she peeked in the drawer before nodding her approval to Glenn then smiled a little. "I could always help. Then again if ya got less busy and I hung around more there's probably better ways to spend our time than cleaning up after your messes." She gestured vaguely to all the books scattered around his futon before pulling out a couple articles out of the drawer; a white t-shirt and boxers that were blue, naturally.

Glenn nodded as soon as she seemed to have picked out her clothes, then stepped outside of his room and slid the door closed. He turned his back on the room, since the rice paper and wood framed walls weren't perfectly private.

It took Carley a little longer than normal to shed her clothes and change into the ones provided by Glenn, on account of her feeling less than great at the moment. The beating wasn't the worst she had taken, but it was enough to slow her down. Her own clothes were folded neatly and set on a dresser, then her small, golden lightning bolt earrings were taken out and set on top of the pile in plain view, so she'd not lose them. Catching sight of a mirror, she shuffled over to it and frowned at her reflection. A moment was spent trying to make herself more presentable and a couple spots of blood she had missed were also cleaned- not that it did much good. Damp, dirty rag was abandoned near her clothes as well, before she turned towards the rice paper door. Glenn's silhouette was studied for a moment before she called over towards him. "I'm done."

He slid the door back open again, entering carefully. He pushed a few of the books out of the way of his footsteps, before he gestured down toward the bed. "W-want me to tuck you in?"

Carley couldn't help but grin a little at that, something soft about it. "I don't think I'm that bad off Glenny." Pausing, features brightened and almost resembled their usual impish qualities. "Want me to tuck you in?"

"If you want to." And suddenly, he laughed, for the first time all evening. "We're never going to get to bed if we keep doing that."

Chuckling quietly, she winced some at the pain the split in her lip brought on. "Probably not... we could always save a lot of time and just tuck each other in." Kneeling down carefully, she pulled back the sheets on the bed.

"I don't think you can do that, though." Once the sheets were pulled back (still slightly warm from when he'd been sleeping beneath them early), he lowered himself onto the futon, head against the pillow.

"That's too bad. I think we'll manage at least." After Glenn had settled on the bed, Carley lowered herself down to lay next to him, tugging a little at the sheets to make sure they could both be comfortable. After a moment of thought and hesitation, she scooched a little closer to Glenn, arms wrapping around him as she snuggled close.

He lifted his hands briefly, to clap twice softly. The magic lanterns instantly shut off, blanketing them in darkness. He glanced aside at Carley as she moved closer to him, then leaned over a little to plant a kiss on her forehead. "Quel du, Carley," Glenn said, in a voice that came almost exactly close to the light accent needed to speak elvish. Apparently, he'd returned to practicing once again.

Smiling faintly at the kiss, she allowed her eyes to flutter shut. "Quel du, Glenn..."