Heirot

"Oh, hello my dear. You look lovely," Thornock commented in a normal voice, smiling as if he hadn't just been howling up at their window. "I hoped ot have a word with Mr. Nightblade. You don't mind if I come in, do you?" he said in his usual rapid voice, walking in past her anyway.

* *

Soran watched her go and then walked down the hall to Rai's room. He opened the door, walked in, and froze. The bed was a mess, smeared with blood all over the sheets. Slowly, he walked to her bedside and knelt next to her, touching her hair lightly. There was even blood there; blood that should have been his. His smooth chest burned with the memory of what had been done to it before she'd healed him. She'd never bled like this before... he wondered tensely if he really understood how her magic worked. This made it seem much more dangerous than he'd thought. If wounds transferred, and not only pain, he had put her in far more danger than he'd thought. He didn't try to wake her, just watching her quietly with only a fraction of his real anxiety showing on his face.

Mizuki blinked as he walked past. "uh," she began the turned around to keep an eye on him while closing the door. "He's upstairs right now seeing too... Rai." Mizuki watched Dralan causiously. What did he want with Soran? Especially now since he should be relaxing?

"I would like to know, why you insist on seeing Soran?" she asked polietly.

Rai sighed and rolled over onto her back, her eyes fluttering open. She looked up at Soran and for a moment just stared at him blankly, its because her vision was clearing. Then she smiled. "Soran," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could possible muster in her weakened staight. "I missed you." She still hadn't noticed all the blood she had everywhere. "I said, 'I want Soran, I'm going to get him.' And you're here!" She tried to sit up, but her body wouldn't let her, it was too worn out. Maybe if she were bigger and older her body good handle the strain, but for right now she would take time to recover.

Rai was confused, since never had she ever healed someone and it did this. She didn't know what to say about it. She was confused, and worried... because what if it got worst?

Soran frowned and stroked the side of her head. "I'm here," he confirmed. "You'll be alright soon." He wanted to pick her up and hold her, to take her away from the sheets that were covered with the consequences of what she had done, but he thought it might hurt her to be moved. "I'm sorry...I was in pretty bad shape this time."

* * *

"I have a problem. Yes, a problem," Dralan said as if talking to himself. "I need Nightblade's help to get rid of some street brats that have been on my case. They're trying to steal one of my experiments. Yes, stealing," he mumbled.

She held out her hands to Soran as she tried to sit up, but was too tired to. "Its okay daddy," she yawned. "We wouldn't have got out with out you..." She smiled at him as she tried one more time to sit up.

Mizuki arched her brow at Dralan. This must've been--no, was--what Soran had done with his life before. Taking care of bandits and theives. Mizuki felt bad that she had to turn him away.

"He's, busy right now." she told him. "Upstairs talking to Rai.. that and... I'm not sure if he'll do it. We've had an eventfull handfull of weeks and..." Suddenly she felt like the excuse wasn't good enough. Maybe that was old Dralan's effect on people. "Soran may just want to rest for awhile." She finished, a little embarrassed that she had a hard time explaining for some reason.

She had a feeling though, that Dralan would demand for Soran anyway.

Soran paused for a moment at the name 'Daddy', but overcame it quickly. Normally it was best for someone injured to lie still, but Soran wasn't the sort to stop her from getting up, even if she was overdoing it. He'd done the same enough times himself. He reached out and helped her up, supporting her back with his arm. "What you did was very brave," he said. "I wouldn't have been able to fight for long without your help." More like wouldn't have been able to stand under his own weight, let alone fight, he conceded to himself.

Rai giggled softly. "I'm not that brave... I just did it because I felt I should," she said softly. "I don't know what happened this time though.... Its different." She held up her hands which were caked with dry blood. "Ewww...." she said, scrunching up her nose as she noticed all the blood everywhere. "Ooops... I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault, idiot," Soran said quietly. "Anyway, we can't figure out what happened through alll that blood. Do you feel like a bath?"

Rai blinked at the idiot remark, not sure how to take really. She looked down for a moment and then back up. "I guess. Yes, please." She sighed tiredly, trying to hold herself up so Soran wouldn't have to do all the work, but she got tired and leaned back against his arm.

Considering how much blood he'd seen in his lifetime, Soran had a surprisingly hard time taking his eyes off of Rai's bloody skin. His dream flickered across his mind for a brief moment before he pushed it away again. He supported her as she sank back against his arm. She really was tired out... he had a hard time resisting the awareness that her suffering was his fault. He wanted to do something for her, but he was poor with words. A bath was the best he could think of, because he knew Mizuki often gave her baths and she enjoyed them, but now that he thought about it, he didnt even know how to do that. He turned Rai very carefully toward him, knowing he'd just spoken too brusquely to her. "Sorry, I'm not good at this," he conceded to her quietly, leaning forward and holding her in a light hug. He wanted her to know that she was safe, that he was grateful and sorry, that he wanted to protect her from ever feeling pain again, but words always failed him. They were always too cold and rational; this was the best he knew how to do for her.

Rai wrapped her arms around him and hugged his neck as tightly as she could, though it was barely a hug at all. "Its okay, you had a bad week... a very bad week. I love you, Soran."

"I love you, too, kid," he whispered. He was saying that a lot lately, and strangely he didn't mind that much. He didn't mind caring about Mizuki and Rai and Siren, and for once he didn't mind being cared about either. Still, he found himself wondering if Rai could still say that to him if she knew who he really was.

"Well, how hard can it be," he asserted, lifting Rai gently into his arms and walking out into the hall toward the bath. He could hear Dralan's voice rambling downstairs, and shut it out indifferently. He didn't want to talk to anyone but his family right now...though he did sympathize with Mizuki for being stuck there with him. He shifted Rai onto one arm so he could turn the faucet on, and let the tub begin to fill with warm water.

She rested in his arms, not wanting to use up to much of her energy. She would have held onto his shirt so she wouldn't fall out of his one arm. Her mother and father used to give her baths all the time so she wasn't bothered by Soran giving her one.

Soran turned to the pile of bottles that were sitting at the edge of the tub. Mizuki had bought them and put them there while he was gone. He picked one up and smelled it, having no idea what they were used for. Hard soap was all he used for personal hygiene, but the bathroom always smelled like a flower garden after Mizuki or Rai used it to bathe. Baffled, he picked the bottle that smelled the best and poured some into the water as it filled up. Incidentally, the bottle was shampoo instead of bath soap, but it began to sud up in the water as it poured in, which looked about appropriate to Soran, so he decided he'd done the right thing.