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@emily-waldorf

Well, I discovered that I was subconsciously thinking about Anika (his girlfriend) as about 26…NOT good; he’s 19. I went into my brain and manually changed the settings, so now she’s 17-18. Hopefully that will cure it.

Lol!!!! Yeah, I hate it when that happens…

Niarok

Niarok relaxed, relieved beyond measure to see that Ayden finally had someone with something besides a troubled past in common with him.

He turned back to the fire, fully alert now that his sleep had been interrupted.

Surely there was something he could do. He hated feeling this useless.

“Um… N-Niarok?” a soft voice said behind him. He turned to find Leytera’s tiny form standing before him, her brown eyes reflecting the firelight.

She was clearly terrified of him, though she didn’t like that she was. He smiled at her.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

She looked slightly taken aback, as if she’d halfway expected him not to answer or to condemn her. He didn’t blame her. He’d been terrible to her at first.

“Um… Qatar looks cold and, well, Quin thought he could use a blanket. Do you… have a blanket he could bor… borrow?”

She had a stutter. And he hadn’t known this until now.

She must have been terrified. There was no way he was putting her at Qatar’s mercy, even if he did have the spare blanket still rolled up at the bottom of his pack.

“I have an extra one. But maybe I ought to give it to him?”

Leytera sagged with relief, and Niarok smiled.

“C-could you?” she stammered. “I’m scared he’d… g-get mad at me.”

He probably would. 

Niarok pulled a blanket from his pack, watching as the tiny girl turned to go.

“Leytera?” he called, concerned she must be freezing in that lithe frame.

She turned around, and there was the faintest hint of crimson on her cheeks.

I really hope we can make this less awkward, my friend.

“Do you need anything?” Niarok asked, trying to communicate to her that he didn’t mean her harm, and that she really didn’t need to tread so carefully as he was difficult to anger. Even if she didn’t catch the subtle message, at least he’d tried to send it.

She hesitated, seeming to waver between finding an excuse to speak with him longer, and finding an excuse to run as far away from him as possible as fast as possible. “Um… n-no,” she said, and scurried back to her place beside Quin.

Niarok nodded with a smile, glad she’d found someone she was comfortable with. Niarok always forgot what an intimidating figure he could cut around people who didn’t know him well.

Or who hadn’t come to him specifically for healing.

There was still a bit of assassin, and a whole lot of warrior, left in his blood.

Niarok glanced at Qatar, and pulled an extra tunic out of his backpack before stepping around the fire to approach the shivering, wet, angry man.

He stood beside Qatar, silent for a moment, communicating that if Qatar really wanted him to leave that badly, he would.

Qatar glared at him for a moment, challenging him to back down, but he didn’t tell him to leave.

Niarok handed him the tunic and blanket. “Thought these might be helpful,” he said quietly, so that no one would overhear and embarrass Qatar further.

Qatar glared for a moment more before nodding, although he looked seriously ready to attack Niarok for acknowledging his weakness.

Niarok just stared into the fire, waiting a moment.

Qatar’s footsteps disappeared into the back of the cave, and he returned a moment later wearing the dry tunic.

He glared straight into the fire, his eyes icy, but Niarok saw the tiniest flicker of gratitude beneath the freezing wall.

Niarok nodded and walked away, keeping his footsteps quiet to avoid attracting attention to Qatar.

Maybe one day he would have the privilege of seeing the noble man Qatar had once been.

 

@emily-waldorf

Change anything you want! I wasn’t sure how Qatar would react, so feel free to strike anything I got wrong and make it better! 🙂