[b]"I'm not going anywhere," Ella sighed a bit impatiently. She forced Marken to release her for a moment and stood, gently pulling him to his feet and wiping his eyes clean with her thumbs. Marken looked so sad and vulnerable; she couldn't leave him alone right now even if she wanted to. and to her dismay, she admitted that she didn't want to.

"Come lay down," Ella suggested, pulling Marken over to her bed, "A nap will do you some good, so just relax for a bit and try to clear your mind. Your mama isn't dead yet, so there's no point in grieving her yet, okay?"

Grabbing a book that looked mildly interesting from a nearby book shelf, Ella climbed into her bed again. She piled a bunch of pillows behind her, bunched up her tossed-aside throw-blanket, and then patted her lap for Marken, signaling that she would allow him to use her lap as a pillow.

The sooner Marken calmed, the sooner he'd be back to his witty, almost-icy self, talking her in circles and driving her nuts with his taunting. Was she a masochist for admitting to herself that she couldn't wait for that? Shaking her head, Ella briefly tried to convince herself that she was just kidding, though she knew better than that.[/b]