“I hope so,” Noah had said in reply to the comment on his stitches being removed. Them being removed would be the most welcome step in his recovery he could anticipate for. He just wanted to move freely again, didn’t want to lean on others for anything anymore. It was already damaging to his pride to ask even Elann for help, regardless of if she relished in aiding him or not. It wasn’t what he wanted and hopefully she understood that.

When Noah thought on the past he could vividly recall the good along with the bad, it was just the bad weighed heavier than the good. He remembered Elann’s joy and their happiness together in bright color but also saw the times he had been pushed and shoved for things he didn’t exactly want to do in a heavy layer of darkness and gloom. In his mind, the bad outweighed the good because he felt as if it was himself who had been wronged. As it were, he loved Elann then and loved her now. All he wanted to do was hope their future would be brighter and less darkness filled than their past.

Lying down, Noah finished putting his pants on with her aid and then used her to sit back up. He muttered a thank you, not in a begrudged tone, but in one that was just made in his quiet voice. He meant it, and assumed Elann derived joy from aiding him in the menial task he wanted to do himself. Noah couldn’t explain how appreciative he was when Elann fashioned the special pants and shorts for him when his leg was injured, how all he had to do was pull up his pants by two strings instead of straining with his injured leg. She fashioned a way for him to do something himself without needing her help while also satisfying her need - or want - to aid him as well. He loved her for that.

Thinking on it as he sat up and tied the drawstring of his trousers, he felt a little bad for their fights. They weren’t stupid in his opinion, but the suffering they caused was heart-wrenching and hurtful. He had been hurt enough though and hadn’t found it in his pattering heart to allow her to regain the fullness of the special space within himself made specifically for her.

Noah had felt how their bond briefly lit up with her burning love and then it was squelched in the next moment. It warmed his heart momentarily before it was lessened and made milder by her.

“Did you do that?” he asked, looking at her. “That feeling, did you do that?”