Despite his weariness, wounds, and their predicament, Markus couldn't help but smile. He admitted he wasn't in his best condition, but it wasn't him that had taken the full-on hit. Yet she was trying to reassure [i]him[/i] about his sword. It was true he felt a sense of loss with it gone, but he doubted they could get it back. If they were to get out of here...if there even was a way out of here, they would probably need to fight through those same Orcs again. 

"Don't be," he said, referring to her apologizing. "I would have done the same thing." He sighed as he said it. It was partly why he'd been mad at the time, because he almost blamed himself for not seeing her attack coming. He knew he wouldn't have left her to fight off an Orc unarmed as he crawled away. He supposed he proved that earlier, as well. 

"[i]It didn't look like you were going to make it without help. And I know I wouldn't, either. I think if we're going to survive this, it'll be together or not at all.[/i]" she continued. It caused him to give chuckle, which hurt more than he cared to admit. Perhaps it was the fact that they had just survived overwhelming odds, but he felt a bit of optimism. "I think we've been in this together since we've met," he thought aloud. "But you're right."

He was frightened, he had to admit. Any sane person would be. But there was a daring curiosity there as well, something that at least gave him somewhat of a lifted spirit. He suspected she might be feeling something similar, on both counts. Markus reached down and grabbed her hand gently to hold it. It was all he could do, weary and resting against the wall with his legs still too tired to move effectively, even if her head wasn't resting on one. 

"We'll get through this, Valerie." Markus promised her, finally looking away from the darkness and down at his companion, giving her hand a squeeze. There was a surety in his eyes, if they could be seen by the firelight. "We just..." he felt his breath harder to come by. He truly was getting tired. "We just need to rest now." 

He placed his other hand on her abdomen gently, over the jacket that was tied about it. "This will scar," he told her. He should know. He had a sword run through him near the same spot before. Not to mention the various cuts across his body. He'd been lucky so many times before. What were the chances he'd survived this as well? "And tomorrow, probably the next few weeks even, you'll ache like hell. At least without a means to heal it. But as long as you don't move too much, it'll heal just fine." 
[@Luminosity]