[@Wick][h1][color=royalblue][center][img]http://t02.deviantart.net/22Rgt0gblSi_IukwT9Ahe-p82zg=/fit-in/700x350/filters:fixed_height(100,100):origin()/pre15/600e/th/pre/i/2014/201/a/2/giacomo_crescentii_by_kazuyalord-d7rhlf9.jpg[/img]
Elias[/center][/color][/h1][hr]
Elias' eyelids pulled heavily downwards, as if a great force was forcing them shut. He attempted to fight it, but he eventually gave in, allowing his lids to shut fully. Alexis' breathing was the only thing he could hear, and it comforted him. The soft rise and fall of her chest, the gentle [i]whoosh[/i] of air through her nostrils... In... Out... In... Out...

Alexis adjusted herself, making Elias' eyes flutter open for a moment. As she snuggled back against him, the pair slowly drifted off to sleep, content to be with one another...

[color=ed145b]"I love you, Elias."[/color]

Elias' loopy mind barely registered the sentence, slowly mulling it over, turning it again and again, processing...

Love. What an odd concept. You form an attachment to a sack of flesh. No, that's not right. An attachment to the spirit in the flesh sac. Somewhere in there, a consciousness resided. Time with the creature resulted in affection and happiness; distance from the spirit caused sorrow and despair. One could even find a flesh sac appealing and relate it to the spirit inside, so much so that things resembling the flesh sac evoked emotions in one self. Quite odd. Quite odd indeed...

Elias pulled Alexis closer to himself with his good arm, snuggling his face into her auburn hair. As his consciousness drifted away,
 he murmured an almost inaudible phrase. [color=royalblue]"Love you, too."[/color]
[hr]Elias eyes cracked open, his head pounding with immense amounts of pair. His mouth was dry, and his lips stuck together when he tried to lick them. Forcing his eyes open was a process, and the Grimm struggled against the heavy crust around them. His right arm was asleep, and so he lifted his left arm to wipe away the gunk from his eyes.

Pain spiked through his shoulder as he attempted to access it, eliciting a surprised moan of pain. His muscles were tight and inflamed, flaring in anger at the attempted use of them. Elias' entire torso was in pain, his muscles taught with tension in an effort to restrain any more audible noises. The Grimm laid back, attempting to relax his muscles as he bit his lip, restraining any more groans of agony. He felt something stir next to him, but he couldn't see past his tightly shut eyelids.

His breathing was rapid, and the pain was unlike anything he had ever felt before. While it wasn't the most excruciating thing Elias had ever endured, it was an entirely different kind of pain. There were three kinds of pain, as far as Elias knew: Sharp, aching, and burning. This was something entirely new. It felt like a searing vibration was shooting through his arm, chest, and shoulder, accumulating near his collar bone.

Time seemed to stretch on infinitely as the hunter lay there in anguish, his bare body flexing every muscle. He wasn't sure how long he was in that state, but he eventually managed to relax, breathing heavily as his eyes fluttered open, blinking away the tears that had form. They leaked out of the side of his eyes and slid down his cheeks, falling onto a mass of auburn hair next to him.