[color=#A0A0A0] There was a bit of silence as the hardened man shifted through thoughts. His expressions were neutral, hand clutched to letter before placing it down over the gun. Even as she came to sit down he was slow to meet her. It was as thought she called him back from a far away land. In the depths of his own thoughts he found himself quite far. Returning to his fellow Darcsen, he spoke quietly. [color=#0f5397]"Inès?" [/color] Eyebrows furrowed as each eye regained control from staring into nothing. He seemed almost lost. A captain adrift with his ship nowhere to be found. Slowly, he matched her gaze. [color=#0f5397] "I'm... I... It's good to see you." [/color] His back straightened to better support himself. He sat upon the bed with some feeling returning. Memories of that night... and her choosing another over him. He honored the decision. [color=#0f5397]"How is Freya?"[/color] [/color] [color=white] The sudden question poked a short smile out of Inès, fuddling about while she slowly looked down, then darted her eyes back to Franz. Freya she loved, true, and she would not dare deny herself nor Franz that truth that the two shared their intimate moments together. Yet, even through her slight, so slightly sweet smile, as if a single grain of sugar touching the tip of the tongue, Inès maintained her cool warmness. [color=4682b4]"Freya's well. She's a chatterbox, as always." [/color] Inès smirked to him, slightly adjusting her seated position as if to get closer to him. Her head turned more upwards, meeting Franz's eyes at a slightly elevated level, as if to match his natural height. [color=4682b4]"How have you been?"[/color] [/color] [color=#A0A0A0] How had he been? It seemed to confuse him at first. He shifted his eyes to the left and then back to her. Yes, of course, it was perfectly normal to ask. He was alive. He was here. [color=#0f5397]"I'm a Darcsen. I'm fine."[/color] It was a lie, sure, but it was his initial offering. It was what he was able to muster as he asked her the same in return. [color=#0f5397]"How about you?"[/color] [/color] [color=white] [color=4682b4] "I'm well." [/color] she nodded back, if only after slight hesitation. 'Well' was very well within the means of stretching the truth, but, in comparison to the pallid states of many of Inès' comrades, 'well' was a very suitable state to describe her condition. If anything, the Darcsen handled the Inn remarkably well. Inès herself would even say that wasn't the worst she had seen a bar be destroyed. Slightly, she etched her smile just a bit more permanently, looking at Franz intently, like she were about to ask something of him. A light breath escapes, the precursor to her query: [color=4682b4]"But...how do you feel? I guess..."[/color] She chortled and retracted, a huff and a relegated smirk turning from Franz. "I...just want to see how you are." Inès clarified, the awkwardness of her pacing almost uncharacteristic of her. [/color] [color=#A0A0A0] The question stung. It hurt more than anything she had asked of him thus far. It hurt to think about it and yet there was a certain numbness to his person. He wished he could have answered it simply. It just wasn't that easy. To answer her query he had to know himself and what he looked for, but in this time and in this place he was so unsure of everything. Well, he knew he was on the brink of something. It took a lot to bring himself to remember that he was a part of something and meant something to someone. It wasn't out of doubting self worth, but instead was much more about trying not to let the present consume him and the past dominate him with the future a dreadful blackened world. He had to concentrate. [color=#0f5397]"I'm glad you are well. I am... I am... The girl... The one I talked to you about at the... at the inn. She moved on." [/color] He picked up the letter, seeming to exhale difficulty. [color=#0f5397]"...I joined this war to protect my friends back home. I searched for that woman for years. We missed each other by days... minutes... seconds... And now she's with someone else. So how do I feel? I don't know. Too much... too little."[/color] [/color] [color=white] Inès listened. For a time. Her smile did slightly fade, even as she tried her hardest to emulate Freya's radiance to Franz and be the friend he needed. Yet, Inès wasn't Freya. Perhaps a Freya wasn't what Franz needed, and if so, all the more reason he would have gone to her seeking out that famed Oceanic Beacon. No, even as that thought subsided, no matter how brief, Inès sighed, dropping her head. [color=4682b4]"...i'm sorry." [/color] she told him. For what? Franz knew full well. Likely for everything. The Inn. Amber. Her actions. Freya. Inès being Inès. [/color] [color=#B0B0B0] The breaking man pursed his lips, thinking of something to say. He felt... something. He knew that since she had entered something was different about the atmosphere. More than anything, he knew that there was some warmth on the inside that was beginning to emerge. Logic concluded it was her that was causing it. The breaking man continued. [color=#0f5397]"Don't be. I'm... I feel... happy- I think. Glad that... I'm glad that you're here now. I know that we shouldn't spent too much time together, but it means so much to me that you looked for me. You even did it without anyone telling you to. I know we shouldn't... but... Ines can you- hold me? I think I'm..." [/color] The distressed man began to tear up. He didn't made audible noise aside from choking lightly on his tears and suppressing the noise. Oh Franz, what are you doing? Putting her in such a situation so freely. You trust her at the cost of, perhaps, both of your mental states. [color=#0f5397]"The... The nightmares won't stop... They w-won't... The Inn... The gas... I-I-I can't make them..."[/color] He held his head for a moment, breath rapidly destabilizing as the screams began to fill his head again. Breathe Franz... Breathe... [/color] [color=white] Franz felt that same warmness envelop him, his own interior melancholy mixing with the familiar warmness of Inès beside the bath he felt those weeks ago. She held him loose, at first, then slowly tightened, enveloping him as she stiffened her firm hold upon him. Childish, in a sense, yet thoroughly warming. She allowed him to rest upon her upper chest, slowly stroking her fingers along Franz's scalp, like a mother might their son. [color=4682b4]"It...it will be alright."[/color] Inès hushed. She never knew if it ever would be. [color=4682b4]"...we-...we're Darcsens, Franz. Like the sky and the seas, we will endure."[/color] [/color] [color=#808080] For a moment, Franz struggled, his legs and arms shaking as he gently kicked his leg. As she tightened her grip on him he slowly felt the warm enter him, panicked breath riding his throat as the blood in the river made him gag. Part of him couldn't escape. Part of him felt her warmth. He was almost well into the nightmare before he forced his face into her with arms wrapping around her. He was terrified, his confidence shattered as he devolved into a teary mess. His voice shook as he began to speak again. [color=#0f5397]"I-I saw the gas before the inn! I saw the gas before the inn! In my nightmares I saw the gas before the inn!"[/color] He whimpered, crying into her at a tone that her ears could register. This wasn't the same man she knew. This was the child inside that was scrambling for cover while the hardened Franz took time to rest. Yet, like a child clinging to its mother, Franz listened to her hushing and held onto her tightly. Gently... Gently... His grip reduced with time. His sobbing calmed to sniffles. His breath slowly stabilized. Bit by bit the cold nightmares were being replaced with her warmth, but he felt tired now. He felt... sleepy. There was a warmth in her and she was the only one he was willing to confide in. He whispered to her as he regained some of his composure. [color=#0f5397]"Please... You can't let the squad know how broken I am. The money I'm making is helping feed the family I have... I..."[/color] He exhaled sharply, inhaling just as sharp as he felt his chest tighten. [color=#0f5397]"MMhmmhmm... Like... Like the sky and the seas... Like the skies... and the seas..."[/color] His shaking calmed to a crawl. Soon, he was still. His breathing was so low and his body so still one could have questioned if he had died right then and there. How awful it must have been for Ines to witness that. Some medical units facing a panicking soldier bleeding from a vital area endured such a similar tale. You hold them knowing you couldn't save them. You hold them trying to give them some comfort in their panic. You hold them feeling their fight begin to wane. You hold them feeling their life fade away. Cold and lifeless. It was eerie how similar that was in this moment. He was partially conscious, but he wore himself out. He needed a moment to breathe. [/color] [color=white] [color=4682b4][i]'Saw gas before the Inn?'[/i][/color] Inès couldn't resist but assume the worst of Franz when those words had reached her ears; The man had gone thoroughly mad. But... [hr] [color=d2b45a]"They're antiques. Mining masks."[/color] [hr] Inès saw it all over again. Like Max was there again, his Imperial accent selling it as well as Franz's sobbing, in a horrifying, sobering sense. Earnestly, she wished she hadn't, just for that moment. She shook her head, and gazed back upon the tremoring fellow Darcsen who needed her company most. "Needed", she wondered, closing her eyes as he wept into her. [color=4682b4][i]'Not let the squad know?'[/i][/color], he said? Inès fell flat. She comforted him the best she could, but she knew she wasn't enough. To a broken man, she may have been enough. But was it any surprise that a broken man could be sated by a fractured woman? [color=4682b4]"...I wish I was alright..."[/color] Inès whispered to Franz. Like he had learned some secret in those vague words alone, so filled with regret and remorse that some paltry confession meant so much. [/color] [color=#A0A0A0] [color=#0f5397]"I'm sorry..."[/color] Franz struggled out. He held onto her as he braced himself with her comfort. Now, at least, he could speak. [color=#0f5397]"You came to me and all I've done is ruin your stay... I didn't mean to-"[/color] He exhaled, sighing as some of his strength came back to him. [color=#115DA8]"I trust you, Ines. More than anybody else I trust you... These nightmares have been plaguing me. They only stopped that night I slept with you. Some nights they aren't as bad. It all started after I killed Melanie... It happened after I watched Mila die. So many... bodies... I-"[/color] With conviction, he took a breath. With conviction, he tried to straighten out. [color=#115DA8]"Forgive me for what I've done to you, Ines. We're Darcsen. We help each other, not hurt each other."[/color] [/color] [color=white] [color=4682b4]"It's fine."[/color] Inès told him, slowly taking in his own words. That...they were Darcsen. It almost hurt to relinquish in that misfortune, that being born to something so ancient into a conflict which stretched back further than anyone could reasonably discern how quite it started...to be born a [i]loser.[/i] The names of the unfamiliar rung to Inès like some familiar church bells at their passing. Just how Franz spoke about them, in hushed, regrettant tones, how he so gently whispered their names, like their callings may perturb them from slumber...but what Franz did to her was no crime, for reflection was nothing to be ashamed of. Inès patted him and consoled him, for whatever her apparent abandonment meant to him now, that this woman, so broken and hushed could be the only one he could confide in did show how broken he truly was. Inès knew that full well. She almost hated it. She would have. Had Franz not shown one ounce of sympathy. [color=4682b4]"Franz, I know you-..."[/color] Her throat nearly choked itself closed, so badly did it pain her to say it. [color=4682b4]"You....you can always come to me. Freya and I will be well. But I don't want you to think that you can't ever talk to me."[/color] [/color] [color=silver] [color=#115DA8]"I never wanted to get between you two. Your life is one deserving of union, safely. I wanted you to explore your love freely. Life is a burden to many, I thought myself clever to keep my own struggles to myself. Wishful as I was... I break apart at the seams. Even now I feel as though it is wrong to hold onto you... Yet, despite those feelings, I give in to the craving desire for this peace that I only find in your grasp... The nightmares stop... I feel peace... I... Thank you. I will come to you as necessary."[/color] The torn Franz Blau sighed, pulling himself away enough to look her in the eyes. A mutual feeling flowed between them and as the flames of emotion burned the world around them he had only a simple statement to give. It was an extension provided by mutual interest and a reaffirmed idea which was stated before. Franz wanted her to be sure. He might have been a mess but he was a mess that was absolutely certain in his drive to help his favorite Darcsen on the field. [color=#115DA8]"If you are ever in need- even if it is about Freya- feel free to find me. I'll do everything I can to help you. That is my brotherly promise."[/color] [/color] [color=white] Inès smiled. Her little philosopher was musing on again, like she remembered so fondly in their moment at the Inn. She found it so endearing, his overly obtuse language, his oddly poetic phrasing, how he seemed to try so hard to impress a girl from the slums, yet did so with no thought. Her fingers tugged him tighter, slowly coursing along as they consoled him, grace by grace. [color=4682b4]"Thank you, Franz."[/color] she responded, lightly positioning herself to readjust her steady hug. Breakage was not what she desired, but the woman made herself enough space to peek down at the slowly-crafted mosaic that was the broken man of Franz Blau. His tears welled up, drying like the seasonal streams of the coming winter, and his patchy red eyesockets slowly paling to their natural hue. [/color] [color=#D3D3D3] Breath became slower as the eyes began to show weakness. First, a flicker, then a shutter, and finally, in the relaxed beating of his heart, came a close. He placed himself against her, going against his thoughts and bracing her for who she was. She was his friend. She was his sister in race. She was his shelter. She was his equal. In the brief moment they shared together he felt all nightmares coming to an end. There was no more blood. There was no more suffering. He had fought the hard fight and so too did she. He had nearly lost his mind and in the battle for his sanity he nearly took his own head off as well. It was a miracle he had yet to destroy himself, but so too was it a mercy that she be here to stop him from losing it all again. He was no longer a cold man crawling in the dark. He was tired. He was exhausted in every respect as this battle for his soul came to a close. In the cold winter night the embers encircled him. Though the song they sang were not for his demise, but instead for his warmth. The demon of the dark had lost this night. Franz would live once more. In his thankfulness, he forgot himself and did so without regret. As arms wrapped around Ines with such a delicate touch, he whispered to her once more. [color=#407db9]"The honor is mine... Inès... I only ask one more thing of you... Let me hold you... just a... little bit longer... Just one more... time..."[/color] But, as every warrior after a hard won battle, he found his strength failing him. His eyes sealed close. Arms welded to her person as legs went limp and his heart slowed to a crawl. He basked in every moment of her sunshine. Not very long after the fact he found his peace. It was eternal in this finite moment. It would be enough to stay like this forever. Little by little his conscious faded, his body laying at rest with her until he was gone. [color=#407db9]"Thank you..."[/color] No more pain. No more suffering. Only comfort. Only warmth. Only Inès in his arms as he lay. Only peace in his mind as he was put to rest. [/color] [color=white] Hold him? For just a while longer? Certainly. Inès obliged his request with a soft, [color=4682b4]"Sure."[/color], allowing the exhausted Darcsen to take refuge along her shoulder and chest while she held him. How he clutched her so thoroughly that even while his strength loosened, technique alone held him steadily along her...it was that of pure fatigue, of inability to do nothing aside from committing thorough rest. Too well, she knew that expression, for on innumerate occasions did Inès find herself collapsing to that of immobility, drained both of energy and mind by the recent events. Inès held him, even softly smiling as he lulled himself into a slumber. ... ...until she tried to move slightly. Franz wouldn't budge. Inès didn't care to move more, nor rest him aside on the cot, for that ironclad entrapment Franz emplaced her in was not one to be escaped from with any ease. Her mouth shrunk to awkward pursing as her eyes widened, darting her eyes down upon Franz. [i]Still asleep. Steadily asleep. ... ...Looks like i'll be here for a while...[/i] [/color]