[color=FFF2D8][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/WHxJd1p.png[/img][/center]
[center][h1][color=7DB9B6]Elodie Ashbourne[/color][/h1][/center]
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[center][color=D9A0B0][b]Location:[/b][/color] Sean's truck—-->Vex Apartment • [color=D9A0B0][b]Time:[/b][/color] Night[/center]
[center][color=D9A0B0][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] [@FunnyGuy] Sean [@Tpartywithzombi] Vex • [color=D9A0B0][b]Mentions:[/b][/color][/center]
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Elodie didn’t realize she was crying until the tears left a cold, dampness on her cheeks.

Her whole body throbbed. Her arm was useless–twisted wrong, swollen and searing. Her ribs burned with every breath, each inhale like dragging broken glass through her lungs. The scent of blood still hung heavy in the air, thick and rich and maddening. Every heartbeat in the room–Vex’s, Sean’s–drummed against her ears like war drums.

[color=8E3954][I]Feed,[/I][/color] something whispered in the back of her mind. [color=8E3954][I]Just a taste. Just enough to fix it.[/I][/color]

But then she saw him. Saw Vex lunge at Sean.

Her heart didn’t beat, but the fear that twisted through her felt like it should’ve stopped one anyway.

[color=D9A0B0]“Sean!”[/color] Her voice cracked, hoarse with panic and grit. She tried to push herself up. Her good hand braced against the ground as she bit back a scream, dragging her broken body inch by inch across the floor. Her legs barely cooperated. Her arm hung limp. Every motion sent fresh waves of pain through her chest, but she kept going. She had to get to him.

By the time Vex collapsed and he finally spoke, Elodie was only a few feet away. Her fingers trembled as she reached for him.

[Color=tan]“One problem solved… Now… Elodie… First, sorry for… this. Second… are you alright?”[/color]

She blinked, silent for a moment, and then she let out a laugh–a broken, breathless, slightly hysterical one. [color=D9A0B0]“You’re sorry?”[/color] She gasped. [color=D9A0B0]“You got half-pummeled by a lycan while I lay here drooling over blood like a discount Dracula and you’re apologizing? I should be the one apologizing for being useless.”[/color]

Her voice trembled at the edges, but there was a faint thread of teasing beneath it. It was frayed, but still there.

[color=D9A0B0]“I’m not alright,”[/color] she admitted, softer now. [color=D9A0B0]“My ribs are wrecked. My arm’s useless. And the hunger is–”[/color] Her voice faltered. Her crimson eyes shimmered in the dim light, wide and glassy with the effort of restraint. [color=D9A0B0]“It’s bad, Sean. I can smell everything. It’s like the whole room is…[I] singing[/I] to me. I want to bite something so badly my jaw aches.”[/color]

Her gaze flicked down, just for a second, to his throat. She didn’t mean to. But she could see the slow, steady rise of his chest, the subtle pulse at the base of his neck beneath the scruff. Even bruised and bloodied, even gasping for breath, he smelled warm. Alive.

Her fangs pressed against her bottom lip.

She blinked hard and looked away, shame tightening her chest. No. Not him. Not Sean.

Still trembling, she inched a little closer, dragging her broken body with slow determination until her fingers brushed his arm. Not grabbing, just grounding herself. He was real. He was here.

[color=D9A0B0]“You’re always the one who shows up,”[/color] she murmured, then caught herself. [color=D9A0B0]“Which… is maybe a problem, because one of these days you’re gonna get yourself killed being the knight in a very dark and kinda casual armor.”[/color]

Her voice cracked, and her fingers curled faintly.

She hesitated, then forced her eyes back to his–still glassy, still red, but trying like hell to stay calm. [color=D9A0B0]“Are you…”[/color] she paused, biting down a flicker of nerves, [color=D9A0B0]“...you know. Still alive-alive? Not, like, stubbornly ‘I’ll die when I’m dead’ alive?”[/color]

A beat.

[color=D9A0B0]“Because, no offense, but I really need you to be okay right now. I think I used up my bravery quota for the night.”[/color][/color]