Arron and Trexx

Chapter 13

Third person pov

Shikamaru could hear her whimpering. It was light and quiet, and he knew he could have easily fallen asleep if he wanted, but he couldn't bring himself to. It just felt too weird. Instead he ended up squinting through the darkness at her cot, which was across the room and up against the wall. She rolled around, trashing on occasion, but he didn't know what to do. Was there anything he could do?

Shikamaru wondered who she'd escaped from, and why she was putting her trust in her of all people. He supposed he sort of understood. He'd been nice to her and treated her like a person rather than an injured animal. If he'd been through whatever she'd gone through, maybe he'd be the same. He wasn't sure. Maybe it was best not to think to much about it and to just roll with it, even if this whole ordeal is a drag. Why were people so horrible? Traumatizing little girls to the point where they won't even talk anymore.

"Trexx." He heard a voice whimper. His eyes shifted back over to Arron, and he sat up. She'd curled herself into a little ball, and the shadows of his room seemed to curl around her. He squinted some more, rubbing his eyes. He was sure she was sucking the darkness in the room towards her, but there was no way to tell. He was exhausted, and it was dark. "Trexx." She repeated, rolling onto her other side. He blinked. The shadows looked normal again.

Deciding it was nothing, he rolled onto his side and fell asleep.

~

When Shikamaru woke up, Arron was already away. She sat up against the wall at the corner of her cot, her knees drawn up to her chest. She stared at Shikamaru's window, watching the dust float around in the rays of light that seeped through the curtains. He let out a yawn, stretching his arms lazily over his head. He really didn't want to get up.

"Morning." He grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. Arron stared at him for a moment before turning away to look at the window again. He followed her gaze. Maybe she wanted to go outside, or maybe there was simply nothing else for her to do. He thought about the hairbrush in his dresser. She'd probably like to comb her hair. It was out of its ponytail from yesterday, and still tangled. He got up.

"What a drag, waking up in the morning." He grumbled to himself as he shuffled lazily over to his dresser, pulling open the top drawer. Arron watched with guarded interest as he pulled a hairbrush out of the sea of socks and underwear. He nearly tossed it at her but seemed to remember just in time that that wasn't something you could do to someone who was traumatized like she was. He wasn't sure how he felt about her possibly being bonded to him, but he didn't want to scare her.

"Here." He scooted closer. She didn't scramble to get away or flinch, watching him with cautious eyes. He set the hairbrush down at the end of the cot, backing away. "You can use that to brush your hair. I'm going to go to the bathroom. Don't worry though, I'll be right back. I just need to pee." He assured when her muscles tensed, and she leaned forward as though getting ready to stand. She seemed to relax slightly.

Arron watched Shikamaru leave before turning to the hairbrush. She didn't like that he was gone, but he said he'd be right back, and he hadn't lied yet. Besides that, he'd given her a hairbrush. They'd never let her brush her own hair there. They'd always done it themselves, ripping through her thick, dark locks mercilessly in an attempt to smooth them out. She shivered at the thought, hesitantly picking the brush up.

She moved her hair to one side of her shoulder, almost smiling, but not quite having the strength to. She remembered brushing her hair as a young girl. She remembered her mother brushing her hair. They'd sing together any song they could think of, brushing slow and soft and taking as long as they needed. She yearned for those simple times when her biggest problem was a stain on her dress or a muddy shoe.

Silently, she began to brush. She pulled through the tangles, not wanting to feel like this anymore. She ran her fingers through, the brush following them as she smoothed down her hair that desperately needed to be washed. A few leaves and some twigs dropped into her lap, but she didn't stop to think about it. She just kept raking the comb through until it flew through with ease. Shikamaru still wasn't back.

Arron set down the brush and waited once she was done, fingering the dead ends of her hair. She liked the feeling of it against the back of her neck, the tangles that were once there no longer scratching at her skin. Again, the feeling almost made her smile, but she still didn't feel like she had the strength to. What was there to smile about, really? It was just brushed hair. 

The door slid open and Shikamaru appeared with two plates of food. He gave a lazy grin. "I grabbed you a plate too. I can take a bite of everything first if you want me to, if that'll make you feel better. I won't mind. I'm starved." He grinned at her, balancing a plate and each hand as he approached her. She looked down as he set the plate down.

"I heard you last night. I think you were having a nightmare... are you okay?" He asked, taking a bit of eggs from her plate using his fork and shoving them in his mouth. She watched him do it, her eyes following his hand as he broke the corner off her toast. He plopped that in his mouth too before shoving the plate towards her. She flinched slightly, but he didn't stop until it was right next to her. She peered down at it. 

"My mom said we can eat in here if you want." Shikamaru shoveled some of his own eggs in his mouth as Arron shakily unwrapped her arms from around her knees, eyeing the plate like it was going to attack her. "I'll get you some water in a bit. You can come with me and get the bottle for yourself, if you want, and you can shower."

Arron didn't respond, shakily reaching down and pulling the plate into her lap. It was warm, and the smell tempted her. She thought about all the times she'd been tricked using good-smelling food. But she wasn't in a fancy dining room, and it was Shikamaru. He'd even tried some for her instead of pushing her towards eating it, or trying to feed it to her himself. He'd just given it to her idly, and now sat at the other end of the cot, eating simply as though things were okay. Maybe with him, things were okay. Because Shikamaru was good.

"Your hair looks good." He spoke suddenly. Arron paused for a second before continuing to bring the fork full of eggs closer to her mouth. Shikamaru shrugged and kept eating. The eggs had been lightly salted, and some pepper had been added too. They tasted good. Arron seemed to like them okay. At least, she hadn't spat them out yet. 

The pair ate in silence, neither feeling the need to talk or make any sounds. Shikamaru didn't miss how Arron seemed to relax after a few small bites of eggs, her shoulders going slack and her tense legs falling limp. She'd been ready to run, but it seemed she was okay for the moment. Of course her eyes still darted about, and he knew she was ready to curl up into a ball at the first sign of danger, but it was a step in the right direction.

Shikamaru stood once he'd finished, and Arron moved to follow him immediately even though her plate was only half empty. She hadn't even touched the toast. She was such a small girl Shikamaru wouldn't be surprised if she didn't have much of an appetite. But she did need to eat, he knew. If she wanted to get better so she could go back home to her family, or at least make a home for herself.

"I'm just going to put this in the sink. You can keep eating if you want." He shrugged, but she stood up anyway, her plate held in shaky hands. He shrugged at her again, turning and walking towards the door. If she wanted to be done, then she could be done. He wouldn't try to stop her. It's not like he could force her to do anything. It was her life.

Arron followed silently, her footsteps barely making a sound as she shuffled after him. He tried not to think of how ghostly she sounded, like a specter trailing behind. He wondered how she'd learned to be so quiet, but then felt that maybe he didn't want to know. He certainly wasn't going to ask, anyway.

"Here, why don't you shower. If you want. I can take your plate." She didn't smell bad, but her hair definitely needed some washing, and his mom probably hadn't been able to clean her up completely. She stared, but held out her plate for him to take. He smiled a small, tired smile as she did. He really wanted to go to sleep.

"I'll be in my room when you're out, probably." He shrugged and continued on, ignoring the way she watched him go.