Lavender & Ice

8. An Injury

"You can't reach it. And you're making it worse." She said calmly. "Give me the cloth, Kietnan."

At the sound of his name, he looked up at her. She made her facial expression remain calm and hopefully comforting as he stared at her. He finally laid the cloth in her hand and let out a slow, deliberate breath as she stepped around to stand by his shoulder.

She reached up with her free hand and gently placed it above the wound on his shoulder, to steady herself and hold him still. He tensed at the contact but didn't move. Taking that as permission to continue, she gently wiped away the dried blood from around the wound. Stopping occasionally to rinse out the cloth.

"This might sting a little." She chuckled to herself at the Beauty and the Beast reference she knew he'd never understand. She placed the cloth as gently as possible on the wound. He growled and said words she didn't understand but he held still. Wiping away as much of the fresh blood as she could, she then grabbed a clean, dry cloth and pressed it onto the worst part of the wound, holding pressure against it with the palm of her hand.

He growled and began to stand but she used her free hand to firmly press on his shoulder. "No, Kietnan." She said firmly and he froze midair. More gently, she continued. "I'm trying to stop the bleeding. The more you move, the worse it will be." He settled his weight back into the chair and relaxed just slightly.

Continuing to hold pressure on the wound with her right hand, she reached around him with her left and pointed to the vial of cream. He grabbed the jar, holding it within her reach, and she dipped her finger in it until she had enough to begin. She slowly removed the pressure and cloth but the wound continued to bleed so she immediately returned it. He drew in a deep breath but remained still and silent.

Keeping the pressure on the cloth with her right hand, she instead began applying the cream to the rest of his shoulder. When she felt she had done a good enough job on the top of his shoulder, she moved to apply it to the front but his shoulders and chest were so broad she couldn't quite reach. She took a step around him to stand in front but remained close so she could continue applying pressure to his shoulder blade. She had to reapply the cream to her fingers several times but eventually she had all of the wounds on his chest covered.

"I think I've done ok on this side, Kietnan. How are you doing?" He lifted his head to face her, but stopped frozen in place, both of them surprised at how close their faces were. Ashima suddenly realized the position she had put herself in. She was standing in between his legs, her body standing inches away from his as she'd rubbed her hands on his chest.

She blushed furiously, and whispered. "I... " but the words got caught in her throat and she drew in a breath as his fingers touched the skin on her face. He quietly said something she didn't understand but she noticed his face showed one of confusion. She wasn't sure if it was the close proximity, his half naked muscular body practically pressed against her, or the sound of his low rumbling voice speaking softly to her, but suddenly she felt the warmest she had since arriving on this planet.

She let out a small gasp and quickly stepped back and around to check on his shoulder blade. As she slowly peeled back the cloth, she said shakily. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get in your personal space like that."

He turned his head slightly toward her but remained silent. The bleeding seemed to have stopped well enough and she reached for the cream, finishing his shoulder as quickly as possible so she could go crawl into a hole and hide from her embarrassment.

She took a few steps back to where he could see her and pointed at his shoulder. "All done."  

~~~~~~~

Despite the excitement of Kietnan's arrival last night, the rest of the evening had been pretty much the same as the previous one. She ate her two pieces of meat and drank her water while he drank two of the colorful liquid jars in silence. He then sat at his desk, pouring over papers as she simply watched him in boredom.

Deciding to push her luck, she walked near to him to catch a peek of what he was looking at. She rolled her eyes and held back a groan as most of the documents were of course just writing in a language and writing system she couldn't understand. Eventually he moved those aside and unfolded a large map.

Excitement rushed through her as she studied the topography. Mountain, rivers, valleys, she recognized the lake she had fallen into and shivers ran through her.

She jumped when Kietnan turned and said something to her. "Huh?"

He repeated it, pointing at her. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked down at herself, then back up to him.

He huffed in annoyance but got up from his desk and walked to the chest next to his bed, retrieving a bundle of cloth and practically shoving it into her hands.

"Oh..." she whispered as she unfolded the cloth to see it was one of his long sleeve shirts, the material similar to cotton. She looked the shirt over, not seeing any tears or holes or stains. It actually looked fairly new. Did he mean for her to wear this? Her eyes jumped up to his when he let out a grunt-like sound in her direction, pointing to the shirt and then pointing to her. I guess so. She thought.

She quickly put on the shirt, rolling up the sleeves several times so they wouldn't hang so long over her hands. She looked down to see the shirt was practically at her knees and she giggled. The giggle turned into a full laugh when she thought about the absurdity of the entire situation. She was smiling wide but when her eyes caught his face her smile faltered. Was he smiling? She hadn't seen any real show of happiness since she'd been here. Her smile widened again and she felt hope blossom in her chest. His eyes eventually came up to hers and he immediately schooled his features and turned back to face his desk when he saw her watching him.

She pushed her luck and took the steps to stand beside him. He turned and looked up at her in confusion and annoyance. She patted her hand lightly on his shoulder and gently said. "Thank you."

He huffed.

"Thank you for lending me the shirt, for warmth I'm assuming." She pulled at the front of the shirt and smiled. "Thank you." She repeated before stepping back.

He nodded slightly, perhaps he thought he understood her meaning but wasn't sure. She wasn't sure either.