john murphy, WITCH

18 | Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Murphy couldn't sit still for a prolonged period of time, at the beginning Winnie could wipe the damp piece of cloth over him with ease, even though the dried blood took a harsh hand to come off with. Winnie had done this once before and the memory was enough to give her the severe hand; he wasn't the best patient.

As she worked on his torso he would be full of distractions, his fingers drumming against her skin and his constant staring at Winnie was different then their usual contact.

All of this they were doing for the first time. He couldn't take his eyes of the way her tongue stuck out slightly as she concentrated on his exposed chest and the shiver he got as she rested her other hand on his skin so she could work best.

He bounced his thigh up and down as he stretched himself out over the rocks of the waterfall and pool that lay close to camp.

"Have you done this before?" Murphy asked her as she put the cloth into the waterfall that rushed down beside them.

"Just with blood, no real cuts," Winnie answered truthfully, and gave Murphy a glance that told him to drop the subject, "And I'm not used to such to someone that fidgets this much." She added trying to make the situation lighthearted, it wasn't the time or place to think about that long ago in her past.

"I think you're actually to blame for that Winnie. Sorry to let you know." Murphy smirked but stopped as a cut on his cheek reopened slightly. It was the little things like neither of them realised plagued their skin yesterday but as there first day being banished had progressed, they found that washing their skin only made their beating more worse.

The girl had insisted that she treat Murphy first. Even the walk here, only about a mile away had been like a marathon to both of them. It's hard to put your support onto someone who is clinging onto you for the exact same thing. Even the couple of hours of sleep they gained on that clifftop had not helped.

Winnie stopped and let her fingers trace against the bruises that lined his stomach and the top of his hip bones. They had already turned a deep shade of purple and Winnie thought about how probably even the waist of his trousers against them must be hurting a lot more than he let on.

"Sorry," She said with a bit too grave of tone in her voice, the splashing of the water had made strands of her hair stick to her face and the odd couple of droplets fell from her chin, "I am so sorry John."

She wanted to rest her head on his chest but she thought even that might hurt him, god, she couldn't take her eyes of him trying to find one patch of skin that hadn't been marked.

"Stop saying you're sorry alright. Okay," He moved to sit up a bit more and tried to pretend that the more cuts and bruises on his back she didn't know about weren't that bad, "I'm sorry as normally I could pass for a Greek god but right now I'm looking a little bit worse for wear."

He dragged one finger down her face and jaw, "Greek god?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow, "Right now you look more like the poor peasant boy that was sacrificed to them."

"You sure know the way to a man's heart Winnie," He said playfully pushing her away slightly, "And I know for a fact that in Ancient Rome they did not do human sacrifices."

"John Murphy actually paid attention during school, that's a shocker," Winnie was pleasantly surprised and she looked down at her nails and the blood crusted behind them, "That makes one of us educated."

John Murphy wiped his nose with the back of his hand and a blood smear came along with it, "I only paid attention to Romans because they were badasses, if that helps my pride."

"It does," And Winnie moved herself forward as he did the same, both sitting to face either other, it was still so strange to see how the other reacted to their words, "But there's nothing you could do that would change you in my eyes."