Prickly thorns, tender roses

Deepest desires

"Now." He looked her way. "After seeing this, tell me. Do you have the skill to aid with the make and infusion of these components, Ravenna of Styria?" He neared the woman, his pale face a blank canvas, as empty of emotion as she'd come to know it.

It was less eerie than before, to feel those eyes on her; eyes which mercilessly followed the changes in her expression, and Ravenna had the uncanny feeling he could read more than he let on. But how he did so, now that was a mystery. She willed the thumping in her chest to quieten, and her own eyes cut to his before straying to his face.

Her lips involuntarily quirked at the edges.

"What?" Alucard frowned, watching the Styrian approach until they faced each other. "My question amuses you." He raised an eyebrow.

The display wrung a soft whisper of mirth, and Ravenna bit down on her lip, her eyes narrowing in tune with her smile. Something felt raw and tight inside; he averted his gaze to the window.

There was a thin, black mark of dirt or whatever else smeared across his cheekbone. It was on the same side and in the same place where his wound had been, an almost endearing contrast to his sullen bearing. "I have the skill," Ravenna said, attempting to keep her smile from widening.

"I did not think you to be so thrifty with your words," Adrian muttered in mild irritation at her light-hearted manner.

He liked it better when I feared him, she thought wryly. She tried to lay heed to him, she really did, but in the end, Ravenna could take no more. Beyond her misgivings and on impulse her hand reached cautiously, and then her long fingers were touching his face to remove the distracting smudge. It lasted a moment before he went completely rigid, drawing back sharply as though she'd burned him.

Ravenna was left with her hand hovering in the air, blinking in confusion, so fast he'd recoiled.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, baring his teeth, touching his face where the offending fingers had been.

Ravenna shook herself back to cold reality, her lips parting in bewilderment. What was this now? She looked away from him. "There is dirt on your face." She crossed her arms. "I did not mean to offend," the woman tried swallowing her pique, unsure whether she may have broken some unspoken local custom or other. How could she have known?

When there was nothing, Ravenna regarded him again, only to see Adrian kneeling before his tools, his back turned to her.

"That will be all for today," he said, sifting through the scraps of metal with renewed intent.

Taken aback, tense and weary in both mind and body from her work and now his peculiar ways, Ravenna chose to retreat. Evening began its descent, and she found it odd how swiftly time had flown by. A new day awaited tomorrow, and with it, more work. "Good, well then, I'll take my leave," Ravenna offered, a dour edge to her words she couldn't hide, and soon enough, the echo of her steps heralded her withdrawal.

She did not see him turn to look over his shoulder, unmoving, listening to the sounds of her departure until the gaping corridors swallowed them.

※※※

When she finally reached the former chamber of his mother, which Ravenna kept as per their agreement, the woman rushed to light a candle. The soft flame gave her more nerve. It aided in not listening to every hiss of air flitting through the crevices in the walls, not lingering on any supposed movement behind the curtains; but speaking of the curtains, the air was stale in the room and Ravenna crossed the space to the large window, cracking it open. The frigid night air and sounds of life from beyond the woodlands reached her, soothing waves that mellow unrest. She then went to lie on the bed, reaching for the throw found in one of the many drawers.