His dark voice trails down her spine, lighting a path of desire that renders her breathless. "If only I were in a position of no consequence."
Alia's breath wavers when the pad of his thumb slowly glides across her bottom lip.
"Then I could give in...
Heat rises up into the female's cheeks, embarrassment and guilt lacing her features.
Valen pauses when he notices the latter but quickly continues. "My home is off-limits," he adds, remembering the few times he would find a woman waiting for him. The anger he would feel is something he has not experienced in quite some time. "And lastly, I do not enjoy being touched, so please refrain from doing so."
From the tone of his voice, Alia can tell that he isn't asking.
At his words, Alia can't help but glance over at his bare arms, noticing the pale scars scattered across his skin. The most prominent being a large, thick band around each wrist. The female's heart aches for him, troubled by the idea of what Valen must have gone through.
"I understand," she nods, sending him a small smile before turning and picking at the hare in her hands. She can't even begin to imagine the extent of his past. "Thank you for this, Valen."
He looks up from his almost skeletal meal and watches as Alia motions towards hers. Her bright, jade irises gleam with appreciation as she looks at him, causing him to nod in response.
Ten minutes pass when Alia manages to completely strip her meal to the bare bones. Valen had finished his much earlier and sat quietly as she ate.
"Would you like another?" He asks, picking up the last remaining hare to his left. The female had been asleep for hours and he managed to eat two by the time she had awoken, finishing his third only minutes ago.
Alia softly shakes her head, full from the abnormally large hare. "I'm alright, thank you."
Valen doesn't say anything as he places the animal back to where it was, knowing that in the next few hours one of them will be hungry enough to eat it.
Bringing the girl along has forced him to alter his plan. When he checked on her before noon, he noticed how tired she was, so he decided to lead her to where they are now: an area for rest.
Alia fiddles with her fingers whilst she ponders whether or not she should bring up the reason for her being here. Sighing, she closes her eyes and asks, "Can you please tell me what happened on Tuesday?"
Valen stretches out his legs and crosses his ankles, back resting against the log behind him. "I lost my composure," he starts, watching the female as he speaks, "and you happened to be the closest person to me."
Alia frowns and her eyebrows furrow as she replies, "I don't understand." Crossing her legs, she faces the male completely. "What do you mean by composure?"
"My presence, as some would say. I usually have it under control, but at that time I did not."
She watches as he runs a hand through his hair, the black strands long enough to be combed back by his fingers, but too short to reach his ears. The sides of his head, however, contain very short hair.
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So, the part of him which usually affects me when I get too close? But, that doesn't explain everything.
"When I get close to you it never gets as bad as what I experienced that day, why?"
Valen hums. "I have the majority of it held back." Alia tilts her head in confusion, but he doesn't elaborate.
"But, that doesn't explain what I saw."
Valen's eyes dart to hers. His gaze is demanding as he slowly asks, "what did you see?"
The change in atmosphere has Alia's words dying in her mouth. But, she manages to get a hold of herself and clears her throat before answering. "I saw a man in a metal cell, but I saw through his eyes and felt what he felt."
The words must have affected him in some way for he remains still, looking at nothing in particular. Before Alia can ask if he's okay, he speaks once again, but not before grabbing something out of one of the pockets in his black combat trousers. It's a journal and a pen.
"Tell me what you saw." His tone leaves no room for input. It slices through her, demanding that she do as he says.
The front cover of the notebook has a few, large numbers carved into it, but she can't make them out. The skin is black and the pages have a yellow tint to them.
Taking a deep breath, Alia begins to recount the events, describing everything from what colour the monitor was, the facial features of the scientists and most especially, what she felt. The sounds of the pen moving across paper fill the space around them as she speaks. Valen doesn't take his eyes off of the journal but continues to ask deeper, more specific questions until everything she could remember has been plucked right out of her mind.
Closing the journal, Valen places it back into his pocket along with the pen. His eyes are hard as he looks forward in silence. Alia remains quiet, sensing the thick tension in his body.
Almost a minute passes until he murmurs, "What you saw was a memory."
One of Alia's hands flies to her mouth, holding back a gasp whilst her eyes widen, trying to process his words. Those cruel, vile people. Oh how she wishes she could tear them apart for their actions of injustice. Anger sizzles in her now narrowed eyes and her fists clench painfully at her sides.
Noticing the girl's change in expression, Valen is stunned when he recognises her anger. Does she think his words are lies?
"How dare they," she seethes. It feels like her body is on fire, her mind races at what she wants to do to every one of those scientists. Before, Alia thought she would never kill again, but right now she wishes to slaughter them all.
Valen can smell the blood coming from her closed fists and it takes him aback, but Alia notices no change to his composure. Never before has she reacted so strongly to something she had no part in, but something inside her is furious, livid.
Alia tries to reel in her emotions, but can only manage so little. "Who's memory did I see?"
What comes out of Valen's mouth has Alia snarling in pure rage.
