08-12-2018, 07:39 PM
Jensen's accent was like thick velvet, his insistence kind but misplaced. It reminded her of Azu, that unassuming goodness; to want to fix something simply because it needed fixing, for no other reward beyond satisfaction, even when it came at personal cost. Her stubborn chin tilted, ready to refuse both politely and firmly -- until those last words, when a hum of disarmed laughter left her throat instead. But it was a fair point, and perhaps hit a little sharper than it might. Her life of late had not exactly been calm waters.
"It takes a toll on you, doesn't it? Even the small things." He hadn't asked how she'd come by the injury, and she honestly doubted he would, but accepting his healing bared a story of secrets she was unsure she wished to share with him. The bruises had mostly faded at wrist and ankle, but the slashes where she'd caught skin releasing bonds were still visible. If you knew to look.
Inconsequential things, really. But they made the memory of her ordeal real. Surmountable. The dreams were worse, knotted as they became with older wounds. And she was afraid the erasure would somehow give those demons a looser slack. Realisation tightened her jaw, though. Her pale gaze grew hard, as though bracing for something unpleasant, or forcing some thought away. But she nodded.
It wasn't unpleasant. Natalie been unconscious when Jared had fixed her on the field and Jay hauled her to the hospital; she didn't even know how badly she had been injured, only that she'd woken whole and tired. She had no comparison for the warmth that flowed from Jensen's touch; so entrancingly calming that she almost wanted to pull away from it. Desperate for an anchor she watched the concentration in his expression, until Jay's words pulled her gaze. She couldn't see, but it only reminded her that she'd never told him what she was. There had never been an opportunity.
Afterwards she folded her hands in her lap; didn't look for proof of the miracle, though it left her feeling somewhat strange. Indebted. Because it was not simply the pain in her foot or the lingering scars on her wrists that had washed clean, but the pall of weariness that had haunted her for weeks. Her head tilted thanks, though she drew quiet, focusing instead on Jay's words as he finally explained the help they needed.
"It takes a toll on you, doesn't it? Even the small things." He hadn't asked how she'd come by the injury, and she honestly doubted he would, but accepting his healing bared a story of secrets she was unsure she wished to share with him. The bruises had mostly faded at wrist and ankle, but the slashes where she'd caught skin releasing bonds were still visible. If you knew to look.
Inconsequential things, really. But they made the memory of her ordeal real. Surmountable. The dreams were worse, knotted as they became with older wounds. And she was afraid the erasure would somehow give those demons a looser slack. Realisation tightened her jaw, though. Her pale gaze grew hard, as though bracing for something unpleasant, or forcing some thought away. But she nodded.
It wasn't unpleasant. Natalie been unconscious when Jared had fixed her on the field and Jay hauled her to the hospital; she didn't even know how badly she had been injured, only that she'd woken whole and tired. She had no comparison for the warmth that flowed from Jensen's touch; so entrancingly calming that she almost wanted to pull away from it. Desperate for an anchor she watched the concentration in his expression, until Jay's words pulled her gaze. She couldn't see, but it only reminded her that she'd never told him what she was. There had never been an opportunity.
Afterwards she folded her hands in her lap; didn't look for proof of the miracle, though it left her feeling somewhat strange. Indebted. Because it was not simply the pain in her foot or the lingering scars on her wrists that had washed clean, but the pall of weariness that had haunted her for weeks. Her head tilted thanks, though she drew quiet, focusing instead on Jay's words as he finally explained the help they needed.