Recovery
A GW fan fic
By Miiro
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Guild Wars, but I do own both the full Prophecies and the Factions Pre-Order…
Summary: A fic set in between Path Left Unwandered and Windborn
Author's Note: Back sooner by popular demand. Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried I doubt I was able to make this one match the last one. Hopefully I didn't screw up my own timeline too badly either…
Chapter One
Sleep was a wonderful thing when you managed to actually get sleep. Rurik was just beginning to fall asleep again when the cry pierced through the house. A motion on Selena's side told him that she had, again, gotten up to feed Salamar. He cracked an eyelid and was rather surprised to note that it was in the day. Sitting up slightly, wincing as he did so, he looked out the window to the sea outside. A few moments later, Selena walked in to the room. She was fully dressed in skirt, tunic, and one of his belts to tie it all in that she had to wrap twice around her.
"You're awake," she smiled as she sat on the side of bed closet to him and smoothed back his hair that was ruffled from sleep. "Hungry?"
"No…" his stomach growled. "Yes."
He moved to get up and she pressed a hand on his shoulder, "Oh no you don't."
"Selena, I've been resting all damn week since we got here!" he protested.
As a final parting gift, Lynn Matheri had taken those who wanted to return to New Ascalon back to the former Guild Islands south of Lion's Arch. Selena, not liking the chill of Droknar's Forge, had decided it best for Rurik's recovery if they went to the warmer isles. As usual since returning from the Fire Islands, Rurik himself had been asleep when the decision had both been made and for the transfer. Awakening in the second strange place, though thankfully warmer clime had been a not entirely welcome surprise. The argument between him and Selena had been loud, drawn out, and likely sent a good many Ascalons running for cover once they fully realized who had been arguing and with whom, especially when Selena had walked out on him, screamed something like, "Dammit, Rurik, it was for your own damn good!" and slammed the door hard enough to rattle windows.
A few hours later, after saving enough energy to go look for her in the village and get dressed, Rurik had found her by a small pond just inside the main part of the village. While he wasn't in his usual armor—and how that seemed to be a part of him he felt strangely naked without! —people still recognized him, bowed, and then went on with their business. It was only after talking with Selena by the tranquil pond he looked around with a pained gasp.
The island looked like Ascalon before the Searing. In fact, if anything, it looked like her old home of Ashford, if not for the fact that in port there was two massive galleons and the sea beyond. Looking the other way he could see a massive castle that looked painfully like his old home in Rin.
He still awoke some time later in their house by the beach. When he asked, she told him he fell asleep listening to the frogs and the birds by the pond and that Captain Greywind had helped carry him home.
That had been a few days ago.
And now, even while arguing with her he still felt like at any moment sleep was going to ambush him and carry him back down into the inky black depths of unconsciousness. Finally, she sighed, and said, "Go back to sleep, you look like you're about to anyway. I'll wake you when lunch is ready and bring it in to you."
Rurik yawned, "No… I can stay awake. Eventually, I'm going to have to stay awake to deal with everything anyway."
"Yes, eventually, but not right now," she stood up while running one slender finger down his nose to his mouth to keep him from protesting again. "You've been through so much. This is your body making you rest so that you can recover."
"Hmmm," Rurik mumbled as his eyes slid shut again. "Maybe for a few minutes…"
Selena stood there for a moment more, watching him sleep. His face had relaxed and the lines had smoothed, making him look almost as he had before the Searing. She wondered if he remembered her from before the Searing. He should have, come to think of it, since she was there when he had asked Terryann to back him up when the Charr broke through the Northern Wall at the Gate. She was sure he would have remembered her healing him… but perhaps not. It had been a long time ago and he might have met so many new men and women vying to enter the Academy that one more necromancer after hundreds in the same day would have only been a small bat of an eyelid and nothing more.
Sometime before the Searing, but after the King called for more Heroes….
It had been a long day and so many aspiring heroes of Ascalon had come to Rurik asking for silly things like finding a Charr Tooth in the Catacombs, to whom he had the following internal dialog; Take it Mhenlo, wasn't the one who gave the quest in the first place? Oh… Mhenlo told you to give it to me, okay whatever. Thanks, here's ten gold, geez, I'm going to kill Greywind…
Finally, the young warrior ran off and Rurik sighed just as the… dammit, actually, he had given up trying to count the various professions and the mixing of. Some he didn't see lasting long out there, some he lifted a brow at, and some just frightened him. A young Ranger came up to him, "Your highness!"
"Yes?" drawled Rurik as he noticed her companion, a tiny Necromancer and thought, Now there's one that won't last very damn long out there… oh wait… she's already in the Vanguard? I give her two minutes with the Charr and I'll be telling her parents that they have to bury their little girl…
They left and he sighed, "So sad…"
Cynn came up to him, "What is?"
"You see that young Necromancer?" asked Rurik.
"Which one out of the hundreds today?"
"I did not see hundreds… did I?" Rurik turned to Cynn in puzzlement.
"Maybe not, but there were tons of them," she said as she walked back by the wall, shrugging. "Seen one Necro, seen 'em all."
That much true…
Finally, a warrior, an older one, came up to him, "Greetings, your highness."
"Siuil," Rurik shook the man's hand. "What can I do for you today?"
"Have you seen a Necromancer about this tall," asked Siuil La Rune.
Rurik looked at him, a blank expression on his face. "No Necromancers?" asked Siuil, and Cynn began to chortle behind him. "What's so funny?"
"Oh yes, Siuil, I've seen a Necromancer woman that tall," Rurik answered blandly. "In fact," he pointed one way, "One went that way…" he pointed back down the stairs, "One went that-a-way," and then he used both hands to point in two directions while crossing arms in front of him, "Actually, I seen a few go all over the place, really…"
Cynn burst out laughing.
"Very funny…" Siuil rolled his eyes as he walked back down the stairs.
"I'm sorry, Siuil! There's just been too many!" called Rurik just as his friend disappeared behind a wall. "Well, that was certainly priceless…"
True to her promise, Selena came back into the room, Delei behind her with a tray laden with food. Rurik was still sleeping so she gently shook his arm and called, "Rurik, come on, wake up. You need to eat something."
He opened his eyes and took a big breath of air as he looked around, blinking his eyes. She piled up some pillows as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "How long was I asleep?"
"About a half hour," answered Selena. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, I think," said Rurik as he rubbed his face.
Delei sat the tray down over his legs. With a bow, she backed out of the room. Selena sat beside him as he ate. "Not eating?" he asked.
"I already did," she answered. "I don't eat near as much as you, then again, I'm no where the same size as you either."
He looked over at her, "You don't eat enough, from what I remember. You always ate like a sick bird, just little bites here and there."
Rurik finished his meal and Selena moved the tray to the dresser so that when Delei looked in next she would know to take it away. Rurik, settling into the pillows, but still half sitting, asked, "I don't suppose there's anything to read while I'm not going anywhere?"
"I can check," Selena sighed. "Maybe, if you're up to it in a few days, we can go see the library and find any books you'd like to read. Mhenlo tells me that you'll be all right for short trips around the village, but you will still need plenty of bed rest."
"Don't get me wrong, I still feel as if I need all that rest," he admitted, half closing his eyes. "I still feel so tired all the time…"
"I think that is due to how long you spent 'awake' when Khilbron animated you," she tapped one finger on the back of his hand. "Your mind was never allowed to sleep for months, so now it is taking the time to rest itself. Your body, on the other hand, is feeling the strain from the injuries that killed you, and then being animated, killed, and me bringing you back. Magical resurrection or no, you still need time to heal."
"And sleep is the best healer," he agreed. "So my mother tells me."
"Well, it is," Selena leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"You're unusually affectionate, wife of mine," he smiled.
"Comes from thinking I'd lost you forever."
Rurik closed his eyes, but opened his arms, "Selena… come here, I know I'm falling asleep, but I need to hold you… sometimes I wake up at night and fear that…"
Selena rested her head on his chest, lying in his arms. He mumbled something else but she didn't actually know what he said. "Go back to sleep," she whispered.
He shifted, and then he seemed to simply melt into the bed. Taking one deep breath, he sighed, and then fell asleep, his arms sliding down to rest on the bed, although one arm remained on her back. She sighed as well, then slowly and gently sat back up, moving the one arm that had been on her back to rest on his chest. For a long moment she stared at his sleeping face before bending to kiss his cheek and smooth back his hair out of his face.
With a small smile she realized that he desperately needed a haircut. Finally she got up and silently walked from the room, closing the door quietly behind her. So far, except for a few in the village who knew, no one knew that the Prince had returned. Mhenlo had felt that it was for the best as, if everyone knew about Rurik's return, he would have a never ending line of visitors which would mean that he would not be able to rest at all. Given how much Rurik needed the rest, Selena was glad that Mhenlo had thought of it at all… with a smile this reminded her of the time when, before they had all left Old Ascalon but after the Searing, Rurik had come back with a broken leg.
"I'm fine."
Duke Barradin sighed, rolling his eyes at the other companion, Farrah Cappo, as she also rolled her eyes. "No, you can't even walk on that leg!"
Rurik made another attempt to stand, and he even managed to get up, leaning heavily on Old Mack as he did so. "I will not sit by while you and the Vanguard defend us, besides, that Grawl war hammer didn't hit me all that hard. I can walk it off."
He let go of Mack, attempted to take a step, and then promptly fell over with a sharp cry of pain. Grimacing, he whispered through clenched teeth, "It's not that bad…"
"Sure it isn't," said Farrah.
There were a few choices one could do, but Barradin said, "Rurik, why don't you teleport yourself back to Ascalon?"
"I will not leave you behind."
"Don't worry about us," Farrah snorted.
Rurik finally nodded, and one minute he was there, and the next he wasn't.
Opening his eyes he found himself not too far from a bonfire, and a few Elementalists that were dancing. The dancing abruptly stopped at his arrival. One female Ranger ran up to where Tydus was and a short moment later Tydus was running down with a few guards as the Elementalists closed in on Rurik. "Ladies…" Rurik smiled. "Forgive the abrupt arrival."
"Oh, we don't mind," giggled one.
At that point Tydus arrived, "Your Highness, we… are you all right?"
"Not really, no," grimaced Rurik. "A Grawl with a warhammer broke my left leg in a sweep."
Tydus ordered the guards to help with him and they carried Rurik into the Palace and into his rooms. A young woman helped clean up his hair and face of the dust. It was then he realized that the slim and tiny woman was Rosa. With a forced smile through the pain, Rurik nodded to her, "Rosa, I'm glad you're here."
She said nothing, but sat beside his bed. Her green eyes followed every move. It was strange that they were almost mirror like. He stared at her for a long time. It was not as if she tried to communicate, or anything else. It was almost as if she was in a state of semi-catatonia. Actually, his father and mother felt that she was catatonic. Queen Farina often told him that she had to be led around, as if there was no actual person or soul behind those eyes.
King Adelburn, in another issue Rurik had with his father, maintained that the diminutive woman belonged in Sardelac. Rurik did not agree. Rosa was catatonic around everyone else but for Rurik. It was almost the more he could tease out of her, or lure out, the more she slowly came back to herself. She wanted to come back. He knew it—Kasha knew it. If only everyone else did as well…
"You don't belong in Sardelac," he whispered to her, bringing one hand to his lips to kiss the back of it. "No matter what the King says, you don't belong there. If you went back then you would retreat quicker. Not that I blame you."
He dropped her hand to her side just as Adelburn walked into the room. His father stopped for a moment before he compressed his lips into a think line. Father and son regarded each other, and then Adelburn broke the silence with, "How long will you be here?"
"The healers say it will take a few months for my leg to heal," answered Rurik as he turned to Rosa again.
"I wish you'd quit that."
"Quit what?"
"Her mind is running too fast for us to catch her, let alone bring her back," Adelburn sighed as he rested a gentle hand on her head. "It is too bad, really. She was such a pretty girl."
"I wish you'd quit that," Rurik pointed to his father. "Quit speaking as if she's gone already. I get responses from her. She doesn't want to come back, but perhaps she will if we coax her back. Just giving up on her solves nothing."
Adelburn removed his hand from her head, and then grasped her shoulders as he looked into her eyes. She met his gaze squarely and without fear. Thinning his eyes he tried to ascertain whether it was because she wasn't aware of someone looking in her eyes or not. He widened his eyes in surprise.
Oh yes.
There was awareness there. It didn't want to be there, but it was there. Adelburn whispered, "Who are you, woman?"
"Father…" Rurik held up his hand in protest.
"Silence Rurik!" Adelburn boomed and he shook Rosa ever so slightly, just to get her attention on him as she had begun to look away. "Don't look away. Look at me. Now who are you?"
"Enough Father—!"
"—Enough Adelburn!" cried out Queen Farina.
Adelburn let Rosa go and she sank down to sit on her heels and knees, her head hanging down. He stood there, breathing hard and then turned to his Queen, "She runs away, and I can sense the awareness in her!"
"Be that as it may," Farina walked in to take Rosa up and guide her to a cushioned chair. "You had no right to frighten her."
"She wasn't frightened of me," mused Adelburn, just loud enough so that only Farina heard him, as did Rosa. "Not even startled."
"I don't care about that, father," Rurik seemed to be trying to keep a tight rein on his voice. "I didn't like seeing her treated like that. She did not deserve it."
Adelburn harrumphed then turned around to his son, "Now, about this leg of yours. How did it happen?"
"Barradin and I were hunting down a pack of Charr, but outside of Grendich we ran into a pack of Grawl. The last one refused to go down, and used a sweep with his warhammer. Unfortunately for me I did not move out of the way fast enough and he took out my leg," explained Rurik, somewhat sheepishly. "I was simply careless."
"Then let that be a lesson to you," Queen Farina turned to her son. "I have been hearing tales of your exploits. Quite frankly, they worry me. I know about Althea…"
"Mother, please, I'm not ready for that yet," Rurik's voice was rough.
"Ready or not, it needs to be said," Adelburn agreed. "The men say you're fearless, I call it reckless. And you're going to get yourself killed. Are you that much in a rush to join Lady Althea in the Mists?"
For a long moment Rurik was silent. Farina put her hands on her mouth, "Gods… you are trying to get yourself killed."
Adelburn turned strangely quiet. "Farina, out, now. And take Rosa with you. Evidently my son and I need a long talk…"
Selena sighed. Unfortunately, Farina had been right about her son. Rurik had been in a rush to kill himself. While he couldn't bring himself to actually commit suicide, what he had been doing was a sort of slow suicide. Until the Shiverpeaks when… no… she tried not to think about the Frost Gate mission. She had him back now.
She turned to the soft knock on her door as Cynn walked in the door. "Hi," she said, quietly.
"Hi, Cynn," Selena's voice was equally quiet. "What brings you here?"
"Mhenlo… sort of," answered Cynn. "He's been spending a lot of time around here," she looked at Selena sideways, "But for some reason not many people know why he's here."
"Arya felt that it would best if no one knew Rurik was alive yet," explained Selena. "That way he won't have a constant stream of visitors to disturb him. Once they do know he's back his old Vanguard will be looking for him, as well as the local leaders of the towns of New Ascalon… and Old Ascalon."
"Yeah, I'd gathered that," Cynn nodded. "So, how is he, anyway?"
"Exhausted. He's sleeping right now," Selena sat in one of the chairs in the living room. "I haven't seen you in awhile."
"Yeah, well, Devona and I have been helping your father with those damn Titans that got out before we closed the Door of Komalie," Cynn shrugged. "We managed to clear 'em out of the Maguuma and keep them from going after the Ascalon Settlement. Then, we went back to Drok's to see where they might crop up next and guess what happened?"
"I don't know…"
"They were in Droknar's Forge! But, of course, yours truly cast the Firestorm that fried their butts," Cynn then quieted again, hand over her mouth as she realized her volume might have just been loud enough to disturb Rurik. "Sorry…"
"For future reference, given the location of our bedroom in our house, I doubt he could have heard you," Selena smiled. "But it's better to be safe."
"Yeah, anyway… we're going to Ascalon first," Cynn said cautiously, then dropped her volume lower to a whisper. "King Adelburn requested our help—the Titans are attacking Old Ascalon. Gods, even Gatanx asked us to come, it seems they're coming from that same said Pit of Frostfire."
"I had a bad feeling they might have been," admitted Selena.
"What's this about Titans?" and they both turned sharply to where Rurik leaned against the doorframe leading from the kitchen.
"Prince Rurik… hello…" Cynn bowed. "It's nice to see you up and around again. I was just updating Lady Selena about what her father has been up to."
"Oh?" asked Rurik, a strange little gleam in his eyes. "And what has Lord Siuil La Rune been up to lately?"
Cynn shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking at Selena, who answered, "Not much more than he usually is."
Selena stood up and walked over to her husband who mouthed, "Than he usually is?" then said aloud, "What do you mean by that? That could mean anything, Selena."
"Whether or not it does has no bearing here, Rurik, you should still be in bed," chided his wife. "Mhenlo told you that."
Rurik sighed, "I'm getting bored again and I came downstairs to find a book to read."
Selecting a book from a shelf, and looking at its cover, he lifted it and said, "Job done, now I'm going back to bed to read," he kissed his wife on the cheek and waved to Cynn, rolling his eyes slightly, "Now, you girls go back to gossiping. I have no interest in the latest from Old Ascalon. Women…"
With that Rurik disappeared back upstairs and Cynn let go of the breath she was holding. "You think he heard us?"
"Not all of it," surmised Selena. "Only enough to draw the wrong conclusion at the right time."
"That's an interesting way of putting it," Cynn rolled her eyes then gave her friend a nudge on the shoulder. "Say… ah… you think you could come?"
"Why? Arya and my father will have the situation handled, I am sure. Come on, Cynn, you, Devona, Mhenlo, Aidan and Akruan, as well as others from Rurik's old guild and Adelburn's as well will all be there. I am quite sure there is enough people to handle it," Selena sighed. "Besides, if I go, Rurik will be on my heels. You know that as well as I. He has this silly notion that if he lets me out of his sight for a second I'll end up like Althea."
Rurik was almost to the top of the stairs when he realized that when he had grabbed the glass of water, he had not grabbed his book and had left it on the kitchen table. Walking back down with a small sigh at his own forgetfulness, he stopped when he heard Selena and Cynn. He hadn't realized that the sharp-tongued Elementalist had dropped by for a visit, but then again, he wasn't all that surprised.
Cynn had presented Selena, when Selena had been Rosa, to Rurik during their wedding ceremony in Grooble's Gulch. The young Elementalist had taken a liking to the quiet 'Rosa' and had often spent her time in camp trying to get her to speak or to take interest in things. Perhaps Cynn's cavalier outlook and spunky zest for life had managed to shake Selena out of the catatonia.
He smiled, but that dropped off when he overhead the conversation, especially when Cynn ever so casually used his name. Their voices were pitched low, so obviously he wasn't supposed to hear which only piqued Rurik's own curiosity more. Silently he moved so that he was out of sight but so that the acoustics of their house would carry their voices to him…
Cynn went silent for a moment, "Maybe he has a point though. Have you ever told him what his resurrection cost you?"
When Selena was silent for a long period Cynn surmises, "You haven't. Selena… he deserves to know. After all, I am sure that he has noticed a strong, and near telepathic, bond between the two of you. You can't tell me he hasn't. I sure as the Rift noticed that somehow Rurik cast a Portal to Droknar's Forge from Hell's Precipice… without even ever been there. But you had been. So…"
"I know," Selena made a placating gesture with her hands as she dropped her voice low. "I don't think he's had enough time to really think about it, or wanted to. He will have to deal with it all eventually but his body keeps making him sleep all the time right now. But I know he will—and I'll tell him after he's moved past that."
"Maybe you shouldn't wait," Cynn caught Selena's glare, ignored it, and continued on. "I know that if I was Prince Rurik I would sure as the Rift want to know. I wouldn't be stupid either—and he's sure not. I bet he's already thought of it, but doesn't know how to bring it up."
For a very, very long moment Rurik stood still in shock. Selena had not told him the full truth, but, as she'd said, perhaps unloading too much wouldn't have been a good idea either. He could see Selena's point although a part of him was extremely disappointed in the fact that she would hide something that serious from him. He shifted his weight and then froze when the conversation came to a quick halt.
"What was that?" asked Cynn.
Selena frowned as she turned at the sudden creaking that she had very nearly missed had Cynn not caught it. "I'm not sure. It is a wooden house. It could have been the wind causing the house to shift."
"Houses shift?" Cynn squeaked. "I lived in a castle in Surmia… rock does not shift."
"Well, wood does slightly. It's nothing to worry about, Cynn," Selena smirked at her friend's sudden discomfiture. "What's wrong, a little wood creaking making you nervous?"
"What? No!" Cynn playfully punched Selena in the arm. "C'mon, surely you know me better than that. I'm not afraid of some little wood creaking."
"Now, you said that Adelburn himself was going…" Selena turned back to the stairs in a bit of concern.
"So says Devona, anyway," answered Cynn as she picked up a cup and looked at its empty bottom. "It should be a barrel of fun. Your father, King Adelburn, his personal guards… most of our old party, Arya and Akruan… yeah, like old times. I wonder if the old man is anything like his son."
"Cynn…" Selena's tone warned Cynn about the territory she was about to walk into as she turned to face her friend and grabbed the cup to take it up to the kitchen. "A little respect for the man."
"Oh puh-lease," moaned Cynn. "After all that we've been through now you ask for us to respect him?"
"I always respected him," Selena corrected. "I just didn't agree with him. I guess. Rurik actually did not give me much choice in the matter. He sort of whisked me away from Old Ascalon and into the Shiverpeaks."
"Didn't you want to come?"
"Well, after, yes, after all, there was actually nothing left for me there, so he did right."
Rurik needed to shift his weight again as his leg was cramping, and he didn't need to hear his wife's voice coming closer to the stairs that would take her up one half level to the kitchen. He slowly backed up to the next landing that would take him up to their bedroom. Sitting on the stairs out of sight of the kitchen, but able to hear the conversation, he leaned on the wall as both Selena and Cynn walked into the kitchen.
He had a sinking feeling he knew what they were discussing. And he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of his father going on that particular mission.
Cynn sat down at the table as Selena put the cup in the sink. "How many more Titan attacks have there been?"
"Not many," answered Cynn. "Devona believes that this Pit of Coldfire or whatever it is that Gatanx told you about is up to the North of Old Ascalon. Both she and Gatanx, going from what he knows of his people's lore, believe that not only is the Titan Source to the North, but the Pit of Coldfire that forced the Charr out of the North are one and the same."
"And—what was that?" asked Selena as she looked sharply up the stairs at the sudden gasp from the stairs.
Walking around the corner, as regally as one could after being caught eavesdropping, Rurik came down into the kitchen. He ignored his wife's glare, and Cynn's, as Cynn said blandly, "Now who would have thought that the Prince would resort to eavesdropping on idle women's gossip?"
"Very funny, but this is clearly not idle gossip," Rurik turned to his wife. "How well you learn of court intrigue and, conversely, of leadership. I'm not sure if I should be ashamed or proud of you. Now, tell me what is going on around here that a Prince doesn't know what is going on in his own Kingdom."
"Excuse me, your Highness," Cynn retorted. "But right now you're not officially alive yet until Mhenlo tells you otherwise. Until then, Lady Selena rules in your stead."
Rurik glared at Cynn, and Cynn simply stared blandly right back up at him. Finally he drew a deep breath in and let it back out in a long-suffering sigh. Pointing a finger in Cynn's general direction he pointed and said, "You're very lucky that Selena has taken a liking to you, and that you are considered a hero of Ascalon, both old and new."
Cynn, for once, was quiet. Rurik turned to Selena with a glare that had once made even Lord Darrin back down. He wasn't all that surprised to note that it did not make her back down from him. She returned it with her own and they simply tried to stare each other down for awhile until she said, "We can either continue to stare each other down, or we can talk this over. I have both grown and regained my strength since the Searing. When you… when you died I had to lead them to Kryta, and then I had to lead them while in Kryta. And then here as well. I tried to step down but they wanted me to stay. Given the problems that continued I am sure you can understand why, out of habit, I have continued to lead New Ascalon even when you are here again," she stepped forward to reach up to lay a hand on his cheek, "we will share this weight once Mhenlo says you have recovered—although, to be honest, I would rather just continue to live quietly. No more Stone Summit, no more war with the Charr, no more White Mantle. Just you, me, and Salamar."
Rurik sighed again, touching a hand that was on his cheek. "You were always strong, always matured. But, like me, you needed to recover."
"Um, yeah, obviously you two need a moment, so I'm just going to go see if I can find Devona and the others," with that Cynn walked down the short set of steps to the main level and then out of the house.
Selena watched her friend leave then was surprised as Rurik stepped in close to her and pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. He ran his hands up and down her back, ruffling the fabric of her blouse. He pulled away and took a deep breath of her hair. She looked up at him, a little out of breath from the sudden 'attack' on her, "You're feeling better, I see."
"I am," he used both hands to cup her face as he continued to kiss her, alternating between that and pulling her to him. "And I am suddenly very aware," he paused to nibble her ear, "of how much I've missed being able to do this," he stopped as he breathed in her hair again, "And I feel… much better."
"Mhmmm," she hummed. "I can see that…"