I think I love you.
The words had been rolling around in Red's head all night, refusing him sleep, tying him to the bed as sure as chains. The disgruntled man rolled onto his side with a sigh. He had never thought about love, not since he was a hopeless teenager slacking his way through Academy. It wasn't that he didn't care about the woman; he just didn't exactly know what saying "I love you" entitled him to do. It felt like loosing his independence, just to say those words. It wasn't until the sun peeked above the horizon that he finally found sleep, face turned away from the light.
Breakfast was strained. Karria wouldn't look up from her meal, and Red was still too exhausted to prod the woman into speech, still too confused from his own thoughts to even formulate a greeting. She followed him into his inn room, clicking the door behind her with a certain sense of doom. She looked just as tired as Red was, as if she had spent her night tossing and turning alone, wondering if she had done the right thing.
"You said we could talk in the morning." It was the strained edge to her voice that caught Red off-guard, like she would start crying again without warning. He turned to face the much shorter Elementalist, wondering if other people had their love confession talk from opposite ends of the room, him leaning against the window and her still playing with the knob of the door, staring at her feet. "It's morning, can we talk now?"
Red shifted his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot, suddenly unable to stare at the light-haired woman any longer. His tiredness hit him even harder now, every bone in his body wishing he could collapse on his bed and go back to sleep. It was only a step or two away…he forced himself to return back to the conversation, or lack of, at hand. "What are we talking about?"
"I love you." Karria repeated those words again, eyes hardening when Red flinched. "Don't you have some sort of response to that? I wouldn't have said a word unless I had some sort of feeling... I thought maybe, you could return that affection." Her voice lacked anger, or sadness, flat in its inflection. Red grimaced slightly. The normal Karria would have told him that by screaming in his face. He didn't like this quiet, depressed Kar. It made him even more unsure of what to say next, afraid to screw up things more than he already had.
"Karria…" He tried to take a step forward only to find his feet quite glued to the ground. He frowned. This was bringing up not-pleasant memories, things he had already buried. Dust to dust, and all that kind of thing. "I can't. Say it. Not yet. Give me a little time, let's find somewhere to hide until then, I promise I ca-"
The tiny woman was in his face in a second, eyes blazing like she was about to set fire to the room. "Why can't you? It's just three words, isn't it? Isn't it? Maybe I don't want to wait. We're getting old Red, I want to know if there's something worth staying for or if I should cut my losses and run with heartbreak. What is it that makes you so hesitant?" In retrospect, trying to pull the woman into an embrace while she was raging was not a good idea. Red yelped as his palms burned, and Karria jerked away, sudden worry in her eyes. "I.." She never finished that sentence, finding the doorknob and letting herself out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Red groaned, flopping down on the bed. "Fine mess I made of that one." He grumped, blowing on his burned palms in hopes of quelling the sting at least a little. It didn't help and he growled quietly in his throat. He was irrationally worried about her running off like that, but at the moment his pride stung too much to move. Besides, the woman managed to bring another back in the back of his mind, another situation he had washed his hands of long ago.
"You're joining with me, right?"
"Moira, you're joking, right?"
"No, you have to!
If you can't become a White Mantle with me, you just don't love
me enough to be with me!" "You know that's not true…
you know I love you…"
"Do it then."
Karria hadn't even noticed the rain when she stormed form the inn, but now the skies had opened up on her, soaking the woman to the bone. She shivered, stifling a sneeze. Cities had never been her thing, yet now she was lost, wet, and cold. Top that with a slice of rejection and the bitter tang of a heart starting to crack, and it created one sad Karria. She turned without aim done another street only to find herself in one with a wall on the other end.
"It's been so long, yet you look as lovely as ever." That voice froze her more than any amount of rain ever could. Unwilling to turn around, to wary of having an exposed back, she turned her head far enough to see a familiar man blocking her exit. He was taller now, more muscular, but his face had evened out to something that was almost handsome. At least he looks human now, instead of a troll. Karria thought sarcastically as he strode towards her. "Although I think I prefer you drier than that. You must be freezing."
"Siegfried." Karria spat out, eyes narrowing as he took another step towards her, dangerously close to her personal space. She had to turn her head upwards sharply to keep track of his face, cursing her lack of height even more than she ever did with Red. The man smiled at the sound of his name, two muscled arms pinning her against the wall. She squeaked in surprise when his breath, reeking of ale, blew across her face.
"Such a beautiful voice. I wonder if you scream as pretty as you talk." If it were possible, Karria would have pale at those words. Instead, she found herself struggling as a pair of lips pressed against her neck, teeth scraping against the sensitive flesh. She whimpered in sudden fear when the man used his weight to pin her completely, hand straying down her side. "It's so sad, you could have been with me all this time, happier than you could have ever been with the redheaded pipsqueak…I saw you storm from his room. Yes, I've seen you do a lot of things." Karria had to swallow down her bile, wondering just how long this man had been stalking her, watching, waiting for the one moment she'd stray off alone. He laughed as he left scratch marks on her stomach, watching white skin turn red. "Yet, you two have never done something like this...why would Red ignore such a divine creature, right in front of him?"
She was about to scream, pride the only thing holding her back when Siegfried pressed those lips against her collarbone, too afraid to struggle with him so close, afraid of making him any more excited than he already was, when a voice behind him made him pause in his ministrations.
"Hey. Get the fuck off my girlfriend." Fire blazed, too close to Karria, who finally screamed, though not as loudly as her attacker, Siegfried running into the rain to quell the flames, meeting only Red's angry punch at the end of the alley. Red swore loudly when a crunch came from his hand, ignoring the pain as he strode towards the woman, grabbing her by both shoulders. "What did you think you were doing?! You could have gotten killed, or he could have followed through with what he was about to do, or it could have been some nameless fucking freak! Who knows?" He pulled the stunned girl into his arms, voice hoarse. "Look. I just punched him, again, and broke my knuckles, again, in the pouring rain, looking for you." He pulled the woman away again, shaking her slightly. "Do you know why? Because I really, really care about you and don't you ever think otherwise."
Karria squeaked in surprise, eyes wide. She had never seen Red angry, ever, especially at her. She carefully took his broken hand off her shoulder, healing it, wordless. When the light faded, she finally looked up at him fully, finally giving voice to her thoughts. "But... if you… why couldn't you… back in the inn room…" Red sighed, letting his anger fade away. It was story time.
"Look, when we both got sent off, I uh, freed this girl from a brothel. I guess she fell in love with me then." He ran a hand down the side of Karria's face, pretending to be looking for damage. Truth was, he was just reluctant to tell the story of his shady past. "She was able to convince me I loved her back, and maybe I did but…she wasn't a good person, Kar. Always demanding, forcing me to do things out of my 'love' for her." She was no longer looking at him, eyes focused somewhere else, head leaning against the warmth of his hand. "I've been kind of… scared, I guess, ever since. In case that's how love is supposed to be." He jumped when a frozen hand grazed his cheek, Karria's eyes watering.
"Oh, Gods, Red, if you would have told me, I wouldn't have jumped it on you without warning." Red pulled her again him his embrace, laughing despite the seriousness of it. Karria blinked up at him, confused.
"This is worse then when we dated back in Academy." Red stated, still laughing, while Karria finally managed to crack a smile. "Gods, we're a mess. And you're freezing. What kind of uniform did that crap army give you in the first place?" Red's arms tightened around her, Karria trying to find warmth in the taller body. "Come on, let's go back. You need a warm bath. Or meal. Or some ale." The woman finally laughed, wrapped her arms around the man's neck.
"I'd take all three right now. Come on, let's go." Red smiled, placing a small kiss on the woman's lips, the first of many, linked her arm in his, and practically skipped all the way back to the inn, ignoring the slight charred and unconscious catalyst for it all.