"I don't understand why you don't just accept your blood colour." Disciple was saying, legs crossed as she sat in front of him on his bed. She was cleaning some blood off of his face, making sure the mark was healing up properly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I understand why its such a big deal...but still." A small sigh passed through her nose, but at the same time it sounded a little like a purr.

Signless smiled, eyes falling shut as he leaned gently into the damp cloth she had against his head. "Trust me, when the time is right, I won't mind letting the world know my true ranking. What colour the blood is that courses through my veins. But until then, I don't want to run the risk of being snatched away from the people I care most about."

Disciple smiled at him, but the smile was small. She understood more than he could imagine. She didn't want anyone to take him away from her, but she wanted so desperatly for everyone to know about him, to know what he was and how the world could be better if they understood. "So how was your day? What happened exactly? Dolorosa filled me in with what she knew but..." What she meant was she wanted to hear from the source, and not his guardian. Her hand fell from his face, resting in the upturned palm of the other as she looked at him.

Slowly, Signless opened his eyes. They were looking down, concentrating on the cloth in her hands. "I was just trying to help a girl whose mother was ill. I just-its not fair! If it were my mom, no one would do something like that. They'd have helped her, not attempt to kill her off." Signless snarled, head dropping before looking off towards the door. He leaned forwards, allowing himself to rest in Disciples lap, pulling his knees to his chest before lazily drawing circles on her knee. "I don't understand why trolls are so cruel here."

"Well," Her voice was soft as she leaned back, tugging the damp cloth out from under Signless, tossing it to the floor. Her hand was in his hair after, gently tugging at strands as she talked. "You didn't grow up in this society. Then again, neither did Dolorosa." Disciple had long since learned Signless had been raised by her, and thought her to be his mother. They all knew very differently though. "So, I understand why you don't quite understand how we work. If I'd been raised like you, I would think the same things too."

His eyes slid shut, hand going limp as he thought about this. She was right. If he'd been raised within society limits, he would think differently. Hell, he probably wouldn't have made it to adult hood because of his mutant blood. The odd colouring of it, so unusual and non-existant. "Dolorosa use to tell me I couldn't go outside the clearing because someone would find me." He mumbled to himself. "I use to think she was so mean for keeping me in, but now? Well, I'm really glad she did. I wish I would've been nicer to her."

"So you weren't nice to her when you were a grub?" Signless could hear her sigh a curious sigh, which provoked him to turn ever so slightly to look at her face. She was looking down at him, a grin plastered across her face indicating she wanted to know more. "Tell me what you did."

Signless's eyes grew wide, mind searching for memories he could elaborate upon. "Well, there was this one time, I snuck out to the dunes when she was doing laundry. I must've been just a few sweeps old. I mean, my blood was just barely visible by that point." Signless giggled, remembering the memory. "Dolorosa caught me. She'd looked off into the distance and saw me sliding down the dune. I hadn't even made it to the top! Oh she was so mad."

"What did she do?" Disciple was even giggling. Something so trivial, and yet so dangerous at the same time. Of course he hadn't understood. He hadn't seen the danger in it.

"Well, she grounded me. And by that I mean she'd practically chained me up in the house so I could only get from my room to the kitchen, bathroom and living room. I couldn't go outside and she made me do all the chores while she sat around and did nothing." Signless scratched his head. "Now that I think about it, that wasn't much of a punishment, but what else could she do right?"

"I know, ground you from your friends?"

"Oh, that's so funny. I never thought of that. I mean, yeah, I couldn't go visit the berry-monster, or stick man, or any of those fun non-existant friends." Signless rolled his eyes.

"I know, I know. I was only teasing." Her hand paused in his hair for a moment, then started messing it up. "So she must've been pretty mad again when you got yourself...hurt huh?"

"Yeah. She was. I'm grounded again so to speak. I guess some trolls never change huh?"

Disciple looked up, more to the roof but still at the wall. Some trolls never change? Well, that was true she supposed, but at the same time that meant Signless would never change. He'd alway be getting himself into trouble, complicated situations. One day, that would kill him. Disciple felt a squeeze around her heart. She'd change him enough so he wouldn't do that. So that wouldn't happen. It couldn't happen. "Disciple?" Signless asked, seeing the saddened expression on her face.

Her eyes drifted back down, a silent tear slipping from one of her eyes. It landed on Signless's cheek, causing her hand to rush to her face. "Please, don't stay the same forever." She said, voice shaking as she fought back tears. "I'm afraid if you do, you'll die."

"I'll try. Just for you okay?" Signless let his head relax into a more comfortable position, eyes sliding closed as he decided to take a nap. "You tired too?" Disciple nodded, moving so she could lay beside him. Signless ran his hand over her hair, smoothing it out. It was always an untame mess, even when she spent so much time trying to fix it in the morning. Nothing seemed to work for the poor girl. His lips pressed gently against her forehead. She was still fighting tears. "I promise, I won't get myself killed. Even if it means having to change just to keep that promise."

Disciple nodded again. "Okay." Her voice was weak as she snuggled herself against him, allowing herself to slowly fall asleep.

Dolorosa sat on the otherside of Signless's door. She'd heard enough of the conversation. At least Signless felt bad for how he'd treated her, but that was Signless wasn't it? If he hadn't acted that way, she wouldn't have had much fun during those sweeps. A small smile splayed itself upon her lips as she turned away from the door. Maybe he'd learned his lesson and didn't need riprimanding? The only way was to see how he acted the next day. Would he be okay with doing the chores yet again, or just like when he was little, would he end up arguing and throwing fits? Dolorosa chuckled. Yes, that was something Disciple needed to see. A young Signless who's only wish, whim and command was to get his way, and would even throw tantrums in an attempt to get him. "What happened to that unruly child I raised?" She questioned herself, slowly beginning to tidy up. Even now, she still felt the need to keep up after him, even though she knew better. Some trolls just never changed, did they?