"Hey," a hand curls around the undercurve of her cheek and lifted her head up gently. "What's the matter, little Ara?"
She sniffles miserably, wiping the tears from her eyes, looking into the concerned eyes of her fully grown master. "Z?"
The Virtue's apothecary nods at his apprentice, rubbing her cheek with his thumb gently, tilting his head to the side in concern. "What's wrong?"
"I—I—I was going to ha—have to sl—sleep on my o—own."
"You don't like being on your own, do you?" She shakes her head miserably, sniffling up more tears, and he strokes her cheek again. "Did we learn our lesson, then?"
"I'll ne—never do that ag—again."
"Never?"
Araton shakes her head silently. "Good girl." He strokes her cheek once more and stands, opening his arms for her. "Come here, baby girl."
She jumps up from the edge of his bed, wearing one of his tunics, and jumps into his arms. He curls her close, rubbing a hand down the back of her head, brushing his fingers through her dark hair. Araton cries long and hard, sobbing into his chest, all the nights she had been forced to sleep alone while her deaged guardian was forced to sleep down on the Infirmary floor for observation, from the scolding she'd received from the Healer at her poor decision in tricking them into drinking the unknown, untested mixture, Araton didn't like being alone and she was forced to be all on her own.
Zed was going to punish her, once he was back to normal, for thinking of doing something so dangerous as to allow others to drink a concoction that the purpose and side effects were unknown but seeing the way she was now was indication that she had already been punished enough.
"I—I—I'm so sorry! I'm no—not bad!"
"No, you're not." He pushes her away slightly, rubbing her cheek again, smiling comfortingly. "You made one bad decision. That's all. That doesn't make you bad."
She looks up at him, sniffing. "It—It doesn't?"
"Heaven's no." He brushes his nose down against hers. "You're too good to be bad."
The apprentice sniffles again, curling back up against him, and he rests his chin on the top of her head. "Can we—Can we sleep together?"
The Virtue bends slightly, curling an arm under her knees, and lifts his charge from her feet. "Of course, we can, little Ara." He walks them over to the side of the bed, leaning over to set her down in the middle, climbing in next to her. Araton slides in close, cuddling into his side, and he curls his arm around her to pull her close.
"Go to sleep, baby girl, I'm back now."
