When Geralf offered to take me to his labratory I readily agreed even if the sight of dead bodies still made me nauseous. Despite having a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I would soon be seeing him stitch more skaabs together I followed just behind the sitcher as we walked from my room to his lab, his eyes sweeping the hallways.
"Is something wrong, Geralf?" I asked as I fell into step behind him and he shook his head at me giving me a tiny smile which sent a weird flicker through my stomach. "That's good to know. It hasn't exactly been easy for me these last few days."
"I am sorry about what my sister did to you, Ailis." Geralf told me as we reached two pathways. "I hope your head isn't painful."
"The funny thing is it doesn't hurt anymore. One good thing about being undead; I heal much faster." I answered following at his heels once Geralf picked a direction. When we arrived at his lab he motioned me to enter and with a shrug I did so moving further into the room, only to stop once I saw the slab. After Geralf closed the door he turned around in time to see me grimace and he hurried over making me jump when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"I am sorry, Ailis. I didn't think you were so jumpy." Geralf answered and I snorted, giving him a raised eyebrow in response as he removed his hand. "First of all I should apologize for dragging you to my lab of all places but I wanted somewhere that I knew my sister wouldn't venture. She doesn't see the value of my work as you've probably noticed."
"I understand, Geralf but why did you want to speak with me?" I asked and he gave me a tiny smile, making me smile back before I understood why. "Is there something on your mind?"
"My mind, yes. I was wondering if you...uh..would like...to..." Geralf trailed off, his cheeks red when I grinned at him and he found himself lost for words. Noticing that the stitcher had gone completely silent and was now staring into my eyes I waited patiently for Geralf to speak. When the silence stretched on for nearly a full minute I sighed, bored before I reached for his left hand and he blinked as I gave it a squeeze.
"Geralf, you've been staring at me for so long I was begining to think that you might be broken." I teased and he cleared his throat looking even more embarrassed at being caught staring. "Hmm if I didn't know better I'd think that you had a crush of me." I added and he just blinked at me, his cheeks burning.
"That isn't...I don't..." He spluttered once he found his voice and I couldn't help a giggle as he stared at me, trying to look annoyed at me though after some thought he coughed. "If I did what would you say to me?" He asked and he looked so hopeful I gave him a tiny smile.
"I would have to say that while I do enjoy your company a lot more than your sister's I don't know enough about you to decide." I replied and his face actually fell, a sigh escaping his lips before I gave his hand a light squeeze. "Though I must admit I would not mind finding out." I added with a tiny smile and he grinned back.
"Then let's go for a walk and you can make up your mind." He suggested and I nodded though when I started to tug him towards the door that would lead us outside his lab he froze.
"Something wrong?" I asked him and he raised both eyebrows at me. "I thought you wanted to go for a walk."
"Outside? What if we run into one of those...creatures?" Geralf said and I raised an eyebrow at him, releasing his hand at the same time. "The thing with the..." He made a show of wiggling his fingers. "Tentacles."
"Geralf, I've faced monstorious looking werewolves and death. A thing wandering around the mists with tentacles where its hands should be doesn't scare me in the slightest." I pointed out and he chewed his lower lip glancing towards the closed door before his attention moved to the safetly of the lab.
"Fine then. I'm going for a walk and you can just stay here where its nice and safe and monster-free." I grumbled, moving to the door and he cringed as I yanked it open so hard I tore the door off its hinges. Don't even caring I stomped through the opening and Geralf ran a hand over his face as he watched me disappear.
Geralf eventually just shook his head, heading back into the safety of his lab. Stepping up to the slab he decided that the best way to take his mind off Ailis would be to work on a new skabb to beat his sister the next time they faced off. So caught up with his newest creation he didn't see his sister wander in until he felt a light tap on his shoulder and he turned with a tiny smile only to blink as Gisa grinned back at him.
"So you finally decided to be pleasant for once, brother." Gisa remarked and Geralf just shurgged, looking towards the open doorway with a frown. Noting the way he stared at the opening without offering a retort or an insult Gisa giggled. "Did your girlfriend dump you? That was fast, dear brother." She mocked but Geralf didn't react other than a sigh before he turned back to the multiple-armed corpse lying on the slab.
"Sister, she was never my girlfriend." Geralf finally muttered, stitching a leg onto his creation with barely a flicker even as his sister stuck her face close to his.
"But you wanted her to be didn't you? Otherwise you would have already asked me to order one of my zombies to fix that door. Besides I've seen how you've been spending all of your time trying to impress her." Gisa pointed out and she frowned again, feeling very bored when he just sighed again clearly not caring. "Oh come on. Teasing you is no fun unless you fight back. Verbally anyway." She complained and Geralf looked up for a moment staring off into the distance.
"Ailis broke that door when I didn't want to go for a walk in the fog." Geralf explained and Gisa raised an eyebrow at him, moving to one of the zombies milling around the hallway. After she gave two an order and they set about fixing the aforementioned door she returned to her brother in time to see him close his eyes for a moment. "There's a creature out there worse than anything I've seen and right now it could be attacking Ailis and here I am where its safe." He muttered and Gisa rolled her eyes, not so gently smacking him in the back of the head. After righting himself he glared at his sister who just giggled.
"Then go after her you moron. Otherwise..." Gisa trailed off with a shrug and after setting his jaw Geralf started for the opening only pausing to yank his apron off and toss it towards the skabb he'd been working on. "Brothers. Am I right?" She said with an eyeroll and one of the zombies grunted.