/Author's Note: I wasn't too sure about adding this part in... it's a behind the scenes pieces that I wrote for background information, trying to figure out how they might act without having either explosions or total out of character interaction. Feel free to skip it./
8.5 - Interlude: Waking up
It was cold. Zelgadiss could feel the cold very well, even if he always pretended differently. His skin might be mostly indestructible, but stone will conduct heat very efficiently, given time. He wondered vaguely when his head would start to hurt, as it had for so long. He refused to open his eyes, trying to savor the feeling of waking up pain-free. Noise from outside his tent told him that people were starting to move around... probably what had awakened him.
There was a warmth pining his right arm down... that was new. Maybe he had just slept oddly, and the arm had fallen asleep. No, that didn't explain the warmth. He moved experimentally, then froze when a faint complaining noise came from the warmth. He cringed inwardly as memories from the night before provided a clue to the warmth's source.
'Is it safer to go back to sleep?" Zel wondered. Memories of waking up to Lina beating him because she was hanging onto his foot convinced him that running was probably his best option.
He opened his eyes and shifted slightly, trying to free his arm. Lina was curled up next to him, using his shoulder as a pillow. Her left arm was curled under her, and her right hand lay in the center of his chest.
'She's going to kill me...' He thought, and then 'I wonder how this happened. Probably not as important as getting out of here before she wakes up.'
Moving as slowly and smoothly as he knew how, he picked up Lina's right arm and set it down on her hip. Lina made a small discontent noise, and moved her arm back. He froze, holding his breath in case she woke up.
After a few noise-free moments, he decided to try again. This time, he picked her arm up, and rolled her off his shoulder while sliding slightly away. Lina made another sleepy noise, but curled both her arms up in front of her chest and settled back against his forearm.
Looking around the immediate area for her pillow proved fruitless. Zel considered his own pillow for a moment, and decided he'd better move fast. He lay on his side, and pulled his pillow over. Using every ounce of extra speed he possessed, he quickly picked Lina up and placed his pillow under her head. She made more sleepy noises, but accepted the pillow as an appropriate substitute.
With a sigh of relief, Zel rolled out of his bedroll and found the clothes he had set out the day before. He glanced at Lina, but she was still deep asleep. She had curled around his pillow, so that she was sleeping on it in much the same position she had been sleeping on him. For a moment he felt vaguely jealous of his pillow.
Shaking his head at himself, Zel quickly changed into his traveling clothes. He folded his pajamas, then realized that he had chosen the same pair that Lina had given him back at the inn. He looked at them for a moment, wondering again why Lina had a pair of pajamas that fit him perfectly. Deciding that it didn't really matter, he stored them in his pack and turned back to his bedroll.
Lina had sprawled, and was lying across both their bedding. She was still wrapped around his pillow, and he quickly decided that packing his bedding would have to wait. He crouched next to the sleeping woman for a moment, then decided that he should leave before she woke. He looked around briefly, making sure that he hadn't forgotten anything in his packing, and noticed Lina's clothing lying in a tangle next to his boots. He absent-mindedly picked up her tunic and tights, folding them neatly before taking his own footwear and leaving his sleeping companion.
Lina was having a wonderful dream. In her dream, she was lying in her barn, watching the sunset through the hayloft door. Luna was making dinner, and the sunlight caressed her face gently. Something disturbed the dream, and she became aware that it was just a dream. She sighed disappointed that the dream would end, and she would wake up to somewhere infinitely less comfy.
As Lina swam up towards consciousness, small sensations greeted her. Her pillow was not as squishy as usual, but it was warm and just the perfect height to support her neck. Something about her bed felt odd, there was a heartbeat under her hand... no, that must have been her imagination. Something was different... her pillow was more squishy than she had thought, and the heartbeat was gone.
Assuming it was just a trick her body played on her, Lina curled back around her pillow, looking for the comforting warmth. Even that seemed to have disappeared. A slight frown crossed her face as she stretched, ah... there was that warmth again. Lina rolled into the warm part of the bedroll, not bother to wonder why it seemed so far away. She slipped back into dreams, never noticing Zel's hurried changing.
A brief cold breeze blew across her, and Lina made her way back into wakefulness. As she woke the second time, her brain registered two things. One, the blankets to her right were warmer than those to her left, and two, the blankets to the right weren't hers. Blinking sleepily she realized her pillow wasn't actually hers either. She looked around, guiltily, but she was alone in the tent.
She sighed in relief, thankful that Zel wasn't inside the bedroll she had been trying to climb into while asleep. She started to wonder when he had gotten up, but the self-preservation side of her brain quickly beat the curious side into submission. Yawning and stretching, she began the process of waking up. Her morning stretches were hurried, her desire for her usual routine loosing the battle against her stomach as the smell of Sylphiel's breakfast wafted into the tent.
Looking around, she noticed that her clothing had been folded neatly, and was stacked off to one side next to her boots. A faint smile appeared as she changed into the neatly folded clothing. After quickly rolling up both sets of bedding, and reluctantly setting Zel's pillow with his bedroll, Lina made her way out of the tent and into the rest of the day.
8.5 - Interlude: Waking up
It was cold. Zelgadiss could feel the cold very well, even if he always pretended differently. His skin might be mostly indestructible, but stone will conduct heat very efficiently, given time. He wondered vaguely when his head would start to hurt, as it had for so long. He refused to open his eyes, trying to savor the feeling of waking up pain-free. Noise from outside his tent told him that people were starting to move around... probably what had awakened him.
There was a warmth pining his right arm down... that was new. Maybe he had just slept oddly, and the arm had fallen asleep. No, that didn't explain the warmth. He moved experimentally, then froze when a faint complaining noise came from the warmth. He cringed inwardly as memories from the night before provided a clue to the warmth's source.
'Is it safer to go back to sleep?" Zel wondered. Memories of waking up to Lina beating him because she was hanging onto his foot convinced him that running was probably his best option.
He opened his eyes and shifted slightly, trying to free his arm. Lina was curled up next to him, using his shoulder as a pillow. Her left arm was curled under her, and her right hand lay in the center of his chest.
'She's going to kill me...' He thought, and then 'I wonder how this happened. Probably not as important as getting out of here before she wakes up.'
Moving as slowly and smoothly as he knew how, he picked up Lina's right arm and set it down on her hip. Lina made a small discontent noise, and moved her arm back. He froze, holding his breath in case she woke up.
After a few noise-free moments, he decided to try again. This time, he picked her arm up, and rolled her off his shoulder while sliding slightly away. Lina made another sleepy noise, but curled both her arms up in front of her chest and settled back against his forearm.
Looking around the immediate area for her pillow proved fruitless. Zel considered his own pillow for a moment, and decided he'd better move fast. He lay on his side, and pulled his pillow over. Using every ounce of extra speed he possessed, he quickly picked Lina up and placed his pillow under her head. She made more sleepy noises, but accepted the pillow as an appropriate substitute.
With a sigh of relief, Zel rolled out of his bedroll and found the clothes he had set out the day before. He glanced at Lina, but she was still deep asleep. She had curled around his pillow, so that she was sleeping on it in much the same position she had been sleeping on him. For a moment he felt vaguely jealous of his pillow.
Shaking his head at himself, Zel quickly changed into his traveling clothes. He folded his pajamas, then realized that he had chosen the same pair that Lina had given him back at the inn. He looked at them for a moment, wondering again why Lina had a pair of pajamas that fit him perfectly. Deciding that it didn't really matter, he stored them in his pack and turned back to his bedroll.
Lina had sprawled, and was lying across both their bedding. She was still wrapped around his pillow, and he quickly decided that packing his bedding would have to wait. He crouched next to the sleeping woman for a moment, then decided that he should leave before she woke. He looked around briefly, making sure that he hadn't forgotten anything in his packing, and noticed Lina's clothing lying in a tangle next to his boots. He absent-mindedly picked up her tunic and tights, folding them neatly before taking his own footwear and leaving his sleeping companion.
Lina was having a wonderful dream. In her dream, she was lying in her barn, watching the sunset through the hayloft door. Luna was making dinner, and the sunlight caressed her face gently. Something disturbed the dream, and she became aware that it was just a dream. She sighed disappointed that the dream would end, and she would wake up to somewhere infinitely less comfy.
As Lina swam up towards consciousness, small sensations greeted her. Her pillow was not as squishy as usual, but it was warm and just the perfect height to support her neck. Something about her bed felt odd, there was a heartbeat under her hand... no, that must have been her imagination. Something was different... her pillow was more squishy than she had thought, and the heartbeat was gone.
Assuming it was just a trick her body played on her, Lina curled back around her pillow, looking for the comforting warmth. Even that seemed to have disappeared. A slight frown crossed her face as she stretched, ah... there was that warmth again. Lina rolled into the warm part of the bedroll, not bother to wonder why it seemed so far away. She slipped back into dreams, never noticing Zel's hurried changing.
A brief cold breeze blew across her, and Lina made her way back into wakefulness. As she woke the second time, her brain registered two things. One, the blankets to her right were warmer than those to her left, and two, the blankets to the right weren't hers. Blinking sleepily she realized her pillow wasn't actually hers either. She looked around, guiltily, but she was alone in the tent.
She sighed in relief, thankful that Zel wasn't inside the bedroll she had been trying to climb into while asleep. She started to wonder when he had gotten up, but the self-preservation side of her brain quickly beat the curious side into submission. Yawning and stretching, she began the process of waking up. Her morning stretches were hurried, her desire for her usual routine loosing the battle against her stomach as the smell of Sylphiel's breakfast wafted into the tent.
Looking around, she noticed that her clothing had been folded neatly, and was stacked off to one side next to her boots. A faint smile appeared as she changed into the neatly folded clothing. After quickly rolling up both sets of bedding, and reluctantly setting Zel's pillow with his bedroll, Lina made her way out of the tent and into the rest of the day.