Albel smirked faintly at the obvious distress apparent on the redhead's face. Sure, he wasn't the most thrilled at having to share a room with the wench either, but it was a heck of a lot better than being stuck with someone like Cliff. She was probably thinking that staying with the oaf herself would have been preferable. The thought irked him a bit and he pushed it aside. His eyes scanned the odd computer screen in front of him. However much he studied it, he couldn't come to figure anything about it. He had to admit, he was more of a fighter than a technological expert. Not that he minded. That was what people like Maria and Fayt were there for. Maybe even Sophia. Though she seemed rather worthless even when it came to that. If she didn't know healing symbology, she would have been just in the way. Adray had his share of attacking with symbology and he was at the very least more apt to fighting in combat as well. The whole idea of using a staff to attack was just silly.
"W--what?"
The man flinched faintly, noticing that he had somehow turned around to look toward the woman while he was thinking. He shook his head, turning back to the screen. For some odd reason he felt somewhat warm, and he wondered if the ship had some sort of heating mechanism. He moved forward to touch the computer pad. Nothing. The last thing he needed to do was break the cursed thing, so he decided to leave it be and sit back a little.
It took a long moment of silence before she seemed to gain enough courage to speak again. "So.."
So? So what? Albel rolled his eyes, keeping his eyes on the blank screen as though it was showing him the most interesting images he had ever seen before. If she was planning on starting a conversation she would have to try harder. He had to admit they had not spoken privately since the incident in Aquaria. The place was sure to give him more nightmares than not lately. Not only was it his ex-enemy headquarters, but he had thrown his temper toward the woman there as well. That being said, he had also attempted to hold onto her, and she hadn't put up much of a resistance. It confused him a bit, but he figured it was just returning the gesture she had done to him prior. Nothing else had changed.
She didn't seem like she was planning on saying any more. Talkative wench, wasn't she? With a sigh, he turned toward her, placing a frown on his face. "Hm?"
"How are we supposed to sleep in this room?"
Albel glanced around the small room, then pondered the same thing. She didn't expect him to stay on the floor, did she? Ugh, then again it wasn't like the wench was used to being on the floor either. The man frowned. It wouldn't be too bad to waste a day normally, but lack of sleep could inhibit his skills for the next day. Maybe he could scare one of the cabin members of the Diplo into getting him his own place to stay. And then risk the annoyance of Fayt Leingod? Maybe not such a good idea. Outwardly he didn't do much other than give a small shrug. There was barely any walking space in the room as is. He decided it would probably mean he would have to get some sleep in the chair he was sitting in at the moment. How irritating. The Diplo was definitely in need of more space, that was for one.
The man realized after a moment's silence that she was waiting for a response. With an uncaring gesture, he tapped the top of the chair. "I'll stay here, I guess."
Out of the corner of his eye he could see that she was displeased with the answer-- but couldn't come up with any other arrangement either. Defeated, she nodded. "..alright."
Albel took a glance at the bed. He doubted that even if it were bigger, she would allow him access to it anyway. And anyway, on such a small structure as it was now, it was a tight enough fit for one person. The only way that two people could ever fit was if they were on top of each other or something. He shook his head, feeling the room warm again at the thought. Blasted heater. For some reason it didn't seem to affect Nel, though. She was wearing as much as he was, even more maybe. Her skirt was the only part of her clothing that really allowed much access to her flesh anyway, and if she spotted someone's eyes roaming, he assumed they would get knocked down pretty quickly.
... not that he was interested in that kind of stuff anyway.
The man turned back to glance over toward her when he heard her stand up, taking a moment to plant her feet on the floor as she always did, her hands going to her sides. Without thinking, he spoke. "Going somewhere?"
"To look around the Diplo." she announced. "Sitting around here makes me kind of restless." she glanced toward him. "Are you going to stay here?"
"Hmph. There's nothing of interest to me here anyway. I think I might get a little bit of rest myself."
Nel raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "Alright. If you're tired, I don't mind if you take a nap on the bed anyway. I'll be back soon."
He watched as she left, then eyed the bed cautiously. A nap did sound appealing, and if he was to rest the rest of the night on this hard chair, it would be good to at least get rid of some fatigue while he could. Slowly, he took a seat on the bed, pausing before he laid back, looking up to the ceiling. When he fell asleep he didn't know, but he immediately woke again when he heard the door open, the redhead entering slowly. She looked, well, exhausted. Somewhat irritated at being woken up, the man feigned sleep as she walked toward him.
The redhead paused when she reached the side of the bed, and he could feel her eyes scanning him carefully. "..Albel?" she tried once, and he felt her hand on his shoulder. His first instinct was to swat her hand aside and get up, but he resisted the urge, still letting her think that he was asleep. Of course, he wasn't ungentlemanly enough to allow her to find somewhere else to sleep, though, so if she had moved away and let him stay there, he would have gotten up soon enough. Instead, she leaned over him. The man wondered whatever on Elicoor she was doing, and was just about to open one eye lazily when he felt a soft touch on his forehead. The eye opened slightly, just in time to catch her as she pulled away, her face just slightly red. He paused a moment to figure out what had happened. Did the wench just--
It took all his concentration not to lift his hand to touch his forehead. She had obviously thought he was asleep, or else she would have never kissed him. The next thing he noticed was that she was trying to wrap the bedsheets around him. The charade had gone on for enough, he figured, and he stirred, allowing her to figure that he was awake. For once, he thought he saw some spark of concern in her emerald gaze. "Did I wake you up?"
The question was so soft that he wondered if she had even asked it. Sitting up, he sighed. "Took you long enough, maggot."
He gestured for her to sit beside him, which she did, still looking more than exhausted. He knew that she was longing for sleep, and it wasn't of his nature to keep her up any longer than need be. If she was tired the next day, it would only drag the group down.
Albel had no idea what had possessed him to move further, but his body moved involuntarily as she took a seat beside him, his right arm stiffly bringing her close to him. Before she could resist, he leaned down, brushing his lips against her forehead. Did the heater turn on again? Or was it just that the woman was causing Albel the Wicked to blush? Impossible! But the way that she looked up toward him, her tired expression allowing her eyes to shut faintly enough to make her lashes stand out more than before...
The woman seemed to understand what this meant, her face turning the same shade of her hair for a moment before returning to normal. "You were awake.."
"Ah, don't worry about that, wench. Get some sleep." with that, he released her, standing up and heading toward the chair. When he didn't hear her getting settled, he turned back to look at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing.."
He noted that she was looking through her bag, then figured what was wrong. With a sigh, he headed to the door. Nel glanced toward him, faintly surprised. She raised an eyebrow in question and Albel shrugged. "Call me back in when you're done dressing."
The woman blinked twice, then gave a nod. He had no idea why to bother getting changed to get to sleep. Then again, he was the type who would immediately think to shower when he woke and have a fresh outfit on the next morning. (Of course, with the exception of when he had gone through an exceptionally bloody battle prior. It wouldn't do to dirty the bed either.) If that wasn't the case, his hair would be much less straightened, he knew. It wasted time to get changed into something for sleep.
The man tapped his fingers against his metal arm, wondering why it always took the scum so long to get dressed. Then he also realized something. She had been incredibly tired-- she hadn't fallen asleep and forgotten to call him back in, right?
Irritated, he put a hand to the doorknob when he felt it turn, finding himself face to face with the fellow Elicoorian. Nel looked up toward him, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry I finished too early for you to peek." she stated dryly.
"Hmph. I thought you fell asleep, that's all. Why would I be interested in watching you change, worm?" The nerve of the woman. He hardly knew why he had taken a moment just a few moments back to hold onto her. Then again, he hardly knew why she hadn't pulled away. Probably due to how she was tired-- or so he figured. He wondered if she still hated him. More than likely. He had taken it up to himself to try and act as normally as possible around her alone, but when the others were around he instantly reverted to his Albel the Wicked show, and he couldn't seem to make it go away. It was just easier to scare people than it was to be nice to them.
Nel Zelpher simply shrugged, heading to the bed and stifling a yawn. He watched her crawl under the covers for a moment before taking a seat on the chair across from her. He couldn't help but smirk faintly at her form. She seemed awfully trusting to be able to sleep in his presence. He had attempted to kill her once in her sleep. Of course he had said he wasn't planning on really doing the deed, if she hadn't parried the attack, he didn't know for sure if he would have pulled the sword aside.
Albel took a moment before speaking as she pressed a button next to her which triggered something that was the light source of the room. "Don't sleep yet."
The response was a murmured "mm?"
"I have a question for you, maggot."
"Don't tell me you're doing this again." she was facing down on the bed, he figured, because he could barely make out her words. "If you try to cut me now, I don't know if I can defend myself."
"Hm, good point. Maybe I will." to prove his point, he reached for his sword. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch.
"..it's okay. I trust you won't do such a thing."
Trust. Such a word the maggots threw out so easily. Albel frowned to himself, glad it was dark enough so she couldn't see his expression. So the wench trusted him too? Is that why she had kissed his forehead? Or was that just a curse?
"So.. what's the question I need to answer this time?"
The man paused for a moment before responding, his voice quiet. "If you hate me, why did you kiss me?"
If the woman was at all surprised at the question, she didn't show it. Instead, she spoke, her voice revealing nothing but sincerity. "..I don't hate you. I haven't since that night in Aquaria."
"..............."
"You're not a hideous monster like I thought you were, that's all. You're like all of us. You're part of the group now, and if I don't hate the others, I can't hate you." she paused, then continued, her voice still muffled. "I only kissed you because you seemed so soundly asleep."
"You didn't mean anything of it, right, wench?"
Nel sounded like she rolled over, her words now clear. "You didn't mean anything when you kissed me, right?"
Silence reigned the room.
"What if I did?" he started, his tone taking up mockery. She shot the question straight back at him though, which allowed silence to take over again. He shook his head. Why had he kissed her? Sure, because he was just returning what she did. But that wasn't necessary. There must have been some other reason. Ugh, and the blasted heater kept turning on when he thought about her or something. He just felt his face warm slightly when she spoke lately. The feeling only occurred when they were alone though, and this he noted carefully. When they were in their group, they were about as distant as they had started. Or so he felt. The others never questioned it.
"Did you mind it?" Nel finally asked. It was another one of the questions he could shoot back at her, he knew, but this time he thought to respond.
The first thing that came to mind was: "No."
He paused after he spoke. Of course he had minded, what was he saying!? The wench thought that she could take advantage of him while he was on! But truthfully, it hadn't hurt, so there wasn't really any reason to mind.
"...did you?"
Her response wasn't as quick, and she seemed to be thinking to herself for a long time. Finally, she answered. "..I don't think so."
"Ah." Good. Last thing he needed was the scum telling the others that he had done something wrong to her.
"..do you mind if I go to sleep now?"
"Go ahead." he paused, then added in, for good measure, "Maggot."
"How many times do I have to say that's not my name?"
"You don't get special treatment, wench. Stop asking for it."
The woman shrugged, seeming to have settled enough to get to sleep. The next thing he heard was her soft breathing. He didn't mind calling her by her first name, he admitted, but he didn't want the others to interpret it the wrong way. It wasn't like she was special in comparison to the others anyway. Right?
Wait. He paused, frowning to himself. Was he actually developing some sort of attachment to the Elicoorian? Sure, she was much easier to talk to when the others weren't around, and she related to him much more than them, but just because of that didn't mean...
He put a hand to his forehead, and sighed. So he, Albel the Wicked, was finally falling for a woman. He cursed himself. Out of all women did it have to be her? At least she had cleared that she didn't hate him. But like before, "not hate" was not on equal terms with "like." What was it that he saw in the wench anyway? It must have been Woltar's fault for telling him to keep watch over her. Once they were out of Fayt's group, he wouldn't have to worry about that, at least. Woltar couldn't force him more than he already had.
Truth be told though, he had almost forgotten Woltar's words. Did it mean he was just watching her because he wanted to?
Albel glanced toward the woman's sleeping form, then let out another sigh. All of the annoying qualities of her personality seemed to fade from his mind and when he thought, he couldn't come up with anything he truly disliked about his companion anymore. Before she had pestered him with her comments about how he spoke, but he knew why. If he could, he would change how he spoke to the others. But he knew it was so deeply ingrained in not only him but the others that they would find it utterly odd if he changed suddenly. If anyone, he only wanted her to see his change. And she had noticed it apparently, or else she wouldn't have changed toward him. Her fear toward him had completely vanished, he noted, and she was able to speak toward him as if they were equals. At first this had also annoyed the man, but he didn't mind it at the very least any more. Most of the women in his life had been so submissive that they weren't in the least bit attractive. They all seemed quiet and well, like Mirage Koas. But they couldn't fight like her.
Nel definitely didn't fall into the category of women he had been around. Initially she had been the type he loathed-- then again any woman from Aquaria was a bad wench, and worthy of nothing but getting beaten into submission and thrown aside. Rather like Tynave and Farleen a while back. It was hard to stand either of them. Especially Farleen and her high falsetto that grated at his ears. He wondered how Nel was able to stand them-- then wondered that if he had ever ended up with Nel, if he would have to get used to them as well. Ugh.
Fat chance to stay with her after the adventures were over anyway. They were from separate countries, and they knew their places. But, he thought to himself, it would be nice...
The woman stirred from the bed, and he arched an eyebrow. It was getting late, and he knew he needed to rest as well, but his mind kept churning and not allowing it. Nel was having a nightmare apparently, because she kept clenching the sheets and the very least of her expression that he could see was in pain. Suddenly, he recalled his own vision of how he had attempted to rid himself of this woman. In the dream he had felt himself triumph over the wench, but if he had truly done it, he knew he would have never forgiven himself. Especially not now. Woltar had predicted correctly, he thought in annoyance. The old man needed to be wrong for once in his life. If ever there was a woman he wanted to call his own, it was the one who was in the same room as he was at the moment. She was whimpering now, and for some odd reason, he felt something inside of him react at the soft cries.
Enough. He stood up, stepping to her form and watching her expression as his eyes got accustomed to the darkness. She was gritting her teeth now, shaking her head two times against some unseen force. The man frowned, slowly lowering one hand to the woman's cheek. Her skin was cold, and her breathing was starting to increase in pace. He leaned down finally, whispering her name into her ear. She seemed to flinch for a moment, but that was it. With a sigh, he grabbed her shoulder, tugging her up and shaking her a few times. "Wake up, maggot!"
The redhead's eyes flitted open and she looked toward him, as if trying to figure out where she was. "..huh. It's already morning?" her eyes widened and he had to push her down to stop her from getting up.
"No, fool. You were having a nightmare. You can't expect me to rest while you're whining in your sleep?"
She blinked a few times, then breathed a slow sigh. "Oh. That's right." her eyes raised toward his. "Sorry about that. Here, I'll wait for you to go to sleep before I do, so this won't happen again, alright?"
"Bah. Is it something that happens constantly, worm?" He rolled his eyes. He wasn't particularly interested, but his mouth had projected the words before he could object.
Nel shook her head no. "Only when I'm stressed out." she attempted a small smile. "I guess it's because of what we learned from Blair. I've had a lot on my mind lately."
"Ah."
Her gaze stopped on her shoulder and he followed them down to look at it as well before remembering that he hadn't moved his hand from it. His first instinct was to pull it away, but it was too awkward. She beat him to speaking. "You can let go of me now."
The statement lingered in his mind for a moment before he sighed. He could. Or he could just...
With one swift movement, he brought the woman to him, taking a moment to gaze into her large eyes before placing his lips on hers. She resisted at first, then seemed to relax in his hold, raising one arm and wrapping it around him gently. They both pulled aside at the same time, and the man watched her shy away, her gaze lowering. His face felt somewhat warm, and he was glad it was too dark for her to notice. When she spoke, her voice was trembling slightly. "..oh no."
Oh no? What the heck did that mean? He raised an eyebrow, allowing her to pull away completely. "What's wrong, maggot?"
Her hand was going to her mouth, somewhat shaky. "How am I supposed to explain this to Clair?"
Clair?
Albel paused for a moment.
Wait. Clair? That one other Aquarian woman?
Okay. So he hadn't considered that the woman of his interest might not have any interest toward men. This was a problem. As if it wasn't bad enough that they were from rival countries? How unexpected.
He must have shown his utter confusion or something of the sort to her, for she shook her head sheepishly. "We promised that we wouldn't give away our first kisses until we told each other first."
"....................."
Oy.
Albel threw back his head and laughed. He had been worried for a moment there. "Bah." he stated when he recovered. "Aren't you a bit old to be worrying about that?"
She immediately glowered toward him. "No. What's wrong with childhood promises anyway?"
Childhood promises. Albel's expression darkened, remembering the vow he had made when he had lost his father to the dragon he was unable to tame. There wasn't a single thing wrong about it, he decided, but he didn't speak aloud. Instead, he stood up, heading back to his chair.
"Albel?"
"Good night." he stated simply.
It seemed to be her turn to get angry. "Excuse me, but you're not planning on leaving me in the dark about this. A kiss on the forehead is excusable, b--but that was just unnecessary, don't you think? If you think that I'm some kind of whore that you can take advantage of because we're in the same room, you're mistaken, Albel Nox."
Truth be told, he hadn't thought of her as a whore before. But now that she mentioned it, her clothes kind of signified otherwise. Knowing her temper though, he didn't dare speak that realization out in open. "Bah." he stated.
"You owe me at least a reason for why you--"
"Listen up, fool." He watched her from the corner of his eye as she fumed for a moment before laying back in bed. He waited for her to settle down before speaking. "I don't owe you a reason for anything."
"You--"
"But," he interrupted, "I'll tell you from my own free will. So listen well, maggot. I won't repeat it."
"................."
"I've taken a liking to you, wench. That's the only reason why."
There was silence, and he thought she had fallen back asleep when she spoke again, her voice quiet. "What on Elicoor are you saying?"
"I love you, da--it. Understand now, worm?" Only when he had spoken had he truly understood how he felt. He had been able to push it aside for quite some time, but now the fact was just unavoidable.
Again, silence. His words were harsh, but his voice had not been. For the first time in almost a decade, he had allowed himself to bear his heart to someone. He braced himself for an unfavorable response, though he knew it would still cause him some sort of grief. It was why he didn't want to get attached. He had felt all sorts of pain when his father had passed away. The last thing he needed was to feel anything like that again.
"...................."
Why won't the scum respond?! He glanced toward her, noting that she had sat up, her hands folded like they had been the last time he had seen her in her pajamas. If they were going to fall off, then why bother wearing them in the first place? The garments were stupid. And so was the wearer, he decided. Stupid maybe, but darn fine. He shook his thoughts away.
When she spoke, her words were quieter than his. "Albel.." she started, "I don't want the others to know about this."
Aquarian honor, he figured. The last thing she needed was a lovesick Airyglyph captain following her heels. He frowned. He refused to be stereotyped as so. It was a weird feeling. He was fine when he was without her, but when he was with her, he felt odd. It wasn't odd in a bad way though. It was as if he never wanted to be separated from her, but once he was, he was fine. Was this how love was supposed to work? Or maybe it was the only way that Albel the Wicked could feel now that he stomped on all emotion he had when he was a child. To her comment, he didn't respond.
As he had expected, she continued. "I mean.. it would complicate things. After we're finished with uninstalling the Executioners.." she trailed off, frowning.
In other words, after Fayt and co. were out of the picture, he would have a chance with her. These Executioner programs were proving to be a pain in more than one way now. He couldn't blame her though; he wasn't really fond of the idea of getting together with someone in the midst of battle either. It was just that--
What if it was the last chance--
If the Executioners were deleted--
--they might be too.
But if they weren't... he was willing to wait a little longer. It wasn't like it was going to kill him.
"I know." he stated, his voice coming out flatter than he had intended. "Don't worry about it, wench. Things will stay the same until then."
It was Nel's turn to keep quiet for a moment. She finally chuckled to herself. "It would be odd for someone from Aquaria to get together with one from Airyglyph. The king's marriage will unite us, but even still.. it'd be odd."
Was she making excuses? She hadn't mentioned how she had felt toward him-- the only thing he knew was that she didn't hate him. That might have changed now though, since that was before he had gone ahead and been bold enough to steal her first kiss. At twenty-three, though, it struck him as odd for her not to have had some other suitor. Then again, Aquaria did have mostly women inhabiting it... and she was always on some mission or other. Maybe it wasn't so surprising. It would have kind of annoyed him if he had known that she had taken interest in some other suitor, that was true. Albel himself hadn't really been with any other, but that was because there were few women in Airyglyph and the few that there were weren't appealing to him and were, most likely than not, afraid of him.
"Oh hush." he rolled his eyes, keeping his voice as distant as he could manage. "Don't keep my hopes up if you don't have any intention to keep your word after the Executioners are gone. I know you don't have any interest in me yourself, wench."
To his surprise, she shook her head. "Then you're wrong. I don't know exactly how much I feel for you, but I feel something. If I didn't.. then I would have done all in my power to stay away from you. You know that."
Quite an unsatisfactory response, if he did say so himself. Sure, it was more favorable than he had first expected, but nothing on the scale of what he wished. It was obvious the feeling was one-sided. If it wasn't, she wouldn't be so intent on keeping the relation a secret from the others. He breathed a slow sigh. Since when did he bother to care anyway? Whatever had gone through his core being to change his emotions that greatly? Just a few moments ago he was close to convinced she was nothing more than she had been ages ago. "So what are you proposing?"
The woman lay back down in the bed, pulling up her covers to her chin. ".............."