Nel Zelpher was, simply put, pissed off. She had managed to keep her temper from flaring whilst speaking with the king, but when the two were dismissed and they were out of hearing range, she turned on her companion. "Albel," she hissed, "If you have a problem with me, let me know before I tear those braids out of your head."
She watched him shift his gaze toward hers for a split second before he scoffed. "I'd like to see you try, maggot."
Oh, would he.
She narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips together beneath her scarf. The only reason she had to follow him around for this time was to make sure she knew where she was staying. After that, she was free to do as she pleased. Albel seemed willing to get the mission over with, though, and she knew they wouldn't be staying in Airyglyph longer than they needed. Nor did she really want to stay here, if it meant that she would have to be escorted by this man. Apparently there was something about her that displeased him lately, and he was making it a habit to show it.
She wanted to take him aside and give him a good punch in the face. She hadn't yet lost her sanity, though, and if a year back he was good enough to cause three of Aquaria's best fighters some trouble, she was probably nowhere close to being able to defend herself against him. This also contributed to her anger.
"We're supposed to work together in this mission, I thought." she stated grimly, keeping as much anger from her voice as possible. "I don't think our countries would be too happy if we killed each other on the way."
"Bah. I don't need your help, wench. If it's something as simple as investigating some ruins, I could have done that myself."
Nel raised an eyebrow. She could have sworn he had seemed as if he had known the mission ahead of time. Maybe it was just his high and mighty attitude that was the case. He was too stubborn to admit something he didn't know. Well, he did once, she recalled, a long while back where they had first met Vanilla-- but that didn't really count. "I'm not stopping you from going on alone, Albel."
Truth be told, it was a mission, though, and she knew Albel knew as well as herself that she wouldn't back down from one. He simply shrugged. "Just get yourself ready to go in the morning, worm."
They stopped in front of the inn and Nel watched as Albel glowered toward a few men in the corner who were smirking. Apparently, they were commenting on how nice the woman looked. Flattering, but kind of irritating. Nel had had enough with Cliff's talk of hot chicks a while back. She suddenly felt rather tempted to step forward and make a show of holding onto the Airyglyph ex-captain, but that would more than likely be more of a hassle than not (not to mention how Albel would take it..ugh) and so she let the thought flicker and fade in her mind.
"You're staying here." Albel stated, gesturing toward one of the room doors. "Be up early."
"Alright." she nodded in consent, stepping over and into the room. The room was rather spacious for such a small inn and she realized that she had been assigned the largest place in the area. She would have to remember where this was, since she needed to buy a few items to take along the way. She couldn't expect Albel to do that anyway. He'd probably just run off training and return tired as he always did, though fatigue never showed itself on his face. Only in his body. She frowned after he left, shutting the door and taking a seat on the large bed. He really looked no different from how he had been before. He still had his trademark braids and his clothing style hadn't changed; apparently neither had his temper. She wondered how he would have been now if they had indeed stayed together after Fayt and the others had left.
Nel lay on the bed, taking in a deep breath. The man still looked malnutritioned, that was for one. He hadn't gained any weight since they were apart. She frowned further. If they had gotten together right after Fayt had left, she concluded, she would have done something to get some meat on his figure.
She sighed. That was only if. At the rate they were going, she doubted that they'd even end up as friends by the end of the mission. He sure as heck didn't seem very thrilled to work with her, that was for sure. His attitude was harsh enough to grate onto her as well, so she knew she wasn't making it any easier on him to change him either.
The next morning she was up before the sun rose, stretching a bit and rubbing at her eyes. If anything, she was tired. Exhausted would be a better word. She got little sleep, with thoughts of how the day would go traveling with a certain irritable swordsman. Wishing that someone else had been assigned the mission, she got ready with a heavy heart. When she heard three knocks on the door, she was not at all surprised and simply glanced toward Albel in passive irritation when he opened the door.
The man looked somewhat confused and she raised an eyebrow. Apparently he hadn't expected that she would have been awake. "Well, you're later than I thought you'd be." she pointed out dryly.
"Hmph. I was going to let you have a few more minutes of sleep, but I guess you didn't need it, wench."
He sure looked refreshed. Nel frowned faintly, keeping herself as alert as possible. When her eyelids drooped a bit, the man scoffed.
"Didn't you get any rest at all?"
"I got enough," she snapped, rubbing at her eyes in irritation. She was not about to let him mock her further. "If you're ready to go then I guess we should. You want to finish this mission quickly and get me away from you as soon as possible, don't you?"
Albel paused, his mouth opening to form a response. Slowly, it shut and he shrugged. "Maybe." she caught him mutter after a moment, turning aside and gesturing for her to follow. This she did, after grabbing her bag and weaponry.
---
The trek to the lost city was not so long, and Albel felt somewhat relieved at this. He kept silent the entire time the woman trailed behind him, and although she had tried a few times to spark a conversation, he had only responded with shrugs and shakes of his head. He could sense her irritation, but knowing that they were on a mission, Nel Zelpher would not dare to harm him. Annoying as he may have been being, he was still her companion. He glanced back at her once. If it had been a year ago, she might have been more.
A scowl crossed his face as he glanced around the ruins of the city. Curse the wench. If only she had gotten settled with some other man while he had been busy, it would have made things that much easier. It would have helped his attraction to the woman fade quicker than it was doing so now. If anything, it was beginning to rekindle in the man the more that he had to be around her. The only way to stop this was to be as irritating as possible toward her. And irritating he was. He could almost praise himself for his behavior.
That is, if it was that he didn't still care for her.
Which he did.
So his behavior was nothing more than childish. He knew it himself, but he shrugged it off. In the back of his mind, he could hear a soft whisper calling toward him, and he paused, figuring out slowly that it was Nel, trying to spark up conversation number who knew what it was now. He was tempted just to tell her to shut up and that he wasn't planning on talking, when he noticed how tired the woman suddenly seemed. Sure, he had seen she had gotten little rest, but they had only been walking for a few hours...
"I'm sorry," she was saying, "I know that you want to finish this as soon as possible, but I--"
"Maggot." he took care to hiss at her. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't shoot anything back. She really must have been tired. "Alright... you'll rest in Peterny. Can you make it that far, wench?"
"I should be able to," she stated, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Oh, whatever. We can just go ahead and investigate now. This won't kill me."
"No." he stated, stepping forward and rolling his eyes. "You're going to sleep. We'll come back tomorrow. I don't need you falling asleep while we're in the ruins."
"................" Her gaze was on his, questioning.
What? Was there something on his face? Her gaze was beginning to get unnerving and he glanced away before he could feel his face warm. Cursed scum! He didn't need this...
Oh. Wait.
"Worm." he added after a pause. That seemed to signify that he was still sane in the woman's eyes and he felt her gaze shift away.
"..alright."
---
Well, it seemed like the man had some sympathy, Nel figured, as she lay down on her bed in Peterny. Normally she would have been fine with few hours of sleep, but for some reason, the whole trek was making her tired. They had only encountered a few beasts on the way, and she had had no trouble defeating those. She had also healed herself, but she hadn't spent so much MP that she would feel so tired. She shook her head, a frown appearing on her face. She didn't feel too good. The woman paused for a moment, her gaze lowering to her wrist. A small line of blood was on it and she lifted it to lick it off.
Slowly, her eyes widened, noticing that there seemed to be something wrong. Stumbling a little, she dug into her pocket, shifting its contents slowly. When she felt her surroundings flicker green for a moment, her realization was confirmed. "..poison?" she started, frowning. Lifting herself and heading toward the door, she couldn't even muster enough strength to jump when she spotted Albel a few feet from it. If he seemed at all surprised to see her, he didn't show it.
"You look green, maggot." he commented, raising an eyebrow.
She was too tired to complain, stepping aside from him and starting toward the entrance of the inn. He stopped her, grabbing one of her arms and turning her to face him. He eyed her warily for a moment, then spoke.
"You're poisoned."
"Oh, am I?" she finally retorted, putting a hand to her forehead. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't state the obvious. I need to get some kind of antidote so I can sleep."
The man looked anything but sympathetic. "Just stay in your room, maggot."
"And let myself get poisoned to death? I think not."
He pushed her toward the door and she stumbled back, frowning when she felt the door open to allow her to topple into the room. "I'll get it, alright? Stay there and don't make it worse."
Nel's frown widened. "Should I trust you?"
"Bah. We're in the mission together, worm. I'm the one who'll get in trouble if you die on me."
That seemed satisfactory enough. Defeated, she stayed put, not bothering to shut the door or even move from the floor. With each passing minute, she felt her whole body shudder and weaken. She made a mental note to buy some aquaberries when they traveled. Time passed for what seemed like ages and she felt just about to pass out when she heard him return. Groggy, she allowed him to help her drink whatever it was that he brought to help her. In the back of her mind she wondered if it was poisoned, but since she already was poisoned, it couldn't do much worse anyway.
Slowly, she felt strength return in her body and she was able to lift herself from his hold, shaking her head a few times. "..thank you." she stated, keeping her gaze lowered.
"Hmph. If you would have told me you were poisoned before I would have helped you earlier, scum."
She felt him move his right hand to her forehead.
"Now get some sleep." a pause. "And be more prepared next time, worm."
Nel shrugged faintly as he took a moment to lift her from the ground and to the bed, setting her down with no touch of familiarity. "What would I do without you." she stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Hmph."
She heard him exit the room more than she saw him, then sighed. Slowly, she raised her hand, touching her forehead lightly. He had moved her prior with no intent of intimacy whatsoever, but she could still feel his light touch on her body. "................"
The man had no doubt reverted to how he had been again. She remembered he had done the same between the time they had first travelled with Fayt and his group and the second. Slowly, he had reopened himself up the second time, but this time he didn't seem at all willing to do the same. She understood why, faintly, but she didn't like it one bit. During the year they were apart she had firmly ingrained in her mind that they would never be more than friends again, but once she had seen him, something inside of her had entertained the thought of their togetherness once more. Apparently, she was the only one who thought any of this though, and his attitude at the moment was threatening to stop all outside feeling for this man.
An almost stinging pain shot through her briefly and she thought for a moment that the poison had returned, but if faded almost as quickly. Nel let out a soft sigh. All of the fond memories of her companion were slowly being wiped away by the harsh reality of what she was facing now. The year must have been too much, she decided. Still, it was not at all easy to forget the night before they had separated. Almost on instinct, she lifted one hand, pulling down her scarf slightly and trailing one hand down her neck. She knew the exact place that he had marked her that one day, even though it had faded many months ago.
Oh dear Apris. His attitude was not at all appealing, and it was that which counted, not appearances, right? He annoyed her-- well, his indifference did now. If wouldn't have affected her much if it wasn't.....
"Goddess," she muttered, "I thought that I had gotten over him.."
Indeed, she had. Until she had seen him again. Accursed fate for teasing her like this. And curse Nox for being such a bastard.
With growing resolve, she decided that she would give him a piece of her mind as soon as she was well enough to defend herself.