Four days further into their living arrangements and Rhianwen felt more prepared than ever to drown herself. This feat was proving enough hassle on its own as Nuada refused to allow her access to the bathroom.

"And what on earth is it that makes you so opposed to me taking a bath?" she asked, arms crossed over one another. The past few days she hadn't taken a bath because she felt watched no matter where she went but if she waited longer she might start to smell like Eau De Troll.

Nuada's amber eyes flicked to the bar of soap and the bottle of shampoo she was holding. "I will not have you contaminating my bathroom with… that."

Rhianwen looked at the bottle. "What, you have a thing against lime and mint? I could switch to lavender if it's that big of a deal for ya."

She could see the implied 'idiot' his eyes flashed as he looked at her face. At least he had the decency to not actually guard her every single second of the day, something which she had feared after Pip's deal. He took a deep breath, clearly reminding himself that he had promised to protect her. "Because those chemicals, apart from being harmful to nature itself, also don't agree with me or any of the creatures around here."

Rhianwen let out a huff. Did he expect her to get clean using only water or something? "First of all, you have no idea what a decent bathroom is if you call that a bathroom. Would hot water make you melt or something? Secondly, oh prince, what do you expect me to wash myself with?"

She raised a finger to Lenore who was about to make a soothing comment, fixating her gaze on the elf prince.

"And would it kill you to show some common courtesy to me?" he asked her in kind, not in the least intending to back down. He instead took a step closer to her, once again bringing his eyes back to the bathing products.

At once she raised her chin higher. Even if Pip hadn't told her she should never bow down to anyone she still would have had several problems with being docile around this character. "I show you as much courtesy as you show me, your Highness."

The tone of her voice implied that she could at any moment revert to giving him colorful nicknames if he so preferred.

"Infuriating woman." He said, slowly. He had avoided the word 'human' ever since the promise they had made.

"Impossible man." She retorted, matching his amber gaze with equal ferocity.

"Impudent wretch." He continued, his cheek moving slightly. Rhianwen knew the situation was eating away at him as much as it was bothering her. Good. Because no matter the deal, she still wanted out. As soon as the pixies lifted the barrier.

"Ignorant bore." Her tone was almost sugary sweet, save for that edge of positive venom glimmering at the edge.

Five minutes later their shouting match was still in full swing when Wink returned. Nuada's mouth twitched for a second before he stopped mid-sentence. With what could have been a huff he turned around, picking up his spear. "I'm going to train. Keep those things out of my bath."

|Nuada|

He kept his jaw clenched, summoning every fiber in his body to not turn around and continue the shouting match. His behavior was shameful and he knew it, hated it. But at the same time it was a relief that he could voice his frustration and not be met by a bout of crying. He had thought the redhead would have become a blubbering mass after the first few times it had happened but she always came back with the same fire.

It pained him that Wink, his most loyal vassal, had to see him in this state. Bound to protect a human wretch because of a series of unfortunate events. His jaw clenched once more as he thought about the sorry state of affairs.

He weaved his way along the sewer on a small maintenance path that was relatively clean except for a few muddy spots. The air was still here, unperturbed by the sound of fluttering wings and tiny voices. The road was dark as night for the most part, only occasional patches lit up by small electric lights. He stepped over the water where the road forked, keeping up his furious pace. What had he done to deserve this?

He licked his lips as he ran a hand through his hair. He had thought he could handle being cooped up with her but things were becoming more infuriating every day. Why did she have to be so… so human?

In the moment the thought amused him a shadow somehow moved against the wall. Nuada lashed out with his spear, the tales about the shadows that were supposed to bring back Rhianwen fresh in his mind. Something then lashed out from the water, knocking his legs out from under him. Something snapped, making him snarl in pain. As he tried to stand up he dropped back to the ground.

"Not him." The voice was dry, sand grating over rock. The shadow turned around him, observing him. Nuada felt he was being weighed and then deemed to be…

"Not important. The Sphere is not with him."

The shadows left, leaving Nuada in the darkness of the sewer.

|Rhianwen|

"Got any fours?" she asked Wink. He responded with the growl that meant she could go fish, leading her to a dejected sigh. Frowning she looked at the exit where Nuada had stomped off through.

"He's late."

"He's upset. All this time you've spent with me and no idea how to talk with nobility." Pip said, shaking his head. His wife Lena gave him a quick jab in his side before she floated towards Wink. She settled on his shoulder, her swollen belly clearly draining her flying abilities.

"You're more like family anyway." Rhianwen muttered, handing over some cards to Wink. She felt positively disgusting but wanted to wait with taking a bath until Nuada came back. Maybe the jerk would lend her some of his shampoo if she was lucky.

"You're the one that told me to never bow to someone."

Pip nearly sounded like a pirate with his exaggerated 'Aaargh'. "That's because if you ever start to be all obedient to someone they'll get to control the Sphere. This way you're the boss. Kind of."

"And look at all it has brought me! Lucky me, everyone wants to spend their time in the sewers with a cranky prince and a troll - no offense Wink." Rhianwen said, gesturing around Nuada's abode.

Before they could continue the discussion one of the younger pixies flew towards them. "Prince Pip, trouble! His Highness Nuada is injured!"

Now this raised Rhianwen's interest more than a bit. Wink jumped up, growling at the pixie to continue his tale. Rhianwen listened as the youngling told how he had accidentally come across Nuada who had somehow injured his leg. He'd helped the prince find something to splint his leg with before rushing to the others. Wink let out a dangerous howl when the pixie told them were they could find Nuada.

"What's the problem, big guy? You can bring him back, can't you? Just swing him over your shoulder and presto." Rhianwen offered, only feeling a small amount of pity for Nuada.

"The passages there are too narrow. Wink would never be able to squeeze through before Nuada does something stupid like try to make his way back here, injuring himself even more." Pip muttered, looking around the room before his eyes landed on Rhianwen.

"I know it's probably a lot to ask, but would you mind… helping him out?"

"Excuse me?" Rhianwen said, not able to keep back some laughter. This had to be a joke. "Please, he'll probably try to kill me just for offering."

So what if she was the only one small enough to get to him and big enough to carry the surly elf back? She had better things to do like watching the moss on the walls grow. "I can't leave here, remember? You trust him more than you trust me."

"We lifted the barriers a few seconds ago so- Rhianwen wait!"

She ignored Pip as she strode towards the exit. This was her ticket out of here and there was no way in hell she would be wasting this opportunity. Nuada was strong enough to take care of himself.

"Rhianwen, he's hurt!"

Nope, she was not feeling bad about this course of action at all. Not a shred of guilt.

"And all alone in the dark."

This combined with the sound of Wink who sounded as if he was already leaving made her stop in her tracks. Freedom was beckoning. But Nuada… all alone in the dark, hurt. Probably not scared at all, ready to chew her out if she dared to show up. And yet somebody should go help him. She hadn't seen him with other elves but surely there would be some who could help? He went to the troll market nearly daily.

She turned around slowly. "Where is he?"

|Half an Hour Later|

"Nuada? Give a shout if you're here ya big- woa!" Rhianwen just nearly managed to hop over Nuada's outstretched legs. The elf prince glared at her despite his obvious discomfort. Even in the dim light Rhianwen could see he wasn't feeling as sparky as usual.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of assault?" he informed, sounding more tired than actually snide.

"Yes, I usually assassinate people by shouting their name from three corridors further, keeps them on their toes. What happened?" she squatted down to his eye level.

He looked away from her. "A shadow, looking for you. It did not attempt to kill me but it didn't seem like it would have been particularly heartbroken at my demise."

"Great." Of course the shadows were still looking for her. Just what she had needed to increase her joy in life. She stood up again as she started to unbutton her shirt. Nuada started to protest her actions at once.

"What do you think you're doing?" Did he actually look slightly panicked now?

She ignored his protests. "Chill. I'm wearing a top underneath this thing. Don't think you're getting to see anything, we haven't even known each other for ten days. But you've been dragging your foot through the mud. I'm not a doctor but that doesn't exactly scream 'germ proof' to me."

His facial expression turned sourer than curdled milk. "I entertain not a single wish about seeing anything where you are concerned. But I fail to see why changing my bandages would improve matters since I still have to drag myself out of here."

"I'm carrying you." She said, mentally lamenting the fact he'd torn up that nice green jacket she'd liked so much. Dude had nicer clothes than her and he lived in the sewers for crying out loud.

"Oh well, if you're-" Nuada stopped agreeing with her mid-sentence, straightening himself as much as he could. "You will not be carrying me. I have my pride and honor. I will not suffer this insolence."

She inspected his foot for a moment before he jerked it away, the action making him hiss in pain. "You'll suffer a ton more if you don't let me help you. So keep still or I'll sit on you."

"You would not dare." He stated, glaring at her. She raised her eyebrows in return, cocking her head slightly. When she moved closer to him he grabbed his spear, not losing her out of sight.

Rhianwen halted in her tracks, setting her mouth in the 'no nonsense' pose that Nuada had cause to know well. "You're hurt. You need help. Wink can't get to you here. Keep this up and you'll make this worse. Is any of this making sense to you?"

He held out his other hand to her. "Give me the shirt. I have no wish entrusting my life to your bandaging techniques."

She tossed him the shirt, not too keen on coming any closer to that spear. She watched as he ripped it up, bandaging his foot as well as he could. When he started to mutter something about needing a rope she pulled her shoe laces loose. "Will these work?"

With a nod he accepted them, turning his head to the road ahead of them. "How much further until Wink can reach me?"

"From here? It took me about fifteen minutes. If you plan on dragging your ass there it'll take hours." Rhianwen told him. When he made instances of trying to get up she stood in front of him. His spear extended to her neck, the tip resting against her skin.

"Move."

She swallowed, feeling the heavy weight of the spear move slightly. She flexed her hands, ignoring a healthy survival instinct that told her to start running right this instant. "No. You… y-you need someone to help you right now. A-and I'm all you've got. So… let me… help you that is."

His eyes narrowed for a moment. Rhianwen noticed once again how much he could look like a predator. "I do not need the help of a human."

"You promised me you wouldn't call me that again." She reminded him, cursing herself for speaking like that. What was wrong with her? Did she have a death wish? "Remember? On the same day you agreed with the pixies you'd make sure I would be safe. Well, I'm not safe out here. So y-you can choose between letting me help you or doing it yourself but I'm sticking with you."

His thoughts never showed on his face as he considered this. But he had proven that wasn't an idiot so he would surely see the reason in what she proposed.

"I have my honor." He reminded her. The notion seemed to be his only true defense against her reasoning.

"You think I don't?" the notion seemed to at least shock him a little bit, as if he had indeed never expected that. "I can't leave you here. Not on your own in the dark. Your choice, prince. But I'll stay here for as long as I need to."

If only he could just say yes because she didn't want to be around here in case a shadow decided to do a double check. Nuada was in no position to actually protect her now and she herself was probably three times useless in a fight.

"Touch me and lose a hand." He said as dryly as possible. There was no way in hell he would allow her to degrade him like that. He raised himself to one foot, leaning against the wall. Rhianwen watched as his eyes narrowed with the action, the way he seemed to steel himself for the next step. So he really would rather hurt himself than risk touching her.

"Afraid I'm contagious?" she asked him eventually, hoping to take his mind off the pain for a moment.

He took another step, ignoring her questions. She observed him for a moment as he struggled, taking a deep breath. Her next move could very well be her last but she couldn't just let him suffer like that. She wasn't a total jerk.

As he lifted the arm holding his spear in his next step she stepped underneath it, wrapping her arm around him. Nuada froze in his tracks at once, only moving that little bit needed to be able to see her.

"What are you doing?" His question sent shivers down her spine and not in the way a sexy voice did. This was more the shiver people got when a spray of ice cold water ran down their coat in the middle of winter.

She took a deep breath, grabbing him by the wrist before he could think about removing his arm from her shoulders. As long as he didn't remember he could snap her neck without too much effort she should be fine. Now that she was out of his lair he didn't have a fancy promise holding him back.

"Helping you, numbskull. It's either this or a piggy back ride."

For the first time since she met Nuada she found him something other than intimidating or rude. The way his mouth opened and closed was actually quite endearing, considering he usually had no problem making snappy retorts. Some of her amusement must have showed in her facial expression because he finally managed to say something as he took his next step.

"Does my predicament amuse you?" Oh, he did not sound cute at all.

"No. It's just the first time I've seen you struggle for words. It was… different." She confided, steering clear from any word that would be too positive.

"You could lean on me a bit more. I'm not made of glass."

They walked further, too slow for either liking but faster than before. The silence wasn't exactly hostile, though she probably had to thank Nuada's ankle for that.

"I'll… make you something to heal your ankle back at your place." She finally said, just to have a semblance of conversation. Hell, she would be happy if they could start yelling at each other again. It would be less awkward than this.

"You can?" A faint sheen of perspiration was nary visible on his brow. Rhianwen decided against offering him the piggy back ride lest it destroy this brief hope at a normal conversation.

"Uh, yeah. I've been a little out of practice but I can brew up one mean poultice with the right ingredients. Pip taught me when I was little, and I usually make some for the little ones if I can't ignore them." Rhianwen said. She had gone through weeks and months of pretending fae didn't exist and then one of the pixies would get themselves hurt by pulling pranks. Her bleeding heart couldn't stand watching them suffer.

Nuada's arm transferred a bit more weight to her. "… that is a surprising skill for a human. To actually make something that benefits a fae that is."

And he still couldn't let go about the whole human thing. Fine, she had to ask sooner or later. "Okay, so what is your beef with humans anyway? Nobody told me anything and I really would like some more information. I have my reasons for not liking fae all that much, so you gotta have a reason too."

His head jerked to look at her. For a moment their eyes met, not in anger but in surprise and wonder. Rhianwen noted the scars across his face, the deep line that ran over his nose. For a moment she considered he could actually be quite handsome if he would curl his dark lips in a smile. At least it would lessen his whole dark and evil factor. The instant passed and his mouth pulled down again.

"What is not to hate about humans? You've taken this planet and done nothing but destroy it! Countless of my people have murdered and driven away from their homes by your race. And it is in your nature, nothing -"

Rhianwen moved quickly when he stumbled forward for a second in his arguments, pressing a hand against his chest to keep him steady. "Careful, prince. This human doesn't want to see you in any more pain."

His facial expression moved back to unreadable. They were in one of the lighter parts of the sewers, neither of them having a shadow to hide behind. Rhianwen swallowed, thinking over what he just had said. "I get it… I think. I don't get it the way you get it, but I think I can imagine what I would feel if something happened to the pixies. I know you don't want me to say sorry because I can't apologize for things I don't even know about, but it sounds like a rotten deal. But… you don't know me. How can you hate me personally for things that I would find horrible if I knew about them?"

Nuada removed his hand from the wall for a moment, reaching for the hand she held pressed against his chest. His touch was tentative, unsure if he wanted to actually have contact with her. "Would you mind holding my spear as we walk?"

His tone was nearly civil, considering how they had spoken in the weeks before. She nodded, complying with his request. The hand around her shoulders was now free, allowing him to hold on to her better as they continued their way.

Great, now this had turned into some kind of mushy, huge let's make up thing. Only her apology could probably have used some work. And what did she need to apologize for anyway?

"Your… beef, as you so eloquently put it, with my people. Can I inquire about that?" he finally said.

Rhianwen looked at him surprised, nearly tripping over her own feet. "You actually want to know?"

He looked at her face, though not in her eyes. "I find the walking goes easier if I have something else to do. Such as listening to your rambling."

Rhianwen rolled her eyes at the remark, blowing away a red strand of hair that had gotten out of place. The whole ordeal had gotten her sweaty to boot. "You possess the charm of a cactus. Don't scowl like that, you wanted me to ramble. Anyway, you're the one that asked for the sob story."

Not that she really wanted to tell him. Some things did not need to be known by most people but then again… maybe it would give Nuada something to think about. Not all humans were horrible, nor were they all shining examples. But the same could be said of his people.

"Well, I used to live in a pretty normal family until I was seven or eight. Had my mom, my dad and a dog. Two goldfish too, though I never did bond with them quite as much as I loved my dog. Anyway, dad was a pretty decent singer and a great songwriter. He was trying to break through on the market. Until one day he walked out on me and mom. He just… left for work and didn't come back."

She cleared her throat once. "So, fast-forward a few years. I'm doing pretty good, me and the pixies got along even though most people thought I was a weirdo for talking to the air every once in a while." And her mom had sent her to a talk with the school psychiatrist which had been awkward for all parties involved. She'd been good at pretending however.

"Pip was still around too in those days. And one day one of the younger pixies shows up and tells me he's seen my dad. Can you imagine how glad I was to know my father was still around? I ditched school that day just so I could go and see him."

She glanced at Nuada who was looking at her as they walked. Wow, so he was actually interested in what she was saying. She wondered what he would think about the next part.

"And I just ran as fast as I could. At that age I was pretty much all arms and legs so I must've made quite a sight. The pixies brought me to the riverside. There was a trailer parked right next to it, with my dad sitting on a log and just… playing a little ditty on his guitar."

She had been sure it was her father. Everything about the way he carried himself had suggested it. "So, I run up, all out of breath. I can't even say anything for the first few moments because I'm just so amazed at seeing him."

Her mouth went dry when she thought about the next part. Nuada was still looking at her, raising his eyebrows when she fell short.

"And this guy looks up and he just smiles at me. Looks like my dad, but drawn… withered. Like something had sucked the life out of him. He didn't recognize me. He called me 'little lady' and asked if I had lost my parents. Then a woman steps out of the trailer and I just bolt away. She sought me out later too. Turns out my dad had so much talent he attracted a Xana."

Xanas were a type of mermaid, she had learned. They were attracted to those with talent and bled them dry of it. She saw Nuada's mouth pull for a second. "It's why I stay away from large bodies of water. I don't fancy her tracking me down."

"This explains… some things." Nuada said.

"No human is pure good or evil. But that goes for your kind too." Rhianwen thought it would have been nice to have someone who was all good. When she was younger the idea of elves fighting for justice had been a comforting thought. Now she was in the company of an elven prince who hated her guts.

Nuada tried to pull the arm leaning on her away. She stopped him, shaking her head. "Still helping you, remember?"

She'd gotten over her hatred for all fae after a good five years. But she hadn't seen the things Nuada had seen. A furtive glance towards him showed he had developed a sudden interest for the ground. She hadn't expected him to say something until his voice hardly rose above the silence. "I… it was good of you to share your tale with me."

Her responding smile didn't quite reach the luster it could have. "Well, maybe you should tell me some more about your side of things. I told you part of the reason I'm messed up. I'm willing to hear you out."

"…" He opened his mouth to say something but quickly changed his mind. Instead he nodded curtly as they could hear Wink growling in the distance.

So, first of all, Happy New Year!

Because I'm lacking the brain functions to sensibly answer to all of your lovely, supporting reviews I just made the chapter longer! A thousand and something words that is!
So yeah, I hope it's okay. Nuada still doesn't like her, but at least Rhianwen is starting to actually think he can be something else than a total monster. Which is important if I'm going to move this in more romantic settings. Nuada is still in character, right? He's so difficult to write, just aaargh.