Cupid's Bow

Chapter 15

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Vagrant. Barbarian. Beast.

There were as many bad names about Them as there were good. Not that that was broadcast, mind you. Ostensibly, the Institution weren't just 'aloof' about Them, in fact, they liked the pretend They didn't exist at all (when they weren't dropping people into the fray, anyhow).

I only knew the terms because I had accidentally overheard some high-ups talking about it once. I'd recoiled then, the harshness of the term beast startling me so much that I'd dropped my handheld-hologram to the floor, right outside the door.

They have no order, no system! Vagrants, the lot of them.

Suffice to say, that was the end of my eavesdropping.

And they're breeding system! It's positively barbaric.

But only the beginning of my judgements on Them.

Well they are barbarians, are they not?

I had deduced beast as something bad – not because I had any knowledge of the semantics of the word, but because of the way the person had said it, nay, spat it. We were neutral, always neutral. And this was most definitely not.

That's true enough. They're nothing but a pervasive hoard of wild beasts!

Now, as Edward lifts me with a kind of slow and gentle that begs my tense muscles to fall into slumber, as he carries me over to a shallow and sets me carefully down onto the side of the pool, never fully letting me go as he eases my calves into the water. As he sinks down into the cool in front of me, wet hitting his stomach before it stops, and washes the panic and the fever and ache away with soothing-shining fingertips – as he does all of this, I can't help but come to the realisation that there isn't anything barbaric or beastly about this… about him.

OoOoOo

OoOoOoOo

OoOoOo

Trembles seem second nature since I've been here. I guess the surplus of all this new feeling doesn't know what to do with itself, so it manifests as shudders and tiny little bumps on my skin; fear and shock and surprise.

I'm still hot, even though the nausea is fading, hopefully signalling I won't be sick again. Because it's really, really unpleasant.

So, as Edward coats my skin in water, I try to figure out why I was.

It could be the difference in the atmosphere… but in all the time I'd been a Pigeon for Hush, I'd never heard of it affecting someone so bad that they threw up. Plus, it was renowned for its adaptability… so that option didn't seem too likely.

I guess it could have been the heat… but it seems like that would have affected my head rather than my stomach.

But the only other thing that it could have been was…

The food.

The round-pink that I'd eaten about two dozen of.

I only barely withhold a groan. I guess that's the consequence of eating too much… and also too-colourful.

"Bel-la baby?"

I shake myself out of my realisations to see Edward's hand on my stomach. I ignore the quiver-clench and take a deep breath, focusing on his words instead. Bel-la baby?

I blink up at him, confused. Baby? Why would he think I had a baby? And why is he touching my stomach like that?

"Um… no. I don't have a baby," I say, my words slow for myself, not him. My mind races as I try to remember anything about reproduction here, but I come up blank. So, I just peer up at him and ask, "Why would… why would you think that?" I don't look like a test-tube, do I?

"Bel-la sick," he replies easily, his gaze darting down to his hand covering my stomach. "Bel-la baby."

I gawk at him, realising that fertilisation must be very different here than to how it is on Earth.

"Edward help," he continues at my silence, his thumb twitching on my stomach. "Edward… know how."

I shake my head quickly, before he starts to do… something. "I'm… I don't have a baby. Um…" Lifting a hand from the soft, I let it hesitantly touch his on my stomach for a second before pulling it back. "No baby."

He looks at me sceptically for a minute.

"Really," I urge. "I think I just… I ate too much, and I'm not used to your food here."

His eyes widen. "Food bad?"

"Bella bad," I reply, lips frozen after as I wonder if it's true – even just a little bit. Pre-conceived notions aside, I still had them, and they're probably not going to go away just like that.

But then he frowns and tells me, "Bel-la not bad."

And then, well, I smile, because I just can't help it.

OoOoOo

OoOoOoOo

OoOoOo

He offers me his hand first.

I eye his helping hand apprehensively, and then look down at my arms which are folded across my chest. Maybe nudity isn't a big deal to him, or to any of Them, but I've spent twenty years covering up, so I can't just…

"Um," I stammer quickly. "That's okay, I've…" I fold my legs under me and try to grow an extra hand when I realise that I'm going to need more coverage. So, I'm not completely naked – underwear consisting of longish, short pants that end a good few inches above my knees, and a vest-bra combo that halts a bit before my belly button – but there's still so much skin, all on show. And I don't know how to be comfortable like this.

Turn around is on the tip of my tongue, but of course I can't say it.

As I struggle, his arm stays outstretched, waiting.

When I look up at him, hesitant, he's smiling.

"Bel-la," he says, voice tinged with bemusement as he wiggles his fingers at me, like, take my hand already.

So I just do, because I'm not going to find the Thing sitting here all day. Heat burns my cheeks as I slowly remove one of arms and place my hand in his. My palm zaps when I do, and I drop my eyes to where we're connected for a minute, looking for something tangible to signify the sizzle, but it's just feeling.

With a gentle tug that probably takes nothing on his part, I'm pulled to my feet, and I don't even stumble.

"Thanks," I mumble, heart beating ten to the dozen as I stare fixedly at our hands – too nervous to look into his eyes.

He hums in reply, and I watch his palm turn, his fingers running like streams of water through mine as he laces ours together. The tips of his fingers are practically touching my wrist they're so long.

"Thanks too for, you know, pulling me out of the water, that was, um, that was… good," I say awkwardly, sort-of really rambling a bit. I tighten my left arm around myself. His silence, while probably only lasting a few seconds, is disconcerting, so I –

I jolt.

The fingers on his free hand are suddenly on my neck, lightly pressing down, and even though I try not to, I still flinch a little bit. My hand unconsciously tightens around his, and my gaze feathers around his chest for a minute at his close, close proximity.

Pulling air through his teeth, he makes a sharp hissing sound. Startled, I glance up to see his eyes focused on my neck, and wincing.

I blink spasmodically, confused.

"Edward?"

His gaze darts up to mine as he pulls his fingers away, and he looks at me for a second before turning his gaze outwards. I watch him watch the green in puzzlement. My free hand lifts to touch the place his had just been, a lot less gently, and I recoil at the sting it causes.

What?

Then he's walking, and because we're attached, I am, too.

He halts right in front of some more green. I wish I could be more specific, but everything here just looks… green to me. Without dropping my hand, he roots through with his other… eventually pulling out a long, thinnish piece of, you guessed it, green.

Turning around, he presents it to me with a smile.

I look at him, wide-eyed. "Uh…"

"Make better," he says gently, gaze on my neck.

My eyes widen further, because that doesn't look like the friendliest… green thing around. It has spikes, for crying out loud!

"No, that's okay," I utter quickly, sliding my hand from his and backing up a little. I let my fingers close on my neck. "I'm sure…" why does it hurt, exactly? "I'm sure it'll be fine."

His head twitches to the side, following my retreat with a frown. All he does is take one step forward, and he's matched my three paces backwards.

I tilt my head up and look at him warily.

"Better," he insists, holding up the green-spiky again. He nods towards my neck. "Bel-la burn."

Burn? What? How?

"Sun," he continues, as if hearing my silent questions. He lifts his gaze to the sky for a minute. "Bel-la… not… not used t-to?"

I gawk at him, surprised, once again. He's repeating what I said earlier, and correctly.

I don't get to reply though, because he's splitting the green in half before I can. Sliding his fingernail through its soft looking flesh, I watch, a little bit fascinated, as a translucent liquid starts to ease out. He smears it onto his fingertips, then slowly lifts a hand to my neck, and rubs it into the… the burn.

"Oh," I mouth-sigh, as my neck is immediately doused with cool, removing the sting.

A smile tickles the corner of his mouth as he squeezes more translucent onto his fingers, rubbing it into places I can't see, making skin feel better when I didn't even realise it was hurt.

Tilting my chin up slightly, his thumb presses lightly down onto my chin, making my lips part. "Drink?"

"What is it?" I ask warily, like knowing its name would somehow fill me in with the knowledge of what it meant.

"Aloe – not bad," he assures, eyes gentle. "Soothes," he murmurs, the tip of his thumb brushing my bottom lip. With his other hand, he carefully runs his fingertips across my neck. "Skin." Then, dropping his hand to my stomach, "Insides."

His eyes are telling me he's earnest, and he's actually only helped me so far, so I tell him, without any real struggle, "Okay."

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A/N: Yikes. Sorry about the wait. I got consumed by an essay that I left too late and had to panic-rush to finish it. All is well though, I handed it in yesterday, and I'm officially on Easter break. So, I know I said last time that we were back on schedule, but that turned out to be a lie, but this time when I say it, it's the truth. So guys: we're back on schedule (i.e. updates every (other) day). For real this time.