A/N: Hope you enjoy!

I do not own Elsword nor its characters.

A half empty cup of tea rested on the side table between them. It was made of white porcelain, decorated with delicate silver flowers near its edges. Ara took a couple of sips before returning to their studying session, the hot beverage had surely helped her to calm down her nerves. She thought, as the teacup hit the plate with a faint sound, that pouring her heart out the way she had done a few hours ago, emptying herself from the burden that weighted over her shoulders was something she had been needing to do for a long time. That maybe that was exactly what she had to do to feel light again, even if the mourning of those who had passed away continued to hurt her deeply, she felt more capable of coping with it and go on now that she had taken so much out of her heart. Gratefulness was filling her from the inside; a new light illuminated the male sitting beside her now. She looked over at him and saw him staring with a reproachful gaze, so she apologized for the pause.

He was helping her with the learning of the language once again, just like the day before. The routine was exactly the same, the memorizing and the reading out loud, followed by his corrections. She knew it was a task she would have to commit with dedicatedly if they wanted to make any progress, so it was already decided that they were going to go through the book every day. Several subjects had already been studied; it was amazing how much she could advance in the learning with his help. Articles, connectors, prepositions, pronouns and gender variables had already been revised between both sessions. Learning how to conjugate verbs and the vocabulary was what was left, probably the most complicated part. But she was fine with taking their time with it; she wanted to do it properly. He took a notebook from the desk and wrote down several words in it, ripped that piece of paper and handed it to Ara.

"These are the words you should focus on learning. Of course you could try to learn the entire thing, but that's going to take a lot of time and is absolutely unnecessary for your purpose" he told her as she received the paper. It was a long list.

"There is still a lot to do, isn't there?" she sighed, folding the note before placing it between the book's pages. "And we have only revised the basics".

"It had been two days, what were you expecting? Of course you have to invest time to dominate something like this" he said while standing up to put the "Ancient Languages" book back to its place on one of the shelves. "Be grateful of my help, you'd have to spend probably twice as much time in this otherwise". She nodded.

"I know. And I am grateful, for a lot of things" she said, looking away. All of that sudden honesty and openness was like a river in flood, uncontainable and unstoppable, pouring out of her as if by instinct. What was there to hide, anyway? She had opened her heart to him once, showed him her most vulnerable side. What reason could there be to hide other, less significant thoughts?

"Are you going to go sentimental on me again?" he mocked her with a light tone, an easy laugh making his voice vibrate and his mouth expand to a smile. She looked at him with a frown on her face, twisting her mouth on a reproachful expression that made him stop laughing.

"I won't thank you if you don't want the gratefulness. But what you said back there was important to me, so I hope you didn't just say it out of a whim" she said, standing up from the armchair and moving closer, standing in front of him. "So…can we get this over with so I can go?" she said, an unpleased grimace twisting her lips to a side. He looked at her with his eyebrows arched, confusion showing on his face.

"What are you so upset about?" he asked her, ignoring her question. She stared directly at his eyes with intensity.

"You are such an idiot" she said simply. "So much I am even thinking about punishing you by not giving you any blood today" she added, crossing her arms over her chest, looking at him threateningly. At that, he let out a snicker.

"You do realize I could just take it without needing your permission, right?" he asked with a confident voice, slightly cocky, looking down at her with a snotty smile displaying on his face. It made her shiver.

"That doesn't make any sense. The deal we have would be useless if you do that" she retorted.

"And claiming you will punish me by not giving me blood sounds fair or like a part of the deal to you? If you want to play by your own rules don't be surprised if I do the same" he said, widening his smile even more. For some reason, that expression gave her chills, and they intensified the moment he put his arms against the shelves behind her, trapping her between them and him. A soft laugh escaped from his lips. She moved quickly and swiftly, going under his arm to break free and running away towards the library's door, holding the end of her skirt. He managed to catch up to her before she could even reach the middle of the corridor, pulling her by the arm firmly as he pushed her towards him with his hand on her back. "There is no point in playing the cat and mouse game with me" he said and, by that moment, they were both laughing softly. "Did I win the right to bite you yet?".

"Not yet" she answered. "I still think you're an idiot for mocking me like that, and on such a sensitive subject, too" she explained, furrowing her brows. Still, a smile managed to break her severe expression.

"Should I apologize, then?" he asked, keeping the smile on his face and his grip on her.

"Yes, you should".

Still holding her arm he pulled her a little bit closer, staring intently and directly into her eyes as a serious mien took over him, changing the expression on his face.

"I apologize for mocking you. Also, what I told you back then was not said lightly, and I take full responsibility for the meaning of my words. I meant it. I am here. Don't ever question my words because they are always the truth" he said with a deep and husky voice that echoed through the hallway and into her mind. The intensity with which he looked at her and the seriousness behind his words made her chest tighten, her heart throbbing rapidly inside her. It was hard for her to take her eyes away from his gaze, but she couldn't help looking a little bit lower. It felt like a moment froze in time and she could almost swear the floor was disappearing under her feet, her breath was stuck on her throat and she felt her legs losing strength. None of them was backing away; she wondered how much time they were going to stay like that, but his grip was too firm and she was too unwilling to move.

"Why?" was the only thing she managed to mutter, and even then her voice sounded like contained breath and a knot on the throat.

"Because I am not a beast" he replied before freeing her from his embrace, letting his arms hang by his sides. Maybe her heart broke a little bit when his last statement was pronounced, maybe some of a sad emotion filled her in that moment because she extended her arms to pull him into a hug, surrounding him with her arms and burying her face on his chest.

"No, you are not a beast. And I believe you. And I am here too" she whispered softly, closing her eyes, feeling the coldness of his body. "And you are not an idiot".

He didn't say a word, just accepting the embrace, placing a hand on her shoulder, supporting his chin on her head. She spoke again.

"Thank you. You have been nothing but kind to me, you have done so many things you didn't need to do and helped me" she paused. "I am glad you listened to me, I am glad you understood what I wanted you to understand, I am glad you decided to help. And I am glad I talked to you, I am glad I chose to tell you about those things. It made me feel so much better. Thank you, thank you…" her voice started to lower, growing weaker and weaker with each word as if it was slowly fading away and hiding inside her chest again, she squeezed him.

"Say, Ara…" he spoke finally, his voice low and severe. "If one day I ask you to listen to me too…will you do it?" he asked, and she was sure of recognizing a faint trace of sadness in his tone. Her heart seemed to shrink inside her chest.

They broke away once more and she looked intently into his face. The same intense and piercing gaze that had casted a spell over her since the day they met was searching in her eyes, a thin layer of pain hiding behind it. She could sense the loneliness those eyes seemed to be bathed in, the plea underneath.

"Of course I will" she replied without hesitation.

Two genuine smiles.

Ara was standing in front of a shelf with the translations book between her hands, examining it concentratedly. The studying session of that day had been long and intense, the advances they made were considerable, but the rhythm of the research left a few things here and there that she felt like going through once more. She held the paper with the vocabulary Add had written down a few minutes ago, realizing just how much she would have to work in order to accomplish the mission she had imposed on herself. The words he had listed were surely the ones she would need to read out loud to whatever ritual it was that was so important to the whole problem. Or maybe something she would need to understand if she wanted to be well prepared to face the threat that had been staying in their world for so long. Even if everything had been in this state of chaos for longer than she had been alive, she was sure the demons and the humans belonged to different dimensions, ones that should have never crossed. But where did vampires come from? Were they always in the human realm? Were they something between a human and a demon? Didn't they have their own place? She thought that maybe they just didn't belong anywhere; maybe they didn't have any place they could call their own, never accepted by humans or demons. That idea struck her with a feeling of loneliness. She thought about Add, about how alone he must have felt and how the idea of making connections with other people surely felt overwhelming to him, how fearful of people he probably felt, of what they would do to him if they knew what he was. Weren't there other vampires he could relate to? Was he completely alone?

Those thoughts overwhelmed her mind and for a moment she stared at the book between her hands without really looking at it. That's why she nearly jumped when there were hands suddenly placed on her shoulders. She felt the closeness and breath on her neck.

"I can't take it anymore. Please?" she heard his husky voice whispering on her ear. That sole phrase agitating her immensely, heating up her body like an intense wave of an unknown enchantment that filled her with thrill.

"You are going to kill me one day, doing that" she muttered under her breath.

"I know how the human body works. I won't let you die" he whispered, his last words sending even more intense chills down through her spine. They had a certain charm in them, a certain sweetness that spread a warm sensation all over her. "I will say it again. I can't resist it anymore".

She answered with her body, leaning her back against him and removing her long hair from her neck. She closed her eyes, waiting. He buried his face on her neck and the known sting of his fangs piercing on her flesh, reopening the old wounds made her veins feel like pumping under her skin. For a short moment she felt the blood coming out through the holes on her skin, his lips pressing against her neck and sucking on her vital liquid. Even if it was supposed to feel painful, after his teeth had went through her skin there was nothing but a weird sensation of delight and emotion. She would have let him drain her entirely if it was for the feelings the feeding woke up on her. But it was over almost as soon as it started. She turned around to face him and the closeness made her hold her breath. He was licking the remaining blood off his lips and for a second she could do nothing but stare at that gesture. They stared into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity, letting the silence fill the room. And she was sure the wild beatings of her heart were audible in that quiet moment, pumping on her ears loudly. The gaze that pierced through her seemed to hide hundreds of unknown emotions and intentions that kept her in awe, waiting for something to come. Then he opened his mouth to speak.

"Will you hear me out?".

A/N: And that's it for now. I'm already working on the next chapter and it's going to be a little bit different. So please bear with me!

Also, I see you seeing it. So once again, reviews and feedback and comments are always really really appreciated!

Until next time.