Arven held Serana for a while longer. At least until he remembered that she was injured, and that he needed to help her. He went to pull away from the embrace but Serana refused, holding onto him tighter as her chin rested on his shoulder, and he started to hear the sound of her softly crying. Her fingers clawed lightly at his back, grabbing onto anything they could to pull him towards her, as if seeing if it was possible to be even closer to him.
In response Arven placed a hand on top of her head, gently stroking her hair.
"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now," he whispered.
Serana shook her head. "That's not why, idiot," she responded softly, struggling to maintain her composure.
Arven then kept silent, holding her for a few more moments until she pulled away and had to brush her hair from her face, which had gotten slightly matted from dirt, grime and blood. Her cheeks were wet from fresh tears, and when she looked at Arven and saw the colour of his eyes once more, she sobbed.
While Arven had spent some time processing things, at least to a certain extent, Serana hadn't had the chance. After she had been frozen on the balcony at Volkihar, she had been in a near constant state of panic worrying about Arven.
She reached out, cupping both of Arven's cheeks with damaged hands as she looked closer at his face, seeing the subtle changes that had occurred. How his features were leaner, and there was less colour to his skin.
"Arven, I'm so sorry – I didn't know what to do, and I thought I was going to lose you," Serana started speaking before she quickly began rambling, unable to coherently get her thoughts out as she tried to explain herself.
Arven placed one hand on Serana's own that was cupping his cheek. "It's okay," he started to say before he was cut off.
"No, no it's not!" Serana responded. "I know how much you hate this, and I know that you must hate me, but I just, I wasn't ready to do this without you, and I panicked, and-" her words started to ramble after that, incoherent thoughts spilling out from her mouth.
Arven pressed a finger to her lips, giving her a soft smile as he motioned for her to be quiet.
"Serana, it's okay," he reiterated. "I know why you did it." He forced her to look at him, raising her chin slightly to make eye contact. "I know you just wanted to save me."
Serana was struggling to maintain her composure, her bottom lip quivering slightly. "You should hate me, Arven," she whispered. "I can't – I did this to you," she continued.
"Hey, that's enough," Arven said, slightly firmer while still keeping his voice down. "You did what you had to," he reassured her.
"Don't you hate me?" Serana asked, weakly.
Arven exhaled deeply, a sombre smile on his lips. "No. I did, maybe, for a little bit. I wanted to. But I can't hate you Serana, not when you tried to save my life," he explained.
Serana didn't know what to say in response to that. She didn't have an answer for anything. She had turned Arven into a vampire, then days after she was so helpless, so useless that he had to come and save her, while it was almost certain that he was still struggling immensely. So she just pressed her head against his chest, wrapping her arms around him once more to hold him tight as she whispered another apology.
Arven held her, stroking her hair in the moonlight as he tried to focus on her, and nothing else around him. Unfortunately, that was incredibly hard to do so. Only a few metres away lay the body of the monster he had just been fighting, and despite his best efforts Arven had felt a sense of bloodlust rising up within him during that fight. Not only that, but despite being full, there was a pang of hunger. He needed to distract himself from it.
Then, he remembered Serana was still injured. Placing his hands on her shoulders he gently pushed her away, trying to get a look at her body.
"Where are you hurt?" He asked.
Serana looked up at him, seemingly a little dazed.
"Did he hurt you? Injure you?" Arven repeated
"Oh, I'm – I'm fine, Arven," Serana responded.
Arven gripped her shoulders tightly, shaking her a little bit as if to jolt her awake. "Don't lie to me, I didn't see the whole fight but you weren't exactly winning. How bad?" He asked her once more.
Serana grimaced, then kneeling in front of him showed Arven the damage. Multiple lacerations along her arms and legs, her clothing torn, and most importantly a wound under her chest where she'd been stabbed with a dagger.
"Shit. Serana you should've told me straight away!" Arven said as he grabbed the end of his sleeve, starting to tear the fabric.
"I'm fine, Arven. I'll heal," Serana responded.
"From cuts, sure. Can you heal from being stabbed like that?" He asked.
"…Eventually, yes," Serana said.
Arven shook his head, holding out a bit of fabric from his shirt to the stab wound. "Hold this here," he said.
"Arven, I told you it's okay," Serana complained.
"Enough, Serana,' Arven interrupted. "If I was stabbed you'd do the same thing, and I can guarantee you don't heal as fast as I did with restoration magic."
Serana didn't respond, merely pursing her lips and looking down at the ground. As Arven held the cloth to her side it was quickly getting soaked with blood, and even though it wasn't from a living creature, Arven had to look away after a few moments as he felt a soft thirst beginning to rise. Nothing to worry about just yet, but it was building.
It's nothing, he told himself. It's just in your head. You drank less than a few hours ago.
He needed proper bandages to fix her up, but he didn't have any with him. It seems he still wasn't thinking clearly as he left Dragonsreach, since he barely had any supplies with him.
"I need to get you back to Whiterun," Arven said. "We need to clean your wounds, or they'll take too long to heal properly."
Serana went to complain, but she held her tongue. Arguing with Arven right now didn't seem like the best move. But she was slightly confused when he turned his back to her, squatting down.
"Come on, climb on," Arven said.
"What?" Serana asked.
"I said, 'climb on', now hurry up," Arven retorted.
"Arven I can walk, I'm not that badly hurt," Serana said as she placed a hand to the ground, getting ready to push herself up, although she grimaced as a sharp jolt of pain went through her side.
"Serana, I'm not asking. Come on," Arven said to her as he saw her grimace.
Serana paused for a moment before reluctantly agreeing, but then she remembered something. Turning back around she slowly walked over to where Dawnbreaker was resting on the floor. The wrapping that concealed it before was dirtied and torn, but she didn't have anything else immediately to use so she did her best to wrap it up and stop any light from escaping.
Bringing it back to Arven, even through the wrapping he felt as if he was looking at the Sun. He squinted and turned his eyes away from the blade as Serana attached it to her back, resting parallel to the ground underneath the scrolls she carried.
"How have you put up with me using that all this time?" Arven asked. "It's horrible."
"Worse for you since you're not used to it yet. It'll get better," Serana said. Then she walked up to Arven's back, wrapping her arms around Arven's neck. As soon as he did he reached behind her and grabbed hold of the back of her thighs, pulling her body against his as he stood up to give her a piggyback ride.
Then, without a word he started walking back to Whiterun.
The walk was uncomfortably silent. Serana didn't know what to say, her eyes were still moist and she still felt a truly immense guilt sitting in her chest for what she had done. She had her head resting on Arven's shoulder, and as she caught the occasional glimpse of his red eyes her heart ached. So she wrapped her arms tightly around him and looked down, keeping her thoughts to herself as he carried her back towards his home.
Serana felt light as a feather to Arven while he carried her, yet he felt an overbearing weight on his shoulders. He still wasn't sure what to do. He had Serana back now, but there was still some level of resentment. Still a hidden anger he was trying to push away, as he knew it to be irrational.
Not only that, but what next? Does he just continue as he is, trying to stop Harkon? Or can they afford to take a break and try to find a cure?
Would Serana even help him find a cure? She was so opposed to the idea for herself, maybe on some level she'd resent the idea of Arven searching for it.
The two didn't speak until the gates of Whiterun started to come into view.
"Hey, Serana," Arven said as he jostled her slightly.
Serana looked up, only just then noticing where they were. "Oh, we're almost there."
"Can you disguise us?" Arven asked.
"Disguise? What for?" She responded.
"I really can't deal with explaining everything to the guards right now," Arven responded.
"Ah," Serana said. "Well… I don't think a disguise would work. I could put them in a trance so they don't notice us, but that'd involve using my magic on them, instead of us," she explained.
Arven was silent for a moment, with only the sound of his footsteps ringing out.
"Do it," he finally said. "But nothing serious, and as soon as we're in the gates cancel the spell."
Serana nodded to him. So when they approached the gates, two guards standing to either side, they ignored the pair. They didn't even see him. It was still night so no guards on the walls called out to Arven. He was able to approach the main gate, open it and slide through without a single person paying any attention to him at all.
It was a pretty convenient trick. He felt frustrated that a part of him considered doing it again in the future.
"Wait," Serana said as they got closer to Arven's house. "What about Lydia?"
"She knows already," Arven said.
"Really? How did that happen?" Serana enquired, a hint of curiosity in her voice.
"Long story. I'll fill you in later, but Balgruuf knows as well. So does Irileth, and a couple of guards in the prison," Arven said.
"The prison? What happened?" Serana asked. She started to have a bad feeling sinking into her stomach. She had worried about Arven getting hungry, after all.
"Like I said, long story. I'll fill you in once we've tidied you up."
As they arrived back home Arven stopped right out front of the door, standing up straight to signal Serana to climb off. She did so slowly, testing her weight before leaning primarily on one leg as the pain in her ribs and several lacerations on one side of her body flared up. She winced, and Arven couldn't stop his heart from aching ever so slightly after noticing that.
"Lydia? You home?" Arven called out as he opened the door, stepping inside. He got no response. "Must still be at Dragonsreach."
"Arven, what happened before you found me?" Serana asked once more as she took Dawnbreaker from her back, sliding it behind a bookshelf out of sight.
"Later, Serana," Arven deflected without turning back to her. Instead he started walking towards the stairs. "Stay here, I'll be back in a second."
So Serana remained where she was, holding fabric close to the wound on her ribs. Small drops of blood dripped down her skin and her ruined attire, staining the wooden floor beneath her. Vampiric blood wasn't quite as potent in its smell, but it was still noticeable. As one of the drops hit the floor she noticed Arven pause for the slightest of moments on the stairs.
She had to struggle to stifle a small sob from escaping her lips.
When Arven returned he had a bag in one hand and a bucket in the other, filled with near boiling water.
"Where will you be more comfortable?" Arven asked. "We can do this here or in the bathroom. Not enough water for an actual bath though, I'm afraid."
Serana looked down at the bag he was holding. It was covered in dust.
"Been a while since you've done this?" She asked as the motioned to it.
Arven tilted his head for a moment before he caught on. "Oh, yeah. Haven't needed to since I stopped being horrible at restoration."
Serana gave him a soft smile and started walking towards the bathroom. "I think I'll need a bath after this. I can fill it up," she said. And she did. When she got to the bathroom she held a single hand out above the wooden tub before icy cold winds started to flow out from her hand. She froze the moisture in the air, leaving the bathtub full of ice after a few moments.
Arven had followed in after her, looking over her shoulder. "So that's how you did it. I wondered how you managed this before," he remarked.
Serana grinned, but grimaced as her exhaustion was catching up with her. She sat down on a stool, holding her ribs. "Yeah. Damn, I'm more tired than I thought. You don't have any way to heat it up, do you? I'm not the best when it comes to fire magic, and it'll wear me out even more if I tried to unfreeze all of that."
Dropping the bucket he was carrying and his medical tools on the floor Arven walked over to the bath, taking his gloves off as he did so. He placed his bare hands on the ice, not even feeling the cold from it as he exhaled deeply, trying to ignore the fact.
Muttering the word for Fire underneath his breath his hands became incredibly hot, and sunk into the ice effortlessly. Holding his arms in the ice for a few moments, before long it was melting around him, the water immediately next to his skin boiling as he got the water up to a nice temperature.
After he'd done so he stood back up straight, shaking his hands to rid them of water. "Alright. Overshirt off, I need to clean your wounds. Maybe stiches for your ribs."
"Stitches? That sounds… unpleasant," Serana said. She went to make a quip, to tease Arven as he was basically asking her to strip down, but she held his tongue. The air between them was far too awkward for that right now. So she simply took off her jacket and boots, followed by her pants as Arven turned around to give her at least some level of privacy.
She was left in her briefs and a white undershirt, although it had been stained badly with dirt and blood. She felt rather vulnerable in that moment, letting someone else see her like this. Not only hurt, but so exposed. A part of her just wished the circumstances were different.
When Arven turned back around he paused for a moment upon seeing her, but shook his head and opened the bag of medical equipment he had. Looking through the eyes of a medic, rather than a man, helped to clear his head.
"Where did you get hurt the worst?" He asked as he pulled out some rags, dipping them in the bucket he had beside him.
"Just my ribs, mainly. The cuts he gave me are all pretty minor," Serana responded. She lifted an arm, stretching out her chest before she winced. "I might have cracked something in my chest as well."
Arven nodded, and he started inspecting her wounds. Each time he wiped away the grime and blood with the cloth before making sure the damage wasn't too great before moving onto the next one. "Serana, can you… can we get infections? I'm not quite sure how thorough I need to be here," Arven asked without taking his attention away from what he was doing.
Serana shook her head. "No, not that I know of. We're immune to pretty much all diseases," she said. Referring to them as 'we' in this circumstance just reminded her once more of what she'd done.
"And what about natural healing?" Arven asked as he ran the wet rag over a cut on Serana's thigh. "How quickly can you heal?"
"Depends," Serana said. "Small cuts are gone overnight. Broken bones are normally gone within a day or so. For a stab like this? I'm not too sure, but I should be fine within a few days. Really, you don't have to worry too much."
"I do," Arven said. "If it's serious and I don't treat it, it might take longer to heal. You know you're still bleeding, right?"
Serana looked down at him. She saw it in his eyes, that hunger that she'd no doubt be feeling if the situation was reversed. She had felt that hunger when she was cleaning his own wounds in this very room.
She reached out, placing a hand on his forearm. "Arven, I can do this. It's okay, you can go rest," she said.
Arven shook his head, not stopping what he was doing. "You're going to stitch up your own stab-wound?" He asked.
Serana didn't respond. If it was up to her she'd leave it and just sleep it off, maybe tie some cloth to the wound so she didn't bleed all over everything. But that blood would no doubt be tormenting Arven right now, so she had to do something.
"Lift up your shirt," Arven said after he had finished inspecting most of the minor lacerations and bruises.
Serana did so, exposing her midriff up to the point where she had been injured. Arven took a look at the wound, wiping the blood away to get a proper look.
"Serana, this is deep," he said. The wound was thin, but it was a good few inches deep. It looked as if the skin had started knitting itself together already, but it was still bleeding and Arven had to keep wiping away the blood.
"It's fine, Arven," Serana said. "I've been injured worse than that before."
"So have I. Would you let me walk around with a wound like that?" he asked. He didn't get a response, so he took that as her approval for him to treat it. He would normally stitch it up, but it had been quite a while since he'd done that before, so he was slightly rusty. Instead, he had a different thought.
"Alright, I've got an idea. This might hurt, but it'll be far quicker than being poked with a needle over and over," he said.
"How reassuring," Serana remarked.
"Grab onto something. It'll only take a second," Arven told her. In response Serana held out her hands, looking to him.
"Do you need both your hands? She asked. When Arven shook his head in response, she spoke again. "Give me your hand then." Arven hesitated, but he did so, holding up his non-dominant hand. Serana grasped it with both of hers, squeezing it tightly. He squeezed back.
Then with his free hand he held a finger over the length of the wound. Channelling restoration magic into his finger, he forced the energy into the skin around Serana's wound. It burnt him, just as it burnt her, but it essentially cauterised the area where she had been stabbed, sealing it shut and stopping any further bleeding. Serana's natural regenerative abilities would take care of the rest.
Serana squeezed his hand tight as she felt the slight burst of pain, but it was over within a few seconds. Then Arven gently pulled his hand free, and stood up.
"Alright, you're all done," he said.
Serana held onto his hand for a second longer before letting go, running her fingers over the wound he had sealed up. She then ran her fingertips over the smaller wounds he had cleaned. Not so much inspecting the work he had done, but more tracing over where his fingers had touched her.
"The guest room should be set up for you, after you've had your bath," Arven said before he let out a long, deep sigh. Running his hands through his hair, Serana couldn't help but notice that he looked exhausted.
"I'm going to go get some rest," he continued. "Tomorrow night, we can figure out what to do next."
He didn't wait for a response and walked out of the room, leaving Serana by herself. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. So she just waited for him to close the door behind him as he left, and undressed to sink into the bath, left alone with her thoughts.
Arven went straight outside, to where he had filled up another bucket previously. The water in it was freezing cold but he didn't care. He had a thought that he'd need it, and he was very glad that he'd prepared it. Dropping to his knees in front of the bucket he splashed the water over his face, before starting to scrub his hands vigorously.
He had hoped that vampiric blood wouldn't affect him, and to an extent it wasn't as strong. But it still made him hungry. Even though he had fed earlier on in the evening, after fighting Garan he felt that hunger. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as in the cave but it still made him feel sick.
So he scrubbed his hands until they were raw. He scrubbed them until the blood was gone from his skin and was instead tainting the water. As soon as he'd cleaned it all off he dumped the water and went back inside, walking up the stairs to sit on the edge of his bed. With his head in his hands he took a series of deep, long breaths, focusing on that rather than the hunger as he waited for it to go away.
But it didn't, it was still there. Still gnawing at him. A small part inside of him that seemed ever present. He thought about getting himself riled up, letting the souls within him stir to overwhelm the feeling, but he couldn't muster the strength for it. He was just tired.
A number of thoughts ran through his head. Was it this hard for all vampires? Did Serana have to deal with this all the time? She seemed to manage it rather well, for the most part.
Was he just weak-willed?
Taking his head from his hands he looked at the dresser opposite him. Sitting on it was a series of vials that Lydia had filled up. Reaching out he grabbed one, holding it close. He could feel the warmth coming from the bottle. The colour looked so incredibly rich through the glass. He felt his mouth starting to salivate a bit, and the hunger began to gnaw at him with more force than before.
But he couldn't bring himself to drink it. He just held the vial up against his forehead, eyes closed as he struggled to maintain his humanity. So he just sat there, squeezing that vial tight, and doing his best to resist the urge to bring it to his lips.
He did that until he heard the door to his bedroom opening. Looking up, he turned his head to see Serana standing in the doorway. Her hair was clinging to her body, still damp after bathing, and it seemed as if she had found one of Arven's shirts to wear. It was far too big for her, and the bottom of it reached down to the middle of her thighs.
As she saw him holding that vial of blood she immediately walked over to him, climbing onto the bed and sitting right behind him. She wrapped her arms around his chest, hugging him tightly with her cheek pressed to his broad back.
"Gods, Arven. I'm so sorry," she whispered into his shirt.
Arven responded by placing a hand over one of her own, giving it a gentle squeeze as he stared down the vial. He was trying his best to suppress his frustration with everything. His anger, and his sorrow. Serana felt his shoulders start to tremble, just a little bit.
"Why is this so hard, Serana?" Arven asked as he looked at the blood, watching the way that light refracted as it came into contact with the liquid. "It's just hunger, why can't I ignore it?"
"You'll get used to it," Serana responded. "It gets easier, trust me."
"I just," Arven started before he cut himself off. "I didn't realise it would be this bad. The things it almost made me do. The things I did do," he continued.
"Arven, what happened?" Serana asked. "Please, tell me. I want to help you," she said.
So Arven told her. He started telling her what had happened after he ran away. How he ran until the Sun rose, and he struggled within himself to get rid of the transformation that she forced upon him.
He told her about the bandits who entered the cave. He told her how he fought them, and how easily he lost control. About how he slaughtered them, and how he enjoyed it. Unfortunately, those memories, as recent as they were came back to him perfectly as he thought of them. The way that he had revelled in the feeling of being able to paint the walls of that cave red with the blood of the bandits who had attacked him. How he wanted, for that one moment, to kill the poor Elf who had been kidnapped.
He spoke about how badly he wanted to eat them after he had killed them all. How close he got to it, and how he would've done so if he didn't burn them all to a crisp.
Then he explained how Lydia knew. When he asked to be locked up, and parts of the conversation he had with the Jarl afterwards. After that he just kept talking. He had started, and he didn't know how to stop. So he just said whatever came to his mouth. He talked about fighting with Garan, even though Serana had watched it himself.
Arven described the conflict he felt, satisfaction at beating Garan so readily, but a level of sickness knowing that part of the reason why he could do such a thing was because he himself was a vampire. He kept on talking until he told Serana about how the entire time he was treating her wounds, all he could think about was blood. He wanted to be worried for her, yet that overriding desire to feed was more important.
He told her how hard he'd been trying to push that urge back down, even after he had already drunk blood once. And how he'd spend the last 15 minutes staring down the blood in the vial, trying to will himself to put it away. But he couldn't. Eventually he ran out of things to say, and he simply sat there, rolling that vial between his thumb and index finger while Serana held him from behind.
He had emotions within him that he wanted to express but he couldn't. He hadn't slept since he had turned, and after coming down from his transformation, fighting the bandits and fighting Garan, he had no energy left.
"I just want to sleep," he said under his breath. "But whenever I close my eyes, whenever I try to relax, all I can feel is this hunger. And I'm paranoid that when I do sleep, all I'll see is nightmares of the things I've just done. When I close my eyes, I can still see their bodies. It's as if I can see the monster I became in that moment."
Eventually he turned his body, looking around to meet Serana's eyes. He only then noticed that she'd been crying, although she made no attempt to hide it.
"Does it get easier?" Arven asked.
"The hunger?" Serana asked.
Arven nodded. "All of it. I just think… what if I'm like this forever, now? I know at times it's hard for you, but you seem to be in better control of it. Or at least you're just far stronger than I am."
Serana shook her head. "I'm not stronger than you Arven," she responded. "I don't know a single man alive who is. When I turned, I lost myself for days. I didn't have the discipline to control myself like you have."
Since Arven turned around she broke off her hug, but she instead reached out for his hand, holding it tight. "I need you to listen to me, okay?" She said as she forced eye contact with him. "The hunger, the things you've done. That isn't who you are. The things you did to fight it? What you're doing right now? That's what defines you," she told him.
"Most vampires take weeks, months before they're able to reign themselves in, and it does get easier," she continued.
Arven closed his eyes, reaching up to rub one of them from sheer exhaustion. "And what if I can't turn back?" he asked.
"Turn back to being a human?" Serana clarified.
Arven nodded to her. "I know you were against it when I brought it up for you, and you might not like the idea, but-" he said, before he was cut off.
Serana had grabbed his cheek, pulling his face back up to look at her.
"Arven, I need you to look at me, okay?" She started. "I know I told you that I'm against turning back. That was for me, and things have happened since then. But that doesn't mean anything when we're talking about you, do you understand?" As she spoke she didn't break off eye-contact, almost staring down Arven even though there was still moisture in her eyes.
"If you want to try and find a cure, if one exists, I'm going to do everything I can to support you," she said. "Even if you tell me right now that you can't stand the sight of me and you need me to leave? I'll leave, and I'll still do everything I can to find the cure and get it to you. And if it doesn't exist? I'll make it exist, okay? The two of us broke into hell and escaped. If we can do that, we can get you back to being human."
Arven didn't respond straight away. He just looked at her until she had finished, before he turned away, wiping something from his eye. Then, even as he was hiding his face he grabbed hold of her hand again.
"I could never tell you to leave, Serana," he whispered mostly to himself. But of course, she heard him.
So she smiled at him. "If there's anything I can do for you Arven, please just ask me," she said.
Arven didn't speak for a moment. When he did, his voice was still barely a whisper.
"I need to sleep," he said. "That's it. But I'm… scared to, I think." Arven cursed to himself, shaking his head. "Gods, it sounds so idiotic. I fight dragons, but I'm scared to close my eyes."
"It's not stupid, Arven," Serana said. "I've felt the same way before. Very recently, in fact," she told him.
Arven looked to her, seeming slightly surprised.
"I know how to deal with it though," she continued. "I can help."
Arven didn't verbally respond, but he nodded to her. So Serana stood up. "Take off your boots, you can hardly get comfortable with those on."
Arven did so, and took off his gloves and shirt as well. He discarded them in a pile at the foot of his bed, hardly having enough energy to put them away properly. As he turned back to his bed he saw Serana closing the door to his bedroom, before turning back and walking towards him. As she was still just in that shirt of his, she reached out for his hand and guided him to the bed.
Arven gave her a look of confusion, but she smiled. "Trust me, okay?" She asked. "Come on."
So Arven did. As she guided him, he laid down on his side and she did the same, the two facing each other. Serana pulled the blanket over them both and the two simply laid there, roughly a foot or so away from the other. Before Arven could open his lips and say something she reached out, placing a hand on his head before she began gently stroking his hair.
Her touch was so incredibly soft, so inviting that Arven couldn't help himself from leaning into it ever so slightly. He felt himself relax, just a little bit.
"You aren't using any magic, are you?" he asked.
Serana shook her head. "No, none at all. I promise," she said. Then, ever so slowly, she moved a bit closer. She came closer and closer until she was able to pull Arven into her chest, one hand on the back of his head as she ran her fingers through his hair while she began to hum a tune ever so softly. It was the same one Arven had enjoyed when they were travelling together, the one that had him moving closer to her so he could hear it better.
Arven initially tensed up when she pulled him in. Not only because it was unexpected, but for other obvious reasons. It had been a long time since he was this close to a woman. But that wasn't on his mind right now. Despite his initial tension, he let himself try to relax. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer.
Then, the worries he had started to fade away. Instead of seeing the bodies he'd maimed when he closed his eyes he could only see her. Her scent filled his nostrils, the tune she was singing filled his ears. She quickly became the only thing he could think about, hear, see or smell. And everything else faded into the background. Lying there, in her arms, despite everything Arven finally had a moment where he could feel completely at peace.
Sleep came up to reach him, and he was able to get some rest.
Hello again! Back with a slightly shorter chapter, but hopefully not waiting as long makes it worth it! Once again I hope you're all enjoying reading it. There's a lot I've wanted to, and still need to unpack with Arven's emotions regarding becoming a vampire, and I hope it's all been enjoyable to read so far. Fingers crossed I can come back with another chapter fairly soon. But if not, I hope you all have a safe and happy holidays!
And as always, thank you for reading, following and reviewing. It means so much!