My safe place is you? (Catori x Geraden)

[Sabra Knight]

Flushing even more Catori looked down as the scarf settled into her hand. Quickly she jerked that same hand back away from him before he could touch her. As much as she was curious to see if that tingling feeling was still there the cattaur didn’t trust her illusion magic to stay stable. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to look back up at him, her amber eyes gleaming, before nodding. “I’m fine thank you very much. Good bye now!” There was a gleam of sparkling tears in her eyes as she quickly turned and started back down the street away from him.

Keep moving, just keeping moving, already the magic around her was starting to waver and if anyone peered closely they would see the stripes slowly fading in and out of the female’s fur. The blond was also turning dark at the tips of her hair. Biting her lip Tori quickly rose her scarf to cover her head and tied it there while walking. Please, please don’t come after me. What if he did though? Her chest clenched at the thought…but whether it was from fear or hope she didn’t know.
 

[Cornetified]

Geraden stood still as the female headed off so quickly. He thought he'd seen her stripes shimmer, but that was silly... right? Looking back at the practically fleeing woman, he looked around to see if maybe something else had her spooked. No.... It seemed to be him.

Still, as much as he felt she should just go on, something in his gut was yelling at him to go after the female. Something about her... but she looked so much the opposite of Catori! No. No. He couldn't bother that woman just because of some resemblance. It would just get him weird looks like he usually got. He had to get the firewood home...

And what if it was her? What if she'd changed how she'd looked since they'd met? ...Maybe she didn't actually want to see him again? Or it might be a relative, like the one in the mists. He might get her in trouble if he went around asking about her! Too many 'if' possibilities... Impulse sent him spinning around, looking at the back of the strange woman. He took a deep breath... "Catori!"
 

[Sabra Knight]

Tears glimmered in her eyes as Catori started to pick up her pace. It was like a tug on her heart to be so close to him! If she could see the fate cords then the cattaur would even be tempted to imagine that his was there tied on his wrist and that his thread led all the way to her own wrist. It was a crazy though and it just couldn’t be that way. Tori felt her eyes burning at the thought. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love, never again, she had learned her lesson once. Then her sister’s words always haunted her…love never went well in their family. Naomi was forever torn apart from her son too…even her generation was cursed it seemed.

So she wasn’t about to get caught!

Yet when she heard her name the cattaur was startled so badly that she tripped into an empty stall and spun towards the ground. Her head bouncing against the tough dirt she winced before stars blacked out her vision. Along with her pain the illusion which had already been starting to untangle around her completely vanished leaving behind the flushed faced cattaur who was sprawled out on the ground. Trying to push herself up so that she could try escaping once more Tori fell back down to the ground with a wince of pain. Everything was still spinning…
 

[Cornetified]

Geraden's eyes widened as the female ahead stumbled. Was it really...? He saw how heavily she fell though, and his stomach clenched up. Quickly freeing himself of the cart, he hurried down the road toward her. Catori...

"I'm sorry, Catori! I didn't mean to startle you so badly," he said with a small whimper of concern as he dropped the to ground next to her.He reached out to touch her cheek, lifting her face toward his. It was her... He didn't care right then why she'd hidden herself from him though. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, trying to help her calm down. She looked quite dazed. "I think you hit your head..." Now he felt terrible...
 

[Sabra Knight]

Oh she was in trouble, so much trouble! Naomi would be so angry at her…she had failed the simplest of requests. Don’t even see him again. He’s just a block to your magic, to your uniqueness. Her amber eyes were already wet from the pain, but now tears were streaming down her face. As Geraden held her the cattaur felt her body still and her gaze widened with surprise. He wasn’t supposed to touch her…the spirits…she couldn’t see now, “You block them…” She whispered quietly still in a daze from the fall.

“If you block them how can I help them?” Tears were filling her eyes, “But I didn’t mind it when your touch did that…but you’re not supposed to be good for me, right?” She reached up and with a trembling hand touched his face as if she was trying to prove it wasn’t an illusion, “My sister would be so angry right now. I even fell so easily…” Both on the street and for him, but those were just the spinning thoughts of the exhausted cattaur.

“I’m sorry.” The whispered words escaped her lips as she felt her head fall against his shoulder and her eyes closed letting everything go dark as she passed out.
 

[Cornetified]

Block them? Geraden frowned deeply. She must have really hit her head hard. "Block who? Who are you trying to help?" he asked, trying to draw out some clarity from her. The touch to his face suddenly brought tears to his eyes, which he quickly blinked away. Why was she looking at him like that? Why wasn't he supposed to be good for her? ...Maybe she meant he wasn't good enough...

He gasped as she collapsed against him, his arms wrapping around her tightly. "No... I'm sorry meeting me has caused this.." he murmured, stroking her hair to find a bump forming on her head. But, now what? He had to make sure she was okay! Scooping her limp body up, his cart of firewood forgotten, he carried her back into town and went straight to the clinic for the healers to check her head.

Making sure Catori would rest a while longer, the healer cleaned up the injury and eased the swelling. Figuring a decent headache would follow upon waking up, the healer allowed the two felines to remain in the treatment room until Catori woke. Geraden sat on the provided seat, and waited patiently. He just wanted to make sure she woke up... and then he would go.
 

[Sabra Knight]

In her dreams she was chasing nightmares. Or rather her nightmare was her endlessly falling into the mists, always reaching out for that hand which evaded her. For the longest time she had thought it was her mother’s form which she had been chasing, but now the image fading in and out of the fog was someone completely different. She knew the feeling of that hand, it was warm and comforting, a stranger yet someone completely natural and familiar to her. But the forms of the tormented would drag her down every time.

Perhaps it wasn’t completely a nightmare though?

Without the runes that protected her while she slept the cattaur barely felt the darkness swarming around her spirit. It crawled closer attempting to creep in, a chance for the dead to live again through the living, but her body instantly reacted against the invader. As she woke it was not a slow, steady awakening but more of a shocked realization. Eyes flashing open Tori let out a silent gasp before latching onto the nearest body in the room. Her hands were shaking as she latched onto Geraden and the nightmare began to fade away. It was always just as bad as before…she couldn’t tell reality from the fantasy, the fear of the unknown.

It was only after a blissful moment that Catori fully woke up and realized what she had done. Gaze widening and her cheeks flaming with a blush the cattaur pulled back and looked at Geraden. How was it that despite her best efforts she had already fallen so easily onto him again? “I’m sorry.” Swallowing she took a step back and wrapped her arms around her body as if to hold in any of his remaining warmth, “…What happened?”
 

[Cornetified]

While Catori slept, Geraden made sure there was a mug of fresh water and a plate of bread and cheese ready. A yawn snuck up on him, and his eyes started to droop closed.

He had started to finally drift off when he heard the sudden movement. His own sharp gasp yelped out as he was suddenly being clung to. His arms instinctively embraced the frightened woman, petting her hair soothingly. He blinked a few times when he felt her pull back, and he reluctantly allowed her to part from him. "It's okay," he said softly, setting his hands on his legs. "You... passed out. Got a bump on your head. We're in a clinic right now." He looked down at his hands, clasping them together to show he had no intention of reaching to touch her. "Are you feeling okay?"
 

[Sabra Knight]

It was scary how close she was to just clinging to him…almost as if she wanted to never let go. Catori’s arms tightened around her stomach at the knotted feeling there. Just what was this? Her amber gaze slowly sharpened as Geraden’s words registered with her. Passed out? Clinic? “Eh?” The soft word left her lips before the rest of the memories came back…she had been here because mister fox had pestered her…then she had been trying to avoid him…

Her cheeks flushing Tori swallowed before nodding slowly, “I’m-I’m fine.” She needed to leave, before he got into trouble because of her…biting her lower lip the cattaur pushed herself from the bed only stopping to look at the plate of bread and cheese, “Was that for me?” Her stomach let out a low growl of protest as she hesitated. Was it really an excuse to linger if she hadn’t had anything to eat yet? Aunt Willow always said it was best for those who were just waking up from a head injury to try to get some nourishment since they would be feeling light headed…and the ache was still there in the back of her skull.

Looking back towards Geraden her hesitation was obvious as the questions in her gaze. What should she do?
 

[Cornetified]

Geraden waited patiently for the fog of sleep to pass from the female, seeing her memory register slowly. Yes.. she'd passed out because he had stressed her out too much. He had pushed too much. He looked over as the question asked, and he managed a small smile. "It still is for you. You've had a long day."

Able to sense her wariness, his smile fell and he stood. Of course she would be upset with him. Of course passing out wouldn't change her mind about explaining to him what he'd done wrong. "You can stay here as long as you need to. Eat and rest. The medic says you'll be fine. ...I just wanted to stay until you woke up so that I could apologize." He bent his head in a partial bow; mostly to hide his strained expression. He hated not knowing why... "I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time. I'm glad you're feeling better. ....I'll try to not bother you again." He quickly turned away to hide the flush on his cheeks, and headed for the door. "I'll let the healer know you're awake on my way out. ..Farewell."