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Octultus was struck with a hug which felt like bricks. Her whole body shook when she spoke like she was afraid of waking up to find it a dream...

"I can stay." he patted her head gently. not tangling his fingers in the mess of hair which tangled and tripped over itself in water along her back.

He; now wet as well; huffed with a smile and slowly let go of her back into the tub. He let his wings stretch a bit and settled down as he neared the water. they folded gently against his back and looked smaller than they had been before as the water soaked the feathers and they shone with a golden light as though he was not truly of the world.

He settled near her in the tub; his hair dipped and dropping with the steam of the room.

"See? Not a dream at all." he laughed a bit; splashing Jadus with a little wave of water.

"Show off," Jadus murmured, noticing the soft ethereal glow of her friend, "I think I called you a firefly once, didn't I? When you glowed like that at night when we were washing in a river?" Her eyes were narrowed slightly as she tried to recall her more distant memories.

Shaking her head she playfully swatted at him, knowing that no matter how hard she tried she wouldn't be able to recall that far back, not with all that she'd seen and done in the time spent between the memories.

The small playful smile on her lips was nothing more than a mask crafted to cover her unease with how well Octultus knew her already. She flinched as the water hit her, quickly covering it up with a toss of her head and a return splash. She'd been tangled in her own thoughts when it hit her and she hadn't been paying attention.

But even with all this play and the ease she felt, some part of her was counting the time until the next disaster hit her, ripping her away from the peace and kindness. If she dwelt on it too long she could swear she felt the cold shackles already clamping down upon her again.

"Don't mind me, my thoughts are just too loud tonight." She replied, smiling at him. It would do her no use dwelling on the past as she'd already come to realize. Absently she nodded at him as he said he was going to go get their beds ready, more intent on getting as much dirt out as possible. Already the water around her had taken on murky hue that was quickly washed away by the current.

She might not be fully clean but she felt it.

Jadus had come to the conclusion that she would have to cut her hair. It was just too hopelessly matted to untangle without cutting off at least some of it. This fact didn't bother her too much as it was just hair and would grow back in time, what did bother her was the fact that the small silver hoops along her spine on her upper back would be bared to the world.

But in true slave fashion she didn't let the discomforting thought plague her long. It was a wonder that she was even allowing herself to think past the hour, as was normal. You never knew what would happen an hour from now, let alone the amount of time it would take for her hair to grow back.

Mechanically she finished scrubbing herself down, the last of the dirt and filth on her fur washing away with the unscented soap. She was..clean. Cleaner than she'd ever been before under her own power. Her muscles felt like jelly when she finally pulled herself out of the bath and toweled down, years worth of knots having been eased away with the help of the waters heat.

Jadus, ever self conscious, folded her towel and her dirty shirt and brought both with her as she left the bathing chamber, careful to close the door gently behind her as the moving cradle above caught her attention. Silently she made her way to the room that had been pointed out to her before and found Octultus waiting with their bedding already set out. She gave him a tired smile and tucked the towel and her shirt in a corner of the room, out of the way. She didn't seem to care that she was nude, or as nude as she could get, in front of him.

Jadus blinked when she saw her bed versus the one that Octultus was going to sleep on. "I can sleep on the one you made for yourself." She said, voice soft and unsure, "I mean I am the guest here and I'd rather not put you out of your own bed." She eyed him warily, noticing that he was being far too gentle over a matter of bedding. Then the dried apple was thrown at her causing reflexes honed for catching anything dropped quickly kicked in. Deftly she caught the flying fruit and stared down at it in puzzlement. Was this...supper? Oh, it was a snack.

Jadus felt a little queasy at the thought of eating again so soon, the forced meal from earlier was still weighing heavily in her stomach, even if it was a little lighter because of the amount of time that had passed. Wordlessly she returned it to the shelf he'd plucked it from, unsure if she would be allowed to partake in the snack in the morning, but unable to consume it at that moment.

"You aren't...you aren't trying to be overly kind to me just because of..who I am are you?" She asked, not even thinking that his mannerisms were brought upon by his unwillingness to frighten her, to send her back into the mindless state that came with being a slave allowed no hope. "Because if you are, I'd rather you not. I just...please Octultus, act like you would around any other Merah. I promise you I wont break."

Octutus slept in his bed of guilt; it was not as easy as he thought. He figured she would come back to him...be fixed in a day and...despite that his brain knew it would not be that way; he still hoped. He thought she would ignore him and huff but she was silent as stars... High above him and somewhere out of reach she slept. He, lieing on his stomach let his wings make a mess of the bed he had sorted for himself.

In the night...he dreamt of their former lives and if someone had been there to see it they would have noted bright blue liquid seeping from his eyes ; his tears almost glowing with the deep blues underneath and falling along the pattern of his muzzle......


((shall we enter the next morning? :> sory for late reply; i didnt see it :O ))

(( Very well^^ ))

Octultus wings flitted, they seemed to wake before he did, almost moving on their own and flapping him awake as the air was rushed by his head and gave him a rather interesting looking mane... were there amirrior he would have laughed at himself.

Hands went to his head as he rolled onto his back, wings now tucked and set firmly behind him....It was a few moments of looking about and grabbing a piece of fruit before he noticed her....Jadus was standing there...like a kind of idle child who wasnt sure what to do? It confused him at first then the events of the previous day entered his mind and he was once agian on the same page as her.

"Hello and good morning," he nodded to her, stretching as he stood to get out of his little bed which, in the night he had obliterated. They both looked like death warmed over...Even the bath did not help him much but she certainly was gaining her gleam back...he remembered how she used to sparkle like a jewel in the night lights of fire and stars... But that was a long time ago and his mind was foggy erhaps she was always this way? he thought to himself but the thought vanished as soon as it was through his head like a gentle spring zephyr.

"How about a snack?" he asked, it did not sound like Tiri was up yet and there was no baby crying...although that could jsut mean Sarathel was sleeping in Tiri's room or perhaps the two were already up and wandering about without their knowledge?

Tiri was rather independant and would not give a second thought to her friend, Octultus staying the night or catering to such a situation, just because it had arisen. She afterall, had child, and thus better things to do!

Octultus grabbed an apple and tossed it to her before he took another bite.
"eat half of it and I won't bug you till lunch," he winked playfully.