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Had she been aware of exactly the kind of torment she was causing Mort, Belladonna would have fought the unconsciousness that claimed her. As that was rather difficult given the fact unconsciousness tended to be a state unwilling to bend to willpower, the witch was only left to be picked up and carried back to her dorm room. It wasn't an altogether far journey, thankfully, and the door to the witch's room was unlocked. That had been Binx's doing, as he knew his lovely little witch would want to return sometime and he was aware of the fact she'd forgotten her key. With a small smile he waited on her bed, absently dozing until the zombie burst in, witch in tow.
For a moment, Binx remained placid, slightly amused by the fact that the lovers had thought it appropriate to barge into the room where they would certainly continue their amorous affair. But yellow eyes settled on the slack look of Belladonna, as well as the distinct smell of blood in the room. With a hiss Binx jumped up and darted across the room before he leapt onto the desk, all the better to show his sharp teeth, angry eyes and extended claws.

"What in Jack's good name have you done to her?!" Binx spat at the boil, kitty claws digging into the desk. His tail flicked angrily as his eyes darted over and over his witch, his precious darling as he tried to ascertain exactly what was wrong. The blood soaked into the boy's shirt was an indication but the hand she had kept clamped to her neck threw him for an unexpected loop he couldn't work out. "Tell me exactly what happened, tell me every jackdamned detail!" Already the cat was working, recalling what Belladonna had taught him about herbs. "I need to know otherwise we cannot set her back to rights." Binx said, his head craned back toward the bookshelf. With a great leap he was on it, pacing as he waited for the reaction. There were herbs, he could fix this. They could fix this, regardless of whether Binx wanted to work with Mort or not.
But, like his witch was want to do, he took a breath and leveled himself out.
"I am angry, yes, but do not think I am solely angry at you. But you must help me, and quickly so nothing worse happens." He paused and flicked his tail, his voice lowered for a moment. "I know you care for her almost as deeply as I."

The slowness did not ease Binx's worries, to the point that he had hopped back down from the bookshelf to follow on the boil's heels. But even that was too slow as the cat darted in and out, between Mort's legs until he laid the witch down. One jump brought the cat onto the bed where he looked over the witch, one paw pressed down against any exposed part of her he could find. Covered as she was, there wasn't much option until her hand fell from her neck and he pressed it to her wrist.
"Bitten, how strange." Binx chided as he looked her over once more and then darted off the bed. "I wonder whoever could have done that." It was rude to torture the zombie as such, but Binx was never one to sugarcoat anything, let alone his feelings. "No contagion in your bite you say? Excellent." Across the room and back up onto the shelf, he sat with his head craned back to look at all the books, though he kept his yellow eyes trained mostly on the shelf packed full of mismatched jars and bottles, each stuffed with something different and labeled with a cream strip of paper that had the name upon it in a looping, pink hand. "Last time she was bit by a zombie she got all sluggish." Oh whoops, had Belladonna never told Mort about the time Alexander had bitten her during their battle and infected her for a little bit?
Well, Binx certainly let that cat out of the bag.

"Great Bastet I am dreadful at this..." Binx grumbled before he hopped up onto the jar shelf. "Mortimer, I don't suppose you have any experience with healing plants?" The cat asked in a cheeky voice, as though Belladonna had often come home unconscious and bleeding. Well, never unconscious.
"Mort...?"
"Even better!" Binx murmured as he darted off the shelf and back to the witch, whose eyes had hardly opened. The hand that had fallen off her neck shakily reached back for that spot, only to find Mort's hand instead. A heavy intake of breath was Belladonna's reply along with a small smile as she tried to look up Mort. "When did it get so dark?" She managed to mumble, another heave of her chest the most she could muster. Her voice was so hushed, hardly above a whisper.
"It isn't. That you're brain trying to shut down. Quickly. What stops bleeding and heals cuts?" Binx asked the witch, his voice velvety smooth as a paw was placed lightly on the back of her hand. For a moment the witch blinked and didn't open her eyes for a long moment to the point that Binx had almost decided to figure it out on his own. But after a few more deep, halting breaths the witch managed a small "Quill berries." Before she slipped back under. At least unconscious she wasn't breathing so heavily, though the breathing she did do was shallow, starting to veer dangerously toward barely there.

With all the agility of a cat on a mission, Binx soared off the bed and back toward the bookshelf. Thankfully he knew his witch well enough to know she at least had the wherewithal to alphabetize her ingredients, so he have the distinct pleasure of skipping the step of frenzied searching. Instead he only hurried over to the little round jar full up of little black-red berries.
"Its most likely their juice that does the healing, so... Catch." The cat instructed Mort before he waited a few ticks, giving the zombie time to at least stand, before he pushed the jar off the shelf. "I do believe our little witch even wrote exactly how to use them on the label. Highly organized creature, that one. Best keep her if you know what's good for you."

"Plants are a rather limited field." Binx drawled as carelessly as you please. It was as though all that momentary angry had simply vanished, when in fact it had only been placed in a very small box and tucked away for a later time. Maybe when he could really use it, when if he happened to drop this little instance into conversation he could hurt somebody. It didn't matter who, zombie or witch was fine with Binx, so long as he got to watch their eyebrows crumble in that exquisite moment of painful remembrance. Strange how his witch was so good and her familiar so vindictive.
With a small nod of approval the cat watched Mort catch the jar before he let out a soft, appreciative meow. It wasn't meant for anybody but himself, so he quickly jumped back down to the floor.
"If you'd like to keep her then act quickly. What does the label say?"

Written in tiny letters under the big letters that say "Quill Berries heart heart heart " was written Healing; Juice applied to cuts or scrapes, speeds up the healing process. There was a large green dot next to the name, but it was something only the witch would understand.
"Unless they're poisonous it might be best to feed her one too." Binx added as he hopped up onto the bed. Softly he padded to sit next to her head, one paw brushed against her forehead to shift her bangs a bit.
Though his agitation showed through in his near constant tail flicks, Binx would never admit that he was actually considering forgiving Mort for biting his witch. After all, she would wake up and be right as storm clouds and immediately forgive this oafish creature for bleeding her out. It was annoying, but as much as he may wish he weren't, Binx was still irrevocably tied to Belladonna. She had once gifted him a piece of her FEAR to give him speech, so there was no way he could ever deny her anything. Even something as silly or careless as wanting a boil whose own desires put her in danger.

"Towels, good Jack do we have towels."Binx replied with a sigh as he scurried off the bed and toward the closet. Opening doors without thumbs wasn't easy (the door knob was one of those pretty, long handled things he could just use his weight to open), but there was enough of a crack that he could coax it open. Yellow eyes scanned the shelves before he spotted the biggest, fluffiest, blackest towels and darted forward to grab one. Thumbs meant no carrying, so he had to drag the thing little by little toward the bed until he finally let it drop at Mort's feet. "So did she ask to be bit, or was that your fun little addition?" Binx asked as he padded back to the closet for another towel. Most of her bleeding should have stopped now, but with an open wound, that was more difficult.
"Mine~" Quill berries really did speed the healing process, enough that already it had woken the witch from her unbidden sleep. Not much, as her eyes remained half lidded and her voice was still soft, but a smile had managed to creep in. "Always my idea."

With a heavy sigh the witch closed her eyes, but sluggishly flapped a hand at Mort. "I think... I think I'll be alright... But come talk to me." Her head ached for whatever reason and she wanted to keep her eyes closed, but she did momentarily open them to find Binx who heeded his mistress's unspoken call. He happily cuddled against her hand, quiet for a few moments more. She had not asked for him or his voice, so he would not yet speak.
"You should stop letting this knucklehead have his way with you. You always get hurt." Well, that was enough of that.
"Neither of those things have ever been true." Belladonna countered with a sigh as she settled back against her pillow. Though there wasn't nearly as much energy in it as she wished, the witch stirred briefly before she let herself lie still. "Oh Mort! We were supposed to go shopping! I do so apologize that we'll have to wait an hour or more yet..." With a soft mew, Binx piped up.
"The shops stay open late." He almost looked happy. "What are you shopping for?" Well, no wonder Belladonna thought him a sweet thing. When she was in a compromised position he was downright cuddly, all curled up next to her, his claws nicely tucked away and not hint of anger remaining. Such a fickle creature, indeed!

Content to let him work, Belladonna only let her face fall toward him so that her neck was further exposed. Normally she would have offered to take the hoodie off (she had on a shirt underneath, thank you very much!), but she still felt so weak, it wasn't worth the effort. She managed a small mumble about his views on shopping, but it was an incoherent and meant nothing besides a mumble.
Binx, on the other hand, well paw really, caught the tone of Mort's voice and his little eyes flicked up to look at the boil. Oh, his worry hadn't abated. That was nice, at least, to know that he wasn't nearly as flighty as the witch who swayed from emotions easily. Instead the cat curled a little closer, prepped for the inevitable argument he was going to be privy to.
The sigh made the witch give her own little breathy noise, but when he instead took her familiar's side her eyes opened all the way. Without moving her body, pink eyes shifted to look up at Mort. That strange, neutral expression was back, one Belladonna was finding to suit her purposes more and more lately. For a moment she only looked at him, quiet until her eyebrows finally crumbled into a look of mild hurt.
"Why is that everything I want is bad?" She asked softly, letting her eyes fall from him. "I want you to trust me, to come to me when things are hard for you, but you can't because you're not allowed to or its easier to be alone. I want you to kiss me or touch me, but I make you feel guilty. I want some pain because for whatever weird reason I like it and it feels good and when we mess up and don't properly plan for it, I should have told you to stop." Here she pouted for a moment, looking impetuous for a brief moment before the hurt returned. "Is there anything I can do or want that you want to?"

It wasn't meant to hurt or cause anymore guilt or pain, it was simply the witch being as absolutely honest as she could be with Mort. Before she had been scared, but now he trusted her enough to let her see such a startingly frightening side of him, that Belladonna felt she should trust him too.
Feebly her free hand snaked up to her face, where her mouth parted to momentarily dart her tongue across the pad of her thumb. Still groggy, she turned it to Mort and wiped the tiniest trail of blood away from his cheek. It was soft, as she didn't have her normal strength and because she was trying to be tender, but she couldn't hold her hand up much longer and instead let it fall to rest on him. The cat at her side stayed quiet, but his eyes couldn't help darting between the two, a peculiar look on his face. But he didn't say anything and neither did Belladonna.

It was strange to hold his gaze in the few moments between her questions and his answer, but Belladonna only listened to the frantic beat of her heart in her ears and hoped that this would end well. It always felt like a mountain had to be scaled before they reached their happiness, and the witch was so tired already. Giving up would be easy, would mean rest but at the same time she wanted this, even if it meant all this torment and pain and work. Maybe, after all her want of romance and passion, maybe it all meant more if there was sincere effort behind, if there was an actual challenge. Why would she want anything she wouldn't have to work very, very hard for, why would she stay in something that easy? Kindness and patience were her virtues, but determination and willpower were her strengths. It was only natural she would want something that made her use both in greater quantities than she thought she possessed.
So when Mort caught her hand, when she surrendered her arm to him fully and didn't even budge, when he looked at her with that softness in his face and said her name, it all clicked.
Oh. Oh that's why.

More words than she had expected, or had even dared to want pour from the boil and Belladonna laid there still and quiet, placid in expression as she listened to him speak carefully. Every new emotion brought out a new facet of his speech, anger cured him in some ways while desire emboldened and tired acceptance exacerbated. But the witch couldn't help but love all the stuttering and missed words even more. There was no explanation whatsoever, besides the obvious and it was still too early yet for that.
"You haven't disappointed me." She finally mumbled a few ticks in time after he'd finished. "And I don't mean to.. To make you weak." That hurt, enough that she winced but played it off with a push of temple into pillow. If it looked like the headache, then he wouldn't know it hurt her heart. "I... Its just that..." Where were her words? Her passion? Her spark? "I want so much to be this person for you... You are so good and wonderful and kind and brave and strong and-and-- I feel as though I'm the one disappointing you. When boundaries are set I test them, I push at them to expand them and its selfish but I just... " Her eyes rolled up to the ceiling as tears threatened to spill over, but this wasn't the time for that. "We're young and its alright if we mess up! It happens. It should happen! It won't happen forever and after a while we'll stop getting it wrong." There had been so much said, what else did she need to add, what other words could she use as a salve to fix this emotional wound made by physical ones? "Oh Mort, I still trust you. More than ever. So we both got carried away and something bad happened. You did the right thing. You took care of me and you're still here."

As for being sad and lonely, well... Those were two emotions the witch had known so intimately that their return had been a little welcoming. The ability to wallow in one's own self pity was rather nice because it was a luxury not often afforded to others. Belladonna hardly found Mort could openly show how upset he was because it would not only worry her, but surely all the others he worked alongside, all the people he herded under his protection. Awful creature, she was, getting to be so selfish when he did nothing but help and give.
"It shouldn't be about me. You deserve all the happiness in the world and I... I want to give you as much as you'd like. Sometimes I push because I know you want things too, but you shouldn't be afraid to ask... Not from me." She stirred a bit, wanting to sit up and do something, kiss him or hug or just touch that particular slope of his jaw she felt so drawn to but she was just so tired. All she could manage was a small squeeze of his hand that hurt because exposed and bruised muscles still felt pain. "You deserve so much happiness. I want nothing more than to see you smile." To help prompt this, Belladonna managed her own smile, weak and worried, but still something shiny just for him.

Drama was nice, but for Binx it was rather boring when it seemed things would look up. Unwilling to leave his injured witch (especially alone with a ravenous zombie, especially when his precious witch was down for the count and therefore more easily taken because obviously Binx didn't know certain matters about certain subjects), the cat was more or less forced to stay by her side, all curled up. The least he could do was give her a bit of warmth, even if it was small and vastly overshadowed by the coolness of the undead on her opposite side. The most he could do was to take a nap, which, now that the couple had decided not to yell, he promptly began working on.

For Mort to think that he was the only one who held himself to high standards was a bit unfair, but it was thought not spoken and therefore left uncommented on. Which was a shame really, because Belladonna would have so loved to lecture her dearest on that particular topic, given she gave him rather high standards anyways. He always had to pay her special attention, had to obey her desires, etc. etc. No wonder they had so many mishaps, no one could live up to what the witch wanted, not even herself.
Yet she wasn't privvy to the other thoughts, so all of them went unspoken, weren't replied to. What was replied to was the small smile he gave her, as well as a small hum that agreed they were indeed quite unique in their pairing.
"Life is too short to live a moment dully." Belladonna murmured, softer than she had expected. The quill berries were doing their job admirably, but it was going to take a while yet before she had fully replaced all that blood she'd lost. In an hour or so she'd try a healing spell, but until then she'd just lie here and listen. Naturally she pouted ever so slightly at the things he'd rather have from her, but she only gave him a wry smile when he amended it. Not that she would ever get truly upset for Mort mentioning a fault in her, it was still good fun to silently tease him about it. Quietly, she promised herself to take something seriously, though she would most likely get it wrong and mess things up further, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

As for his last words, whatever calm had come over the witch ended. There wasn't much strength left in her to do anything with, only flail about weakly, a worried look plastered on her face.
"Oh Hecate, we never got you any food! Oh, we can get you something! Um, uh--" Here she gave up the fight and flopped unhappily back onto her pillow. "Do you maybe want to order something in? I can pay, since you already bought me a salad... Though I am a bit hungry too."
The hand against Binx stirred, but the cat didn't budge.
"Do you want something to eat Binx? Biiiinx?"
His tailed flicked once, but he remained with eyes closed and mouth silent. For a moment Belladonna pursed her lips at him, but she quickly poked a finger against his head. Gingerly she rubbed his forehead, but she still spoke to him.
"Binxie~ You were such a good kitty, you deserve a little treat. What do you want?" When he didn't reply, she instead turned back to Mort and pressed her free hand to his jaw, as she had wanted to do earlier.
Her mouth opened to thank him, but she couldn't decide for what. A rush of words formed, but none of them seemed right. So instead she only closed her mouth with a small sigh and smiled up at him as brightly as she could. There was so much she wanted to say, but no real way to say it. Instead she let her care for him shine through her smile, and it was a very bright smile to say the least.

The hand against Mort's face let go, only to dig around in the front pocket of the witch's hoodie. It took her longer than she anticipated but she finally produced her eyephone, which she managed to operate with one hand. Even with only one thumb to use, she still expertly clacked against the screen until she found a suitable looking burger place that delivered. For approval, she turned it to Mort with a smile.
"They even make veggie burgers!" Oh Hecate, saying that out loud made her stomach rumble. She really was starving after not eating all day and just barely munching on that salad. Another rumble from her stomach made the witch stop thinking of food altogether, so instead she turned back to Mort with a small sigh.
"The first time was from Alexander." Alas! She had to speak of this story, even if it was rather awful and hopefully didn't diminish Mort's friendship with his zombro. In any event, Belladonna took her phone back, along with Mort's order, and happily called the burger place. With a chipper voice she placed the order, might have been extra complimentary to get faster delivery, and with that done, relaxed against her pillows.

"The first time I met Alexander was at the gym! I was looking for someone to spar with, as I had failed my fight with the Hunter and was looking for anything that would make me feel better about loosing. Of course that meant more fighting." Yes, she was a silly, silly creature and totally embraced this about herself. "I more or less pulled him into a fight, but he was very kind about it! Anyways, we go to it and things were going rather well. We were pretty evenly matched, but I kept making him angry and I haven't a clue why! Anyways, he got close enough to actually bite me." Aaaaand Belladonna was just going to leave out that it was on the neck. Though, more along the shoulder-neck portion and not that lovely little section where everything was tender, like her Mort had bitten on, but still. Boils were such fickle creatures and she didn't want to incite any jealous in her dearest. "I suppose because of the heightened battle his contagion was activated, but I got very sluggish. I could barely move, couldn't even speak properly. It was awful!"
Here the witch bristled visibly, one arm even crossed under her chest in dismay. She would have crossed both arms, but the other one was still healing so she let it lie.
"I knew zombies didn't feel what I felt exactly, and when I asked to confirm it, Alexander got all made and thought me rude! For the rest of the fight he kept twisting everything I said to be a racial insensitivity! It was most distressing!" And with that, Belladonna 'hmph'd and was done with her story.

Yet from her side a low growl started that eventually turned into a "By Bastet's perfect tail!" from Binx. He was fully awake (had he ever actually been asleep?) and sat up quickly. Yellow eyes narrowed at the couple before he rolled them.
"You two are positively boring! You didn't fight at all!" When neither Belladonna nor Mort made a move, Binx rolled his head in defeat before he stood up. Quickly, as though it was embarrassing to be caught doing this, Binx jumped onto the witch's chest, gave her a quick peck on the forehead and then darted off the bed.
"I'm going out hunting. I shall be home later." He told them in a dignified voice, a certain quality of speech on the word 'later'. It was meant to be threatening, as though the two better not get up to anything or else he'd barge in on them. But Belladonna only smiled and blew him a kiss, all the while she knew he'd probably be out for the rest of the night, just to give them a bit of privacy. He was a doll like that, after all!