Romulus nodded slowly. He had no clue why he wasn't feeling it worse than he was. He was a little out of it, but not badly, and that wasn't a good sign either…
"Uh, find something sharp and poke the bottom of my foot. A quill from my desk, maybe." If he could feel it quickly, and his toes moved, his reflexes were ok.
Elia got up quickly and ran to his office. She a letter opener first and grabbed it. Entering the bedroom, her eyes widened and she grimaced at the sight of his feet. She hated feet. She could deal with burns and cuts. She could watch someone limb get removed and even help in the process. But the sight of someone's feet had her gagging.
She walked to the end of the bed where his feet lay. Careful not touch him, she used the letter opener to touch his foot, gagging all while doing it.
His toes twitched, so no neurological damage per se. He noted her gagging. "Hey, you can move up to my hand now. Same deal." He closed his eyes, knowing if he saw it coming, it would skew the results.
File that away, no feet.
Elia climbed up on the bed next to him thankful to get away from his feel. She gave him a sheepish look. She wasn't sure what it was about feet that she couldn't handle but she hated them.
She used the letter opener to do the sane to his hands, thight she was able to give then a bit more attention. She poked each of his fingers on both hands to check their movements.
All of his fingers twitched like they were supposed to. Hand twitched when poked, meaning his nerves were somehow still intact.
"So, next is speech patterns. I've been talking fine, right?" He was a tad slurred, had been the whole time, but he was tired and his face was a mess, so it could probably be excused from that. Somehow, he wasn't anywhere near as bad as a couple nights ago.
Although I guess we'll see when I try to sleep.
Elia put the letter opener to the side. She moved her body so she was laying next to him. "You've been talking well enough. A slight slur but it could be due to being tired."
She started chewing on her lip, causing it to bleed. She tried to hold back her wince as blood filled her mouth.
"What else now?"
"Well. The rest is checking if I'm right in the head. Like asking if I remember it's Wednesday, or if I know I'm in the Palace, or if I remember other various details." He glanced at her and frowned, before gently reaching up and pulling her back in.
"Hey… stop making yourself bleed…." he said softly. He kissed her gently, focusing on her bleeding lip.
Elia didn't hesitate to fall back into him. She gladly kissed him. It was a reminder he was okay. Everything was okay. He needed some rest and tomorrow he would be as good as new. Severely injured but better. As well as he could be. "I'm sorry." She whimpered against his lips.
She wasn't sure what she was feeling. Everything was hitting her all at once and she didn't know how to handle this. The stress of being in the palace and Romulus' beating, and not to mention her growing feelings towards him. It was a mess. She was a mess. She had never had to process such emotions in a very long time. It wasn't something she was very good at.
"It's alright." He mumbled back. He paused for a moment, thinking.
"…Listen… do you need to talk about anything? I know Lear is better at this, but… I also know that you tend to process things in… other ways, and we're kinda similar that way."
He paused again, looking at her, before he came to a decision.
"If there's anything you need, any way I can comfort you, Elitia, you know I'll do my best."
Heck of a big promise to try to follow through on, but…. well. There it was.
Elia stroked his cheek. She smiled softly at him, the first smile she had given him since he had awakened. It was small and slight, but it was there.
"You are…badly injured. No amount of convincing will tempt me to process this with you." Physical, sexual. She would not. Could not. She wouldn't cause him any further pain. And there was no way sex wouldn't hurt him. He needed to heal. "When you are healed, I promise one day you will enter your bedroom and I will be waiting for you naked, for you to deal with me in whatever you would like. But that is not today. Just-just let me take care of you."
Even though she had no idea how. She needed this. To take care of him. If that meant providing water and spoon-feeding him, she would. Whatever he needed.
Romulus bit at a scab on his lip, gnawing it gently. The look on his battered face was… conflicted.
The Prince had always been an intensely physical man, in many ways, and had realized early on that his… appetites were all equally large. He ate mountains of food, he drank entire kegs on his own, and he'd been known to walk into a brothel, buy the whole place for a night, and be able to rank every worker in bed by morning.
As his life had gotten more messed up, he'd turned to these things less for fun, and more for stress relief, and at the moment, he was a bit pent up, in multiple ways.
But asking Elitia for anything one-sided felt absolutely wrong and filthy and just…. not what he wanted to do, even though part of him did want to ask, very much so.
He lay there, considering for a moment, and became aware that his thoughts were likely written all over his face.
"… I'm hungry." He said quietly, trying to cover one appetite with another. "I hate to ask you to go down to the kitchens but I can almost assure you there's nothing in my kitchenette."
Elia saw the look on his face. She knew what it meant. She knew what he wanted. She wanted it as well. But… he was not in the right shape for any physical activity, even if he did just lay there and she did all the work. She was too scared she would hurt him. She had it instilled in her head that she would hut him should she do anything. She could not be convinced. She could totally be convinced.
"I'll find something for you to eat." She kissed him quickly before climbing off the bed.
But then, it didn't feel right to leave him alone. What if something happened while she was gone and he got hurt? Or what if his father decided to pay him another visit? She was shuffling back and forth on her feet in anxiety. She didn't want to leave him by himself. She wondered if she could flag down a maid to grab them something to eat.
She could not be convinced. She could totally be convinced.
( XD )
He kissed her back, before watching her shuffle in her uncertainty. Romulus sat up a little further, and tried to think.
"If you don't want to leave, there should be a bell pull in the living room. It'll call a maid. Ask them for food." Why he hadn't thought of it right off, he wasn't sure, and then it hit him…
You're concussed, you idiot, of course you're thinking slowly…
He was also aware of how dizzy he'd be if he tried to sit all the way up or stand or anything like that.
Well. Must have got punched a bunch after all.
He'd kinda been hoping she'd leave for a moment, so he could clear his head and his heart and not want things so badly that he shouldn't want. Not that he wanted her to leave, quite the contrary, he wanted her to do anything to him but leave, but he also knew better than to make her feel like that was why he'd brought her back.
He only realized he'd been mumbling all of that when the sentence ended and the room went quiet. His eyebrow shot up, which hurt the cut on his eyelid, which had him blinking hard, and the whole stupid situation had him blushing, which was unusual for him.
Elia made to leave but could hear him murmuring. She stepped closer, thinking he was talking to her, only to realize he speaking to himself out loud. A grin appeared on her cheeks as she listened. She giggled when she saw his blush. She walked back to him, climbed on the bed to lean over him. She gripped his chin so he looked at her. "I promise you, you would not be forcing me into anything. I know why you brought me here and I know it wasn't for sexual behaviors. I want you, darling, but you are not well. I don't want to hurt you any further. You need time to heal. Even if I did ride your lap, I cannot think about what damage it could do to you. I could not bare it if I hurt you."
And with that, she kissed him soundly, still mindful of his wounds.
Elitia giggled, and Romulus knew she'd heard him. There was no trying to hide it now. He glanced up, looking very ashamed of himself, and boy wasn't that different, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt ashamed of admitting he wanted a woman.
She was grinning at him, and when she pulled his chin up, his blush deepened.
She was very kind in her word choice, and Romulus listened, knowing full well that this beautiful woman was far better to him than he had any right to be treated.
She kissed him, and he kissed back, reaching up to tangle a hand in her hair.
That kiss was both wonderful and awful. Wonderful, because, well, of course it was.
Awful, because it made him want to argue the point. Which he did as soon as they pulled away from each other.
"You're not going to hurt me, Elitia, I can promise you, you're feather light and you're a careful individual, and I'm stronger than you realize, and-…" The Prince bit his lip and looked down, determined not to start begging. He didn't need it that badly.
Well. Maybe a little.
Elitia pulled her lip between her teeth, reopening the small wound she had made previously. She looked conflicted. She was conflicted. She wanted him. No. She needed him. But looking at him, seeing his bruised and broken body, it made her scared to even touch him. Every time she did, she was expecting him to yell in pain or flinch away from her. But he hadn't yet.
She knocked her nose against his, light and soft. She kissed his lips briefly.
"How about we get some food in you and then we'll see how you feel? If you're still up for it after that…" She kissed him again. She knew that he knew what she meant. But he needed food and water first. Basic necessities. And if he was still up for other activities, well they would just have to see.
An out has appeared!
And Romulus took it, nodding quickly. "That sounds good." He nodded too quickly, in fact, and his head swam afterwards.
But it meant a chance to clear his head and think about other things and hopefully figure out what he could move and what he couldn't.
He also needed to get rid of this stupid blush.
"The maids won't come in unless you invite them. If you stay mostly out of sight, they won't be able to see you and identify you later, if you don't want them to. But they'll bring the food and stuff without knowing who you are."
"I'll be back. Don't worry too much about me." As she climbed off of him, she eyed his pelvic area and then looked back up at him with a knowing look. She winked at him before leaving the room.
She found the bell fairly easily and rang for it. No matter what, they were going to know a woman was in the prince's chambers if they hadn't already. There was no denying it. And sooner or later they would find out it was her. So she didn't hide herself. When a maid appeared, she calmly explained that the prince was hungry. He needed something easy to eat and some more water as they were running low. She waited by the entrance as she waited for the maid. She had figured the prince wanted some time alone to gather his thoughts and she would allow it.
The maid arrived with a plate of stew and bread and a pitcher of water. She thanked the girl and sent her on her way. She locked the door and then doubled checked to make sure it was locked before walking back into the bedroom.
She placed the items on the bedside table opposite to where she had her bottle of wine she had yet to drink. She would take a glass when the prince was eating but she could wait to make sure he was well enough to sit up.
Romulus squirmed a bit under her gaze. When she left, he laid his head back and took a few deep breaths, settling.
You're not some dog catching heat scents, calm yourself!
He went to push himself up a little more, to sit up in order to eat, and something twinged in his neck. He rolled his head, slowly, trying to release whatever it was.
There was a small pop, like cracking your knuckles.
And suddenly, Romulus could feel everything. Every new wound from today, every wound from the week previous. He was woozy, his equilibrium shot, and if he hadn't already been bracing against the headboard, he'd have pitched sideways.
Two thoughts went through his head.
I'm glad this happened before we decided to do anything, this would've been really bad mid-stroke.
and
This is the worst.
Elia seemed to sense the shift in him. She sat on the bed beside him and gently cupped his cheek. "Do you want me to help you eat?"
She held the bowl of stew in her hands. She would gladly help him eat. She would feel of use, helping him. She would make sure he ate and drank and then went back to sleep. Sleep would be the best for him. And she…she would try to find a healer for him, if not to at least his internal wounds. She would need to listen to whispers and rumors. She could offer freedom for the price of healing Romulus. She couldn't really, not without the prince, bt she had no doubt he would offer the healer freedom.
He looked at her, leaning into her touch to stabilize his spinning head.
"Don't be alarmed…. but something just popped in my neck and now everything hurts." The slur was much more prominent now.
What he'd pinched that had allowed him to make it that far feeling ok, he didn't know, but whatever it was, when his neck let loose, he felt like garbage.
He swallowed hard. "Yeah, I-I'm going to n-need your help eating… S-sorry…."
While it was incredibly frustrating, this made much more sense than the weird level of homeostasis he'd been at. This felt more like he'd been beaten bloody.
Not that he wanted to feel it, but it was at least logical .
Elia caressed his cheek gently. She chewed on her cheek and her eyes looked at him in concern. She shifted her body closer to him to stabilize him and offer support. "Don't apologize, darling. I'm here for whatever you need."
She leaned her head forward to kiss his temple. She used one hand to help stabilize his head and the other raised a spoonful of the soup. Bit by bit, she fed him the stew. She tore off small chunks of bread to let him chew on. She raised the cup of water to his lips to let him drink. One at a time until everything was empty. She helped him lay back down in bed before getting up. She took the empty bowl and set it in his small kitchenette.
When she came back, she poured herself a glass of wine and sipped from it. She slipped back into the bed and stayed by his side.
"Try to sleep, darling, you need it. I'll be right here when you wake up."
Her caress suddenly felt so much better with the tsunami of pain washing across Romulus. He pulled her in close, flinching as she brushed a bandage. There it is. He pulled her in anyway, wanting the closeness.
By the time he'd finished eating, he felt like a helpless idiot, but she'd been gentle and kind the whole way. He let her go to get rid of the dishes, and just trailed his hand across her lap as she sat near him.
"As much as I hate it… I shouldn't sleep longer than an hour or so. Again." He hated this part, but. Well. He couldn't see straight.
Elia placed her hand on top of his, the one on her lap. She raised his arm just high enough so she could bend down to kiss it. She set his hand back in her lap and moved her hand to stroke his hair. "I'll wake you up in about an hour, darling. Don't worry. Just try to sleep the best you can."
The wine was helping her to relax. And the fact that he could finally feel what had been done to him. She had known they weren't going to have sex. Not tonight, not tomorrow. Not for a bit. His body was too damaged. he needed rest. She would look over him as he healed. She vowed that she would.