Part Twenty-Nine
Very Brief Recap
- Kidnapped
- Sob cry etc
- Dimitri is an evil b--
- Wolfie misses his fiance
Warnings
What's a fish without any eyes? Fsh.
Characters
Ya'll should know who plays who by now... I hope... XP
Covering the Bases
Part Twenty Nine - Sometimes There's A Curve Ball
Lord Dimitri - *elsewhere... a few hours after speaking with Yuuri and taking the girl from the room, he's bringing her back, in noticeably worse condition than she'd first been taken in*
Iris - *is no longer struggling against him, because she's been pretty much beaten and scared into submission*
Dimitri - *he smirks to himself rather evilly, and can't wait to see the king's reaction to his little surprise/along with doing all those other things he does to the girl when he's alone with her - Mikage is assuming everyone can pretty much guess that Dimitri is a rapist - he's cut and shortened her hair, making it look very much like what his men informed him Wolfram's looked like these days, as they were the ones who'd seen him most recently/his bandits had also taken some of the king's bags from the horses upon their departure, hoping to find some valuables to sell, but they'd found nothing more than clothing instead/Dimitri had smirked wider at this, and forced Iris into one of the pink nightgowns they'd discovered amongst the clothes/he'd even taken the time to put a well placed bruise along the left side of her face/continues to drag her towards the locked room*
Yuuri - *still on the floor and still pretty much out of it, though he did regain consciousness after a couple hours/of course, he would have liked it much better to just be out completely because he had this horrible headache/it was also rather difficult to breathe, so he didn't try to move around much, just continues laying on the floor, trying to work up enough strength to actually get up and... well, he didn't know what he would do once he was up, but he didn't like the idea of anyone going near Wolfram... and he was worried about the girl too.../whimpers a bit, trying to move himself over to the bed some, but not getting too far because, one- he was in too much pain, and two- he didn't really know what direction the bed was since his vision was really blurry at the moment*
Dimitri - *finally arrives at the door, unlocking it and pushing it open/takes one look at Yuuri and has to inwardly applaud his men/the brat looked like nothing more than a crumpled mess now/good, he wanted the boy submissive/drags the girl into the room with him, no longer hiding his evil smirk from the king* "Good evening, Your Majesty. I do hope you're feeling well."
Iris - *looks quickly to Yuuri, before turning away, hiding her face from him/she knew exactly what Lord Dimitri was trying to do, and it made her felt extremely guilty for not being able to do anything to stop him*
Yuuri - *tries lifting his head to see the man, visually impaired or not/he really wanted to sock him one, though/growls from the back of his throat, not being able to turn to see him, although it was more of a whimper than anything threatening*
Dimitri - "Oh, come now, Your Majesty. And here I've brought you that surprise I promised." *pulls the girl so she's standing in front of him, keeping her securely in place by a bruising grip along her upper arm*
Iris - *continues to look away, tears already falling from her eyes*
Yuuri - *his pained glare instantly drops a bit/he’s able to make out the pink color of the nightgown he was so used to seeing, as well as the blond hair/stares at the blurry figure standing above him for a moment before snarling again, however weak it sounded* "Let him go!!"
Dimitri - *raises an eyebrow/really likes how he's already a bit confused as to who it really is* "And what, exactly, are you going to do if I don't?" *with his other hand, he forces Iris' face back around* "He's so very pretty, isn't he?"
Iris - *keeps her eyes closed/she can't bare to look at him*
Yuuri - *snarls more, fighting with himself to get up, though still unable to move any without his entire body shaking with pain* "I said, 'Let him go'!!"
Dimitri - *smirks some more, stoking his hand up and down the side of Iris' face* "You mazoku are so barbaric. Slapping someone as a sign of love and engagement. Why, you'll ruin his beautiful face if you hit him so much. Isn't that rather... abusive...?" *more smirking, although by now it looks a bit more like an evil leer*
Iris - *whimpers in fright*
Yuuri - *can feel the tears in his eyes build up again/how could he allow these people to get a hold of Wolfram?!/still growling weakly* "Shut up! Leave him alone! Stop touching him!!"
Dimitri - *has absolutely no intention of doing as he said* "But you're just a human man, aren't you, and men often have their petty, violent ways of showing possession and ownership." *with the grip he has on Iris' arm, he forces her to turn around, and then proceeds to slap her with his free hand*
Iris - *yelps loudly*
Yuuri - *tears were now streaming down his face, though more pissed than anything/struggles against his own body, forcing it roll onto his stomach, then attempting to push himself off the ground, but his arms wouldn't lift him/still weak and now through heavy breathing* "Stop hurting him!!!"
Dimitri - "Have I hurt him?" *more smirking/yada yada/eventually he releases Iris and tosses her to the floor, moving to exit the room again* "I'll leave my little doll for you to play with while you wait for your men to arrive. Enjoy your gift, Your Majesty." *without another glance their way, he leaves, shutting and locking the door behind him*
Iris - *curls up on the floor and cries*
Yuuri - *instantly forces himself to roll back on his side, reaching a hand out to the blond/tears still in his eyes and in even more pain from forcing himself to move* "Wolf... Are you okay...?? I'm sorry... I didn't mean..." *slowly starting to panic, hating himself for not being able to protect him/tries forcing himself to inch closer to him, wincing in pain, hand still reaching out to him* "Wolf..."
Iris - *shakes her head, continuing to cry/she feels so horribly guilty hearing him call her by that name/if only she'd done something to stop them...*
Yuuri - "Wolfram..." *breathing heavily, tears still rolling down his previously blood stained cheeks/forces himself even closer, still reaching out to him* "I'm sorry... I love you... I never meant for this to happen..."
Iris - *cries even harder at the 'I love you,' because she knew he didn't really mean for her to hear it/those words were for someone else entirely/tries to speak, but it comes out as more of a choked whispers* "I'm not..." *can't finish whatever it was she was going to say, close to sobbing now*
Yuuri - *tries smiling lightly at him, though wincing at the movement* "H-hey... don't cry... I'm here..." *forces himself a bit closer, though still not close enough to touch him* "I'm sorry... I won't let them near you again..." *or at least he'd do everything in his power to keep them away*
Iris - *shakes her head again, trying her hardest to gain some control over herself/she knew he was in pain, and that he should be looked over to make sure nothing was seriously wrong with him, but it hurt so much to look at him, and to know that when he looked at her now, he saw someone completely different*
Yuuri - *still trying to reach the blond to touch him, but has to suddenly pull back, wrapping his arm around his stomach as a sharp pain unexpectedly hit him/quickly closes his eyes, groaning in pain/this wasn't how Wolfram was supposed to see him... he wasn't supposed to be this pathetic when they met...*
Iris - *flinches at his groan, and then physically forces herself to look at him, noticing the blood, and the dark bruises/shakes a bit as she moves towards him, hoping they hadn't done anything too bad to him/she'd feel even guiltier if she already did if he were to die*
Yuuri - *groans again, unable to stop the sudden sharp pressure from digging into his chest and stomach/his breathing is very labored now as he tries to ignore the pain and see if Wolfram was alright, though none of this was making it any easier to see properly* "Wolf..."
Iris - *moves even closer to him, trying to stop the tears from blurring her eyes so that she could inspect him better/carefully places her hand along his face, lightly tracing her fingers over the bruises, looking closely at the knot that had formed on his head/when she spoke to him, it was shakily, and the tightness in her throat prevented her from sounding like herself* "Shhh. You... don't move..."
Yuuri - *blinks at him, still wanting to make sure Wolfram was okay before anything else, but nods, closing his eyes and laying still on the floor*
Iris - *notices how his arm had wrapped around his stomach/gently moves it, and begins to undo his shirt, wanting to check his wound and make sure it hadn't reopened, though she didn't see any blood that would signal that it had/scans the bruises along his chest and sides, grateful to see to stitches still intact/places her trembling hands along his torso, moving them to check for any broken ribs*
Yuuri - *winces at the touch, but is grateful to be able to have Wolfram so close to him again/slowly opens his eyes to watch the blond again, wishing that his vision was just a bit more clear to be able to see his face/continues to hold as still as possible, especially since it was a lot less painful than moving, but his breathing was still irregular* "Wolf..."
Iris - *shakes her head at the name, but doesn't say anything to correct him/did it make him feel better to think that Wolfram was back with him again?* "You shouldn't be on the floor. You should be laying in bed."
Yuuri - *smiles lightly at him/it was kinda hard to move, otherwise he would already be on the bed* "Sorry..."
Iris - *tries to smile back at him, but it wobbles, and she eventually loses it/moves to help him sit up* "I'll help you. You'll be more comfortable."
Yuuri - *whimpers as he's helped to sit up, making his breathing a bit more difficult to control, but nods, doing whatever he could to help him move onto the bed*
Iris - *takes one of his arms and places it around her shoulders, preparing herself* "Tell me if it hurts."
Yuuri - *has to laugh lightly at that, though instantly regretting it since it sent another sharp pain through his body/if he was honest, it already hurt... a lot... but he wasn't about to admit to that* "I'm fine..."
Iris - *doesn't really believe him, but she doesn't say anything/slowly stands to her feet, and then, just as slowly, heads towards the bed/he was a bit heavier than she'd expected, and it was more of a struggle than anything else*
Yuuri - *whimpers pitifully most of the way to the bed, though holding his breath for small amounts of time seemed to stop himself from whining so much/of course, holding his breath for any amount of time left him panting and dizzy/does his best to help move to the bed, though his legs were still rebelling against him*
Iris - *eventually, after a lot of struggling and through a good deal of determination, she has him laying on the bed/leaves him just long enough to retrieve a cloth and a little basin of water from the attached washroom, setting the water on the bedside table before wetting the rag, gently easing herself onto the edge of the bed beside him, carefully beginning to wash away the blood that remained on his face*
Yuuri - *smiles lightly at the touch, though still in pain, especially from moving, but now that he was on the bed, it wasn't as bad/tries lifting his arm up to gently touch the blond for himself, but couldn't/still trying to control his breathing and to clear his vision* "Wolf... I'm sorry..."
Iris - *shakes her head again, being careful not to press too hard against the bruises as she cleaned* "You don't have to apologize..." *wonders momentarily if she should play along with Lord Dimitri's little plot - she didn't want to, knew it would be wrong of her, but... if it could comfort the ailing king.../despite his pain and worry, he seemed so genuinely happy to see who he thought was Wolfram/it hurt her to deceive him, but it hurt her more to see him upset/eventually puts a small smile on her face as she forces herself to say* "Don't be such a wimp..."
Yuuri - *smiles brighter at his words, closing his eyes as tears began to well up, easily spilling over against his will/stops moving completely, holding still for him to do whatever it was he was doing, though he still wanted to make sure Wolfram was okay*
Iris - *finishes cleaning, putting the rag aside before lifting her hands to tenderly wipe his tears away/again, has to force herself to say:* "I love you..."
Yuuri - *still smiling, forcing himself to lift a shaking hand to take hold of his, holding it carefully against his own cheek* "I love you, too..."
Iris - *trembles a little at those words again, having to again tell herself that, had he known who he was really talking to, he wouldn't mean them/continues to whisper to him/with how much he'd talked about Wolfram in the last week, she knew at least a few things that the blond would say to him* "Wimp..."
Yuuri - *laughs lightly again, though wincing soon after/his breathing is still irregular, but he’s slowly calming down* "Says the brat..."
Iris - "Mmmm..." *okay, that she had no idea how to respond to/should she be snotty and condescending? should she be loving and teasing? should she just shut up and not say anything at all?/it took a little longer than it probably should have, but she manages an answer after about a minute of quick thinking, coming up with something she thought of as at least slightly romantic* "Yours..."
Yuuri - *nods, smiling brighter, despite the pain still pulsing through him/eyes still closed/slowly and gently moving the blond's hand from his cheek to his lips, kissing it lightly* "Mine..."
Iris - *realizes she's had to force herself to do a lot of things over the last few moments, and it's a little difficult to keep herself from pulling her hand away/wonders what the heck she's doing, leading him on like this, when she knows that once he's no longer in so much pain and more clear headed, he'd see the truth, and probably hate her for doing this to him/even so, as much as she'd been forcing herself to do this, she couldn't make herself stop*
Yuuri - *holds the blond's hand to his lips a bit longer, kissing it a few more times before his own arm started shaking too much, then carefully pulled his hand away to hold it to his chest, able to relax his arm as well/smiles up at him* "I missed you..."
Iris - *tears fill her eyes again, but she holds them back* "I missed you, too..." *her smile wobbles a bit as it becomes slightly wider* "You're always getting yourself into so much trouble..."
Yuuri - *smiles more at that, though he manages not to laugh since it hurt so much* "I know... I won't do it again... I'm sorry..."
Iris - "You say that now..."
Yuuri - *carefully shakes his head, eyes closed tightly against the pain* "I promise... it won't happen again..."
Iris - *she falls silent for a moment, simply watching him/unconsciously she moves closer to him, trying to think of anything else Lord Wolfram would do or say, but her mind came up pretty blank/she knew what she would do if she were him, and her fiancé was wounded, hurt, and nearly broken, but she had no clue as to the little private details of their relationship, as Yuuri tended to keep private things private/she also hated herself far more than she ever had before just by thinking of it... he was the king, he was engaged... he'd despise her if he knew...*
Yuuri - *falls silent for a while as well, slowly calming himself down and managing to get his breathing back to almost normal/slowly opens his eyes after a few minutes or so, eyes searching up for the blond, though everything was still blurry/worried and hating himself for getting carried away in his own pain to forget that Wolfram had been hurt* "I-I'm sorry... Are you okay? You... I didn't mean..."
Iris - *swallows thickly and nods, moving herself towards him a bit more/trying to work up the courage, and to get it solidly in her head that what she was about to do wouldn't mean anything* "I'm fine..."
Yuuri - *blinks at him again, then winces at the sudden sharp pain/pauses a moment, trying to get his breathing back to normal again/still worried* "Are you sure...??"
Iris - "Yes. Don't... don't worry about me..." *pauses to remember some of what Lord Dimitri had said about what had happened to Lord Wolfram/it hadn't all been lies, she knew; he based most of what he said on things that were at least half-true* "I just... hit my head a little. It's nothing to worry about. You can't even tell anymore." *because Lord Dimitri had either forgotten or not bothered to give her a head wound*
Yuuri - *stares at the blurry figure before him for a bit more/how did he expect him not to worry??/shakes his head* "I'm sorry... I should have protected you..."
Iris - "Don't be silly. I should have protected you better..." *and somewhere inside she felt a little bitter that Lord Wolfram hadn't, because it had, in fact, been his responsibility, and if he'd done his job, the king wouldn't be here right now, bruised, and injured, and bleeding, and she wouldn't have to do this to him*
Yuuri - *shakes his head again, slower this time since the last time sent everything spinning again* "No... I promised you... I'm sorry... I won't let it happen again..."
Iris - "You shouldn't promise me things like that." *shakes her head as well* "I... I should have tried harder to make sure that you... that you were safe."
Yuuri - *shakes his head again to argue, but the throbbing headache was quickly coming back/winces, shutting his eyes again, hating himself even more since Wolfram thought it was his fault*
Iris - *softly, placing her hand along his face again* "Stop. Don't hurt yourself more." *moves even closer, kneeling beside him* "I'm fine, Yuuri. Nothing's wrong with me. I'm perfectly fine."
Yuuri - *sighs a little, not being able to do much other than believe him* "I love you..."
Iris - "I love you, too..." *and then she did it/she leans closer, hovering over him for the short moment it takes her to scrounge up a bit more courage, and then she kisses him, softly, on the lips*
Yuuri - *smiles lightly, trying to kiss him back some even though it’s hard for him to move*
Iris - *for a short while she has to force herself to continue kissing him, knowing that it’s wrong, and that he would have pushed her away - maybe even yelled at her - if she'd tried something like this before/but with his attempt at kissing her back, she pushes the rest of her thoughts out of her mind, and merely focuses on the kiss itself/she's been through so much in the last two months, much more than he knew; she just wanted someone to care, even if she had to pretend*
Yuuri - *continues to kiss him back for a few moments, though quickly growing confused/he had thought that with everything that had happened, he would have had Wolfram's kiss memorized by now/this... this was a little different... still with pent up energy, but not the same... /maybe there was just something wrong with himself... after all, he hadn't been able to be near him for so long*
Iris - *pulls back after a second or two, internally telling herself that that was enough/she didn't even know if Yuuri and Lord Wolfram had kissed, or how much they'd kissed, or how deeply, or all those other things that Yuuri never discussed with her/but it felt nice, and Yuuri had kissed her back, and it was so much better than all those horrible things Lord Dimitri did to her/so she leans closer, and kisses him again, a little harder this time*
Yuuri - *frowns a little/this wasn't Wolfram's kiss... he knew his kiss... he'd be able to tell, no matter how long they had been apart/who was it then...?/he tries pulling back some, but can't since he was already against the mattress, and it hurt his neck to move it much more than a mere shake/really, really confused*
Iris - *pulls back a second time, able to tell that he wasn't responding/is a bit scared, wondering if he was beginning to come back to himself, if he'd noticed anything/her heart starts to pound, but she tries to ignore it, moving closer still, gently lifting his head and placing it in her lap, soothingly stroking some of his hair out of his face*
Yuuri - *winces a little at the movement, but he’s grateful once his head is set down again/it’s much more comfortable this way, anyway/blinks up at the blurry figure of the blond in the pink nightgown, still confused, but really thankful for the comfort he was getting*
Iris - *looking down at him, she finds it becoming increasingly difficult to keep up the act/she didn't want to take someone else's place; she wanted a place of her own/still, she doesn't know how to break it to him that Wolfram really wasn't here/saying 'I'm not Wolfram' seemed a bit too harsh to her*
Yuuri - *continues to blink confusedly up at the blurry figure/something in the back of his mind was telling him that he should easily know who it was, but all he could see was the image of Wolfram flashing before his eyes*
Iris - *sighs to herself, trying to think of a way to break it to him as gently as possible/continues to brush a few strands off hair out of his face as she starts to softly hum*
Yuuri - *hearing the humming, he slowly closes his eyes, trying to focus on it/Wolfram... if it wasn't Wolfram... where was he...? had he never been there to begin with? had he simply been over reacting again at the slightest hint of the blond?/takes a few slow breaths, though not too deep since it hurt to move that much, but just closing his eyes and listening to the little melody was good enough to help him calm down more*
Iris - *tears fill her eyes, and she feels stupid, and foolish, and like the most horrible person in the world/her humming soon turns into soft singing - the same song she'd sung to him to calm him down when he'd first been brought here - hoping he would remember it, and that he wouldn't hate her for what she'd done* "Oh, it’s become hard to breathe; I cannot see the sky/I do not understand where it is that you’ve gone/The wind blows through my hair, the sun’s held safe in your hands..."
Yuuri - *tears slowly begin to well up in his eyes as well/he felt horrible... how could he have been so stupid...? of course Wolfram wouldn't have been brought to him that easily... Murata... and Jade and Hale were with him... they would protect him... they would keep him safe.../ slowly reaches a still shaking hand up to gently take the girl's that was brushing at his hair, pulling it carefully down to hold against his cheek* "Iris... I'm sorry..."
Iris - *shakes her head, unable to hold her tears back any more/her hand trembles lightly against the side of his face* "I... I'm sorry... I..." *she couldn't even begin to explain what she'd done, so she went on to something else instead* "They... they cut my hair..."
Yuuri - *slowly shakes his head as well, tears rolling down his cheeks again/grips a little tighter to her hand* "No... I'm sorry... they... they shouldn't have done that... I should have been able to protect you... I'm sorry..."
Iris - "You couldn't..." *squeezes her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from falling* "I... I didn't want to... but they made me, they... and then... you... you miss him so much, and I just..." *trails off, then whispers* "I thought I was helping you..."
Yuuri - *opens his eyes to blink up at the still blurry figure, slowly starting to panic at her distress* "You... you were helping me... Thank you... I... if you hadn't... I think I would have lost it completely... thank you... I'm sorry..."
Iris - "But I... I did something horrible..." *swallows hard*
Yuuri - *blinks up at her/confused* "What...?"
Iris - *still whispers* "I... I kissed you... I... you're engaged..."
Yuuri - *sighs lightly, slowly shaking his head again* "You were trying to distract me... You did nothing wrong..."
Iris - "But I did! I shouldn't have done that! It was wrong!"
Yuuri - *sighs again* "I was wrong to have not thought of you right away... I... I was so caught up with everything... it's my fault for being so heartless towards you... I'm sorry..." *pauses, staring up at her/feels really, really guilty* "They really hurt you... didn't they...?"
Iris - *shakes her head/doesn't want to even begin to tell him of the things they did to her* "I... I shouldn't have tried to make you believe... that wasn't fair to you..."
Yuuri - "You didn't make me believe anything... It was my own fault... you did nothing wrong..."
Iris - "Then... then I made you do something wrong..."
Yuuri - *blinks up at her, confused again* "You did...?" *didn't really think he did something wrong, but now he was really worried that he did*
Iris - "I kissed you... and you..." *why did it seem as if it weren't a big deal to him? it had to be. he was engaged. he loves Lord Wolfram/her tears fall a little harder, and it's difficult to stop herself from shaking*
Yuuri - *winces, though not so much from the pain as for his stupidity* "Oh..." *quickly shakes his head, wincing for real this time and has to close his eyes to stop the spinning again/okay... he was delusional... it wasn't really his fault he wanted to kiss someone he thought was Wolfram... though, that hardly meant it was wrong for her since he knew how annoying he could get, himself* "Ah... it's fine... I'm sorry! I'm making you -" *whimpers lightly, reminding himself not to get so worked up/continues after a moment* "I'm making you cry... please... it's okay... I'm sorry..."
Iris - *doesn't think it will ever be okay, but chooses not to say anything against him/he was worrying over her, and that's not what she wanted/forces her tears back again* "You... does it hurt too badly anywhere? It didn't... feel like any of your ribs were broken, but... I could have missed something, or..."
Yuuri - *shakes his head again, though much slower this time* "I'm fine... thank you... if you hadn't been here..." *trails off/if she hadn't been there at all, he would have died... then if he had somehow managed to make it through the first bit, he would have quickly wasted away from worry* "Would you feel better if I told you I forgive you? And... is it alright for me to ask for your forgiveness? I... I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable... I should have known better..."
Iris - "I..." *honestly, it really wouldn't make her feel better, since no matter what he said, she knew what she'd done had been wrong/but she didn't want to make him worry any more, nor did she want to upset him further about everything/if he was willing to get over it, to put it behind him, then she could keep her thoughts and feelings to herself, and let him forget* "Yes..."
Yuuri - *sighs lightly in relief, but pauses, thinking about it* "Umm... would it be too much to ask... for you not to mention this to Wolfram...? He'd kill me..." *smiles lightly up at her, still unable to really make out the features on her face, but hoped that there was some way he could help comfort her*
Iris - *shakes her head quickly* "Oh, I would never!" *she didn't think Lord Wolfram would actually kill Yuuri, but she knew for a fact that he would definitely kill her*
Yuuri - *laughs lightly, followed by a small whimper* "He can get really jealous sometimes, you know... I think he'd feel a bit threatened about someone as pretty as you..." *actually... it wasn't because she was pretty that he would get jealous... but the kiss thing might be a problem if it slipped out... though... he'd probably end up telling him anyway... what where the point of secrets?*
Iris - "I... I wouldn't ever tell him... I wouldn't want to cause any more problems than I already have..." *blushes a bit/didn't think she was all that pretty, especially when remembering some of the things people said about Lord Wolfram* "And I... I didn't mean any harm... I would never try to... to take you away from him, or... I mean..."
Yuuri - *blinks at her again/confused once more/since when was he worried about being taken away from Wolfram?* "I know... I already told you, you didn't do anything wrong... you helped me, if anything..."
Iris - *glances down at him, not understanding him at all* "How could I have helped you...?"
Yuuri - *blinks again, his vision finally starting to clear some* "Uhh..." *actually, he had to think about that... he was really just trying to make her feel a bit better/pauses before grinning lightly up at her* "You helped save me from complete withdrawal..." *pauses again/okay, that was a lame excuse...*
Iris - *blushes a bit/that sounded... just as bad as she'd thought it was... saving him from complete withdrawal...? he made it sound like he'd wanted her to do it/thinks he really is a very odd man* "I... uhh..."
Yuuri - *frowns at himself/he knew he sounded like an idiot... well... probably because he was one.../laughs lightly, trying not to make his wincing so obvious* "I'm just saying... I would have done the same thing..." *probably...*
Iris - *a little surprised/he would have kissed her if their situations had been reversed?* "You... you would have...?"
Yuuri - *thinks about it some/well, yeah, if he was forced to look like her beloved fiancé and she was delusional and thought he was her beloved fiancé.../gives a small nod* "Yeah..."
Iris - "And you wouldn't... feel like you'd done something wrong...?"
Yuuri - *winces lightly, though again, not from the pain* "Uhh... I guess I would feel bad... but... I understand how hopeless I must have been... I haven't exactly been an easy roommate..."
Iris - "It's not your fault. I..." *moves her hand from where he held it against the side of his face, lightly fingering his hair again/he had such nice hair...* "I know how much you miss him..."
Yuuri - *closes his eyes again, feeling his heart throb at the thought of not actually getting to see him... although, in all honesty, it was much, much better that he really wasn't there... and he was thankful for that, too* "I do... but... I know he'll be fine... He has good people watching out for him..." *yeah right... he was still gonna worry like crazy....*
Iris - "You know..." *tries to ease her guilt some, and ease his mind at the same time* "All those things that Lord Dimitri said about him... about how he hasn't woken up yet... about how he was wasting away... they probably weren't true..."
Yuuri - *opens his eyes again, staring up at her/hopeful* "Really??"
Iris - *nods at him, smiling lightly* "Lord Dimitri likes to play with the mind. He... that's why he cut my hair and... why he put me into this nightgown. It's a form of manipulation he's rather fond of..."
Yuuri - *frown, thinking about it/he really didn't like that man.../stares back up at her, smiling lightly, trying to make her feel better* "You really are pretty, you know... It wasn't really all my fault I thought you were Wolf..." *winces lightly at another sharp pressure in his chest, but shakes it off*
Iris - "I..." *flushes again/hearing him say things like that made her feel bad/she didn't understand how he could look at anyone else and think they were pretty, when his fiancé was surely extremely beautiful* "Thank you..."
Yuuri - *smiles up at her some more, though cringes, eyes growing wider with shock as she slowly came into more focus/quickly tries to push himself up to turn around to inspect her injuries better*
Iris - *startled a bit by his movements, flinching slightly/attempts to stop him* "Yuuri, you shouldn't move."
Yuuri - *easily agrees with her as his body rebels against him, forcing him to lay his head back down on her lap, groaning from the sudden pain/well that was stupid, moron/stares up at her, eyes still wide* "Iris... I... are you okay...??"
Iris - "I'm fine... I..." *doesn't really want to reveal too much of the things she's been through since she was first brought here* "It's not so bad. I'm used to it."
Yuuri - *growls, shaking his head some* "That's not... you shouldn't have to be used to it... I'm sorry... if I had known sooner...." *trails off, starting to wonder just what else people were going through in his kingdom without his knowledge*
Iris - "There's isn't much you would have been able to do..." *looks away sadly, though she does go back to fingering his hair now that he was still again* "It... sometimes... I don't even notice it anymore. I mean... when you've experienced so much humiliation and pain... you grow used to it... it becomes... more tolerable..."
Yuuri - *starts to feel his eyes stinging/watches her sadly, wishing there was something he could do to make everything better for her* "You'll never have to worry about that again once I get you to the palace... You can sleep all day and eat whatever you want... and do whatever you want... and just take it easy... I... I'm so sorry... I never wanted something like this... " *trails off again, closing his eyes to stop the tears from welling in them*
Iris - *feels bad again for saying too much/she should have kept things like that to herself, and made up some lie about how they rarely hurt her/he didn't have to know anything more than he'd already seen/moves her hand from his hair to stroke the side of his face again, hoping the touch wasn't awkward for him* "You shouldn't feel guilty for something that's beyond your control. I'm fine now, and I'll be fine later. I just... I just want to make sure that... that they don't do anything to hurt you any more than they have... I would feel as if I'd... like I'd committed a crime against the kingdom, not doing my best to protect the king..."
Yuuri - *shakes his head, though not enough to pull away from the comforting touch* "You already saved my life... more than once... You shouldn't feel like you should have to do anything... I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting you... "
Iris - "No..." *smiles at him again* "You shouldn't be worrying about me when you have so many other things to worry about... I'm not nearly as important as... as Lord Wolfram..."
Yuuri - *frowns, opening his eyes to look up at her again/sure, Wolfram was more important to him than anything... but that didn't mean he was the only important thing* "I'm the king... It's my duty to protect the kingdom and everyone who lives in it... You are just as important as everyone else... And more than most, especially since you saved me..."
Iris - *shakes her head at him, but doesn't say anything/continues to gently stroke the side of his face, being careful of the bruises/how could anyone possibly hurt someone as gentle and kind as he was?*
Yuuri - *pouts up at her, feeling like his words were completely falling through* "You don't believe me..."
Iris - *shakes her head again, unable to keep herself from smiling at his pout* "I have my opinion on the matter, just as you have yours."
Yuuri - *pouts more/this girl was difficult.../has to force his emotions to hold out for a bit longer as thoughts of Wolfram raced through his head* "Whatever..."
Iris - *smiles a little more* "You should get some rest, Yuuri..."
Yuuri - *blinks, and stops pouting to stare up at her* "Aren't you uncomfortable, though?" *he had to be putting her legs to sleep by now.../feels bad about not realizing that sooner*
Iris - "I..." *blushes lightly again* "No... I'm fine now... but... I can move if you'd like..."
Yuuri - *shakes his head, though still feeling bad* "No... I don't really want you to move... but if you're uncomfortable.... I know my head isn't exactly the softest thing..." *smiles lightly* "Wolfram's always pointing out how thick skulled I am..."
Iris - *has to agree with Lord Wolfram on that one* "Then... I'll stay... until you fall asleep..."
Yuuri - *lets out a small sigh, but nods/is actually really tired... and pretty comfortable too...* "And don't you go sleeping on the floor, okay?"
Iris - *smiles again* "If that is His Majesty's desire, then I shall stay here all night."
Yuuri - *sticks his tongue out at her, pouting again* "I want you to be comfortable... and not on the floor..."
Iris - *laughs ever so lightly* "If it will keep you from worrying about me, then I'll stay on the bed."
Yuuri - *nods, glad she was actually going to listen to him, it seemed* "And I want you to move if you can't feel your legs... But remember, stay on the bed..."
Iris - "Yes, of course." *strokes his face again* "Don't worry. I promise I'll still be up here when you wake up."
Yuuri - *nods at her again before finally closing his eyes, though not before wincing again at another sharp pain* "Thank you..."
Iris - *softly* "You're welcome." *easily notices his wince* "I wish they would give you something for the pain. It's not too unbearable, is it?"
Yuuri - *smiles up at her/it was pretty painful, but he didn't want her to worry* "I'll live... don't worry about me. I may be a wimp, but I can handle a lot more than it looks like I can."
Iris - "You shouldn't have to..."
Yuuri - *sighs/he wasn't a china doll... and it was a bit frustrating with people treating him as one... well... not all people, obviously... but those who actually cared...* "I'm really fine... it's nothing..."
Iris - *says nothing more, but continues stroking his face and hair/she begins to hum again, hoping to lull him to sleep*
Yuuri - *slowly slips off to sleep, hoping he wouldn't have as many nightmares as usual/he was really exhausted, anyway... and the girl's calming voice and touch was enough to make him forget his pain long enough to actually fall asleep*
Iris - *keeps humming until she's sure he's finally asleep/only then does she move, because as nice as it is to have his head in her lap, she knows it wouldn't be very comfortable to keep it there all night long and sleep sitting up/gently she places a pillow behind his head, and slides down onto the mattress next to him/she pauses to stare at his face once more, and is unable to stop herself from leaning forward to lightly press her lips against his/pulls back after only a few seconds, shaking her head at herself, and laying down a bit further away from him/she stays up, watching him a little longer, before finally drifting off to sleep...*