As she was getting up to leave, a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Yuenelia flinched at the strong grip.
She turned to a hostile looking Zordyz. Only one of his glowing electric blue eyes were visible under his tousled hair.
His glare brought back the horrible memory of the first time he growled at her. The fear froze her in place.
Zordyz's eyes glow in intense situations, more so in the dark. That's how she knew he hasn't recovered and was hyperaware of her presence in his room.
With his eye fixed on hers; he propped himself up with his elbow, his body moving closer. A slight snarl can be seen creeping up his face.
Yuenelia's wrist is still caught in his vice-like grip. He didn't seem to have any intention of letting go.
"Hanoda'la!"
In her panicked state, she broke free from her fear and cast a spell that puts him back to sleep.
Her sudden action gave Zordyz no time to react; his body fell backwards as he lost consciousness, pulling her down as well.
"Ah!" Yuenelia gasped.
She caught his head with her free arm, whilst preventing herself from falling onto him.
The whole incident that only lasted for a moment felt like an eternity to Yuenelia.
After setting him in a comfortable position, she sat back down. All the while with Zordyz still holding tightly onto her wrist.
When the scare was over, her face became flushed. Zordyz's hand felt like it was burning her skin.
The conversation she had with Triniekit made her even more self-conscious around him now. Being so close to him made her heart pound hard.
A brief visit has become such a mess; all because she wasn't able to stop worrying about him. She even ended up almost being assaulted.
She was only able to look at him again after she had calm her nerves.
It took some time for his grip to loosen. When it did, she put his hand back to his side.
Yuenelia winced.
It left a mark around her wrist. It has already started to bruise.
"Stupid Zor! How do I hide this?" she scolded him in a whisper.
"Stupid..." she held her hand close to her heart.
Unintentional or not, it was the first time Zordyz has ever confronted someone instead of recoiling in fear.
'I can't even blame him. It was out of his control. Me invading his most personal space must have triggered it.'
'I hope he won't remember any of it when he wakes up.'
After quite a long pause...
'Will he?' she asked herself. She put a blanket on Zordyz and left.
It was not until late hours into the night that he woke up. By then, Yuenelia's scent was long gone.
'Why am I on the floor?' He squinted his eyes to look at the wall clock. It was 3 a.m.
He tugged on his blanket, trying to fall asleep again.
As he closed his eyes, he realised that he had a blanket on. He never liked to put on a blanket when he sleeps and his mother would never do it either since she knew his habits.
The minor headache made it impossible to go back to sleep anymore.
He pressed the back of his hand against his eyes, applying pressure to ease the throbbing pain.
At that moment, he smelled a faint scent of gardenia.
"Yue?"
He sniffed around but the scent only remained on his hand, specifically his right hand. He sat up and was now wide awake.
Due to the abundance of magic particles, scents and smells are absorbed fast into the atmosphere. They dissipate easily, never staying in the air for long. They dissipate even faster on the skin.
If Yuenelia's scent remained this long after she left, it can only mean one thing. He must have grabbed her so hard that her scent got stuck on his hand.
No matter how much he tried to remember, only fragments of his memories returned. Everything that happened after the match was a blur. He remembered the match vividly as he was filled with adrenaline. The walk home though, felt empty.
It was the longest episode yet. He usually regains most of the memories of the people he forgot when he recovers from it. This time, it was way less than before.
The only person he remembered talking to on the way home was Aexiq, but the details of the conversation were lost.
Memories of Yuenelia always came right back to him as soon as he recovers but not this time.
Zordyz clenched his fist and smacked the side of his bed.
"What did I do to her?"
Hurting her was the one thing he refused to do. He won't be able to forgive himself if she got hurt because of him.
The thought of the possibility of how she would despise and avoid him from god knows what he did to her made him depressed.
He can only wait until morning comes to ask her about it.
Hoping that her scent will help him recall the incident, he kept his hand close to his nose throughout the night.
Yuenelia's scent has always had a calming effect on him. Before he knew it, it slowly lulled him back to sleep.