WARNING: MENTIONS OF NUDITY.
The next day Ziva was looking smug, but Isa was looking nervous. She was refusing to make eye contact with me, and looking more pale than usual. When she did look to me she looked incredibly worried and bewildered like a deer caught in headlights. I was confused, especially because neither Elijah nor Luca had come to visit me at all. The bruises and cuts had rapidly managed to heal, only faint red and soft brown marks on my skin now. I hadn't had another strange dream that night. None of Elijah, Sara, or that strange woman who I hadn't seen for a while. Her icy eyes and almost ethereal features still haunted me. I was tucked into bed, looking out the new window pane to the sea of poppies and small village milling about in the distance. I didn't know how long I was fazed out of the world for, but a cold hand on my crossed hands shook me back to existence. I jumped, only for the cold large hands gently massaged my out tiny warm ones.
"Calm down tesoro," Elijah was standing over to me, his face the softest I had ever seen it. His hair was just over his eyes, and he was wearing a cashmere navy long-sleeved with a black dress jacket over it. The familiar lump from his hidden necklace was on his chest, and a deep smell of amber and sandlewood invaded my lungs. He looked incredibly dashing, and the almost loving look in his eyes made my heart give out one painful thump. His smile widened, definitely catching the thump. My face flushed as I realized and I wanted to hide away from the world.
"Get dressed. I need to show you something." I blinked in confusion as he tried to get me up.
"Wait, what?" It was all I managed to say. I was confused, because based on how he was the last couple of days I thought I would be put on lockdown until they figured out a way to deal with Marie. He just gently pulled me up to a sitting position, reaching behind me and putting his hand on the back of my neck. His thumb was pressed against the hollow in my cheek and I could feel the tip of his razor like nail pressing gently into my skin. It was the same reassuring action he made the day I had a screaming fit in the alley when facing my own mortality.
"I want to talk to you about something, but you've been stuck in here too long. I want you to see something." He retracted his hand as if he realized how intimate the action was. His soft fast immediately fell, and he straightened himself up.
"So get dressed. I will wait for you outside." He brought his hand up to his face and his eyes fell, as if he was trying to regain his composure. I pushed my legs over the side of the bed, pushing myself to me feet. My thin nightgown swayed as I tried to get my balance. Elijah seemed to notice my teetering, and had a concerned look on his face.
"Do... do you need any help?" The thought of Elijah having to help me get dressed made me burn with humiliation.
"No I'm okay." He looked unconvinced, watching as I waddled to the closet door a little uneven in my footsteps.
"I'll go get Zi--"
"No I can do it!" I was determined to do it on my own, and my face puffed up as I frowned at him. I had fire in my eyes, and he let out a soft chuckle as I flung the doors open. I was never good at coordinating outfits together, usually my at home attire was sweat or yoga pants and a sweater. Being surrounded but such lovely and expensive clothing was truly something I wasn't used to.
"I'll wait out here. Call out if you need me." I almost took offense to his kind gesture as if he didn't trust me to dress myself. I was a twenty two year old woman, not a toddler. I looked at the various hanging racks holding cashmere dresses, fleece shirts, and soft jackets. There were several drawer lining the left wall under where all the shirts were located for various forms of pants.
"Are we going outside?"
"Briefly, yes."
"What's the weather like outside?"
"Its a little cold out. It is the beginning of November after all." The sarcasm in his voice was thick and I just rolled my eyes at it.
"Just asking a question!" I heard him chuckle again. I had been wearing a lot of the dresses on the inside so I locked my eyes onto the sweaters and pants. For some reason I had butterflies in my chest and a overwhelming desire to look nice. I yanked off my night gown and started pulled on a pair of nude panties lost in thought.
This is almost like a date, I thought to myself and getting giddy at the thought. Almost immediately my heart rate sped up and I grabbed my face. My hair cascaded around me as I shook my head trying to shake the thoughts from my head.
"Are you okay, what happened?" Elijah yelled, his footsteps barging into the room. We both froze for a moment. I think we were both trying to process what was happening. I was standing there basically naked, my chest bare which luckily was covered by most of my hair. He seemed a little unfazed by it at first, but slowly seemed to realize the position I was in.
"Nothing happened." I managed to say, lifting my arms to cover myself as I was in shock. The cogs in my brain were slowly releasing their rust and I was coming to realize that he had seen what no other man had seen before on me other than doctors.
"Your heartbeat accelerated..." His words trailed off. I followed his eyes to realize he was respectfully looking at the wardrobe behind me and not directly at me. As gentlemanly as that was, the rust finally fell from my brain and my body responded from the lag. I was certain I looked like a ghostly strawberry and my stomach churned and flip flopped. Elijah seemed to notice as I was almost vibrating from my rapid heart rate from the anxiety.
"Okay, well let me know if you need anything." He cleared his throat and closed his eyes, trying to shuffle out of the room. He was waving his arms around to try and find the door which had closed behind him, but he only managed to press himself against the wall. He was cursing under his breath, clawing at the wall with the door inches to his right. It was almost comical, and a little heartwarming as he tried to respect my space.
"Elijah,"
"I'm leaving!"
"You can open you eyes to leave." He muttered something under his breathe like a thanks before flickering out of existence. An unnecessary use of his abilities to rush out of a room, but I instantly deflated when he left. My mind was whirling as I was coming to terms with what just happened.
He saw me naked. He saw me in my birthday suit. No one has seen me naked. He probably thinks I'm disgusting, oh my god.
These thoughts ran through my head as I bent over the drawers trying to regain my composure. It was the most embarrassing thing the ever happen to me. The soft golden door light above me made the marble glitter around me as if to mock me as I wallowed in self pity.
"Holy fucking shit, get over yourself." I cursed, slapping both my cheeks with my hands lightly to get myself out of my rut. To distract myself and to cover myself I just began throwing things on. I decided on a pair of black tights with a soft black fleece material on the inside that was soft against my skin. I threw on a nude satin bra that was a little too tight as I had gained weight in my chest from the medication. My final piece of clothing was a soft beige cowl neck fleece sweater, ribbed with straps of a sparkly thread through it so it glimmered like gold. It was probably the prettiest, softest, and most expensive thing I had ever put it. There was a knock at the closet door as I was looking in the tall mirror in between the hangers and drawers that separated the sweaters and the dresses from the walls. I was pulling out my hair out if the top, smoothing it down. It had grown quite a bit since my time here, more soft and luxurious the products. It was also now reaching the middle of my back, tickling me as it fell.
"You can come in." I called out hoarsely, still trying to adjust myself in the mirror. My face was a little bit rounder, but still slender. My cheek bones were high but my eyes didn't look as sunken in as they had before. I was still very pale, with a small chin and a small mouth with the odd blue vein dancing under my skin. I did look marginally better than the skeleton I was only a month prior. My weight had picked up a lot, and I was curving out with my cello like body. I was so lost with how much I had changed that I didn't notice the figure standing behind me. I wouldn't say I was pretty-- maybe a little bit. I was had more of a cuteness to my face rather than a sexy maturity. It was a little disheartening looking back at Marie, a literally goddess walking on earth. It was like I was a small child next to her. A small frown cracked against my lips, and that was when I noticed the tall figure standing directly behind me. It jumpstarted my heart let, making me gasp from the jolt of fear as I was startled from his sudden appearance.
"Jesus Christ!" I cried out, pressing my tiny hand to my chest in an attempt to calm myself down.
"You told me I could come in."
"I know but you're so damn quiet! You scared the shit out of me." In the mirror I saw him crane his head down as I tried to straightened out my startled form. He had the soft smile back again, his hands in his dress pants pockets as he watched me. He looked almost proud, like a father watching his daughter get ready for a dance recital.
"Okay I just need to throw on a pair of shoes." This was wear I really struggled. Elijah-- bless his soul-- had gotten me so many shoes they made my eyes hurt. They were lined up on racks that had three stacks underneath the dress hangers. The problem was that the dress hangers wrapped around the rest of the room minus the doors and the half of the wall reserved for the sweaters. There was at least a hundred pairs, maybe even more. As someone who owned one pair of shoes-- my non slips for work-- it was overwhelming to say the least. Elijah saw me looking dumbly at the racks, my brain trying to process. I had a pair of white socks on who I couldn't wear most the flats and heels, and I couldn't find any sneakers. They were all high end pairs and it was making my head spin.
"Do you need help?"
"I've only ever had one pair of shoes so..." I was sheepish and trailed off, unsure of how to complete that sentence.
"One pair?" His eyebrows shot up like I just just told him that I didn't know what an egg was.
"Yeah it was just my work shoes. I used them until they got big enough holes and then I went to a thrift store for new ones." He looked pained by what I said. I thought it was because I was fine having one pair of shoes, and he was expressing the pain of 'rich people problems'.
"You shouldn't of had to wear shoes with holes in them." That's what he was agitated by. I was nice to be cared for, and I had a warm feeling in my belly. Before I could express gratitude he began to stalk the shoe rack like a predator. It was a little comical, watching his eyes dart over to them absorbing detail. Finally his feet stopped on the opposite side of the room. He reached down and picked up a velvet boot with a small chunky heal, a zipper on the side to pull it up.
"This should suffice." He sauntered over to me, proud like a peacock and bent down to place them in front of me. I went to go bend down to put them on, but Elijah just grabbed my left calf gently.
"Elijah, I--"
"This will be faster. Just lift your foot and hold onto my shoulders." His head was bowed and right next to my him. I was shocked and blushing, but did as he told to keep the peace. He gently slid the shoe on my raised foot, zipping it in one fluid motion. His touch was cool and feather light as his fingers danced across my legs. It felt nice, as if he was massaging my calf and feet as he slid my other foot it. It was soothing, and my eyes became lidded from the sensation. My hands had a find of their own and relaxed under him, feeling some of my tension from my earlier embarrassment. His hand lingered on my legs after he zipped up the other zipper before he gracefully lifted himself to standing position. This was the first time I was in heels, but the heel was so thick that it was quite comfortable. I was strange being even four inches taller, almost seeing the world differently. Elijah was still a giant to me, so there was a sense of normalcy in that.
"Do you feel like you can walk?" He seemed to read that I was not used to heels. I took a shaky step, able to keep my balance.
"I think so." It was a little easier than I thought but the feeling was still foreign to me. As I took a little more steps, Elijah took charge when he noticed my struggle. He looped his arm under left arm, grabbing my arm and pulling me next to him to keep me up.
"Just follow my lead," He leaned down and whispered in my ear. I shivered involuntarily at his almost seductive tone. Keeping my head down, I did as he said and followed his lead through the pristine snowy walls.