Silence blanketed the chamber and his mind. Once her amusement faded, she grew quiet. Possibly considering, his account of the night. That's how he'd remembered it. He didn't know if it was the whole truth, but most certainly it was his truth.
" I'm sorry," She peeled her eyes off the window at his words and looked up at him.
With a nod, she returned to gazing out the window.
" I don't," She turned her head to look at him," I vaguely remember being carried by you, being placed on a bed, a warm body next to mine, and after that everything is fogged over, clouded," She admitted, as she pushed herself to lean against the headboard.
" I'm sorry, " He couldn't quite find the right words to how profusely sorry he was for what had happened. There were no right words.
" I didn't mean to hurt you," He closed his eyes, " Before that night, I didn't even think of you that way," He opened his eyes, to find her staring at him, with her eyebrows raised in surprise.
Corvin chuckled, " You seem surprised," He noted as her brows lowered and a bit on her lip.
" A little," She sighed, clasping her hands in her lap, nibbling on her upper lip.
" Is that why you are here? You want my forgiveness?" She asked staring at her hands. Her voice was so quiet, despondent.
" Yes and no," He took a deep breath in, " It's a little more complicated than that," He paused and turned to his side, leaning his shoulder against the headboard.
" Well," She giggled, not amused in the least, " You have a very strange way to ask for it. I mean," She drawled, " Undressing me, to walk around naked, treating me as if I were your slave. You sure do have some issues," She shook her head and gave him a long look.
Corvin hummed and nodded, " You were walking on the ledge, a little off balance. I've been there before, I know how it looks. It was a good way to focus your attention on something else. Me," He paused and took a deep breath in, " Betrayal, loss, and guilt among many other things will eat you alive if you let it. And eventually, you'll turn into something that not even you will recognise," He said with a far-off look in his eyes.
" What?"
" Me," He replied as he dropped his back, and chuckled.
Iris hummed, and giggled, " You're insane. I wouldn't want to become you," She sighed, " But I didn't like my old self very much either," She nodded and pushed herself off the bed, walked around the bed and slipped out of the room before he could even retort. Somewhat pleased, he rolled on his back and smiled. Not bad.
Slowly, but surely in the quietness, raindrops began hitting the window one by one and, shortly began pouring down, lulling him to sleep.
The sound of water splashing trickled through making him open his eyes. Iris was bathing herself. He didn't even hear the maids come through, and prepare the bath. He pushed himself on the bed and dinner was already waiting on the table. He must've slept like a dead man, that he didn't hear the maid churning in the room.
" Is that an invitation?" His question gained her attention and turned to him smiling. Contained but genuine.
" No," She drawled, smirking, and lathered herself with soap. So close and yet so far.
" Let me guess," He chuckled, " You'd rather die," He added and chuckled when she turned to him and playfully glared.
" I wouldn't take it that far but you're not completely off the mark, " She giggled and stood up from the bath, as the last rays of the sun glimmered against her argent skin giving it a golden glow. Royally screwed. Corvin closed his eyes and shuffled on the bed turning his back to her as she stepped out of the tub.
" It's your turn," She beckoned, amused.
" My turn for what?" He asked as he pushed himself off the bed and sauntered to the table to pour himself a glass of water.
" To wash," She added as she slipped into her nightgown, and for once he didn't stop her.
" I think, I will skip tonight since my shoulder is injured. I'll leave it until tomorrow, " He added with a sigh and sat down at the table.
" I will help you bathe," He was out of the chair and out of his tunic before she even finished her sentence.
Giggling, she knelt at the end of the tub and waited for him to shed his slacks, taking in every single move that he'd made. She'd offered out of guilt since she was the one that put an arrow through his shoulder, but regardless that didn't trump his excitement.
He didn't need help bathing, but if that meant that she would be close enough without him forcing her to be then, he internally shrugged. It was good enough. His thoughts drifted to Dakran briefly, maybe the lump had caught onto something since he and Maya were tightly knit into each other.
The feel of her hands brushing over his injured shoulder dragged him back. Her touch was gentle, and if he didn't know any better caring. She didn't strike him as the nurturing kind, but perhaps he was wrong. After all, after claws were stowed away all cats purred if rubbed in the right spot. At that thought he stifled a chuckle. She paused, probably sensing that he'd tensed, and waited.
" Does it hurt?" She asked after a few moments. Lie through your teeth.
" Yes," He cleared his throat and winced when she lightly pressed over the wound. It did hurt, but not enough to complain about it. He'd lived through far worse than a measly arrow.
" I'm sorry," She quietly said, and reprised lathering soap over his shoulders. He had to pinch his thigh when an idiotic grin threatened to spread on his lips. He was getting good at the game. Tomorrow sword training. An opportunity to let her slash his skin, and then get some tenderness out of it. A monumental epiphany, that's what it was. If he'd professed, she would reject him. And so he had to find another way to crawl under her skin, and later on her skin, if the gods were clement enough.