Part Thirty
Very Brief Recap
- Yuuri got kidnapped and beated up
- Ewwww~ Kissy face~!
- Dude... Wolfie needs more screen time... Maybe...
Warnings
- A little more... shocking...(?) than most parts
- Mikage and Guine EPIC approved! :D
Characters
You know the drill. Or at least you should by now.
Covering the Bases
Part Thirty - Ace of Spades; the "Death Card"
Scene Change - *two more weeks pass/more storms come and go, and still Conrart and Yozak and their search party are unable to find much of anything/the storms are erratic, with no set pattern, as are the bandit attacks, and now that the bandits know they have such a valuable prisoner, they've grown more careful/Wolfram spends the two weeks trying not to think of Yuuri so much, though it's extremely difficult/he's able to distract himself a little while preparing for the wedding/he's decided (in order to appease The Church and the Royal Court - and because his mother kept hounding him about it) to have a traditional wedding, and so he's spent a good deal of time with Greta, his mother, and a dressmaker, trying to decide what sort of gown he'd prefer/he's also spoken with his mother on the subject of shoes, remembering one of the funny little things Yuuri had said once as he'd been half asleep, and so he and Celi spent a day in town speaking with a glassmaker, wanting to know if there was any way he could make a pair of glass shoes/so far, he's yet to experience very many noticeable changes that would allude to pregnancy, except that he tires easier, and he's often plagued by morning sickness - but those are very easy to hide from others... /as for Yuuri and Iris.../Iris is often taken away by Lord Dimitri, and comes back bloody and bruised, while Yuuri is left to deal with Owen and Wedge/though they have a habit of hitting and beating him as well, he's yet to experience any other beating as bad as the first one/his wound continues to heal nicely and he and Iris continue to pass the days talking about whatever comes to mind, though Iris still refrains from speaking very much about herself/one day, Lord Dimitri comes into their room with a sadistic look in his eyes, and instead of taking Iris with him, he has Wedge and Owen force Yuuri into a chair and strap him down/he tells Yuuri exactly what he's about to do, and informs him that he must watch the whole thing, and that if he doesn't he will be punished afterwards/Dimitri then proceeds to do unspeakable things to Iris, and Iris screams, and cries, and begs, but of course he doesn't stop until he feels like it/Mikage is going to assume that Yuuri couldn't force himself to watch - because he's most definitely not sick and demented like that - and turns away at least once/Dimitri notices, and once he's finished with Iris, he straightens his clothing and motions to Wedge and Owen to un-strap Yuuri - though not to let him go - and leaves the room only briefly to retrieve something to help him deal out his punishment*
Dimitri - *comes back into the room with a willow switch, and a cruel smirk on his face*
Yuuri - *fuming/he's pissed.../how could anyone do the things to an innocent girl like what that man did?/glares at him, not caring what would happen to him as long as he left the poor girl alone*
Dimitri - *makes another motion to his two men, since apparently he doesn't need to speak for them to understand what he wants them to do*
Wedge and Owen - *grab tightly onto Yuuri incase he tries to struggle away, removing his shirt, and forcing him over to the foot of the bed, where they tie his hands to one of the bedposts with thick rope around his wrists/they laugh at him, then take a few steps back to give Lord Dimitri some room*
Dimitri - *circling around Yuuri a bit, idly playing with his switch, eyes him with his ever present smirk of evilness* "Those who do not do as they're told must be punished..."
Iris - *sits on the bed with a sheet wrapped around her to hide the fact that she's naked/watches with wide eyes, her face stained with tears*
Yuuri - *snarls at the man, glaring at him over his shoulder with bared teeth* "People like you are the ones who need to be punished!" *if he had had enough energy in him, he would have already transformed, but with the seemingly constant beatings, he wasn't exactly up for anything like that/not that he hadn't tried transforming once or twice... but it never went through very well*
Dimitri - *smirk smirk* "Such brave words for someone in such a vulnerable position..." *walks around him some more, looking him up and down/flicks his gaze to Iris* "Enjoy the show, my pet, and remember that it is because of you that he must face this torture."
Iris - *whimpers*
Yuuri - *quickly turns to gaze in horror at the girl/already feels absolutely horrible for not being able to protect her... again...* "Don't listen to him! You didn't do anything! He's the one who's at fault!" *turns to glare and snarl over his shoulder again, though struggling against the bindings a bit, hoping they weren't as tight as they felt*
Dimitri - *more smirk smirk/his gray-blue eyes glow with pure evilness/really likes to see him struggling, and his snarling is hilarious and not the least bit intimidating* "Has she told you yet? That she's carrying my child?"
Yuuri - *eyes widen for a second before going back to a glare* "You sick bastard!! Why can't you just leave her alone?!"
Dimitri - *easily ignores him, lightly tapping his switch against the palm of his other hand* "Of course, I'm not even sure the child truly is mine. It could be Owen's... or Wedge's... or it could belong to any one of my other men..." *stops walking and stands behind Yuuri, gazing over his bare back and imagining it covered in blood/the mere thought makes him shiver in excitement*
Iris - *looks away in shame*
Yuuri - *really pissed at that/pulls back on the bedpost, hard, trying to break the wood or the rope or... something! he just really wanted to punch the man at the moment... at least!/of course, the wood was much too thick for him to break, though he did manage to pull the bed away from the wall about an inch, and the ropes only dug into his wrists*
Dimitri - "And she looks so very much like your fiancé..." *he truly enjoys making derogatory remarks about Wolfram/the reactions they incited were always immensely amusing* "I can only imagine what it would be like to have him here as well... to see the look on your face as I had my way with him..."
Yuuri - *lets out an enraged yell, pulling even harder on the bed, kicking at it desperately so he could give the man just what he was asking for - a one way ticket to intensive care/completely ignores as the ropes dig even farther into his wrists, breaking the already raw skin* "SHUT UP!!!"
Dimitri - *chuckles at him darkly, lightly tapping the switch against his palm a few more times* "Do you enjoy your blond whores, Your Majesty?"
Yuuri - "I said shut up!!!" *extremely pissed/continues to struggle with all his might against the bed post, pulling it a few inches farther away from the wall in his attempts at getting to the man, fingers flexing as if they wanted to grip around something*
Iris - *continues to watch from the bed, flinching slightly at every one of Yuuri's movement/more crying*
Dimitri - "Now, is that any way to talk to the man who's taken care of you for the last three weeks? I've clothed you, and fed you... I've even given you a pretty little doll to play with..."
Yuuri - *even more enraged* "She's not a toy!! And that's the biggest load of bull shit I've ever heard!!!" *lifts one of his legs to kick harder at the bed post, wishing the wood was just a bit thinner, or that the ropes weren't tied so tight*
Dimitri - *cackles at that, before finally hitting him against his back with the willow switch, not hard enough to break the skin and draw blood, but hard enough to sting*
Yuuri - *immediately stops what he's doing to wince through clenched teeth/pauses for only a moment for the sting to die some before going back to struggling*
Dimitri - *hits him harder in nearly the same spot, though still not hard enough to draw blood, wanting to take it slowly/it was more entertaining that way* "You should stop struggling, Your Majesty. Perhaps it will spare you some of the pain."
Yuuri - *snarls again, though still only pausing a moment before struggling again* "Shut the hell up!!!"
Dimitri - "Oh, I don't believe there's very much you can do to make me. You easily forget who wields all of the power at the moment..." *smirks wider* "I'd heard you were the most powerful man in the world, and here you are, beaten into submission by a mere human..."
Yuuri - *pauses again, still glaring for a moment before closing his eyes to try and conjure up enough strength to set fire to the ropes binding his wrists, and does manage to make them start to smoke a bit*
Dimitri - *easily notices what he's doing/lashes out with the switch, hard and painful, succeeding in drawing the first signs of blood*
Yuuri - *lets out a small cry of pain before clenching his teeth together again/closes his eyes once more to try and get rid of the ropes, even though he knew it was pretty pointless/he had already used up a lot of his energy earlier*
Iris - *eyes widen larger from her position on the bed/momentarily thinks of jumping forward and untying the ropes for him, but she knows Dimitri would only hurt him worse if she did, so she stays put, and turns away, unable to watch*
Dimitri - *hits him again* "It brings me great pleasure to see you at my mercy..."
Yuuri - *cries out again, but stops just as quickly as before, not wanting to give the sick man any great pleasure at knowing he was in pain/since fire wouldn't work, he goes back to struggling against the now reddened ropes* "Shut up!!"
Dimitri - *of course, he's not one to follow orders* "I hear your fiancé has begun preparations for your wedding, not even knowing whether you will return or not..." *again, he hits him, so that he now has three bleeding lines along his back, along with the stinging welts*
Yuuri - *eyes widen a bit at the news/it had been a while since anyone had told him about Wolfram and feels instantly relieved that he was going about life as normal/cries out again at the hit, but recovers after a moment and goes back to growling at the man*
Dimitri - "Of course, I find myself wondering why the date of the ceremony seems to be so soon. Why bother setting a tentative date for the wedding a month after his own return, when you've yet to be found?" *another hit with the switch* "Perhaps he's merely hopeful, or perhaps..." *he trails off to deliver yet another strike, pausing in between long enough for him to feel the pain, then let it fade the slightest bit, before lashing out again even harder than before*
Yuuri - *yelps loudly at the sudden pain, subconsciously moving away from the sadistic man/pauses, catching his breath, before smirking* "He's stubborn like that. He knows I'll be back or else it'll be his mercy I'm at."
Dimitri - "Yes, I do seem to remember a certain stubbornness about him..." *hits him again* "Although I'm afraid his confidence in your return will be for naught. I intend to keep you here for quite a while, Your Majesty. Your company has served as a great amusement to me." *and again*
Yuuri - *yelps louder, unable to stop himself/curses under his breath, feeling his knees start to shake, unable to take the pain racing through his body/tries catching his breath again between hits, forcing the small smirk back on his lips* "Don't be so sure of yourself... I would hate for your ego to get you carried away..."
Dimitri - *and again/he isn't sure he likes the way the king is still able to speak to him with such confidence/he wants him writhing in pain and looking at him in fear, like the girl/lashes out again, harder than ever before, excited by the blood already dripping down his back, staining his skin and soaking into the waistband of his pants* "Perhaps you have not yet learned your lesson..."
Yuuri - *cries again, no longer able to stand and has to fall to his knees, though his wrists still remained in place along the bedpost/breathing heavily as he tries to calm himself down and stop his body from shaking so much* "Perhaps... you should... shut up..."
Dimitri - *stops his whipping momentarily/glares down at the king* "You do not understand the things I am capable of. I could very easily bring Lord Wolfram here, and put on another little show for you, with him by my side instead of the girl..."
Yuuri - *still breathing heavily, one eye closed tightly to try and block out the pain/turns, smirking up at the man* "Apparently... you haven't... met his... brothers..."
Dimitri - *whacks him again, choosing to ignore his statement* "And you could see his tears, and hear his screams, and watch him reach out for you, but you wouldn't be able to help him, as I defiled him, abused him, and broke his mind, body, and spirit right before your very eyes." *smirks sadistically, creating another bloody line along his back* "Would you be so cocky, then, Your Majesty?"
Yuuri - *cries out again, pulling closer to the bedpost, still subconsciously trying to get away from the man, even though he knew it was pointless/through labored breaths* "First... bring him here..." *has no doubt in his mind that Wolfram was more than well protected at the moment*
Dimitri - "Would having two pretty blond whores at your service be better than one?" *hits him again, harder, quickly becoming more agitated with the boy/why wasn't he reacting the way he normally did, the way he'd been reacting before?*
Yuuri - *yelps at the pain, still trying to get his body to stop shaking so violently/breathing even more labored* "You won't... get away... with this..."
Dimitri - *and again* "Oh, I believe I will. So far, your men have been unsuccessful in their attempts to find you." *and again* "And I don't believe you are in any position to place any sort of harm upon me on your own." *and again*
Yuuri - *cries out at every hit, taking the time between to still try and regulate his breathing* "You can't... escape... justice..."
Dimitri - "Such mighty words..." *and again*
Yuuri - *yelps, falling even more limp against the bedpost as a blackness starts taking over the edges of his vision/pauses for a moment before trying to pull himself up again, but with little success, feeling too dizzy and weak to move much* "You're... underestimating me... Shame..."
Dimitri - *and again* "Oh, I don't believe I'm underestimating you at all, Your Majesty. You are already weak, and before you are released from this prison I will have you broken and begging for my mercy." *and again, and again, again, harder, and harder, and harder, until the switch breaks in half*
Yuuri - *panting heavily as beads of sweat roll down his face/completely limp against the end of the bed, the only thing holding him up now are the ropes bound to his still bleeding wrists/blinks a bit hazily, forcing himself to remain conscious, though other than his labored breathing, he's silent*
Dimitri - *smirks at him, glad that he's finally been beaten into silence/tosses the half of the switch he's still holding onto the ground before taking a step back to look over his work* "No, you've yet to learn. I'll have to think of something else... something far more vile..."
Yuuri - *slowly turns his head to glare up at the man/swallows thickly, still doing his best to stay conscious and to calm his shaking body down/would probably say something like "Bring it" or "is that the best you've got?" but every time he opened his mouth, he could only manage to pant, near desperate for air/instead, he just glares hazily up at him*
Dimitri - "Yes... and I believe I already have something in mind..." *flicks his gaze quickly towards the frightened girl still on the bed, before backing up another step* "But for now I will allow you to recover. There would be no point in having you pass out before the fun could even begin."
Yuuri - *frowns, not understanding what he could possibly be talking about/just continues to glare, though the blackness around his vision was steadily moving in*
Dimitri - "I'll leave you two to clean up." *and then with a motion for Owen and Wedge to follow, he was gone, locking the door behind him*
Iris - *once she was sure they were no longer in immediate danger from the crazy man, she quickly lifts herself from the bed, keeping the sheet wrapped around her as she slides to the floor and moves to swiftly untie the ropes still binding Yuuri's wrists to the bed/tearfully* "Yuuri..."
Yuuri - *collapses to the floor as soon as the ropes were untied, not even bothering to try and move since it was too painful/he’s still breathing heavily, and he can feel the tears in his eyes now that he can see the girl again* "Iris... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Iris - "It isn't your fault. Please... please don't apologize..." *lets the rope fall to the floor where the two halves of the broken switch still lay/reaches out to brush back some of his hair, quickly scanning over his back/cringes* "You should try to get onto the bed, I... I have to see to your back..."
Yuuri - *nods dimly at her, though makes no attempt to move*
Iris - *like the last time he'd been so badly hurt, she carefully moves one of his arms around her shoulders and attempts to lifts him/the act itself is a little hard this time, as she's afraid of wrapping her own arm around him and aggravating his wounds/still crying* "Please, Yuuri... you have to help me. I can't... I can't do this on my own..."
Yuuri - *nods at her again, blinking to try and knock away some of the darkness around his eyes/tries moving to push himself off the ground, but his body is shaking too much for him to get very far/winces as the pain from his back shoots through him again, not allowing him to move*
Iris - *near sobbing now, trying desperately to help him stand* "Yuuri, please... it isn't very far..." *she was terrified, more over his current state now than she was of the sick man who'd done this to him, sparing not a single thought for whatever it was he was planning for them next/her only concern at the moment was Yuuri, just as it had been through the entire ordeal*
Yuuri - *winces again, forcing himself to move his arm, pushing himself barely off the ground before it started shaking dangerously, threatening to give out on him/clenches his teeth together, breathing even more irregular now that he was trying to move/wishes he could say something to help comfort the girl, but is unable to find his voice*
Iris - "Please... please..." *tries even harder to lift him, but it was nearly impossible with him nearly completely limp and unable to make many movements of his own* "Yuuri..."
Yuuri - *tries harder to push himself off the ground, crying out a little from the pain, but quickly clenches his teeth shut again/starts to move his leg around to get himself to stand, though is relying heavily on the poor girl since he could barely stay conscious as it was*
Iris - *once he's at least semi-mobile, she tries to lift again, yelping as she stumbles, grabbing onto the bedpost for balance, trying with all of her might not to let him fall back to the floor* "I'm sorry... this is all my fault..."
Yuuri - *fighting to stay up to make the girl's work less difficult/his breathing is still really labored, otherwise he would have tried to comfort her and tell her it wasn't her fault/starting to hate himself even more for being so weak/even more determined now to help by slowly moving to the bed, trying not to cling too desperately to the girl*
Iris - *it takes longer to get him onto the bed than she would have liked, but somehow they eventually manage it, and she has him lay against the mattress on his stomach/only then does she search for something to wear that isn't a wrinkled bed sheet, finding Yuuri's discarded shirt along the floor and slipping it on, quickly buttoning it only enough so that it barely covers her before she's dashing to the washroom for a clean rag and another basin of water, scrounging around for any bandages and antiseptic that remain*
Yuuri - *still finding it difficult to breathe, but is glad to finally be stationary/blinks even more hazily as he watches Iris fade in and out, wishing there was some way to help her instead of relying on her completely/it was his fault for everything that happened, after all... if only he had been able to stop the man from doing those things...*
Iris - *sets the basin of water on the bedside table, then wets the rag and climbs onto the bed, crouching over him/still in tears, not even bothering to try and stop them from falling* "I... I'm sorry if I end up hurting you, but... I have to clean the wounds or..." *trails off, trying to keep herself under control, not wanting to panic*
Yuuri - *winces, hating to see the poor girl in such distress/tries opening his mouth to say something, but because of the recent moving around, he was left completely breathless, unable to say anything/ends up nodding to her, hoping to let her know that it was okay*
Iris - *slowly and carefully begins cleaning around his many injuries, taking her time to wipe all of the blood off, rinsing the rag multiple time, as it quickly became stained and oversaturated/tries not to hurt him too badly, although she knows the long, thin cuts and bloody welts must be extremely painful*
Yuuri - *tries desperately not to wince too noticeably, not wanting the poor girl to worry about him even more/although he was close to slipping into unconsciousness, the pain from his back was enough to keep him awake a bit longer/goes back to focusing on breathing*
Iris - *once the blood had been washed off and stopped flowing so readily, it was much easier to see the damage that had been done, the patchwork of lacerations and raised bruises, the skin cleanly torn in various places all up and down his back/quickly she looks away, reaching over to the small jar of antiseptic/tries to keep her voice from trembling so badly* "This is going to sting..."
Yuuri - *can't help but smile in dark humor at the comment/nothing was going to sting as badly as what he'd already had to deal with/tries nodding to her again to tell her it was okay, then clenches his teeth together, preparing himself for the pain, regardless of how severe it was*
Iris - *begins to apply the antiseptic, making sure she left not even an inch of his back unattended to, trying to be as gentle as she possibly could, though there was no way for her to prevent it from hurting/after a short while she starts to try and control her crying, taking a few deep breaths to regulate her own breathing before humming softly/it had seemed to comfort him at least a little the last few times she'd done so, and she hoped it would have the same effect now*
Yuuri - *winces at the sting of the antiseptic, but he was right - it definitely didn't sting as much as what he felt before/can feel his breathing calm down as he listens to her hum, thankful for her efforts in comforting him, though he still wished there was something he could do for her other than remain completely still*
Iris - *continues to hum, finishing with the antiseptic after she'd carefully applied it/retrieves the bandages then, and begins to cover as much of the wounds as she could, though with how much she'd had to bandage herself in the past, and him recently, she fears she would run out before she can properly finish* "I'm so sorry, Yuuri..."
Yuuri - *slowly shakes his head, now calm enough to speak once again, though still panting, wincing every now and then from the pain* "It's not... your fault..."
Iris - *nods to herself, though with his back facing her she knew he probably couldn't see her* "I should have done something to stop him..."
Yuuri - *tries again, still trying to get through to her and feeling even more guilty now* "It's not... I should have stopped him... I'm the one... who should be sorry..."
Iris - *shakes her head this time* "No... you... you couldn't have... he... he would have done something much worse if you had tried anything..." *her eyes still sting with tears, her hands working diligently, yet carefully* "I'm sorry... I can't... I can't even imagine what you must be thinking right now..."
Yuuri - *shakes his head again, though not too much because it hurt* "I'm thinking... the next time I get my hands on that man... there's only going to be two hits..." *pauses, trying to see her, trying to figure out some way to cheer her up some* "Me hitting him... and he hitting the ground..."
Iris - *her bottom lip trembles, and she knows Lord Dimitri would never give him the opportunity to do such a thing - though she wishes with all of her heart to see it* "I could have... I could have untied you before he'd even had the chance... I should have tried, at least... I shouldn't have just sat there..."
Yuuri - *tries shaking his head again, but winces and holds still* "No... I'm glad you didn't... He would have just hurt you more... I... I should have been able to stop him..." *clenches his teeth together, trying to calm himself down again*
Iris - "You couldn't have..." *she continues to take care of his wounds, and eventually does run out of bandages/luckily she'd seen to the worst areas first, so she didn't think it would be too bad to leave some of the less severe welts uncovered/quickly she slides off the bed again, turning her face away from him to hide the silent tears that still fell as she began to clean up the rest of the room*
Yuuri - *strains to see her, though unable to move from his spot without feeling the effects of his most recent injuries* "Iris...?" *feeling really, really guilty for not being able to do anything to help her - then and now*
Iris - *stops what she's doing at the call of her name, though she doesn't turn to face him, feeling horribly guilty, and dirty, and worthless/anyone else would have tried to do something to save him from what he'd had to go through* "Yes, Yuuri...?"
Yuuri - *winces, forcing himself to move around more to see her better* "I'm sorry... I can't imagine how you feel right now... I... I want to help... is there... anything... I can do...?"
Iris - *doesn't move, not even to turn to face him/he was concerned about how she was feeling? he should be more concerned about himself/he was the one aching and bleeding, the one who'd nearly had his skin stripped from his back* "I'm fine..." *and she was, for the most part/what Dimitri had done to her hadn't been much different than the usual, though she was humiliated that Yuuri had seen*
Yuuri - *tries moving even more, wishing his vision wasn't so blurry so he could actually see her/slowly moves his arm away from his side, trying to reach out for her* "I... I want to do something.... please.... anything...."
Iris - "Then think more about yourself..." *her tears fall harder/it hurt her, to have him showing so much concern* "You're hurt, Yuuri... You need to rest... You need to recover before he comes back... It'll be worse next time... knowing him..."
Yuuri - *shakes his head* "I can take it... I'm worried about you..." *tries reaching out for her more, but can't move much further than where he already was/still breathing heavily/desperately trying to think of how to comfort her* "Can... can I hug you...? Please...?"
Iris - *at that, she does turn to look, confused* "Hug me...?"
Yuuri - *nods, still reaching to her* "Can I hug you...?"
Iris - "I..." *she shifts nervously/he wanted to hug her?/even after all the three weeks they'd spent together, all the nights they'd slept in the same bed, they'd never shared a hug before, at least not a real hug, nor touched very much at all - she didn't count the kisses she'd given him last time, since it had been wrong of her to do so/slowly she takes a step towards him* "I..."
Yuuri - *stares at her sadly, despite not being able to actually see her/knows it would be kinda awkward to just hug her with one arm... and wishes there was a way to make it easier... but he really didn't feel like he would be able to move* "Please...?"
Iris - "I..." *moves even closer* "A-alright..." *she didn't understand what he hoped to accomplish by doing this, although she figured he was trying to comfort her/there he was, still thinking so much of others when he should really be thinking about himself/moves to awkwardly stand by the bedside*
Yuuri - *watches her, feeling stupid because as much as he wanted to hug her... he still had the problem of having to move* "Uh... C-could you lay down...? Next to me...? I... I can't... reach you..."
Iris - *nods slightly, moving to climb back up onto the bed, straightening out the shirt she was wearing so that it covered her better/slowly eases herself down beside him, staring at him in wonder*
Yuuri - *lifts a still shaking arm to carefully wrap around her, pulling her a bit closer to him/forces himself to move his head a bit closer to lightly kiss her head/if doing something like that helped calm down Wolfram... it should work on others, right?* "I'm sorry..."
Iris - *her eyes widen in surprise at his innocent kiss, and her heart flutters lightly/she shakes her head, allowing herself to slide just the slightest bit closer* "I'm the one who's sorry..."
Yuuri - *shakes his head again, watching her, however blurry/pulls her a bit closer to him to lightly kiss her head again* "I should have been able to stop them... I... I should have been strong enough... after everything you've done for me... I couldn't even do that..."
Iris - "I... I haven't done very much. I've only taken care of you..." *her heart flutters more, and her throat tightens, making it difficult to breath, much less speak anymore*
Yuuri - *too out of it to notice anything wrong or different about her actions* "You've done so much for me... and all I've done... is be difficult..." *leans in to kiss her head once again, assuming by her voice that she was calming down some*
Iris - *has to force out the words, hoping she didn't sound too strange* "You haven't been difficult... It's not your fault you've been hurt..."
Yuuri - *pauses to kiss her lightly again, really hoping he was helping at least a little bit* "I know I can be stubborn... and selfish... I should have helped you more... I should have... played dumb or something... and maybe just let them beat me up instead of fighting back... then they would have given up easier... but... I couldn't... I was stupid and had to fight back..."
Iris - *stares at him in surprise* "Selfish?" *that, out of everything he'd just said, upset her the most/he thought he was selfish? how could he even think such a thing? he was anything but* "How have you be selfish...?"
Yuuri - *blinks at her, thinking it was obvious/feeling really guilty* "I've only been thinking of myself... you've had to put up with everything... especially when I was depressed... when I didn't know if Wolfram was okay or not... you've had to watch over me the entire time... I should have thought about you more..."
Iris - "But you have thought of me!" *feels tears in her eyes again, hating that he would think such a thing* "You're always concerned, whether you should be or not! You... you've shown me nothing but kindness, and you... we're still caught in the prison, but you've given me a home, and... I... I don't mind having to take care of you..." *in fact, she rather likes it, but she couldn't tell him that*
Yuuri - *can hear the distress in her voice and instantly starts to panic* "I... I'm sorry... I just..." *doesn't know what to say, just really wishes he would stop making her feel so bad* "We'll get out of here soon... I can feel it... They can't keep themselves hidden for forever... And then you'll never have to worry about a thing again..."
Iris - *she knew she'd have plenty to worry about, but his confident words gave her at least a little bit of hope* "I..." *tears once more fall down her face* "Part of me wishes that you'd never been brought here, so that you wouldn't have had to go through this, but... another part of me is glad." *tries to keep herself from sobbing in shame* "Is that selfish...?"
Yuuri - *quickly shakes his head, trying to pull her closer to him* "No! You've been through so much... I... I just wish I could have found you sooner... But that's not selfish! Not at all!"
Iris - *continues to cry, unable to stop herself this time*
Yuuri - *panics, not knowing what he was doing wrong now* "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you upset--" *winces suddenly, having gotten too worked up, thus trying to move/pauses for a moment, trying to catch his breath* "Please... I'm sorry... don't cry..."
Iris - *cries anyway, though she does feel really bad about making him worry about her again*
Yuuri - *watches her for a few long moments before leaning closer to kiss her head a few more times/pulls back some, smiling at her* "You'll really like it at the palace... Everyone is really friendly..." *pauses, thinking about it* "Well... Gwendal may look a bit scary... but he's got a really gentle heart... He could teach you how to knit, if you'd like... Ah... unless you already know how..." *really just rambling, trying to get her mind off things*
Iris - *hearing him say things like that made her so hopeful, wishing with all of her being to get out of this place, even if it seemed that they were irrevocably stuck at the moment/more crying*
Yuuri - *frowns at himself, wishing he could move his arm to wipe away her tears, but it didn't seem like it wanted to move on its own anymore/leans, kissing her head again, still trying to get her to calm down* "And Greta would love to meet you... She's my adopted daughter, you know... I bet you'd get along great."
Iris - *chokes a bit as she tries to get herself to stop sobbing so pathetically, though it's difficult/it felt wonderful to have someone be so nice to her, but at the same time... she almost wished he would stop/whispers* "Don't..." *'don't make me fall in love with you,' is what she was thinking, but she could never say that out loud*
Yuuri - *panics a bit more, not knowing what to do or what to say* "I... I'm sorry... I just... you'll have a home... I just wanted you to know that... No one will ever hurt you there..."
Iris - *watching him love another, when she'd fallen for him so quickly, and so easily, would hurt enough/and yet she couldn't blame him, or even hate Lord Wolfram for having him to himself/she hated herself for allowing this to happen, for being so foolish/cries harder, though she tries not to*
Yuuri - *really has no idea what to do or say, and is starting to get worked up in panic again/sighs, falling silent, but pulling her a bit closer to him so he could watch her better*
Iris - *still crying*
Yuuri - *really trying to think of something else to cheer her up some* "Ah... do you like sports?" *completely random... but, hey...*
Iris - *can hardly hear him, she's crying so much, and even if she did she'd hardly be able to answer him/only men played sports*
Yuuri - *frowns, trying to think of something else/was going to invite her to the games, duh.../ends up sighing and just holds his arm around her, letting her cry*
Iris - *continues to cry for a while, unable to stop herself/eventually calms down on her own, though not by much/she hadn't allowed herself to cry so much in a while, but being so hopeful, and yet still doubting, had made it difficult to control herself*
Yuuri - *sighs again, wishing his body would let him move so he could hug her better/softly starts to hum to her, hoping that, since she did it to help calm him down, he could do the same to help her*
Iris - *unconsciously burrows closer to him/he was so warm, and his presence alone was comforting enough/sighs lightly through her tears at the sound of him humming/really hoped she wasn't being too clingy*
Yuuri - *smiles at her, readjusting his arm to hold her better/continues to hum softly*
Iris - *concentrates on listening to him, not allowing herself to think of anything else, pushing all those horrible thoughts of Lord Dimitri and what he'd done - and could still do - out of her mind*
Yuuri - *pauses humming for just a moment to kiss her head again, then goes back to the tune/despite himself, he was slowly falling asleep - the lack of movement, and therefore lack of much pain, has allowed his mind to slow down/closes his eyes, but doesn't stop humming*
Iris - *opens her eyes at the kiss to her head, noting his drowsy state/she sniffles lightly, and then instinctively moves closer to him, lifting her head a bit... and then flinching back when their lips accidentally brushed/blushes in shame, then whispers:* "I'm sorry..."
Yuuri - *opens his eyes, feeling her lips brush against his/blinks at her, flushing lightly, but otherwise not bothered* "It's okay..."
Iris - "I... I didn't mean..."
Yuuri - *shakes his head, trying again/keeps his arm placed securely around her* "It's okay..."
Iris - *it was... okay? what, exactly, did he mean by that? with the way he spoke so lovingly of Lord Wolfram, she hardly thought he went around randomly kissing other people, accidentally or otherwise/but... still... it was... nice.../slowly, almost as if hoping he didn't notice, she moves closer, and kisses him again, lightly, so that they're barely touching*
Yuuri - *eyes widen just a bit/not pulling back, but not pressing closer/he felt really guilty about everything that had happened, and it was true that he was trying to make her feel better.../he felt like he was supposed to be protecting her... and not just because he was the king... almost like an older brother or something.../if... it helped ease the trouble on her mind.../just as slowly, moves a little closer, making it easier for her to kiss him/she knew he was in love with someone else... and that he would never leave him... so... where was the harm...? he was only trying to help...*
Iris - *pressed just the slightest bit closer at his hesitant movement, feeling guilty and horrid, and again as if she were doing something wrong, but it felt so wonderful/he didn't seem to mind - she was sure he'd tell her if he did - so as long as he didn't seem so against it, she supposed... it would be okay, just this once, to indulge herself/she was confident that if it became too much - or if he came to his senses - he'd stop, and she could apologize, and he would immediately forgive her/that made her feel even worse, thinking that she was using his kindness and compassion to her advantage, but... she wanted someone to care for her so much!*
Yuuri - *doesn't move from where he was, though quickly starting to feel even more guilty for what he was doing, even if it didn't mean anything/maybe not to him... not in a romantic way like when he kissed Wolfram... but... the poor girl has been through so much... he just wanted to help her feel just the slightest bit better/allows her to kiss him, not making any move to pull away, hoping it really did make her feel a little more comforted*
Iris - *finally pulls away just slightly, enough to look into his eyes, staring in silence for a long moment, her face flushed lightly/she was scared, of what she'd done, of what he thought, and by the fact that she wished to do it again*
Yuuri - *stares back at her, hoping he didn't do anything to make her upset/smiles at her after a few moments, but otherwise not knowing what to say to her*
Iris - *smiles lightly at his smile, but it doesn't last long/wonders what he's thinking, what he's feeling/knows still that she shouldn't have done that, but if he hadn't seemed bothered... or maybe she was just assuming too much.../perhaps he cared about her, in some way, though she told herself it was more of an obligation than anything/he felt guilty for allowing the bandit attacks and the kidnappings to take place/so maybe he was just... being nice by not saying anything - which really wouldn't surprise her at all, though it hurt just the slightest bit/sadly* "I..."
Yuuri - *leans closer to kiss her gently on the forehead before she could say anything/he was making her feel uncomfortable to be around him... he didn't want her to feel weird about being around him/slowly pulls back to look at her again, trying to study her expression - which was a bit harder than with Wolfram because he'd been around him for years...*
Iris - *feels even sadder at the kiss to her forehead, and in her mind it merely served to prove her thoughts true - she was nothing more than an obligation; he would have done the same things and acted the same way with anyone else in this situation* "I'm sorry..." *why did she even bother to hope anymore?*
Yuuri - *frowns worriedly at her apology* "D-don't be sorry... you haven't done anything wrong..." *what was he doing? he was obviously doing something to make her upset*
Iris - *quietly, pretty much whispering* "Yes, I have, I..." *how could he even try to reassure her when she knew - she knew - that what she was doing and feeling was wrong/she was asking far too much of him*
Yuuri - *stares even more worriedly at her, though quickly reminding himself not to move* "What...? What could you have possibly done wrong...?"
Iris - "I... I just..." *doesn't know what to say to him/she thought it was fairly obvious what she'd done/she'd just kissed him - again - when she swore to herself that she never would after the last time/perhaps he wasn't truly married yet, but he practically was with the way he was constantly going on and on about Lord Wolfram, and knowing that made her feel like she was forcing him to... betray him... for her own sake*
Yuuri - *doesn't know what to say to her/closes his eyes again, starting to hum softly once more/keeping his arm around her/he didn't understand... and he didn't want to force her to tell him if she was uncomfortable... but he really did want to make her feel better*
Iris - "I..." *she couldn't get any words out, and it frustrated her/she should tell him what she was thinking, what she was feeling/he deserved that much at least* "Yuuri, I..." *and he was humming again, and it sounded so wonderful, so warm, and rich, and soothing, and it made her heart break*
Yuuri - *continues to hum softly to her, still hoping that maybe, just maybe it would help her feel better... anything he could do to help...*
Iris - "Yuuri..." *why did it hurt so much? was it supposed to hurt so much?* "I'm sorry..."
Yuuri - *instantly stops, opening his eyes again/confused and worried* "Why...?" *he still didn't understand what she had to be sorry about... she never did anything wrong...*
Iris - "Because I..." *she couldn't finish, though she knew she should*
Yuuri - *blinks at her, not understanding/what could possibly make her feel like she had to apologize to him?* "Iris..."
Iris - "I..." *she wanted to tell him, and yet she didn't, couldn't, didn't want to ruin anything* "You... you should sleep..."
Yuuri - *continues to watch her in worry before nodding* "You should too..."
Iris - *nods back at him, biting at her bottom lip* "I will..."
Yuuri - *still wondering what to do to help, but he really was tired/sighs lightly, remembering he had his arm around her, hoping that wasn't what she was so bothered about* "Are you uncomfortable...?"
Iris - "No..." *yes, she was, but that was her own doing, and she didn't want him to think it was his fault*
Yuuri - *sighs again, still feeling as if he was doing something wrong* "Do... you mind...? Me holding you... that is..."
Iris - "No, I..." *'I want you to,' is what she was thinking, but like many of her thoughts, she didn't say it out loud*
Yuuri - *smiles lightly at her, closing his eyes* "Is it okay if I hold you like this...? All night...?" *pauses, frowning a little* "I mean... if you get uncomfortable... you can just push me off..."
Iris - "No, I... it's fine..." *it was more than fine, and it wasn't nearly uncomfortable/if it was, it was because she was thinking too much about things that she shouldn't be*
Yuuri - *smiles again, his eyes still closed* "Thank you..." *it wasn't the same as holding Wolfram... and he knew that... but this was different... he wanted to make this girl happy in however small way he could...*
Iris - "You... you're welcome..." *what was he thanking her for? it's not like she'd done anything/did he really want to hold her that much?* "Good night, Yuuri..."
Yuuri - *still smiling at her, though quickly drifting off* "Good night, Iris..."
Iris - *watches him until he falls asleep, and like the last time she'd done so, she kisses him softly one last time, before drifting off to sleep as well...*