Scars, bodies, and a new arrival. [PRIVATE for Suzuko and Nariko.] [rated M for possible language and/or violence]

Nariko remained sitting outside the closet. He was far enough that if she opened the door, she wouldn't hit him with it, and if she tried to leave the closet, she wouldn't have to step over him. Hearing Chikiba sobbing made him feel sad. Hopefully she would cheer up soon.

"If you would like, I can leave... I'm sorry if I've made you sad. I've screwed up so many times today. I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me by now."

He bowed his head, and looked at the floor. Waiting, he wondered how she would respond to him.

Chikiba slowly crept forward and unlocked the door. Letting it swing open, she crawled to the back again and called Nariko. "Hey, you can come in if you like..."

~*~*~

He looked up. She had opened the door for him. That made him feel a little better. Hopefully that meant that she was feeling a bit better as well. Standing up, he walked into the closet, and sat by Chikiba.

"So, have you decided that your going to spend the night?"

"I'm not sure. Are you?"

He sat there by Chikiba. He wanted to hug her, to comfort her, but he didn't. He had messed up enough by doing that for one day. Instead, he stayed where he was, and looked into Chikiba's eyes.

"I might possibly yes." She replied. "If you do stay here I'd appreciate it if you slept in the other room. I'm to terrified to go back in there.."
She looked at him. In the darkness, she could only make out the outline of his face. This was thanks to the moonlight peaking in through the closet door. She had the urge to kiss him, but didnt. She wasnt going to give into temptation. Not this early in the game. She remembered that she didnt trust him completely. Not yet, at least. Remember Chikiba, he's armed and if not, his dagger is in the cellar so he could easily retrieve it at any given time. Getting up she walked to the front of the closet and unbuttoned her holster pocket.

Searching the pocket for her flashlight, she realized that she must have left it in the bathroom.. "FUCK!" she cursed out loud. Well, she definitely was not going back into the bathroom. She'd probably end up collapsing and going unconscious. SSighing loudly, she walked over to the bed and sat on it.

What was she going to do?

~*~*~

"I can sleep in the other room. It's no bother to me."

She got up, and looked through her pocket. She looked for a few seconds, then stopped.

"FUCK!"

Nariko stood up. Walking out of the closet, he saw that she was sitting on the bed. Sitting beside her, he looked at her. Something was bothering her, he could tell. Was something missing from her pocket? He looked down at his hands. He was still holding the angel cake, which he had planned on giving to Chikiba to help cheer her up.

"Here, eat this. It might help you feel better. Is something wrong? Did something go missing?"

He handed her the angel cake, and sat up, ready to listen to her response.

Chikiba blinked at him, then at the angel cake. He was giving her one to cheer her up, wasn't he..? She smacked his hand away. "I'm not hungry" she grumbled. --"And to answer your question, yes, My flashlight. I must have left it in the bathroom but no way I'm going back in there again.." She sighed again. "I guess I have no light, great." She laid back on the bed staring up at the ceiling.

~*~*~

He was shocked for a few seconds. It was an attempt to cheer her up, giving her the angel cake, but apparently she wasn't hungry. He recovered from the blow, he'd dropped the angel cake on the bed. Her flashlight was in the bathroom, was it? He supposed he would have to go get it for her.

"I can go get your flashlight for you, if you want."

Standing up, he took the lighter out of his pocket. Handing it to her, he waited for her response.

"This will have to do for a light, until I get back."

Chikiba picked up the small lighter. She clicked it on to make sure it still worked. Seeing the bright orange flame sprout out from the fluid hole, she flicked it off. Then on again. Then off again. This amazed her. She put her face right close to the flame. It was entertaining. Feeling happy again, she set the lighter down and rolled around on the bed.

~*~*~

Nariko was glad to see her looking amused. She would be able to wait for a few minutes, while he retrieved her flashlight. Leaving the room, he walked over to the extremely bright room. He was definitely going to have to find out how those things worked. Was there a generator somewhere?

Remembering his reason for being here, he walked to the back of the room. What was in that tub, he wondered to himself. Opening the door, he poked his head in. Nothing was waiting in here, and Chikiba's flashlight was laying on the ground. When he walked in, he couldn't help but look in the tub. Inside, lay the skeleton of two bodies. One was big, an adult, the other was smaller, an infant. A chain was wrapped around the shower head, and extended to the body of the adult, ending in a noose around its neck. The water was greened, and glowed slightly.

The sight creeped Nariko out slightly. He grabbed the flashlight, then left the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he went back to the room with Chikiba. Smiling, he handed her the flashlight.

Chikiba half noticed him come in him, she was dozing off slightly. Ontop the bed she layed, no covers over her. the lighter layed in one of her curled up hands. She shivered at the cold of the night.

~*~*~

Nariko noticed that she seemed tired, so he put the flashlight on top of the dresser. She was laying half asleep on top of the covers. She looked cold. He noticed a blanket laying folded in the corner. Picking it up, he covered her up with it. That should warm her up a bit.

Chikiba felt a warm presence fall over her, was Nariko laying on her to warm her up? If he was, she would make sure to pound him when she woke up. Moving her hands over her body, she didnt feel skin but, fabric. A blanket was it? raising her arms upwards, she felt around for a pillow and grabbed a nearby object. Pulling it down beside her, she wrapped her arms around it securely and fell asleep.

ZZzzzzz

~*~*~

Nariko found himself laying on the bed beside Chikiba, her arms wrapped tightly around him. She was holding him tight, and the only thing that was keeping them apart was the blanket he had just put on top of her. He wasn't quite sure what was happening right now, but Chikiba was holding him tight, and she was sleeping now. She looked very peaceful sleeping. Nariko found his face was very close to Chikiba's. He was about to kiss her, when he stopped himself. If she ever found out that he had kissed her while she was sleeping, he'd be dead.

Not sure of what else he could do, he relaxed his body, got comfortable, and enjoyed it. He was being held close to her body, he could feel her bodies warmth. She truly was beautiful, even more so while sleeping. There were so many things that he wanted to do right now, but he couldn't. She didn't trust him now, and she would never trust him if he tried anything with her sleeping body. Wrapping his own arms around her body, he got even more comfortable, rubbing up closer to her. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he loved her.

He fell asleep.

Chikiba awoke to the sound of snoring. It wasn't her. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. Seeing no one in the room with her, she shook her head and rolled over. A few seconds later, she heard snoring again. Rolling over, she looked into the face of... NARIKO!

What the heck was he doing in her bed!? Then she remembered last night. She was searching for a pillow, she must have grabbed him instead. She looked at his face, it looked so cute. Deciding to not grind him out, she wiggled her body over to his enough so that she was almost touching him but not actually. She didnt wanna wake him. Closing her eyes to his face, she drifted off to sleep once again.

ZZzzzz
~*~*~*~

Something was moving in the bed. It moved around a bit, then stopped, and was still again. Opening his eyes, he found Chikiba in bed beside him. He had almost forgotten how she had pulled him into bed with her. Her body was very close to his, her arms still wrapped around him, holding him tight. He still had one of his arms around her. Her peaceful, sleeping face was still close to his face, he could feel her soft warm breath on him. There were so many things that he wanted to do right now, but he wouldn't do anything. He had to build his trust with her first.

Pulling her tight, he lay against her, his face touching her own, but not kissing her, his body pressed up against hers. He felt very at ease laying there with Chikiba. So calm, and peaceful. Feeling happy, he lay there with her, not quite asleep, enjoying her warm body pressed up against his own.