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[divisi]

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[divisi]

He adds his other hand and continues, his grip firm yet somehow gentle at once.

"Yes... I could say the same... I hope we stay here for a while so we can... Adjust..."

'Settle' seems too optimistic. Jeritza isn't sure he can ever settle anywhere, with things the way they are with his alter. He doubts Nina would want to either, since she is the adventuring sort...

[likeiron]

Nina's breath hitched at the addition of his other hand. Strong. But she knew that — Death Knight had snapped her fucking arm in a second, and it stood to reason Jeritza could do the same; had the same amount of strength in his body.

"Adjust." She repeated with a sigh. "Figure out your shit, too. But my offer still stands, if we have no other alternatives."

[divisi]

"Offer?"

Does she mean... The sex?

Hm.

He continues to knead her shoulders. He feels that he wants to keep touching her. It's... Strange.

[likeiron]

Not exclusively the sex, but sort of.

"For him to take his bloodlust out on me or whatever. I don't know how shit works here, and I still don't want him running rampant on innocent people. Not to mention, you know, that I care about you and want you to not wake up confused and covered in blood and gore if it can be avoided sometimes."

[divisi]

He sounds at this, his massage stilling for a moment.

"I wish not to speak of it further."

They have had this conversation many times, and neither of them seem to budge. Jeritza doesn't want Nina hurt, and she wants to prevent others from getting hurt. There's no point in speaking of it, especially when Jeritza feels so little control of the situation.

[likeiron]

Nina nearly snapped back with a 'you're the one that asked' and somehow, miraculously, managed to simply reply with "Fine." instead. "What do you want to talk about? Because I hate sitting in silence for long."

[divisi]

Hates sitting in silence?

"I am not sure why you spend time with me, then... I am quiet by nature..."

Is he expected to talk all the time to entertain her? Exhausting...

[likeiron]

"I mean, you don't want to talk every once in a while? I'd like to get to know you better if you let me, and the only way for that to happen is to talk."

She sighed. "We don't have to though."

[divisi]

"I can talk... It just does not come naturally... Whatever you would like to know about me, you may ask and I will tell you..."

He isn't a conversationalist, but he's not going to keep secrets from Nina. He continues his massage, smoothing his hands down her shoulders.

[likeiron]

"Why?" Must have been her first question. "I mean... why do you not talk much? How the hell do you fill dead space? By just sitting in silence?"

[divisi]

"Yes," he says, accompanied by some dead silence, as though to illustrate, but it's not on purpose. He genuinely leaves dead silence in every conversation, and is a bit perplexed that she hasn't realized this by now.

"Because... I was always alone. I never talked to anyone, so I never learned how to..."

Emile was a chatty boy, but he is gone.

[likeiron]

It's definitely because she's always talking. Dead silence drives her crazy, makes her think too hard about things she doesn't want to think about.

"That sounds awful." She admitted, head tipped backwards to look up at him. "Why were you always alone? I mean you mentioned your shitty dad once, I think."

[divisi]

He nods.

"My father was planning to... Kill my mother and marry my sister to bear her children. So the Death Knight killed him and the rest of my noble house when I was 9. Then we were on the run and in hiding from the law until Edelgard took us in. Even after that, I was still fearful of getting close to anyone, lest they get hurt."

A stunted childhood in pretty much every way.

[likeiron]

Nina was silent now, her eyes widening as she twisted around so she was facing him properly. "By the Father..." nobles did some fucked up shit back home — some probably as fucked as what Jeritza had just described — but it was so much different when it was someone she cared about.

"You were just a kid. And the Death Knight was there, even then?" Why did that explain so much? "I — I can't say I know exactly what you went through, but rough childhoods seem to be common in people from Seven it sounds like."

[divisi]

"That incident is the reason The Death Knight exists. In order to protect my sister and mother, he had to do away with any feelings of fear or guilt to do what needed to be done. My father needed to be stopped, and at 9, I was not strong enough to do that on my own... So he helped me."

His alter is terrible and cruel, but he exists for a reason. He was needed. Though he is made of pure hatred, it would seem, he was actually born from love and protective desires.

[likeiron]

So that was a revelation and a half. Nina continued to stare up at him, utterly dumbfounded.

"I never thought I'd be grateful he was there for you, but that's — I mean. Not great that you had to hide away for so long, but, he saved your mother and sister from something so much worse. I can't say I wouldn't kill for my own." Gods now she was agreeing with the damn knight. "Did you ever see them again?"

[divisi]

He nods, rubbing between her shoulders. He's relieved she understands. More understanding can only help them in the situation they've found themselves in.

"I saw my sister, yes... Not my mother. But Mercedes was determined that someday, we would all be together again..."

His tone and expression hint with sorrow. He misses them, the only people who ever loved him, and he's no longer sure they'll ever see each other again.

[likeiron]

"I hope you will." Nina had lucked out. She barely remembered her birth parents — doubted they were even alive if Roland hadn't been able to find them — but even then had found a family that loved and supported her. The Death Knight saved his own, had to run for his life because of it, and it was... unfair. Terrible for this sweet man to have to suffer because he did, in her eyes, the right thing.

Maybe the Death Knight wasn't great. Was absolutely abhorrent in the shit he did and the bloodlust he had, but god dammit, he could be a fucking hero for that initial move.

Nina reached up to gingerly cup his cheeks, leaned in and pressed a kiss to the center of his forehead. "I don't know how I can help you see them again, but I sure can fucking try."

[divisi]

He looks into her brown eyes. He can see how much she cares for him. He still isn't sure why. Slowly, he has been noticing that he returns the feeling.

"Thank you."

He needs any help he can get. He's a fish out of water in these new worlds. He still doesn't understand how it all works.

He kisses her lips, softly, ghosting his fingertips against her cheek.

[likeiron]

Nina was nothing if not stubborn and determined. If she set her mind to something, she'd fucking do it, one way or another. It was nice to have a goal, too, in this weird situation they had found themselves in.

She didn't anticipate the kiss and briefly recalled the last one they shared where Jeritza ended up shoving her back and confusing the fuck out of her. But she didn't shy away from it this time either, kissing him back with an instinctive parting of her lips.

[divisi]

He's been thinking periodically about kissing her again since the first time, but he firstly felt as though he shouldn't, as though he still needed to keep safe distance between them... And second, there just hadn't been a moment for it with all the chaos.

But the way he feels now that their lips are touching, now that she knows him more and pledged to help him find Mercedes... He can't stop the kiss, he doesn't want to, he no longer cares about safe distance. That was out the window as soon as they met, anyway.

He deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue hesitantly between her lips, his own still soft and pliable. His large hand clasps the side of her neck gently.

[likeiron]

Strange to think that the same hands upon her neck could (and had) steal the air from her lungs. But Jeritza was gentle for how large he was, for the strength he had.

Nina seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss further, her more experienced and adventurous tongue slipping past his with a soft moan as his the taste of him bloomed across her tastebuds. She eased up onto her knees, insistently urging him backwards on the couch with every intention of climbing into his lap if he let her.

[divisi]

Where Death Knight is physically dominant and imposing, Jeritza is his direct opposite. He's malleable under her touch, he moves with her whims. As she leans forward, he falls back, lips still locked, arms loosely wrapping around her waist, allowing her to get as close as she likes. He can smell her unique musk, and it makes something strange stir within him, makes his arms wrap a little tighter.

[likeiron]

No objections. Nina felt for tension with her fingers pressed against his shoulders and arms, assured he wasn't actively resisting something while she climbed into his lap, legs astride his hips.

She pulled back for a breath, let her eyes shift over his face as if searching for something, and then pressed in again for another kiss, hips gently rolling in his lap.

[divisi]

As she looks at his face, she won't see the usual blankness, but rather his features slackened as though they are melted, and a look of desire in his lidded gray-blue eyes. She kisses him again, hips grinding softly into him, and he exhales heavily into her mouth. His hands become active, gripping gently at her tiny waist and ribcage. How small she is compared to him usually worries him, but at the moment, it's enticing for some reason. His jaw opens further, his tongue reaching into her mouth.