Burn away

Andrea flinched back a bit when he looked her in the eyes. She bit her lower lip, not sure what to say. She was confused by the change in his attitude that day. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before finally glancing down. "I'm...i'm tired sir. I would...rather sleep, honestly." She finally admitted, wondering why he suddenly cared about what she wanted.

He nodded, and gently lifted her off of him, setting her down. He then stood, picked up her clothes, and handed them to her. He then proceeded to get dressed himself. "Alright then. Get dressed, then we'll head to bed."

Andrea took her clothes from him, blinking in confusion. "Sir?" She glanced at her clothes then towards him not sure what had just happened. Andrea got dressed as he told her to, still trying to wrap her mind around what was happening.

He raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yes, what is it, Andrea?" His usual impatience with her seemed to be gone now.

"Nothing sir." she muttered softly, now standing near him. She was fully dressed and was also wavering a bit as exhaustion finally started to set in a bit quicker. She shook her head to try and wake herself up a bit more. She did not even realize how much energy she had burned through when she had taken on her true form that day.

He noticed her swaying, and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her like a bride. "Do me a favor, Andrea, press the green button on my watch, okay? It'll tell them to port us back to the ship."

Andrea yelped when he picked her up, not having expected it. She flinched however as soon as she did so. She carefully reached her hand down and pressed the green button as he told her to before she finally gave in and rested her head against his shoulder. Before they could port them back on board, she was sound asleep in his arms.

Whenever Andrea would wake up, she'd find she was in bed with a soundly sleeping Raven, who had his normal arm around her, holding her to him. He also had the usual 'morning problem' but that was hardly surprising.

Andrea snapped awake with a gasp several hours later. Tear's pooled in the corners of her eyes but refused to fall. She sat there on the bed, shaking a bit. Andrea wrapped her arms around herself and tried to calm down, not yet realizing that Raven was there. The past few nights she had been dealing with nightmares. She was reliving what had happened to her family and her time at the slave shop. Andrea had managed to keep it hidden, but knew that it would eventually catch up to her as it had that exact day.

Raven slowly opened his eyes, and frowned slightly when he saw Andrea like that. What she didn't know, is that his true self was finally overpowering his 'evil' half, because his true self was actually developing feelings for her. He sat up, and placed a hand gently on her back, rubbing her back in slow circles. "Calm down, Andrea, calm down... it'll be alright..."

Andrea flinched away when Raven touched her back, not having expected it. She carefully looked towards him, fear burried deep in her eyes. She quickly turned away and dried the tears that had pooled in her eyes. "I'm sorry sir." she muttered quickly, as she turned back to face him. She rubbed her arms as she glanced down then back up at him. "Is there something you wanted, master?"

Raven just looked at her. "...I want you to be honest about what you want and are feeling. Now, what's wrong?"

"It's just...nightmares." She muttered softly, glancing towards him. She still had her arms wrapped around herself. She smiled weakly. "i am sorry...I am bothering you. Do you want me to go? I can bring you breakfast or something to eat if you want." She glanced down realizing she was talking to much. A light blush stained her cheeks, not sure why she suddenly had gotten so talkative about random things.

He shrugged. "Nah, relax. You're not bothering me. I asked because I wanted to know. From now on, Andrea, I want you to be honest with me about things. Speak your mind. I won't punish you... those days are over." He looked down at his hands, brow furrowing a bit.

It was right about that time that Andrea's stomach decided to speak for her. It protested the fact that she was hungry, even though she would not voice it aloud. This simply caused the poor pheonix to blush even more then she already was. Looking down, Andrea layed a hand on her stomach. "Do the other's know we are back, sir?"

"No, but they are about to. Wait here. Take a shower if you want." He slipped out of bed, and simply left the room.

Andrea blinked and nodded once. She carefully climbed out of the bed, stumbling a bit when her feet hit the floor. She made her way to the shower and that is where he would find her when he returned. She had the hot water maxed out with only a touch of cool water. Steam filled the bathroom, though she had left the door open. She was kneeling under the jets of water, her head bowed as though she were crying. In truth, she was crying at that time. once could not tell though because her skin was flushed pink and the water hid her tears. She was crying for the family and friends lost. She had never been able to properly mourn their passing.

Raven, upon returning to the room and discovering Andrea like that, set the tray of food he'd brought down on the bedside table, then moved into the shower, fully clothed, and wrapped his arms around her, and said the words that Andrea likely thought she'd never hear from him. "I'm sorry..."

ndrea jumped a bit when he wrapped his arms around her, but was surprised even more by the two words he spoke. She looked up at him, tears still rolling down her face. "For....for what?" she asked, her voice shaking as she spoke. "You...you did what....was within your right to do." She looked down and shook her head a bit. "You did...nothing wrong, master."

(??)