aclockworkschime

[aclockworkschime]

Her first instinct was to immediately run to his side and hold onto him, the fear still fresh in her mind, so it was all she could do. However, the impulse immediately died the second she reached him, her hand an inch away from grabbing onto his hand or maybe a piece of his clothing. When her eyes met his her entire body froze, her mouth thinned to a thin lie and fear once again froze over her. ​ They were so cold, his pupils thinned to menacing slits as he turned to face her, a low sound escaped him and Yui realized it was a sigh, a low disappointed and infuriated sound; it was almost a growl. She flinched at it, it was a warning sound. She swallowed soundlessly and slowly brought her arm back, her heart fell deep into the pit of her stomach as she remained locked under his gaze. She hadn't felt this type of fear of for such a long time, it strange it felt wrong, but his very aura reeked of an almost murderous intent. When Shin had gotten into the scene even he immediately shut his mouth and his eye became sharp, attentive. She couldn't see him, but she knew from the first initial call he had arrived and had shut his mouth.​ ​ The fact that Shin would not say anything, no snappy quip or comment at her foolishness or even admonish her behavior, and even remained at his place in the doorway told her enough; she had absolutely crossed a line she should have never even approached. Her hands curled over her chest, her heart hammering away underneath them, pumping her chilled blood throughout her body and making her feel almost numb.​ ​ Yet there was nothing to take away this painful sense of being rejected so strongly by the person whom she held dearly.​ ​ "It seems you have yet to know your place here."​ ​ That was all he said to her, surely before when they had first met he had said harsher things, verbal abuse was nothing new, she had endured so much more than simple words. But they had come so far, his way of speech had become softer with her, he had come to learn to love her. This sentence was a far cry from how he used to refer to her and such, but this had hurt. It sliced through her like a finely sharpened blade, his tone bringing life to her nerves and alighting them with a flame she wished she never had the displeasure of ever experiencing. She gulped again and lowered her eyes that glistened with fresh, unshed tears; she dared not make a sound and remained as such for a moment. The pressure of his presence never lightened, it remained heavy and dangerous she dared not even make a sound despite the slight notion that she should respond, felt the immense pressure that she should respond. Try and explain it to him, she thought. He'll understand if you speak.​ ​ Even Shin quietly hoped she would respond, but another moment passes and silence remained undisturbed. It seemed that was enough of Carla's patience. It would have made sense to her if he decided to drag her with him like he had before to suffer a scolding, he had done so before when she didn't think of her actions and messed up. The very fact that he avoided her touch and swiftly walked on by without a word or glance back made her heart fall even deeper than before.​ ​ "Shin." he called, his voice even and undisturbed as though he were back to normal, but the two in the room knew better. Shin became more attentive and immediately faced him.​ ​ "Yes Brother?"​ ​ They spoke amongst themselves, it was business as usual and neither cared if she listened in. However, Yui would normally join them or give them their space to discuss work, but she couldn't even bring herself to move. She knew he didn't want her anywhere near him and doing so would only make his anger flare even more and that was a point even she knew never to cross. Their talk was soon finished and Carla disappeared. Shin lingered for a moment longer, sparing the unresponsive girl a glance before going off to fulfill whatever matter Carla had charged him with.​ ​ If he had taken her with him to admonish her, it would have made sense to her, if he had even took her right there and punish her with harsh bites, that too would have made sense to her. Carla did neither and for a while, he never showed himself to her and this only made Yui feel worse. When dinner time came, there was only one plate of food prepared for her and a wolf left for company. Shin had not yet returned from his errands and it seemed very clearly that Carla would not join her tonight as well. The sight made her sad and bring new tears to her eyes, but she didn't allow them to fall.​ ​ She waited hopelessly for a while, but when the wolf lying beside her huffed, she felt her stomach fall. It was a clear answer neither of the brothers would join her tonight. The food was delicious as usual, but her tongue couldn't taste a single bite that went past her lips.​

The next day Shin greeted her in the morning at breakfast. He had returned some time late at night and seeing him greet her and remain himself made her feel slightly better, she knew things had not settled. After asking whether all was well for him in regards to his work with his brother, she decided to bite the bullet and ask of Carla.​ ​ Almost immediately, Shin's expression fell and became troubled. "Hmm, listen you. Just for a while, I don't think it's a good idea to approach Brother without reason." Yui's expression deflated at his words and she became sad once more. Those weren't the words she was hoping for. "You really had gone off the far end this time." His words weren't meant to be taunting and she knew so, Shin was far from being mischievous in this matter and his face spoke with all the seriousness of a Founder. He wasn't making light of her situation. "Even I haven't seen Brother this furious. Best to stay low for a while until he comes for you." he sighed.​ ​ Yui only let out an affirmative sound before excusing herself to clear the table.​ ​ She had hoped maybe Shin could help give her a bit of courage to face Carla and try to mend things, but even he warned against that. What was she to do?​ ​ It's been more than a week after the incident, Yui kept herself from wandering past the gardens yet even trips to what is usually a calming place was scarce for her. She remained confined within the walls of the castle, not by the orders of the brother, but of her own accord and it seemed to chip away at her mental and physical health. She hadn't been eating well recently, her food not even half finished before she would get up and throw away the leftovers.​ ​ Shin scolded her for wasting precious food, especially if he had prepared it and though his angered words would get to her and she'd promise not to do so in the future, there was no helping it. It only seemed to make her eat even less much to the younger brother's chagrin. Still she couldn't help it, Carla has not shown himself since and Shin wouldn't tell her anymore than absolutely necessary.​ ​ "He's busy with this and that, it's not a good idea to disturb him." he would respond and though he would feel bad for her, he wouldn't cave in to her requests. Most of the time, he was indeed correct that Carla had been busy and was not in the castle most of the day, only returning late at night after she had gone to sleep. If he was in a good enough mood he would speak with Shin for a short while before retiring to his own room. In all honesty, this little rift between the two of them was starting to get on his nerves, however, he still valued his immortal life to keep his mouth shut and wait out this course even if it was giving him a headache.​ ​ Yui had tried to gather enough courage to face Carla herself, after all it was only right. For humans it's normal to want to reaffirm relationships no matter how scary it could be sometimes. For those of the underworld however, things may not be the same, but in time she was sure Carla would accept her. If he didn't well, she figured she would worry about it then. This state that they're in, it couldn't last forever. Unfortunately, with her weakened state, she felt she perhaps shouldn't today. She has lost some weight and though blood has not been taken from her in quite a while, she was still vulnerable. She would rest a while before thinking of how she should address this with Carla.​ ​ That night it was both a pleasant and terrifying surprise that three plates were set on the table for dinner. It was usually only herself and a wolf, with Shin there occasionally. However, the dinner itself was incredibly stiff and the air weighed down on her. Carla, it seemed, was still not pleased with her. He seemed to be ignoring her presence during, eating his meal at a slow even place, fooling the average eye that he was unbothered at all and perhaps he was. Yui couldn't tell, but his presence was still cold. Things remained unchanged and to this she silently let out a breath.​ ​ "Why are you not eating, do you think it is acceptable to waste food offered to you?" His voice jolted her from her thoughts, in fact it's been so long since she's last heard him that the sound of his voice almost made her head hurt. Has it really been that quiet without talking with him?​ ​ She was far too slow to respond, probably from the shock that he had finally spoken to her and from her growing physical fatigue.​ ​ "I've asked you a question, woman."​ ​ She sat up straighter and looked up. His gaze was the same and it nearly made her flinch. She lowered her hand, trying to make as little noise as possible when placing the utensil to rest. "I'm sorry, I just haven't been feeling well to finish..."​ ​ "And for that, you think you can simply waste it? Should I remind you who it is that you are speaking to and to where it is you reside?"​ ​ The stab in his tone made her flinch and the temperature around her had fallen a few more degrees, any more and she would be shivering at the glare directed at her. Suddenly, she felt it. She recognized that look and the fear slowly began to eat away at her, it was the same look he had when they had first met, when she had first come to this castle. As if struck back into the past, she didn't know how to respond, she couldn't read him.​ ​ "F-forgive me..." but even with such a weak response she couldn't bring herself to lift the fork to her mouth. She couldn't even register the weight in her fingers.​ ​ Another sigh escaped him and then he was moving from his chair. "Shin, take care of this."​ ​ Yui had forgotten Shin was even there, but the fact didn't bring her any comfort, her eyes were locked to Carla; wary. He stopped just beside her chair and she waited barely able to breathe.​ ​ "Come."​ ​ A single command, yet the girl hesitated. She would have expected a hand harshly grabbing her forearm and forcing her up, but he remained still, never once making a motion to grab. Were she back in the beginning, her past self would have been relieved, but this only made her even more cautious and dreading what he had planned. He didn't order her again, waiting almost patiently but they all knew, the more time passed, the worse it would so she hurried to get up.​ ​ A dizzy spell came over alongside a nauseous feeling. Yui stumbled a bit with her footing and had almost grabbed onto him for support, but his eyes scared her and she recoiled before even touching the sleeve of his coat. She mumbled a hasty apology and waited once her footing was somewhat stable, but they remained there for a moment longer, Carla staring down at her with a scorn in his gaze.​ ​ It only made her feel smaller than ever before.​ ​ When they had reached his room, there was a change of clothes for her after she had showered. Carla had once again disappeared without her notice, but she remained in his room. There were no wolf familiars around, although it should have been expected. Carla does not have his familiars out for longer than necessary. Probably because it is usually Shin wandering around gathering information and surveying the territories.​ ​ "Yui."​ ​ Once again his voice startled her and she immediately turned to face him. "Carla... san." she whispered his name, but it did nothing to calm that silent fury burning in his eyes. He was truly upset with her that he hadn't done a thing to her. Occurrences would happen sometimes, translated to humans it would be the same as a few lovers quarrel. Rough bites, harsh touches, they seemed excessively unnecessary to the untrained eyes, but those times she could see just how much she had affected him with those mishaps and the same for him. Usually, she would never push him away unless it was truly unlike him and if she truly did not wish for him to touch as uncommon as such a scenario is, yet Carla would never wholeheartedly reject her such as now.​ ​ He only said her name and then promptly left her to shower and change. She took that as her cue to get into bed and maybe try to sleep. Try as she may, however, the thought was easier said than done. She listened to him moving around until he finally joined her, but once again he made no move to touch or even address her. She had no idea what her purpose in coming here in his room was if he was planning on doing nothing.​ ​ Then again, what did she expect. If he had chose to bite her when he had returned or planned to after he had showered, would she have been relieved? If it was for something else, would that have been any better?​ ​ The bed sank further under his weight as Carla entered the bed. It hadn't fallen into a coughing fit, but his body ached and the bruises throbbed painfully on his flesh. He had planned to scold her again, reprimand her for the past incident and to learn if she had truly understood the situation she had put herself in, but once she saw her curled up with her back facing him, he had to pause for a moment.​ ​ Her back to him showed submission and he had to wonder if that was very wise of her with how his state of being is at the moment. He hummed quietly to himself, whatever the case, it still did not quell his anger towards her. But it has been a very long time since he has last touched her in any way. In greeting, wellness, intimacy and the like, he had not truly checked in on her save for having a familiar on standby, watching her. He sighed again as he finally joined her, he could sense she was awake still even if she tried to hide the fact. No matter, he did not feel particularly in the mood to speak. He simply slid up close until her back met his chest and an lazily went over to rest at her waist. The motion however, roused her instantly and her head turned to look at him.​ ​ Carla remained unbothered, but he could sense the uneasiness in her eyes through the dark. He noticed that she looked and reacted to him the same way she had in the beginning, but her desire to leave remained absent. For now, that was fine.​ ​ Yui on the other felt maybe she had a chance and so, she started to turn. When their eyes met again however, she froze. His arm hadn't changed in the way that it simply rested against her, but his eyes held a warning in them. They narrowed at the motion and she shied away from the idea a bit, but she tried to persevere.​ ​ "Carla-san..." she whispered, but there came no response for a while. "... May I turn?" she asked shyly, her voice holding a slight quiver. She did not move without permission, but the man behind her remained silent until finally he raised his arm a tiny bit granting her an opening. Yui took it immediately and before she knew it, her face had nuzzled into his neck.​ ​ The action surprised her greatly and for a second she feared she had gone too far, but once again Carla remained unresponsive. He breathed out a sound, but nothing more.​ ​ "I miss this..." she admitted, her voice trembling. She was almost close to tears.​ ​ Loneliness is what she had been suffering from this entire time, Carla knew. The anger he felt was great, a rage enough to blind a King into a fit, and it was because of this anger that he had distanced himself from her. He did not want to harm her to such an extent that he may lose her, but he did notice her depression as a result. His familiar would inform him of her activities and most of not all were out of character for her. She had not been herself and had lost her appetite. Shin had informed his as well.​ ​ "Is this alright?" he would ask sometimes, but he never answered and simply walked away.​ ​ The Founder King did not answer her, but he did move. His arm came to move her head away and expose her neck. His expression was cold and Yui thought that this would occur and braced herself, normally she wouldn't like this act of his under these tense circumstances, but she missed him so much, she would take anything at this point.​ ​ The piercing of his fangs into her flesh is rough and her body jumps from the pain, her hand takes a fistful of his clothes as she whimpers her name.​ ​ "I'm sorry..." she whispers. It isn't a plea for him to stop, only her wishes in getting her feelings for him across.​ ​ He drinks from her for only a short time before he removes his fangs and closes his mouth over the wound, licking at it continuously until he feels the skin reattach and mend.