The Collector and Her Steed

Chapter 21

Over the following days Heisenberg would bring Mira food and water, apologizing for it not being up to her quality of food. Each time he did she reassured him that it was fine and that she didn't mind his cooking. He'd help her around for a while, until he finally made her something that was essentially a walker so she could get up and start moving around on her own. It definitely helped her to build her strength back up. She mostly kept herself in the room that was currently acting as her bedroom, occasionally making her way around the floor that the bedroom and bathroom were on. Heisenberg was sure to command that the soldats were never permitted to harm Mira, so as to avoid another situation risking her life within the factory.

Heisenberg spent most of his time in the forge, coming up with new ideas for soldats and working on prototypes. Occasionally he would permit Mira to watch the test fights, as long as she was on a different level and the soldats nor the lycans could get to her. After what had happened, he'd kill anything or anyone that got too close to causing her harm again. The thought of losing her physically pained him. It was an unexplainable feeling, but he knew he had to protect her. He went most of his life not giving a shit about anyone other than himself and his experiments, but as soon as she showed up into his life it sparked a new flame in him. By some fucked up fate, she came into his life and slid right into his thoughts.

After a week of letting Mira rest up, he decided to check on the progress of the healing. The healing salve worked very quickly at healing, though it was slower on beings who weren't infected by the mold. A large wound like that on her would still take a while to fully heal, but it'd be much faster than more traditional ways. If he hadn't used the salve, she would've been healing for months instead of mere weeks.

Leading Mira back down to where he first applied the plates, he motioned for her to lay down on the chair. "I'm going to have to remove at least one of the plates, it may hurt. Do you need a rag to bite down on so you don't accidentally bite your tongue off?" He looked at her with genuine concern but regretted it as she winked at him.

"How bout I bite down on your shirt while you do your work shirtless? That'd definitely take my mind off the pain." Laughing at the expression on his face, she leaned back fully in the chair.

"You steal my shirt to sleep in and now you want another one to bite down on, am I going to lose all of my shirts to you darlin?" He shook his head, chuckling as he ran his fingers through his hair. Undoing the top buttons of his button up, he rolled his eyes at her already nearly drooling.

"Hey, you're the one who put me in the fuckin shirt in the first place and it's not my fault it has a nice sme- feel to it." Mira's eyes widened as she nearly gave herself away for loving his smell of oil, sweat, tobacco, and whiskey. Chuckling, Heisenberg slipped his button up off and handed it to her.

"Enjoy smelling that darlin, the scent is fresh." He returned her wink, enjoying the way her face darkened. Sliding off his undershirt, he set it aside and walked over to her. Making sure she was biting down on the shirt before he started, he started slowly removing a plate. Easing out each rivet, he made sure to glance at her face to make sure she wasn't too uncomfortable. Once the rivets were all removed he moved the plate off and set it on the side. There was a dark red scar already formed where the missing flesh had been. The puckered skin shone with a newness.

Looking down at the wound, Mira frowned. "Well, should've expected a scar but I didn't think it'd be so out there." Gently, she fingers the scar tissue and winces slightly. There was still plenty of healing needed to be done for sure, but it was a lot better than it was initially.

Motioning for Mira to bite back down onto his shirt, he quickly cleaned off all of the metal so he could put it back on. Reversing the process he had just done, it went back on a lot quicker. Setting the last rivet back into place, he brushed some hair out of her face. "There, all back together again. I'll have to check it again in a week, but I'd say with the current amount of healing it shouldn't take more than two or three weeks until we can remove those plates permanently." Leaning down, he plants a kiss on her forehead. "How comfortable are you with walking?"

With her cheeks flushing from the kiss, Mira wrapped her arms around the shirt she had stolen to bite onto. "Uh well I don't think I can make it up and down stairs yet without risking death so if you're trying to get me out of your bed and back into mine, I don't think it's gonna happen tonight." Stuffing her nose into the shirt, she takes in a deep whiff. She continues to talk without moving her mouth out from behind the fabric, "I keep offering for you to sleep in your bed since I don't take up a lot of room. You've barely slept and when you do it's in that beaten up metal chair. Your eye bags are darker than my hair." Reaching up, Mira gently prodded one of the said eye bags.

Chuckling he grabbed her hand, giving it a whiff in the same style she had just done with his shirt. Satisfied with her giggle, he gave her her hand back. "Mira, darlin, I don't want to hurt you in your sleep. As much as I know you'd love having me in the same bed as you, you're still fuckin injured."

A slight pout formed on Mira's lips as she looked at him. "But you said the metal plates would protect it from bumps. As long as you're not like actively kicking me and punching me in your sleep I think we'd be fine. Plus it's one step closer to me inviting an unplanned guest into my own bed back at home once I'm healed. Though that someone would still have to bathe with soap first. Speaking of which, I will definitely need to wash all of my blankets as soon as I'm home. I enjoy the smells of the factory, other than the tinge of death in the air, I don't want to bring it home with me unless it's on you."

Rolling his eyes, he leans against a table pressed up against the brick wall. "Darlin, I'll only take a bath if you're there to help me take it." A devious smirk flashed on his lips as he watched her eyes trail down his bare chest in wonder before shaking her head.

"You're a big boy and you can't drown in a bathtub unless you really try." She slowly sits up and swings her legs over the side of the chair so she could fully face him. "Speaking of drowning, I feel like everyone in town might think I'm dead. Is there any way you can uh, help me contact Luiza? I feel like she'll be a little more understanding and I can just tell her that I'll explain it all later. I just want to make sure they know I'm alive, despite a hunk of me missing."

"I can send a note telling her you had a medical emergency." Heisenberg grabs his undershirt and slides it back on, much to the dismay of Mira.

"No, I've watched too many crime shows to know that they'll immediately suspect it's not a real note from me. Can you just like, bring me to her house at night? The lycans listen to you right?" Mira clung onto his button up so he couldn't steal it back, allowing her to still see some of his muscles clearly.

"Fine, but we'll have to make it quick since Miranda watches the town at night. And yes, all of the lords can control them though I tend to work with them the most." Heisenberg stands up straight, stepping towards Mira to help her off of the chair. "Let's get you back up to the room first, you need to eat and drink something." Watching her take a couple of shaky steps, he decides to just carry her back up to the room. Scooping her up into his arms, he began walking out to the lift.

Once back in the bedroom, Heisenberg set her down on the bed and went off to get her some food and water. Bringing in a simple dinner and a canteen of water, he sat down next to her. The two sat in silence as she ate, simply enjoying the company of the other person. As the sun drifted behind the mountains, he stood up and offered her a hand. "Let's get this show on the road darlin."