•- Tales of the Heart -• Druig

WARMTH

Placing her gently upon some sprawled out cushions that Druig kicked effortlessly together, Gabriella found herself ignoring the prickling of her skin as she looked around the unfamiliar building she was in.

Noticing Druig move to attend the fire before her, Gabriella could only focus on her surroundings and the thought of getting to know Druig more personally excited her. Cuddling her knees to her chest for warmth, Gabriella's eyes look to know more about the man before her.

The building was larger than her home, yet it felt more empty. The walls were bare and looked like they hadn't seem a simple decoration, apart from a tattered map on the back wall filled with pins and writing in some sort of language Gabriella couldn't read. The bed looked neat and piles of books surrounded it like a wall, a simple desk at the end with scrolls and a pretty ink bottle.

A large chest was against the wall closest to her, it's edges carved smooth with dark green gems and gold creating patterns along it. It looked old and well maintained, different from the other furniture it surrounded. Tightening her arms, Gabriella notices a black and white photograph which looked forgotten, peaking itself from behind the chest. It looked worn and old and Gabriella couldn't help but to reach for it.

Feeling herself stretch towards it, her body ached slightly making her notice the damp clothes weighing her down. Gritting her teeth, she touches the corner of the photograph before slowly pulling it from its hiding spot. As Gabriella straightened herself up and lifted the half worn photograph into view, it is pulled from her grasp.

"Where did you get this?" Druig comments quietly as his hand drops against his side, hiding the photo.

"It was peaking from behind the chest," Gabriella replies looking at Druig's reaction, "those people with you, are they the other eternals?"

"It doesn't matter."

Gabriella could see the topic still pained Druig as he moved to the desk to place the photo between some pages of an open book. Watching as he shut it slowly before moving to the chest, Gabriella can't help but frown as he lifted the lid and pulled out some simple clothes.

"Why won't you talk about them," Gabriella questions as she follows Druig as he walks towards her, his expression hard to read.

"Because I have no need to," Druig's voice came out short as he dropped to a crouch moving the clothes towards her, "you need to change or else you'll catch a cold."

"I can return home to change."

Druig kept his hands outstretched as Gabriella doesn't move.

"As soon as you go outside, you'll freeze," Druig  comments as he showed no sign of swaying, "please."

Taking the clothes slowly from him, Gabriella finds herself holding them awkwardly as he stands and moves towards the fire once more. Pulling herself to her feet, Gabriella makes her way to the small room that sat well hidden at the back of the building and found it to be the bathroom. Closing the door gently behind her, she begins to slowly undress before putting on the clothes she was given.

The clothes were oversized, mainly in the arms and legs as she pulled them on and tried to tighten them. The shirt hung loose against her body and Gabriella could feel the pants droop as she let them go before pulling them up again. Looking around the small bathroom, she notices a body length mirror perched slightly off the wall and she made her way towards it.

Observing her reflection, Gabriella's face scrunches in annoyance as she spins herself left and right to see what could be done. Not knowing how to help the bagginess of the clothes, Gabriella finds herself sighing while gripping the pants before making her way to the door. Opening the door slowly, Gabriella peaks her head out to see Druig leaning against his desk with a book, flipping its pages, she coughs slightly to raise his attention. Looking up Druig closes the book before tilting his head as she keeps herself hidden.

"Your clothes are to big, I look ridiculous," Gabriella mutters out quietly as Druig chuckles, "the pants won't stay up."

"Come out and show me."

"I don't want to," Gabriella replies as Druig grins before placing his book down and pushing himself off the desk.

"How can I help if you won't show me?"

"If you say anything, I'll kill you."

As Druig made his way towards her, Gabriella tightened her grip on the pants while moving from the doorway. Feeling Druig's eyes scan her body and watching him grin again, Gabriella grumbles before turning back towards the bathroom. Reaching for the door, Gabriella is stopped suddenly as Druig reaches for her arm and pulls her to a halt.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't need to," Gabriella answers back not turning to face him, "how embarrassing."

"Cute..."

As Druig's voice trails off he places his other hand slowly around Gabriella's waist, observing her reaction as he spins her gently to face him. Noticing a slight red tinge to her face Druig smiles as she averts her eyes, keeping them fixated on her hands gripping tighter at the pants. Moving a hand towards her face, Druig lifts her chin a little as he notices her eyes finding his nervously. Letting go of her all together, Druig steps back not taking his eyes off her while reaching for a small bundle of what looked like leftover material.

"May I try something," Druig questions moving back towards Gabriella as he begins to stretch out the contents in his hand, revealing it was some sort of robe belt.

Feeling herself shift balance from one leg to the other, Gabriella can only nod slowly as Druig is once more inches away from her. Although it wasn't the first time that he was this close to her, Gabriella felt something different and she noticed herself holding her breath slightly.

"Lift your arms."

"If I let go," Gabriella whispers out shyer than what she wanted, "they will fall."

With a small chuckle, Druig moves her arms slightly up so that her elbows pointed up before re-stretching the belt and swiftly throwing it over her head. With a small gasp, Gabriella feels Druig move the belt so it pulled her snugly forward before she rocked back gently. Watching him focusing at her waist, Gabriella notices the heat rising to her ears as she tries to focus on the wall behind him. As Druig had placed the belt tight against her body he finishes it off with a bow, his fingers lingering slightly before looking up to see Gabriella trying to look unbothered.

"How does that feel?" Druig says stepping back, snapping Gabriella out of her trance as she awkwardly looks down.

"I think," Gabriella replies nervously as she slowly lets go of the pants, "it seems to be doing the job."

"You need more faith in me Gabriella."

Laughing a little embarrassed, Gabriella fixes the pants gently as she moved around Druig as he followed her with his eyes. Walking towards the fire, she sits down looking up to see him mimicking her movements, his shoulder resting softly against hers. Turning back to the fire, Gabriella suddenly finds herself overcome with sleepiness as she feels Druig pull her closer.

"If you need to rest, please," Druig whispers reaching for the poker to attend to the fire.

"I couldn't, how impolite."

"If I thought it was impolite, I would not have offered."

Feeling him shift, Gabriella slowly sneaks a peak to see Druig watching the fire while patting his shoulder, her gaze dropping once more as he smiles. Finding her hands nervously picking at the loose strings of material at the ends of the pants, Gabriella gently lays her head against his shoulder. As her heart beat begins to slow down and her mind go blank, Gabriella watches the fire intently before instantly falling into a deep sleep.