Hollow

Chapter 11: Mercy

When Llwell wakes up, the first thing he realizes is how warm it is. He's no longer shivering between the furs of his bedroll, which is noticeably more comfortable than he remembers it being when he laid down to sleep. He knows it was rather cold last night, but what made that change so drastically?

He opens his eyes, seeing that the house is still dark as the night carries on through the windows. The fire must have gone out, but the more immediate thing he notices is how different his surroundings are. Similar to how it looked when he went to sleep, but slightly off.

The next thing he realizes is that he's elevated off the ground by about two feet, and the surface beneath him is softer.

Looking around, he takes a moment to process where he is, when it registers in his brain. This was the room in the house that still had a bed, but he had given Dumaine the right to use it for himself. No wonder he's so warm, he's wrapped under a few layers of blankets. The fire might have gone out, but he assumes Etho has been feeding the flames this whole time.

How did he get here?

Answering his mental question, the door across the room opens and, though its dark, he can recognize the silhouette of Dumaine walking in. He gently shuts the door behind him and once Llwell's eyes adjust to the dark, he sees that he has a small smile on his face.

"Apologies, I didn't mean to wake you," the mage says quietly.

Llwell pushes his arms under him to sit up. "How did I get in here?" he asks, keeping his head down as memories of their talk return to the forefront of his mind. That must have been only a couple hours ago.

Dumaine chuckles and walks over, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall beside the bed. "Still so naïve. I saw you were shivering, so I figured a warmer place to sleep would help you relax."

Llwell braces himself and thanks the darkness for masking his red face as he looks up at the mage and tilts his head. "What about the fire?"

"It went out. It has been a few hours now and we only had some sticks to use to keep it fed, so it's not too surprising," Dumaine shrugs.

The elf cocks a brow. "Wasn't Etho managing the fire?"

Dumaine nods with a sigh. "Yes, he was. But you know him. His mind always wanders which leads him to, well, wander. He vanished shortly after you came back after our talk," he says.

Llwell's face warms up, but his heart slightly hurts at the fresh reminder. He knows he's always been too sensitive and it doesn't take much for him to form emotional attachments, but he only just met Dumaine about three weeks ago now. Enough time to develop a crush at most, but for some reason this feels stronger.

"Yeah. Our talk," he mumbles, mostly to himself but the mage definitely heard him.

Dumaine stares at him for a moment before sighing and slowly nodding. "Yes. It's actually good that you're awake, as I was hoping to speak with you regarding all that was said," he says and steps away from the wall.

"What's there to discuss? I understand the agreement and I accept the fact that it will be taken no further," Llwell states and brings himself to lift his head in time to see Dumaine walk over and sit down on the bed beside him.

The mage nods again and glances at him. "I suppose I just wanted to apologize for my actions. You must think I rather enjoy playing with your emotions, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The last thing I want is to hurt you, and I've been doing a horrible job of not doing that."

"No, Dumaine. Really, it's okay. I get it."

"You really don't," the mage chuckles softly. "When I said that whatever is between us ends with the flirting, I wasn't thinking about how you feel. I was only thinking about myself," he states.