DOOM SAGA II- What stays behind

Among them

"Io."
With her lean fingers, she had furrowed through his short hair. Over and over, but no longer checking its length as she'd begun a minute ago, she was frozen, blankly staring at his scalp.
"Io."
He tugged on her hip lightly. No reaction. Her face saddened while her eyes stayed fixed.
"Io!", he yelped louder, and his gentle yet firm yank brought her back to reality. She blinked slowly, tears loosening immediately, dropping onto the carpet audibly. She wiped her cheeks dazzled, but swallowed with a deep breath.
A short nod, but she still did not meet his gaze. He lifted his hand and swiftly brushed her chin upwards, and like on command her eyes locked with his. She noticed, and her hand finally retreated. She clasped the scissors and the comb with both hands and smiled timidly. Still, he could see the shimmer of proudness in her.
"How does it look?", he asked, playing intimidated, ignoring what had just happened.
Her eyebrows jumped, and as if he had pulled the right nerve, she held him the mirror that had been lying on the counter with her chin risen to the sky. He felt the cut himself and nodded in approval.
"Looks good."
"Hmpf, o-of course.", she pouted hands on her hips.
"I told you I k-know how to do it!", she said more softly and smiled, though the muscles in her face were not entirely going with it. He mirrored her expression.
"I'll just rinse off the rest. We should hurry a little more, or we'll lose our spot.", he said and got up, eyeing the hairs covering his body and the floor. His first cut in decades. He forgot how weird it felt; somebody else cutting off a piece of yourself, willingly. Yet, he smiled.
He patted her head while he turned towards the shower, Io was already putting away her tools before taking care of the mess on the bathroom floor. Then, it was time to go.

Left, right, right, both, jump. Io hustled as her eyes darted over the movements underneath them, her left arm swinging wide in search of balance. The Slayer was terribly quick with his feet for his massive stature, as he tried to catch hers. The very fear of the pain that its weight on her feet meant made the blood rush in her ears. Again and again, he snapped at her, and she barely escaped him. Although she had only one arm tied behind her back and he had both, he did not seem to show any troubles in his movements. Beads of sweat flew through the air as she swirled around him, ducked and jumped, rolled over, everything to escape him without leaving the circle. His leg came at her, making her instinctively bend with her knees digging into the ground, her back tightened to the brink and her hips popping as it passed her face by an inch. He was getting more aggressive every time. She let herself fall to the side and managed to behind him. Ready for what came next.
"Enough for today.", he said before even turning around.
"Next time - both arms."
He untied his arms easily and stepped to help her, as her trembling fingers could not quite reach the end of the rope on her back. Only now that they'd stopped she noticed how exhausted she was, her chest heaving and her pale skin reddened from the strong circulation.
"Both arms...?", she asked when she looked up from her arms. He nodded.
"You have better control and balance than most. And you're even better than I thought. That's one of your advantages, never forget it."
He spoke just loud enough that she could hear him, his pleased eyes gazing down at her from just inches away as they stood toe to toe.
"Yeah, okay.", she responded absentmindedly like she was actually trying to memorize. Then she sighed, her chest still not calmed fully, and nodded.
"I'm hungry..."
He smiled at her and shoved her onwards, but as they walked, her eyes got lured to a man sitting at the side. His back... Long lines of scars, so many that they had molten together.
She had noticed, because the hall was, except for the fight groups here and there, filled evenly with men night and day, but around this one, was void. He seemed to be taking a break, a wet towel thrown over his head and his posture sunken in tiredness.
"No.", a sharp whisper hit her at the exact moment she wanted to stop and go over. But the Slayer's hand clasped her upper arm and moved her onwards discreetly.
"Don't even think about it. Please.", he muttered taking them straight to their stuff at the edge of the auditorium wall. Bewildered she looked between him and the Slayer.
"That guy's been punished. He is a criminal on probation, so please never even go near him, unless you see the others do it."
"A criminal, but why-?", she mumbled even more confused, looking back at the man while the Slayer directed her forwards.
"I'll explain to you later.", he swiftly said knowing this was not the time to talk about this. He had thought it had only been a joke amongst the sentinels, like a spooky story for children, but seeing now, that these men truly existed alarmed him.
"Okay...", she whispered pensively and went along.

"How are they?", the Slayer asked calmly, still taking in the view above the city as he sat in the window of the tower. Lorz sighed and licked his lips before he spoke, his eyes fixed on the coin he was rubbing in between his fingers. His tired face was half hidden in the simple grey hood.
"Better..."
The Slayer's head turned and as if knowing that this wasn't enough Lorz took a deeper breath.
"Actually better.", he added.
"Even though I can't say which of the both is handling it better. It's still like they are one soul. Perrin is working hard and has little to no problems with all the strangers. But he has terrible nightmares still. And Tobin... He is constantly on edge and unusually aggressive towards everybody else."
"It will take more time.", the Slayer mentioned after he paused.
"I know."
Again silence embraced them as the late sun was setting in between the clouds above and the mountains below. Everything was bathed in golden and pink, and the first flocks of birds settled on their journey north.
"How is she?", Lorz asked.
The Slayer took a deep breath through his nose and fidgeted for a moment.
"Stable. I guess."
His eyes wandered over the town below and he crossed his arms.
"She is still traumatized, but she's trying to cover it. Maybe she doesn't even know... understand, what's happening to her... She saw the banished one today and asked questions I didn't even want to answer. She can't stand them avoiding him, while she herself sits alone every day! I try to keep her busy, but it's impossible to--", he sighed letting out a held breath and scratching his head nervously, feeling the new short hair.
"I just want to bring her home...", he mumbled dispirited.
"She... doesn't belong here..."
Lorz puffed amused as he had watched him from the side.
"Maybe it's time for both of you to go home."
The Slayer gaped at him stunned and his forehead furrowed.
"Both--?"