Not All Humans

CHAPTER 6

  After a while, Xena senses that she's finally able to control her body again, and withdraws from Mylis' mind, immense relief and anxiousness clearly visible in her expression. Xena holds her carefully from where she is on the couch. She sighs, healing Mylis' arm to back how it was before, mending it somewhat to make it less painful.

...
Mylis wakes up.
Very suddenly.

  Mylis coughs a lot as her eyes fly open, likely because of the blood and magic now in her. But she doesn't cough anything up — which is good. Mylis realizes Xena is holding her in a way, and her eyes widen even more. She even goes a bit red.
  Her arm hurts. Her throat hurts.

   The relief, exhaustion, and pent-up anxiousness from the situation makes Xena bury her face into Mylis' shoulder gently. Mylis softens her expression.
Xena speaks quietly,
  "Please don't ever scare me like that..! I... I thought I was actually going to lose you there! Why didn't you tell me I took too much?!?.. You have to tell me when you're significantly weakened! I had to... I can't believe I did that. I shouldn't have had to... I should've just stopped. I'm sorry!"
"Xena..." Mylis murmurs, and somewhat holds her close.

This is way more attachment than Xena is used to, and another tear slides down her cheek. Xena pulls back a bit and looks down at Mylis, a mess of mixed emotions rolling over her.
  For once, there was a decent human.. who was nice to her. Xena wasn't about to let her die because of her stupid instincts. Xena heals her own wrist, hand shaking slightly from all the effort, and the blood she gave Mylis, "I... I didn't want to have to do any of that. Especially that last part."

   Mylis sighs but then notices the tear now, and her eyes widen. She softly wipes it away, causing Xena's eyes to widen and for her to go a bit red. She doesn't recoil or flinch away, though. She's both flustered and amazed but tries her best to hide it.
"...You seem to enjoy when you're taking blood, so I.. didn't want to interrupt you. I don't know what came over me. Yesterday was.. significantly worse. But.. I didn't pass out at all. I have no idea what happened still... I'm okay now. Please don't cry." Mylis speaks softly, a hint of sadness in her voice, "I won't die on you. Obviously..." She laughs a bit, "And... I know you didn't want to do any of that. As I said, I'm okay now. Please stop blaming yourself... you know I hate when you do that."

   Xena gives the faintest of smiles in return, and she pulls Mylis closer. Xena's voice is soft, with a hint of sadness and anxiousness in her tone, "You had more blood loss today. More pain yesterday, sure, but you lost less blood and I did it over time." She gently brushes her fingers over her throat, feeling awful and sad. Mylis doesn't even flinch this time, looking up at her with a sympathetic expression, "I took too much this time, and there's no excuse. Even if I like it, I should've known better." She continues. Suddenly, another tear follows the last. Mylis' eyes widen. Xena looks at her now, horrified. A realization hits her. Her voice is a faint whisper as she speaks again, "Mylis... I could've killed you."

Mylis' face softens even more as she wipes the tear again softly. She speaks softly, yet firmly, "How many times do I have to tell you? Xena... please, stop blaming yourself. You didn't kill me though, and perhaps it's also MY fault for willingly letting you, and when I did, not stopping you when I had to. There, it's even. I'm not letting you blame yourself without me taking the blame too." Mylis finishes. She knows she's stubborn, but she refuses to back down. Mylis giggles a bit as Xena reacts to her brushing the tear away - which is Xena blushing. Xena smiles a bit, glad she could cheer her up, but listens to her words. "Mylis..." She sighs a bit then shakes her head gently, "Alright. I'll stop blaming myself so harshly..."

Xena smiles appreciatively. She grasps Mylis' wrist gently, although not restricting her movement at all if she chooses to move her arm, "Why are you so nice?" Her words are quiet and curious.