Ethereal

Oliver

Oliver began to change the clothes on his lower torso. 'I never realized how much I use my back until I got hurt.' he laughed to himself. He began to put on his shirt when a bolt of pain coursed throughout his back causing him to drop the shirt to the floor. 'Well, I guess that's out of the question.' He picked up the shirt and pressed it against his wound. 'I guess it's just the feeling of my shirt against the cuts..' He set the shirt back on the nightstand. He walked to the mirror in the room and saw that his cheek had already healed. "Huh.. that was quick.." he said as he touched his cheek.

"Ugh.. The blood got into my hair.." he said as he touched the matted clumps of dried blood. He opened the drawer to the nightstand and found an old hunting knife. He gripped his hair and began to cut it. When the cut was over, the hair all fell from his hand onto the floor. "Much better." he said as he rubbed the back of his neck while placing the knife back inside of the nightstand.

Oliver then walked over to the bed and began stripping the bedding off, letting them fall gently to the floor. He managed to get all of the bedding stripped off of the bed before Astrid finally walked back into the room.

"Oh, you're done? Well, at least you got new pants on." she said as she dropped the new bedding onto the bed. "Aww, you managed to stain the mattress."

"I'll fix it when I can move better, okay?"

"You better. This is a nice bed!" she said as she began putting the new bedding on.

"Ha, yes, mom." Astrid turned around and glared at him as she continued putting on the new bedding.

"Finished! The bed looked good as new." she said, smiling triumphantly.

Oliver went to the side of the bed and slowly lowered himself onto it. He was able to lay down on his own.

"I'm impressed you can move that much on your own already."

"Yeah, I heal pretty quickly. Perks of being a noble." he put his arms behind his head.

"Nobility gives you healing?"

"Yeah, it's a gift of the gods. You should know this, you're a noble."

"I just thought I healed fast because I was lucky."

"Nahhh.. It's a perk."

"By the way, when did you cut your hair?"

"Ahhh, you noticed? I never liked it long anyways.. I just now did it when you left the room." he said as he rubbed his hair. "Do you like it?"

"Well, yeah." she said, looking away and blushing. "What will your parents say though? Isn't bad luck to cut your hair before you're married?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure I'll be fine. You can sit down here if you want, Astrid." he said as he tapped a spot on the bed next to him. She accepted his offer and sat on the bed where he had tapped.

"Hey.." her voice started. "Do you think the guards handled all of those hunters? I'm worried.."

"What? Of course I do. I trust them with my life. Besides, pretty little elves like you shouldn't worry about those things. Trust them like i do, alright?"

"..I'm worried they might hurt you again.. that you'll be hurt again because of me.." she said as she drug her legs from the side of the bed up to her chest and held them tight. Oliver sat up and moved closer to her and placed Astrid under his arm.

"I'll be fine. Even if they do come back, I'll be right here and I'll turn out fine, just like this time." Astrid sighed and removed herself from under his arm. Oliver looked at her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm just worried is all. You wouldn't know.. You don't really worry about anything.." Astrid said as she scooted down on the bed and lied down.

"That's not true. Not at all." he said as he wiggled down to get even with Astrid. "I worry about a lot of things. I worry about my house, I worry about the humans coming here, I worry about my mother and father and brother, and I worry about your mom and dad, and I worry about you, Astrid.. I don't want anything bad happening to anyone.."

Astrid turned to face him. Oliver turned to face her completely. He put his arm down and put her head onto it. She moved in closer to him and put her face against his chest. They were both a blushing mess. "A-Astrid.. I.."

She giggled and looked at him. She took her hand and put it over his cheek. "Shhhh, you need your rest. Sleep helps you heal." He smiled at her and laughed.

"Alright, you win. I'll sleep, but only if you stay like this with me." He closed his eyes and began to fall asleep. He was awaken by a warm touch on his lips. 'A kiss? Is Astrid..?' he thought as he gently kissed her back. They separated slowly from the kiss.

"So, when did you start making moves on me, Astrid?"

"S-shut up!" she said back, obviously flustered. Oliver pulled her close and within time, she fell asleep in his arms.

"Goodnight, Astrid. I love you.."