The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 23: Second Impressions

Finally, Calista had enough willpower to situate herself up against the wall. She grimaced lightly as her back made contact with the cold stone behind her, but in all honesty, it hadn't felt this good in a long time.

The bandages had brought a relief she had never experienced before. 

She struggled with putting back on her tunic, letting out a squeak as it got stuck above her head, obscuring her vision. 

Calista swore she heard a soft chuckle and a second later, she was freed from her confines. Seiryuu had tugged down the hem until it was finally back over her body. 

"Thank you." The smile that stretched across her expression faded as she recognized the look on his face.

His mouth was parted, and he had averted his gaze, head whipping to the side. 

"What's wro- oh."

Her mask had come undone and was now hanging around her neck. 

The significance wasn't lost on her.

I guess I wasn't wrong about him after all.

He was trying to show her respect, probably because he didn't let anyone see his face and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She brought her hands up to tie it back behind her head.

This is bad, he's knocked down all of my walls without even trying.

With a small sigh, she located her pouch on its familiar place at her hip, and pulled out a clean roll, trying to distract her thoughts.

Calista's mouth twisted in a frown when she saw it. 

She only had one left.

I'll get more later... hopefully...

Deliberately, she uncovered a knife from her ankle, being careful to keep her movements small to avoid startling the dragon across from her. 

Instead of being surprised, Seiryuu regarded her inquisitively. He watched as she unraveled it, folding it in half. Then, she slipped the blade in between the two folds, cutting it in half precisely. 

Seiryuu observed her as she wrapped it over her red knuckles on her left hand. As she moved to bandage the other one, he placed a hand over hers, stopping her.

The pads of his fingers were calloused, but his touch was gentle.

Calista looked up at him curiously. 

"What's wrong?" She asked him.

He hesitated, prying the gauze from her hand. She let him take it, wandering what he was going to do. 

Her mouth dropped open as he gently rolled it over her bruised knuckles on her right hand, exactly as she had done it to the other one.

When he was finished, she bit her lip, inspecting the handiwork. It looked exactly like hers. 

Calista nodded, extremely impressed.

Wait a minute.

"Hang on, can you see out of that?!" 

Calista saw the corner of his mouth quirk up at her outrageous cry. His mask had distinct black holes for the eyes, but it was just painted wood. 

He could see through it.

"That's incredible..." She praised, and his gaze lowered to the floor, but not before she caught a glimpse of the dusting of pink across his cheeks.

Suddenly, his head snapped up.

"People are coming." She said before he could, head tilted slightly as she strained to hear.