Bound by Honor: Primal

[Luna_Wolf72]

She watched as he removed his coat and gingerly rid himself of his shirt. His torso was bruised, scarred, scratched. She wanted to say something to him, but had no idea WHAT. His body moved with a bit of hesitation and it wasn't until she heard a stifled groan that she remembered about his knee. She couldn't take it back though. He was too tall for her to reach his shoulders and neck without straining and he knew it, so she waited while he stretched out. When he looked somewhat comfortable, she straddled his lower back and eased down. Her own cracked ribs gave a twinge in protest but she ignored them.

After a moment's pause, Genevieve began using her fingertips and strong hands to soothe liniment into the corded muscles of his upper back and shoulders. Closing her eyes, she allowed his body's responses to decide just where her hands would go next. Small circles, using thumbs and index fingers, then pushing down; long strokes beside the upper spine and into the bottom of his hair line.

More liniment. Her hands stroked into the muscles that stabilized the neck, relaxing them, taking the stiffness away. Down again, onto the shoulders and across the Trapezius. Her hands moved of their own violition, strong and steady, until she realized that her wrists were locked from pressure and stopped. With no words, she stood up and stretched, whimpering slightly as her ribs moved against the bindings that held them still. Finally, she allowed her own green eyes to gaze at him, checking his color.

"You should probably check and see if that helped any. Try moving your head, stretch out your shoulders." She turned away and repacked her bag while she waited for the verdict.

 

[Leopald]

Sergio's mind was working in overdrive as he struggled to relax the muscles that were being attended. His breathing was steady and even, his nose protesting at the smell of the stuff she was using. But if it would help, then he had no right to complain. His thoughts turned and focused on her motions, analyzing any and all stray movements to search for hidden betrayal. Of course, he wasn't even sure it could be considered betrayal if it was one enemy killing another.

Her work was starting to have an effect. The muscles had begun to loosen and feeling had returned to the base of his skull, which seemed to be a promising sign. After a minute or two, Sergio found himself holding back groans of relief and even heavy sighs as she hit particularly tight areas. Best not to make her think there was anything more to this than simply helping him regain use of his neck and shoulders.

When she finally finished and rose, he struggled to his feet. Another sharp gasp as his injured knee scraped a rock, but the pain dulled and throbbed quickly as he rose to his full height. He stood still for a moment, glancing at her as she suggested stretching and checking the effects of her work. His head rolled slowly, testing the muscles carefully. The pain seemed to be gone, and even if there was still a slight stiffness when he rolled to far to the right, it was a vast improvement over his former condition.

His arms stretched above his head and stretched until he felt a couple of vertebrea pop and reallign, then dropped once again to his sides. "Much better, thank you."

He paused, and turned to stare at her thoughfully for a moment. If this was going to work, a basis of trust needed to be in place. He stepped forward, arms still hanging free and non-threatening, shirt and coat still on the ground, and stopped within inches of her smaller form. A measure of silence, as if he were trying to find the right words, his own green eyes searching hers.

"We both seem to be honorable individuals, despite being enemies. If we're to make it out of here, we have to work together. We may not like it... but... You have my word that I will not harm or kill you as long as we're here... together." He seemed to be still struggling with just the right thing to say, and he hoped sincerely that he had found it.

Having each other under threat of knifepoint while there were other dangers about seemed to be a very poor way of doing things in the Dead Plains.

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

Genevieve heard his words and released a sigh she had been completely unaware of holding in. It was a true thing. They couldn't focus on surviving the Plain if they were busy worrying about being enemies, here. Her own eyes locked with his, clear green, uptilted, worried.

"You have mine, as well. The war will still be raging when we escape, no doubt, and we will mount into the sky on opposite sides, one day. But there are no others' here, just you and I. They can not tell me who to save or how to save. There is only us." She shrugged, her head dipping slightly. "Frankly, all I care about right now is finding a safe place near water that isn't black from whatever has gone before."

She flashed a grin and turned away, positioning her knap sack comfortably over a shoulder. It wasn't too bad, but in the heat of the day, the drag would get worse. "Seven hell's...", a quiet murmur as she dropped her bag again and dug around for a tee shirt. Her gunner always kept....ah, a beige beater. She removed her shirt with practiced ease and slid the clean A-line tee shirt over her head. Cooler, much cooler.

Finally, she slipped her dirty shirt into the bag and closed it, then resettled it back into it's accustomed place. Turning once more, she faced him, her hand flicking toward the direction she had come from.

"No point in heading that way. I saw nor heard no water from the time I left my war bird, on...and I have travelled off and on since crashing. So, you pick a direction. I will follow you."

 

[Leopald]

Sergio looked up to see the sun getting higher over the charred wasteland in which they now found themselves victim. He sighed heavily and gave his neck another roll to further loosen the muscles, then reached down and grabbed his own shirt. Hot in the day, cold at night. It seemed to be the standard of this place. He glanced over at the woman and offered a small smile.

"Very well, I guess we'll head that way." He nodded his head to indicate a direction perpendicular to both of their crash sites, then scooped up his belongings, tossed his coat over his shoulder, and began to pick his way down the ridge carefully.

His leg was still not cooperating fully, but it was usable at least. He almost slipped a few times due to that ever-present fact, but meandered on regardless. When they had finally reached the bottom and flat ground, he noticed that the going became easier, though not as much as it would be if he had full use of his leg. Several hours passed as they trudged on in silence, and he found himself trying to think of anything to break the monatony.

Finally, he found a smooth set of knee-high rocks and paused in the march. "This looks like a good a place as any to catch our breath." He sat slowly onto one of the rocks and stretched out the injured leg. After a moment, his eyes lifted to study her carefully, then he spoke again. "How are the ribs?"

He pulled out a canteen and took a slow drink, careful to not waste too much of it so early in their trek. His stomach growled low, so he pulled out a bit of his food and took a few bites as he watched her carefully. Something about her was rather... compelling.

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

She walked behind him, her eyes locked to his legs. The hint of a limp came and went as they journeyed, finally becoming more than a hint a few hours into the trek. Her ribs were on fire, pulling willy-nilly beneath the strap that kept her knapsack in place. She wanted to call a halt, but wouldn't. After all, he was in much worse shape than she and he kept on moving, like some kind of mechanized man.

The land itself wasn't easy. It was broken, scarred, charred. Abused. The landscape offered no escape from the sun that beat down upon them. Just scrub and boulders and little rocks that hurt her feet. She muttered a muffled curse as yet another piece of rock caught her and spun her round, screwing up her balance.

She was beyond pleased when he finally stopped moving.

"This looks like a good a place as any to catch our breath."

Genevieve grunted assent and eased her bag down. Her face was drawn, pale beneath her naturally dark tan skin. She slipped her own canteen from her webbed utility belt and opened it, taking a few sparing sips before returning it to it's spot at her waist.

His next words caught her attention and her eyes met his, her mouth turned up into an oddly shy smile.

"My ribs hurt like...there are no words...."

She moved closer and sat down, leaning back against a rock.

"I see your leg is paining you. I wish all of this walking wasn't needful."

Reaching into her bag, she pulled some jerked beef from it's depths and began gnawing on a piece. The salt would make her thirsty but a few bites would keep her feeling full. Her eyes scanned the distance, searching for a hint of something green.

"Wonder how long we have been walking? Am tired. Gods I could use a bath...how bout you??"