Grazed Palms are the Least of our Worries.

[Haze]

She was more than a little breathless by the time they reached his home. Gena was glad he'd warned her about the gallop, because by Kia, she clung to him. Her numb bottom and growling stomach were replaced with complete and utter terror at the speed. It crossed her mind more than once that she was probably going to die, falling off the horse.

Taking his hand, she slid down, landing heavily on her battered knees. "Sure, sure," she murmured shakily at his instructions, watching as he wandered away. "Pretty trusting, if you ask me," she said, hobbling towards the door. Inside she took a moment to get a handle on her accommodation for the night, or a few days. She didn't know which. At this point she didn't really care. She was sore, and hungry, and tired, and she couldn't decide what was the most urgent matter to take care of.

She found her way to the kitchen, and after looking around for a moment she found some bread and took it with her as she continued her exploration of the house. It was nice, that was for sure. She liked it's simplicity and homliness, and the fact that it wasn't bustling with servants and her brother's detestable friends. Nibbling contemplatively she poked her head into the rooms one by one till she found one she liked.

It was easily the biggest room, but that wasn't why she liked it. The bed was HUGE... and she was a very restless sleeper, especially if her dreams came. So, with a contented little smile she plopped herself down into the centre of the bed, staring at the ceiling above her and yawned. Maybe she'd just close her eyes for a second. It couldn't hurt. And Zane'd be back soon, and she'd talk with him properly.

Her thoughts muddled and drifted, and soon enough she was out like a light, half nibbled bread disregarded in the middle of her outstretched palm.

[Juno]

It hadn't taken very long, but by the time Zane had released the horse out into a pasture, hung the halter up on the fence, and headed inside, Gena was nowhere to be found. The quiet was a bit unsettling and he called out as he walked through the kitchen. "Gena? Where are you?" No answer. Sighing, wondering if she'd already left, he poked his head in the door of each of the spare rooms. She wasn't in any of them. She wasn't in the bath. She wasn't outside, he knew. So where was she?

Sighing and stretching his back a bit as he walked, he headed down to his room at the end of the hall. And there she was. Startled to see her there, he slowly drew a hand over his face in a slightly frustrated manner. Well, you did tell her to take her pick, he scolded himself as he crossed the room to her.

Yes, it was easy to see that she was asleep. So tired she forgot to put food away, he thought, smiling as he plucked the rest of the bread from her hand. Taking a big bite out of it, he figured he could at least let her rest for now. Talking could wait.

Reaching for the extra blanket folded at the foot of the bed, he tried his best to be quiet as he pulled the thing over her. Taking another bite out of the bread, the thing practically gone now, he pulled a pillow down and carefully tucked it under her head before he stepped away.

Deciding he'd let her have his room, Zane went to the room next to it. Quite tired himself, he looked out the window to the horses in the fading light. At least they'd made it.

Kicking off his boots, not caring much to do anything else, he curled up on the much, much smaller bed for the night.

[Haze]

She came to with blood-curdling screaming. Not a terribly pleasant start to the day. Her hands clapped to her mouth and her chest heaved as she struggled for breath, remembering snippets of her her dream. She covered her face with her hands, trying to rub away the nightmare, before peering between her fingers. Where...? Oh that's right... Zane. Whoops. I hope I didn't wake him. She sat up and noticed the pillow and blanket, and the terror slowly drained from her place to be replaced with a gentle, knowing smile. He'd been there, he'd got her a blanket and a pillow and tucked her in.

Sort of creepy, Genaaferr. Where is he now?

Creeping out of the room she wandered back towards the kitchen. She'd checked all the rooms on her way down, but Zane was nowhere to be seen. Gena concluded he was probably with the horse, and so she set herself the task of making something for the two of them to eat. Kneeling down, she poked about in the cupboard low to the ground, seeming to be swallowed up by the hole.

"All I need is a pot," she sneezed against the dust, and continued her rummaging, getting more and more frustrated that she couldn't find what she was looking for.

[Juno]

Outside, Zane brought Riley and the two mares he had to the barn. Getting breakfast for them, he set a bucket into each stall before going off to rummage for another saddle. His prized one gone, he found the only thing left was a simple, leather set clean of any plating or distinguishable marks. It would do just fine in the future, so he set the tack aside before he rounded up the empty buckets from the horses and took them back outside to let them spend the day there instead.

Returning to the house, he heard things being moved around inside. Stepping back inside, he went to the kitchen to find that the source was none other than Gena. "Ah, good morning," he offered, wandering closer. "Um...what are you looking for?"

[Haze]

Gena was startled at the sound of his voice, and her head jerked up, smacking into the frame with a solid whack. "Oooow!" She moaned, carefully wiggling her way back out of the cupboard. Rubbing her head gingerly, she looked up to see him standing over her. With a blush, she said "Morning," and then struggled up to her feet. Even though she'd slept soundly, the dream she'd had had sucked the energy from her all over again. It was such a vicious cycle, and the big black bags under her eyes were a tell tale sign.

"I was just looking for something to make breakfast with... do you not... have any pots?" Her hand left the egg forming on her head to gesture helplessly at the cupboard. "At least, that's where I remember Cookie used to have hers."

[Juno]

He winced, watching her like that, but just stood there for a moment. She didn't look all that much better, and honestly, she looked like she hadn't slept at all. For her question, he looked over to another cupboard door two down from her and went over.

Opening the door and leaning over, he pulled out a couple of different ones to the edge so she could see, all stacked within each other. "Uh...here, which one do you need? And what are you wanting to make? There's food you don't have to cook, you know...unless there's something in particular you're wanting?"

[Haze]

She watched sheepishly as he moved to the other cupboard. "I was going to check that one next," she muttered defensively, folding her arms. Eyeing the pots, his comment struck her as funny. Food you didn't need to cook? Pfft. I can cook... lemme show him.

She moved to take the biggest pot available, and held it in her hands for a moment, not quite sure what to do next. Okay... so you don't know how to cook... but ... no going back now. Fake it!

"Uhm... do you have some... some... oats? I'll make porridge. That's what I feel like." She didn't wait for his reply, and proceeded to potter around in what she hoped was a domestic manner. "It wont take long, I promise."

[Juno]

Replacing the rest of what he'd taken out, he watched her going around with that blasted pot in her hands. Quirking a brow, he was finding it difficult not to question her abilities as she went right by the stove a number of times. "Here," he said, following her to a covered bowl on the counter. Lifting the lid and setting it down, he rolled his eyes before smiling in a playful manner.

"Get water, I'll get a fire started for it." With that, he was out the door again to get wood from the pile just beside the entry. Returning just a few moments later, he got everything started up for her, beginning to watch her more closely after he'd struck off a flame. Zane stepped back to watch her, arms crossed loosely. He highly doubted she'd ever cooked much in her life, honestly, but he would watch, he would see what she managed.

[Haze]

Gena missed the rolling eyes, and hummed a little tune to herself, nodding at his instructions. She was actually enjoying this, she thought as she collected the water and deposited for more oats than was necessary. While he was gone, she nosed around the cupboards a little more, and found two bowls and a little jar of a red powder. "Pretty," she said aloud to no one, and took that back to the pot, dumping in about half the jar.

She ignored being watched for the meantime, and placed the pot over the lit stove, still singing away to herself as she stirred every now and again. When the pot was bubbling away, she finally turned to Zane, her cheeks flushed and eyes dancing with how well she was doing. "Almost done," she beamed, and turned back to spoon the steaming hot, lumpy mess into the bowls.

She was a little shy as she handed the first to Zane, but her eyes begged for approval. "How... how is it? Is it good?"

[Juno]

He hadn't noticed the small jar on the counter, but as he watched her cook he couldn't help but notice the odd color of the stuff. Hm, those were supposed to be pretty fresh...odd... She seemed to be managing pretty well, though, and he gave a twitch of an encouraging smile whenever she looked over at him.

When she was done, though, the color was unmistakably wrong, and he hesitated for a moment. Is she trying to poison me...? No, I watched her cook, she didn't do anything weird...Huh...

Taking the bowl offered to him, he smiled for the eagerness so clear in her expression as he took the first spoonful. A torturous thing it was.

His face twisted into one of surprise and pain for the briefest moment, but he forced a cough as he swallowed the spoonful. It was so, so hot and far too thick. Not enough water. Or too many oats. What the hell did she do to this?! How could she mess up something so simple?! "Ah...it's...good, fine, just...I don't think you'd like it all that much." His voice was strained as he moved to try and take the other bowl from her.

"I'll eat this, it's delicious...just make some more for yourself, okay?" He forced another heaping spoonful on himself, his tongue screaming.

[Haze]

Gena watched with her eyes wide, a hopeful eagerness on her face, and a small giggle as he took the first mouthful. Like it... please like it... please... She watched his every move, and with the change of his expression, brief as it was, her face fell.

"What? No! Give that back!" She turned away from him, hugging her own bowl close to her as he tried to take it from her. She scowled at him, her lips forming a petulant pout.  "What do you mean I wont like it? I love porridge!"

And to prove her point she shoved a huge spoonful into her own mouth. It only took a moment for the fire to set in. Her eyes bugged, and she forced the stuff down her throat, before putting the bowl on the bench and flapping her hands around her opened mouth. "Ouch! Oooh! Sweet Jelly! That burns! Wait - what are you doing!? Are you mad!" She lunged for him as continued eating, knocking the bowl from his hands and sending the sticky mess flying all over the kitchen.

She promptly burst into tears, feeling completely useless. "Y-Y-You didn't have to lie! You could have just said! Oh, I feel awful!"

[Juno]

He'd tried to stop her, he really had. He'd even raised the bowl up so she couldn't grab it, but she hit his arm just enough and the stuff went flying. Everywhere. Wide-eyed and mouth still burning, he slowly turned his head to look at the bits of porridge flung onto every surface of the room behind him. After a heavy sigh, he turned back to look at her, twisting his tongue all around to try and quell the fire somehow. She was crying now, though, and it wasn't helping at all.

Feeling quite useless himself, not succeeding in fooling her in this one thing that she'd seemed so hopeful for, Zane looked down to the fire for a moment and then back up at her. Yep, still crying.

"I... Gena, I'm sorry... I didn't want you to be disappointed, okay! I would've just eaten it if you hadn't..." With another sigh, he looked at the mess all over the floor. "Just...clean the pot and start again if you want, I'll clean this up," he said, picking up the fallen bowl and spoon first as he turned away from her.

[Haze]

"That's very ... nice... of you." She hiccuped, trying to smile. "I just wanted to do something nice, you know? You've been very kind to me. More than I deserve, I think."

No, she most certainly wasn't going to start again, but she wasn't about to let him clean up after her massive mess either. She ran around in front of him, snatching the bowl and spoon from him, and then back around, where she proceeded to try and push him towards the door, slipping every now and again on the sticky floor. "No. You're not doing any cleaning. I made the mess, I need to fix it. Go!"

She hiccuped again, and turned away, not really caring to see if she'd managed to get him out the door or not. She dropped to her hands and knees then, hastily trying to scoop up all the mess she could.

"Some wife you'd make anyway," she muttered to herself in self pity, sniffing a little, "can't even make porridge. Good way to try and impress the cutie. Burn his tongue off."

[Juno]

Still the crying. Persistent, those tears were.

He frowned as she pushed at him, but allowed it to happen. She even got him to the door, but he stopped there, not intending at all to just leave her there to sit there and cry. As he took a step closer, though, he heard her beginning to talk to herself and stopped again, hoping she hadn't noticed he was still there. Cute, huh? So she thinks I'm cute... Good. 'Bout time she realized it.

He didn't want to make it too obvious he'd heard her, though, so he tried to keep quiet for a bit longer until he began walking closer again, grabbing up the used pot as he went. Leaning over her, he tapped at her shoulder, a gentle smile there as he crouched beside her. "Come on, just let me help, okay? It is my house.... Guests, especially ladies, don't need to be cleaning up my house."

And I don't either, honestly... Why, oh why did I tell the servants to stay at home? So I could rough it out here? Stupid man...

[Haze]

Shouldn't have stopped in the rocks. Should have just kept on going. And what were you thinking, trying to make him food? You were trying to impress him! Those flutterings in your tummy, they weren't just for food, were they now? But you can't think like that. What, you're just going to throw yourself at every man under thirty who wants to help you?

So caught up in berating herself, snivelling and wiping at her face between scoops of porridge, she didn't hear Zane until he spoke. And he was leaning over her. Gena gave a startled shriek, and her arm and the spoon in it flew upwards to strike Zane across the cheek. She fell back onto her bottom, and began wiggling away, getting her skirt filthy in the process.

"Don't DO that!" She breathed, hand coming to rest over her pounding heart. "I scare!"

[Juno]

Oww.

Losing his balance, Zane flopped onto the messy floor. His cheek stung. Bad. "Gods, woman!" he yelled, startled as he rubbed at his rapidly reddening skin. "'Don't do that'? Don't hit me with a spoon!"

Grumbling and hissing for the stinging pain, he sat himself up and sighed at the mess around them. "And now I need to get you some new clothes..."

Standing up, he held his hands out for her makeshift weapon and also an offer of help. "Give me that. Now. And get up. Go take a bath. Third door. Clean. Now. Go. Please. I'll....clean."

[Haze]

"I only hit you because you frightened me!" She defended, looking close to bursting into tears again. This was all just ridiculous. "And no you don't! You don't need to get me any new clothes these ones are just fine, see!" She glanced down, as if to show him she was right, but the state of her skirt did its job shutting her up.

With a pout she thrust the spoon into his hand, but refused his hand. "Fine! Bath. Third door. Don't worry. I do know how to draw a bath!" With that she got up and flounced out the door and up the hall.

In the bathroom she groaned to herself, struggling to reach behind her to undo the laces high up her back. When she'd managed to get her clumsy fingers sorted, the skirt fell to the ground in a woosh, and she stood in her blouse eyeing her grazed knees ruefully. It was as if having those dreams, which she couldn't remember now, had really set her up to fail today, and as she looked to the bath, it only got worse.

She hid behind the door as she opened it a little. "Uhm... Zane?" she called hesitantly wincing at the question she was about to ask, "this bath is... different. How do you make it go?"

[Juno]

He had to keep himself from laughing at her protests as he dropped the wrecked spoon into the pot, watching her go away on her own. Sighing and shaking his head, he touched at the tender skin a bit more before he knelt properly to get to cleaning up the mess. It took him a few minutes to realize he wasn't hearing water, though. Tensing a bit, he knew what was coming.

On cue, little Gena... Pouting just to himself, he rolled his eyes and mouthed her words, mocking her in private for a moment before he switched out for a much calmer expression as he got up and went down the hall. Standing right there in front of the door so there wouldn't be any miscommunications, he gestured with his hand as he spoke. Zane's face was tense, but not entirely showing how thin his patience was running. "Hold that lever down, squeeze, and then pull the whole thing down...got that?"

[Haze]

Gena's eyes were wide and sad and embarrassed as he came to the door, patiently explaining to her how to work the water. She nodded a little, mouth down turned at the corners, and moved to do as he'd instructed. It hurt the tender scrapes on her hands, and she hissed at the stinging, but after all she'd been through, she wasn't about to give up and fail again.

As she leaned over the bath, she was aware of the fact that the blouse, thank goodness, was one of the longer ones she had, but it still showed plenty of her bare legs and curves. Still, she was on a mission, and she forced that particular mortification to wait for later.

It took her a few attempts but finally the water started to flow, and she flashed Zane a triumphant grin. "Got it!" Straightening, she blushed and walked back to the door, hiding herself again behind it. "You ... you can go now. I got it from here."

[Juno]

That door. That fucking door. Why? Why such a tease?

Zane couldn't help himself, he leaned his head just a bit to the side and his eyes widened at the sight of her. Saving them both from much embarrassment, she wasn't entirely naked, but the view? Oh, so glorious. So not...tan. Beautiful... Those legs look divine...and look at her a- Stop staring at her! Gods, man, she's going to think you're a total pervert! With great difficulty, he tore his eyes away to stare at the wall beside the door instead. Just in time, too, as she got the water going.

As she came back over, he felt the slightest bit of color rising to his cheeks. He hoped she'd just see it as the mark from her hitting him. "Alright, good...job. Good job. Just be careful, it's usually pretty chilly," he warned as he went back to the kitchen, finishing up his cleaning.

You just stared at her. You just stood there and gawked at her, she was practically naked! he berated himself as he worked. What is wrong with you?! Oh, but she...she was so pretty... that hair...those eyes...that ass... Nope, no more regret.