Grazed Palms are the Least of our Worries.

[Haze]

Gena narrowed her eyes at Zane as he continued walking and refused her offer, and then felt like shrinking into a ball for the annoyed look he gave her. She was worried that she'd offended him now, and so after a moment of being grumpy at him, she simply opted for a dejected sigh and followed three or four paces behind, puppy at her heel and Riley at her side.

She really didn't understand why Zane was making such a big deal out of it. Sure, maybe she'd gotten a little carried away with the puppy, but she had wanted to make amends, and he was just getting all touchy. As they made their way up over the rise of the hill and down towards their new home, Gena sighed again, and scuffed her feet across the gravelly path, slipping every now and and again, but managing to keep her footing, miraculously.

She hadn't said a word still by the time they got home. She was utterly miserable now, not enjoying the silence, but not knowing what to say to fix it. She turned to put Riley away in the barn, with a sad little look over her shoulder at Zane, while the puppy followed after him, rather than her. Rejected by both of them, she thought pitifully.

She stayed in the barn for a while, not really knowing what to do with Riley, in all honesty. She decided that the best thing to do, would be to wait for Zane to come and settle the horse himself. But she wasn't about to leave Riley, and risk getting Zane even more upset with a runaway horse, so she went and closed the barn door, and sank down to the floor, resting against the wall.

[Juno]

While it was certainly quieter after their little exchange, it was no less tense than before. Zane resigned himself to just get this task done and over with so that they could, perhaps, try and talk things over once they were home and he no longer had the stress of carrying all of the stuff they had right now. Looking back at her in one moment, he wondered if they would even manage to get back without further incident. As they went along, though, every little scrape he heard against the road had him tensing and entirely unable to relax.

By the time they returned home Gena hadn't spoken another word to him and so Zane decided to just keep quiet as he stepped through the tall grass to head for the door. He realized once he'd reached it, though, that he couldn't hear the others behind him anymore. Easing their things down as carefully as he could, he flinched for how his arm burned as he turned to see Gena leading Riley away around the house. Narrowing his brows, he heaved a heavy sigh as he looked down at the panting, tail-wagging little bundle of fur and mud that seemed content to just sit and stare right back at him.

Zane just opened the door hastily and began taking things inside in more manageable armfuls to set on the table to sort through and put away later, the puppy following along at his heels on every trip. It wasn't annoying to him, the puppy somehow refraining from actually getting in the way or hindering his progress, but it wasn't exactly endearing either to have the little thing following him around. By the time he was done, though, the thing hadn't given up its strange pursuit of him and even as he shut up the door behind him for the last time to go see how Gena was getting along with Riley the little guy was still happily bumbling along with him.

Heading down to the barn, he noted that it was all closed up but it didn't look as if they were anywhere outside right now. Opening up the door and heading inside with the puppy right behind him, Zane immediately spotted Riley still all tacked up just hanging out in the aisle. Not expecting this at all, he blinked and just stared for a moment before stepping forward to take off his bridle and hang it up on a post. As he went about undoing the rest of the equipment and slinging it over the railing, he glanced down at a small, struggling little barking noise from the puppy and watched as he bounded off down to the other end, jumping up and licking at whatever exposed skin of her arms he could reach in greeting.

Untying the lead around Riley's neck, he put the horse up in nearest stall for now before heading down to crouch beside Gena. "Everything's inside now," he offered as he reached out to brush his hand along her arm. "Why don't we go back up, Gena?"

[Haze]

Gena looked up at the sound of the door opening, but wasn't surprised to see Zane enter. She'd been half expecting it. What she wasn't expecting however was how he didn't see her, and went to get Riley settled. The horse is more important than me. I did something really wrong. He doesn't want the puppy. Maybe I should just go and find a cupboard to lock myself up into. He's mad with me. I bet he wishes he'd never even married me. Since he met me, I've brought him nothing but trouble. She bit down on her lip, and stifled a sniffle as the puppy bounded its way over. She gave the thing a sad little smile, and pushed him gently away. Zane said not to get too attached.

She lifted her eyes to follow the rest of Zane's movements still thinking a very sad train of thoughts as he finished with the horse, and made his way over. As the hand reached out to her though, she flinched, anticipating him to jerk her roughly to her feet, march her inside and beat her for her insolence and ignorance of how to settle the horse properly, let alone bring a dog home against his wishes.

Instead of answering, she gave a little nod of her head and struggled up to her feet unassisted. From there, she hung her head, and scuffed the toe of her boot against the ground. Ridiculously, even though she knew in her head that Zane had said he'd never hurt her, she couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth next.

"If ... If you intend on punishing me, you can do so here. I would like the house to have happy memories, not sad ones."

[Juno]

Zane remained crouched for a moment as Gena stood, just looking up at her with surprised eyes until the puppy pounced on his dangling hand. He patted the wiggling thing on the head before slowly rising beside her. "Gena?" For a moment he looked confused and just let his arms hang at his sides as he stared at her. He didn't quite know what to say now; it seemed to him that she had no interest in accepting his advances at contact.

Looking down at her fidgeting, he was beginning to feel awkward for their silence until she finally spoke. What she had to say, though, only served to make his chest tighten uncomfortably for what she was suggesting.

Keeping his eyes down to just stare at the puppy, Zane repeated the words over again in his head and no matter how he tried to twist things around he wasn't comfortable with it. He wondered if she still didn't believe in him. He knew, of course, that it would take time for trust to keep building between them but thinking that his wife still thought he might turn on his promise to her at the drop of a hat was so unnerving and only did to make his heart feel like it was sinking down into his stomach. Even in his stomach, it felt hollow.

"Genaaferr," he said slowly as he tried reaching a hand out again for her own, wanting so desperately to hold onto it now, "This isn't the first time you've said something like this... Tell me what I did to make you think I'm going to punish you." Zane's eyes lifted to look at her face, eyes not settling on any one thing as he waited.

[Haze]

Gena sighed, and after a hesitant, worried moment, allowed Zane to have her hand. He was using her full name as opposed to her shortened version, and she knew from this that whatever it was that he had to say, he was serious. Of course, she felt even more terrible for expecting that he would be anything like any of the other men in her life.

It was so hard to explain. "It's not ... it's not what you did, exactly," she started, lifting her eyes to meet his searching ones. It unnerved her a little the way he looked so intent, and so... sad. How many times would she end up doing this to him? She could only find herself at fault for the conclusions she jumped to.

"I did something wrong. Something you didn't like, and I pushed you for it. And when you wouldn't let me take anything to help you, I thought that maybe you were very angry with me." She bit on her lip, and looked to the floor from the corner of her eye. "When people have been angry with me in the past, it has lead to punishment of some kind - beating, deprivation of some kind... usually it resulted in being hit though." Gena swallowed hard against the growing lump in her throat.

"You ... you should though. I went against your wishes to bring the puppy. I didn't listen. I probably deserve... something. My father would have seen to it that I went without food for three days, at least. If ... if you need to, I'll accept that."

[Juno]

He let her finish before he spoke up, silently gathering his words as a slow, cautious thumb moved to stroke at the back of her hand. "I'm not going to do anything like that, and I'm not going to starve you. I'm not like him...

"Look...I got irritated. Everyone gets upset sometimes, Gena, but all I can do is say I'll keep trying not to take things out on you. I'm sorry."

Zane pulled her into a hug, nestling his head against hers. He didn't care that her clothes were filthy, he just wanted some small comfort that things were alright, that they were alright. "You can have the puppy; we'll keep him, okay? We can keep him."

[Haze]

Gena felt terrible. Her stomach was tight, her throat hurt from wanting to cry, and her head was swimming with reasons why Zane should do to her what every other man in her life had done, and yet here he was, all kindness and tenderness and apologising. She knew for a fact that he was nothing like her father or brother and not at all like Krajeck in the slightest, and she had to wonder what she'd done to deserve such a patient man.

She let herself be pulled into his arms, and rested her head against him, taking in slow and shaky breaths as she willed herself not to break down completely. She hated this fragile state of hers, and how easily the wounds of her childhood and not so distant past were reopened. She put her arms around him, settled in with a little sigh. "You are far too good to me," she whispered, and closed her eyes.

A flash of colour. Bright, vivid flowers in a field. A wolf, standing among them, eyes staring intently into her very soul.

Tensing, Gena opened her eyes, and hoped that Zane hadn't felt the movement. It was another vision precursor, and one that she had had very few times. That didn't mean it scared her any less. Pulling away just slightly, she looked to Zane, biting her lip. It was the last thing he needed, to be woken in the morning with screaming and crying. She'd put him through enough. She made the decision there and then to not sleep. Maybe that would stop the vision from coming.

"I ... come on. I'll make us dinner. You've had a long day... and I can rub your back for you later, if you'd like. Make up for all of this?"

[Juno]

All he could do was shake his head. He didn't really like how she always said things like that to him, like she didn't deserve him being decent to her. The way she tensed up he definitely noted but he wasn't quite sure what to make of it, especially after all their strange little ups and downs lately. Had he really done something wrong? Had he hurt her somehow? He didn't think so, but Gena wasn't saying anything about it, so he just let things slide for now.

He knew not her worries and fears at the moment nor that something had just happened to actually elicit that tension within her. Zane did, however, like the idea of her offers. Looking down at her, he finally offered a small, genuine smile and gave her one last squeeze as he replied, "As long as you won't actually be making up for anything." Slipping a hand down to her waist he stepped aside to lead them back to the door with the puppy right behind them.

Brushing a hand along Riley's neck as they went by, he silently promised the reliable animal that he would return soon enough. After getting the trio back outside, Zane looked down at Gena curiously with a little idea churning up behind those grey eyes. "You know, it'd probably be good if we split up the work right now," he began.

"I'll put what we brought with us away while you cook, if you'd like. I don't think it'd really do to have me just sitting around right now with things still waiting to be done." As much as he desperately wanted a chance to relax and as much as he was already feeling burned out from the day's events thus far, Zane was quite sure he wasn't going to be willing to sit idle even if she disagreed.

Looking up to the sky as they made their way back up to the house, he was surprised to see things getting so dark so quickly. A herd of thick rainclouds were breaking the horizon and, for a moment, Zane wondered if the river would flood. "Guess tonight'll be a good chance to check for leaks," he sighed, wincing at the prospect of previously unseen patches to be made.

[Haze]

Making up for anything? She'd be making up for everything. The dreams, the nightmares, every little flinch she'd made to him, thinking he might hit her, causing so many problems. Gena was determined to make their first meal in their new house a good one, even without having a single idea about how to go about it.

She walked easily with his arm around her, and even went so far as to sling her own arm around his back, holding onto his hip. She nodded to his suggestion. "It wont take you that long though, to put things away, will it?" She asked, "you should sit, and rest a while once you're done. You've done so much today."

She looked at him for his sigh, and felt a sad little pull in her heart. He sounded so... forlorn, and like the weight of the world was sitting on his shoulders. She hated to think that maybe, just maybe, she was to blame. If she hadn't been so insistent on them owning a home and settling down, he wouldn't have had all the added stress of all the work that needed to be done. "Maybe there wont be any leaks," she said hopefully, giving him a squeeze before she stepped forward and opened the door.

Once inside, she made her way to the kitchen, and began sifting through what food supplies they'd brought. In all honesty, most of it looked completely foreign to her in uncooked form, and she wrinkled her nose at a dirty, roundish object in her hand. Closing one eye as she inspected it, she searched for a name. P.... pot something. Oh! Potato. That's right!I could... boil it! In water, yes... I think I saw Cookie do that once. and we can put some carrots, and some beans... She fished around for the other vegetables she remembered seeing, and took the big pot and its lid, and went to fetch water, asking Zane to start a fire for her on her way out.

[Juno]

"Maybe not, but I'll do what needs to be done," he assured as they entered the house. Following her back to the table where he'd set everything before, Zane began sorting through what they'd brought today, grouping things together as he watched Gena pick through what she wanted. Thankfully they had nothing that was going to spoil straight away as fresh meat was probably going to be a farfetched prospect until they acquired livestock or had some luck at hunting. Being set to starting up a fire for her, though, he set down his work and followed her outside to see what he might have to work with.

As he'd yet to begin a stockpile of firewood for them he ended up settling on some broken pieces of the fence for the garden, adding another chore to his mental list. Once he'd gotten a fire started in the hearth he went back to his earlier task and began putting things away that weren't being used. Going about that, though, he couldn't help but notice how quiet the puppy was and how readily he followed him around as he went between their bedroom and kitchen.

By the time he was done he'd grown quite curious at the dog's behavior. Truly, he was just being very puppyish with his dutiful tagging along and begging for attention, but the way he seemed so well-behaved was baffling to Zane. Walking in a slow circle by the door, he looked down over his shoulder at the dirty thing and just watched him. "The puppy... He's really energetic, huh?" he called to Gena, scooping him up just to have him wriggling wildly, the evening's events apparently not enough to tucker him out yet.

"I think he needs a dunk in a bucket of water," he snickered, letting the dog go once they'd made it back to the kitchen so he could sit at the table to rest his legs for a bit. "How's it coming along?"

[Haze]

Coming back in with with a pot full of water, and seeing the fire ready, Gena put the pot over the flame to start heating. While Zane went around the house with the puppy following him around, she began preparing the vegetables. With an unsteady hand, chopping the food proved difficult - and dangerous - and Gena's hands were covered in little nicks and cuts by the time she'd finished with just the potato. Her mind was a million miles away, and she only hummed to the comment about how energetic the puppy was. There was a deep frown on her brow, and a solemn set to her lips as she started working on the carrots.

That wolf... I wish I could just get rid of these dreams. How blissful would it be to not have to live in fear of them. I'm scared of sleeping. What if everything that we have done so far has changed nothing? I don't expect it to... but there was that dream about marrying Krajeck, and that didn't come to pass, because of Zane. Because in meeting him, my future was altered. Does that mean that other things wont happen now? I can't hope - I can't. Hope will only bring disappointment, wont it?

She gave a yelp as in her absent mindedness, the knife in her hand sliced against the side of her pointer finger. It was already bleeding, and she dropped the knife onto the bench, and gripped the finger with her other hand. And that was when Zane came back in. Her finger was stinging like the blazes, and she looked up distractedly. "Hmm? Of yes, he definitely needs a bath," she said, before grimacing to his next question. So incompetent, Gena. So useless.  She hid her hands beneath the bench and leaned forward a little.

"Oh, it's going just fine... the water's heated up, the potatoes are done, and I'm almost done with the carrots too. I think we're going to end up with a very boring meal, I'm sorry." Her eyes darted around for something to wrap her finger up in, and saw nothing, much to her dismay. She didn't want Zane to see her hands. Distraction was the way to go. "Is there anything to flavour it with, do you think? could you see if you could find something?"

[Juno]

The way she spoke, he thought, seemed mighty distracted. Then again, it could've just as easily been a sense of concentration he'd interrupted. By the way she looked right now Zane figured it would probably be best if he just stayed out of her way, at least until she asked for his help. "We only brought a few things," he reminded. "But I'll have a look, I'm sure we brought something."

Getting to his feet, he rummaged through what things he'd just put away. Opening lids to peak inside what containers they had he soon discovered that all they had right now was salt. Salt and small amount of honey he didn't want to take his chances on with vegetables. Stepping over to where she was working with the little jar cupped in his hands, Zane carefully set it down beside the pot on the bench. "Some salt might go well with it," he said slowly, not entirely confident in his words as he reflected on the last time she'd done any cooking and thought the powder would go well with their porridge.

She already said it was just a mistake before, I shouldn't worry so much... She's a grown woman, she can handle herself. Wanting to make good on that thought, though, he was all too eager to return to his seat at the table so he wasn't hovering. "Just...let me know if you need any help, okay? If you think the fire needs more wood or you need me to set the pot for you or something," he suggested with an encouraging smile. Zane really was fairly confident in this working out because he figured there really wasn't much you could mess up with cooking vegetables. There wasn't much to mess up with making porridge, either, though.

[Haze]

"Yes, I know," Gena said when reminded of how little they'd bought food wise, and followed his movements with her eyes. She wasn't about to bring her hand out any time soon. As he placed it down beside the pot, and then went back to sit, she cautiously lifted the lid, and looked at the little white grains. It looked like sand, and she was immediately on edge. What if she screwed things up again? But Zane had put it beside her, so it had to be okay, right? Or maybe he's testing me... Gena cast a suspicious little glance over to Zane, before picking up the jar, and pouring a little into her hand. "I think I'm alright for now, but than-" she stopped abruptly, eyes widening.

The stinging was almost instant. The little granules snuck their way into every little cut over her hands, not to mention the bigger one, which was still bleeding. A pained little squeak left her lips, before she bit down hard, and immediately turned away to put her back to Zane. There were tears springing up in her eyes, and she squeezed said eyes shut for a moment as she shook her hands in front of her, trying to get rid of the stinging pain.