Celestial Conflict

Roleplay Page



The next morning, Leithol woke up to the sound of Charlie stumbling out of the cave. He was holding his crotch, and Leithol guessed he was going to take a piss. He gave a small snort and rolled onto his back from where he was cuddling Max, sighing and draping his arm over his eyes with a yawn. He had fallen asleep towards sun-up when he could no longer keep his eyes open. Now he didn't want to wake up, but he knew they'd have to.

Max rolled over and kissed his cheek. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when its time to move." Smiling softly, she patted his chest and sat up. Glancing down at their fire she cranked it up a bit as a shiver ran through her. It had cooled off in the night, rain was probably coming.

Leithol watched her a moment in his human form, with his human green eyes, and he smiled a little before suddenly wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back and down on him. "I don't want to sleep anymore." he growled playfully, rolling them so he was laying over her and moving to kiss and suckle at her neck hotly.

Max groaned softly pushing at him slightly. "Leithol, Charlie could come back any second." Biting her bottom lip she turned his head to look into his beautiful green eyes and frowned. "I want to...believe me, I want to. I just dont want him walking in on us. That would he awkward."

Leithol chuckled softly as he looked down at her, and he blushed a little. "That only makes it more exciting." he whispered and kissed her lips lightly, teasingly, trying to egg her into returning it. "Doesn't it? Isn't that what you humans like? Risk?"

"Some of us but I'm not comfortable with the idea of him walking in on me in the middle of sex." Max's eyes were serious as she stared down at him, her heart beating sporadically in her chest. Her body wanted him but the embarrassment outweighed those feelings.

Leithol almost wanted to challenge her, his eyes just a spark of playful... but he relented and sighed in defeat, giving her a soft smile. "Alright..." he whispered, rubbing her sides lightly and leaning down to kiss her again. He could smell her... and it made him twitch in the most wonderful places. But she had said no, so he tried his hardest to reign himself in. "I'm sorry." he whispered and kissed her again. "I just can't help it. You're irresistable."

Max smiled softly and shook her head. "Don't be sorry. It's alright just need to control ourselves." Kissing him back softly she pushed him off of her. "Now rest some more. You're going to need it." Running a hand through her hair she sighed softly.

Leithol chuckled and rolled his eyes a little, getting off of her, but laying on his side beside her, his head propped up on one elbow. He rested his other hand on her stomach and watched her. "I don't want to sleep anymore... my dreams are nothing compared to the real thing."

Max rolled her eyes and looked down at him, smiling softly. Looking down at his hand on her stomach, she placed her own over it and gently ran hr finger tips back and forth. "What are you thinking about?" They both knew it wasn't possible that she was pregnant but the thought of some day having children made her happy.

Leithol admired her, then smiled and blushed. "Just how beautiful you are..." he whispered, lying only slightly about the totality of what he was thinking. He leaned down and nuzzled her a little, kissing her neck, then sighed sadly. "And how sorry I am for bruising that beautiful body of yours..."

Max blushed softly at his words and smiled gently. "I'll be okay. It's going to be different, seeing as how much stronger you are then me." Running her fingers through his brown hair she smiled lovingly. "It'll be okay. I promise." Leaning forward she kissed him sweetly, gently.

Leithol kissed her back happily, closing his eyes and humming against her lips. He heard a scuffling at the front of the cave, and lifted his head at the rough clearing of Charlie's throat. Leithol blushed and shifted off of Max a little hesitantly, giving Charlie a sort of mischievous and still apologetic smile. Charlie moved into the cave and sat in front of the low-burning fire, warming his hands by it.

"How do you turn this thing up?" Max asked, pointing at the fire in front of them. Rubbing her arms she frowned slightly at the sight of goosebumps. She was surprised to see them. They'd been in that room for so long that she hadn't felt chills in a while.

Leithol leaned forwards and turned a dial, the flames instantly growing larger, flickering to life enough to light up the entire cave. He looked at Charlie, then at Max, and nodded. "There. That should be good... At least until we start moving again. Now who's ready for breakfast?" Charlie raised a hand a little tentatively, and Leithol chuckled, offering him a pouch of food. He then offered one to Max before taking one for himself.

Max took the pouch but didn't eat much of it. Folding it up she stuffed it back into the bag to save for later. Taking her boots off she set them aside and rubbed her feet. She shouldn't have slept with shoes on but if they'd needed to get up and run for some reason in the middle of the night, she wanted to be ready.

Leithol and Charlie both hungrily ate at their pouches, stuffing their faces with the food until it was gone. Leithol looked at Max as she rubbed her feet and noticed she hadn't eaten much. He leaned over to her and whispered lowly, "You really should eat more... We'll be burning a lot of calories hiking back to your camp... You could pass out."

Max didn't have much of an apetite but she did as he suggested and finished the rest of her pouch. She felt chills all over her body but at the same time she felt warm. Sighing heavily she set her empty pouch aside as she ran a hand through her somewhat tangled hair.

Leithol watched her a little, then gave a soft smile and moved to sit behind her, taking her hair in his hands. "Here..." he whispered, starting to comb her hair with his fingers gently to get the tangles out, then began to rhythmically braid it down her back so that it was contained. "Better?"

Max relaxed when his fingers touched her hair. She had always heard how relaxing it was to have someone play with your hair but no one had ever done it before. Sighing softly she closed her eyes and allowed his fingers to do the magic. Once he was done she smiled, leaning back into him and nodded her head. "Thank you."

"You're incredibly very welcome." Leithol whispered softly, kissing at her cheek and neck as he cuddled her from behind, wrapping her arms around her. He nuzzled her a little, then sighed and let her go. "Let's get up. We have to keep moving." he whispered.

Max pulled her boots back on and hopped to her feet. Sighing softly, she glanced around and helped pack up. Picking up one of the backpacks, she pulled it on and moved over to the entrance of the cave, waiting for them to join here once they were ready. She'd have to use the restroom eventually, but she could wait.

Leithol and Charlie both pulled on their boots, made sure they were tight, and packed up the bags. The last thing to go was Leithol's little artificial fire, which he switched off, then tucked the disc away into the front pocket of his bag. He hoisted the bag over his shoulders while Charlie got the other ones, and with that, they were off to follow Max.

Getting out the compass she stood for a moment and then tucked it back into her pocket to head north. She was worried about how cold it would be, but she knew when they found camp they'd be able to get jackets and such. After a while of walking she couldn't hold it anymore. "Potty break." Taking her pack off she set it aside and walked a little ways away from the boys where a large boulder stood. Dropping her pants she did her business quickly, found a few leaves and wiped. Sighing she marked back over to them and pulled her pack back on. "Anyone else?"

"Already went." Leithol smirked, and Charlie nodded in agreement. He'd gone earlier that morning, obviously, and Leithol had taken the time to go while they'd been waiting for her to do her business. He smiled at her and motioned for her to lead the way again, rubbing her back soothingly.

Max nodded her head and turned around. Forgetting which way they had been going she got out the compass once more to check and then continued walking. "I wonder if they have us go on leave... because we were captured. I hope so. I would be nice to go home." Home either being the military base they had housing on, or their actual home town. Max and Charlie hadn't known it at the time but they were both from the same small town. It had been a weird coincidence.

Charlie gave a small snort through his nose with a nod. "That would be nice... I could go home and see my mom..." he sighed, hoisting the bag on his shoulder again slightly as he trekked behind them. "And have a beer... A COLD beer." he laughed.

Max smiled softly and nodded her head. "Grace would be very happy to see you, I know." Grace was Charlie's mother and she was one of the sweetest, most kind hearted people Max had ever met. It made her heart ache to see Charlie missing his mother. "I'll make sure it happens."

Charlie and Leithol both gave Max an appreciative smile, and Charlie nodded. "Thanks, Max, but I'm pretty sure I can get there on my own. Either on my feet or in a box." he chuckled, shrugging. He sighed and looked around slightly, studying the trees.

"I meant I'll make sure they give us leave. Your words wont mean much to them." Rolling her eyes, Max hicked her backpack up a little higher and continued walking. Taking a deep breath she frowned. "It smells like rain..." They weren't dressed for rain, in the clothing they had and the temperatures it dropped to at night, they were bound to get sick.

"Don't forget, you're wearing my shirts. My inventions. The cold-proof, heat-proof, water-proof wonders!" Leithol smiled proudly as he snapped a piece of Max's sleeve against her skin. "This will keep us warm and dry. At least... on our torsos. I haven't perfected trousers or hats yet." he chuckled. "But I'm working on it." He smiled at Max and gave her arm a small nudge, watching her.

Max had forgotten about that part of the shirt. So at least their upper halves would be dry. They most likely wouldn't have to worry about the bottoms, hopefully. With nothing else to say she began singing softly as they walked along, heading north. As they continued to walk along, Max didn't notice a small root from a tree sticking out of the ground. So when her boot got caught and she tumbled to the ground she let out a shout of surprise. Luckily she was ale to catch her fall without injuring herself. But once on the ground and none of them moving she could hear better. It sounded as if something was coming up behind them. "Do you guys hear that?" She whispered softly.

Leithol and Charlie had both jumped to catch Max as she stumbled and fell, but at her words, they both stopped. They strained to listen, and hear what she was hearing. Leithol then frowned and narrowed his eyes on the woods around them. There were shuffling sounds from off to the left. He spun to look, catching just the barest glimpse of a moving body--a very large, lumbering body. "BEAR!" he snapped, moving to help Max up as he heard the animal roar.

"Oh my god..." Max stiffened suddenly, her worst nightmare was barreling straight towards them. Jumping to her feet, she brushed Leithol's hand away. "Just run..." She shouted as she grabbed both of their hands and tugged for a moment before she herself turned and began running. Wasn't concentrating on where she was going, or the things around her, she was just worried about them all getting away to safety.

Leithol and Charlie only had to give a brief nod at one another to understand that they needed to split up. Leithol let Max run off in the direction she wanted to, and he chose a different path whilst Charlie took another. To keep Max safe, Leithol shouted at the bear, waving his arms and throwing rocks at it to get it mad. It roared at him, standing on its hind legs threateningly and swiping at the air before running at him, and he turned, gritting his teeth and sprinting as fast as he could away from it.

"Is he crazy..." Max cursed softly at him as she changed course. She couldn't just leave him. Glancing around she noticed a very large rock. Grabbing it up she continued running after it. Confident that she was close enough she hurled the rock, hitting the bear in the head. The bear gave a loud roar, shook its head and turned on her. Max yelped and turned on her heal, heading back the way she came, the bear close behind.

Leithol and Charlie both skidded to a halt, gasping and watching as the bear turned on Max. Leithol growled and shook his head. "Dammit, Max!" he shouted, running after them. He reached into his pack and pulled out a pistol, passing it off to Charlie. "Find a vantage point and take it down once I have it distracted!" Charlie nodded and veered off course, looking for a higher point of view to take the shot from. Leithol ran faster after them both. "MAX! Get to a tree and climb!"

"Climb... a... tree..." Max said shaking her head. She'd never been much of a climber as a kid. Glancing around, she found the perfect tree. Launching herself at it, she grabbed ahold of a branch and tried pulling herself up. Just as she was about to swing her leg up and over when a massive paw came down on her leg, scratching through her pants and digging its claws into her flesh. "Ahhuh..." Crying out in pain she wrapped her arms around the large branch, tears running down her cheeks. "Oh my god..." she whispered as pain erupted through her leg. "Help..." she choked out the word as the bear released itself from her flesh. This was her only chance. Throwing her legs over the branch she flipped herself up into a sitting position, out of reach of bear. Clutching her injured leg she sat in the tree crying hysterically as the pain and loss of blood began to make her dizzy.

"HEY!" Leithol shouted at the bear. It growled and huffed up at Max for a bit at first, then turned on Leithol and started towards him, but a gunshot rang out. Then another. Finally, the bear collapsed on his side in the dirt just a few feet from the tree, and Leithol panted off his adrenaline. He looked up at Max, seeing the massive amounts of blood leaking from her leg, and he grit his teeth. "MAX!" He ran to her and stood at the base of the tree. "C'mon, Max.... It's dead now, c'mon down! I have to look at you..."

Max's entire body shook as she moved closer to the trunk. Wrapping her arms over it she carefully made her way down, using only the one leg until she was just out of reach of the ground. Letting her injured leg dangle she whimpered in pain as she clung to the tree. She had nothing else to grab onto. Her next step would be putting both feet on the ground, just the idea of the pain made her want to faint.

"C'mere, I got you..." Leithol crooned as he moved to help her down, wrapping his arms around her waist gently, being very careful not to touch her injured leg. "Just let go... I have you." he said, watching her. Charlie came running up from behind, and at the sight of the carnage that was Max's leg, his eyes widened. He moved to peel his belt off, running to her and not-as-gently wrapping it around her thigh. He was trying to cut off the flow of blood so she wouldn't lose any more.

Max cried out as Charley touched her, causing her to let go of the tree and into Leithol's arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck she went limp, to tired to hold herself up anymore. "I'm...so...sorry..." She whispered as her eyes closed and she sighed softly. On the one hand she was relieved that the bear was dead on the other hand she was in so much pain she really didnt care. "It hurts..." she said in a childlike voice.

"I know, I know..." Leithol crooned as he held to her snugly, cradling her against his chest as Charlie finished tying off his belt around her thigh. He then scooped her up bridal-style into his arms, knowing it would hurt her to be touching her wounds, but it would be easier to carry her this way. "We have to find a place to camp so I can look at this... I have some of that healing salve in my bag, but I won't know if there's enough of it until we wash off all the blood." he gulped, starting to walk with Charlie following close behind.

"Oh god..." Max gasped as he lifted her into his arms. Grabbing a fist full of his shirt she tried focusing on something else as she buried her face in his neck as more tears trickled down her cheeks. She tried staying calm as he walked along with her in his arms, she didnt want to get hysterical again. "Im sorry... I just... couldn't let you go off on your own with a bear right behind you..."

"Yeah, I know how you feel." Leithol snorted, rolling his eyes a little playfully. "Don't worry, love... We're going to get you fixed up. Just breathe." he whispered, moving as carefully but as quickly as he could.

"HALT! STOP WHERE YOU ARE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" came several shouts from around them. Charlie, who'd instantly held the pistol up and armed, looked around wildly as several black ops men appeared from within the trees. How had they not noticed them? The gunshots to kill the bear must have drawn them out to them. He grit his teeth, but slowly and cautiously put his pistol on the ground, holding up his hands.

Leithol stopped walking, looking around and swallowing thickly. He was so glad he still had his disguise amulet on. He clutched Max to himself tightly, protectively, backing up closer to Charlie.

"Dont shoot! This is Staff Sergeant Rogers of the Special Forces 103rd regiment. I repeat... Dont. Shoot!" Slumping into Leithol she sighed heavily and closed her eyes. "Please..." One could practically hear the panic in her voice as she spoke. She shifted around in Leithol's arms and gasped as pain shot through her leg, bringing tears to her eyes once again.

The men stopped their advances, but they didn't lower their weapons. "This is technical sergeant Simmons of the 475th regiment! State your purpose here! The 103rd regiment shifted north after an attack on their camp!" he bellowed.

Charlie and Leithol looked around slowly and Leithol tensed. "Please! She's hurt! We were attacked by a bear, please, she needs medical attention!" he insisted, shaking his head.

Max gasped softly and shook her head. "We were separated when we were attacked. We met up with this guy and have been searching for my regiment ever since." Closing her eyes she laid her head down on his chest and sighed. She was close to loosing consciousness. "Please..."

After another tense moment, the men finally lowered their guns and the tech sergeant that had spoken waved a couple of them forward. They moved to Leithol and took Max from his arms as carefully as they could, moving to put her on a portable medical gurney. They strapped her down and tucked a blanket around her, then started to carry her over the hill. Leithol followed, with Charlie behind him, and they all moved through the trees and towards a ravine that was wide-set. Within the walls of the ravine were several tents and lots more soldiers.

Max was a bit shocked when the soldiers took her from Leithol. Looking over at him from the stretched she stared at him with wide eyes. Swallowing past the lump in her throat she let them carry her into camp. Glancing around she let out a loud gasp. "Oh my god... how are you still so intact? Have you lost any men?"

"We've lost a few..." Tech sergeant Simmons said with a nod, looking around as he walked alongside her stretcher, his gun held at low ready against his chest. "But those were lost on scouting or scavenging missions." he explained. "Our camp is completely hidden, and we have these rocks to thank for it. There's a massive Magnetite collection in these walls, and it screws up the signals for those bastard aliens. They can't find us here." he explained.

"Magnetite...? Really?" Leithol asked, looking around slowly as he walked after them, sticking close to Max. This was an interesting fact, and he wondered how many other humans knew about this trick. He really hoped his own people didn't know.

"Any chance you know how many I lost? Have you heard anything from them?" Max tried sitting up, forgetting that she'd been strapped down. Her eyes flicked around taking everything in. These men needed to be very proud of themselves, figuring this out.

"Unforuntately, while the magnetite is beneficial to blocking the signals of the aliens, it also blocks our radio transmissions as well. Within a 2-click radius of the ravine. We haven't been in contact with any other squadrons in a couple of days." Simmons frowned with a shrug. "The last thing we heard from your squad was about their move." They finally came to the medical tent, which was made obvious by the giant red cross on the sides and front flaps. He held the flap open and the gurney was carried inside and set down on a cot, Leithol and Charlie close behind.

"Oh..." Max looked up at Charlie, her eyes filled with worry and sadness. Sighing heavily she glanced around the tent and smiled softly. This was familiar ground, just like their camp had been. She was comfortable in this atmosphere even if she was currently injured.

Charlie tried to give her an encouraging smile. Surely their troop was alright. They had to be. He was comfortable here too, especially after someone brought them all canteens and MRE's to eat. He opened his quickly, rather grateful for the military food he was so accustomed to rather than the gourmet food-maker that Leithol had. Besides, they couldn't use any of Leithol's stuff in front of these guys, they would surely see it was alien technology and lock them all up. Leithol opened his MRE, and peered down into it, wrinkling his nose a little. "Here, like this, princess." Charlie said, taking it from him. He mixed the water into the ziploc heater, then tucked it into the MRE bag and closed it. "Give it a few minutes to heat up. Trust me, it tastes better than it looks... and smells..." he chuckled. He then set about mixing up Max's, and he offered it to her, along with the open canteen. "Here... You need your strength." he said, looking towards the doctor as they inspected her leg. They had thoroughly numbed it up with some topical aenesthetic and were inspecting just how bad the damage was. Charlie hoped the food would help distract Max a little.

Max took the food and canteen from Charlie, giving him a small smile before she began eating. "Thank you." Sitting the canteen against her side she sighed heavily as she began nibbling her food. Looking down she watched the doctor poke and prod at her injured leg. Feeling her appetite slip away, she groaned softly and tried handing Charlie her food back to him.

But Charlie shook his head in refusal. "You have to eat, Max. You need your strength. Besides, any pain medications they give you won't work as well on an empty stomach." he said with a shrug. "Just don't look. Hey, doc, can we get a curtain put up so she doesn't have to watch?"

"What do you think this is, the Hilton?" The doc grumbled, but the nurse still moved to fashion a partition curtain as best as she could from the ceiling. Once it was set up, the doctor and nurse began to clean her wound with water, and antibacterial solutions before starting to stitch up the open wounds. Once that was all done, they wrapped her leg up tightly with several layers of bandages extending from just above her knee down to her ankle.

"Thank you," Max had murmured to the nurse as she put up the curtain. Groaning softly she hurriedly ate her meal and set the package aside. "Happy?" She grumbled at Charlie before laying back and closing her eyes. Frowning deeply she let out a soft yawn, allowing the doctor to do his job. Once he was done and began wrapping her leg, she reopened her eyes. "Will I have a full recovery?"

"Yes, but it won't be easy." The doctor said as he came around the curtain to look at her, tossing away his bloodied gloves. "A lot of the muscle was severed, though thankfully all of your ligaments are still intact and your bones are unbroken. It'll take about a week to two weeks for the muscles to start healing, and from there you'll have to do plenty of stretches and walking to get the muscles working back to the way they're supposed to." he nodded. "We'll also have to check and clean your stitches at least once a day for the next week."

Groaning softly she shook her head. "And I guess I don't get any pain meds?" She wondered how much pain she was going to be in, but by the looks of her leg she was sure it was going to be a painful process. "Just curious... how many stitches?" Her mind was trying to stay off of the pain that was sure to come.

"You'll get a few pain meds to help with the beginning of the healing process, since that'll hurt the worst... But we don't have a whole lot, so I'm afraid we can only give you enough to last this entire week." he said with a shrug. "And you have one hundred and thirty-two stitches total." he said, making both Charlie and Leithol wince clearly.

The amount of stitches he rattled off made her feel dizzy. "Oh..." Laying back she closed her eyes and shook her head. "When will I be able to walk?" Clearing her throat she picked up the canteen and took a sip from it. Massaging her temples she sighed heavily and shook her head. "I have a headache..."

The doctor nodded and turned to take a cup from the nurse, full of water. He offered it to Max, along with a large white pill. "Here's one of your pills. It'll help the headache, and it'll help you sleep after the local aenesthetic wears off in your leg." he said softly. "It'll take about thirty minutes to start working, so I suggest you take it now."

Max eagerly took the water and the pill. Handing the empty cup back to the doctor she smiled softly. "Thank you... for everything." Laying back she sighed softly and relaxed. Glancing around the tent she frowned deeply and met Leithol's eyes. She hadn't really gotten to talk to him since they'd been brought here and now she was going to be drifting off to sleep once the pill kicked in.

Once the doctor and nurse had both walked off to see to other patients, and Charlie had gone to toss away their garbage from their MRE's, Leithol shifted his chair closer to her bedside. He smiled down at her, moving to hold her hand. "I was terrified..." he whispered honestly. "That bear really did a number on you..." He gulped, looking sincerely nervous for a moment, then sighed and leaned down, kissing her forearm. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I really am sorry... I never meant for this to happen. I just couldn't bare to see you hurt." Squeezing his hand tightly, tears brimmed her eyes as she looked up at him. "I would rather it be me laying here...than you." Sniffling, she cleared her throat, trying to suck it up. "I can handle it..." Trying to sound brave, she smiled her bottom lip trembling slightly.

Leithol shook his head. "You don't have to handle it alone." He leaned down and kissed her trembling lips, trying to still them. He stroked her hair at the same time, and held her hand against her chest, just being close to her. "It's alright, Max. Once we're alone, I'll spread some more of my special salve on your leg... We'll get you healed up in no time."

Max nodded her head gently and sighed in relief. Situating herself so she was more comfortable she clutched his hand to her chest and smiled. "I hate to do this but... is it okau if I sleep now? Im not sure I can stay awake much longer." Reaching down with her free hand she eased a finger under her wrapping and itch gently without irritating anything. Removing her hand from the wrappings she rested it on her stomach and rubbed it gently, easing the nerves that were fluttering in there.

"Of course, there's no need to even ask." Leithol chuckled. He then shifted and stood off of the chair, scooting into the cot with her and laying on his side so she would have more room than he would and she would be comfortable. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, nuzzling his face into her neck. "Sleep sweet, Max." he whispered.

Max smiled softly and nodded her head before drifting off into a state of unconciousness. She awoke several hours later due to an act in her leg. Groaning softly she looked around, down at her leg. Somehow during her sleep her leg had slipped off of the cot. Grunting softly she sat up and carefully lifted her leg up onto the cot and sighed. Laying back down she closed her eyes and gave a soft sigh, relaxing but not returning to sleep.

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The next morning, Leithol was awoken by the sounds of groaning injureds. He sat up slowly and looked around, and noticed that several other wounded soldiers were suddenly occupying the beds that had been empty the night before. He frowned and looked around, seeing the nurse passing out pain medications, but the doctor was nowhere in sight. "Excuse me... Where's the doctor?"

"He's in surgery this morning... We were attacked by an enemy ship during a supply raid last night. It was a trap. Only a third of the soldiers that went out came back." she explained solemnly, then passed him a cup with a large white pill in it. "For when she wakes up. Get her to eat before she takes it though."

Leithol nodded in thanks and set the cup on the bedside table, watching the nurse move on to continue her duties, and he frowned deeply down at Max. He then also looked around for Charlie, who was nowhere in sight. He sighed and laid back down, wrapping his arms protectively around Max, nuzzling into her neck.

Max was awoken by his nuzzling, causing her to inhale sharply in surprise. "Mmmm...morning." Smiling softly she opened her eyes and glanced around. She noticed several injured men had joined her in the large tent and frowned. "Leithol...what happened last night? Why are there so many injured men?" Sitting up slightly she wiped the sleep from her eyes, ridding them of their blurriness.

Leithol frowned a little, sitting up with her and shaking his head, putting his lips to her shoulder. "The nurse said there was an ambush last night during a supply raid... This is only a third of the soldiers that originally went." he explained briefly in a low whisper. "My people are... ruthless... I'm honestly surprised this many survived."

Max frowned deeply as she glanced around and shook her head, sighing heavily. "Well where's Charlie?" She ran her hand against her neck and frowned with a small ache. Licking her lips, she turned her eyes to Leithol. "How sad... I can't believe it. Just yesterday we were talking about how they'd been unharmed."

"No one goes unharmed for long." Leithol said solemnly and shook his head. He looked around slowly, as if checking to make sure none of the injured men were Charlie, and to his relief they weren't. But it still pegged the question of where Charlie was. He moved to get up and looked down at Max. "You just sit here and relax. I'll go try to find Charlie."

"No!" Max almost screamed, starling everyone in the tent. She lurched forward to grab Leithol, loosing balance and toppled off of the cot. Crying out in pain she sat there taking deep breaths as a few tears ran down her face. "Ow... fuck..." Turning her head she looked up at him, and frowned deeply. "Don't leave me..."

Leithol gasped and instantly knelt at her side, shaking his head and looping his arms under her. He hoisted her back up onto the cot and checked her leg, making sure she was comfortable, before shaking his head at her. "I won't leave you... I'm sorry, I won't go." he said and moved to kiss her tears away off her cheeks before kissing her firmly. "I won't go anywhere, I promise."

Pulling him down onto the cot beside her, she snuggled into his chest and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry... for some reason I'd just gotten scared." Sighing heavily, she wrapped an arm around his waist as the other was wrapped around the front of him, her hand resting on his chest.

"Shh, it's alright, you don't have to be scared..." Leithol crooned, stroking her hair and rubbing her back, tangling himself around her. He hugged her protectively and looked around at all of the other injured men, giving an apologetic look for her having startled them. He kissed her head and nuzzled her. "I'm sorry for scaring you like that." he whispered. "How is your leg? Does it hurt?"

"Yeah, it didn't so much when I woke up, but my tumble really made it worse." Max was kind of surprised at how attached she had gotten to this man. It wasn't normal for her to fall for someone, especially not someone who was supposed to be the enemy. "Leithol... I love you..." She whispered softly as she leaned over and kissed his lips.

Leithol's eyes went wide at her words, but he kissed her back briefly. He broke it and looked at her in shock and awe, not sure what to say at first. He stuttered, gulped, then smiled. "Really..?" he asked softly, then kissed her again firmly. "I love you too." He had only learned about this human emotion called "love," but he knew that it was a special feeling for humans. It was treasured, sometimes at an even higher level than pride and power. This emotion called love was the one thing humans strived for the most during their short lifetimes. And she had felt it for him. He felt so honored, and flattered, and alive. He kissed her again and again, then hugged her close.

Max blushed deeply and shook her head slightly. "Can you feel love?" She remembered them talking about how his kind normally didn't feel emotions so when he reciprocated her words she wondered it if were really true or if he was only saying in the moment. Chewing on her bottom lip she searched his eyes trying to find an answer but receiving none. He had to be honest with her, it was the only way she'd know his true feelings.

"I... I don't know, honestly..." Leithol whispered, watching her guiltily. "I want to try to feel it for you. I want to feel it for you." he nodded determinately and kissed her again. "It... It feels like both of my hearts are going to burst, and I can't breathe when I'm not near you... I think about you all the time, and I always feel the urge to kiss you." he whispered, then gave her a blushing smile. "Telling you that I love you just feels.. right."

Max smiled softly and nodded her head. "Well how about we hold off saying it for now. Just in case." Max hadnt actually meant to say the words outloud. She felt it was too soon for her to love him, especially since they didnt know each other that well.

Leithol's smile fell away and he studied her a moment. "B-but... why would we stop saying it when it feels so... right?" he asked softly, looking a little like a confused child. He shook his head though and renewed his smile for her. "But... if it's what you want, then I'll abide it." He kissed her forehead and just snuggled her, hugging her to his chest.

Max sighed in relief as she laid her head against his chest. Closing her eyes she groaned in pain as she stretched her leg. "Ow... oh it hurts." Letting out a deep sigh she frowned deeply and relaxed into the cot. "We should ask if anyone's seen Charlie."

Leithol nodded and looked around, then stopped a passing nurse. "Have you seen our friend? He's kinda rough-looking? He's a tech sergeant? Charlie is his first name..."

"Yes, I know who you're talking about. He went out to the canteen to get you lot some food a little bit ago. He should be back soon. Here's some water. You need to drink plenty of it with that pain pill I gave you." she said to Max and set down a couple small glasses of water before moving on to the other injured soldiers.

"What pill?" Glancing at Leithol, Max frowned slightly. At the sound of food, her stomach rumbled in a very unlady like way. "Oops.. I hope Charlie gets back soon, that is embarrassing." Shaking her head she looked at where the nurse set the water down and smiled. "Ooo...pill." Grabbing it up she popped it into her mouth and took a long drink.

Leithol chuckled a little and watched her take the pill and finish her water, then snuggled into her some more, just breathing. Finally, after about another twenty minutes, Charlie appeared at the front of the tent with a tray of food. He carried it to Max's bed and smiled. "Gods, it's a madhouse in that canteen." he laughed. "Finally got you some food though. The best of the servings."

Max sighed heavily and smiled. "Gods... we were so worried about you. Damnit dont scare us like that." Looking at the tray she smiled softly. "But im glad you brought food back with you." Sitting up she patted the end of the cot beside her legs and smiled. "Take a seat."

"I'm fine, boss, no worries." Charlie shrugged with a smile, but he sat down at the end of her cot anyways, being rather careful of her legs. Leithol smiled at Charlie a little and then went back to snuggling into Max's side, before stealing a bite of food off her plate. "Mm... not bad." he mumbled around it.

Max smiled at Charlie and shook her head before taking a bite off of her plate. Making a satisfying sound, she nodded her head. "Agreed... It's better then our packets..." Laughing softly she shook her head before quickly devouring her food. Once she was finished she leaned back and closed her eyes. "I don't want to stay in here forever..."

Charlie laughed a little at her. "Well, you shoulda thought of that before you let the bear get you." he teased and smiled warmly, stealing a grape from her plate.

Leithol chuckled briefly as well and shrugged. "That was my fault. I should have distracted the bear better." he said and smiled at her, kissing her shoulder lightly. "Are you feeling okay? Did the pain medication kick in yet? Do you need more water?"

"It's starting to kick in." Sighing softly, Max looked back and forth between the two of them and smiled softly. "I dont need anymore water, and I'm feeling fine, thank you." Playfully, she kicked Charlie with her good leg and shook her head at him. "Behave."


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Celestial Conflict