The Arrangement

While Luis was comfortable enough to quickly fall asleep, he would find himself awake in a equally sudden fashion. He wasn't used to staying in one spot as much as he had been doing so lately. It made him more, and more restless every time. He gave a single sigh as he decided it was worth it for Raya's sake. She was healing, and it would take it's sweet time.

Raya jump when she felt Luis wake up, her blue eyes widening in surprise. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, tilting her head and looking concerned as she brushed his hair back from his face. "You woke up quick. Did you have a bad dream?" she asked softly, looking down at him with tired blue eyes that were slowly gaining brightness to them. It was true - she was still healing. Her face was swollen on the side she'd gotten hit, her eye was still blackened and the skin still split and bruised. Her ankle felt much better, on the bright side.

Luis looked down at the girls beaten face. He hated to see her like this. It was a good thing he could fight on his own, or it might have been much worse. "Just fine kid." He finally said, after a short pause that felt like forever. "I should probably get up now." He finally admitted. He hadn't done any proper study or exercise in what seemed like ages.

Raya smiled happily at him and nodded, hugging him one more time before getting to her feet and looking down at the cat bowl with a sad look on her face, then sighed and nodded decisively, heading over to the bathroom and turning on the tap. She didn't even close the door, not wanting to be too separated from him. She didn't feel protected if he wasn't there with her, but she didn't want him to be in the tub with her. At least, she didn't think she did. She undressed slowly, wincing slightly when her sore muscles stretched.

Luis glanced over to see Raya's reaction to the bowl. With another sigh he went about the living space, and removed the cats effects from sight. He would leave them under the sink in case they were needed again, but now was likely too soon. Cats were too much trouble anyways. Seeing nothing else to do, he takes to his studies again, unable to take his mind off of the recent events.

Raya looked over at him. From where she was sitting in the bath, she could see him, but just barely. "Luis?" she called quietly. "I have a question..." She trailed off, a small hum of thought escaping her as she moved her thin legs around in the hot water. She always liked her baths a bit too hot. "...Do you like me?" she finished, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth and shifting in the tub, almost scared of his answer.

Luis looked over, wondering why the girls voice was so clear, then quickly shifted back realizing the door was left open. That was bad enough. Now he had to deal with the ultimate double edged question. Luis rubbed his temples in through, then in eventual frustration. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?" He finally gave in a nonchalant tone. The whole question was a trap. There was no way to win, and he knew it.

Raya noticed that he looked away when he saw the door was open, then she got out and wrapped a towel around herself to go close it again. "Because I'm annoying. Aren't I? I'm a pest," she called back as she moved over to get in the bath again. "I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't like me. All I've done is cry and sleep since you let me come here," she mumbled as she washed her long, white hair. "Do you want me to go back to my house?" she asked uncertainly.

Luis flipped a few pages nervously, no really sure what he was looking for anymore. Finally he simply shut the book. "Listen, if I wanted you gone then I would say so." He began in his blunt tone. "And of course you're sleeping a lot, you need rest... Same goes for crying. You can't hold that stuff back... If you do it'll eat you alive." He spoke softy, crossing his arms on the table, and resting his head on top of them. "So-... just stop worrying about that stuff." He added with a light stumble in his words.

Raya finished in the bath and got into some silky, oversized pajamas she'd brought with her. She trotted over to the bag she'd brought and picked up the picture of her parents to go bring it to Luis. She walked into the room hesitantly and smiled at him before sitting it down on the table. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Thank you for taking care of me and protecting me and loving me," she told him, sounding genuinely grateful. "I want to give you that picture. It's my favorite thing..." She trailed off, looking at the two people that were her biological parents. She was quite literally the spitting image of her mother, except the woman was curvier and had duller eyes. The father was tall, with dark hair and blue eyes, and looked quite a bit like Luis. The two were standing together in the old picture, looking happy. The mother was holding a little pink blanket with a tuft of white hair sticking out, that was obviously Raya. It went without explanation that they were her parents.

Luis looked down at the picture with a slightly surprised look on his face. It may have been the first time in so long that something broke his icy calm, and didn't turn into anger. He couldn't take this could he? It meant so much to her. He really couldn't do it justice keeping it. You aren't supposed to turn down a gift though right? Finally Luis placed the picture back into Raya's hands. "Keep it. It's too important for me to keep from you." He said, as his expression transitioned into a soft smile. Maybe he just needed a picture of Raya instead.

Raya looked equally as surprised as he had when he put it back in her hands. "But... it's special," she said softly, moving to hug it close to her chest and then pull it back so she could look at her parent's faces. A gentle smile crossed her lips. "I don't remember too much about them, but I know that they were so nice and sang songs to me," she said quietly. "I almost had somewhere safe and loving and secure to live at, but they died in a car crash. They fell in the river," she mumbled, reaching up to stroke her fingers down the picture. "I wanted you to have it because it gives me better dreams when I have it under my pillow. I feel like I have my parents there to sleep with when I'm scared, but now I don't need it as much because I have you," she said with a small smile.

Yeah, Luis knew it was special. The fact that she wanted him to have it had a tremendous effect. Only, it was far too important for him to have. "Thanks, but I think you'd better keep it." He said, leaning backwards into his chair. "Jus' doesn't seem right, you know? One day, I'll just get a picture of you instead."

Raya tilted her head in confusion and sat down in the floor to look up at him with round blue eyes. "Why do you want a picture of me?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together. She honestly wasn't sure why he would want a photograph of her over the one of her parents. It just didn't make sense. "You'll get to see me every day, so how come you need a picture?" she asked again, finding a small dust bunny in the floor to play with.

Luis rubbed Raya's head gently, mentally apologizing if he had just messed up her hair. It was true, he would probably see her everyday, but it would still mean more than a picture of someone he had never met. "Yeah, but what if I don't?" He said with a small laugh. "Never know when one of us will have to be away for some reason, right?"

Raya leaned her head over so that he could reach more of it. She really liked having him pet her hair like that, regardless of the fact it was getting messed up. Raya just wasn't the type who cared about stuff like that. She looked up at him, then frowned. "I didn't think about that, but I guess you're right. Okay, I can take a picture," she told him with a small smile, leaning her head over on his leg. "What if I got a hair cut? Like, to my shoulders?" she asked, looking at her long white hair with a thoughtful frown.

Luis tilted his head at the question. like hair mattered. He never bothered to educate himself on the nuances of girls... Or men for that matter. "I'm not really the person you wanna ask about that." He spoke plainly. "I try for efficiency. That's it."

"You don't think it would be pretty?" Raya asked, tilting her head to the side and frowning a bit. "I think it would. Mommy had short hair," she said thoughtfully, looking up at Luis before grinning and standing up to play with his hair, threading it between her small, dainty fingers. "I like your hair just the way it is, though. I think you'd look so weird if you had any other hair cut," she commented playfully, her eyes shining brightly as stepped up onto the back of the chair to look at him upside down, her hair falling into his lap it was so long.

Luis gave a light laugh. His eyes ran down to where the hair rested on his lap, and then back up to meet the girls eyes. "Well, I would hate for you to trip on your hair." Luis rubbed the side of his head, where the girl had ran her hand through his hair. One of these days, he was determined, he would get used to people touching him without hitting him.

"It isn't that long!" Raya protested grumpily, squeaking when she ended up being a little topheavy and flipped over the top of the chair, tumbling ungracefully into Luis's lap and then into the floor, clipping several of her flailing limbs against the desk as she did so. Afterward, she just lay there, quite a bit dazed and sore from the sudden fall.

Luis gave a light laugh, as the girl tumbled over him. Leaning forward from his chair, his eyes scanned over her, never losing their smile. "You alright?" He asked half seriously. Though he could appreciate that she may have managed to wound herself from even just that. The girl seemed to have a knack for it.

Raya blushed darkly and got to her feet. She wasn't hurt anywhere but in her pride, and it did hurt that he had laughed at her. She shrugged her shoulders when he asked if she was okay, clearly fighting back tears. She rubbed her eyes and turned to walk out of the room and to the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it behind her, sitting on the floor. He didn't have to laugh at her. She crossed her arms and leaned her head against the door, determined not to cry.

Luis face-palmed as the girl escaped to the bathroom. "Partnered a bull with a china shop." He muttered under his breath so that it was barely audible. Knocking on the door lightly, he pauses a bit. "You uh-... You alright in there Raya?" He paused once again, this time a bit longer. "You know I didn't mean anything by it, right?"

Raya hugged her knees to her chest and didn't respond at first, pursing her lips and sniffling, but still not crying. "I wouldn't have laughed at you," she mumbled quietly, getting to her feet and opening the door to try and get past him to head for the kitchen. "You're mean. I hurt my head," she said, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air, her lower lip poked out just a bit.

Luis gave another sigh. "Yeah I guess you wouldn't have." He really wished this girl would lighten up. He gave a mental laugh at the thought of someone besides him needing to do so. Seeing the girls pouty face, he couldn't contain a small smile from stretching across his lips. He gave her another rub on the head. "You'll be just fine."

Raya continued to pout, making a face when he rubbed her head and then finding that she didn't want him to stop. She tilted her head toward him so he could reach it better. She smiled a bit at him. "It isn't nice to laugh at people when they get hurt though," she told him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "But it's okay. I forgive you," she said happily, sending him a bright smile when she pulled away a bit.

Luis smiled softly down at the girl. "Uh-!?" His eyes widened at a sudden surge. He gave a light tremble, is mouth coming to be slightly agape, his eyes gazing into no where in particular now. He felt another pulse of emotion. It felt like lightning coiling around his soul. It coiled like a snake itching to strike forth in any direction possible. D-don't you dare!! He closed his mouth onto his lip, tighter, and tighter until it bled. He tried desperately not to let Raya see the random conflict. Where is it coming from?! He pleaded to himself. Grasping Raya's shoulder, he pushed her away, just a little too roughly. "T-thank you." He spoke, giving a light gasp.

Raya gasped when he pushed her away, her blue eyes round as she reached up to hold her shoulder - it was sure to be bruised the next day. The white-haired girl took a nervous step back, looking very scared. "U-uhm... I'm sorry," she said quietly, her heart beating very quickly. "I didn't mean to do anything wrong..." At this, her nose wrinkled up and tears sprung into her eyes. She sniffled thickly and took a step back, lingering around for a punishment, if he wanted to give her one. She'd willfully accept it, since she figured she'd done something very wrong.

The coils seemed to be growing tighter around him. The white hot lightning wanted so badly to fire off. He couldn't though. He didn't even know why this was happening. It all felt so wrong, and yet-. No. Luis brought a hand to his face, and shook his head. "N-no. You're fine kid. Just-... Just fine." He stumbled past her a bit, stepping outside. In the sun, and fresh air, he felt the madness loosening it's grip. What...? What was that? Why?

Raya did not want to follow him, but felt it was her duty as a Meister to do so. She looked down before walking after him, tears still pooling in her eyes. "Did I do something wrong? Are you okay?" she asked, looking very uncertain and even a bit scared. She just felt like he was going to hit her, or yell at her, or something. She hated that, because she thought that he would protect her, though she guessed she was wrong. "Y-you can hit me if I did something to make you mad."