Blood and Rust

"Easy for you to say that. You are pretty worn out." Balo gave Lana a proud look. "Yeah that's right. I know some heal magic myself. Cool huh? Learned it from watching you do it all the time." Balo put his hands down on Lana's legs to start up the process. "I have more stamina than you so I should be able to keep it up longer."

"...I don't know whether to be jealous or just bop you upside the head..." Lana muttered, relaxing her tired body.

Balo was deep in concentration to even notice what she said. Balo wasn't able to use too much power for fear that his dark side would come out again. This might take a while. Maybe it would be better if Lana just slept overnight and they left the following night. Not like they were in a rush or anyone was after them trying to kill them.

"You're...actually doing a pretty good job. At least I can feel my legs again." Lana commented as she watched Balo work. "Though if you want, I can teach you further healing techniques."

"Thanks. I know more than enough offense spells. Maybe helping instead of hurting could be a nice change of pace."

"Don't think of it as hurting. Think of it as self-defense." Lana admonished. "Now that I think about it, I need to work on my offense spells. I'm better at defense and could use some proper training."

"Well well. That is an odd coincidence. Why don't we just help each other out? You show me defense and I show you offense."

"Sounds like a plan to me... And you can let go of my leg now..."

Balo looked down at his hands and his face went red. "S-sorry. Guess it was an impulse." He turned away from her. "Ummm. I guess we will start tomorrow night."

"Yeah, tomorrow night sounds good." Lana said as she slipped off her coat and boots. She turned to Balo. "Thanks for healing me, I appreciate it, Balo. And..."

She blushed and turned her head away, speaking the last part quietly. "...You don't have to sleep on the floor tonight if you don't want to..."

Balo turned to Lana flasbergasted. "B-but, it's a twin size bed."

Lana went an even deeper red, feeling very embarassed. "I-It's your choice! I don't take up much room...and I was joking about kicking in my sleep..."

Oh god, she just wanted to die right now! Anything was better than this!

'Ohhhhhh. I see where this is going. I find it funny how she thinks she can hide her tomato red face.' Balo made sure that Lana didn't see him smile to himself. "I guess I can. Are you sure you feel comfortable with this?"

Lana didn't say anything, only moving over to make some room for Balo and throwing her pillow over her face, not exactly trying to suffocate herself but just to vent out her embarassment. "It's fine with me..." Came her pillow-muffled voice, gripping the pillow even tighter.

'I think I will have a little fun with this.' Balo began to sit down on the bed. As he put his hand down, he purposely brushed his hand across the length of her back.

Her body immediately stiffened up at the touch, her hair almost standing on edge. 'Perhaps I should be the one sleeping on the floor...' Lana thought to herself, feeling her face grow even warmer.

Balo couldn't help himself. This was too much fun even for him. "You know what, I think I will relax your nerves and sleep on the floor again. At least that will give you time for you to stop blushing." Balo lauged as he stretched out on the floor laughing out loud.

Lana immediately jerked up and to the side of the bed to face Balo, intending on defending her pride. "I am NOT blush--AHHHH!"

...Unfortunately she jerked a little too hard and fast and ended up tumbling off the bed...right on top of Balo. When her head stopped spinning she looked up to find herself gazing into his eyes, noses just barely brushing.

Balo didn't know how to react. He just froze as he was looking into her eyes. "Umm. I don't think BOTH of us need to sleep on the floor."

"Umm...right..." Lana realized what she was doing and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. She sat up and looked away. "S-sorry..."

Balo sat up. "Don't worry about it. It was an accident." Balo stood up. "Seeing as how you are a nervous wreck right now, I will go sleep in the room down the hall." Balo walked towards the door. He decide to mess with her one more time before he left.

"Seeing you blush is a cute image." Balo said with a smile on his face.

"If you leave I'm going to be having nightmares again!!" Lana blurted out, now feeling suicidal. On one hand she wanted these new feelings to go away, but then again, she didn't want Balo to go. She continued, more softly, "Please..."

Balo turned back to Lana. "Are you sure you want to do that? Just by looking at you I can tell you are uncomfortable with me being near you. You haven't even looked at me in the eye since you fell to the floor. It was an accident. Accidents happen."

"I just...feel safe when you're here..." Lana whispered and curled up on the bed, holding her knees while staring at the wall.

Balo sighed. "Guess it can't be helped. I will sleep in the corner. Always could sleep better sitting anyway." Balo walked to the corner closest to the bed and plopped himself down. "This better for you?"