I heard him coming, then I smelt him. That familiar scent of chemicals, blood, and herbs. “Nevin!” I stood and turned to him. He gave me a quirked smile as he approached the center of the small grassy field and lowered the basket to the floor.

“I said meet me at the Marketplace Pet. Not here.” It was a joke, and his lips tilted upward as he looked at me, his eyes gleaming in amusement.

Rather...his entire demeanour sagged. “Nevin? Is yo- are you ok?” I asked as I approached him. His vibrant crimson eyes lowered to look at me as he reached up and rested a hand upon my head and gently stroked my hair. I opened my mouth to speak but paused when I felt it, a strange bubbling, shifting and writhing sensation beneath my hands. I glanced down to his chest where his skin shifted. “Nevin?” Alarmed I drew my hands away and his body tensed. His shoulders rose and he shifted back half a step.

I leaned in closer and pressed my lips to the gurgling skin then wrapped my arms around his torso, pressing my face into his chest. “Please be ok. I will kiss better, yes?” I was… alarmed. I mean, I was used to seeing strange things from the man I loved. Blood tendrils and all but not such a strange and contained writhing sensation. It felt weird, but that was nothing compared to the worry I felt for Nevin. This all started happening the moment I had re-attached the piece of soul I was working on to him. Was this my fault?

“I am sorry.”

I drew away and placed my hands over the gurgling flesh and pressed down. “This might… Be my fault. Because try to fix soul. Will help fix together? “

“No - no.” He drew in a shuddering breath, and let it out slowly, shaking his head as he did so. Crimson strands of hair danced around his head, then stilled as he clenched his eyes shut. I felt my heart tremble as he pulled back, stepping away from me - then where my hands had been, I saw something begin to glow slightly, before it wriggled out from beneath his skin. His threads, the thin bands of semi-solid blood, danced about in the air, revealing the source of the twisting that had been going on beneath his skin. “I just had to deal with something, and wanted to see how you'd react.” I looked up quickly at that odd statement, but his face had smoothed out into that quirked half-smile again. His eyes remained on me for a moment before shifting, swinging away from me as he gestured to the basket.

“Come, we should set up our little picnic, shouldn't we?”

It was… confusing. “How I react?” How did he think I was going to react? I was worried. I still am. I gave him a curious look as I headed over to him and placed my hands over his and gently pulled the basket from his grasp.

“If something bother you. Tell Eteri please.” I said as I stood on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on the underside of his chin.

“You is important to Eteri.” I said as I reached out and pushed those silken strands of red away from dark eyes. I offered him a reassuring smile as I turned from him and headed for the flattened patch of grass I had been sitting in.

I fished around till I found the ragged blue blanket shoved in the bottom of the basket and pulled it out, along with it toppled a few apples. I wrinkled my nose. “Nevinnnnnnn….”

He gave me a wry smile. “You have to eat more than just meat, love. Your body needs what's in the other stuff.”

I huffed and lay the blanket out flat, smoothing it over with my palms. I pulled the rest of the contents from the basket, more fruits… Ugh seriously? Meats both cured and roasted and a variety of crackers.

All the while something bothered me. The way he was acting. I cleared my throat and as we promised I let him know what was on my mind. “you acting strange. First all boasting. Now moody. What happened?”

He paused from where he was sorting out the foods that I was pulling out, and turned to look at me for a long few moments where he said nothing, just stared at me with those dark red eyes. Then he closed them and gave a tight smile, and exhaled softly. Another moment passed before his smile widened, and he chuckled. “Well, I realized I could still freak people out, even if they are getting more used to me. And did it to some tart who thought she could get touchy when I said no.” He shrugged slightly and pulled out a tough piece of bread, and laid some of the meats and a little bit of vegetables on top of the slice of bread. He held the makeshift platter of food out to me.

I furrowed my brow and pushed the plate of food down to the ground. I wasn’t all that hungry. No, I was fuming. Angry. Hurt. “The hell is that supposed to meaning?” I spat back at him. The words must of surprised him as his shoulders stiffened and reared back. His ever Crimson eyes stared curiously at me, almost hurt as though he were a cornered animal.

“You upset because some lady not like you? Nevin...you is a god! You have hundreds of peoples good and bad who follow you!” I pushed myself to a standing position, my small frame looming over his hulking one. “HUNDREDS!” I cried out again. “You are worshipped, adored! loved. Not just by them but by me!” I hit my chest with the flat of my palm, my words cracking, hands shaking.

How could one lady, one insignificant woman do this to him? Where was the strong and confident man I loved? Why was he letting this get to him? “What is the point? What is point of Me doing the this?” I said as I reached down and pulled at his chest, ignoring the wince and grunt of pain he emitted.

A long shimmery wave of colour emerged from him, some places were still dirtied and looked as though it had been dragged through the mud but the majority of his soul was beautiful. A tapestry of rich reds and shimmering purple danced and glistened in the moonlight. Thick weaves of gold tied it all together in a swirling pattern. “What is point of working so hard on this?” I clarified as I let it gently fall back into his body. “When you not even care? When you think more about this one woman has to saying?”

By this point, I was practically in tears. Frustrated. Hurt. Angry. How did he not see his own worth by now? Why...why was he so troubled by one comment by one lady? Sure he may seem like he had gotten over it now, but how long until the next offhand comment, the sideward glance? The look of disgust that would be thrown his way and send him into a downward spiral. I didn’t want that to happen. I couldn’t let that happen.

I’ll kill her.

I’ll fucking kill her.