Sooner or later, of course, Jerico had to sleep. He thought it best not to use his usual charms and attempt to crawl into her bed. At least, not until he was certain she wouldn't kill him.
Brandon was not easy to convince to watch her. He much preferred watching over Rhe's unmoving body for however many days he might sleep. He even preferred helping the boy eat to recover his energy over the very possibility of conversation with this... girl. This odd girl living alone in a castle, demanding doors be closed and winding up draining their resources.
But then Jerico was capable of being very convincing. He'd been trained in it, after all--the girl was fine alone for an hour or so. And it wasn't as if Rhe would notice. Jerico could be very quiet when it was required of him.
Not that Brandon was any less annoyed walking into Nikkira's room. To be fair, she seemed a little annoyed at his presence as well; it was a shared cold stare, which seemed somehow... a bit more settling. Especially since his plans included only sitting in the chair and waiting for Jerico to relieve him of his duty upon waking.
"What are you doing here?" she finally asked.
"Watching you." He threw back in a low grumble.
"I don't need to be watched." She insisted harshly.
She was grinding on the very last nerve he had. "I promised I would watch you. So I am. So let's both just go to sleep and hope the hours go by fast."
"Fine." She hissed, turning away from him as quickly as her damaged body would allow.
"Fine." He repeated, curling up in the chair and closing his eyes.
"No." He growled, trying to get his bearings so he could pull Jerico's legs out from under him.
He didn't get the chance--grasping Brandon by both arms and hauling him to his feet, Jerico began walk-dragging him out the door. "She went down two flights of stairs to sit in the kitchen, just to prove she could."
Brandon blinked at that, letting himself be lead. So she was stupidly headstrong, too. No surprise there. "And why does this involve me?"
"You were supposed to watch her." Jerico hissed, clutching tighter as he came to the first set of stairs. No way was he letting go--he knew Brandon would run. Not that there were any plans to "enact punishment" or anything of the sort, of course... but Jerico planned to set things up so it wouldn't happen again.
Back with Brandon in tow, Jerico introduced them in a hard tone. "Nikkira, this is Brandon. Brandon, this is Nikkira." At that point, he finally released the other boy.
Though granted his freedom, Brandon remained surprisingly still. He really wasn't certain what was expected of him. While he knew that technically he might have more muscle mass than Jerico, he knew a damn lot better than to piss him off.
"Hey." Nikkira grunted, a little unsure of what she was supposed to say or do as well.
Apparently the mere introduction had been enough for Jerico. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands for a moment, yawning. "Okay. I'm gonna go check on the kid."
The other two left behind to stare at one another, they did just that--for a bit. It was broken with Nikkira finally shrugged and went back to her coffee. Seeing that as good enough of a dismissal, Brandon left.
Rhe woke up on the third day, shivering. Jerico had been there by chance, quickly finding more blankets and venturing to the kitchen to get him food.
"You should go see him with me." Jerico said, hearing Nikkira's footsteps behind him even as he was noisily exploring the pantry. "He'll want to know you're okay."
"You can tell him." She responded--not cruelly, but certainly with distance.
He turned to look at her then, to fix her with a dull stare; though his voice was notably light. "You want us to leave, huh?"
It seemed... an odd question. One that actually managed to make her blink. "You wouldn't be fool enough to stay here after having witnessed... that..."
Jerico shrugged, turning back to the shelves. "You seem to have handled yourself quite nicely before that. We don't have much to worry about. Do you have any fresh meat or vegetables? We've been living off of dried things for a little too long..."
"A cart comes every two weeks." She responded, not willing to admit to how glad she was for the subject change. "The root cellar is all the way at the end of the pantry, through that door. The meat is down the second set of steps."
"Hadn't even thought to look there." He laughed almost sheepishly, seeming completely at ease again--until his eyes rested on her. "We're still criminals, technically. We don't have anywhere else to go where we won't be executed."
"That doesn't make me feel any better..." she muttered, turning slightly from his gaze. "You don't seem like a bunch of murderers and rapists."
The comment brought on a smirk. "Oh? And you've met enough of them, have you?"
"Yes. I have." She responded flatly.
His expression fell. "Oh." In a castle... he simply hadn't assumed...
"So?" she interrupted his thought process. "Why Gelha?"
"Why are you here?" he countered, finding himself much too curious to be distracted.
Enough silence fell between them to signal she had no intention of humoring him. "Fair enough." She finally decided on.
Jerico's smirk returned, though softer. "I won't be getting an answer, will I?"
"Not before I do." She admitted with a shrug, finally starting to walk away.
"Does that mean we can stay, then?" he called to her retreating back.
It didn't seem like she was going to bother with an answer until she stopped at the door--but didn't turn. Truth was, even with the quality of the company... it still changed the energy of the castle. She couldn't help but revel in the idea of occasional conversation that wasn't screamed in tongues or her own pain-filled curses. "If you stay away from that door. And my room. I mean it this time."
"Of course." He flashed that charming smile even knowing she wouldn't see it... with no intension of keeping his word.
