Everett
**There was a moment of hesitation, but, then he sat next to Vierna. The space between the two was closed— he was literally a breath away from the duchess. His emotions stirred, something primal inside of him wanted to be close to the woman. The occasion touching of forms due to the rocking of the carriage had their effects— a man so touch starved that being this close to a woman could accidentally send him off the edge. He kept himself in check. He felt... Flustered. Yes, flustered. Upon his pale face was the slight rose of blush upon his cheeks.**

". . . My apologies again, Lady Vierna." **He would say again. The normally confident Doctor seemed awfully subdued in this moment. Yes, Vierna could tell. He was anxious. He didn't want to lose this job— he didn't want to sully the Duchess's good name. He knew what the Lazarothi culture was like. A matriarchal one. Though despite that, he still had his pride as a man. He wasn't from here, no.** "I do not mean to disrespect our boundaries." **He would finally add, making his mind known to her. He simply did not want to disrespect the Duchess. He was from a lower class, after all. She was a noble, he was... _Just_ a doctor. A doctor with the blood of a fiend that was boiling. Screaming.**

**He looked at his hands. He didn't want to look at Vierna, as he wanted to keep his Concubus urges controlled. But with how close they were... It was hard. _Very_ hard.**

**He could feel sweat tickle down the side of his forehead. He swallowed his saliva. He wasn't afraid of Vierna. He was afraid _for_ her.**
Henry
**It was truly hard to decipher just what struggles manifested internally within her Foreign Advisor. Her Doctor, now forced in a place he likely never wished to tread so early on in the Lazarothian venture. Perhaps then, this little escapade could be considered a subtle cruelty. The Duchess would not make his condition easy for him, it seemed. Partly ignorance, but above all that adventurous nature that seemed quick to dig in and tease. Henryk, the poor soul, oh how Vierna caught quick the anxious nature of a Man so close to her Employer. In Lazaroth it would be a great privilege, but for a starved concubi simply the dangling of wants rarely ever gorged upon.**

**The occasional bumps of the road would not help. The subtle scents of Lazarothian perfume that adorned her very person another in the way of Concubi composure. Then, that ever so daring glance of a sapphire blue looming over the struggling Doctor. Vierna would sight the reddening of formerly pale cheeks, the eye contact now distant and focused in shyness. Another shade of a Doctor she had not yet fully deciphered. Of a Man with many quirks that brought both quality and mystery. Disrespect was the word that clung to Vierna's thoughts. Boundaries, another. Henryk feared what he may unleash, but to the Duchess she valued to see him most of all. There was a hope to try and reassure him, but in thought would it not encourage a side that Henryk dearly desired to be left forgotten? A complexity, clear.**
.

"..I see how you stir, Henryk. Unlike you, truly." - **The Duchess probed in curiosity. A soft judgement played from her lips, a tune all the more familiar with that prior allure. There was almost a want to prod, to understand this new shade like the unravelling of a mysterious plot. However dangerous, there seemed trust in all the time she had known this Half Human.**

"I wish for you to grow used to my presence, however close it must be. There should be no boundary between one that I trust with my life and wellbeing." - **Vierna seemed to reason, hidden thoughts seeming to creep yet remaining in the dark. The Duchess seemed keen on earning a stare from the Doctor, once more.**
Everett
"Vierna..." **He'd utter under his breath, head slowly to look at her, meeting eye-to-eye with her. The gentle licks of perfume tickled against his nose. That stare was ever-so close. His heart pounded— it was getting harder to keep it contained. The sleeping beast stirring awake, it felt like his chest cavity would rip open. He's curse him bloodline— had he not been born a Half-Human, one without the blood of a Concubus, he perhaps could be normally. But no, he was simply _fucked up_ in the head. His blood was on fire, his nerves agitated being this close to the woman he seemed to have bonded with. Her sapphire pierced into him, they tore him apart from the inside.**

**The Doctor's hands clasped over one another tightly. Nails digging into his skin as he held tightly. He was a Doctor— a mere doctor. Nothing more. He couldn't— he shouldn't...**

**He would maintain this eye contact with her. His eyes had been tense— he was indeed struggling.** "...I— I shouldn't get too close..." **He would simply say.** "...I— I have a condition, you see." **He would tell her, looking away in shame.**

**Henryk looked to the ground, upon his footwear.** "You see... My Concubus blood— It makes me act... Irrationally. My master... He and I parted ways because I had romanced his daughter." **He would briefly explain.** "Because of this, we... We had a falling out. It's why I joined the military, Vierna. Because I betrayed my master— that I was forbidden to see his daughter. Then— Then while I was gone..." **He'd pause, before shaking his head.** "—It doesn't matter.

**He'd look to her again.**

"...Vierna, this... This is _dangerous._ To be close... We would be inviting the Gods to curse us with misfortune. Duuna's shadow follows me— I..." **He'd now purse his lips. He wasn't sure what else to say. He poured out all these emotions— he hadn't realized by revealing this, he was letting Vierna deeper in. Destroying those boundaries even further.**
Henry
**That reply of a struggling stare seemed to say it all. Not a word uttered until the desperate beckoning of her name as Henryk began to reason with his comfortable employer. The driven and collected man she knew had a confession to make. A condition, one word that caused a slight puzzled expression from the Duchess that maintained her eye contact despite the situation. There would be almost concern, a sprinkling of worry before Henryk reasoned with her.**

**Then it came, that tale of Henryk's life rarely spilled to those around him. Another view of the Clinic she knew him from, a part of the puzzle that intrigued her ever more. Concubi blood, now she had known of that before when they discussed topics at the Clinic in Findara. The forbidden romance was a far more unique tale, however. It would end without resolution, spurred on by Henryk's own reluctance. Throughout every word, Vierna seemed intent to listen despite her own inner thoughts on the very matter.**

**The Drow would be caught in a flurry of silence, looking over the shameful Doctor. Danger, he claimed. It was he who'd be a danger to her. Affection of a Concubi, an uncontrollable urge he found as a Curse from Duuna herself. But how could such a monster, as he claimed, provide such trust and care? The offering of a mask, the discussion and treatment within that clinic - just what was she to do with this information? Clearly, she pondered on it. Henryk wished to avoid the supposed horrors of his past, but Vierna struggled to see herself as this possible victim. That, she couldn't see in Henryk.**

"...Did you love her? Your Master's Daughter..? Did she love you..?" - **Emerging from the silence, the quick question would be raised. Curiousity, amid her pondering. A thought that seemed important to her. Perhaps she imagined him to drag himself through the dirt as if he were some monster, but there was a want for honesty. An Enchanter like her tended to see the truth in words far more clearly.**
Everett
**When she pondered her question, he would give her a silent nod, before speaking.** "Yes. Yes, I loved her, and she loved me." **He would speak.** "...I— I apologize, Vierna. This isn't a topic I wish to discuss further. They're both gone now. Something even a _Master Biomancer_ couldn't prevent..." **He'd say the last part with spite behind his words.**

**Henryk rose his head. It didn't require Enchantment to make him speak the truth. That was it. He loved that woman— now she was gone. Something killed her, something Biomancy couldn't prevent.**

"I've starved myself of my Concubus desires for so long. It's why my skin is pale, why I appear as so." **He would say, looking upon his slender fingers, before curling them into a fist.** "I don't want to let these irrational thoughts rule me— I don't desire to be like my mother and father." **He would then add. His eyes would widen a bit— he didn't want to say that. Something that was never meant to be heard. He quickly jerked his head to the side, in order to hide his facial expression.**

"...Forget about what I've said— it's... It's unimportant." **He would say in a voice of resignation.** "I don't want you to concern yourself with my struggles, my Lady. You have bigger matters to worry about— the noble courts, the queen, what happened at the docks... I'm simply your Doctor. I can treat these symptoms." **He'd attempt to say in a colder, clinical tone of voice, but there was an obvious strain.**

"I don't feel this way around other women, Vierna. You've left an impression upon me— but I don't desire to manifest that into something _worse._ Something dangerous. I respect you deeply. When I said you had the qualities of a queen, I truly meant it." **He'd shift his head slightly so she could see the side of his face, eyes looking to her again.** "...I'm... Afraid of _me,_ Vierna. My fear... Is _me."_

**He would sit there in silence now.**
Henry
**The truth of love seemed plainly evident by Henryk's tone. It was not the desperation of an abuser, to hide a horrible truth. - Instead, the blatant acknowledgement of his condition as something monstrous. If there was love between the pair, Vierna had considered whether his Concubi affections were truly as abhorrent and irrational as claimed. But with the topic she would nod in acknowledgement of ceasing the subject. The thought fizzled away as Henryk's words drove her to inspect the pale man that he was. It was his reluctance that led him to this sickly state, self flagellation over a past that made all the more sense as the spill of truths continued to be unveiled much to the surprise of even Henryk himself.**

**Henryk's reasoning itself felt emotional, almost the only time she had ever witnessed it. Another, she remembered at the Clinic some time ago. There a desperate Doctor struggled for solutions, puzzled with a wounded child that he seeked to save. It was that same man who persevered in that situation, and there Vierna was to help alongside. The She-Elf would let him air his worries, finish his words. A strict Matron likely would have shut up the ramblings of this emotional man, but she saw it far differently. She hated seeing him so fragile, but didn't amuse the idea of letting him keep it bottled up.**

"You feel that.. Indulging in that side of you is a betrayal of this code, this.. Act of rebellion against the sins of your Father and Mother? You must see that it's unhealthy for you, Henryk." - **Vierna reasoned with a passing glance at Henryk's features again, the pale tones and skinny nature of the Man.**
.

**Vierna wanted to scoff at Henryk's next words, the talk of greater politics a strange remark at a time like this. She felt that Henryk was terrified of exchanging personal tales like this, showing his weaknesses to those he felt something for. She hated seeing him try and pull back, enough for the Dark Elf to want to shush him in return.** 

"Enough." - **Vierna would offer simply, dismissing his notions of real concerns. Instead, what would be focused on were the final lines. The fear, the truth. The worry of his own person and what he might do. She could see the reality within that sidelong glance of his, staring daggers back at her. Vierna, for a moment, struggled for words. She had faced cold faced Drow before, Nobles pursuing their own interests but not a Man that felt ever so defeated in his moment of weakness.**

"You've already offered so much to me, Henryk. Your trust, most of all. Will you let me atleast try and help you?" - **Vierna eventually mustered, eyes focused upon Henryk. Meanwhile, the soft left hand of the Duchess would be offered to take, a gesture she rarely offered.**
Everett
**The Doctor's stomach sank when she made the simple offer to _attempt_ to help him. He contemplated it— she pointed out his gaunt features. This seemingly faint, thinned out state he was in now made clear was due to him holding his Concubi locked tightly. He pondered what she would do, but, he would soon remember the words of reassurance she gave him with the powers of Enchantment. He wondered if that'd be enough to sate the hunger that stirs within his stomach— the fill the void that existed within his heart.**

"...Please... Treat my symptoms." **He would simply ask in a pathetic voice. One which was reluctant. He opened his heart wide, and now it was time for the Drow to tangle him within her web. It was only inevitable, and he would resign himself to such a fate.** 

**He let his trust for his peer take reigns. She wanted his trust, now was the time to show him what she intends to do with it. Would she tear him down, or build him back up? Would she utilize her magics to quell his burning blood, or would she attempt something else? What will she do to him?**

**He twisted his torso to completely face her. His pale blue eyes too meet her own. The carriage jostled a bit, as they moved further away from the Dead Man's Tree— a place of savagery now being healed by Vierna's rule. Now, Vierna will attempt to heal the darkness that laid in Henryk's heart.**

**He placed both his hands onto the top of his thighs. He'd clutch his slacks, fingers digging into them. He would maintain a stare— the windows to his soul open. He was a scared man, but he was a gentleman who could show so much bravery and confidence. He wasn't like the Lazarothi men. No, he was something else.**

**He was simply Dr. Henryk.** 

**He waited patiently now, and would accept what was to come.**