Ceiro could not help but feel sorry for this girl. He didn’t understand, after what he’d done the night before, why she was so willing to stay by his side. Despite this, he was grateful for her willingness, her forgiveness.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“It seems we are both plagued with our insecurities…”</span>he offered, along with a faint smile.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff"> “What a pair we make.”</span>he was joking of course. After all, to do anything else was to give into those feelings of inadequateness that plagued both of their minds.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff"> “You are doing fine Marcella. You have already saved my life in more ways than i can count.”</span>that of course included her forgiveness for his taking her blood.  And yet feelings of desperation gnawed at the back of his mind. That ever present darkness demanding that he take more. The taint within him commanding him, driving him to slake his thirst from her veins. It was part of why he wanted her out of the cave. He needed to regain his composure, away from the smell of her. As it was, he was deeply troubled by the desire to lunge for the beat of her heart that filled his ears with burning desire, hunger.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“No…”</span>he said softly, about to correct her statement when she continued to speak, confusion and sorrow crossing his features. It finally dawned on him as his eyes widened in realization.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“Marcella…. I have no life mate. The Valla I spoke of… she’s my twelve year old sister… she shows me colors where I see none. Practically force feeds me her emotions.”</span>a nostalgic smile washed over him for a moment. “<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">And the goddess only knows where she gets it all from…”</span>she was so full of happiness, excitement, curiosity. A burning desire to experience everything, be friends with everyone. It was impossible in his mind not to experience joy when around her, even for the eldest of the unbound.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“I had hoped that her presence, her love, would be enough to get myself and Valentin through… until we could find our life mates. But if he could fall so easily. So young… than so can I.”</span>and there it was, the acceptance he’d been fighting against for so long. Saying the words out loud made him realize how close he’d come to turning. If he hadn’t had the strength to remove himself from Marcella last night… and he was still teetering on the edge. She needed to go away, at least for a little while.<br/><br/>Her reaction to his insistence that they would both need blood was about what he expected, but he’d taught Valla to make friends with all the woodland critters that lived in the woods near their house. So this shouldn't be much different.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">"Have you ever calmed a wounded  or trapped animal so you could free it? Or made friends with the squirrels and rabbits in the hills as a child? The principle is the same, really… even the same as touching the mind of another.”</span>focusing on this lesson was helping a little, as he adjusted the bandages over his face, making them more comfortable. “<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">You reach out to sense if anything is there, not so much looking for thoughts of a sentient creature as you are the presence of life. Connect with it. Reassure it that you are friend. That no harm will come to it. Persuade it through thoughts of safety and shelter that it should come to you… when you feed you will need to be more forceful with these thoughts. Convince it that the pain it feels is not real. Do not kill it. When you feel it begin to weaken, let it go. You have to stop yourself, lest you do lasting harm.” </span>he’d shifted posture, sitting on the floor with one leg tucked up to him and the broken one extended, as though he’d intended to sit cross legged. Almost as if teaching was natural to him.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">"You will need to do the same for them as I feed. The vampire’s curse still affects me… I can not even sense your presence in my mind, save for the rustling of your skirts as you move, or the smell of the tears you were crying…” </span>he hadn’t meant to say it, stopping suddenly.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“I’m sorry.”</span>he murmured once more, before she corrected him. The dark haired man let out a soft sigh.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff"> “And if another had come. In the state that i was in. so close to turning. They would have just ended my existence. You came because the goddess believed i could be saved. And you were naive enough to try.”</span>his lips curled up once more, appreciatively.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“Sometimes it takes one who has not experienced failure enough times to jade them, to be willing to attempt the impossible. After all, if you don’t know it’s impossible, you won’t be persuaded to stop before you’ve started.”</span>