"Alright, slow down, doctor." Ace choked out, heart bumping hard into his chest. He raised his hand to the hilt of his sword, an automatic movement that he was a bit ashamed of. Suddenly, he could again hear Caine's offer to hold him down, and could feel Dane's grip tightening around his legs, his fingers pushing deep inside the wound. And then, he felt like there wasn't enough air around him for him to breath at all, and he wanted was to escape this endless nightmare. "You treated my leg, it's fine now. It isn't hurting, so don't worry your pretty head over it." his voice was strangely steady, and Ace was definitely glad for the partial darkness, because he was sure he was shaking.<br/><br/>The mercenary forced his hand away from the sword and curled it around the wound in his leg, without any pressure, just shielding it from the outside. It made him feel better, but he was still focused on the fire, refusing to look at the bigger man.<br/><br/>"Besides," he continued, eyes narrowing down in suspicion. "if I recall things correctly, it wasn't me who stopped a falling tree with my back, so I'm not the one who you should be worrying about." it was a question Ace had no hope that would be answered, although he was indeed curious about how this had even been possible, but it was loaded with more venom than he intended. It seemed oddly unnecessary after Dane had told him his name, and after the other was trying to be civil. And, well, pretty much saved his life, but Ace couldn't help it.<br/><br/>He couldn't help it because it was the only way he knew how to push people away. If they were angry at him, they wouldn't get too close, and Ace would know what to expect. And that was safe, that he could deal with. What he couldn't deal with were concern and gentleness, because there was always that nagging voice in the back of his head telling him they were only binding their time, getting close so they could get whatever they wanted, and then they would leave him.<br/><br/>And he would not have to deal with the pain of being left behind if he never got close to anyone in the first place.<br/><br/>At least the snort that escaped his lips at the sudden topic change was real. It was clear that Dane was trying to change the subject, clearly noticing it would be too easy to turn the questions around, to focus on him and his past and the secrets he so clearly had. He Dane was trying to do - keep the talk focused, so Ace wouldn't ask about him. Something the mercenary had done countless times before not to recognize it for what it was. Yet, he welcomed it, mostly because it was familiar territory, and he could shove the intrusive thoughts deep within his mind once again and refuse to acknowledge them.<br/><br/>"Aren't you observant?" he asked, smirking, and although there was a sarcastic note on the tone of his voice, it wasn't meant to be offensive. That kind of thing right there, Ace knew how to deal with.  "Do you think I got this beautiful by getting into bar fights?" Ace raised an eyebrow as he made a wide gesture to himself, because no matter where one looked, they would be sure to find a scar. It was a pretty good sign of the kind of life he lived. "Not the best paid job, but I get what I need." he gave a pointed look at the horses - the stolen ones -, smirk still in place. That small bits, they weren't really a secret.<br/><br/>"But even if I'm pretty awesome, I don't see why the sudden interest. You get what you see, no strings attached." Ace winked, trying not to think too much on the trueness of those words and how it stung. "You, on the other hand, is definitely not what you see. You said you weren't a knight, so who are you?"<br/><br/>It wasn't only him trying to shift the topic away from himself - he was truly curious. Normally, he wouldn't care, but then, the man had frightened the owls in a way that was everything but conventional, and also... He had stopped a falling tree with his back. There was obviously something Ace was missing here.