Iylldrraen could have stayed in that room, in that position, holding that very special Draenei for the rest of his life, which was a very long time indeed. There were few beings in the feral druid’s life that he could trust, that never saw the druid guarded. Aelena was one of those rare individuals. As she leaned into him, holding him, nestling her head against his shoulder, he felt warm. He trembled. He was a bit alarmed, because he didn’t know what he was feeling. His hold on the shaman tightened. Not painfully or in a threatening manner, but protectively. The hand that was on her back, rather than remain neutral, fingers together and straight, suddenly extended and splayed out in a circular pattern and began to work up and down her body slowly. That hand and those fingers seemed to gently dance over her robes, feather-like, until resting once more, only an inch or two lower. His other hand, that had been resting on her shoulder was now gliding up along the back of her neck, the deceptively delicate tips of those elven fingers tickling as they suddenly buried themselves in her hair, surprisingly gentle, sifting and caressing, lost in her silky strands.<br/><br/>With increased alarm, something else about the druid had awoken and was becoming quite attentive. No. ‘Not possible!’, he told himself. Was he…attracted to Aelena? He thought for a moment. Through all of the wars, through all of the arduous work he’d completed in this world…he realized that, he’d never found love. His eyes widened, not wanting Aelena to catch on to his attraction, or worse, his arousal. Abruptly he leaned back, though careful not to let her head fall forward with the absence of his shoulder to support it, at about half arms’ length from her. “We should probably head to the Winter Riders. They are likely wondering where we are.” His tone was stoic once more. Non-negotiable.<br/><br/>Quickly the druid began to gather his armor. Ancient by most standards, it was perfectly cured, treated, and preserved leather armor that molded to his body like second skin. So perfect was it’s curing that it had the durability and integrity of stone.  He felt shame. He felt guilt. He wasn’t sure yet if it was about how he was discovering how he felt about Aelena, but the underlying fact that he felt he couldn’t tell her. He’d just left her standing there. As he gathered his gear that carefree, peaceful druid faded, gradually replaced by that stoic, weather-beaten druid once more.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>