It Takes Time / Reaper x fem!OC

10. Blush

She hadn't noticed when it happened, but somehow Reaper had gotten her back into the original room she'd been held captive in. In a way, she was sort of glad. I don't know how I could have faced him after what happened. I took it too far.

The bruised lump on her head and the cotton-stuffed, drowsy feeling in her mind told her it wasn't her fault for not remembering, but Sienna didn't care.
The door was shut.
Back exactly where I began; I've ruined everything.
It was hard not to feel the crushing weight of failure on her back, especially as she looked down at her hands, still sore and cut up as a reminder of her efforts.
Letting her arms fall to her sides, she tilted her head up and her curls fell back from her face revealing glistening eyes.
'No, I will not cry'
As if hearing her choked words, a movement caught in the corner of her eyes made her stop. The door opened.

Immediately up and over at it, Sienna was dumbstruck. Hadn't I messed everything up? Taking a deep breath and wiping away a lone tear that had spilled over her cheek, she silently thanked whatever God watched over her. This was a second chance.

Reaper was nowhere to be seen in the apartment, even when Sienna knocked and tried the door opposite her room - understanding that it was where he had been staying since she'd been here... And where she had managed to screw things up last night. Don't think about that, he's given you another chance Sienna. Use it.

Taking her own words to heart, she got herself some food, turned on the radio, and prepared what she would need for when the 'he' in question returned.

The day passed much as had the previous - except the radio managed to fill the empty silences that had been driving her mad. This time, Sienna didn't feel the need to repeat any of the intricate carvings she had scratched into his floor during her solitary days held in the bedroom.
In a way, the thought was kind of funny. 'At least there's something for him to be grateful about'
With her own needs satisfied from the food, she searched his flat for equipment for later tonight. She was sure she'd need it, and at this point she figured he'd more than likely need it too.

~

His return had played out scarily similarly to last time, Sienna realised after it had happened. She'd been watching the sunset on the sofa, and as the dusky smog finally turned pink he'd appeared behind her and turned the radio off plunging them into silence.

'Don't call me by that name. That man doesn't exist.'

It was as if he was continuing their conversation for last night, except both parties now watched each other warily. Sienna stood up, purposefully responding softly.
'I think... I think you need to consider that one again.' She closed her eyes, eyelashes fluttering slightly having gotten past the hardest part, and started again. 'However, I won't call you that. I understand.'

Reaper's breathing pattern changed, although whether it was from relief or annoyance Sienna had no way to tell. Pushing on forward, she pulled out a medic pack, and gestured vaguely to the sofa she had been sat on.

'Take a seat.'
She'd meant it nicely, but she could feel the glare he gave from under his mask.

'Need I remind you whose place this is, Girl? I don't take orders.'

Sienna nearly sighed out loud before remembering she wanted to be on his good side. She tried again.
'Would you like to take a seat?'

This time, he practically growled in disapproval, and as Sienna heard his intake of breath to speak she butted in quickly: 'please?'

His reaction wasn't pleasant as he growled again, but - surprisingly - he grudgingly stomped over to the sofa after a moment of hesitation, towering intimidatingly over Sienna before removing his leather jacket and sitting down heavily. Cautiously placing herself next to him, keeping her eyes trained on his masked face, she picked up the antiseptic wipes.

Mentally wondering where he got a replacement jacket from so soon, her tanned hand reached out for his chest, attempting to find the wounds she'd treated only yesterday. The only problem was that he refused to face her.
Sat adamantly facing away from her, his thick, muscled arms restricted any access to his chest.
'Uhm, could you just, well, uh, face me? A bit? Please?'

Unexpectedly, he gave a throaty laugh and turned to look at her, moving one of his arms over her head and behind so that he leant over her, claws resting on the sofa top. It was obviously a move to intimidate and fluster her, and it worked. Too well, it seemed, as it became clear he realised it too. He leant even closer, and Sienna gulped, raising a hand cautiously to stop his chest getting any closer. I can feel his damn smirk from here, for Mercy's sake.

'Need me to remove my shirt as well while I'm at it?'

Sienna's jaw nearly dropped. It wasn't so much a flirty line as a taunting one that he'd growled out, but nonetheless she hadn't expected it in a million years. Not really knowing how to respond and feeling more embarrassed by the second, she blurted out a response.
'A-actually, I can't quite, um, get to your wound so if you.. If y-you wouldn't mind...'
This time it was his turn to be flustered; and he was so close that she could literally feel the heat emanating off him. His head dropped slightly, and Sienna's own embarrassment was momentarily relieved as she noticed it.
Did I... Did I just manage to fluster him? Reaper? The answer was apparently yes, as a second later a muffled noise came out from under his mask.
Unable to go back on her request now, the brunette decided to play it out. 'Uhm, really sorry I didn't catch that. Can you-'
'Use scissors!' Reaper had cut her off loudly, the exasperation and embarrassment in his voice blatantly clear. He'd turned his head away from her in the process, and Sienna paused for a moment to consider him. No, Gabriel definitely still does exist in there.
Holding the scissors to the bottom of his black (surprise, surprise) t-shirt and receiving no answer to her quick 'May I?' she pulled it outwards and cut upwards from the bottom, the material cutting easily due to the tension of already being stretched. Too many muscles, that's why. The thought was inevitable, but Sienna still chided herself for it, mildly disgusted at her own mind. Momentarily, she thought she saw Reaper puff his chest out slightly as the fabric ripped in half, but blamed it on her stupid mind once again.

Now that his chest was bare, she stopped to take a small inventory of what to do. He hadn't removed any of the gauzes that she had put on, even though some were half falling off - made heavy after stemming bloodflows - so those were a first. Her stitching job on what had first seemed like a stab wound last night had held, but on closer inspection the darkness hadn't been very kind to her usual talent, leaving one edge slightly open.
Unthinkingly, she let her fingers trail over his abdomen from one scrape to another and he tensed immediately, eliciting a shaky breath so quiet Sienna thought she'd imagined it.
'A-ah! Sorry.' She squeezed her eyes shut and was about to take her hands away when his rough voice stopped her: 'get on with it.'
And she did.

The time continued to pass in silence again, and it would have been comfortable hadn't Sienna furiously blushed every time she had to touch his skin. It wasn't like this last night, but something made her overly conscious of her hands and where she had them; and the result was some sloppy work that she had to correct again almost straight away. By the time she had finished, Reaper had gotten tired of sitting upright and had slumped back against the sofa and Sienna herself fell back against his arm - still along the top of the sofa - when she cleaned up the last marr on his skin. It would require more attention at some other point, but that was all Sienna cared about at the time - some other point. Not now. At this time, she was too tired to care, and apparently so was the man behind the Reaper mask as they both seemed to doze into quick cat-naps, oddly comfortable in front of each other. At least, that's what it seems like to me. I can't tell if he's sleeping at all, or if he just isn't kicking me off like last time.

Reluctant to let herself fall asleep properly in front of the man again for fear of his temperamental personality, she fought off the exhaustion and gathered herself up.
'Good night.... Wake me up if your wounds get worse.'
Unable to explain to herself why she'd further offered to help him past her time, she quietly padded away to the bedroom - the first time she'd entered it willingly the entire week. She wasn't sure if he was even awake as she said it, but even if he did, he didn't respond as she left him once again bare-chested and covered in gauzes.