There were lights glaring down at her like miniature suns, yet still the room gave Elly an unshakable impression of darkness. With the logic of a person half-dreaming, she concluded that she must have somehow fallen into the abyss of space, and those lights were stars. No, planets. No...

It was just a flash, a fleeting impression, but she had seen the planet once from above. There was no wonder in the recollection, as she'd imagined as a child. Space travel had been a fantasy for many at school. No, it was terrifying, and she was falling. The stars were too tiny, and the planet loomed in her vision until the burn of the atmosphere blasted it away into nothingness.

She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed the lump in her throat. Her body trembled, and she felt pressure at her wrists, ankles, and over her shoulders, cold restraints that rattled when she tried to yank free. Breathing heavily, quickened heartbeat the only sound she could hear, she tried to open her eyes again.

Elly blinked, and the lights blurred, then snapped into abrupt focus. Lights. Not stars.

I knew that. I knew it. She swallowed again and struggled to turn her face away from the lights. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the change. Drugged...? An empty laboratory met her eyes. The walls were grey and lit from above by invisible florescent lights, and counters and cabinets gleamed against the wall. There was no sign that anyone had used them.

Solaris? The warnings above the waste bins were in her native language, so the lab, wherever it was, had some connection to her home. But Etrenank was gone. The Soylent facilities were under Shevat's control. So where...? She tried to turn her head. Her body had other ideas, and all she managed was a weak twitch.

Something cold touched her face and she gasped, jerking again at her restraints, though she had little strength to throw behind it. What? Who? Her mouth refused to form the words.

Hands. They were hands, gripping her chin gently and turning her head to face the light again. She squinted against the brightness, but they weren't quite as blinding now that she had grown accustomed to them. The owner of the cold hands was silhouetted against the glare, but she would have recognized Krelian anywhere.

He didn't release her once she faced him, and he didn't say a word. He stared down at her indifferently, and only the movement of his hands gave away that he was alive at all, stroking softly along her jaw, brushing her hair back. She knew his touch, even though she also knew beyond a doubt that he couldn't have touched her before.

Elly could see he wanted her to relax, but that was asking too much. She didn't know where she was, or what happened to the others. Why was she restrained? Why was this place so empty, and why was he here? Why? This was her second time in his laboratory. What did he want?

Krelian sighed, and his hands came to rest on the band across her shoulders. "Adreneline will only aggravate your condition, Elly." It was such a relief to hear his voice - any voice - that she thought she'd be sick. "Take a few deep breaths and let it pass."

She stared at him. What are you talking about?

All she could produce was a whimper, and he raised an eyebrow. "A precaution. I apologize."

It was about time someone apologized! Elly twitched against her restraints, testing her body's reaction. Not much had changed. She tried to relax her muscles and breathe deeply as he suggested, and it seemed some of the heaviness left her limbs after a few minutes. It helped to close her eyes, though the cold metal made it impossible to imagine she was anywhere but a laboratory. Even the air was crisp and icy, sterilized.

She didn't want to open her eyes again. It was like a nightmare. She was alone with this man again, and he-- no, he wasn't frightening, it wasn't him. Sometimes she felt so warm looking at him, but in this place, that only seemed to emphasize how cold everything else was.

Elly looked at him and remembered warm fires, sand, and lively shouting. Candlelight and Nisan's angels - those were Krelian.

But so was this laboratory. That was also Krelian.

He tugged at her restraints, and she opened her eyes to watch as he snapped each of them open and unbuckled the strap across her shoulders. Then his arm slid beneath her back and he was helping her to sit up. Elly did what she could to help, but it was mostly his strength that held her upright. She twisted the kinks out of her wrists and tried clenching and unclenching her hands, and breathed a sigh of relief when they worked. She even managed to lift her head without aid, and brought herself face to face with her captor.

"Better?" Despite their proximity, Krelian somehow managed to give an impression of distance. She couldn't decide if she was grateful or not. "The medication you have been treated with should not interfere with your normal daily functions, but if you try to escape it will incapacitate you." He averted his eyes and reached for her hand, massaging it until she felt her circulation return. His touch was surprisingly gentle, but she gritted her teeth against the pins and needles sensation. "I'm sure you understand."

"Y-yes..." It came out slurred, but it was a victory over whatever vile drug he was referring to. They were all vile; she remembered hearing about drugs like this at school, when she'd learned about Drive and its variants, and it seemed all they were ever used for was violence and domination.

That's the military for you. She'd known what they'd want her to do when she joined. She thought she would be prepared for it. Obviously, that was not the case.

Her contract hadn't outlined a situation like this. Definitely above and beyond the call of duty, even for a traitor.

It was still difficult to hold herself up, and Elly found herself leaning more and more onto Krelian, and listening to him breathe. He was working on her other hand, but she didn't notice the pain this time.

He smelled of soap and the mustiness of old books, and something like cinnamon lingered faintly beneath the rest. She took a deep breath and let her eyes slide shut. It wasn't quite right - there was something missing. Smoke, or wax... something. It used to cling to him because he spent so much time reading. What was it?

"Krelian..." she said softly. It was a different sound now. A slight shift of intonation was all it took to make it completely un-Solarian. It was supposed to be softer.

His finger pressed against her lips, insisted on silence. She opened her eyes and turned her face up to look at him. What she saw felt wrong. Different. And yet... he was the same.

She let her head fall against his chest and sighed. What was right and wrong? Trust came easily now. Krelian's embrace was stiffly formal, but it promised support. He would not hurt her again. But she might hurt him.


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The word: differentiation
Finished: one hour