A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

After Seraphina had her one-on-one with Emma, much of the hostility in her eyes had disappeared. While she still wasn't sure about Erik's trustworthiness or if he had messed with Emma's mind somehow, she just had to go with her gut at some point.

Emma immensely enjoyed the meal as she ate with relish, causing Seraphina to become curious and eat a few bites as well… and then a few more.

She looked at Erik with surprise at his apparent skill as a cook.

Erik just ate in silence with a small smile. While he certainly could be considered a decent cook, most praise should be for the ingredients, as they were simply of higher quality than you could find anywhere on Earth.

Back on Söl, Elora certainly wasn't going to do something so mundane as cooking food, especially since she didn't really need food anyway, so Erik had little choice but to learn how, assuming he ever wanted a decent meal.

When they were done eating, Erik turned to Seraphina, "Feel free to make yourself at home in one of the bedrooms, but don't get any ideas. I don't sleep much."

Seraphina scoffed as if insulted, "If I want to do anything, I'll do it to your face. Don't insult me."

She glanced at Emma, "Will you be alright, Emma?"

The nutritious and aetherium-filled food had perked Emma up a little, but she still looked exhausted as she smiled at Seraphina with tired eyes and nodded.

Seraphina then gave Erik one last look of warning, likely telling him not to try anything with Emma, and then went to find herself a room.

With Seraphina gone, Erik turned to Emma, "Are you ready to talk about why you don't seem to be getting any sleep? You know this is necessary if you want to help Emily."

Emma looked a little uncomfortable, even as she nodded, "I- I know. It's just… you'll think I'm weird."

Erik gave her a smile he hoped was comforting, "I've seen plenty of strange things in my life. You won't surprise me. And even if you do, what does it matter? Either way, you're stuck with me for the next ten years; we might as well get to know each other."

Emma still looked uncomfortable because trusting Erik with this would put her in a very vulnerable position. But as all her interactions with Erik in the last two days flashed by her eyes, she decided to trust him.

After all, she wanted to save her sister, which meant she had to sleep. Besides, Erik was right. If she were to spend the next ten years with this guy, she would need to trust him eventually.

So she nodded with slightly hesitant determination, "A- Alright. I'll show you."

Having said so, she stood up and moved out of the room with Erik following her, curiosity etched on his face.

They went to the upper floor and eventually arrived in front of a door. Emma gulped and went through it, Erik hot on her heels.

On the other side was what likely used to be a very girly bedroom, with various plush toys, many pillows, a large princess bed, and pink colours abounding.

Yet it now looked much more dreary, with the pink colours having greyed while the plushies and pillows had been thoroughly destroyed by moths and perhaps even other creatures.

Emma had a nervous smile on her face as she looked at the large, handsome, heavily armoured man standing in her room,

"You, uh, you're the first man besides my father who's been in here. I have to say, I never imagined the first other man to wear menacing black armour."

Erik grinned at her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, "I can take it off if you like."

Naturally, Emma immediately thought back to this morning as her cheeks flushed, but she quickly shook her head, "N- No, that's fine."

Erik chuckled, "As you wish. So, show me why we are here."

Emma nodded and gulped again before she walked to a drawer and… took out some rope.

She walked back to Erik with the rope in her hand as she fidgeted nervously with small tears in her eyes and tried to find the right words, "I… For years, Emily has been tying me up at night and sometimes even during the day if something was happening, like two days ago."

Despite her determination to help her sister, her eyes now showed resentment as she continued, "I always hated it. Not the tied-up part per se, but the loneliness, the darkness and the oppressive, evil feeling in that study.

But after so many years, I- I seem to be incapable of falling asleep without being restrained..."

She fell quiet then, clearly both ashamed and humiliated at confessing all this to a man she barely knew, but what else could she do? At least she felt like she could trust Erik.

While Erik inwardly felt surprised at her revelation, he also knew that he couldn't let it show, as Emma was already feeling vulnerable, and he wouldn't give her a reason to think he thought of her as weird.

Erik hunched down a little to put his face at the same height as hers, since he was easily 30cm taller, and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look into his eyes despite her efforts at trying to avoid it.

"Your life has been hard. It's only normal if you pick up some quirks along the way. But you know you'll have to learn how to sleep normally again eventually, right?"

Emma nodded timidly, yet happy he didn't condemn her straight away, "I- I know. But Emily can't wait."

Releasing her chin but remaining hunched, he looked at her seriously, "Alright. So what do you need from me?"

Emma took a deep breath and closed her eyes before she shoved the ropes towards Erik; her following words said so rapidly it almost sounded like a single word, "I want you to tie me up and let me sleep next to you in this room so I don't feel alone or in the dark."

Erik couldn't keep the surprise from his face this time, though luckily Emma had her eyes closed, and he quickly recovered, "That… Why me? Seraphina is here now. Wouldn't you be more comfortable doing this with her?"

But Emma shook her head, "No. I used to know her in the past, but who's to say she's still the same person? She doesn't even carry the same name.

Besides, you and I will spend the next ten years together, while Seraphina likely won't be staying with us, and who knows how long it will take me to get used to sleeping normally again?

And lastly… you've had every opportunity to do whatever you like to me. Why should I be concerned now? I realise that being tied up while sleeping next to you is not exactly the same, but… I trust you."

Erik sighed at her earnest words. It's not like he wasn't interested. A pretty girl like Emma putting so much trust in him? Having her sleep next to him while so incredibly vulnerable?

Of course, he was interested. Even if he didn't do anything to her, it would still feel nice just to have her there.

So he nodded, "Alright, Emma. I'll try not to betray your trust then. I hope you don't mind if I lie down without my armour, though. It's not exactly comfortable."

Emma immediately flushed red, remembering the scene from this morning; she realised he was naked under there… complete with that large snake.

She gulped, "C- Can you put on some underwear at least?"

Erik grinned in response to her behaviour, "Well… Elora won't like it. But alright, just for you."

Still blushing, Emma said nothing and just pushed the ropes towards Erik again, clearly wanting to get this over with.

Erik smiled and took the ropes before Emma went to lie on the bed, naturally still in her clothes and fidgeted nervously.

Erik approached her, "You seem quite nervous. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times and then said, "The truth is… I think I'll feel more comfortable tied up at this point. Right now, with you in my room, I just don't know what to say or do. But after I'm tied up, I won't be able to do anything anymore.

There's a certain kind of comfort in that. As long as… as long as you can trust the person with you."

She looked at the man she thought looked so scary the first time she saw him, but now felt somewhat comfortable, "I can trust you, right?"

While Emma mostly did this out of necessity, she wouldn't have gone through with it if she hadn't felt she could trust Erik.

Erik nodded seriously. Even if he enjoyed the idea of having her do this, he had no intention of betraying her trust.

Luckily, he had some experience tying people up during his time on Söl, both professionally with his job as a mercenary and during more… private events.