Opening his eyes, Slady understood the whole situation.
'I'm very far from Libretãnhya... From my daughters...' -- Slady thought
When he sat down, he still saw Ferinish's unconscious body. She was still weak due to the experiments and injections.
"..."
He stood up and held her body in his arms, starting to walk in that scenario that froze to the bone. After a few minutes, he found a wooden cabin, which looked quite abandoned.
He placed Ferinish on the ground for a moment, starting to open the door of that cabin to find... corpses...
It was a family, a man and a woman, a boy and a girl. According to Slady's analysis, the family ended up dying of hunger and their bodies were already creating fragments of ice around them.
"..."
He sighed, now thinking that he would have to remove those bodies...
Minutes later, Ferinish still hadn't woken up and Slady had already buried the bodies. He opened the cabin to start walking around the place, which despite the depressing situation, was the only place he and Ferinish could be.
The house had several insects. In the bathroom, there was a hole with a puddle of dirty water, where that poor family probably took their baths.
He walked away from the scene, starting to remove all the dirt that was in that house. After a long time of work, Slady went to a room, where he had placed Ferinish in a bed, which luckily, was quite warm.
"If there is only one double bed in this house..."
He sat on the edge of the bed, touching the mattress, thoughtful.
"This bed is not that deep, so the children slept here and the parents... on the floor."
He couldn't help but feel his heart ache inside, after all, that family were probably good people, they didn't deserve such cruelty in their end.
"I need to find a way to warm myself up."
Slady gets up and leaves the cabin, his mechanical claws come out of his back, starting to cut all the trees around at an absurd speed.
As he falls to the ground, the mechanical claws cut the trees into cubes, then he starts to bring that material into the cabin, placing it inside a brick fireplace and lighting it with a cigarette butt that he had collected from the ground.
That was a huge relief, Slady was already used to the cold due to the Inférius Blizzards, but he was not used to living in the cold.
"..."
He closes the cabin's windows and the door, sitting in front of the fireplace, which was the only source of light in the cabin. He takes off his coat and shirt, wanting to enjoy that delicious warmth.
Suddenly, Ferinish woke up, regaining all his strength and looking around, confused. When he sees Slady, his gaze focuses on her bare chest. But she doesn't feel ashamed, because she had already seen him like this during the time they were imprisoned with the scientists.
"What is this place?"
Ferinish scratches his messy hair, feeling dizzy after the effects of the injections. She slowly gets up and approaches Slady.
"It's the only place we have for now, in case we find some civilization in this frozen place."
"I see."
Ferinish sits next to Slady with a naturally cold expression and tone. Then she starts to open her kinomo a little, exposing a little of her chest.
Slady looks away out of respect. Ferinish looks at him, appreciating his care for her privacy.
"You can look, but don't push your luck."
Slady just nods, looking at Ferinish's cleavage with disinterest and just goes back to looking at the flame of the fireplace.
Slady's lack of interest surprised Ferinish a little, who only had malicious looks from the scientists regarding his body or power.
"Thank you."
She puffs out her chest, feeling more comfortable to feel the warmth in her chest.
The two remain silent for a long time, just enjoying the moment between them.
Slady looks at the window, seeing the darkness through her bionic eye.
"It's already dark."
"Yes."
Slady stands up, taking a deep breath.
"There's no water for bathing, we'll have to make do with the stench."
Ferinish shrugged.
"No problem."
She stands up, closing the kinomo, hiding her chest.
"You can sleep in the bed, I can sleep on the floor."
"No, you can go to bed, I've slept in many uncomfortable places."
"You were already kind enough to tuck me in, let me return the favor."
So...
"You two should sleep together."
Truth appears in Slady's mind, who just looks at her with an emotionless look.
"You're boring."
She pouts her lips and crosses her arms, Slady just gives her a forgiving look and goes back to talking to Ferinish.
"Then why don't we sleep together? We can keep warm and comfortable."
Slady uses Truth's idea. Ferinish puts her hand on her chin, thoughtful.
"No problem, we can."
With the discussion over, Slady lets out a sigh and starts to put the shirt on her body and puts the coat in a corner.
***
The two lie down together in bed, both staring at the ceiling.
"You look uncomfortable-"
"I'm not!" -- Ferinish said.
who, despite not being red, was a little nervous with the proximity.
"It's just... I've never slept with anyone..."
"We slept together in that restraint." -- Slady replies
Ferinish turns to face him, resting his head on his arm.
"We were under the influence of those damn drugs."
"There's a point."
Slady sighs, turning her back to Ferinish.
"I'm not going to do anything to hurt you, you can come closer whenever you want."
"Thank you."
Ferinish just watches Slady's back with a cold expression, his warm hands go towards his back, starting to make invisible drawings. Slady ignores that, letting her do whatever she wants.
Feeling more confident, Ferinish gets closer to Slady, resting her chest on his back and her face on the back of his neck, but trying to be careful not to be bold.
"Am I being this weird?" -- Ferinish whispers in his ear
"No, you're just gaining trust in someone." -- Slady said, shrugging
Then the woman felt more and more comfortable, still hesitant to touch him and be touched by him.
"Thank you for understanding, I'm not used to being treated well... if I'm being honest, you're the first person who hasn't looked at me with evil." -- Ferinish said in a sincere and almost innocent tone.
"I feel honored by that."
Slady turned to face Ferinish, who was a little startled, but didn't move away. He just kept a more respectful distance.
'He looks really scary with that eye of his.' -- Ferinish thought
"I can see the lack of sleep in you. So for us to relax... do you want to tell me why you're afraid of being touched, Ferinish?"
The question gave Ferinish a little squeeze in his heart, who felt very vulnerable. Which was ironic, a woman as strong and powerful as her, feeling weak with that question.
"I'll tell you, but can it be just between us?"
"Yes, just between us."
Ferinish took a deep breath, looking deep into Slady's eyes.
"When I was raised by those scientists, they boasted about me as something perfect that they could use to kill anyone they wanted... After each mission, I would arrive exhausted and injured, but they wouldn't let me rest. If I tried to resist, they would neutralize me and put me in an eternal combat simulation, where I had to keep fighting and fighting without stopping, feeling everything that happened to me. I felt my arm, legs, eyes, everything being ripped out of me. But in real life, I was unharmed. And when they took me away, those scientists would put me on more missions, until the same process was repeated."
Now, with tears streaming from her eyes, she puts her hand on her own arm, as if trying to protect herself.
"That's why I don't want to be touched by anyone, every touch feels painful, mean, I don't like it, I hate being touched."
Slady looked at Ferinish with no expression, but he was thoughtful.
'Even with everything she went through... she didn't stop being a good woman, she was a victim, a weapon for those monsters.'
"I'm so sorry about that, I can't imagine how torturous it must have been for you, Ferinish. I hope that one day, your traumas can be healed."
"Thank you."
The coldness on her face disappeared for a moment, with Ferinish giving a small, almost imperceptible, but genuine, smile. That gave Slady a pang in her heart, even a woman like her, who has been through so much, can smile and he is not capable of that.
"How do you feel after telling me this secret?" -- Slady asked
"I feel... much better." -- Ferinish replied
Ferinish closed his eyes, now he could rest in peace that night.
"Good night, Slady."
"Good night..."
Then they both began to enter the state of sleep... sleeping together and in peace.
***
In a kingdom near that cabin, in a castle made of ice crystals, a woman sat on her throne. Her hair was crystallized, her eyes were cold and had a dark blue color with a kind of crystallized fragment in her iris. Her clothing was a dress that gave her an air of sovereignty and power.
The door to that room opened, and a woman with light blue hair and dark eyes entered, carrying a beautiful ice spear. Her clothing was like that of a soldier, giving her an air of toughness and authority.
"Your majesty..."
She kneels in front of the woman, resting her arm on her spear, which freezes around her when it touches the ground. The woman sitting on the throne just looks at the soldier, gesturing with her hand for her to continue speaking.
"We found two intruders near our kingdom. Should we eliminate them?"
"If they surrender, bring them; if they fight, kill them."