Never Before, Never Again (Emilian/Adara)

[Adara Snow]

"I have never stopped loving you!" Adara said vehemently. Still, she would not raise her eyes to look at him. "I am stupid and weak, and save myself only through obedience. You hurt me with every other whom you hurt, and my saving grace is that I've others to keep me from further harm."

[Emilian Sota]

"You are not stupid and you are not weak," Emilian countered. "A weak woman would never have been able to make me who I was when I was with you." Had she been a weak woman he never would have considered keeping himself from other conquests while with her, he would never have had a reason to.

[Adara Snow]

"You let me go!" Adara countered. "You let me go so you could have others, and you abused them as well. Who were you? A liar who would not say the word, but led me on in every way you could until boredom set in. I cannot forget, and so I give my life to others so I cannot make the same mistakes again."

[Emilian Sota]

"I never claimed to be a good man! Do you have any idea how terrifying it was to love someone? Especially someone like you? I showed you in every way I could. And I wanted to marry you, I wanted to be with you! I had second thoughts, I admit it. How could I have only this one body for the rest of my life, however much I loved the woman who owned it? So I gave in and when you found me I was so confused I let you go. I hated myself for it."

Emilian had wondered in the past if it may have been possible for him and Adara to fix things, but he had been acting out, looking for a way to sort through everything when he had little to no one to talk to. "Jory was an outlet. There is no defense for what I did to that boy." He shook his head and began rubbing at his hand again.

[Adara Snow]

Adara bit her lip to keep from crying, to give herself a focus for the pain she didn't know what to do with. There was so little of it in her everyday life now, where she accepted everything blindly, where satisfactions had replaced joys.

She didn't know what to say. Could she tell him that she would have accepted anything to keep him, if only he'd asked her to stay? If only he'd asked her to come back to him! Could she forgive him from hurting Jory? Could she accept that he sounded sorry? How much of what she'd lived had been lies? She didn't know, and it was dizzying.

[Emilian Sota]

"I know you'll probably never really forgive me, and there really is no excuse for what I did to you. I should have talked to you, but I was certain I could figure it out on my own. I was terrified of staying with you and it coming out in the future to hurt you worse, or of...I don't know," Emilian shook his head again and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I'm just trying to explain what I was thinking then, since I didn't do it when I should have."

[Adara Snow]

Desperation for something to cling to, some bit of reality to save her, made it difficult to breathe. She shouldn't make a fuss, but should she accept these things that her ex lover said? It had been his machinations which had brought them together, and his dissatisfaction which had torn them apart. It was too much, and with a soft sigh, Adara slipped to the floor in a faint.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian stared, dumbfounded, at the unexpected action, and it took a moment for him to gather himself. When he did, he cursed softly under his breath and pointed his wand toward the window to switch the sign to closed. He couldn't very well take her up to his flat, all he needed was a horrible misunderstanding to put him in more trouble. But there was a chair behind the counter, and with a couple of waves of his wand it lengthened and became soft enough to pass for a rather unremarkable love seat.

He was then faced with a larger problem. She was unconscious, so it wouldn't hurt her for him to carry her over, meaning he couldn't get slapped for the contact. A levitation spell would be more appropriate, but the way his luck ran he would speak the wrong words and drop her halfway across the room. After a few moments' debate, he set his jaw and moved her to the couch, refusing to think about how the weight felt in his arms.

He put a cool cloth on her forehead and spoke softly, trying to get her to wake. Why did these things always happen to him?

[Adara Snow]

When she came to, it was a wash of confusion. She felt as though she'd waken from a long nap, a bit heavy, but unsure where she was. Her head hurt quite badly.

When she opened her eyes, she was confused again. "Wer bist du? Wo bin ich?" she asked, dark brows furrowing together. Why was she lying down, and who was this man?
________________________________

Who are you? Where am I?

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian cursed when he realized it was German, then he cursed softly again when he realized what she had said. At least he hadn't completely forgotten everything pounded into his head. He gathered his thoughts for a moment, then responded to her in halting German. "I am Emilian, your ex fiance, you don't remember?"

[Adara Snow]

"Nein," she replied. Fiancé? Ex Fiancé? "What did I do? Why are we not engaged?" she asked, still in German. Why was she lying here? She moved to sit, but a sharp pain at her temple drew a soft sound from her, and she settled back. She turned a trusting gaze to the man. "What has happened?"

[Emilian Sota]

"Don't sit up," Emilian said. "You must have hit your head when you fell. We haven't been engaged for well over a year, and it was my fault, not yours. How does your head feel?" He reached up to lightly touch her head, though he wasn't at all sure where she had hit it at.

[Adara Snow]

"Schmerzhaft," she said. Painful. She removed the damp cloth she could feel on her forehead, exposing a nasty gash which throbbed atop a growing bump. She still couldn't make sense of this. How could she have been engaged and not remember? Why was she here with someone who had broken a betrothal? She raised her left hand. Well over a year, he'd said, and she had no ring now.

[Emilian Sota]

Another soft curse. Adara needed help, but if he took her somewhere it was very likely that no matter what he said, he would get detained for violence. She couldn't remember the fall, so she couldn't back up anything he said. It sounded horrible even to him, but Emilian knew he couldn't take her for professional help. If Emilian had a way to get him, Michael would be rather helpful right now, but with no owl that was impossible.

"Okay, um, you need to not move, I know enough medical magic that I should be able to fix you up a little." There had been plenty of times where either he or Michael, sometimes both, needed a bit of first aid. He just wasn't sure if the basics would be enough. How had he missed the gash when moving her? He reached for a bowl hidden behind the counter and filled it with water from his wand.