*Trigger warning: Needles*

His arm relaxed.
"Thanks, Raven." I breathed in relief.
And thank you lady fate!
I switched out tubes. Every time I looked up, his stare remained unchanged. I was sure he hadn't even blinked. A tightness was crawling up my gut.
You're being really creepy right now, Raven.
I bandaged him up after I got everything I wanted. Awkwardly I stood at the side of his bed. His deep stare still followed me.
"Uh, Nice to see you're awake. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" I said, giving him another smile.
I gently patted his wrist and walked out. I could still feel his stare burning into the back of my head all the way back to the lab.
"Hey, how long has Ravenspyre been awake?" I asked as I was arranging my samples.
Syldral's attention immediately shifted from the pipette in his hand to me. All the druids behind him practically whirled around. Their eyes were fixated on me as if in expectation. I suddenly felt nervous.
"He is awake?" Syldral stuttered.
"Well, yeah," I replied slowly, "He was giving me a super creepy stare the entire time I blood let him."
"I need to immediately report this to Haelorn," He said, hastily setting down his tube and pipette, "We have been waiting for him to become responsive."
I grunted in surprise.
Don't I feel special.
I moved out of the way as he pushed past me. A couple other druids followed him out. I raised an eyebrow as I watched the door close behind them.
Well then…
Drawing him continued to be slightly disturbing. His stare never faltered. It was incredibly intense and focused. Every time I risked eye contact, I could see it slowly traveling my face. I had taken to having a one sided conversations with him to keep our time together from feeling so awkward. It wasn't apparent if he couldn't respond, or didn't want to. Either way, it still made for a strange handful of minutes. Talking was the only way to ease the odd feeling in my gut.
His gaze was already following me when I walked in. It seemed he had graduated out of the mask between now and when I'd last drawn him. Only the padded bandage on his abdomen remained.
"Sorry Raven, not gonna talk much, it's been a long day." I sighed to myself as I settled into the stool.
I gave him my usual smile while I set up my supplies.
"Not like you care anyways, you're not much of a talker yourself." I mumbled.
I got the needle in and watched his blood dribble into the first tube.
"Why do you call me Raven?"
His soft crackling voice made me snap my head up.
Holy mother of pearl, he speaks.
His searching eyes were taking more time than usual gliding over my face. I found myself wondering if I was hearing things. Clearing my throat, I reluctantly looked back at the tube.
"Well, not to be rude, but you weren't looking so hot when you first came in here. The poison in your blood made your skin look almost black. I saw that your surname had Raven in it, so it just kinda stuck in my head. Easier to call you that anyways." I sheepishly explained.
Well, that sounded really stupid out loud.
I glanced up at him again as I switched tubes. The corner of his lip had tipped up.
Is that a smile?
"I'll stop using it if it bothers you." I offered.
"It is not bothersome."
His lips tipped up further.
"Well, if you change your mind, let me know."
"I assure you I will not. It has grown on me."
I chuckled, "You didn't really have a choice but to let it, did you? You were unresponsive for a while."
A gentle smile seemed to fill his lips. I gave him a sideways grin. I finished up and gathered my supplies as I stood. Looking down at him I took a breath.
"See you tomorrow, alright? Thanks for actually talking to me instead of boring a hole into my face with that stare of yours." I joked.
His face immediately fell.
"No offense." I quickly added.
"None taken." He said slowly.
The soft smile tipped up his lips again.
Half way out the door, I looked back to nod at him. He nodded back.
As I closed the door behind me, my mood felt lighter. The awkward and disturbing feeling that usually clung to me at the end of the day drained off. It had been nice to actually talk to him.
I wondered if he'd talked to Haelorn and Syldral.
Let's go find out, shall we?
I put a skip in my step.
Syldral's figure was hunched over what was probably a slide of something. He had glasses with graduated lenses hanging from his ears. I was surprised to see the lab was empty except for him. The day shift staff had obviously gone home. I looked up at the clock on the wall. I didn't realize that I'd finished this late. The nightshift would be in soon.
I started finishing up for the day.
"Ravenspyre sure is an elf of few words." I said as I passed him towards my locker.
I heard his stool swivel. I looked over my shoulder to see him shoving the glasses up his forehead. His stare seemed to be dumbfounded as he looked me over.
"You conversed with him?"
"Yeah, just barely though. He didn't say much."
He blinked several times at me. I frowned at his strange expression.
"Why does he only respond to your stimuli?" His bewildered question seemed like he was thinking out loud.
I shrugged as I hung up my coat.
"We have tried to get him to respond to our inquires. I had supposed until now that he was unable to," He paused as his voice dropped into slight annoyance, "It now occurs to me he was just unwilling."
I laughed, "Maybe he just doesn't like you."
"If that is so, I would like to speak with Haelorn in assigning you to his care."
Wait, what!?
I spun around and looked at him.
There no way I am going to babysit a grown elf.
"Woah, hold up, what?" I sputtered.
"If he responds to you, then it would help in his recovery."
"I already have a crazy schedule!"
"We can assign someone to take part of your workload."
I sighed as I gave him a look. He took a big breath and stood. Walking over to me, he leaned against one of the lockers.
"I should not tell you this, but given the circumstances, it is unavoidable…" His voice was suddenly hushed and more serious than usual.
Woah nelly. What are you getting me into Syldral?
"…Kagorn Ravenspyre is the highest ranking assassin just behind the Command Master Chief Ryo Treesong. Since Treesong was promoted into his position, Ravenspyre has become the greatest asset of the Elven Military Elite. It is imperative that he recovers quickly as he is needed back in the field as soon as possible…"
Well, that explains a lot.
"…because of this, we have given minimum information to those in lower stations. There are very real threats against his life."
I swallowed down the tension rising in my throat.
"So, if I get involved," I kept my look firm, "if I agree to get involved, I need to keep my mouth shut."
He nodded.
"I will inform you tomorrow with what Haelorn and I discuss this evening in regards to having you assist."
I rolled my eyes as I breathed a laugh of annoyance. I turned to grab my jacket.
"Well seems like I don't have a choice, do I?" I mumbled.
"We will compensate you."
"Alright, alright." I grumbled as I walked past him.
I pulled open the lab door.
"Night Syldral."
"Good night Chellé."
"Get some rest, you look like horse crap." I snickered.
There's the classic annoyed glare.
"I appreciate the honesty." He grumbled.
I winked back at him, "We both know that's what you like about me."
He huffed, but I saw a bit of smile flicker on the edge of his lips.
I smiled back and stepped out the door.