Neo helped Quilliene out of the room, keeping her from falling and tilting. Once they made it to the stairs, he let her go first and stayed behind her to make sure she did not drop. Quilliene nodded in thanks to Neo before heading up, and she sighed a bit, making sure to take every stride carefully.
With each cautious step, Neo kept an eye on the queen to make sure she didn't fall or slip. He was focused, strangely enough, on trying to keep track of Quilliene due to her awfully weakened state. To Neo, she seemed so fragile and delicate all of a sudden. Like if she toppled over, she would shatter into millions of pieces like the clay vase from earlier.
Yet, as she reached the top, she glanced at him strangely. As if trying to reassure him of her safety. Unfortunately though, she walked forward and staggered, grabbing the wall as she quickly fell to her knees. When Neo dropped to a kneel beside her, she held out a hand to stop him.
"I'm alright," She panted. "Just, I need a bit of help is all. I will be fine later."
"You won't be okay for a while, Liene," Neo muttered. "It takes weeks for ribs to heal."
Neo began to help her stand again, his hand positioned on her back between her shoulder blades. The other was holding her wrist in an upside down manner to signify a sort of cane and crutch, but he held her loosely. He could not hide the concern on his face as he helped her back up to her feet and a little ways forward. He even let her use him as something to shift her weight to if necessary.
"I…" Quilliene mumbled, surprised by his worry. "You do not have to do this, Neo. Really," She stammered as they started forward. "It will look like I am practically using you for something other than your duty, and I do not want it to be like that…"
"If I didn't help you," Neo mused. "I would be letting you fall on your face - and I'm pretty sure if I let you get yourself hurt any worse, I will be removed from my position as your shitty bodyguard," Neo chuckled lightly as he helped her across the room, stopping at the stairs the led them up to their bedrooms. He wasn't quite sure if Quilliene could make it up them yet. "Here - sit down on the steps for a minute. You're sweating like crazy."
Quilliene reluctantly allowed him to help her sit down, breathing heavily as she did. "I must have tired myself out more than I really needed to do so," She scowled, closing her eyes for a moment before looking at Neo. "That fact that you are even keeping up with me helps to prove yourself enough," She teased with a small, ever so faint smile.
Neo scoffed lightly, leaning against the railing as he looked off. He seemed to be thinking about something, but he was ripped away from his thoughts when he saw something small out of the corner of his eye, turning his head to see what it was. A small creature resembling a miniature human darted across the floor, slipping into the ajar break room for the guards before disappearing. He straightened, curiosity bubbling inside of him.
"Did you see that?" Neo asked quietly.
Quilliene paused, sitting there, slightly raising an eyebrow as she was able to see the same movements that Neo did. Her eyes shifted towards it, and after a second of thinking and collecting her thoughts, she nodded. Another miniature human that seemed so familiar shot past one after the other.
"Sprites," She explained. "Or pixies. I forgot they run around the castle sometimes to spread their good luck."
Neo merely watched as the second pixie disappeared, a small, content smile forming on his face while he crossed his arms. His mind wandered to the times he would see Fleur talking to the small beings, remembering how she would take care of them if they were hurt. A heavy breath escaped his mouth, sighing out.
When Quilliene was young, she had heard many stories about her parents. Not all of them, but some, like stories of pixies and her mother's interaction towards them. She heard she used to always leave bed just to see how they were doing, feeding them fruits and having peaceful conversations about their small lives. Because of such, a lot of the golden artefacts and furniture in the mansion were made of pixie's handmade materials.
The many things she heard of a mother she could not remember brought a rather calm, yet bitter scowl to her face as she got up. Neo followed as she gripped the handle and pushed open the door to the break room. Her eyes seemed to shift to the couch, where she saw a guard's back as they napped, and walked slowly so as to not wake them and also to not fall.
Neo followed behind Quilliene, stepping up beside her as she pushed open the doors. His eyes scanned the room, spotting the pixies run underneath a golden embroidered couch. He scoffed lightly, the smile still on his face as he watched them disappear and come out on the other side.
Quilliene watched them and mustered a small smile, bending down slowly and carefully, wobbling a bit as she held a finger out to one. The feminine figure with blonde hair walked towards her, staring at her finger before hugging it tightly. She did not react - even to creatures of her own household, she did not let herself fall prone to showing too much emotion. Not even once.
She stood up, sighing a bit as she turned to look at Neo, but she pivoted too much on her foot and bumped into the door behind her. She fell forward towards Neo, the action causing her to wince. He reacted, catching her under the arms and stumbling back a little bit before steadying.
He held her, suddenly realising he was hugging her in a way that her hands were on his shoulders. Time seemed to slow down, the moment of him holding her so close to him apparently lasting forever. His breath became even and calm, strange emotions coming up inside him and twisting his guts every which way in confusion. His thoughts stopped, the one feeling that stuck out being… satisfaction with the moment. Tranquil. Collected. Frozen and trapped in a time he subconsciously wished would never end.
Quilliene wanted to pull away from the physical contact she was so unused to, but her face was buried in his chest. Something buzzed inside of her, made her tremble just a bit and relax into the moment - into him. Her eyes closed as she took in everything. He smelled like roses. She could feel butterflies in her stomach.
Yet, there came the creak of something sounding, and Neo looked up to see the guard on the couch had turned around to see them. Unfortunately for him, it was none other than Raemith - the guard who absolutely despised him and had given him away to Quilliene. Slightly surprised, his face contorted in tiredness but also confusion.
Neo reacted suddenly. Quickly, almost too quickly, he let go of Quilliene and pushed her off of him. His hands on her shoulders to steady her again, not wanting her to fall once more - on him or otherwise. He felt embarrassed to be caught in such a position, by none other than someone who despised him.
Then something brushed up against his legs, making both Quilliene and Neo look down. A cat, somehow having got in the castle, ran into the room with a playful meow. It was a fluffy tabby. The queen gasped as the feline ran forward at the pixies, and Neo heard a light scream.
"Shit!" Raemith scrambled from the couch, falling on the floor as he stumbled to his feet.
Neo let go of Quilliene, rushing over to the cat as she leaned against the wall. She watched as he got there just as Raemith did, who picked up the feline meowing and struggling. Searching carefully but quickly, Neo pulled open its mouth, struggling to get out whatever was inside.
"Get it, get it!" Raemith spoke frantically, his Scottish accent thick.
"I'm trying, shut up!" Neo hissed through his teeth.
"Help him, please!" A tiny form floated up - the second pixie, a blonde female.
Neo finally pulled out the coughing, wet pixie from the cat's mouth, holding the frail figure in his hands and backing away. The cat continued to struggle and hiss, scrambling out of Raemith's arms before it jumped on the couch and sat down. The feline started cleaning their paw, rather upset it lost its lunch.
"Whew," Neo breathed, plopping onto a chair and looking over the pixie.
"He okay?" Raemith came up, then stopped short when Neo shot a glare at him.
"What do you care?" Neo hissed undertone.
Raemith rolled his eyes. "You're right, I shoulda just let 'im get eaten." No answer. "Am joking."
"Not funny," He responded flatly.
Quilliene watched from the doorway, worry strewn across her face but unable to move from her position on the wall. She felt too weak to be walking around by herself, and right then Neo was still preoccupied. Walking a bit closer to the scene and still hugging the wall, she tried to say Neo's name but it came out as a croak. Neither of the two men seemed to notice.
"Lemme see 'im," The guard stepped up again.
"Not an option," Neo got to his feet and laid the coughing pixie on the chair arm.
"What, you some pixie expert or somethin'?" Raemith scoffed.
"Maybe I am," He still didn't look at him.
"Oh?" The guard mused, crossing his arms. "Did Fleur teach you? She should've taught you a sense of humour."
Quilliene saw something spark in Neo's eye, like he was about to stand up and absolutely obliterate Raemith. Yet, he somehow caught her gaze, her pleading and worried look that stared back in her almost pitiful brown eyes. Slowly, he simply stood up and started walking towards her with his jaw set.
"Running off now?" Raemith scoffed. "Guess she should've taught you how ta stand your ground, too. She knew how ta do that."
That seemed to set him off. He whirled back around, anger in his face, as he quickly walked towards Raemith. He shoved him back, making him stumble, then shoved him hard enough again so he almost toppled over. Quilliene covered her mouth as she realised a fight was about to ensue.
"You didn't know her," Neo hissed harshly.
"Didn't I?" Raemith growled, apparently relishing in the argument. "I knew her well enough."
"No, you didn't," He glared at him aggressively.
"I did," He stood tall, matching the other's height. "Well enough not to kill her." Neo's fists tightened, and Raemith glanced at Quilliene, who had a confused and surprised expression, before looking back at the person in front of him. "Oh, am sorry - did 'er majesty not know? Know that you're more than jus' a murderer?"
"Raemith!"
A feminine voice rang out behind them at the entrance. A pale, tall female with long black hair walked into the room, glaring at the two with burning blue eyes who then looked at her. She was wearing a red guard's uniform, but had a captain's helmet in her hand. She grit her teeth, racing forward in a brisk walk and setting a crisp slap across Raemith's face.
"Hey!" He yelled, grasping his cheek.
She pointed at him. "We will talk later." Then, she turned to Neo. "Go do your job, sir, and make sure the Queen is alright."
Neo was about to give Raemith a throttling despite the guard captain's words, but whirled around anyway. Practically stomping his way towards her, his steps grew a little bit softer when he reached her. He helped Quilliene steady herself further, glancing up to her face. She seemed to be… blushing?
The Queen pulled away from him, glancing over his shoulder at Raemith and the other woman. She knew who it was - Kyrana, a guard who used to work with her parents when she was younger. Quilliene had recently renewed her contract when she became Queen, and made her captain.
Neo looked behind him to see that the guard captain was thoroughly scolding Raemith, who was holding his face with a disgruntled frown. He didn't know her, but he recognised her - she was the one who stopped him from choking Raemith out when he was giving Neo a what-for. He grit his teeth, then looked back at Quilliene.
She was watching the two pixies on the chair arm. The female was kneeling down next to the male, patting his back and holding out his arm. His wing seemed to be hurt, along with a scratch on his shoulder. She glanced at the cat, seeing it still eyeing the two hungrily.
"Neo?" Quilliene asked, and he raised an eyebrow. "Will you go help those pixies out?"
"What about you?" He questioned.
"Kyrana," She called out to the guard captain, and she paused in her finger wagging and looked at her. "Could you stop… reprimanding Raemith and help me while Neo takes care of those pixies?"
Kyrana smiled and nodded. "Of course, your majesty," She glared at Raemith. "We're not done. Go put my cat back in my room and we'll finish this later."
"But-" He started.
"Don't!" She hissed, pointing at him.
Neo ignored them as he gave Quilliene a glance, who returned his gaze before looking away and flushing. What was she so embarrassed about? Was it about when he caught her? His own face felt hot, and he quickly turned away and walked over to the pixies. He knelt down, holding up his gloved hands in a cupping motion. They both looked at him - they had green skin, the girl with blonde hair in a bun and the boy with a shaggy brown mane. Both had cloth tunics and pants, but barefoot, while the male had a bit torn at his bleeding shoulder of blue blood.
"Come on," Neo forced a small smile. "I'll get you two out of here."
The girl glanced at the cat, then to Neo with a smile. "Thank you," She said in a tiny voice.
She helped the boy into his cupped hands, and flew up next to Neo as he stood. She sat on his shoulder, after a quick warning to her to make sure she didn't touch his skin. After turning around, he noticed Kyrana and Quilliene leaving the room. He glanced at Raemith, who was picking up the cat that yowled in anger. He grit his teeth, looked down at the pixie, then proceeded to leave as well.