Rescuing the Young(Katherun&Halie)

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Griffin nodded. "I should have asked but I was distracted." He got up and went over to her. "This might hurt but I'll be as gentle and as quick as I can." He promised her. He started trying to undo the harness. He had seen similar ones before so it wasnt a problem. It took him several minutes to und the harness but he got it undone.
 
Ophelia hardly felt a thing as Griffin got to work. Compared to the unforgiving bite of the leather, his gentle hands were a welcome, however barefly noticeable, feeling. Free from the contraption, she took a deep breath. "That feels better," She hummed, all but melting back to the ground. "I need to wash up," she admitted, "but I'm too exhausted. I've ran for days." The woman leaned her torso against the wall and sighed. "I'll be out of your hair soon. It... it wouldn't be too much trouble if I stayed with you until I find out where my herd had gone? I'll leave as soon as I figure out. I'll pull my weight," she promised, feeling as though she had to prove herself to him to stay longer.
 
"You can travel with us if you want to. Makes no difference to me. You can help me with the boys. X handles traveling pretty well but Sam is still young. I have a bad leg so it would be helpful if you could carry him when he gets tired. You probably dont like people on your back but I promise he doesnt weigh much." Griffin told her.
 
Ophelia's face lit up. "Yes, of course! I can do that!" She was happy to be with people again, even if they weren't her own. "And I can tell you about the cities as we reach them," She was talking just a little too loud, and in her excitement she woke up X.
He didn't wake up scared or frightened, but crabby. The demon didn't recall meeting Ophelia and he woke up enough to see where he was, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Who the hell is this?"
 
Griffin shook his head. He sighed. He knew that Ophelia was going to have a dozen questions most that X would take offence to. But there wasnt anything he could do about it. Not answering the demon would make things worse. "This is Ophelia. She joined us earlier. She is taking shelter from the storm here. She is going to travel with us for awhile."
 
X huffed and crossed his arms. "Why is she here? Where did she come from? I don't want her with us!" Sam was enough to deal with. He didn't need or want more competition for Griffin's attention. Ophelia was taken aback by his sudden attitude and the burst of courage. She stared at him with wide eyes and an open jaw, unsure of what'd just happened. X turned his attention to her and all but growled, "Q-quit your damn staring!" And with that, the demon promptly turned his back to the two of them.

Ophelia was scared to ask what was wrong with him. Griffin said he was a little messed up, but she hadn't quite understood the severity of what he meant. "What crawled up his ass?" She asked, deciding that if he'd be rude and hateful to her, she'd be just as crass right back.
 
"X!" Griffin growled. He didn't know what had gotten into the younger man but there was no need to be rude. "That is uncalled for. You will be nice." He warned. He had no idea how to make the demon behave but he wasn't going to admit that. "She hasn't done anything. She has offer to help us for the time that she is with us. Right now I need help getting the two of you to dsafety."
 
X didn't look back at Griffin, even when he was growled at. "She's here." He said, audibly aggravated. He didn't say it outloud, but her presence worried him. He was scared that Griffin would begin to compare them, and if he did that, he'd see how bad he was and he wouldn't want him. "She might be here forever!" He hissed, quietly so as not to wake Sam up.

Ophelia snorted. "I don't want to be with you three forever. I've got family of my own I want to get back to. I don't know what your problem is, but drop it. I didn't do a thing. What happened to earlier? Do you not remember a thing?" She turned to Griffin, "What's the matter with him?"
 
Griffin sighed when Sam stirred. The little boy whimper unhappy about being woken up in the middle of the night. He picked his son up and rocked him. He glared at X and Ophelia. "No X doesn't remember what happened earlier. Like I explained he's alittle messed up. X stop being rude. You're not helping the problem. I have no interest in Ophelia. I have my hands full with you and Sam. No please quiet down. There is a child trying to sleep in here. It is the middle of the night." Well not really but it was getting late. "The storm should pass by morning and then we need to head out. We have a lot of ground to cover and we cant do that tired."
 
X still didn't turn around to face Griffin's aggravated gaze. Ophelia was uneasy and dropped the subject. She apologized to Griffin for unintentionally waking Sam, and followed the man's advice. She laid down best as she could manage on the dirt and stone floor, and promptly ffell asleep, given the chance to close her eyes. X took longer but he followed suit eventually. He'd come to lay beside Griffin and rest his head on the man's leg. "Sorry." He mumbled.
 
Griffin ran his fingers over X's horns. "I know you don't like strangers X. But we can use her help. She knows the area better than I do. She can carry Sam when he gets tired. She can stay with you when I go hunting. We need her help right now. She can help us find the safe kingdom. So ignore her for now."
 
X shuddered under Griffin's touch, the man's hand feeling funny against his horns. It was an odd tingly feeling- one he wasn't sure he liked. But he didn't complain or say a word about it. "I don't want her to stay with me. I don't need it- I'm not a kid. And I can carry Sam! You don't put enough faith in me." X insisted. "We were fine before her and we'll be fine without."
 
"You and Sam dont always get along X. You dont always know what your doing. I know that when your like this you are capable of alot of things. But when you're not I can't trust you to take care of Sam." Griffin told the demon bluntly. He wanted to count on X. But doing so was dangerous. Especially now that Sam was involved.
 
X huffed and looked away. "W-well yeah- but. I have to like him even if we don't get along. You'll throw me out if I don't." He spoke lightheartedly enough, like he was joking. But the lighthearted attitude left when Griffin brought up his instability. "I'm not going to hurt him when I'm not myself! I- I don't like how she looked at me. Like there was something wrong with me." He remembered with vivid clarity the shocked, confused look on her face when he woke up. "She's bitchy and hateful." X didn't quite realize or understand her confusion. "I didn't do anything to her either. Where did she even come from?"
 
Griffin sighed again. He continued to stroke X's horns, more in thought than with any real purpose. "I am not going to throw you out X. If I was going to do that I have had plenty of chances and reason to do that." He reminded the demon. "You surpised her. That's all. Go back to sleep. We all need rest."
 
X huffed and closed his eyes. "You say that... But how long will you put up with me before you get tired and can't do it anymore?" Everyone had a breaking point- a time where they just got sick of dealing with him before they couldn't do it anymore and sold him off again. Griffin just hadn't reached his. X was positive that he would eventually. "Fuck that!" He hissed in response to having surprised Ophelia. "Youdon't tthink I was surprised? To wake up with someone entirely new sitting with you? Someone you never mentioned anything about! I- I knew Sam was coming -I expected him." But he'd never wanted Ophelia here. "And then she gets bitchy with me when I'm rightly confused!" He spoke louder than he wanted to. "I didn't like her."
 
Sam whimpered again and stirred as X raised his voice. "Quiet down!" He growled softly. He glared at the demon. He moved his hands to comfort his son. "I dont want her with us either X but I cant depend on you and I cant do everything myself. I need someone to help me. You have proven that I can't depend on you." He pointed out. He was tired and needed sleep but he wasnt going to get it as long as he had to argue with X. "Go to sleep. We can argue about this in the morning. For all we know she'll leave as soon as the sun is up."
 
X's ears twitched hearing Sam whimper again. He flinched when Griffin moved his hands, fully expecting the man to smack him. When he didn't, X moved his head from Griffin's lap and simply laid down beside him, just out of reach of his hands, should he have changed his mind about wanting to hit him. He stopped talking and went to sleep shortly after. It was apparent Griffin wouldn't fully take his side, so he left it be- dropping the argument all together.

Come morning he was up early and hungry. Ophelia wasn't up, much to his surprise and comfort. Griffin and Sam weren't either, but he didn't much mind that. The fire was dying, having had no one to feed it throughout the night. X poked at it, attempting to rekindle it and wake it up a little. When that failed, he gave up for something else. He took to digging around in Griffin's bag, looking for something to eat- because he didn't recall eating much, if anything, yesterday.

X had grabbed the first thing he saw, scared of the possibility of Griffin waking up to see him looking through his things. Much to his displeasure, it was an apple. Still, he ate it, thankful to have something in his stomach.
 
"Can I have an apple too?" Sam asked when he woke up. He looked around and saw the adults were sleeping. He was hungry and wanted to eat. He wasnt sure about asking X for anything but he didnt want to wake his dad and he didnt like the woman. Maybe the demon would be nice to him for once.
 
X froze, midbite of his apple when he heard Sam wake up. He hurriedly glanced around, looking to make sure that neither Griffin or Ophelia would wake up. He wasn't sure about Griffin. The demon looked down at the apple in his hand and reluctantly handed it over to Sam after he finished his bite. He didn't like how it tasted anyhow. "I didn't mean to wake you up," he whispered in apology, for both last night a few moments ago.
 
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