Heron Lake Plateau No I don't wanna fall in love

Ulrich hissed a breath between his fangs and his body stiffened at her touch, but he did not pull away. He had no idea what to do with himself, but she had told him to hold still, so he did. He held so still, in fact, that he did not breathe for the duration of the hug. He felt her press against his shoulder and all the nerves in his body seemed to set alight. He swallowed uncomfortably, unsure of what emotion he was feeling in that moment. Fear? Discomfort? ... Joy? He was not supposed to feel happy about this. He was supposed to tell her that they could not touch one another. But... but who was here to enforce the rules? Only himself, and doing so was exhausting.

But he had known from birth. Did that not make things awkward? They were not so far off in age, but the way he treated her, he might as well be a second father to her. And yet always she wanted to be touched, or to touch him. He was not completely stupid. He was aware that she, perhaps, thought of him... more closely than she should. But... Did he have the heart to break her? To tell her that he did not care for her in that way? It had never come to that in the past, but... but if it did, out here, alone, would he have the strength to turn her away? Would it not be better to give in, so that they would stick together? So that he could protect her?

All these thoughts rushed through him in but a few seconds, and then she pulled away from him again, the embrace over, and he felt... empty. Empty and exhausted and... My lady, we should move on from this place, he said, his voice very quiet. He did not look at her. We must find somewhere sheltered to bed down. It is not so late in the day, but we must not leave this task til too late, or we will regret it. He kept his eyes firmly away, and waited for her response. She gave it, and they went on their way.