Barren Lands, Enough to Make Your Heart Weep (Jening Only Please?)

*he said nothing, though he was listening to her story. Calmly Jening patted her hand before removing his from the top of her palm*

"There. Jening gave you a little bit more of a boost of energy."

*the spark she felt was Jening tapping into Hitomi's energy system to give her a bit more than he gave before. A slightly supply. But his eyes suddenly had lost a bit of its luster and looked tired. The pigments in his cheeks had faded, giving him a slight pale look. Either way, his smiling lips stayed the same as he slowly retracted his hand back to his own knee*

"It should feel much better now."

"Thank-you." She turned to face him, concern plain on her features as she noticed his tired expression. "But Jening... You shouldn't expend so much energy over me." She took her own hand back as well, staring at it for a moment. "I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself over me." Her head was still bowed, and she blinked away tears that had formed, thinking about the others that had gotten hurt because they helped her.

"Ah don't worry about Jening."

*a sly grin started up again and he gave a gentle toss to his dark head. Breathing in, the ground around him broke off, the ground seemed to sink just a little bit....and in one leap, Jening stood again, stretching. The firm creases of his suit wrinkled as he energetically stretched his toned muscle. Turning to her, his eyes sparkled*

"You might not know, but there's an abundance of iron and steel under these lands."

*taking a seat next to her once again, he hovered a hand over the ground between them. A soft silvery wisp floated to the surface, filling in the lines of his palm, giving him strength once again. His eyes were glazed as he turned to her*

"Jening wouldn't do something so reckless without a Plan B, nyah~?"

*and his lips gave her the gentlest of smiles*

She had been surprised when that bit of ground broke off, and sunk in a bit, but was quickly distracted as she watched him stretch, eyes following the rippling of the muscle of his upper torso that she could just barely distiguish beneath the suit. She loved the sparkle he had in his eye. It made him look so very charming... As if he even needed that.
Though he sat beside her once more, Hitomi felt a longing to be closer to him, one which she politely ignored. She wondered a bit at how glazed his eyes were.
As he smiled at her, all her sad thoughts suddenly vanished, and she couldn't help but answering that smile with one of her own. "I guess you wouldn't be."
She hoped the look in her eyes didn't give away her longing, but she mantained eye contact nonetheless while staring deeply into his eyes, losing herself in their depths... She bit her lip, looking down toward her skirts, pretending to straighten them. Her dark hair swept down as a curtain to seperate the two while Hitomi tried to regain her composure, her cheekbones ever so delicately flushed a shade of pink. She began to wonder a bit at what was it about this man that made her feel this way, as she hadn't felt before.

"Oh geez..."

*he tilted his torso forward to try to look into her face, but the curtain of dark hair seperated them. Expression from laid back to concerned, then suddenly quite embarrassed and flustered*

"Jening messed up again?"

*worryingly, his hand craned over to lift her chin. Dark eyes looked into her cat like ones, searching for what was making her upset. The blush on her cheeks were ignored, since his eyes softly looked into hers. After a moment, he asked softly*

"Did Jening do something wrong?"

Trembling a bit at the contact, confusion was still in Hitomi's eyes. "N.. no. You... didn't do anything..." Even she could hear the lie in her voice. She tried again hurriedly, "You didn't do anything wrong." She blinked, placing a smile on her face. Her eyes were like mirrors from the angle on the light, which suited her just fine. It left her free to think her own thoughts, ones that wouldn't be at risk of showing the emotional tone of said thought in the golden depths of her eyes.
She was coming to be afraid of this new feeling, one which could overwhelm her in an instant, leaving her to her confusion. She held his eyes though as she tried to calm herself. It wasn't his fault that Jening took away both rational thought and her breath, just from being his carefree self. Hitomi brushed back the curtain of dark hair, pulling away from his touch and breaking eye contact finally. She could feel herself trembling still.
"Jening..." She was pleased with the way that her voice didn't shake, "You haven't told me all that much about yourself. Where are you from?"

*it quieted as she spoke up, and the older man blinked for a moment, then turned away still a bit confused. When her voice trembled as she spoke, Jening furrowed his brow in his concern, but since Hitomi asked a question, he answered with the silliest grin on his face*

"Jening? Why he's from Jeningland of course!"

"Jeningland?" She tried her hardest to keep a straight face, something that she miserably failed at, a smile once more touching her lips. "I don't believe I've heard of such a place. What's it like?" She turned towards Jening, forsaking the backrest that the tree had offered to sit right next to him, her legs folded beneath her. She tried to ignore the confusion and concern she had seen on his features just moments before, half hoping that he wouldn't bring it up.

"Jeningland? What is Jeningland like?! Why it's full of Jenings just like Jening where we do Jening things..."

*he happened to now lean back himself back, the sapphire against the bark. Jening relaxed, seeming to be in his own world as usual; the babble that came from him appeared to be honest and he wasn't laughing but smiling in what was more of reminiscing. Jening continued, lifting his hand to speak*

"Jening has a friend named Jening there, very good friend. He's a mechanic and he fixes cars made by the company 'Jening Motors', which happens to be a good car company indeed. Operating since the 1st Jening Wars! Jening wasn't in those wars by the way...but Jening's great grandpapa Jenning was in there. Everyone thought he was an odd guy but, ya know Jening liked him. Jenning was a nice guy, survivor of the JWI (Jening War One), amazing guy, Jening looks up to him."

"That must be nice... Having people who are like you to talk to." She couldn't hold back a giggle, "Why ever did you leave?" Her golden eyes were wide, studying him with interest.

"Jening never chose to leave...he had to. Afterall, why would Jening leave a place where people dress like Jening...well sort of. Jening was quite the odd one though. People didn't like him too much so they didn't treat him very nicely either, haha"

*the man took it almost like a joke, his abuse, leaning his head back to laugh. It sounded fake, but real, as if there was some sort of irony behind it. Nonetheless he repositioned his toned body a familiar smile on his face*

"Oh... I'm sorry." Hitomi's eyes softened as she tried, yet failed to comprehend what it would be like to not be 'treated very nicely'. All her life she'd been cared for, every whim a command to someone else... She hadn't liked it, but before, she hadn't known there was another choice.
Feeling a bit bold, she leaned forward, and touched his arm lightly, the look in her golden eyes entirely sincere.

*for a moment she stopped to look into her eyes, his dark brown ones looked suddenly alarmed and confused. Tearing away from her gaze, he nervously spoke up*

"It's not big of a problem really. Jening was just a little different was all."

She blinked once. What was that look she had seen on his face? In his eyes? Whatever it was, Hitomi decided that she had better back off a bit. She took back her hand, and stood up. Taking a deep breath, she surveyed the blackened landscape with a sweeping gaze. She was surprised at how dark it had gotten. She looked back to Jening, and a blush worked it's way to her cheeks as she thought about the fact that she was here in an unfamiliar place with a man she barely knew, and it was getting dark. She quickly looked away.
Hitomi couldn't think of Jening of a menacing stranger that could potentially cause her harm... There was something she couldn't explain that didn't allow her to. She stole a glance over at him again, peering out at him from under a curtain of dark hair. She didn't notice all that much when her eyes slipped slowly back to being human in appearance, the cat-like pupils narrowing first into slits, and then rounding back to be normal human pupils. The gold darkened around them, and gradually lightened, only to be encircled by another dark ring at the edge of each iris. Hitomi suddenly seemed that much more human... Human and vunerable. Innocent and young, even.
"Even still..." She whispered, "No one should be punished for being a bit different. It's not right."

"Ah...well.."

*he trailed on, breaking his sentence. He also noticed it was getting dark himself and something within him grew excited. It was the night that made the spirit inside him happy, the night queen. The mystery of her was beautiful and like a curtain it closed and surrounded him, where he could hide himself, physically, mentally..and in the back of his mind, genetically. Though lovely, she was also dangerous, as he knew that one of the more sinister creatures, human or non, tend to appear at night*

"It's getting dark. You said you were headed somewhere? 'Sunlit', right?"

"Yes, The Sunlit Kingdom was where I was heading... But maybe now I will not have to walk." As she spoke, she closed her eyes to concentrate, a pair of lovely feathered wings sprouting from her back, their feathers of the purest white. Hitomi stayed still, her breathing slowed to be strictly mediational as her bones changed their structure, allowing them to be light enough for flight. Hitomi herself seemed to grow more slight, and also seemed to shrink in height just a bit.
This transformation took about a minute, and after, her golden eyes opened as she peered at Jening. "You must promise me something, Jening..." She paused, placing a dainty hand upon his shoulder, "Promise me we'll meet again... You don't have to promise me this now, but before we part." Her feathers rustled, and she toyed with the golden pendant at her neck with her free hand.

*he hadn't known what to say for a moment. The majesty of her wings sprouting like buds bursting into grand flowers shocked him, though he didn't show it externally. Jening had seen many odd things in the past...some beautiful like this and others gut retching. Her request also surprised him...it wasn't often people wanted to see him again. He was just a passing face to most. Jening grabbed her hand that lay upon his shoulder, lifting it to kiss the top of her palm*

"Jening will promises he will come visit as much as he can muster.."

Her hand felt ever so light, seeing as her bones had been changed to have that hollowed quality of a bird's. Hitomi herself blushed as he kissed her palm, flattered that he would promise her such. She felt herself relax, completely relieved that they would see each other again. Her wings folded tightly to her back, but she didn't notice that when she stopped fiddling with her gold pendant, the chain broke as she turned, the chain falling away as just a glint in the moonlight, the gold hidden between the roots of the tree.
She was facing away from Jening now, gazing up at the moon instead, "Thank-you Jening. You have no idea how much your promise means to me." She shifted her eyes to him, twin mirrors refracting the moonlight for a brief moment. She wondered what Jening thought of her. He was such a perplexing fellow, and since she had little experience with trying to determine a man's true emotions, she had not the slightest clue.
Hitomi straightened her skirts for a moment, then sat back down next to Jening, minding her new feathery wings. She looked so fragile, sitting there beside him. Her golden eyes were molten, lit an inner fire dancing with happiness. She smiled, "The thought of seeing you again brings me such joy... I... I wonder why that is..." She looked away, a wistful look upon her features, "Never before has anyone made me feel this way..." She stopped short as she realized she had been speaking her thoughts allowed. Her cheeks coloured, "Ah.. Uhm... I..." She stuttered over her words, not having the slightest idea of how to cover up her mistake. Of course, she wanted him to know her feelings, but to have stated them so bluntly? Without even a smidgen of tact? Oh, Hitomi, you silly thing...
"So know, you were right, it is getting late..." She stood up abruptly, hopefully quickly enough that he wouldn't get a chance to stop her. "I... I hope you'll come visit me in the Sunlit. That's where I'm headed... Farewell, Jening!" She spoke hastily, backing up as she spread her wings, posed for flight. She turned, and pumped her wings, churning the air beneath them to launch herself into the sky. No doubt, all of this had happened so fast that Jening would be left there without a clue of what had just happened. Hitomi's tiny form grew to be just a fuzzy outline as she winged away into the depths of the growing night, heading towards the Sunlit Kingdom.