Lullaby [Tag Ariel + Paris]

Leah groaned softly as she laid on the bed beside Paris. Her neck was hurting, but she was slowly coming out of the risk zone of dying. She couldn't move her head just head. She just wanted to be there with Paris, knowing he cared about her. But, she was crying gently. Titus hadn't even lifted a finger when she was dying there in front of him. It only pushed her into Paris' arms. And, this time, she didn't plan on leaving his arms.

Paris carried Leah back to her room as gentle as he could. He laid by her side and wrapped one arm around her waist, bringing her closer to his chest, but being very carefully to not hurt her head. ''Shh, that's okay. I'm here now'', he murmured softly and kissed her temple and cheek tenderly before pressing his lips softly against hers.

Ariel steps had quickened the farther she followed the blood trail into her daughter's den. She had come here to try and spend some time with Leah-something she didn't do as often as she would really like-and one of the first things she noticed was the blood on the ground in the living room. So part of Ariel was in a slight panic as she came up to Leah's bedroom door, while the other part of her was calmly trying to reassure herself-reminding herself that Leah was not easy to kill. It wasn't impossible though...And that made Ariel's heart race and her feet move even quicker, until she was almost running.

Ariel had to stop herself from just bursting through the door when she reached it, so there was a small pause before she knocked hurriedly on her daughter's door. "Leah?" she called, a bit of anxiousness slipping into her voice. Her stomach was twisting in knots as she waited for the young girl's answer. They may not always see eye to eye but Leah was still her daughter, and Ariel needed to make sure she was alright.

Leah hummed softly with the sound of Paris' voice so close to her. Feeling his lips on her skin. "Mm..." She moaned softly into the kiss, glad he was there. However, as she heard her mother's voice, she gasped softly. "Mommy?" He voice was higher, like a child's. Her neck was feeling better now, so she carefully turned it towards the door. "Mommy... In here!" She sighed in relief," Smiling a bit to know her mother was there.

Paris cradled her gently closer to him, wanting to comfort her the best he could. Once he heard soemone calling for her, a female voice, he looked over his shoulder and smirked slightly seeing Leah smiling like that, happy for seeing her mom. ''Do you want me to leave you alone?'', he asked softly, next to her ear.

A large, relieved grin replaced the look of concern on Ariel's face-so happy to hear that Leah was okay. As soon as she got the okay, Ariel had her hand on the doorknob and was turning it. She didn't wait for the door to be completely open;Once she could fit through, Ariel maneuvered her way through the door and into the room. "Hey," she greeted cheerfully, her eyes flitting directly to Leah-and her smile growing broader as she finally saw the young girl. Ariel's eyes did briefly tear away from her daughter when she noticed the boy sitting with her, and she gave him a small, sweet smile before turning her gaze back to her daughter.

"Are you-Are you alright dear?" Ariel asked hesitantly as she approached the bed slowly-gently-and took a seat to the side of Leah-keeping some space between them, but ready to move in and give her daughter a big hug. "I thought maybe we could hang out today," she continued, her smile still in place, but her eyes a bit anxious. "But then...I saw the blood..." she tried to explain, her throat catching a bit and her face becoming more serious as she gestured out slightly towards the door. It was one thing to see Leah-a great thing-but Ariel still really needed to hear her daughter's reassurance that she is alright.

Leah bit her bottom lip and looked up to Paris, shaking her head. "No... I want you to stay with me. I want to stay with you," She whispered, two meanings to her words as she looked up at him with her wide, blue eyes. She knew she wasn't going back to Titus after this. She wanted to help Paris.

When Ariel came into the room, Leah turned her gaze onto her and gave her mother a small smile. Leah had been very close to her mother as a child, but when she grew up, her views had started to change to fit Hades. She'd always wanted to impress Hades. She sat up carefully and rubbed her neck. "It was daddy... He was mad at me... So he punished me," She said quietly, looking down at the ground. "I guess that snapping my neck wasn't the best way to do it, but he knew it wouldn't kill me at least," She sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

Paris nodded quietly, ''I'll be here with you then'', he whispered and kissed her shoulder lightly before turning around to finally meet Leah's mother. He was quite anxious to know the woman, and a bit curious to see how looked like the woman that caught Hades' attention. He smiled back at her softly, and wrapped one arm protetively around Leah as they sat. He wasn't being protective of Leah with Ariel, he was only worried that Leah wasn't fully healed. Ariel turned to be better than he expected, and Paris was glad Leah had such wonderful woman as her mother. He tensed a little when Leah talked about Hades, and swallowed hard as kissed her neck tenderly where was hurt before. ''I'm sorry, but Hades is a douchebag. He doesn't deserve the daughter he has'', he murmured quietly and cleaned what was left of blood at Leah's face.

Ariel's stomach tightened when Leah told her what had happened, and she quietly wrapped her arms around her abdomen. She kept her face serious-a concerned gleam of love for her daughter still clear in her eyes-but she could hardly swallow-her throat had closed almost completely off-and her heart had stopped in her chest. She didn't want to believe Hades could do this-or would do this-but she knew her daughter wouldn't lie to her-about this. Her head turned quickly to look over at the boy as he spoke up, and she pushed her balled fists into her side(under her arms) as she held her own voice back. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she soon after returned her gaze to Leah's face.

Ariel smiled down warmly to her daughter as she reached up with one hand to softly caress Leah's cheek-her body reflexively moving a bit closer to the young girl. "I am so sorry he did that," she said quietly-her voice a bit raspy from the tightness in her throat. "I think I'll have to have a word with your father," she added, even quieter, as her gaze shifted down to her balled hand in her lap-it was more of just a mental note to herself then in conversation to Leah. She then smiled up, as brightly as she could, to Leah once more as she held her daughter's face lightly. "I…Am glad you are okay though," she then said, the slight melody that was always in her voice almost back now.

Ariel's body had finally started to relax some, but her chest remained tight-with her knowledge of what she was planning to do later. What would she even say to Hades? How would she even start? She loved him so much, but….This was her daughter. She could not just stand by and let him hurt her-even if it wouldn't kill her.