What had brought him to her house he didn't yet know. He'd told himself he'd stay away for a while. She was like a weakness to him. A storm that brought about emotions he had long since buried. Felix frowned. "Serenity," he whispered. The village Healer and Seer. They'd know each other for a very long time. Their first encounter many years ago when he'd saved her from bandits. Felix remembered it clearly, but there was no time to remember memories. He had more important things to handle. Like getting his arm healed for example. A demon wind shuriken had left a rather nasty cut leading from the top of his collarbone down to his wrist. The more he thought about it, the less convinced he was that he had tried to dodge the attack. Had he wanted to get hit? Felix wasn't a masochist, but he'd come to terms with the fact that Serenity had a piece of his heart. Too bad it always ended in bitter arguments. Maybe he'd gotten hit because it was the only way to go see her. Yes, that was it. Felix would never admit it aloud though. So he'd backed off, only showing up on her doorstep every few months to get some battle wound healed. The distance was safe, and it kept things at bay, but Felix felt empty inside.

(Yay!!! ...Wait, uncut? YOU HAVE PLANS! TELL ME!)(By the by, since we're going back in time from FF, Ser is back to her worried, peppy self. )

Recently Serenity didn't have all that much to do. The ninja in the village were now better trained than years before, so they came back with much less serious injuries. Injuries that could be fixed in the hospital, things that really didn't need her expertise. So mostly she was dealing with a few villagers and tourists who came to get their fortunes told. Not that she was complaining, she rather enjoyed the company, as seldom as it came. But today she was staying at home, because she had the odd feeling that something was going to require her to be there today. When she heard the knock on the door, she knew she had been right. It wasn't often that her intuition failed her. Serenity had been in the middle of painting, just because, so there was no harm in leaving her things on the kitchen table.

Going over to her front door, she opened it after giving her usual peek out of the curtains, only to see Felix there. Immediately she smiled. She hadn't yet seen the wound. It was only when she opened the door and went to greet him with a hug did she stop and her smile fade. She'd seen the wound before she'd hugged him, luckily enough. "Felix, what..." A pause and she stepped aside and motioned him in quickly. "Well come in, hurry up," she told him. That was a bad cut. That was a really, really bad cut. How had he even made it home without passing out? Er...how had he even made it to her home without passing out?

(I have no plans, yet. I just felt the need to post with Felix a bit more, since I can't think of something to post for him on FF.)

Felix's blue eyes weren't hidden behind his silver hair which had been cut since the last time Serenity had seen him. When she went to hug him he almost stepped back, but she stopped before he could move. She'd noticed his arm and it seemed she was genuinely worried about him. Slowly he went inside the house without even a glance over his shoulder. It was seldom for Felix ever to look back. He figured he should fill her in on the damage. "Demon Wind Shuriken," he said naming off the weapon that had done this to him. "Cut me from the top of my collarbone down to my wrist. Inna suggested I let you check it out so there'd be minimum scarring." She was the medic on his team and though Felix had argued her down, he'd still come here anyway.

Serenity almost sighed as he named off the weapon, closing the door behind him as he came in. How come he only came to see her when he was so badly injured? She wanted to voice that aloud, but unfortunately, she already knew the answer, and it upset her. "Well she suggested right, that would leave a nasty scar if you hadn't come to me," she told him, sounding concerned as ever as she motioned for him to sit on the couch. While she did, she was already starting into the hallway to pull medical supplies from the cabinet. "How long ago did it happen?" she called as she pulled things out. Knowing Felix, if his mission hadn't been complete when he'd gotten that, he wouldn't have hesitated to carry out the mission anyways. It could have been days since he'd gotten that wound for all she knew. She sincerely hated it when he was reckless. Bringing the things back into the living room, Serenity put them on the table and started taking his jacket off. The shirt was going next, she wanted to see just how bad this wound was after the blood was cleaned off. And still she just couldn't wipe that worried look off her face. Right about now was the time she'd make some kind of childish comment, but she was too worried about the severity of his wound. Just how deep was it?

Felix hated when she sounded so concerned. It wasn't like he would die from it. He wondered if she acted this way with the other ninja that came in. Probably not. He kept his face blank as she took his jacket off and then his shirt as if he couldn't do those things himself. "I'm not immobile," he told her. His voice just as blank as if face. He glanced at the wound before speaking. "6 hours at least," he said thinking back to the mission. Yeah, because it'd taken them four hours to get back. Felix shrugged. "And before you ask, there was no poison on the weapon either." Had that been the case, Inna or some other ninja would have accompanied him against his request to go alone.

"Well then, you should have known to take the jacket and shirt off," she said with a nod. She gave a small sigh when he said at least six hours. It was less time than she'd expected, which was always a good thing. "That's good to know," she said, when he told her there was no poison. She remembered when he'd come home from his personal mission after eleven years with poison in his system. She didn't want to go through that again. She hated seeing him in pain, and removing poison was one of the most painful medical procedures to do, a close second to field amputation actually. When she had his shirt off, she went into the kitchen and came back within seconds with a bowl of hot water with a rag in it, which would soon be cooling off, and the water would undoubtedly turn red from the amount of blood she was about to wash off the wound. Sitting down next to him, she started wiping the blood after ringing out the rag. "Any other wounds?" As was usual, Serenity was not satisfied with just healing the larger wounds. Felix had said it many times, and Serenity had picked up the line after the first two times or so. Being an immortal, it's the pain that counts. So she wanted him to be in as little pain as possible.

(I think I've lost my touch with playing the old Serenity...)

(oh nooo.)

Felix had several wounds, but they were small and he could manage them by himself. So his answer was a simple, "No," to her question. He let her do her healing business as he patiently waited. The silence was bothering as usual when he was around her. It was around Serenity that he could not stand silence, but anyone else and he was fine. Felix with held a sigh. What topic should he attempt to discuss with her? He wasn't sure. Anything would do. Then again, silence was the best option. It would keep them from being too close. Felix wouldn't be the cause of yet another argument. This gets harder and harder each time. Eventually these little visits will cease altogether and then there will be nothing between us. Not even a mutual friendship. That's how it started off after all. He closed his eyes and bowed his head lightly. The feeling of exhaustion coming over him, but he was far from sleep.

(Time to go read old threads!)(Ahah. Just read 'The Forming Wall' again. Too much hilarity for one thread to contain. XD)

She should have known. She knew that even if Felix had any other injuries he probably wouldn't have told her. But...she had to ask. As she cleaned the blood off, she noticed that the wound was actually pretty deep. Not a good thing. She could heal it, but it would still need stitches. He'd probably even have to come back a couple times so that she could heal it properly over time to make sure it didn't scar. She looked up when he bowed his head. "If you're tired, you can sleep while I heal this," she told him. "I'm going to end up having to stitch it closed, but I can save that for the end." She didn't like the silence between them either. Was this really all they had left? An occasional silent stop by to get healed? Again, she knew why, but she didn't like it. She wished they could at least try to work things out, instead of avoiding each other. She wasn't sure if she could voice those thoughts though. Felix was usually a very cold individual, but not to her. She was afraid that if she voiced what was on her mind, maybe he'd become cold towards her as well.

(Oh how I enjoy old threads. They make me smile, and frown, and even cry at times. They are the beauty of the forum.) (that sounds weird when I'm posting with Fe.)

Felix opened his eyes, just enough to give her a look that said, 'I'm fine.' But he figured words would have to be spoken as well. "I'm not tired," he clarified. He wondered how long this would all take, he still had to file a damage report on the mission. It was a success, no one died; if you didn't include the enemy ninja, and all was well. Felix looked off to the side. "I can do without the stitches. If it leaves a scar, it leaves a scar. It's just one more to the many I've already received." Felix gave a low sigh. He'd stopped caring about scarring a few years ago. Fairly recent to be honest. He'd decided that they'd just multiply because he'd gone through the so many high ranked missions. Felix had the idea that he had no limits, which was very much untrue. However, he still went through with every mission he was assigned to and more than that, he made it his business to succeed each and every time. Being immortal made him careless. Felix lived to be a ninja, that was his only purpose.

Serenity looked at him when he opened his eyes then said he wasn't tired. Liar. Shaking her head slightly, she finished washing off the last of the blood, looking at him when he said he could do without stitches. That he didn't mind another scar. She nearly gave a pout at that. She would not have it. "Felix, you barely ever come to see me anymore, and when you do, it's only with these huge wounds. The least you can do is let me fix it up right," she told him, her voice giving away the fact that she'd nearly pouted at him. What was the point of him even having come to her if he didn't care about a scar? The hospital could have fixed this up just as well as she could, if all he was worried about was getting it healed.

There it was. She was starting to pout. This was why he was always annoyed. She acted so much like a mortal that sometimes he couldn't tell the difference. Maybe that's why he resented her so. Because she had retained that part of her that made her human, that allowed her to fit in with them. She was warm and kind, while he was cold and heartless. Opposites attracted, but the two of them would never make it. "I don't visit because I don't have time," he told her. Partially true. "I don't exactly have days off." He looked back to his arm. "Go ahead and fix it the way you want to." He didn't care, he was just trying to get out of her house as soon as possible.

(Hm. He resents her, but he loves her. Tch, so complicated Felix.)

"You can always take a day off Felix. It's not that big a deal," she protested. "I miss having you come around," she told him as her hand started glowing light blue with her chakra. She didn't say anything when he told her to fix it however. Now wasn't exactly a time for gloating about getting her way. Actually, she wasn't really sure what now was the time for, but it certainly wasn't gloating. Maybe now was the time for trying to convince him to come over more often. Maybe it would turn into a conversation on his recklessness. Because a moment later, Serenity tilted her head a bit in confusion and pulled her hand back a bit as she looked at the wound. She'd just now realized it, but something about it looked off. She wasn't sure what it was yet, but it had something to do with both the length of the cut and it's directionality. Something was off about it. Blinking a couple times, Serenity started healing it again silently, trying to piece together just what it was she was seeing. She refused to read Felix's mind. Though she could do it without him knowing, that would be no good. If he ever found out, he'd never trust her. She wasn't going to chance that.

(He's a complex guy, that's why everyone loves him.)

Felix was off in daydream land when he noticed Serenity had stopped healing his arm and was examining it. "What?" He asked, only after she'd gone back to healing him. Was there something wrong? Had a nerve or an artery been cut? Felix was sure he would have known if either had happened, but he was no expert in medicine so he was fine letting her
handle all of that kind of stuff. Felix dropped his gaze to his jacket. Picking it up he started to search through his pocket. During the fight his locket had ended up getting broke, he wanted to fix it since he had nothing else to do.

(That's why everyone loves him? Pfft. Everyone loves him cuz he's ho-....er. Cool.)

Serenity shook her head. "Nothing. Just thought of something is all," she told him. Not completely untrue. She stayed silent as he searched through his jacket, but then spoke again after a moment. "What direction did the attacker come from?" It was random, but something simply wasn't right. It was a straight cut down. That didn't usually happen in battle. And it happened even less often to someone of Felix's fighting prowess. Shouldn't Felix have moved away before it got halfway down his arm? But no, it actually went from his collarbone to his wrist. It would be different if the cut had started from the wrist up, but it didn't. She frowned as she looked the cut over while healing it. And if it had been from the wrist up, that would have been even more strange. Just...what had happened during that fight? There were a million and one ways Felix could have gotten this and none of them seemed to make any sense.

(Uh huh. Sure.)

Felix stopped searching through his pocket when she asked what direction the attack came from. Felix was confused, why was this relevant to healing his arm? "What do you mean?" He asked. "The thing came out of the sky...." Felix pushed his jacket off to the side. The locket was suddenly not of interest. "Why does it matter?" He was asking only because her question had been so random. He didn't remember her asking that type of question in previous healings. Felix decided to let it go until she answered, then he'd figure out whether or not it was important.

Okay, so the way Felix phrased it made her think that the attacker wasn't holding it when the demon wind shuriken had hit him. Even so, Serenity wondered just how many ninja he was fighting. Unless he was seriously multi-tasking, he shouldn't have been caught off guard for such a serious attack. "How many ninja was your squad fighting?" She didn't know why it mattered yet. But it was usually her job to find out such things like this, but since this was Felix, she was even more curious. But something about this was wrong. Even if this was accidental friendly fire, Felix would have seen the shuriken coming, if it was aimed for an enemy that was close to him. Serenity's head was swimming. She couldn't make sense of this. It would have never crossed her mind that he'd done it on purpose, after all, what reason would he have for letting an attack like this hit him?

Now Felix wanted to know why this was so important. He couldn't tell if she was just worried or just being nosy. The very thought reminded him of why he never came over anymore. "It was a A-Ranked Mission, there was quite a few ninja. I can't give you an exact count. It's not like I take time to count all of the enemy ninja while fighting, not do I take the time to count the dead bodies afterwards." Felix finally looked at her, his icy blue eyes narrow. "Why does it even matter? I didn't come here to be interrogated, I came to get healed, and if you can't do that then I'll go somewhere else." Felix was not kidding. Serenity's snooping was getting on his nerves. It never failed. If she couldn't mind her own business, then he'd gladly walk out. He'd done it once, he'd do it again.

This had happened before, and not just with Felix either. But now that he'd told her that there had been many ninja, she didn't ask anymore questions, but rather, defended herself when he started getting antsy about it. "Look, if something doesn't look right to me about a wound, I have to inquire about it, it's my job, okay? And if you say there were many ninja, then it doesn't matter at all," she said, before falling silent and moving to take the stitching supplies off the table. She hadn't meant to be so snappy, but to be fair, Felix had gotten snappy first. She hadn't looked at him while she'd responded, because she was sure she wouldn't have liked the way he was looking at her now. When his voice was like that, she never did like the stare that accompanied it.

How cute, Serenity had gone on the defensive. Felix didn't care. He didn't care. Felix didn't care for much of anything and her snappy response was at the bottom of his list as of right now. "It's a cut Serenity. They happen all the time. Why does it matter how it happened? Why does it matter how many ninja were around when it happened? It doesn't. You're not inquiring, you're snooping, and it's pissing me off." He was being straight forward today. Felix stood up. "Forget the stitches, I'll get someone else to do it." He snatched up his jacket and started for the door. "Goodbye."

Of course. This was how it always started. She always ended up saying something wrong, or in the wrong tone of voice, and Felix didn't exactly have a long fuse. "It matters because if there weren't many ninja around, someone of your skill shouldn't have gotten injured this badly! There's a lot more that goes into it than you think Felix, I'm not snoo-." She paused when he stood up, blinking a couple times. Her shoulders dropped when he said he'd get someone else to do the stitches. No he wouldn't. She stood up as well. "Felix," she called. "Felix, just let me finish up, it won't take long," she told him, following him towards the door. Her tone had changed from snappy and defensive to damn near pleading in no time at all. For two reasons. One, she knew he wouldn't have anyone stitch it up after he left. After all, what was another scar to him? And two, she knew that after he left it might be years before he came by again. Especially if he left on bad terms like this. She knew, too, what the likely things were that he would say next. Well, maybe not what he would say, but a roundabout response. The most likely response was a cold one. She knew he didn't care much for the childish side of her, the one that teased and pleaded and got all emotional. Or at least, she thought she knew that.

"Is that what this is about Serenity? Is it because I got hit?" Felix smirked. "What do you think I am, untouchable? I got distracted for a mere second, I let my guard down and this is what happened. So no, I couldn't dodge it. I apologize for getting hit and having to come here because my team was worried about me and thought you were the best." Felix's smirk faded away. "You may be the best, but you have no idea what it's like out there. The wounds may tell a story, but you won't ever know how it feels." He wished she could live one day in the life he did. Wished that she could see the world as she did. But instead she was this child trapped in the permanent body of a nineteen year old, that was older than life. Overemotional, sensitive, and continuously worried. What the hell did she have to worry about? Losing a patient?

(I just realized. This is before he found out about that time with her and the witch trials, isn't it? Gosh this gets confusing.)

Serenity stopped following him as he started speaking again. "Of course I don't think you're untouchable Felix. I just...." she fell silent as she continued speaking. Her silence seemed to deepen when he said that she wouldn't ever know how it felt. Who was he to judge such a thing? She may not have been used to pain as he was, but that by no means meant that she didn't know how it felt. She shook her head lightly. "Just who are you to say such a thing...?" she said lightly, her gaze on him with a small frown. She wondered why she even bothered to argue with him. It was pointless. Why did he even bother coming if he didn't care about a scar? If he was just going to remain silent through the whole thing? If he was just going to turn cold against her when she tried to speak with him? Why bother coming if things were not going to change?

(we'll catch up.)

Felix reached for the door knob. He'd come to the conclusion that it would be better to just walk away. But this seemed to be an argument that would just escalate and neither of them would give in until either Ser was crying or he was yelling. "Serenity, what do you want from me?" He asked. "This never works. I came here because Inna told me to. I get here, everything is fine, but you have to 'inquire' so things get like this." He moved away from the door. "I never come around anymore because of this. It always turns into argument.It's never just us talking. We don't get along, we can't spend more than five minutes together, and it just doesn't work. I try and drop by every now and then for the sake of what we had, but I can't keep doing this." That was as much of a confession that he would give.

"You didn't have to listen to Inna..." she said, watching him walk towards the door. What was the point in trying to stop him. "Since when do you ever listen to mortals..?" She paused, then sighed as he finished speaking. What she wanted to say was sorry for doing my job, but that would sound too snappy. So instead she just said "Sorry.." She turned and walked to the couch, only to sit on it heavily. She didn't know what to do. "I'm really sorry things turned out like this..." she said lightly. What else was there to say? She was unsure if she should have even said that much.

"Oh I don't know when I started listening to mortals. It was somewhere between not caring about what anyone said and trying to care about what you were saying. Besides, I like Inna." Felix grinned, but it was almost blank. Careful not to give anything away, even his eyes remained clear. Felix shrugged when she apologized. "Serenity, if you keep apologizing, then I'll get it in my head that I can say whatever I want to you, whenever I want, and you will always forgive me. In other words, I'll take advantage of your kindness because I know you won't argue too much. He turned to the door. "The next time I come back here, I expect you to forget that you can forgive me, because I'll always be around. You can't always push aside what I say. Eventually you'll have to try and prove me wrong."