damned_institute | NIGHTSHIFT 28: M31-M40 HALLWAY

"How, then?" she asked, pulling back just far enough to stare up at him. She wasn't in pain. At the moment, she felt perfectly amazing. And her lips were tingling. She wanted to kiss him again, but she wanted an answer first.

If only he weren't so cursed stubborn!

"I don't know." Thank the ancestors she'd stopped. He left his hand in her hair, hoping that small, chaste touches would be enough for her. "But not like this. Not...bleeding and exhausted and drugged in some stranger's bed."

Her gaze narrowed. "You're just saying this in hopes that I forget all about this tomorrow, aren't you?"

"I know you aren't going to forget this tomorrow." He wouldn't be that lucky.

"I'm saying this because it's the truth. We're both injured. You're drugged. Your foster brother is seriously wounded in the next room. Shadow will be back any moment, or the owners of this room. That is why I'm saying not here, and not now."

All valid points, but she wasn't happy to hear any of them. She never would be. Because despite being drugged, she was fairly certain there would be just as many excuses in the next 'here and now'.

She sidled away from him a bit, sliding down to lay her head on the pillow and stretch out on the bed. "I think I'm going to sleep for a while now," she said quietly, keeping her gaze averted, unable to look him in the eye now. She'd tried, and it hadn't worked. At the moment, there wasn't much else she could do.

"I'll stay with you." He could give her that, at least. He settled in beside her, resting his head beside hers. The covers were between them, but he could still feel the warmth of her body through them.

"If you need anything, let me know."

What she needed - or at the very least wanted - he wouldn't give, though. So she settled down into regretful silence, not knowing what else to say, even though she was nowhere near sleepy. She stared up at the ceiling, her expression thoughtful, a small frown on her lips.

It was impossible, Valyn decided, to please Shana. Perhaps Shadow had been right. Nothing would soothe her ruffled feathers short of a declaration of affection or physical overtures. But he hated laying there in silence with her.

Perhaps it was time for a change of conversation.

"Was there anything you wanted to know? About your... about our family?"

Shana blinked for a moment, then glanced over at him, wondering why he was talking when he wanted her to be quiet in the first place. Once again, she wished he'd make up his mind.

"I don't know. What is there to know?" she asked, curious. She'd never really sat and thought about them much, she had to admit; Alara and Keman had been all the family she'd always needed.

"I don't know." Valyn shrugged, an awkward movement as he was lying down.

"It's all men, on father's side. Myself and my brother, and our uncle. elven families aren't exactly large - the difficulty in reproducing sees to that. I'm afraid I'm not very close with any of them. Uncle only ever came around when father was out. They didn't get along - father was the younger of the two. But Treves is a drunkard without any ambition. He never would have been able to lead our House. I suspect my brother may take after him. Nothing I've seen of Ardeyn inspires much confidence. He wants power, that much is clear, but I don't think he's suited to it."

"Your uncle... that's Shadow's father?" Shana asked, trying to picture these men Valyn spoke of. She wondered if they were all as frustrating as him?

"V'kass Treves sur Hernalth," Valyn affirmed. "He spends most of his time drinking or gambling or in the arms of pleasure slaves. Father never had a very high opinion of him."

"You don't either," she replied, lips quirking faintly. "Does Shadow know him? Does he know who he is?"

"No, I don't." There was no denying it. "Of course Shadow knows who he is. I think he would have questioned out status as cousins a bit if he didn't." There was a light note in Valyn's voice, the only indication that he was making a joke.

"But your uncle doesn't know." Of course, back home, he wouldn't have. That would have revealed Shadow as a halfblood and meant his certain death. "Does he dislike him, too?"

"It's not something we've talked about much." There wasn't much to think about or discuss when it came to Treves. He just... was. "It isn't as though Treves has had any influence on Shadow's life. He's just... another elven lord, I suppose. That's mostly how I look at him. He's just another elven lord, not influential, but possibly a problem that may need to be dealt with in the future."

He knew that the man was his uncle, but that was such a vague idea. The only 'family' that had ever had a direct influence on Valyn's life had been Dyran.

"Not a very close-knit bunch, are you?" Shana commented ruefully, shaking her head slightly. The Kin had been fractious, yes, but there had been a definite sense of family there, a closeness - especially with her foster mother and foster brother. She couldn't imagine growing up without that.

"Are all elven houses like that?"

"No. Elven society doesn't breed close familial relationships. Wives and daughters are possessions, heirs are useful as long as they're kept in line, and father's are a barrier on the path to power. Family is important in the sense that it's needed for political ties, and to prove the strength of a House. But the actual family members..." They were just useful displays, really.

"All the elven houses I've ever been exposed to. It's possible the less powerful families are different, but I wouldn't know."

"It's a shame," she replied, sounding distracted and thoughtful. She wondered if that would ever change? Elves were missing out. No wonder they were so disagreeable.

"Is it?" It wasn't as though Valyn had any desire to be close to his family. They weren't very likable people as it was.

"It is," she answered, glancing over at him. "I have very happy memories of growing up with Alara and Keman. Maybe if elves had families - real families - they wouldn't be so mean. The humans and halfbloods don't have that problem either. Not much."

"I don't think it's our lack of familial relations that breeds our nature," Valyn pointed out. "I think it's the other way around. We're capable of forming attachments, but..." There was no room in their culture for close knit families.

"But no one does. Maybe if you did, they wouldn't all be so quick to turn on each other."

In Shana's mind, it made perfect sense. Although even she had to admit that there were always some who would cause trouble, no matter what their surroundings; namely people like her foster sister. Shana didn't miss her at all.

"Some of us do," he replied, gently. "We can. But you have to understand our culture. And our inherent nature. When we came to this world - our world, rather - we were power hungry and greedy and selfish. It's how my kind has always been. We've always been quick to turn on one another, Shana. And humans are the same way. They're just as ruthless and willing to cut one another's throat for their own advancement, family attachments or not."

"Yes, but not all. I'm not even sure all elves are like that, either, although they probably have it trained out of them long before they reach adulthood," Shana countered logically. Her argument was interrupted by a jaw-popping yawn, but his comments didn't change her mind. She didn't believe any group of people could be wholly bad or wholly good. All of them had a mix of the both; she'd spent enough time in each of their worlds to know.

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