She slipped both of her arms briefly around his waist again when he responded to her half-asleep greeting, but she didn't lean against him. She, too, was stiff from sleeping in such an awkward angle, and sitting up seemed to put less strain on her back. For once, she didn't notice any hint of soreness he might have shown, more focused on how tight her own muscles felt for the moment and hoping they would stop soon so she could stretch her legs.

She was silent after that, but that wasn't to say that she wasn't enjoying his company and just being near him. She found his presence to be rather comforting, especially since she knew the company was at its most vulnerable during moves like this... It was selfish of her, she supposed... But what did that matter now? He hadn't exactly given her a choice about riding with him to begin with, and surely it wasn't wrong to want to be near him when she wasn't sure about this entire situation... She pushed the thought aside when he glanced back at her with that odd look on his face, and she met his gaze with her usual enthusiastic grin.

"Please?" she said softly, sensing an abrupt "no" coming and trying to change his mind before he said it.

To her surprise and near-infinite delight, he begrudgingly gave her permission to braid his hair as she requested, and if it was possible, her grin widened further.

"Of course, I'll take them out," she said with a nod and a soft, nearly childlike giggle. A pure, delighted sound, and a happiness she dared to show more and more around him as time passed.

"Hold still-"

At first, she was a bit disappointed by her attempts. For obvious reasons; the woman hadn't exactly braided anyone's hair for a very long time. But after a while, after a few failed attempts that she carefully unraveled and started over multiple times, and even with the still-limited movement of her right arm and hand, she managed to fall into the rhythm of muscle memory and repetitive, soothing movements.

It was something to waste time, if nothing else. And it certainly kept her busy for a while, distracted from the doubts and concerns and the deafening silence.

Eventually, perhaps an hour or so after her odd request, she was satisfied with her work. The braids kept unraveling at the ends, but that was fine, she just made them smaller. It seemed that she hadn't missed a single strand, his usual straight, neat hair transformed into countless thin braids. She grinned proudly to herself as she inspected the braids for a moment...

"Done," she announced quietly, beaming. Then, remembering his conditions for even allowing her to braid his hair, she huffed quietly and began to carefully undo each of the braids. Her shoulder was actually really sore from the increased movement, which meant that it was helping to strengthen the damaged muscle, right? At least, she decided that's what it meant, and that she wasn't making it worse.

It only took a few minutes for her to undo all of the braids, and she was sure she got all of them... Pretty sure, at least.

"When are we going to stop?" she asked, leaning briefly against him again for the first time in a while, and wrapping her arms around his waist to give her shoulder a rest. She wasn't asking for her own sake, at least not entirely. She knew that the soldiers who were walking had to be exhausted, and she knew something of the "rule" to walk for two days straight when moving camp... Though, to be honest, most of the times she'd had to walk, she'd forgotten exactly what had happened due to being so exhausted and sleep-deprived afterwards. A miserable state of affairs.

Aladar was struggling to focus during the next hour or so, fingers burying themselves in his hair to make a mess of what had been a very tamed style. It was killing him. Every single moment was pure torture as he could sense the braids being randomly placed and done at a whim. So he untucked the map from under his thigh and worked on trying to look and focus on that. Except it required him to have to move his head... and that wasn’t an option. The map was pressed under his leg as lips fell into a grim line, wondering what he had been thinking to ever agree to this.

He was forced to feel how his hair was transformed, and when she finally gave her exclamation that she had finished, he offered no more than a grunt, relieved that she immediately went to undo it all. It was when she asked her question that he finally glanced back towards the troops, knowing they were already tired and they still had another day to go. It was unfair to push them any farther, his own shoulder and back killing him, even his hips burning some from their position. He had wanted to go farther, to try and push for as long as they could, but he knew that was unwise.

“We take our break soon.” It was all he said, now on the lookout for the best place to call the company to a halt. It meant finding a place they could set up a secure enough border that half of them could keep while the other half rested.

“Tendral!” He called his friend, the lanky man coming forward at the command. “Go ahead and see if you can find any good places for a rest.” Aladar was given a nod before the tall man began to jog ahead and follow orders. It wasn’t too long later that he returned and showed the Captain and company the way to quite place that would give them all a few hours to try and recoup and get back on their feet. It wouldn’t be much time really. A total of four hours. Which broke down to 2 hours of sleep per soldier. But it was the best Aladar could offer so it was what he gave them.

Pulling Renegade to a halt, he shouted the order back to be sent through the troops before he started up again and came to the spot Tendral had found. Aladar slowed the horse down before glancing at Ali. “You get off now and join the rest.” He waited to make sure she was down before reaching back and undoing her sleeping bag, lowering it down for her. He had been tempted to toss it, but he wasn’t quite sure his shoulder joint would appreciate him doing it one handed. So it was simply handed to her before he rode to give instructions to the different divisions on what was to be done.

The carts were brought to the middle as he split up the squads, half the soldiers to bed down and sleep for two hours while the other half kept watch and ate. After that, they would switch. Aladar himself finally dismounted once the orders were given, handing Renegade off to get watered with the other horses, the equine purposefully stepping on the soldier’s foot. But the Captain’s day was far from over and he immediately moved to oversee that the food being unpacked was done properly and everyone was settling down properly. And from there he planned to stay up through both shifts.

It was while he was moving around, feeling the stiffness in his legs start to recede some that one of the soldiers came up to him, clearing his throat slightly. “Sir...” Aladar glanced over as the man pointed to his head, “You have a braid in your hair.” The Captain paused for a moment before realizing, waving the soldier off before going to find Ali, his face the least bit happy. A braid. She had left a braid in his hair. And to make it worse, when he felt for it, he had discovered his entire head was fully of wavy brown strands. He did NOT have wavy hair.

The realization had dawned on Ali, at some point during the day, that they were headed mostly northwest, which meant they were going away from the border. The opposite of what she would expect... But perhaps they were backing away from the conflict for a while. She hoped so... On top of nearly killing her, the most recent battle had brought heavy losses, too many soldiers either sent home or never given the chance. And the recruits sent to replace those men that had been lost were remarkably inexperienced and untrained to be sent to the front lines as they had... She wondered if those higher-up officers had even considered the fact that they were sending these boys -- She couldn't even think of them as men, they were so young -- to their deaths...

But that was a dangerous way of thinking, and she recognized it as such, changing her thoughts quickly to other things before she got too carried away.

Most of the last leg of the trip was spent in silence, just as the first had been. Aladar walked for a while beside the horse, so Ali did too, at least for part of the time. She already felt bad about riding when the others were walking, and worse about having fallen asleep the night before when she realized that Aladar hadn't slept at all, even during the break. Sure, she knew he had duties to tend to, and those duties required him to be awake, but she could have been a little more considerate instead of falling asleep on him and using his shoulders as her pillow.

And then the whole deal with braiding his hair, because she just had to be as annoying as possible... Really, she just felt rather guilty about the whole trip.

She couldn't walk for too long, though, her stamina being nowhere near its pre-injury state. She was only able to keep pace with Aladar for about an hour, and she begrudgingly mounted up again when she realized she was lagging behind the pace he set.

After what felt like an eternity, another long night during which Ali vowed to herself that she'd at least try to stay awake, and another day, they finally reached the place where the new camp was to be located.

The first thing she noticed was how quiet and peaceful it seemed. Of course, that was quickly drowned out by the sounds of everyone hurrying to work, the new camp already taking shape. Once the orders to set up camp had been given, she'd looked around until she found where her tent was to be set up, checking to make sure that everything was as it was supposed to be... She was sort of relieved that no one had made a big deal about her having her own tent, it seemed that the men didn't particularly mind. Technically, she should have moved back into one of the shared tents by now, but also technically, she should have never had a tent of her own to begin with, considering "her" tent was actually meant for any high-ranked officer that needed lodging. But that didn't matter, it was her tent at the moment, and she wasn't going to complain a bit.

Watching the others work (and discreetly helping whenever she could), she wondered exactly how far they were from the border now. It still felt so quiet here, and she was about to find and ask Aladar now that they were officially allowed to speak again, but she stopped herself quickly enough. She shouldn't bother him... She wasn't even sure where he disappeared to after giving the order to set up camp, but he'd looked exhausted beyond words. And she swore she saw him limping again as he walked off... Should she check on him? Was he sick of her by now? She'd be pretty sick of her company by now...

But the nagging worry for him eventually overcame her self-consciousness, and as night began to fall, she wandered through the camp, dodging soldiers carrying tent poles and fabric and messengers jogging back and forth and just general chaos. She had a general idea of where his tent would be located, at least going off of the setup of the previous campsite, and it seemed that she was correct. She paused outside of the flaps for a moment, wondering if she would be bothering him by checking on him. He was a grown man, and the captain of the company no less, but that didn't mean she was any less concerned about him.

"Aladar?" she asked softly, announcing her presence before pushing the tent flaps aside and stepping hesitantly inside. "Just-" It didn't take long for her to notice the state of half-unpacked disarray of the tent, and it only took about half as long for her eyes to land on the captain who sat slumped in a chair, head buried in his hands in the picture of defeat and pain.

"Just, uh, wanted to come and say goodnight," she attempted some sort of normalcy, before stepping over a still-packed crate to walk over to him. "Are you... okay?"

The trip continued on, long and getting more painful for Aladar the further they went. He walked some of that time, never saying a word about the discomfort he felt. His leg felt much of the tension, though it sat and burned in all his joints. It was a more common issue he had been having, though never to this degree. Then again, it had been a long time since they had done such a trying march and the cold of winter had wreaked havoc on his bones. Nor did it help that despite only being twenty-eight, he was a seasoned soldier with a decade of experience under his belt. And that came with a decade of injuries, blows, heavy work outs, and stress.

He never faltered though, leading his men through the rest of the day and night, pushing forward into the final day. He rode Renegade for that time, his leg killing him. He tried to offer some attention to Ali, though he knew he did a poor job of it, taking what energy he did have and using it to make sure he continued to lead his men well and safely to their destination. Distance wise, it really wasn’t that far away, but at least it was farther away and would offer time for his company to get back on their feet again.

The moment they arrived, Aladar let Ali off the horse and rode around giving orders as needed. He could see his men were tired, and knew that the camp would be set up as fast as they could possibly manage. It was a well-known fact that the morning after arriving to a new campsite, everyone was allowed a day to rest. His own tent was being set-up as he went around giving the last orders he would need to, finally dismounting and handing off the steed as he made his way to his new abode. He could feel his leg twitch and burn as he moved, limping as he walked though he tried to hide it as best he could.

He began to unpack his belongings, knowing he would personally feel better mentally if everything was where it belonged, but the pain was winning over. He managed to get about half of his things into their proper places, but gave up the endeavor after that, leaving the tent looking in disarray. Instead, he sank into one of the two wooden chairs that sat inside, bending over to bury his face in his hands as he let out a loud groan. His hips, shoulder, back... it all burned and his joints felt as though they were grinding. Not to mention the exhaustion he suffered from forty-eight hours of no sleep or rest. His head ached as he sat there, needing sleep and yet too tired to even move to his cot to clear it off and sink into it for the night.

It was the most intense he had suffered before, most likely brought on by the intense journey and the amount of time with no sleep. Aladar barely even heard Ali enter, though he managed to catch on to her presence, though he said nothing even to her greeting. When she spoke again, nearer than she had been before, he lifted his head slowly, the exhaustion and pain more than evident in his brown eyes as he looked at her.

Was he okay? Not in the slightest but he was also a proud and stubborn man in some things, and this was one of them.

“I’ll be alright,” he offered, though his voice was husky. Slowly he rose to his feet, his joints making audible popping noises as he winced, quickly trying to clear any look of pain from his features, though he was rather unsuccessful. “You should be settling down in your tent, it should be set up by now.” It was not said to push her out, the man simply pointing it out as he moved rather slowly, leaning heavily on the different items and crates as he moved to the other chair that was full of stuff. Painfully he emptied it and motioned for her to sit if she liked.

“You’re welcome to stay if you would like though. I know the trip was long and talking wasn’t allowed.” He moved back into his chair and sank down into it with another soft groan, unable to stop it. “How are you feeling? I’m sure it wasn’t easy since your injury.”

He clearly wasn't okay. And she wasn't stupid enough to believe a word he said, either, not when he was clearly, visibly suffering. Her question had been an almost startled response to seeing him in this state, when he'd hidden his pain so well from her before... It made her feel a strange, twisted sort of guilt, as if somehow this breakdown was her fault for making him feel like he had to be strong around her... Even though she knew he hadn't been doing it for her.

That guilt intensified sharply when he spoke, pain bleeding into his voice, then stood... It took more effort than she expected to stay where she was, and not rush forward to help him. That would be a blow to his pride that he certainly didn't need... Had she hurt his back, leaning against him? Even if it wasn't directly her fault, she surely couldn't have helped him... And it hurt her to see him in pain like this; she was worried about him and she didn't know what was wrong...

"You don't have to-" she cut herself off with a soft sigh, stepping aside and watching him struggle, her eyes dark with concern.

"Yeah, it's set up... But I'm not too tired, I slept a bit during the trip. I wanted to talk, I guess." She offered a smile, though her brow furrowed and grin faltered as he sank into his chair again.

He was hurting, and she didn't know how to help... He needed rest, she could guess that much. She didn't think the pain was just from his leg, he wasn't limping badly enough for that... Maybe he was just sore and miserable and tired... She was sore, to a much lesser extent. Her soreness was definitely related to her healing injuries and the only thing she could really classify as pain was a distinct burning in her shoulder, but only if she moved it.

He'd cleared off a chair for her, and she planned on sitting down, but right now she wanted to try to help with his tent as much as she could. She knew where some of the disheveled, half-unpacked items belonged, and she could at least clear off his cot for him so he could get the rest he desperately needed... And get the stuff off of the floor so no one would trip over it.

"I'm okay," she reassured him, glancing back as she moved to his cot. "My shoulder's a bit sore, but that's it." Grabbing one of the crates, she lifted it with a nearly inaudible grunt, carrying it to the table. Another crate, she put in the floor out of the way, before she shook out his blankets and pillow to make his bed. "I've already unpacked mine, I don't have much," she said, cutting off any attempt to dissuade her.

As she moved back to the chair he'd cleared off for her, not wanting his efforts to have been wasted when he had gone out of his way, in his pain, to make her feel welcome, something in the crate she'djust moved caught her eye. Realizing the crate containing the his notebooks and supplies for his table, she hesitantly pulled the familiar leather book from among the others, her fingertips brushing over the faded lettering on the outside. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment, suddenly longing to open it and read, before she set it on the table and moved to her chair with a soft sigh. "Can I get you some food or anything? I think they're making some sort of soup, they started on it as soon as we got here..."

She sighed softly, glancing over him again as if to reassure her that he was okay despite the pain on his face and in his body language... She didn't know how to help, and that was frustrating to her, but it wasn't anything new. She could at least offer her company... It wasn't much, but until she sensed that he didn't want her here, she'd stay. "You haven't slept since we left the other camp, have you?" she asked quietly, head tilting in its usual way as she watched him. She knew he hadn't, but she wanted to hear him say it.

Tired, pained eyes watched the woman, expecting her to sit down in the chair. He was relieved to hear her say that she was okay as he turned his head to follow her movement. The shoulder pain was to be expected, he was just glad it was not excruciating or heavily hurting her. Brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what she was doing, wincing with his simple movement. He needed Orym. Well, he didn’t really, since he had already seen Orym about it and knew this was not something that could be fixed. Some things even magic couldn’t change.

His gaze softened, as much as it could in his condition when he finally realized she was clearing his bed for him. He didn’t want her to hurt herself though, and went to tell her to leave it be when he was cut off, before he barely got his mouth open. It closed as he released a breath, grateful for her help. He was too proud to have asked for it, but too tired to stop her at this point. He needed his bed and he was just hurting a little too much to fix it up. His lip twitched in an attempt at a smile for her kindness.

Aladar found some comfort and distraction when she lingered on his bible, the man pleased to see that. If he wasn’t so tired... so in pain... he would have taken it and offered to read it to her. But he simply couldn’t tonight, the man offering a silent prayer of regret to the heavens. He would not even be able to do his usual prayers, too much pain even in the concept of kneeling. But God knew his heart and his silent prayers, and he held no fear for being unable to keep his routine. It was another reason he adored his faith and Jesus. It was not about following rules, it was about a loving Savior.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold much down tonight Ali,” he admitted, voice rough and husky. His head fell, at least grateful for some company while he suffered, something he always did alone and in silence. “And no, I didn’t. I wanted to make sure everyone was rested when we stopped. The men who were up deserved to have me with them.” There was another groan that he tried to bite back when he shifted, failing in the endeavor to do so.

Slowly he stood up, crossing slowly over to his cot, his limp there as he sank onto it. It was no soft bed from an inn, but it was better than the ground and a sleeping bag. He leaned back to rest his back flat against the mattress, immediately feeling the pain that one feels when they allow their back to hit a resting position for the first time in a while. There was a sharp breath as he arched for a moment before easing back down, eyes screwing closed as he gritted his teeth. He did not want Ali to see this... to see him at his complete worst he had ever been... but he needed to lay down. But he still wanted her company.

Once he settled, he opened his eyes again, turning his head to look at her. Patting the spot beside him, he beckoned her over. “Come here. I won’t be sleeping until some of the pain eases. You may as well talk to me.” He took a steadying breath as he eased his head into the pillow. “And thank you for setting my cot up for me. You did not have to.” His eyes closed again, the man trying to ignore the burning of his muscles and joints, listening to her voice in its stead.

Luckily, as the case would turn out, by the next day, much of the pain would be eased and with a few night’s rest, he would not even show the smallest semblance of pain, even to Ali. But it was there, lingering faintly. However, it got dismissed in the Captain’s duties as he worked to get morale up to a new high and work on training and ordering the new recruits. And always... he always would find time for Ali.

After their arrival, the days brought with them less intense pain, and in a week, any signs he may have shown were gone. It wasn’t that he no longer hurt, but the pain had lessened quite a bit or came later in the night after a day of heavy sparring. Aladar never mentioned it though, nor did he bring up his previous condition with Ali. He had thanked her for what she had done in his tent, but other than that, it wasn’t mentioned. It was obvious she had not forgotten, however, by the fact that she was constantly coming to check on him. Not that he minded that so much, usually welcoming her into his tent and offering to read to her or share a meal.

The camp quickly fell into the new routine, which revolved around training. The Captain began drilling, setting up the rules for the new recruits and getting his company back into working order. He was well aware that Ali was behind the others due to her injury, but he let it be, focusing on getting the soldiers ready in case. He needed working units if he wanted them to survive.

It wasn’t that he was neglecting Ali during this time in the least, but he was putting his job and country above his personal relationship, because they came first and foremost. He felt blessed that she took that in stride, Aladar still trying to spend evenings and a few spare moments throughout the day with her. The woman did manage to find throughout the day as well, making up for any neglect on his part due to duty by being sure to follow him around when possible, which he also didn’t mind. Nor did the soldiers, as they had come to adopt her as a sister… which wasn’t an issue as they still had no problems trying to beat her into the dust during sparring.

It was after a heavy sparring session that Aladar noticed the woman was no longer among the ranks fighting, the man taking a moment to set out to find her. Brown eyes finally landed on her figure, Ali intent on something and the man curious. Quietly he made his way over, his steps more of habit than purposefully trying to not make noise. He taught his men to walk softly, and he did the same. Which brought the Captain coming up on her left side, finally catching sight of what she was doing. A smile tugged at his lips, more than familiar with the hobby.

Coming up beside her, though slightly behind, he watched her for a moment before crouching so his lips were level to her ear. “You need to hold the blade a little more securely and twist your wrist less. I also suggest finding a better piece of wood. What are you making?” He whispered his words to her, meant to be gentle instruction said in affection. The Captain waited a moment to see what she did, finding that she was not correcting her wrist movement, the man assuming she was being stubborn.

Chuckling softly, he reached out. “You can trust I know what I’m talking about,” he continued, voice still low as he shifted forward and into her peripheral vision as his hand came to grab her wrist to shift the position for her.

Another chip of wood fell to the ground near her feet, as she continued to shape the rough piece of annoyingly tough wood into the form she wanted. Exactly what form that was, she had no clue, she was just wasting time and trying to take her mind off of her growing frustration with her own weakness. It had been months... She should be back to normal by now, right? A quiet, frustrated huff as she flicked another piece of wood off of the blade of the knife with her thumb.

Then she was quiet again, focused on the task at hand... Because that was how this worked. Sure, Tendral always seemed relaxed when he whittled away, but that was because he was half-decent at it, unlike her. She had to try, and it didn't come naturally to her, though she was doing it more to exercise her shoulder than for any other reason... Even her breathing was slow and purposeful, clearly intent on avoiding unnecessary movement. That is to say, she certainly didn't notice when Aladar approached. Even when he spoke, his voice lowered as he stood on her bad side and spoke into her bad ear, she didn't notice, she didn't flinch, never realizing that he was there.

At least, until he reached out to grab her wrist, and she could see his form out of the corner of her eye on the left side.

With a yelp of surprise, she pulled her wrist away from him, whipping around to face him with wide eyes. Her attempted project, forgotten, dropped to the ground near her feet as she held the knife in front of her in what could only be accurately described as a fight-or-flight response.

Of course, in that same instant she recognized him, and the mild panic in her eyes immediately changed to embarrassed horror as she took a half-step backwards. "Ah... Hey there..." She said with a hesitant smile. Hurriedly lowering the knife, she attempted to pretend that her entire panic attack and nearly flying at him with a knife hadn't just happened. Her heart was still racing wildly, but now it was accompanied with the sinking feeling in her stomach that she'd just messed up.

Who knew how long he'd stood there before she noticed? Had he talked to her? He was on her bad side... And he wasn't supposed to know about that.

"I, uh, didn't see you there," she said, clearing her throat a bit and offering a casual, if sheepish smile. "Don't sneak up on me like that..."

What if he hadn't snuck up on her, though? What if he had walked up to her normally and she hadn't heard? What if he was going to ask questions she didn't want to answer? She deserved said questions, considering she'd pulled a knife on him in a panicked knee-jerk reaction... Realizing she still held the knife in her hand with a white-knuckled grip, she rapidly shoved it into its sheath again. Maybe he wouldn't ask, and he'd assume he'd just startled her... She could hope, right?

Aladar was quick to pull his hand back as the woman turned on him, brown eyes catching the movement of the blade coming out in front of her. His retreated step came quickly after, all done on reflex similar to the reflex that dictated her fight or flight response, except one could consider him slightly more aware, hence his retreat instead of fight reaction. “It’s just me,” he was quick to reassure, offering a hand out in surrender to try and calm the panic that had sprung to her eyes. He could not understand what had brought on the extent of the response, but he was sure he was about to find out.

It wasn’t that he had never had a soldier pull a knife on him or attack him on reflex, usually the ones who were suffering from injury or trauma. Not that Ali wasn’t suffering from both of those, but the reaction did not seem quite warranted. He took in her embarrassed look and the way she still clutched the knife as though her life depended on her grip. There was no doubting it was a fight-or-flight response, but he had more than made aware of his presence before reaching for her hand.

“Sit.” Aladar motioned back towards the stump, easing to sit himself on the ground in front of it as he leaned back onto his palms. He leaned forward again as he pulled the canteen over his head and held it out to her, something he had on him more often with the weather getting warmer and the training more intense. “And take a drink.” He had a feeling that her heart was racing and she would probably be twitchy with adrenaline, which meant he wanted to calm her down some and get her to relax before anything else, the Captain in him taking charge. Which wasn’t always a bad thing with a woman.

Once he felt that she was settled to his contentment, he returned to the conversation and incident at hand, watching her carefully as he replayed the events in his head. “I do apologize for startling you, Ali,” he began, truly sorry that she had felt in the position to need to kick in her response, “It was not my intention. I assumed that when I spoke, you realized that I was there.” He was leaning back on his palms, his guard lowered and the man emerging from the title, Aladar relaxing to simply have a talk with his girlfriend.

“Didn’t you hear me talking to you?” He inquired, taking his canteen back to take a drink of the water himself. Moving of his hand, he stretched forward to pick up the piece of wood that she had dropped, holding it in his hand to inspect. “I was leaning over your shoulder telling you the form to whittle with.”

Out of pure habit and from teaching Tendral to work with wood, he pulled out his own dagger to see what he could do with the piece the woman had utterly mutilated. It had been a bit since he had actually worked with what was not quite a hobby, more of a part of his life’s work before he had joined the army. What would have been his profession. So it was while he waited for an answer that he brought the blade to the wood, knowing how to work the tougher medium as he expertly began to work away bits and pieces, letting the piece do what it wanted.