Another week went by, and ever since Elias and Eve's much needed conversation, James noticed that Elias started visiting a lot more often to see the both of them. James was quietly overjoyed at how the reconciliation between the two of them actually came to pass. He had hoped for it even before he met Elias, but even moreso when the two of them became friends.
Elise and Rudy continued to take Eve through physical therapy exercises, and they got more rigorous as time went on. They continued to push Eve to do simple exercises with consistency until she was able to do them with strength. She continued to push herself to walk with the help of the pole, moving one leg, and then the next. There were some days where she seemd to struggle more than others, but her progress was significant and notable.
The others would stop by semi-frequently, usually to just say hello, but sometimes they'd stay to talk, especially now that Evaline was able to engage in the conversations as well. Elise also encouraged it, since it forced Evaline to exercise her vocal cords and strengthen her voice more.
One day, Mel and Alistair came in to sit with them around the table for lunch. It was nice to have a small change of scene (at least for Evaline), since she had been bedridden for so long. Even being on the other side of the room in a chair was a big deal, all things considered.
"Hey, hey, Eva-- Eve," Mel said, correcting herself last second. "Who braids your hair everday? You or James?"
Eve paused before she took another mouthful of food, reaching up with her other hand to brush her hand against the loose braid over her shoulder.
"James," she answered. "And I do his sometimes."
Mel hummed. "Does that mean you can braid mine too?"
"Um... maybe. I'm not sure..."
"If not, can you braid my hair, James?" Mel asked as she swiveled her head to stare at him with a silly smile.
"If you want me to, sure," James said with a shrug.
"You should take notes, Alistair," she teased, elbowing his side.
Alistair almost coughed up his food, but swallowed it down before he could, turning to stare at her with his brows scrunched together.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he said.
A lot of laughter followed around the table as Mel continued to tease Alistair and even Eve as well, but it was good to be with them, and James knew all of Mel's teasing was only for fun.
Mel and Alistair continued to stop by on occasion, sometimes to play games or just talk, eat, and goof around. Sometimes Elias and Elise would come in to join them, and Hendrik would as well. James saw Rudy and Mal the least, but that was no surprise to him. Rudy only came for the physical therapy sessions, and Mal only ever really came by when they talked logistics. It seemed like Malkiel was being serious when he said they weren't friends, and he didn't seem like he wanted to be, but still, any time James ran into him he was still friendly and chose not to treat him with any bitterness. There was always a little bit of underlying tension, but it seemed like it was mostly from Malkiel.
After another week, Eve was managing to stand on her own. Walking still required something or someone to aid her for balance, but she was making quick advances, and both Elise and Rudy were very impressed. Elise never said it out loud, but James knew from the subtle messages she was giving him that she credited much of Eve's progress to her apparent renewed motivation to live and go on. There was still a lot of loss and grief they were all processing, but it felt like, as Eve grew in determination, it spread to everyone else. Her recovery was a hope that they would get out of the mines and find a safe haven eventually -- even if they had to run for a very long time before they reached it.
It had been a month and a half since Eve had woken up, and everyone continued to cheer Eve on. Even Elijah and Samiya seemed invested in her recovery. Whenever Elias would bring them in, Elijah would often want to help Eve walk (even though he was far too weak to support her) and Samiya seemed invested from a quiet distance. James had an intuitive feeling that Samiya's interest likely had just as much to do with Evaline waking up and healing post-coma as it had to do with her interest in Eve and James's relationship.
She proved it one day when she started prying a little. While Elias was sitting at the table with Elijah, helping him draw a chicken as Sleepy sat on the table, Samiya walked over to the bed curiosly, plopping down on the end to look at Eve and James with curious eyes. James and Eve were both sitting up against pillows at the head of the bed while James braided Eve's hair.
"You both are, like... an old married couple," she said, but didn't seem disgusted or annoyed.
James looked over to Samiya with a raised brow.
"How many old couples do you know?" he asked.
"None that braid each other's hair. Can you do mine?"
James laughed lightly. He was almost done with Eve's braid, and coming to the end of it.
"In a minute or two, once I'm done, sure," he said. "Do you have a specific type of braid in mind?"
Samiya hummed loudly, draping her hair along one shoulder and combing through it with her fingers while she watched James work.
"I want what she has right now," she said smugly, nodding her head towards Eve.
James laughed lightly with a huff through his nose.
"Alright, well, just wait a moment and I'll start on you next," James said, turning his attention to Eve as he quickly and steadily finished off the rest of the braid and tied it off with a ribbon in a bow.
When he was done, he patted Eve's shoulder and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.
"There you go," he said softly.
"Thank you," she said with a shy smile, touching the braid with her fingertips and lifting the end of it up so she could see it.
"Awwww," Samiya said beside them, but then made a sour face. "But also, ew. Do you always have this much PDA?"
"We're making up for lost coma time," James said nonchalantly as he slid off the side of the bed and pulled up two chairs, setting one in front of him as he sat down. "Now, come on. Do you want a braid or not?"
Even though she had mildly insulted them, Samiya seemed eager to get up and bounce to the chair, preparing to get her hair braided.
"Is this like, a ritual for you? Is this what old couples do to spend time together now?" she asked with her back to James.
James had grabbed the brush off the bed and started combing through Samiya's hair.
"It's what Eve and I do in the mornings," he said. "So I guess it is a ritual, in a way. But I like braiding hair in general. I learned how to from my mother. She would braid my father's hair sometimes."
Samiya hummed. "So... this like, gets passed down? You'll teach Eve, and then she'll teach your future son?"
Eve hadn't said anything thus far, and since Samiya sat down, she reached over and took a glass of water to drink from. At Samiya's sentence, she mildly choked and coughed, covering her mouth to not spit it out.
"We'll see what the future holds," James said quickly. "There's a lot of of unknowns."
Before Samiya could say anything else, James continued.
"Do you know how to braid?" he asked as he set the brush aside and started sectioning off Samiya's hair.
"No," Samiya said with a long sigh. "My mother didn't teach me, so..."
"Well, if you'd like, I could show you how to do a simple braid for starters," James offered. "If you find a willing participant to practice on."
"Oh yeah?" She paused for a second. "Is Elias's hair long enough to practice on?"
James hummed, glancing at Elias, who was still sitting at the table with Elijah and Sleepy. Elias seemed distracted with Elijah, who was still drawing. It looked like Elias had given up on trying to help Elijah draw anythign in particular, because they were both just drawing scribbles in different not-quite patterns.
"It would be difficult," James hummed. "I don't think his hair's long enough, really. You need at least a few inches for it to hold together. I suppose you could always practice on yourself, with a mirror."
"Maybe I'll ask Malkiel. He's got long hair, ish," Samiya thought out loud. "Or Elise or Mel, but then they'd make a thing of it, so... nah."
James smirked to himself at the thought of Malkiel agreeing to have his hair braided. He knew that Samiya and Malkiel seemed to get along more than the others. It was possible Malkiel might actually agree.
"Maybe ask Malkiel first," James suggested as he started the braid. "But I'll show you on my own head first and maybe you can practice a little on me so you can at least have an idea of what you're doing before you ask him. How's that sound?"
Samiya shrugged, which jostled the braid he was working on. "Sure, that works."
"Hey, don't move too much," James said. "Then I'd have to start over."
"Oh really?" And with that, she furiously shook her head and then laughed.
James sighed and let go of her hair, letting it fly around her head until she stopped.
"Are you good, now?" James asked. "Did you get all of that out of your system?"
"Mmmhmm!" she hummed, sitting up straighter. "Now you have to start over."
"Thank you for that," he said dryly.
He went on to finish the braid, doing the same one he did on Eve. It was a simple fish-tail braid that went straight down her back. Samiya seemed pleased with it when she looked in the mirror and pulled it over her shoulder to get a better look, and once she was done showing it off to Elias, James moved on to teaching. He showed her how to do a simple three-strand braid, showing her how to start it off against the scalp as well as how to braid it when it was just loose hair. She caught on surprisingly fast, and even practiced a few times on James's head. Without much announcement, she got up in a flurry of excitement to go ask Malkiel to be her next test subject.
Another week flew by, and Eve went from standing on her own to walking at a slow pace, and being able to hold up her own weight. She still had limited stamina, but she was regaining some muscle mass finally, and Elise and Rudy were making sure that her meals were bigger as she got more activity and movement to help fuel her body as she started getting more exercise so she could gain muscle mass and strength.
Hendrik popped in after one of Eve's physical therapy sessions, and Eve was resting in a chair at the table while James was up and about, watering the several plants in their room. James was pleasantly surprised when Malkiel followed in behind as well, but he stood by the doorway.
"Hey love birds," Hendrik said, inviting himself in to stand in the middle of the room, arms crossed. He was eyeing the few plants that James was watering. "Mal said you were growing turnips. Where are they at?"
James stood up straight, still holding the watering cup as he gestured to the balcony door.
"Should be out on the porch," James answered. "What, do you have a turnip craving?"
Hendrik scoffed, taking long strides and inviting himself to the balcony. He dismissed James with a wave of his hand. "Nah. Just gathering supplies for the trip. Good thing we have a farmer on the team, eh?"
"I guess so," James said as he watched Hendrik throw the door open and bend down to examine the turnips in the planters outside.
James drifted towards the balcony door but looked over to Malkiel, giving him a closer look. It seemed that Samiya had braided his hair up in a braided bun. James suppressed a full smile, resulting in a very small one. He then followed out to make sure Hendrik didn't rip out the plants.
It didn't take long for him to show Hendrik how to do it properly, digging into the soil and scooping them out and brushing them off. Hendrik had brought in a basket for the small harvest, and by the time they finished, the basket was full, with the turnips' long stems and leaves pouring out the sides.
When He followed Hendrik back inside, he saw that Malkiel and Eve were talking. They seemed a bit tense with one another, but the conversation was cordial and relating to the logistics of leaving. It seemed that even though Eve hadn't gotten too involved in the discussions, Malkiel seemed to want to keep her in the loop and was curious to hear her opinion.
"Thanks for the 'nips," Hendrik said as he walked back over towards Malkiel, interrupting the conversation. He held the basket with one arm, straddling it against his hip. "Looks like you're back to taking care of your girl and chicken instead of plants."
"My life will be so much less green," James said dryly. "Whatever will I do?"
Hendrik stopped and turned around by Malkiel at the doorway, bouncing the basket a little higher up against his side. "Be blue?"
James was tempted to make a cheesy comment about Eve being the yellow to his blue but he decided no one needed to hear that, and he cringed at himself inwardly at the thought.
"It's not a bad color," he said instead, waving Hendrik off dismissively, and that was the end of it.
Finally, after a week of consistency, Eve was able to move at a functional capacity. She still was far from being able to run and go hiking like they used to when traveling through the ungoverned lands, but she was definitely strong enough to ride a horse and strong enough that everyone agreed it was time to make the move.
By the time Eve reached that point, they'd all planned out their next move and the details entailed. They'd been preparing for it the last few weeks, and they decided to split into two groups that would leave at different times.
The first group to leave would be Hendrik, Malkiel, Rudy, Elijah, and Samiya. At first, they debated about sending the kids with them (especially away from Elias), but when discussing what would be best for the safety of the children, they decided it would be better for them not to be traveling with James and Evaline, who would have the biggest targets on their backs. Elias wanted to travel with the two of them, and if the children joined him, their lives would be put at greater risk. The children would also be safer with Hendrik's group since he had animals that could fit everyone, and could move faster.
Thankfully, Rudy and Hendrik seemed to step up to take care of Elijah and Samiya. Malkiel seemed like he was a little annoyed at the thought of traveling with children because he thought it would hold them back, but Hendrik seemed happy to take care of Elijah, surprising James when he babbled in baby-talk and made funny faces to calm Elijah down. Rudy seemed sober and level-headed enough that he was willing to take on the care of Samiya, but she latched on to Malkiel since she seemed to not like Rudy.
They also agreed that Hendrik, Malkiel, and Rudy working together made a well-balanced team. Hendrik and Malkiel would effectively be able to drive off natural predators and for anything they missed, Rudy was well equipped as a medic and healer to take care of anything else.
As for the rest of them, that left James, Eve, Elias, Alistair, Mel, and Elise. They would be leaving the day after, following behind Hendrik and Malkiel's trail in hopes to avoid the beasts of the ungoverned lands at least for the beginning portion of their trek.
The plan was that they all would head towards the rumored "safe zone" past the mountains. This was based on Elias's descriptions since he said he had traveled there in the past, but he didn't have a map at the time, so it was all based on landmarks. His memory wasn't the greatest, so it took a lot of interrogating by Mel and even Malkiel when he was losing patience. After gathering a list of discernible landmarks, Hendrik and Malkiel were able to map out the potential locations over the months.
When it finally came to the day for the first group to be sent out, everyone exchanged goodbyes.
Samiyah was carrying Elijah and bouncing him up and down while Elias kneeled down and spent a considerable amount of time with them saying goodbye.
"You promise you won't do anything stupid?" Elias said after she had groaned and pulled away from a hug that lasted too long.
"No," she said stubbornly.
"Sami," Elias said with the edges of a stern look, tilting his head down.
Samiya sighed. "Okay, fine. I won't do anything stupid."
"And you'll take care of Elijah?" Elias asked, cupping his hands around his face and then blowing a raspberry on top of his head, sending his wispy hairs flying around his face.
Elijah giggled. "I don't need Sami. I can take care of myself!" he said confidently.
"Maybe someday, kid. Maybe someday," Elias said with a smile, giving him a quick kiss on the head.
James had caught the conversation since he was behind Elias while the others were saying their goodbyes. Rudy was apologizing profusely to Eve even though she insisted she didn't hold anything against him, and Malkiel and Elise seemed to be politely saying their goodbyes. Hendrik had just finished giving Alistair and Mel a giant bear hug when he started to head towards James.
"James!" he called. "We'll see you in a few weeks, but you know what they say: live every day like it's your last." He smirked, extending his hand out for a handshake.
James met Hendrik's eyes with a small smile as he took Hendrik's hand, shaking firmly.
"Who's 'they?'" James asked.
"A little someone I like to call Jamie," Hendrik said as he suddenly pulled James in, giving him a quick pat on the back before stepping back and letting go.
"Ha, ha," James said with a little smirk. "Travel safe, Hendrik."
"You as well. And keep your woman safe, will you? Speaking of..." He then stepped towards Eve, wrapping his arm around her and interrupting the conversation she was having with Rudy.
"Hey boss, you're still the boss even though you're not the boss," he said with a laugh, leaning into her with his arm around her head.
"Okay, Hendrik," Eve said with a half-roll of her eyes.
At that moment, Rudy slipped in past Hendrik and Eve, catching James's eyes.
"James," Rudy said, and it seemed that, for a moment, Rudy faltered. James could sense the awkwardness, as if Rudy was contemplating apologizing again, for the millionth time.
"Keep Hendrik out of trouble," James said with a small smile.
That brought a small laugh out of him.
"That might not be as challenging as it looks," Rudy said as he offered his hand, which James shook quickly but firmly.
"I'm sure you wouldn't want to goof off too much with two children in tow," James commented.
"No, no," Rudy said as he pulled away, straightening up and looking around. "Of course not. Well. I'll see you in a few weeks, then."
James nodded. Everyone knew that wasn't a guarantee, but everyone was hoping for the best anyway. They'd argued enough about the unknowns. Now was just the time to nod and smile.
"We'll see you," James said. "Take care."
"Will do," Rudy said before he slipped away to go say goodbye to Mel and Alistair.
Malkiel, Samiya, and Elijah had been talking to the two of them, but Mel seemed to be excited to see Rudy come over, and Samiya saw this as an opportunity to sneak up to James with Elijah in tow. He was holding her hand, faithfully following behind her.
"Hey, old man," she sneered. "So, are you going to like, live with us when we get to wherever we're going? Hopefully it'll be less dusty and dark."
"Oh, so you want me to stick around?" James said in a teasing voice. "Are you going to miss me? Is that what I'm hearing?"
"No..." Samiya stubbornly said with narrowed eyes. "I didn't say that."
"Oh, of course," James said with a wave of his hand. "I must've misinterpreted."
"Yeah you did," Samiya said with a smirk. "I won't miss you, or the chicken, or Elias at all. No one will tell me what to do now."
"I have a feeling Rudy and Hendrik might fill that role pretty soon, though," James said. "I wouldn't speak too soon."
Samiya shook her head. "No, they're not as naggy as you. So no worries there, oldie. But..." With her free hand, she combed through her hair once with her fingers. "Will you all be okay? You know, without the big animals and stuff."
"I'll still have Elliot," James said with a smile. "He's the only big animal I need."
"The horsie?" Elijah said, looking up at James with big, curious eyes.
James smiled down at Elijah. "Yeah. The horsie."
"James and horsie are leaving too, but we'll see them again eventually," Samiya said, pulling him forward a bit. "Say, 'Bye, James.'"
"Bye James," Elijah echoed with a smile.
James smiled in return. "Goodbye, Elijah."
Samiyah picked him back up, smirking. "Buh-bye, now."
At their goodbye, Samiya and Elijah naturally gravitated towards Eve. Malkiel was brushed to the side since the conversation between Rudy, Mel, and Alistair was being drawn-out. He glanced over and made eye contact with James for a second, and after a brief hesitation, he cleared his throat and stepped towards him, extending his hand for a handshake.
"To new beginnings?" he said.
James took Malkiel's hand, giving it a shake.
"To new beginnings," he said in return.
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