Jason smiled mischieviously. "well if you don't want me to be so formal..." he trailed off as he stood. he quickly moved behind her and poked both sides at once just for the sake of making her laugh. there was a time for seriousness, and there was a time to laugh and smile. this was a time to smile, and jason would make sure she didn't miss it. "just loosen up" he said in her ear. he was keeping his hands off, save for that poke, but he was being less formal, like she had asked him too. but not to the point of disrespect.

Misery lifted one corner of her mouth in an attempt, then sighed, looking up meekly, "It's pretty pathetic, isn't it? A princess of one of the most beautiful and fertile planets in the galaxy unable to smile?" She looked straight ahead of her and led him down the hallway, into a big bedroom, "You can stay here if you like. Do you have something to change into for in the morning, or should I go get you something?" She asked, behaving more like a servant than a princess.

Jason shook his head. "i don't have anything but i'm more than usd to sleeping in my clothes" he said kindly to her. "now remember i said not to be so uptight" he said poking her side again. 'now loosen up or if necessary i'll give you a martian massage to fix that" he said playfully. martians were famous for being the best massage therapists in the galaxy. "i'm not going to tell anyone you can relax so don't hold back" he said messing with her hair. he was trying to get her to loosen up a bit.

Misery sighed, "I'll try, but it's like trying to forget a lifetime. It was what my parents raised me to do: I was never to show how I felt. It was... forbidden." She breathed looking out at the stars with a look of almost resentment, "They weren't ever parents to me. They tried, but they were never real parents. They were trainers. And I was an animal. Just another dog to teach how to sit." She walked out of the room, and started to shut the door behind her, "Good night, Jason." She bowed her head, and closed the door with a click.

Jason sighed. he wanted to show her how to be happy again. he lay back on the bed and looked up at the cieling, lost in thought. soon enough though he drifted off to sleep and, as usual for those who saw the horrors of war, he started having horrible nightmares. he started to toss and turn in his sleep, breaking out in a cold sweat. at one point in the nightmare he just full on let out a piercing scream of sheer pain and terror. thus was the curse of those who had seen combat... this was the curse they lived with forever after.

Misery hadn't been all the way asleep when Jason's scream woke her. She slid gracefully out of her bed, dressed in a t-shirt and lounge pants, and ran down the hall, pushing his door open slightly, almost afraid of what she might see. When she saw him sleeping, she breathed a sigh of relief. While she by no means wanted him to have nightmares, she was glad it was just that and nothing more. If her parents' soldiers found the two of them in the same place, then they would be put to death. Venusian style. The Venusians were infamous for brutal torture and execution methods. It wasn't something she wanted to experience firsthand.
She tip-toed over to his side and sat down, her hair falling around her shoulders elegantly. She tentatively laid a hand on his shoulder, "Jason... Jason?"

Jason shot up, his eyes opening. his body was shaking terribly and his breathing was ragged as if he had just run a marathon in the desert. he looked at misery. he knew quite quickly what must have happened. "i-iam sorry.. d-did i wake you?" he asked stuttering a bit as he tried to catch his breath. considering how calm he usually was, for something to terrify him to that extent... oh who knows what terrors plagued his dreams... he looked at her, his eyes still slightly wide from fright. his body continued to tremble so badly it would have been impossible not to notice.

Misery put her finger on his lips, "Shh... It's alright. I was already awake." She said softly, her voice like velvet. She forced a gentle smile in an attempt to calm him down, "Are you OK? You seem a little shaken." She held the smile, though it was a little difficult. She remembered the beatings she used to get for smiling as a child, and almost cringed with the freshness of the memory. Almost. Thankfully, she was very good at hiding how she felt. They had done that much for her.

Jason nodded slightly to answer her. "yeah i'm fine... just a case of post traumatic stress disorder... most soldiers have it..." he explained not moving away so that her fingers stayed on his lips. he smiled softly back at her, a sort of infectious smile. "thanks for getting me out of it" he said kissing her fingers lightly. he had found before, that the only way to keep from having such nightmares is to have some form of body heat nearby. but since he usually slept alone he had to deal with those nightmares alone.

Misery bowed her head, her face sort of going back into the usual seriousness that plagued her. "Is there anything I can do to keep it from happening again? You seemed a little frightened." She offered, again going into a mask that made her seem more servant than princess. She seemed to do it voluntarily. The truth of it was that she felt untouchable and unapproachable. She felt like she needed to be a servant to people to show them that she was still a person and not some marionette doll, though that was how she felt most of the time.

Jason's face turned a deep blue like the sea. this was the martian way of blushing. "well... the only thing that's ever stopped it was to have some form of body heat close to me when i sleep" he said turning a deeper blue. he knew she wasn't some puppet. He noticed she hadn't moved her fingers from his lips. he gently kissed them again, trying to get her to loosen up a little bit. he wanted to prove to her that she could be herself around him, that she didn't have to be a puppet. he wanted her to be comfortable. he wanted to know the real misery.

Misery moved her hand from his lips, still not smiling. She looked up, "Scoot over, then." She said simply, as if the choice for her was obvious. Once he moved over, she slid in next to him, laying on her stomach, "Now go to sleep. I'll try not to wake you." She laid her head down, rolling over onto her side and whistling a high-pitched whistle than somehow turned off the lights. She breathed steadily, as if she were calm, but the pulses in her neck were irregular, as if she were either ill or just too tired for her heart to keep up with the rest of her.

Jason's whole body turned blue as he lay down again, pulling the blankets up to his chin. he gave her most of the bed. despite being a martian soldier, he was still an incredibly shy guy. he wanted to be close to her, but the fact that she hadn't smiled when he said it, or made any reaction for that matter, made him think that he was being a burden on her. he closed his eyes but just couldn't fall asleep. he was still scared that the nightmares would return. how hard must it be to live your life afraid to go to sleep?

Misery woke a few hours later, rising almost mechanically and walking into the other room, leaving Jason to himself. Where she was going or why was a mystery, though she was muttering something under her breath that sounded like a chant or poem. If Jason heard correctly, she was saying, "With our hands joined / Adjacent to the hangman's grave / Never to look back, I am / Taken in by the darkness." the way she said it, low and unintelligibly, almost made her sound... possessed.

Jason had woken up the second she started moving. he sat up and started to follow her, wondering where she was going. he was curious if she actually was possessed. It really did sound like it. "Misery are you alright?" he asked only slightly above a whisper.