Two hands landed on top of Shafir’s thighs and he knew if he punched Eliqinor again, there was no going back from it. A thud resounded in the room as Shafir narrowly missed Eliqinor’s face and landed on the floor beside him. With his chest heaving in exasperation, it made the burn of Eliqinor’s hands only more prevalent. His muscles were screaming at him and it stoked the fire within. He needed to stop. He needed to get off Eliqinor and run. Shafir leaned forward and-

Wrangling his emotions and thoughts under control, Shafir pried Eliqinor’s hands from his thighs. Which, thankfully, took little effort as the other didn’t put up much of a fight. Eliqinor’s hands were not welcome, but they were warm. Shafir shook his head and just as quickly as he had pounced on Eliqinor, he got off of him. The inferno Eliqinor’s hands and waist had left through Shafir’s clothes radiated through his body, warming him to an alarming degree. It tingled and Shafir hated it. There was no way any sane person would enjoy such a sweltering heat like that. Though jumping on Eliqinor was also not his best idea and not the best position for punching someone. 

Shafir turned as soon as he got off the other. He had to collect himself before speaking and tweaking his appearance with his hands. He hoped he looked fine. His hair was better aligned, though not as neat as usual, and his cloth tunic had to be pulled down once more as it had rumpled under his leather one during the fray. He stood with his back to Eliqinor, waiting for any kind of backlash, but nothing came. Shafir thought Eliqinor might have been waiting for when the other was least expecting it, but Shafir hoped it would come sooner than later. When nothing happened, he looked around and saw that Eliqinor was still lying on the ground. His face was red from where Shafir had initially hit him, but it seemed to spread over the entirety of his face and ears. Eliqinor said nothing or moved, just staring blankly at the ceiling like he was thinking something over and that made Shafir nervous. 

“I apologize for acting rashly. You were so close-” A noise distracted Shafir from his train of thought and rubbed the back of his neck. Perhaps if he could blame the head fog, he got from first waking up he could avoid a lecture. It wasn’t often he apologized, if ever, and he felt awkward doing so. A grunt and then the vision of Eliqinor shifting into a sitting position made Shafir realize how hard he had thrown the other. If it didn't hurt, then it at least stung to be pushed to the ground with such force. With little effort, Eliqinor pulled himself from the ground and rolled his shoulders, a light popping sound accompanying the action. His lip had swollen and a bit of blood began pooling out. Shafir had punched him so hard it split his lip. Dread washed over Shafir as he watched Eliqinor wipe the blood from his lip. This hadn’t been his intention now and- Eliqinor lifted his hand and made a stop sign with it. Perhaps it had been to shut the other up so he wouldn’t put his foot in his mouth. 

“It is fine. The one who should apologize is me. I surprised you and, like a well-trained knight, you acted accordingly by protecting yourself.” With a heavy sigh, Eliqinor made his way back to his desk, his hand pressed firmly to his lip where the wound kept bleeding. Reports and requests still piled high were back to being attended to by Eliqinor when he heavily sat in his chair. The groaning of the wood was a bit concerning, but something else had Shafir’s attention. He had never seen such a dazed expression on the other’s face before. It was as if the captain was in a faraway place and Shafir couldn’t bring himself to reach out to him. 

I'm sure it's nothing… Shafir had got himself settled back on the couch and pulled himself together to focus on his paperwork. Sometimes using work to distance one from things was good. Right? Well, even if it wasn't, it was the only option he had at the moment. 

“Are you alright?” Eliqinor’s voice rang out from behind the piles of paperwork, the muffled sound of the stamping of reports drew Shafir out of his worry for the captain. Whatever was on Eliqinor’s mind wasn’t as important to him as his job.