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She had never seen him like this before. So defeated, almost. So...submissive? No, Shik would never be that. She wanted to shake her head as though to rid it of the very thought. One of the reasons they were what they were to each other was because neither one of them was willing to give an inch, and even if that inch was given, neither would let it run for a mile. No, that inch was all that either would ever budge.

So she tried to ignore the way he stood, open, wings relaxed to the point wither his feathers brushed against the earth. She tried to ignore the way she wanted to close that distance between them, to reach up and brush away the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes during their little fight, to just tuck it back behind his ear so that she could study his features without any distractions to the eye. She tried to ignore the way she suddenly wanted to laugh, perhaps out of nervousness alone, when he said two simple words, and she could hear no lie in them.

She suddenly felt a little bit light headed. Maybe that head butt had hurt her as much as it had him.

And then he summoned his dagger, and she thought just for an instant, she had been wrong. It had all just been a ploy. He was going to stab her, drive that dagger through her heart, dissipate her, get rid of her in the most dramatic way possible. She could only just barely brace herself in preparation, startled, her wings rising, her arm lifting as though to block the blow.

But then he just simply spoke instead. There was no blow. No dagger to pummel through her shield and skewer her. His words were incomprehensible at first, and she stared at him for a good long time as though that might help her decipher it. And then as it finally began to sink in, she simply nodded, remembering.

And then he offered her the handle of his dagger. The significance of the gesture was not lost upon Shaheen. However, her gaze just dropped to that hand. Stared at it. She licked her lips again, slowly. then spoke in a nothing more then a hoarse whisper.

"I...yes. Yes, of course." And then almost as though in slow motion, her hand reached out, shaking at first until she stopped to curl her fingers into a fist, then let them relax again before sliding them around the handle. She then reached out with her other hand, finding his, and pulled it forward to place over top of the hand she already had wrapped around the hilt, prompting him to hold his hand over hers.

"With you...together..." There was stunned disbelief still in her tone, and she might have actually swayed on her feet just a little.

This could not be real.

Oh gods was he teasing her? She could actually feel her face beginning to heat up at the implications of his words, that he had actually noticed how this entire thing was affecting her. She was, indeed, light headed. Enough so that she had almost been willing to step into him and press her body against his, a show of affection to mask the fact that she wasn't sure if she could even stay on her feet.

A warm hand enveloped hers, and for a long, long moment all she could do was continue to stare while she waited for her head to clear. Breath was held, which was probably not helping at all, but she couldn't stop herself. It was like if she breathed, if she even moved just the slightest, he would break contact with her and tell her it was all just a joke all along and tell her how pathetically easy she was to manipulate.

That moment didn't come, but more words did, and she shook her head slowly. "No. No I could definitely hit you again." She finally looked up at him, eyes studying his, words on the tip of her tongue but not sure if she should voice them out loud, if she dared to show just how clueless she really was about...things like this.

She bit the bullet, voice still soft, quiet, almost full of wonder, a tone of voice that was just not normal for the elder chieftain.

"Now what?"

There was a small, niggling part of her that still told her that this wasn't right. What had it really changed? Were things more official between them now just because she had let herself admit out loud what she wouldn't have previously? Self doubt as well as doubt in others would always linger as long as there was still insanity etched across her features, and now was no exception, no matter how quiet the whispers had been since returning.

Though He had made it official himself, or at least it had seemed that way. She still couldn't help but wonder if it was just because it was somehow beneficial to himself to do so.

After all, he hadn't said it back, had he?

That voice wasn't the insanity, but her own thought, loud and clear, ringing through her head. He hadn't said it back, and did that mean he didn't feel the same way?

The dagger was gone, and she barely heard a word that he said, so in and out of her own thoughts now. She recognized that his hand was still around hers, gentle, if the rough man in front of her could ever be described as such.

"Home." She echoed, and nodded slowly, her actions perhaps lending more to her initial appearance of shock then what it was now, which was simply thoughtfulness. Her gaze had dropped from his, just slightly, no longer able to hold it without her own flaring suspicions becoming visible. Instead her eyes focused on his jaw, which she had so abused on more then one occasion.

"Oh don't be such a wuss." She finally smirked, deciding to hide her doubts and shelve her suspicions to examine further at a later time. Right now she should have been happy! And she was. She had, effectively, gotten her way.

It was only a year after the fact. That was a swift victory compared to many other battles fought.

She then tilted her head up to press soft lips against the edge of said jaw, brushing against his fingers. "But I will see what I can do to take your mind off of it." She finished as she settled back down, her voice amused, though with the hint of truth and promise behind them.