WHO: Athessa, Madi, Lucien, Skull, and YOU!! WHAT: catch-all WHEN: mostly Satinalia and later WHERE: Kirkwall and The Gallows NOTES: post-murderhaus h/c is gonna go here
Ironic, perhaps, that Derrica thinks leaving Athessa alone will result in her getting rest when even at the best of times she doesn't sleep well alone. Now, with the images of dead elves and dismembered limbs fresh in memory, she'd be lucky to sleep at all.
"You could stay," she whispers, wincing at how small her voice sounds. The last thing she wants right now is more pity. "Until I fall asleep?"
Actually, the last thing she wants to do right now is beg. And this feels too close to that for comfort.
The first thought that crosses Derrica's mind: It would be very stupid to stay. Athessa has just kissed her, and the invitation in her voice is weighing heavily on Derrica's conscience.
But Athessa sounds so pained. Derrica doesn't know what the right thing to do in the face of that might be. She has the terrible sense of being suspended in a place where every possible outcome is full of different kinds of regrets. The indecision writes itself across her face, her hands twisting in her lap as she tries to work her way to a choice.
"Just to sleep," is what she says, worry pinching at her even as she makes the decision. She bends to unlace her boots, draw her feet up on to the bed. "Come here."
Athessa nods, just to sleep, and it feels like more than she deserves for acting so thoughtlessly. She's sorry. She's not sorry.
While Derrica unlaces her boots, Athessa finishes unbuttoning her overshirt, shrugging out of it with only a flicker of a wince at the pain of moving her shoulder. The chest binding she wears underneath the shirt will stay on, laughably for modesty's sake as she lays on her side by Derrica. She's not sorry. She is. Isn't.
She sighs, and when she closes her eyes, even briefly, her frown stays. She is.
But Derrica draws the blankets up around Athessa, and stays as she promised. She stays until Athessa's breathing evens out and the furrow of a frown eases from her face.
There's nothing to make any of this easier. It aches to slip from the bed, and aches to smooth the hair back from Athessa's face. She draws the thick folds of her own shawl up over Athessa's shoulders, gathered in with the blankets, and leaves silently out the door.
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"You could stay," she whispers, wincing at how small her voice sounds. The last thing she wants right now is more pity. "Until I fall asleep?"
Actually, the last thing she wants to do right now is beg. And this feels too close to that for comfort.
"Please."
no subject
But Athessa sounds so pained. Derrica doesn't know what the right thing to do in the face of that might be. She has the terrible sense of being suspended in a place where every possible outcome is full of different kinds of regrets. The indecision writes itself across her face, her hands twisting in her lap as she tries to work her way to a choice.
"Just to sleep," is what she says, worry pinching at her even as she makes the decision. She bends to unlace her boots, draw her feet up on to the bed. "Come here."
no subject
While Derrica unlaces her boots, Athessa finishes unbuttoning her overshirt, shrugging out of it with only a flicker of a wince at the pain of moving her shoulder. The chest binding she wears underneath the shirt will stay on, laughably for modesty's sake as she lays on her side by Derrica. She's not sorry. She is. Isn't.
She sighs, and when she closes her eyes, even briefly, her frown stays. She is.
slaps a bow on here
But Derrica draws the blankets up around Athessa, and stays as she promised. She stays until Athessa's breathing evens out and the furrow of a frown eases from her face.
There's nothing to make any of this easier. It aches to slip from the bed, and aches to smooth the hair back from Athessa's face. She draws the thick folds of her own shawl up over Athessa's shoulders, gathered in with the blankets, and leaves silently out the door.