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 Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:40 pm
She sent Sassy to stay with sleeping C'tis. He'd found the young man easily enough, clever little blue he happened to be. When he located the other rider, his handlers very very favorite, he coiled on top of his spiky-soft hair and dozed himself. He'd protect this friend of his owners, yes he would.
When he felt the first hint of stirring, the blue hummed as a dragon with an egg and sent his rider knowledge of C'tis popping - hopefully - into wakefulness. Rochelle excused herself from Bereck's room and scampered to C'tis and his bedside as quickly as she could without full out running. He hadn't been sent into a private room, she had permission, and flopped into the chair there without asking. C'tis didn't have to be awake, it didn't matter. She was there.
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:11 pm
"Mnurglefuh?"
C'tis opened his eyes, pretty well aware of where he was but confused by the fact that his skull was humming. He hadn't hit his head, he remembered getting back just fine and walking to the infirmary where he had been unceremoniously drugged and-
"Oh, it's you. 'llo Sassy." C'tis scowled but only on principle, he actually felt pretty good. His chest and arms were numb promising pain later but he didn't hurt just now and Rochelle was safe. She'd looked awful, but considering he'd been convinced for the last month that Kibeth would scream and disappear forever at any second looking like s**t was a pretty solid upgrade.
Yawning slightly C'tis closed his eyes again.
the blue replied with a mental laugh, snuggling his consciousness up against C'tis' in a rare moment of fuzzy affection.
"Oh!" C'tis opened his eyes abruptly as he became aware of company. It was Rochelle, much cleaner and neater than last he'd seen her, much less terrified too. A warm grin spread slowly across his scarred face as he studied her, all... all alive and things. Humm, maybe the fellis hadn't totally worn off yet.
"Hello there," C'tis said after a few moments, "have you seen my new hat? It's all the rage with the Holders you know."
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:35 pm
Sassy chirped and craned his wee head to peer down at C'tis, his pale wings flared with curiousity. He lived! The pretty scarred man lived! And it was a good thing. He nibbled at the young mans hair and settled back into place, still humming. He felt Kibeth and Rochelles contentment with not being dead still, the crimson dragon sliding up from her space to start looking for Malcarreth. The blue had done his job and well at that, Rochelle lived, and now he deserved a headbutt for his efforts at some point.
Settled quite comfortably in her chair, Rochelle grinned at him as he looked her over. She felt gross still, as if the dirt from the cell hadn't quite come off despite the heat of her bath, hair too roughly cut, awkward in these new clothes that weren't hers, unadorned. But C'tis didn't look like he thought she was some ******** up sort of thin and so she reached for his hand once he spoke. Rochelle squeezed, a corner of her mouth hitching up.
"Oh hey, it's you," Rochelle said in as warm a tone as she could muster. "I like it. Sky blue is a much better color on you than it is on me. You must drive those Holder women mad."
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:41 pm
"They can barely contain their lust," he agreed, curling strong fingers around Rochelle's hand. He'd thought he would never see her again. He'd regretted never saying... never saying things he wanted to say but was still a bit afraid to. He didn't want her to reject him, but he also didn't want her to feel like she had to play along with him just because he happened to have saved her arse. Maybe some other time. On the other hand what if he just bottled out another time? Hu... difficult.
"How're you feeling?" C'tis asked after a few moments. "You look much better. But. Uh. Well, it's been a while and... uh... I... I was worried you know. And I missed you." It wasn't easy to admit that kind of stuff even to her but it was important. He didn't want her thinking he hadn't cared, or hadn't cared much. "A lot."
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:53 pm
"That's what I thought," Rochelle snorted. Sassy warbled and, at an unspoken command, chewed one last lock of hair before scampering from C'tis' head. He disappeared between, pleased as punch to have been the bestest firelizard ever. Rochelle squeezed again, her other hand sliding over his to encase his hand in affection. "I wondered why swooning started as soon as you walked into the infirmary."
She hesitated at his question, looking down at their hands. In need of distraction, the glasscrafter rubbed her thumb over a few of his knuckles. "I came out better than some of the others. Like you, for instance. No stabbing, just some cuts and bruises." And terror. Of at least one nightmare even in Bereck's room, safe and warm. She'd not expected the sentiment; it snapped her out of her own fear and pain to blink at him. Wide eyes turned to a slow, wide smile and another squeeze to his hand. "I missed you too. A lot. Kibeth being alive probably didn't say too much. All she did was tell me you were okay. It was fuzzy."
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:03 pm
"I'll be fiiiiine," C'tis replied, grin going crooked on the drawn out word. "Few more scars, just make me look scarier...." He stopped grinned then, started gnawing at some dry skin on his bottom lip. "Yeah, didn't say much. I knew you were alive but... it's good to have you back and in one piece." He didn't have many people in his life who he liked, and who liked him in return. Most of them (two thirds, off the top of his head) had been taken captive. Siata hadn't looked so good... but Rochelle was okay, and much as he felt like an arsehole for it that was the best way around for it to be. If one of them had to be a complete mess he was glad it wasn't Roche.
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:16 pm
The hand on top of his left to tap lightly on his chin. "Hey, you're going to make yourself bleed if you keep doing that. You've lost enough blood already." She didn't want to see him covered with red again or in pain. Rochelle already came to terms with not saying a sharding thing about feelings or romance but - but she worried. Even when she moved on and fawned over someone else, she would worry. One day his luck would run out on him.
"I'm sorry," she muttered after a moment, leaning down and lifting his hand just enough to rest her forehead against it. "It'd been so long I'd started to think no one would come. Kibeth could have lied about you being okay, alive. She's good at that. And I didn't think you've leave me, not there. Not like that just, maybe you preferred quiet or - or I don't know."
Shaff, her voice broke. There were no tears, not anymore, but her voice cracked. She wanted to lean on his shoulder, cling there, not at his hand but all of him seemed to be wrapped in bandages, every bit. "I'm so glad it was you."
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:14 am
s**t.
Feelings and... feelings. He was really, really, really terrible at this. "Hey... hey it's okay Roche." C'tis pulled his hand away from her brow, but only in order to stroke her cheek with the backs of his fingers. He ended up cupping her jaw, not really sure what else to say or so. He was so bad at this, and he wanted to be better but the idea of being better at it was frightening to. It would mean opening up, making himself vulnerable and even though he trusted her that wasn't something he felt comfortable doing. Evening keeping his hand on her face felt like too much but he didn't move it.
"I'm glad it was me too," he added after a few moments. "I mean, because I... you... you're great and... yeah. I couldn't have left you there once there was a chance to get you out. It was probably a good job I wasn't up to the egg smashing, I'd've said bugger the mission and gone looking for you and got myself captured too probably."
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:31 am
Rochelle leaned into his palm without hesitation, half turning her head to press her nose and the corner of her mouth to the curve of his thumb. Without his hand to cling to, one hand curled into the sheets in a fist to keep herself from spouting more silliness, the other sliding along the curve of his elbow. Maybe it was awkward and odd but she needed the contact having gone far too long without anything at all. He smelled like disinfectant and hospital and new blood but that was okay. More than okay, even, because it was him and he was alive and there, all C'tis and trying to comfort her. That was okay, even though or a minute it sounded like a confession of something... not just a friend reassuring another friend.
The moment skipped away as quickly as it came. Rochelle laughed against his skin, almost snickering, and she shook her head a little. "That would have been terrible. Malcarreth might have wrecked havoc with you gone. And... and I'd rather you not have been captured. Couldn't do it. It'd be horrible. Best you have arrived when you did, and only then." She grumbled and kept leaning, her eyes closed. "Okay. Good."
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:42 am
"Yeah. He might have caused the apocalypse."
Ugh. What would a proactive, well adjusted person do at this point?
'Hey Rochelle, I really like you and we should definitely maybe get dinner as maybe not friends.' - Awkward.
'Hey hot stuff, have you been introduced to my southerly tunnelsnake?' - Shards no! That was definitely been dating a while joking around material.
'Hey Rochelle, you're hot and brilliant and hilarious and a little ball of snark. I like that, and I'd really like to be your date and your friend if that's alright by you. - Kind of weird and long winded? Better than the other two, but then having a finger cut off was better than having an arm cut off but that didn't make it good.
"Err.... So.... I don't think they'll keep me in here long." C'tis reclaimed his hand carefully and propped himself up carefully on his elbows, considering the wisdom of sitting up. So far so good. "When they do let me go we should do something fun to celebrate both being alive. Food, and booze?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:55 am
"The only reason Kibeth didn't rip the world apart is because the first sevenday or so I was busy screaming both our anger at the guards. She can think of some pretty inventive things, so we're both aware." And he went quiet for a minute and pulled his hand away. Both of hers retreated automatically, elbows propped up on her knees.
Right. The touching. He put up with it sometimes. Most the time. Maybe his arm hurt or, just as likely, he'd gotten used to not having her about and poking at him. His arm just hurt. He didn't mind, he'd have said so. ...unless he just didn't want to upset her after everything. Unless a slew of terrible things, ones she hated to think because Rochelle did not do insecure. That feelings was for other people, not her. Never her.
...except for now.
"Booze and food sounds good. Maybe music," she looked down at her hands and wrinkled her nose, forcing herself to not think stupid, depressing things. They'd lived. He had missed her. Friends were wonderful. "If you're up to it anyway, I only know one song and I don't think it's your speed. I'm sure someone would be willing to give us something to drink; Siata has a stash she's not going to be using for a while."
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:05 am
"We'll get some from somewhere," C'tis agreed, easing himself cautiously into a sitting position. It didn't hurt, not at all, but being careful seemed like a bright idea if he didn't want to damage stitches....
Rochelle looked suddenly... suddenly... kind of... well he didn't know but she wasn't looking at him anymore. What had he done?... Well he'd moved his hand, was that it? Did she think...? He didn't even know what she might be thinking about him moving his hand. Maybe it was nothing to do with that, maybe she was thinking about her time in the cell or something.
What was he going to say? He really, really wanted to say something, in fact he thought he wanted to slightly more than he didn't want to. He didn't know where he stood with her, he knew they were friends but... but sometime he thought that maybe there was more to her cuddlyness than just Rochelle being Rochelle. He usually sat on that thought very hard indeed because hope was scary, or at least in a situation like this it was for him. He'd been convinced she liked Aleck and had been wrong about that so... so maybe...? Shards, he didn't know.
C'tis looked down at his feet under the covers and utterly failed to think of anything else to say.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:12 am
"She's not shy about sharing when not cut up by a wher. I'm sure she'd be fine with it now," Rochelle snorted, still trying to shake away the quiet darkness. C'tis didn't say anything else but he had fellis in him still; that stuff did weird things to a person, even someone like Bereck or C'tis. He could be silent for that reason.
She stood and moved away from the bed, poking about until she snagged another pillow. It took only a minute and she flopped right where she had been before, fluffy object hanging from her hand. "If you don't want it, sassy'll use it for a bed. Might be better for your back than his, though."
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:22 am
"Oh, er, thanks. Yeah." C'tis reached out to take the pillow and tucked it behind his back. He really wasn't good at words, well actually no he was great at words so long as they meant nothing or meant something nasty. C'tis cleared his throat.
"Rochelle... uh....."
This was not a good start. Maybe he should wait a day or two until his head was properly clear... but what if once his head was clear he wimped out? He was pretty sure he'd gone though that thought process at least once already.
"Look, Rochelle, I've been meaning to... well no I haven't been meaning to, I've been avoiding it actually but... uh... I.... Oh bugger this!" Giving up on words entirely and trying really hard to convince himself that this wasn't the stupidest thing he'd ever done he raised his hand to cup Rochelle's jaw again and lent in to kiss her. Either he was about to get slapped/shoved off, or it would all be alright. At least he wouldn't be trapped in limbo anymore.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:34 am
He took the pillow, giving Rochelle time to scoot the chaira bit closer to the bed. It worked rather well that way she thought, in case hair ruffling or something had to happen. Her eyebrows arched when C'tis started on his case, awkward as she'd ever witnessed. Usually he spoke with such decisive snark and crisp words, not halting or hesitating.
All previous build up aside, the glasscrafter didn't expect his kiss. A handhold, maybe, yes, for comfort and friendship, but not a kiss. It'd be wrong to kiss back with C'tis drugged and hurt, absolutely wrong. The niggling voice in her head whispered what if this is the only time he ever wants to when knowing he'd wanted to avoid it but... She gave up, leaning into the kiss and his hand. If the fellis was to blame, so be it. Closure would help. If this was relief or pain control, she would still get closure.
Rochelle kissed back likely more enthusiastically than she ought, situation considered. She didn't want to frolic into the sheets with him - not yet, not until things sorted themselves out - but if it were to be the only one. Well. Then it'd be one he might remember after the fellis wore off.
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