[ He can hear Trinket snuffling, getting comfortable at the foot of the bed. Combined with Vex tucking herself in against him, it's incredibly reassuring. He can almost trick himself that they're far from here, back in the past when it had been the three of them and they'd been worried about simply surviving. There hadn't been anything more dangerous than whatever the Clasp sent him to handle and whatever Vex chased down in the trees.
But that's not their life anymore.
Without any prompting, Vax loops his arms around her. She still fits, tucked neatly against his chest. He knows without asking that she's listening for his heartbeat. He doesn't flinch, remembering how desperately he had pressed his fingers to the hollow of her neck to seek a pulse. The memory of her on the stone rises, unbidden, to the forefront of his mind. He'd only been gone for a moment. That was all it took for everything to change. ]
No.
[ Could he lie to her? No. But he dreads the question that follows: what woke you? ]
You smell like the forest, [ He says instead, nose dipping to her hair. ] Was it a good hunt?
[ The words are stilted. It betrays the truth of things: both of them are preoccupied with what they aren't saying, with what's terrified them into silence and scared Vax into the shadows. ]
no subject
But that's not their life anymore.
Without any prompting, Vax loops his arms around her. She still fits, tucked neatly against his chest. He knows without asking that she's listening for his heartbeat. He doesn't flinch, remembering how desperately he had pressed his fingers to the hollow of her neck to seek a pulse. The memory of her on the stone rises, unbidden, to the forefront of his mind. He'd only been gone for a moment. That was all it took for everything to change. ]
No.
[ Could he lie to her? No. But he dreads the question that follows: what woke you? ]
You smell like the forest, [ He says instead, nose dipping to her hair. ] Was it a good hunt?
[ The words are stilted. It betrays the truth of things: both of them are preoccupied with what they aren't saying, with what's terrified them into silence and scared Vax into the shadows. ]