Who: Claire Fraser and OTA + closed starters When: mid July through mid August Where: Solvunn, Nocwich What: Digging up stuff, research and junk Warnings: none yet but will change if necessary
[ The way Jon looks at her, the way he smiles only for her, melts Claire in a way that feels impossible to describe. She brings that happiness to his eyes, makes them squint a bit at the corners when he smiles at her. It's something she's quickly grown fond of doing, making that smile appear.
She likes listening to him always, especially talking about the good things he remembers, though that my brother fell from doesn't sound much like a happy memory. She files it away for later to ask about. She said she wanted to see everything, and she does, not just the good. ] Harvest is always an opportune time for gathering together. So many cultures around the world come together then, and many times it was the only opportunity they had to see one another the entire year.
[ Carefully, Claire moves herself so that she's sitting shoulder to shoulder with Jon, able to look at the cup with the same perspective he has. ]
I don't feel like it's a violent image, even with the bow. I suppose it could be something along the lines of a general hunt, but not war, I agree with you. If there were centaurs and they were linked to the wolves, I'm hoping to find my answer in Luna. There's another bookkeeper I'll try tomorrow.
[ Her last opportunity before Nocwich closes, and she takes what she's found to the council. ]
[Three days to Nocwich, so they have just one more night -- and not much to the last day. He will spend much of tomorrow hunting, he decides, and then sell whatever of the meat and hide that Claire doesn't want, if he is lucky enough to take down any game at all.]
No. It might be that it's a chase, the way they circle about each other. But the wolf is at the center of it all. Might be that's because a wolf made it -- but only the wolves would know.
[And that's about as far as his insight on this subject goes. He adds, a little regretful, after another long look at it,]
You should wrap it back up.
The time we have, it's already half gone. Things in Thorne.... [How to describe them? He had emerged from that undercroft into a new kingdom. It would be hard to call it better, but easier to say, in an instant, that it's better for him.]
And that's exactly what I'm trying to discover. How much influence did the Lunae have once? They had so much territory at one point, I can't help but wonder.
[ Getting back out of bed, she carefully takes the cup and pads to the table, wrapping it as he speaks. A frown gently tugs her lips down, hating that three days is all they have together, and should Nocwich ever close again, that's it for being together in the real flesh. It's almost enough to want to abandon her studies for the day. The idea tumbles around in her mind, and then he mentions Thorne. ]
If I could keep you with me in Solvunn...[ She lets out a breath, then looks at Jon from across the room, eyes holding a weight of fear to them. ] I'm not ashamed to admit I'm afraid for you. And others in Thorne.
[ Making her way back to the bed, she sits beside him again, this time tucking in close and kissing his chest softly. ] Because of that, and because you're right, our time is almost up, I...don't think I'll go to Luna tomorrow. I have plenty to start and keep me busy until I can return.
[ The more she thinks about it, the less she can stomach bending over books all day over simply being with Jon. She's learned her lessons about not taking time for granted, and she's learned them the hard way. ]
[When she tucks back in against him and says she doesn't plan to do any more research tomorrow, all thoughts of going hunting flee from his mind. Why would he spend the day chasing through a forest when he can spend any day doing that back in Thorne? He did not begrudge her the time spent sifting through books if it was important to her, but they have so little time to see each other in the flesh as yet that it had still disappointed him. The last time they had met in Nocwich, they'd hardly left their room.
But that had been different, he supposes. There had been three miserable weeks of waiting and not knowing and not seeing her. And then he had come to her, and he had held her, and he had said into her ear, I choose you. Not really a wedding, but as close on it as they were like to see for a while.]
Until we can't. [His expression is pleased, and he bends to kiss her forehead.] The woods can do without me. The whole world can do without the both of us for the day.
If my sister was not in Thorne, I might have left it when I came out of that undercroft. Well, I might have tried. I wanted to run to you; I did not like that we might have each died where we were, underground, with no way to see each other and no one to know. But the new king... he treats us better. Most of us. I can carry my sword in the castle now.[He doesn't sound tremendously impressed, but it's still an improvement.] Yet what he did, it put all of us in danger.
[ As they lie together, one leg drapes over his, head resting against his chest as she draws random shapes and patterns on his skin with her fingertips. Stowing away with him sounds better than anything else now, and with his agreement, she lets out a soft, content breath.
Then she listens, to his words and to the steady beat of his heart. She likes that he feels more confident, it gives her a little hope that perhaps Thorne will stay level-headed and reasonable. Although if level-heads prevail, Winifred's sacrifice was, if anything, premature. ] There's fear in Solvunn, that Thorne will attack our ocean border, and so a woman sacrificed herself to the water and now there's a barrier, a new god's protection.
[ There are other things she needs to tell him, specifically about others she knows in Thorne, but it can wait, and she isn't exactly eager. ]
[His arms about her, he holds her as close and comfortable against his chest as he can. When he answers her, his tone is thoughtful.]
He is a soldier -- a naval man. I am a soldier, trained to it, but I know little of ships -- I've only been on the sea two or three times in my life. Solvunn does well to fear an attack by sea by that measure, or at least to want to defend itself by sea. But what does Solvunn have that he would want? A land route to Cadens? You still have to send men and horses by ship part of the way; it isn't necessarily easier than just going around it, unless he means to conquer it all. Then he has other troubles. Crown in Thorne can't even manage Nott -- why take on more of it? It'd just be a bigger Nott, to them.
That's how I'd think on the matter. Thorne does not trust Solvunn, but it is the Free Cities that are the enemy, as I understand.
No one ought to be the enemy. We all have to live in the same world.
[ It doesn't exactly make her feel better that her friends in the Free Cities are targets of this king's wrath, but it does make her feel better that Solvunn will be alright for now. She makes a soft sound in the back of her throat, finding one of his hands and tangling her fingers through his. ]
It's always another bloody war, everywhere I go. [ And somehow she's always been right in it, in danger but only terrified for the people she loves. ] I'm so tired of it, Jon.
[ Her voice wavers a little and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling a confession. ] It's another reason I let myself get lost in the digging. I don't want to think about this anymore, I want a time in my life when war doesn't occupy every thought.
[ But that's a pipe dream. What will happen next? Who will be in the line of fire? What will she be able to do to help? Are they prepared enough? Will she lose someone she loves? And so it goes on and on; she knows she can't be free of it, but it's been so many decades of her life. ]
[Surprising bitterness and tiredness in how he says it, particularly for a man of his years. It isn't the eight centuries they had lived, some of which he hardly remembers, and some of which he remembers quite well. It's that he sees the same foolishness here that he does back in Westeros. What would they do against a true threat, one that held no care for whether a man lived in Thorne or the Free Cities or Solvunn? One that saw all of them the same and wished to crush them all the same, as what he faces at home does? The new king in Thorne might be a better king than his niece had been a queen, that remains to be seen, but his way of taking the throne had involved needless aggression against Solvunn and the Free Cities, when the time may still come one day when they all need to work together. He has not seen much evidence of that, but he hopes to the gods with the way the people here go on that he never will.]
I am tired of fighting. I've been tired of fighting for so long. I'm glad you had the digging to occupy you. Glad they're letting us out of the city now in Thorne now, too -- I feel a little more myself out in the wilds. Castle Thorne isn't much like Winterfell, it is -- well, I never saw King's Landing. Winterfell is a wilder place, Castle Black wilder still, in its way.
[OOC: OOPS. Let's pretend I didn't get the timeline confused and think this all happened in early July Nocwich when it's actually happening in early August Nocwich! No big deal, just insert one more Nocwich meeting than I said a tag or two back and assume Jon has been taking time out of his busy horse-capturing schedule for this hangout time, etc.]
[ Closing her eyes, her head raises enough so that she can press another kiss to his chest, letting her lips linger there for a few beats of his heart before resting her head. One hand reaches up to idly glide along his jawline back and forth, the other rests on his hip. ] I would say that I despise us being brought here only to fight their battles, except that then we wouldn't have met, and I can't regret that at all. No matter how it started.
[ She still marvels sometimes that he did choose her, that their true age difference, her silver hair and her body marked with the passing of time, didn't deter him in the end. She's never lacked self-confidence, but she's also never thought of herself as particularly eye-catching, and not to someone who could likely have any woman his age he set his eyes on. ]
I wish there were safe woods to retreat to. [ Like in her domain, once. She feels at her best when she's lost in the forest, foraging and quietly letting herself blend into and become a part of the nature around her. ] Too deep into the woods of Solvunn and beasts are likely to stalk and kill. I have a magic bracer that will shield me with a thought, but it isn't enough to feel safe living deeply among the trees. [ Not after being nearly eviscerated; if Wrench hadn't found her and Michael hadn't subsequently healed her after, she'd be another Solvunn fatality. ] When the rifts opened and creatures poured out, some stayed behind and have a home there now.
[ OOC: Yeah, I'd put it halfway between both months so that I could get that sweet, sweet Nocwich time before Claire went to the council. It's no worries, I honestly didn't even realize we were rping from two different perspectives until your note, LOL. ]
[ Claire hums at the kiss, thumb gliding along his scruff. She wonders if she should tell him what happened, but she has no scars, she's fine, and it seems like it would only worry him for nothing. Something happened to a lot of people during that time, and she's whole now. ]
I can't recall what they're named, but it's something deceptively cute, just like they are. They have one eye that's pink and glows in the dark, and they're adorable. Until they open their mouths, the jaws unhinge, and dozens of razor-sharp teeth are exposed. [ She shifts uncomfortably. ] Of all the things that could've stayed behind. I had to raise and reinforce the garden fence with magic.
[ Raising herself up on one arm, she leans over him so that she can see his eyes. ] Maybe other parts of that...potential future will come true. Maybe the borders will fall.
[His brows draw together. That would be complicated for him.
For one thing, he does not plan to be beholden to the King of Thorne, whoever that may be, for a century and more. He is no slave -- is he? He serves, though he had not asked to, but he is not a slave. He does not mean to wait so long as that before he can make a home with her.
But for another, he remembers that what rose and what fell did not always have much to do with what anyone deserved, and that reasons for war... most of them have come to seem foolish to him. Most people have not seen what he has seen. Most make war for greed, or like mummers make their shows. He had not liked to see Thorne fall, no matter their mistakes. He does not like to see the smallfolk suffer.]
Might be that they will. It would be better if they could fall in peace, but I would not be such a fool as to think that that will happen.
Don't think I mean to wait more than a hundred years before I can share your bed, Claire.
I wouldn't want the fall of them if it weren't peaceful somehow. I want it to be. I wish it could be.
[ It never is. Claire pushes her hand through his hair at his words and she smiles softly, hand drifting back down so that her thumb grazes his bottom lip. ] One day, and hopefully not a hundred years from now. [ But if she has to, if they're here together that long, she'll spend every day of Nocwich just like this with him, as often as they can. There has to be a way, though. She knows of others who have moved, but not many, and it doesn't seem to happen with any amount of frequency. ]
You're more than welcome in my bed, as soon as you have a way to it. It's going to be difficult, going back to sleeping alone after this weekend. I feel as though I miss you next to me already. [ She hates sleeping alone knowing Jon is too, that it doesn't have to be this way. ]
[She runs her hand through his hair, thumbs at his bottom lip, and he chases the pad of her thumb with kisses, then pulls her in closer. It's been long enough since the last time that he can make love to her again now.]
I like to see you in the Horizon at night, love. But it isn't really enough.
[It's like a dream of her at Winterfell, or a dream of visiting her in a forest cottage. It feels real while he's there, but he always wakes up alone -- comes out of a trance in his own bed. It's different here in Nocwich. It might be that, one day, they won't even really have their own old bodies anymore, these bodies that currently give them such delight together. He doesn't like to think on that. He likes what is real, what he can touch and hold, like the way he moves his hand down now to caress and grasp the curve of her hip, her bottom, as he kisses her mouth. She is so firm and alive here, the scent of flowers and herbs in her hair, and the dust of the bookshop.]
[ Claire lets herself be moved, dragging one leg high over his hip and pressing her hand to the side of his face as they kiss. There's something about the reality of it versus it being a facsimile of them that feels different. She isn't sure what it is, can't pinpoint it, but this feels better than anything they do in either of their domains. When their lips part, she murmurs in response, agreeing with him. ]
It's better than having to wait weeks to sleep by your side. But no matter what I do, it never feels as good as this. [ Her lips drop small kisses along his jaw, breathing him in as she does and practically melting when she exhales. She's happiest on these days, these nights with him, because while it's true they have the Horizon, here, she wakes up still nestled in his arms, his warmth making bed the coziest place to be. When she opens her eyes in Solvunn, there's an immediate lack of warmth that she hates. ] We'll find a way to have our home together, one day.
[ Her head ducks so that she can kiss the scar over his heart, sealing the promise with a kiss before gently nudging his shoulder with one hand, raising her head to urge him onto his back in order to move herself on top of him. ]
[He likes the feeling of her weight shifting so that she straddles him and is on top of him now, too. Once he's on his back, he raises his head to catch her mouth in a fiercer kiss.]
I miss waking up with you.
[Now his hands firmly cup her bottom, and he continues,]
I didn't know how sweet those things were until we didn't have them anymore. Knew I'd miss this. [He nudges his hips upward. He's hard; ready.] Didn't know how much I'd miss everything else.
[ One hand pushes through his hair as they kiss, her tongue dragging along his before pulling back only to gently nuzzle the side of his nose with the tip of hers. Sitting back up when the kiss his broken, she's humming her agreement when he rocks against her and she whimpers softly. Her eyes close, but only for a moment as she rocks right back, taking her time, in no rush to have this over. ]
We'll have them. I'll bring you warm drinks in bed in the mornings, we'll read together by the fire at night. [ She slowly drags herself against him, nearly forgetting her words but managing to rally as she opens her eyes. ]
[He is no reading man, but for her... well, over a thousand years, he can almost see himself becoming one, and there's something pleasant in her reading to him nonetheless, the way the words roll off her tongue.]
I miss the way you have herbs drying all around. Miss you coming in and telling me about some child or dog you aided.
[Hard, heavy kisses now.]
And I miss you being there in the night. Any time, in the night. I reach for you, you reach for me, doesn't matter who starts it. I never thought to find that in my life.
[ She can picture it perfectly, can see him with his head resting in her lap sometimes, one hand holding the book, the other in his hair. She pictures it as easily as she pictures him tossing the book aside some nights to have his way with her instead.
Her mouth yields to his, a soft moan tumbling against his lips. Reaching between them, one hand wraps around the hard length of him, stroking once, twice, before raising her hips to guide him into her body. Slowly she sinks, closing her eyes and letting out a shuddering sigh as she settles once he's buried inside of her, unmoving for a moment so that it isn't over too soon for either of them. One hand rests on his chest for leverage, looking down at him with heat in her eyes, fighting the urge to give in and let them finish right away. ]
I miss the way you pull me close if I drift too far in my sleep. I miss the way the bed dips when you come to bed after me. The way you kiss my cheek if you think I'm asleep. [ Bending to catch his mouth with her own, her hips slowly raise, then lower again, breathless words falling against his lips. ]
You found me, Jon. You're home with me, even when you aren't. [ She reaches for one of his hands and presses it over her chest, against her heart. Perhaps it's a bit sentimental while he's inside of her, but she can't help it. ] You're here with me, always.
[What is more real: a brief life when he had not known her, or centuries when he had known her, loved her, made this sort of life with her, a life they can begin to remake now? He doesn't want it to just be pretty words. He's in her now, and that feels like home as much as anything they're saying is.
She's holding his hand to her chest. He smiles up at her, gaze all soft, then tugs her hand down to his chest, to the scars over his heart.]
Always. Like you're here with me.
[Then he understands it: it's why home is this little room in Nocwich now, or wherever they happen to be in the Horizon, or anywhere he can be with her. And it's why he had made this choice, in the end, and will make it every time it's put before him. He's almost sure of it.]
[ Claire can't find words anymore, her mind too addled with pleasure as they move together. She knows with no doubt, that if presented with the choice again, she would still choose Jon with zero hesitation, though she would understand his if he had them. It's a risk, always a risk, to give this much of herself to someone else, but it's done.
With her palm pressing against the beat of his heart, Claire chases her pleasure and when she finds it, Jon's name tumbles from her lips when she tenses, then shatters. She doesn't stop, wanting to know he's found his pleasure too, eager to feel and watch what she does to him. ]
[Too far gone for much thought now, except the decision of whether to roll her to her back, or finish like this, warm and easy. They had been so frantic to see each other earlier in the evening, and now, they have all night, and two more days. With her hand pressed to his chest and the way he can feel her reaching a height of pleasure all about him, he stays where he is, kisses her harder. His free hand reaches down to cup her bottom, and, moving with her, he makes a soft, hoarse cry; a shudder of delight.
The food can wait. The whole world can wait. Soon enough, he extinguishes the light in the room and gathers her against him for sleep. He'll have to tell her, he decides, before he drifts off, that sleeping in her arms, in truth, is at least as good as anything else he does there.]
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no subject
She likes listening to him always, especially talking about the good things he remembers, though that my brother fell from doesn't sound much like a happy memory. She files it away for later to ask about. She said she wanted to see everything, and she does, not just the good. ] Harvest is always an opportune time for gathering together. So many cultures around the world come together then, and many times it was the only opportunity they had to see one another the entire year.
[ Carefully, Claire moves herself so that she's sitting shoulder to shoulder with Jon, able to look at the cup with the same perspective he has. ]
I don't feel like it's a violent image, even with the bow. I suppose it could be something along the lines of a general hunt, but not war, I agree with you. If there were centaurs and they were linked to the wolves, I'm hoping to find my answer in Luna. There's another bookkeeper I'll try tomorrow.
[ Her last opportunity before Nocwich closes, and she takes what she's found to the council. ]
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No. It might be that it's a chase, the way they circle about each other. But the wolf is at the center of it all. Might be that's because a wolf made it -- but only the wolves would know.
[And that's about as far as his insight on this subject goes. He adds, a little regretful, after another long look at it,]
You should wrap it back up.
The time we have, it's already half gone. Things in Thorne.... [How to describe them? He had emerged from that undercroft into a new kingdom. It would be hard to call it better, but easier to say, in an instant, that it's better for him.]
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[ Getting back out of bed, she carefully takes the cup and pads to the table, wrapping it as he speaks. A frown gently tugs her lips down, hating that three days is all they have together, and should Nocwich ever close again, that's it for being together in the real flesh. It's almost enough to want to abandon her studies for the day. The idea tumbles around in her mind, and then he mentions Thorne. ]
If I could keep you with me in Solvunn...[ She lets out a breath, then looks at Jon from across the room, eyes holding a weight of fear to them. ] I'm not ashamed to admit I'm afraid for you. And others in Thorne.
[ Making her way back to the bed, she sits beside him again, this time tucking in close and kissing his chest softly. ] Because of that, and because you're right, our time is almost up, I...don't think I'll go to Luna tomorrow. I have plenty to start and keep me busy until I can return.
[ The more she thinks about it, the less she can stomach bending over books all day over simply being with Jon. She's learned her lessons about not taking time for granted, and she's learned them the hard way. ]
Stay here with me tomorrow. Until we can't.
no subject
But that had been different, he supposes. There had been three miserable weeks of waiting and not knowing and not seeing her. And then he had come to her, and he had held her, and he had said into her ear, I choose you. Not really a wedding, but as close on it as they were like to see for a while.]
Until we can't. [His expression is pleased, and he bends to kiss her forehead.] The woods can do without me. The whole world can do without the both of us for the day.
If my sister was not in Thorne, I might have left it when I came out of that undercroft. Well, I might have tried. I wanted to run to you; I did not like that we might have each died where we were, underground, with no way to see each other and no one to know. But the new king... he treats us better. Most of us. I can carry my sword in the castle now.[He doesn't sound tremendously impressed, but it's still an improvement.] Yet what he did, it put all of us in danger.
no subject
Then she listens, to his words and to the steady beat of his heart. She likes that he feels more confident, it gives her a little hope that perhaps Thorne will stay level-headed and reasonable. Although if level-heads prevail, Winifred's sacrifice was, if anything, premature. ] There's fear in Solvunn, that Thorne will attack our ocean border, and so a woman sacrificed herself to the water and now there's a barrier, a new god's protection.
[ There are other things she needs to tell him, specifically about others she knows in Thorne, but it can wait, and she isn't exactly eager. ]
Do you think the king will send the order?
no subject
He is a soldier -- a naval man. I am a soldier, trained to it, but I know little of ships -- I've only been on the sea two or three times in my life. Solvunn does well to fear an attack by sea by that measure, or at least to want to defend itself by sea. But what does Solvunn have that he would want? A land route to Cadens? You still have to send men and horses by ship part of the way; it isn't necessarily easier than just going around it, unless he means to conquer it all. Then he has other troubles. Crown in Thorne can't even manage Nott -- why take on more of it? It'd just be a bigger Nott, to them.
That's how I'd think on the matter. Thorne does not trust Solvunn, but it is the Free Cities that are the enemy, as I understand.
No one ought to be the enemy. We all have to live in the same world.
no subject
It's always another bloody war, everywhere I go. [ And somehow she's always been right in it, in danger but only terrified for the people she loves. ] I'm so tired of it, Jon.
[ Her voice wavers a little and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling a confession. ] It's another reason I let myself get lost in the digging. I don't want to think about this anymore, I want a time in my life when war doesn't occupy every thought.
[ But that's a pipe dream. What will happen next? Who will be in the line of fire? What will she be able to do to help? Are they prepared enough? Will she lose someone she loves? And so it goes on and on; she knows she can't be free of it, but it's been so many decades of her life. ]
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[Surprising bitterness and tiredness in how he says it, particularly for a man of his years. It isn't the eight centuries they had lived, some of which he hardly remembers, and some of which he remembers quite well. It's that he sees the same foolishness here that he does back in Westeros. What would they do against a true threat, one that held no care for whether a man lived in Thorne or the Free Cities or Solvunn? One that saw all of them the same and wished to crush them all the same, as what he faces at home does? The new king in Thorne might be a better king than his niece had been a queen, that remains to be seen, but his way of taking the throne had involved needless aggression against Solvunn and the Free Cities, when the time may still come one day when they all need to work together. He has not seen much evidence of that, but he hopes to the gods with the way the people here go on that he never will.]
I am tired of fighting. I've been tired of fighting for so long. I'm glad you had the digging to occupy you. Glad they're letting us out of the city now in Thorne now, too -- I feel a little more myself out in the wilds. Castle Thorne isn't much like Winterfell, it is -- well, I never saw King's Landing. Winterfell is a wilder place, Castle Black wilder still, in its way.
[OOC: OOPS. Let's pretend I didn't get the timeline confused and think this all happened in early July Nocwich when it's actually happening in early August Nocwich! No big deal, just insert one more Nocwich meeting than I said a tag or two back and assume Jon has been taking time out of his busy horse-capturing schedule for this hangout time, etc.]
no subject
[ She still marvels sometimes that he did choose her, that their true age difference, her silver hair and her body marked with the passing of time, didn't deter him in the end. She's never lacked self-confidence, but she's also never thought of herself as particularly eye-catching, and not to someone who could likely have any woman his age he set his eyes on. ]
I wish there were safe woods to retreat to. [ Like in her domain, once. She feels at her best when she's lost in the forest, foraging and quietly letting herself blend into and become a part of the nature around her. ] Too deep into the woods of Solvunn and beasts are likely to stalk and kill. I have a magic bracer that will shield me with a thought, but it isn't enough to feel safe living deeply among the trees. [ Not after being nearly eviscerated; if Wrench hadn't found her and Michael hadn't subsequently healed her after, she'd be another Solvunn fatality. ] When the rifts opened and creatures poured out, some stayed behind and have a home there now.
[ OOC: Yeah, I'd put it halfway between both months so that I could get that sweet, sweet Nocwich time before Claire went to the council. It's no worries, I honestly didn't even realize we were rping from two different perspectives until your note, LOL. ]
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I wish I had a way to keep you safe. Wish we could have a little place in the woods, all our own.
What sort of creatures stayed behind? If any survived in Thorne, I don't know of them.
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I can't recall what they're named, but it's something deceptively cute, just like they are. They have one eye that's pink and glows in the dark, and they're adorable. Until they open their mouths, the jaws unhinge, and dozens of razor-sharp teeth are exposed. [ She shifts uncomfortably. ] Of all the things that could've stayed behind. I had to raise and reinforce the garden fence with magic.
[ Raising herself up on one arm, she leans over him so that she can see his eyes. ] Maybe other parts of that...potential future will come true. Maybe the borders will fall.
no subject
For one thing, he does not plan to be beholden to the King of Thorne, whoever that may be, for a century and more. He is no slave -- is he? He serves, though he had not asked to, but he is not a slave. He does not mean to wait so long as that before he can make a home with her.
But for another, he remembers that what rose and what fell did not always have much to do with what anyone deserved, and that reasons for war... most of them have come to seem foolish to him. Most people have not seen what he has seen. Most make war for greed, or like mummers make their shows. He had not liked to see Thorne fall, no matter their mistakes. He does not like to see the smallfolk suffer.]
Might be that they will. It would be better if they could fall in peace, but I would not be such a fool as to think that that will happen.
Don't think I mean to wait more than a hundred years before I can share your bed, Claire.
no subject
[ It never is. Claire pushes her hand through his hair at his words and she smiles softly, hand drifting back down so that her thumb grazes his bottom lip. ] One day, and hopefully not a hundred years from now. [ But if she has to, if they're here together that long, she'll spend every day of Nocwich just like this with him, as often as they can. There has to be a way, though. She knows of others who have moved, but not many, and it doesn't seem to happen with any amount of frequency. ]
You're more than welcome in my bed, as soon as you have a way to it. It's going to be difficult, going back to sleeping alone after this weekend. I feel as though I miss you next to me already. [ She hates sleeping alone knowing Jon is too, that it doesn't have to be this way. ]
more than mildly NSFW now
I like to see you in the Horizon at night, love. But it isn't really enough.
[It's like a dream of her at Winterfell, or a dream of visiting her in a forest cottage. It feels real while he's there, but he always wakes up alone -- comes out of a trance in his own bed. It's different here in Nocwich. It might be that, one day, they won't even really have their own old bodies anymore, these bodies that currently give them such delight together. He doesn't like to think on that. He likes what is real, what he can touch and hold, like the way he moves his hand down now to caress and grasp the curve of her hip, her bottom, as he kisses her mouth. She is so firm and alive here, the scent of flowers and herbs in her hair, and the dust of the bookshop.]
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It's better than having to wait weeks to sleep by your side. But no matter what I do, it never feels as good as this. [ Her lips drop small kisses along his jaw, breathing him in as she does and practically melting when she exhales. She's happiest on these days, these nights with him, because while it's true they have the Horizon, here, she wakes up still nestled in his arms, his warmth making bed the coziest place to be. When she opens her eyes in Solvunn, there's an immediate lack of warmth that she hates. ] We'll find a way to have our home together, one day.
[ Her head ducks so that she can kiss the scar over his heart, sealing the promise with a kiss before gently nudging his shoulder with one hand, raising her head to urge him onto his back in order to move herself on top of him. ]
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I miss waking up with you.
[Now his hands firmly cup her bottom, and he continues,]
I didn't know how sweet those things were until we didn't have them anymore. Knew I'd miss this. [He nudges his hips upward. He's hard; ready.] Didn't know how much I'd miss everything else.
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We'll have them. I'll bring you warm drinks in bed in the mornings, we'll read together by the fire at night. [ She slowly drags herself against him, nearly forgetting her words but managing to rally as she opens her eyes. ]
Tell me what else you miss, what you want.
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I miss the way you have herbs drying all around. Miss you coming in and telling me about some child or dog you aided.
[Hard, heavy kisses now.]
And I miss you being there in the night. Any time, in the night. I reach for you, you reach for me, doesn't matter who starts it. I never thought to find that in my life.
for real NSFW now
Her mouth yields to his, a soft moan tumbling against his lips. Reaching between them, one hand wraps around the hard length of him, stroking once, twice, before raising her hips to guide him into her body. Slowly she sinks, closing her eyes and letting out a shuddering sigh as she settles once he's buried inside of her, unmoving for a moment so that it isn't over too soon for either of them. One hand rests on his chest for leverage, looking down at him with heat in her eyes, fighting the urge to give in and let them finish right away. ]
I miss the way you pull me close if I drift too far in my sleep. I miss the way the bed dips when you come to bed after me. The way you kiss my cheek if you think I'm asleep. [ Bending to catch his mouth with her own, her hips slowly raise, then lower again, breathless words falling against his lips. ]
You found me, Jon. You're home with me, even when you aren't. [ She reaches for one of his hands and presses it over her chest, against her heart. Perhaps it's a bit sentimental while he's inside of her, but she can't help it. ] You're here with me, always.
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She's holding his hand to her chest. He smiles up at her, gaze all soft, then tugs her hand down to his chest, to the scars over his heart.]
Always. Like you're here with me.
[Then he understands it: it's why home is this little room in Nocwich now, or wherever they happen to be in the Horizon, or anywhere he can be with her. And it's why he had made this choice, in the end, and will make it every time it's put before him. He's almost sure of it.]
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With her palm pressing against the beat of his heart, Claire chases her pleasure and when she finds it, Jon's name tumbles from her lips when she tenses, then shatters. She doesn't stop, wanting to know he's found his pleasure too, eager to feel and watch what she does to him. ]
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The food can wait. The whole world can wait. Soon enough, he extinguishes the light in the room and gathers her against him for sleep. He'll have to tell her, he decides, before he drifts off, that sleeping in her arms, in truth, is at least as good as anything else he does there.]
[FIN.]