birthright_rpg | The World is Tiny

With a wadded up hand towel, Rhiannon wiped fog from the mirror in Cian’s bathroom and looked at herself. Her hair was wet from the shower, and there were raccoon circles under her eyes, remnants of yesterday’s makeup. She spun some toilet paper from the roll and used it to wipe away the mascara. As she tipped her face left and right, she saw the mark that Cian’s mouth left on her neck; it was somewhere between a bite and a bruise, but it was faint and wouldn’t last the day. There was a comb near the sink. She parted her hair and brushed the tangles out of the lengths.

It was after noon. Early in the morning, Cian had left the cabin to take a boat of passengers on a day cruise. Rhiannon just rolled over and went back to sleep, tucked safely in covers that smelled like the two of them and their lovemaking. When she woke up again, she was surprised to have been out so long, and she sat on the edge of the bed feeling disoriented by heavy slumber and a bad dream she couldn’t quite remember.

Rhiannon pulled on her sweater, jeans, and boots and rummaged through Cian’s cabinets until she found what she needed to brew a pot of coffee. She took a mug of it onto the front steps and sat down, blowing across the steaming surface.

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He looked at her quizzically, arms still around her, and nodded slowly. He knew his own sense of 'right and wrong' might not match up with most people's ideas, his sense of justice somewhat more crude. He knew only too well that circumstances can bring a different ideal to each one, dependent on their past, and couldn't imagine that Rhiannon had been in any different situation that should make her more answerable for her actions than he was for his.

"Wantin' an' doin', they ain' always the same. Like one man's right ain' always another man's."

"Yeah." It was a gray world, full of blurry situations. Rhiannon appreciated his perspective, especially remembering back to her younger years of thinking in absolutes of right and wrong. Things weren't always so simple.

"I'll never lie to you, okay? My word." How much that was worth to him now, she didn't know, but its value would grow in time. They were still new to each other and untested. Thus far, their pairing existed in isolation. They always slipped into a bubble the moment they came into contact with each other.

"'s good enou' f' me," he replied, nodding once. He leaned his head down till his mouth was a few inches from her ear. "'nd y' got mine, too," he murmured, closing his eyes for a moment as he pressed his cheek against hers.

She breathed slowly and clutched her fingers together behind his neck. To trust someone. To depend upon them. To need them. It was more nerve-wracking than entering a den of demons blindfolded, and humbling, too. But she believed Cian to be a person of his word, and that was something she wanted badly. No matter how solitary she had been living, deep down, that wasn’t what Rhiannon wanted for herself. If not Cian, she would inevitably link arms with someone else, and that someone else might be a bad idea.

“When we met, I asked where you came from. You said what mattered was where we were going. I still think you’re wrong. It matters to me.”

He stared at the ground, face still pressed against hers as he wrangled with that inner demon she was wanting to know about. "C'd take a while," he murmured, voice a little tight in his throat.

“There’s no amount of time I wouldn’t give you.” She turned her mouth to the hollow in his cheek and kissed it. “Okay?” The warm skin, the spicy smell of him, the rumble of his voice, all of it felt like a blanket she wanted to fold herself into and stay.

He lifted his head enough to turn it and meet her eyes. A small nod accompanied the spoken, "Okay."

He released his hold on her, one hand reaching up and taking one of hers, interweaving their fingers and looking at them and turning back toward the cabin steps, leading the way up. He scooped up her coffee cup and the basket, and crossed the deck to the front screen door, turning to look at her for a moment.

"Y' sure y' want t' know, knowing what I am?"

“Why would it make a difference?” Since his hands were full, Rhiannon took the screen door latch in her thumb and forefinger, prepared to walk inside when he did. “You’re only one thing to me, Cian.”

He eyed her, an eyebrow arching. "And that is?"

"Mine."

The look on her face said, 'This should be obvious,' as she entered the cabin.

Edited 2013-10-30 22:33 (UTC)

He couldn't help but grin at the expression on her face, catching the door with his elbow and following her inside. "Glad we got that clear," he murmured.

He carried the basket to the kitchen, grabbing another croissant out and eating it quickly before putting the basket on the island bench. "Want some more coffee?" he asked, his nose telling him the pot that was on the warmer was still drinkable.

She had put her cigarette out before entering the cabin and she tossed the filter in the trash can now.

"Sure."

She went to the couch and sat cross-legged on a cushion there, her hands grazing her knees through the denim pants.

The World is Tiny

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