melodiesoflife | When I’m scared I want to hear you shout out

Entry tags:

When I’m scared I want to hear you shout out

Who: Tear Grants & Ace
What: Tear had promised to explain what had happened while Ace was gone, and now it's time to fulfil it.
When: February 7th
Where: House B-14
Warning: Strong Feelings and likely death mention. Also, chocobos.

There was no measuring the immense relief Tear had felt when Ace's letter had arrived to her the night before, reassuring her that he had returned safely from his trip. She had read it over and over since receiving it, perhaps too many times, given the folds of the paper she held were now entirely flat as she sat in the sitting room of her home, waiting for any indication of his arrival just as he had promised.

Yet even with the few extra days to think about it, the girl was still somewhat at a loss for how to deliver all the information he had asked for. As much as she would have wanted to plan it, the nature of such a truth meant that there was no guarantee their conversation would go in the direction she had prepared for. Knowing this, all she could do was hope she was that she would have the strength to continue through with it no matter what happened, in delivering the knowledge he deserved to know.

However, the anxiety still twists her stomach uncomfortable when she hears someone approaching, setting down the letter and rising to her feet to answer the door. Before she does, she takes a few breaths to calm herself enough in order to face him—what would it do to him if she had insisted he go, only to return and find her in such a state? It would be almost cruel to do that.

Only when she has eased her nerves enough and he made his presence known does she open the door, a faint smile of relief ready on her lips.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Seeing as she had been found out, the lullaby came to a gradual stop until silence once again took over the atmosphere, the melodist well aware of the warm colour still present on her face as she listened to his breathing in turn. There was little point in trying to deny it, though she did feel the tiniest bit guilty for keeping him awake rather than help him fall back asleep.

"Looks like I did," she nodded, still trying to look up at him even with the absence of light. Though she was about to ask if he would prefer that she leave so he could lay down more comfortably, the feeling of his hand around hers silences the question before it even reaches her lips. The gentle pressure was reassuring, and the girl found herself lacing her fingers with his to return it. "I hope I didn't disturb you too much..."

But whether she did or not, that didn't solve the problem of their precarious arrangement now that they were both awake to see it. Ordinarily she wouldn't have minded it too much, but they were due to start a very important trip when morning arrived...

Though the world around him was still drowned in a soft haze, Ace could still respond to her concern with absolute clarity.

"You're being-...." The cadet breathed out, suppressing the urge to wrap his arms around the one person that could bring him so much comfort with her presence alone. "... Ridiculous," he repeated her assessment from earlier. She truly was, to think that he would have minded it even if she had indeed interrupted his attempts.

Selfishly, he held onto her hand, suddenly finding the thought of letting her leave far more difficult to accept than before. Urged by his own heartbeat, already racing, and yet viciously promising to pick up its pace yet, the boy straightened his back and spoke. Still, not right away, not before biting his lip as he considered the right choice of words that didn't really seem to exist.

"Lie down with me, then."

Maybe she was being ridiculous, but she still felt it was her responsibility to ensure his comfort. Not only as a guest, but as her dear partner who had certainly earned himself a night of good rest at this point. Yet she shook her head lightly, accepting the sentiment behind the words.

But the moment Ace's request reached the girl's ears, she had to fight back the instinct to do a double-take. In all honesty it was a rather innocent thing to ask for, or so she had interpreted it, but there was undeniably something intimate about it that had her staring in his direction anyway, lips barely parted in quiet shock.

Then, remembering his reaction from his initial proposal earlier, she put in the effort to regain her composure enough to nod mutely, not wanting him to misinterpret her response as a negative answer. And when she realised that he probably wouldn't be able to properly see that anyway, she squeezed his hand again, hoping it would be enough to reassure him.

If this was how they were going to sleep for the rest of the night, she would simply have to trust him as she leaned against him lightly, ready to lie down together however he saw fit.

An outright denial would have been less of a surprise than what initially seemed like a lack of any reaction whatsoever. Ace opened his mouth again, ready to explain, instead casting his eyes down to what he knew was their intertwined fingers, for he felt her gentle touch even if the darkness has twisted his sense of perception.

The blond just sat there for a longer moment, having suddenly grown more conscious of their proximity than he had been ever before as she eased herself into his arms, eliciting a long, soft sigh. Even if each of them were to lie on their side, the insufficient amount of space would still require them to remain pressed against one another - surely, Tear would have been forced to take that into consideration before she agreed, the boy silently hoped.

He shifted on the couch, letting out a quiet, nervous chuckle that quickly faded, however, once he lay down to rest his head against the surface of the cushions, delicately pulling her along with him; though the initiative might have been his, the movements remained mindful of her comfort. One arm soon wrapped securely around her back in order to keep her from falling, and pull her closer if the situation so required, but never too much, or too suddenly. Frankly, the further he went, it only became less and less clear how to maintain any sort of position against the light tremble that had overtaken his fingers, and so he would find himself depending on her cues as well.

... Let's not even get started on figuring out what to do with the blanket.

There was no denying how flustered Tear felt by the time they had settled, despite being well-aware of how close they would have to be in order to make the arrangement work. Luckily, the sound of Ace's laugh and the great care he was taking to make sure she was comfortable in both position and their proximity helped relax her just a little—enough that she found herself smiling again, however small it was. Instead of being put-off, it was a small sign of how even now he was being considerate, something she again found herself feeling secretly grateful for as she sighed.

But there was the issue of the blanket indeed; going through all this effort to provide each other additional warmth and comfort would be rendered pointless if they wound up shivering the rest of the night anyway, and that would just not do.

So she carefully reached over to find the blanket and start pulling it over them, almost successful in ignoring that she had to further lay on top of him in the process with how quick she was about it. But being in his arms meant that the melodist's reach could only go so far without leaving the hold, leaving the predicament of their feet possibly having to endure the chill of the room if they couldn't figure that part out.

There was certainly something amusing in watching Tear struggle with the unfortunate piece of cloth, but it wasn't until he himself joined in, finding his feet helplessly kick at the air in an attempt to locate the far edge of the blanket, that he realized how difficult it in fact, was. The alternative solution would be to tuck one's legs a bit closer, something which he soon motioned her towards by timidly prodding her feet with his own, quiet laughter returning as he did.

"Aren't you now regretting your decision to abandon your own bed—..." his breath then hitched sharply, and the teasing tone in his voice dissipated entirely in this briefest of moments. Their faces had been brought so close to one another that their noses almost touched, which in turn caused him to twist his head slightly to the side, maintaining eye contact all the while. "... Partner?"

So many feelings and emotions had become associated with that word, shaping it into something far less neutral than what they had once meant it to be, when they had settled for that particular description of their arrangement. Nevertheless, now wasn't the time to muse over it with the vision of the journey ahead, and so he allowed himself to relax as best as he could, given the circumstances.

The question that followed was more serious than the previous one, though. "Are you okay?"

Tear did just as his motions had suggested, focusing on curling her legs and tucking herself even more into him—which was probably what brought them closer together to begin with, something she didn't realise when she began to try and answer his first question.

"Safe and warm in my bed, thinking about you and Rem down here with no one to—," she stopped, quickly noticing their proximity when she looked up to meet his eyes. It was enough to still her breathing for a few moments, until she ducked her head shyly, his addendum eliciting a soft sigh from her.

Partner... Her perception of the word had always been one of closeness, likely because of her lone upbringing, but there was something about hearing Ace say it out loud, to her, that added to the warmth she already felt pressed against him. It melted away the lingering tension of their predicament, leaving behind a sense of calm instead as she closed her eyes and nodded.

"Mm..." Breathing out again, her lips curved upward once more. To many others it might not seem like an ideal sleeping situation, but for her, his warmth was enough. "I'm fine, if you are. But now is the time to get some sleep."

It was as though she'd never intended to leave in the first place, Ace wondered to himself, smiling, as his own eyes began to close. The hand that had at one point moved to rest against the back of her shoulder resumed to idly stroke the girl's hair for a moment, before finally stopping.

"Every thought counts." Knowing that he would have been present in her mind for one reason or another already felt like a reward on its own, but nothing else could compare to how it felt to hold her like this, in this particular moment and place.

"... Good night, Mystearica."

Her real name had so frequently snuck into his own thoughts, that in the end there was nothing deliberate about his sleepily mouthed wish. It did not even occur to him after he had spoken, for an accidental switch surely would have earnt stronger of a reaction than the small, soft hum that followed.

As close as she was to being fully asleep after having been soothed by the gentle caress of his hand over her hair, the sound of the girl's real name was enough to slowly pull her back from the heavy haze, blinking confusedly toward the person who had uttered it.

Staring at him for several moments, eventually Tear came to the decision to simply keep her silence on the topic. There was no point in waking him up again just to ask why he had called her that, and besides... if it was from him, she didn't mind terribly, if at all. As the only person she had ever willingly spoken that name to, she had also bestowed him the okay to call her by it whenever he wished.

In this situation, it was perhaps the only way to call her as her eyes slid shut once more, nuzzling into him just a little before her own affectionate whisper carried quietly into the air.

"Good night, Ace..."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When I’m scared I want to hear you shout out

no subject

a repeat, because no other icon seems appropriate for THIS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject