shelley_winters | (no subject)

(no subject)

Shelley had been tired when they got back, so tired she had gone to bed immediately rather than reading as she normally did.

But sleep, when it came, was disturbed and confusing. It is warm in her room, but she shivers in her sleep, dancing alone in a room that is empty but she's being watched...

The girl sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes. The tension isn't going away even in the peace of the night, that prickling of undefinable vulnerable terror that the dreams she has been having leave her with.

After splashing her face with water, she quietly steps out of her room to wander down the corridor outside. It's dark and silent, which is oddly comforting as she walks up and down through the silent house, avoiding the area where Elan's study is. He sleeps little, and is often awake working at this time of night.

Her bare feet make no sound on the smooth floor, only the faint brush of her nightdress as she walks telling of her presence. She stops only to look out of the window for a time, trying to calm herself to sleep again. A soft mist has replaced the former clear sky, and she can only just make out the garden past it.

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Fingertips on her chin, a gentle touch as if to raise her head. His blue eyes to meet her green ones.

"Then you are safe from any harm by me."

A pause and then the repetition. A glint of white teeth as he speaks slowly and precisely.

"Safe."

I don't believe you. You were always a liar.

Shelley doesn't move.

One day of peace in however many, what is that? How much more will it hurt, the danger, the betrayal, if she trusts him even for such a short time?

She sits in silence, fear and doubt still twisting, but she can't let it go.

The grave's a fine and private place,

A delicate, chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth. So very gentle. Loving.

But none I think do there embrace.

Her small hands are clenched so hard her nails are hurting her palms. Shelley fights to keep her voice level. Peace.

"I asked you to stop."

Delicate fingers held her chin in his hand, a gentle touch and a sad smile.

"Do you enjoy being miserable?"

"I get by."

Her small voice is determined, bright eyes turned away still.

A touch of curiosity in his voice, even concern. His hand sliding down her throat to rest on her collarbone. A sensitive caress.

"Are you alive though?"

A slight twitch, almost a flinch away from his hand, though there is nowhere she can move to.

"...So far."

His hand slid to the center of her chest. A pause as he felt her heart beat.The warmth of her beneath his hand, the smell of her. His own heart beating as well against her warm body.

"Your heart is beating, but are you alive? Your heart is beating your slow march to the grave, but you can die without living."

"I'm alive. I'm- Stop it."

The urge to try and pull his hand from her is strong, but the girl stubbornly concetrates on looking away from him. She can't stop herself shaking.

Your beauty cascaded on me
A single fingertip trailed up her shoulders and neck where it joined the rest of his hand in touching her face. His mellifluous voice sang so very softly to her. The winter's rain pattered outside the window, a time signature to his music.
In this white night fantasy
"Crestfallen soul, rest for this night.
Love is here, right here under my wings."

Maim me
A note of panic under her voice, misery apparent as she shifts involuntarily under the gentle trailing of his fingertips.
tame me
"Stop. Please..."
you can never change me

A tilt of his head. A slight peal of thunder as hand pulls from her. The night's cool air. His bare chest pulling slightly away from her.

"Do you want to be miserable any longer? Do you want keep being in pain from the loneliness?"

"I'm all right."

A low voice. Shelley is still stubborn, even now. But it's easier to breathe suddenly, in spite of the chill in the air.

He leaned in close, but not touching her. A touch of curiosity and concern in his voice and in the tilt of his head.

"...Are you really?"

"Yes."

They both know that she's lying. Shelley almost manages to glare at him. Almost.

A gentle touch on her cheek. A soft look in his eyes.

"Let me hold you."

His thumb slid across her cheek.

"We have a peace till morning's light. No fear, no pain."

The soft rain came down, the low, rolling thunder.

"Let me hold you, and you can have rest from the misery for this one night."

His body slid next to hers. Bare chest against her as his white robe clung to his body.

"Tomorrow will come as days do, but we will leave it for tomorrow. Let us have peace for this night."

Shelley looks down. She wants to run away, but he is between her and the hall still.

"It's not... that simple."

All very well for him to tell her no fear when she remembers what she does. Peace. But there can never be trust.

A calm glance away. His voice soft.

"No, it is not..."

A pause and then a glance at her face.

"But as you know, a complex sequence with many pieces is often reduced to a few pieces for those few turns."

"Life is not Sha'rah."

To Shelley at least, Sha'rah makes sense. This is beyond her.

Elan nods calmly, and studies her with his blue eyes.

"True..."

A gentle hand laid on her shoulder.

"Would it not be worth it to have an end to the loneliness for but one night? One night's peace."

One night, and back to the fear after that. The fear that he caused. What is he offering? Nothing she wants. Not from him.

Shelley doesn't react to the hand.

"...I don't- know. No. I-"

A kiss on her cheek.

"Let me hold you."

A warm embrace on the cool night. The soft sound of the rain, of their hearts beating.

"Let us have peace for one evening. You can rest in peace. No loneliness, no misery."

"We have peace."

They agreed. She agreed, didn't she? Shelley sits very still. No response to his kiss.

A small smile. His blue eyes glint in a lightning flash.

"Of course... Why not use the opportunity for respite from your loneliness and misery?"

Again, the quietly insistent statement.

"Let me hold you."