It was completely chilling to hear the grisly terms of this city's survival laid out so plainly and she remained silent even as he pulled away.
Shaking her head in disbelief Lily frowned at El. "Do you think that's why Haltham was traveling with the caravan that met our group on the trail?"
It was a chilling thing to broach, but she had heard from some of those passengers that he had traveled with them, though had not heard anymore about him since their arrival in Taravast.
His jaw clenched, the warning about that pressing, too.
"Wei Wuxian believes he's here somewhere. The way he described it sounded like a slow invasion of undead into the city, between the hunting grounds and necromantic district.. I always have my swords on me, but we'll have to be more watchful, I think."
The thought of a slow invasion made her stomach turn and she stood stiffly, antsy from nervous energy, and made her way towards the window of his room to peer out into the darkness.
"I'll put wards up in here for you, every night. They won't stop anything from coming but they'll provide a little resistance." She had already been doing the same for her room every night. It made sense to do the same for El, he was, to her, incredibly important.
"If it's like the last time, where they swarmed us, at least this time we have somewhere almost nobody knows about to hide." Of course the place to hide was right in the necromantic part of town, but it had been left vacant for so long she still thought it stood a decent chance of being safe.
Eleven watched her, guilt threading through his stomach to know he'd been the one to share this awful knowledge with her.
"You don't have to do that," he said, the protest ultimately half-hearted. It would help, but it didn't feel right to just accept. The place she had to hide in however, had been mentioned enough now that he couldn't help but be curious.
"I'm going to fight to protect this city if we're attacked, but maybe we could evacuate some people to that place you know of- the injured, maybe."
Though that made him think of that last time they'd found somewhere to hole up the injured and he'd looked after them rather than join the fight. Eleven's hands twisted together.
"Though I suppose if we don't have any other healers on hand.."
Wrinkling her nose, Lily looked at El incredulously. "Well I'm not a-bloody-bout to let a passel of shambling undead hurt the person I care about the most am I?" She knew his attempt to politely refuse was just him being himself, but, really. Whatever their relationship was at this point, she had no intention of letting him fend for himself.
"We've got Wen Qing, she's a doctor. I believe she'll help with the injured if it comes to that." Lily couldn't speak for her friend, but she felt sure that Wen Qing would be willing to assist their group.
"If Wei Wuxian knows they're drifting into the city, maybe we can find out to where, and strike first if it comes to it."
Eleven stared, heart stuttering in his chest. Of course, he knew she cared about him, but to hear it said like that, in those words, with such conviction let him forget for just a few moments about everything terrible that had plagued him since the previous night.
Levering himself to his feet, Eleven moved for her, reaching out to loop Lily into a loose embrace. He breathed an unsteady sigh.
"I want to hope it won't come to anything, but his warnings about the growing threat to the city seem dire.."
Though her thoughts had turned to the seriousness of their situation and how much they needed a plan if something terrible was on the horizon, El rising to wrap his arms around her provided a sense of grounding that she didn't know she needed.
Rocking forward on the balls of her feet to lean into him she let her arms settle around his shoulders, hugging him gently.
"If there's a threat then we'll meet it when it comes." What other choice did they have?
"We'll be as ready as we can be for it," Lily added with a firm nod before she kissed his cheek, her arms going a bit tighter around him. "Hug me properly you git, I've been picturing you in the castle dungeons for the better part of the day. I missed you."
Eleven smiled and did so, folding his arms around her with more certainty now that he knew his touch was welcome. The anxious edge in his chest softened to gratitude and warmth to feel her against him.
"I didn't mean to worry you," he said again, brushing his lips to her temple. The growing ease and normalcy of these simple, but precious gestures tugged at his heart. He shifted and breathed into her hair.
"But I suppose I've only managed more of that, now."
Closing her eyes she grinned and ducked her head down to hide it against his shoulder as he held her tighter, pushing the rest of everything out for as long as she could while she enjoyed the moment.
"You haven't," she began, voice muffled before she raised it and leaned back to look at him again. "We've always been in danger, I realized that within a minute of getting pulled into this world. It would be foolish to think that stopped the moment we reached a place like this."
Lily brushed a hand over his cheek, tilting her head to the city as she watched his face. "If anything you make everything feel a little less insurmountable."
Eleven looked at her, felt the tears gathering in his eyes. He'd finally stopped the intermittent bursts of emotional upheaval hours ago, but still the words touched deeper than he expected them to.
A flicker of light in the dark; hope and faith- however fragile- to hold against despair.
He took in a steadying breath and nodded, then leaned in for a short kiss.
"I'm glad. ..Thank you for being here. You've come to mean a lot to me."
She flushed hearing that she meant a good deal to him. It wasn't that she didn't know it, but listening to him tell her so made her heart flutter a bit. His presence was something of a tether in this otherwise mad existence they had both been forced to endure.
Opening her eyes again after he kissed her she shook her head lightly, touching his cheek, leaning in as he withdrew. "Wait," she murmured, quietly imploring, "come back."
Lily's thumb continued to brush over his cheek as she kissed him a second time. The first had been too quick for her liking.
Eleven hummed against her mouth, heart settling as he let their second kiss linger. Really, without her here, without anything to comfort him.. it didn't bear thinking about. She was, and because of that, there was something to counter the dark and miserable thoughts that had plagued him all day.
He held her and didn't want to let go. Eleven breathed a sigh as their lips finally parted. Eyes roving over her face, he reached up and let a few fingers drift through her hair.
"I'd ask you to stay if it weren't too forward. But I do feel better than before, so I appreciate that."
"Stay?" she asked in a broken whisper as her eyes widened in surprise. Of course, he wasn't asking her to Spend The Night, so much as he was asking her to spend the night - right? Nothing about Eleven suggested to Lily he would make such a bold proposition so quickly.
Then again blokes could be so strange.
"I would, if you asked," Lily caught her bottom lip in her teeth and looked down, thinking hard before she turned back to him. "To sleep? Right?"
Eleven laughed shortly, a little breathy from nerves as his face colored. His hold on her loosens in case he'd discomforted her enough that she might want some physical space.
"Yes, to sleep. If you wanted." He certainly wouldn't ask more from her, and probably shouldn't have mentioned it at all. Just.. he hadn't wanted her to go. "But that was- well, a little forward, so I don't expect.. Sorry."
Sighing in relief when El affirmed he would expect sleep and nothing else Lily nodded. "I will, if you want. If you don't think it's too–" forward? Too much too soon? She didn't know and instead of finishing her question she went redder and shrugged helplessly.
She ran her hands down his arms and she stepped out of that embrace finally, her face still pink. "I ought to go back to my room and lock it all up," and change for bed, but she didn't say that. The prospect of getting ready to go to bed, in here, with him, in his bed, was flustering enough.
"I won't be too long, if I reappear in here will you jump? It's a bit more discrete than sneaking down the hall in my nightgown."
Eleven swallowed, rethinking the wisdom of all this. He'd glimpsed the girls in shifts before, albeit briefly. They weren't terribly flattering garments, but the idea of Lily of one still made him nervous.
Plenty of room.
"That's fine," he assured at length. He might startle when she teleported back in, but it would hardly be the end of the world. "I, ah- I'll make sure there aren't any shards for you to step on."
The shattered plate, he meant- evidence of an earlier fury. He also still hadn't eaten, but, well, he'd live until morning. Certainly, Lily was more important.
Lily came back about fifteen minutes later, still flushed but smiling. After changing her clothes and locking her room up, she had felt antsy, and ended up doing a fretful lap through her quarters double checking her wards unnecessarily as she steeled her courage to return.
She had rationalized that anything she could wear in Taravast wouldn't be as revealing as anything stylish back home, but she felt sheepish coming back in her nightdress.
"So," she looked at him with a bashful smile. "Left side or right?" She almost offered to fight him for the middle but thankfully stopped herself before disaster struck.
Eleven dutifully cleaned up the shattered plate, straightened up the papers on his desk, and moved the barely touched tray onto it by the time Lily returned.
Having already been dressed down in a shirt and trousers, he didn't need to do much more of that and greeted Lily's re-entrance with a startled sound and a flush.
It wasn't revealing as he'd imagined it wouldn't be, but.. well, he could see her bare arms and calves, and the smattering of freckles on her skin. It hit him that there likely wasn't much beneath that, and that did nothing for his color.
He glanced at the bed.
"Ah- left," he said with a look to his swords set in reach of that side. Eleven strode over to adjust the pillows into two separate 'sides'. "If you don't mind.."
Trying to appear completely at ease she shook her head nonchalantly, resisting the urge to slouch a little so the hem of her shift hit her knees. Wearing a short skirt down to the pub with the girls back home was one thing, showing a bit of knee in a guy's room with the intention of sleeping in the same bed as he was was an entirely different kettle of fish.
Eager to distract herself, Lily lifted her wand, moving through the room as she placed wards on the door and the windows for him.
"It's not much, but it's something." She said, looking back at him, her eyes darting over to his bed briefly.
Eleven gave her a grateful smile and tried not to feel terribly awkward as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. Dressed down as she was and seemingly more vulnerable for it, it didn't feel quite appropriate to reach for her now.
"The warning is all we need; I'm not protecting a handful of injured this time." Their odds should be rather good if they were attacked, and rousing the rest of them wouldn't be much trouble.
He tipped his head, wondering if she might be awaiting an invitation- or if perhaps they needed to find a good way to pass the time. "Are you tired?"
"I'm a little tired, are you?" He had been through a good deal in the last few days, if he had wanted to go right to sleep she wouldn't have been able to blame him.
Lily ignored the nerves tightening her chest and took a few steps forward, walking around to the other side of the bed. After stashing her wand beneath the pillows she sat down, scooting onto the bed enough that she could sit and face him. "Would you stay up and talk with me a bit longer?"
Eleven hummed shortly, shrug noncommittal. Emotionally tired, if not physically so- though his eyes felt a little strained for the bouts of grief he'd churned through between fits of anger.
He turned toward her on the bed with a smile, trying not to get too terribly distracted by the freckled skin on display. "Of course. Anything you'd like."
The situation was undoubtedly daunting, but that she trusted Eleven took a good deal of the edge off. She was still very aware of the fact that she was here, in his bed, with the intention of sleeping beside him, but she felt at least a little less jittery about it than she might have.
Humming thoughtfully she scooted close enough to tug him to lay down with her. "Tell me about Erdrea, and your tree."
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branchandroot
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Date: 2021-09-21 07:12 pm (UTC)Shaking her head in disbelief Lily frowned at El. "Do you think that's why Haltham was traveling with the caravan that met our group on the trail?"
It was a chilling thing to broach, but she had heard from some of those passengers that he had traveled with them, though had not heard anymore about him since their arrival in Taravast.
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 07:28 pm (UTC)"Wei Wuxian believes he's here somewhere. The way he described it sounded like a slow invasion of undead into the city, between the hunting grounds and necromantic district.. I always have my swords on me, but we'll have to be more watchful, I think."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 07:41 pm (UTC)"I'll put wards up in here for you, every night. They won't stop anything from coming but they'll provide a little resistance." She had already been doing the same for her room every night. It made sense to do the same for El, he was, to her, incredibly important.
"If it's like the last time, where they swarmed us, at least this time we have somewhere almost nobody knows about to hide." Of course the place to hide was right in the necromantic part of town, but it had been left vacant for so long she still thought it stood a decent chance of being safe.
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Date: 2021-09-21 07:53 pm (UTC)"You don't have to do that," he said, the protest ultimately half-hearted. It would help, but it didn't feel right to just accept. The place she had to hide in however, had been mentioned enough now that he couldn't help but be curious.
"I'm going to fight to protect this city if we're attacked, but maybe we could evacuate some people to that place you know of- the injured, maybe."
Though that made him think of that last time they'd found somewhere to hole up the injured and he'd looked after them rather than join the fight. Eleven's hands twisted together.
"Though I suppose if we don't have any other healers on hand.."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 08:05 pm (UTC)"We've got Wen Qing, she's a doctor. I believe she'll help with the injured if it comes to that." Lily couldn't speak for her friend, but she felt sure that Wen Qing would be willing to assist their group.
"If Wei Wuxian knows they're drifting into the city, maybe we can find out to where, and strike first if it comes to it."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 08:33 pm (UTC)Levering himself to his feet, Eleven moved for her, reaching out to loop Lily into a loose embrace. He breathed an unsteady sigh.
"I want to hope it won't come to anything, but his warnings about the growing threat to the city seem dire.."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 10:09 pm (UTC)Rocking forward on the balls of her feet to lean into him she let her arms settle around his shoulders, hugging him gently.
"If there's a threat then we'll meet it when it comes." What other choice did they have?
"We'll be as ready as we can be for it," Lily added with a firm nod before she kissed his cheek, her arms going a bit tighter around him. "Hug me properly you git, I've been picturing you in the castle dungeons for the better part of the day. I missed you."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 10:30 pm (UTC)"I didn't mean to worry you," he said again, brushing his lips to her temple. The growing ease and normalcy of these simple, but precious gestures tugged at his heart. He shifted and breathed into her hair.
"But I suppose I've only managed more of that, now."
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Date: 2021-09-21 10:45 pm (UTC)"You haven't," she began, voice muffled before she raised it and leaned back to look at him again. "We've always been in danger, I realized that within a minute of getting pulled into this world. It would be foolish to think that stopped the moment we reached a place like this."
Lily brushed a hand over his cheek, tilting her head to the city as she watched his face. "If anything you make everything feel a little less insurmountable."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 11:16 pm (UTC)A flicker of light in the dark; hope and faith- however fragile- to hold against despair.
He took in a steadying breath and nodded, then leaned in for a short kiss.
"I'm glad. ..Thank you for being here. You've come to mean a lot to me."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-21 11:31 pm (UTC)Opening her eyes again after he kissed her she shook her head lightly, touching his cheek, leaning in as he withdrew. "Wait," she murmured, quietly imploring, "come back."
Lily's thumb continued to brush over his cheek as she kissed him a second time. The first had been too quick for her liking.
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Date: 2021-09-21 11:58 pm (UTC)Eleven hummed against her mouth, heart settling as he let their second kiss linger. Really, without her here, without anything to comfort him.. it didn't bear thinking about. She was, and because of that, there was something to counter the dark and miserable thoughts that had plagued him all day.
He held her and didn't want to let go. Eleven breathed a sigh as their lips finally parted. Eyes roving over her face, he reached up and let a few fingers drift through her hair.
"I'd ask you to stay if it weren't too forward. But I do feel better than before, so I appreciate that."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 12:28 am (UTC)Then again blokes could be so strange.
"I would, if you asked," Lily caught her bottom lip in her teeth and looked down, thinking hard before she turned back to him. "To sleep? Right?"
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 12:39 am (UTC)"Yes, to sleep. If you wanted." He certainly wouldn't ask more from her, and probably shouldn't have mentioned it at all. Just.. he hadn't wanted her to go. "But that was- well, a little forward, so I don't expect.. Sorry."
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Date: 2021-09-22 12:58 am (UTC)"You're not a blanket thief, are you?"
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Date: 2021-09-22 01:23 am (UTC)"Erik complained a time or two when we had to share, but I don't know if he meant it."
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Date: 2021-09-22 02:01 am (UTC)"I won't be too long, if I reappear in here will you jump? It's a bit more discrete than sneaking down the hall in my nightgown."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 02:13 am (UTC)Plenty of room.
"That's fine," he assured at length. He might startle when she teleported back in, but it would hardly be the end of the world. "I, ah- I'll make sure there aren't any shards for you to step on."
The shattered plate, he meant- evidence of an earlier fury. He also still hadn't eaten, but, well, he'd live until morning. Certainly, Lily was more important.
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 02:51 am (UTC)She had rationalized that anything she could wear in Taravast wouldn't be as revealing as anything stylish back home, but she felt sheepish coming back in her nightdress.
"So," she looked at him with a bashful smile. "Left side or right?" She almost offered to fight him for the middle but thankfully stopped herself before disaster struck.
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 03:14 am (UTC)Having already been dressed down in a shirt and trousers, he didn't need to do much more of that and greeted Lily's re-entrance with a startled sound and a flush.
It wasn't revealing as he'd imagined it wouldn't be, but.. well, he could see her bare arms and calves, and the smattering of freckles on her skin. It hit him that there likely wasn't much beneath that, and that did nothing for his color.
He glanced at the bed.
"Ah- left," he said with a look to his swords set in reach of that side. Eleven strode over to adjust the pillows into two separate 'sides'. "If you don't mind.."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 03:45 am (UTC)Eager to distract herself, Lily lifted her wand, moving through the room as she placed wards on the door and the windows for him.
"It's not much, but it's something." She said, looking back at him, her eyes darting over to his bed briefly.
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 04:16 am (UTC)"The warning is all we need; I'm not protecting a handful of injured this time." Their odds should be rather good if they were attacked, and rousing the rest of them wouldn't be much trouble.
He tipped his head, wondering if she might be awaiting an invitation- or if perhaps they needed to find a good way to pass the time. "Are you tired?"
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 04:36 am (UTC)Lily ignored the nerves tightening her chest and took a few steps forward, walking around to the other side of the bed. After stashing her wand beneath the pillows she sat down, scooting onto the bed enough that she could sit and face him. "Would you stay up and talk with me a bit longer?"
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 04:46 am (UTC)He turned toward her on the bed with a smile, trying not to get too terribly distracted by the freckled skin on display. "Of course. Anything you'd like."
no subject
Date: 2021-09-22 04:37 pm (UTC)Humming thoughtfully she scooted close enough to tug him to lay down with her. "Tell me about Erdrea, and your tree."
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