ʏᴇᴀʜ, ɴᴏᴡ I ᴡᴀɴɴᴀ sᴇᴇ ʜɪᴍ ғʟʏ, ғʟʏ ᴀᴡᴀʏ (ᴄʟᴏsᴇᴅ)

[mansuetus]

CHARACTERS: lulu + josie
LOCATION: josie's room
WARNINGS: none for now
SUMMARY: lucrezia misses a certain someone, a visit at an odd hour of the night ensues.



[ The last time she had seen him was after the Jump. It has been comfortable then; the silence was intimate and she kissed his cheek and leaned on his arm.

still, that has been after the Jump and now another was nearly upon them and Lucrezia -

Lucrezia had a tendency to become anxious when the Jumps came. Too scared to lose those she loves, to wake up without them to have more cracks formed in her heart.

She slept little these days as it is. the nights came without warning and they were long and far too quiet.

So she walked, she kept herself busy and tonight, tonight she had decided to go and see him.

Without much warning, a swish of silk and gold hair, she was at his door. three delicate knocks and then - she waited. ]

Comments

slowly crawls in and begs forgiveness

[stimulations]

[Josias couldn't truly say that his sleep had suffered during his self-imposed isolation. It was more the structure of it that had been lost, a frustrating and unpredictable pendulum swinging between insomnia and fatigue. In retrospect he can recognise it as symptoms of the greater problem, the cycle of bad behaviour systems that he'd fallen into, but it had rectified itself fairly quickly in the short time since he's put the effort to pull himself together. Which means he is actually sleeping when the knock on the door comes - and is not really amused by being woken.

But one doesn't live on a horror spaceship for over a year without learning some urgency for unexpected interactions at odd hours, whether they come by door or by communications device, and he has himself out of bed and at the door a lot more quickly than he might have managed had he been back at home. And he regrets it, slightly, seeing who exactly is at his door, as he very much doubted Lucrezia wanted to see him shirtless and sleep-mussed - but that's overwhelmed more by concern over why she might be knocking at this time at all.

Sleep-sluggish, he opens his mouth to ask her if something's wrong, catching himself only by a split-second before any sound can pass his lips, pressing them into a line instead. He frowns, the only way he can express his concern right now, holding a hand towards her in a gesture that's both questioning and offering.]

EVEN LATER FORGIVE ME TOO

[mansuetus]

[ He was sleeping, it is evident in his eyes and all at once, Lucrezia feels immensely guilty for having woken him up for her lack of sleep. If some have this gift, what right does she have to keep it from them? it is so rare of a gift on the ship as it is.

As it is, she let's him take her hand and lead her inside, presses a kiss to his cheek. ]

Forgive me. I could not asleep.

forgiveness for everyone!

[stimulations]

[It isn't the first time he's heard such a complaint. With all that happened on the ship, it wasn't surprising that so many people had their sleep disturbed. The fact he'd managed to escape it as a problem-- well, he'd never been one to let troubles distract him from the pleasing things in life, had he? Except in recent months. And it wasn't as if his sleep was worth much, the rhythm of things that life here fell into. He could work in the gardens at whatever time, as long as he did at some point, and that was about it for his scheduled responsibilities.

He shakes his head slightly, a small smile, because there's nothing to forgive. Better to be giving her his time, he thinks, leading her over to sit on the unmade bed. His communicator is on the bureau, and he picks it up, bringing up the notes application so he can type out a message for her to see. It's a slow process, needing to concentrate on each letter, but eventually he holds over,]

Nightmares? Do you want to talk about it?

[Not that he could offer much in conversation, but he could listen.]

yes, excellent

[mansuetus]

[ she hates that he cannot speak, wishes to have blood and heads of those who somehow caused this because she remembers her voice, she misses it as she misses him. She looks at the communicator (a firefly, she still calls it) and then looks at him. ]

I fear I will wake up after the next Jump and all those whom I love will be stolen from me never to be seen again.

[ it has happened with Alayne, with Jesse Pinkman. she looks at him as if to say, I fear I may not see you again. ]

[stimulations]

[There are a lot of things to be feared on the Tranquility. Sickness, monsters, madness - Josias has been here long enough to see many of them, and had been fortunately untouched, until it had reached and sunk its fingers so neatly around him. In comparison Lucrezia's fear seems so simple, but at the same time, so completely understandable. And utterly Lucrezia, to fear for other people, to fear being left. Josias' mouth tugs to the side, apologetic, sympathetic, as he looks to his comms in order to type again.]

I wish I could assure you otherwise.

[If he could speak he would frame it more delicately, softer, but his words take too much time. And he doesn't want to give her any lies, not over something like this. They've both been here long enough to know people come and go, to know there's no way to know which, to make a promise to stay and to be able to keep it.]

You can't let fear of the unpredictable future stop you from living well in the present.

[mansuetus]

What will rule me, if not fear?

[ she knows an answer to that but she will hear his. shifting, she moves to lie, placing her head against his knee and looking up at him. what, indeed? Love? ambition? bravery? lust for power? she knows them all a bit too well, especially here. ]

[stimulations]

[Josias doesn't answer immediately - not that it could be called immediate, with the time it took him to type. He settles a hand against the top of her head, smooths fingertips over the shining flax of her hair, comfort in the gesture as he contemplates her question. But the answer is still the most obvious, and there are no other clever words to go with it.]

Hope.

[Cliché, perhaps, but clichés were always born out of truths, and the tale of Pandora's box went the way it did for a reason. No man or woman should ever be ruled by fear - especially not one as bright as Lucrezia.]

[mansuetus]

Hope.

[ the greatest gift God gave to men. despite it all; the path to paradise begins in hell and Lucrezia smiles, leans into the touch and thinks that he is right. She had forgotten hope for a while but why? she has more love her than she has in Rome; and less worries, less betrayals, less snakes to be concerned over. ]

You are wiser than half the men of the Vatican, by far!

[stimulations]

[He laughs a little, soft. That's certainly never a statement he expected to hear about himself, and he can imagine the men in question would be very insulted. Though the men in question would likely also have objections to Lucrezia spending time with a male prostitute, so clearly they would be wrong in a lot of matters.]

I'll keep that in mind, should I need a change in career.