Come Sail Away IC Inbox

[crushed_pearls]

Erin's voice mail message is in a weary voice: "Erin Peters. If you called in the middle of the night and I didn't answer, I'm dying. If I pick up and someone on your end isn't dying, they will be shortly. Text otherwise."

Comments

[crushed_pearls]

Once they're suited, the two of them can begin. The matches extend, filled with Erin's carefree laughter, and something starts to get obvious.

Erin's playing. It's subtle, a less skilled swordswoman than Cassandra or one who's seen real battle less often might not even notice, but Erin's artificially extending each bout, trying to stay in the moment.

Enjoying being close.

[not_the_last]

Oh, she notices. And joins in: making each move just a little showier than it needs to be, a little extra stretch and fluidity in each move, more like a dance than her usual fierce practicality.

It's good to be able to think, even if just for a few moments at a time, of only this.

[crushed_pearls]

Parry, backstep, slash, block (good!), parry -

After more than an hour of sparring Erin has worked up a pleasant sweat and the playful fighting has her feeling the mischief. Maybe that's what cuts through her usual hesitation, only intensified of late with Cassandra; she forces a blade lock, and takes it as an excuse to give Cass a kiss. Can you keep your focus, Lady de Rolo?

[not_the_last]

Cassandra makes a tiny startled mmph! noise through the kiss -- and then she leans in to continue it.

And her ankle hooks around one of Erin's, and she makes a very concerted effort to topple both of them to the floor.

[crushed_pearls]

Erin drops her sword to take hold of Cass and fall safely, laughing all the while, even as her Aura flashes to absorb the fall. She nuzzles her lady and holds her close, folding her wings around them both. "Someone," she murmurs, "is feeling enthusiastic."

[not_the_last]

"I'm so pleased to hear it," Cassandra murmurs back, working one arm under Erin's wing to hold her in turn; she's thrown down her own weapon as well, having no inclination to get either of them injured accidentally.

In a soft & hesitant voice

[crushed_pearls]

"What's on your mind now that you've got me, my lady?"

[not_the_last]

"Honestly, I hadn't thought it through this far."

She hesitates. Something about Erin's voice ...

"... Is something wrong?"

[crushed_pearls]

"Wrong...might be a strong word." Erin buries her face in Cass's shoulder, and squeezes gently. "I've been worrying that maybe I put pressure on ya to do somethin' you don't like, enjoy? 'cause you know it makes me happy? So I've been easing off...well. September was also just. Me."

[not_the_last]

Cassandra doesn't do anything as obvious as stiffen or flinch, but her body goes still in a way Erin may have come to recognize over the past months.

(The past year -- oh, surely it hasn't been that long, surely not.)

"I know September was hard," she says, low. "I ... before that, though ...?"

[crushed_pearls]

"...Love did you not notice that I stopped askin' to play?"

[not_the_last]

"I noticed it was happening less often, and then ..."

She shifts, looking away. "I assumed you would ask when you wanted to."

[crushed_pearls]

"..." Erin laughs lightly, and kisses Cass's cheek. "We are the most fucking competent. Well. Here I am in your arms, bringin' it up, so...be honest with me, yeah?"

[not_the_last]

"Of course." She says it without thinking, and then flushes a little. "I'll do my best."

[crushed_pearls]

Fingertips, to brush Cass's hair back. Erin's smile is a flickering thing, genuine but at war with the worry that's been wringing her heart. "...Have you just been playing to make me happy? Have I been...I dunno, insistent? Oblivious?"

[not_the_last]

"You haven't been oblivious," says Cassandra -- that's the easiest part to answer, promptly and firmly. "Or insistent, if by that you mean ... pressuring me to do anything I didn't want to. You've always been careful."

A pause, and her voice goes a little smaller. "Were you waiting for me to ask?"

[crushed_pearls]

The smallest nod, and -

"...It sounds silly when you say it like that but. It's. Not? I think?"

[not_the_last]

She shakes her head.

Still smaller than usual: "It doesn't sound silly."

[crushed_pearls]

"...Maybe I should take my own advice and just ask, then: what is that aspect of our relationship to you?"

The softest kiss against Cass's cheek. "There's no wrong answer."

[not_the_last]

"It's ..." She takes a long breath.

"I enjoy it," she starts, slowly. "It feels good, and it's something I know you enjoy and that feels good too. Being close to you and making you happy. If ... if we never played that way again, but we were still close in other ways, and you were still happy? I think ... I might miss it but I don't know."

[crushed_pearls]

"..." Erin laughs, a short and ironic laugh, and nuzzles Cass's shoulder. "Not to play devil's advocate or anything love, but you didn't seem to miss it enough to notice. Then again, you might have detected that my lusts run hot and deep, what with all the subtle clues."

[not_the_last]

She looks away again, biting her lip, a tinge of red sliding across her cheeks.

And doesn't answer for a moment.

[crushed_pearls]

"...Cass, no one on this world or any other is obligated to be as horny as I am. I'm in a weight class with Max, it's exhausting, both of us are gonna regret it when we get older and our spines fuck off to more peaceful lands."

[not_the_last]

Low: "I still ought to have realized. I thought it was only ... circumstances."

[crushed_pearls]

That gets a warm nuzzle, and a squeeze. "We're really bad at finding a good time to talk about this," Erin teases, as much as herself as at Cass. "...Why do you think you'd miss it? Walk through your thoughts."