Soft Hands. [Sama'el]

[Issima]

Issima merely nodded at his words, internalizing the thought as she stared at his shoulder. Thoughts ran through her mind so quickly she could hardly hold onto them, slippery things that they were. She thought of her father, and her brothers, and all the anecdotes she'd ever heard about danger away from Endrykas, her family. Then she thought, strangely, of Menali. Her soft, feminine, girlish cousin back at home. She'd never have caused such trouble for Sam, would she? Perhaps it was a good match. Maybe Sam needed someone to stay behind and take care of all the sons he deserved, his pavilion. Issima wasn't sure she'd ever be that. She loved children, and wanted them someday. But the notion of being left behind, where it was safe, wasn't something she was entirely sure she could happily do. "I'm not unhappy I came, Sam," she asserted suddenly, out of nowhere. It seemed important that he know that. She'd begged onto this trip, essentially, but he had been kind enough to let her come along. Kind enough to play the wonderful host. She couldn't let him feel guilty over this. She reached out to tangle their fingers together, squeezing until he glanced at her. "It's beautiful here. And crazy things happen everywhere. And nothing really happened," she said, as if the image of that dead Akalak wasn't burned into her mind's eye. "Tomorrow, everything will be fine," as if the bruises left behind would disappear by then, "and we'll go see new places, still. Right?"

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

He nodded at her words, looked down at their hands as one and back up to her eyes. When he had wives, he hoped for all sorts, and the nurturing mother archetype was certainly one of them, although there was also Denen for that, Oriana love him. Had he known that Issima could handle herself in a fight or talk her way out of danger, he might not have felt quite so bad for leaving her in harm's way. "I'm not angry," he said. Was he repeating himself? "Tomorrow or, more likely, the next day, we'll sail. Have to speak to a captain, find a trustworthy one, either to Alvadas or Karjin. Perhaps Karjin would be better. I've been and so I know the area a bit better. Not sure how we would cope with Ionu's city. It sounds... rather frightening. You can't trust your senses there. But Karjin makes more sense, and I think it's closer to Avanthal, actually. Northwest all the way from Karjin to Avanthal, crossing a lot of Taldera, which will be cold and forests and mountains. It will be a hard trail, but..." But Issima and the others had all signed on and gladly. Sama'el wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

[Issima]

"Mountains, and forests," she echoed, with a bit of a smile. "Snow? We'll get to see so much." A glimmer of her former excitement surfaced, though it did not sparkle as brightly as it had when they were on Cyphran soil. She reached up to toy with dark hair that was slowly drying, her gaze skipping aside to fix upon their things. "I hate death, Sam. All of it," she mused somewhat suddenly, with no fluid transition from the pleasant nothings to this. "Even his. That man in the barn. I've never watched someone die. I'm sorry he was there, when Aponi needed me. That he tried to hurt me. But I'm also sorry he died." Issima lifted wide brown eyes to his once more, lips pressing closed into a thoughtful pout as she waited. For his approval? His disapproval? For Sam to tell her that she was mad, and that the blue fool deserved to die? She wasn't certain, but his opinion mattered, for some reason.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"You will be sick of the snow before all is said and done," he promised. Watching her fidget with her hair, he wished it was his place to help her with it, and perhaps to get her out of her wet clothes and warm her with... Well, he was a young man, and such things were ever on his mind. But Issima was different from the other young women he had courted, different even from her cousin, Menali, who would likely find a husband while he was off gallivanting in the far reaches of Taldera like a holy fool. But things would turn out as they would. "Dira will come for us all," he noted, "someday. But there's no need to hurry her along..." He thought he knew where her mind and her heart were, but one could never be sure with other people, let alone with women, who always seemed more intelligent about emotional things than he was. "He made his choice, and the result was his death. I wish no ill upon him, but I would have killed him to protect you, too."

[Issima]

Issima just nodded. She was out of words. Though she didn't realize it as such, she'd kept up the majority of this conversation only to keep him close. She was still a bit shaken, as much as she despised the feeling of weakness, and she wanted him close. Issima was afraid that he might scuttle off to pack up something or... something, if she didn't engage him in conversation. She felt all emptied out now, though, with no more words to utter. And so she sat in the stillness for a while, before heaving a great sigh. "We should probably rest. The others will be missing you by morning, and we do have a great adventure in store, right?" There it was, that flicker of fire, that spark to her eye, even as she gave him a small smile. She stretched out on the bed, damp clothing and all, and patted the space beside of her. "Rest with me, Sam? Tell me a story. Something to take my mind off of things."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"They will just have to wait until dawn," he said, stripping off his clothes except for his pants and climbing into the bed next to her, maneuvering around until he was lying back on the pillows, her head resting on his shoulder and his arm around her. He smelled like rain and horse and dirt and sunlight. She smelled rather nice herself, and he tried to ignore the sudden tightness in his pants. It would not do to take advantage of her after a crisis, after playing hero, even if that Cugacon had done most of the actual heroics. He kissed her curly hair, imagining for a moment curly-haired children rather than blond ones. Then he searched his memory for a good story. "Once upon a time," he began.

[Issima]

Issima fell asleep to the sound of his voice. It was easy enough, because Sam felt and smelled like home. How long had it been since she'd been held like this, comforted like this? Her aunts had tried, but she'd repeatedly shunned their efforts. She wasn't certain why it felt okay to be so vulnerable in front of Sam. Perhaps because he'd already seen it, that shame, at the very worst. Perhaps because he simply felt good and she was too weak to deny herself. Whatever the cause, she burrowed close and drifted off to sleep on his chest, with the comforting thud of his heartbeat as a lullaby. When she awoke, it was with a start. It was still dark outside and a lifetime of bad dreams had somehow coalesced into one. Her fingers were digging sharply into his side, trying to hold onto him. She apologized for this in murmurs when she found his patient gaze fixed downwards upon her. Issi sighed and nuzzled her cheek into the incredibly warm place against his chest, where her cheek had rested. She stroked the indentations her fingernails had left against his skin, low upon the hip opposite her, almost thoughtlessly. It wasn't until he squirmed beneath her and the shape of his body changed beneath the thigh that had casually draped across his own in her sleep that she thought better of it. "Oh, sorry," she flushed, but when she tipped her chin up it was with a half smile laced with sleepiness and a pleased sort of amusement. His boyish handsomeness was all the more apparent in the moment, and Issima thought of the endless praises Menali had sung this Sama'el of the Watch. And, perhaps it was her exhaustion, but for the first time Issima found herself agreeing with them without guilt. "I didn't mean to hurt you." She didn't startle like a skittish kitten nor scramble away on the bed. In fact, she did nothing to realign her body or put more distance between them, even if his own squirming attempts were fruitless.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

While she had slept, he had drowsed, his senses vaguely on the alert for a sound at the door or some other threat, real or imagined. This time he would be there to protect her. They were warm, even a little hot where their skin touched, sleepy and a little sweaty, but he smiled back at her, bemused and content in the moment. "It's nothing," he murmured, dismissing her hands in his side. He had certainly suffered worse. But it was time to sleep if they were going to sleep, and nothing untoward was going to happen, not when she was under his protection. All the same, he settled in a little lower, as if he would allow himself to sleep beside her and not just watch over her while she slept. "Everything will be better in the morning," he promised, and leaned over to kiss her cheek, but somehow miscalculated and caught the corner of her mouth. His eyes widened a bit, apologetic but not, and he slowly settled in beside her, watching and waiting for one or the both of them to slip into slumber.

[Issima]

Issima's heart fluttered when his lips, however accidentally, brushed the corner of hers. Wide brown eyes remained fixed on the profile of his face as he settled in more comfortably, and she was too drowsy to appear properly demure. She was struck by the odd desire to lean up and repeat the gesture, more fully this time. But, she was a good girl who thought she ought to behave more properly, especially with the man she knew her cousin coveted so fiercely. And so, at length, Issima released a pleasant sigh against the column of his throat. She nuzzled her face there, and allowed his familiarity to transport her to the sensation of home. Sam was here now. He'd keep her safe. "G'night, Sam," Issima murmured and, for the first time since he'd returned to Riverfall, perhaps she sounded happy.

[Gossamer]

. Character: Issima Experience: Socialization 3 XP, Observation 2 XP Lore: Apologizing Sincerely, Recognizing When Something Is Wrong, Losing One’s Temper, Asking For Comfort, Articulating One’s Own Needs, Thinking Ahead, Planning Trips Character: Sama’el Experience: Socialization 3 XP, Observation 2 XP Lore: Recognizing One’s Mistakes, Riverfall Is Unsafe For Women, Being Hard On Oneself, Questioning One’s Judgment, Recognizing The Needs Of Others, Planning Trips, Justifying Death, Telling Comforting Stories Additional Note: Hi guys. What a sweet thread that really does a lot of character building and interaction between the two characters. There was a lot of talking and comforting, but I can’t really give XP for comforting, so I gave you socialization instead. I would have given Sam Storytelling if he’d have continued on after the Once upon a time… but otherwise, really nice soft sweet comforting read. Any questions/concerns let me know. .