linchpin. [nel + murdoch]

[Nel Sayo]

"C'mon."

She plucked the mug of tea from his hands and got to her feet, nudging his boots to the side of the bed, where he usually put them. Nel was a creature of comfort; her natural instinct was to make the world better, to make it brighter, to lend a little light to an otherwise dark and awful place. She made a horrible pirate, really.

But she made an incredible, sylphan sort of fairy godmother, all that starshine and shimmer, and if she couldn't make his past go away, she could at least make his future a thing worth looking forward to. Nel liked the future; she hadn't seen it yet, but she knew she liked it.

She pushed him, once, in the shoulder, towards going to bed.

"I'll clean up the tea," she murmured.

Didn't say whether she'd stay or go. Maybe she hadn't decided yet. But either way, when he woke up, things would be clean, and that was the best she could give him in that moment.

[Murdoch]

He relinquished the cup, and gave a little snort when she pushed him. His walls were back up again, and he didn't flinch at all from her touch. But then, she also hadn't just used her psychic powers to drive a spear through his heart and rip off every layer of protection he kept around himself.

So he just sort of slumped onto the edge of the bed and stayed there a moment, too exhausted to move at first. Then he dragged his shirt over his head and slung it over the back of the chair, and stretched out across his bed with a weary sigh, and was dead asleep in less than a minute.

[Gossamer]

. Character: Nel Experience: 1 XP Interrogation, 1 XP Tracking (for trying to find Doc), 1 XP Debate Lore: Making Doc crazy. Character: Murdoch Experience: 1 XP Interrogation, 1 XP Debate, 1 XP Brawling (Slap) Lore: Sincere Apologies, Pushing Nel's Buttons Additional Note: Interesting argument and makeup. I think both of them turned a monumental corner here. .