In The Works...

Hitomi couldn't help bit frown as Tala spoke. She didn't quite understand everything. She didn't get how something happy she saw made her so upset. Maybe a happy memory? Well those would count as upsetting then wouldn't they? She didn't quite get it, but she stayed true to her word. She was here for Tala.

Her own heart grew heavy. Despite her decree, she had no idea how to make her better. She didn't have any experience or advice. She'd given away her past, and all the emotions tied to it. Seeing Tala like this, saying she was happy and sad...Hitomi felt a small pang of jealousy, quickly followed by guilt. Her ears began to droop before Tala suddenly giggled. Hitomi opened her eyes once again as she spoke.

And just like that she understood what it meant to be happy and sad at the same time. Hitomi stared at her, almost in surprise. Tala would see Hitomi staring into her eyes for several seconds. Slowly, tears filled her eyes. Not the reactive, childlike tears she'd shed before either. These tears came from a lifetime of sadness that had been so casually tossed aside. The happy, the sad, the good, the bad..It had all crumbled away. Hitomi realized that she didn't come to this country to understand herself or to help others. She came here to die alone.

Her lip began to quiver, her eyes beginning to search Tala's face for...some kind of answer. She visibly looked confused, unable to process whatever information that was going through her head. Her hand twitched upwards, but quickly fell back to her side. There was so many things she wanted to do, so many things she wanted to convey. Even if she could speak, there were no words she could say. Eventually, she reached her hands forward and cupped Tala's cheeks. Gently, she rested her forehead on Tala's like she'd done before. This time, though, she applied a little too much pressure as her head moved from side to side. Hitomi's eyes closed tightly, a look of intense concentration on her face. Tala, at this moment, was the most important thing to her. She was doing her best to show that, albeit in a strange way.

After a few seconds, the pressure would alleviate and Hitomi would lean back and hug Tala once more. Then, her finger would begin to trace out a message once more. Just a simple 'Thank you.'

Tala didn't react negatively to Hitomi pressing her forehead firmly against hers, and upon feeling the letters written on her arms, she smiled gently.

"Thank you, too," she said before pressing against Hitomi's forehead again.

After a moment, Tala would let go. Her earlier melancholy seemed to have faded and she beamed brightly at the small Enkidu girl. Tala would pet Hitomi's head before placing a hand affectionately on the girl's face.

"Now, do you want to go back to bed? I don't think the snow will let down for awhile, so we're stuck here for the night."

Hitomi took a few moments to calm herself down as Tala placed her back on the ground and pet her head. The burst of emotions she'd just gotten hit with had utterly exhausted her if she was being honest. It was pretty evident on her face. She considered a moment. She wanted to sleep, but she didn't want Tala to have to see any more illusions. Hitomi looked at the ground, a look of concentration in her face as she tried to come up with some kind of plan.

!!!

She'd look up again suddenly and nod. "Mm!" She pointed towards Tala as well. If Hitomi was sleeping, Tala was sleeping too. They couldn't get hit with illusions if they were asleep...she thought. Plus they could lock the door tight and close all the blinds. They should be fine then right?

When Hitomi suggested that Tala sleep as well, a look of worry crossed the latter's face.

"The both of us?" she said. "Do you really think it's a good idea?"

Tala looked about. The forests here were quiet and they hadn't encountered any corrupted beasts. Plus, she could understand Hitomi's point about the illusions. Tala was more harmful dreaming up illusions than being asleep and waking up to trouble. She was a light sleeper anyways, so maybe...

Tala looked at Hitomi and sighed while smiling.

"Well, I suppose it's best we save our energy," she said. "Let me tuck you into bed and then I'll sleep next to you."

Without warning, she'd lift Hitomi up and sit her back down on makeshift bed out of her clothes and the satchel. Tala would check the fire, make sure it was still going, and double check the door. Before she did anything else, she'd kneel and pull something from the satchel--a small book.

Tala would walk up to the door holding the book and start tracing marks into the air. The marks would then embed into the wood and glow brightly before she looked back at Hitomi.

"If something's a threat nearby, this should set off an alarm for me to wake up," she said.

She'd then kneel next to Hitomi and pull up her cloak as if gesturing for Hitomi to lay down into position.

Hitomi furiously nodded as Tala asked if she was sure. Of course she was sure! Things would be fine! She was a light sleeper too after all! Any worries she would've had were quickly snuffed out by those thoughts. Perhaps she still wasn't in her right mind after all?

Before she could ponder further, Tala agreed. Hitomi beamed, giving a short hop and clasping her hands together. She let Tala pick her up without a struggle, which was probably nice for Tala in this instance. She idly kicked her legs back and forth as she waited for Tala to finish securing the house. Hitomi herself was making a mental checklist of what might be weaknesses in their defenses.

Of course, she'd forgotten about magic...Hitomi's eyes grew wide as she watched Tala cast some kind of spell, there was a sense of wonder she didn't often allow herself. "Mm!" She nodded in affirmation at Tala's words.

Before she laid down though, Hitomi scooted forward and nuzzled against Tala once last time. Satisfied, she gave a happy sigh and did as she commanded. Oddly enough, Hitomi almost seemed excited about them sleeping together. Truthfully? She was. It had been a very long time since she fell asleep with another next to her. There were many cold Eisleyn nights that would've been a LOT less threatening if Tala had been there.

Considering that the makeshift bed only fit Hitomi, Tala nestled into place next to her on the bare floor. This honestly wasn't the most uncomfortable thing ever for her. She'd slept on grass and sand before in the open air, after all. Besides, the fire was warm and Hitomi nuzzling her just made Tala want to squish her tightly. She resisted, however, deciding the girl was tired enough and would use the cloak to first tuck Hitomi in before slipping in underneath it next to her.

For a brief moment, Tala blushed.

She realized this wasn't anything inappropriate and it did help that Hitomi was a child rather than a full grown woman in the scenario, but she hadn't slept next to one in ages as well. There were so many times she had lain by herself in her own worries and nightmares and flashbacks.

She thought back to the odd illusion/dream thing she had had, how she saw the young man tucked the little girl in under his cloak as they slept through the windy desert night. She remembered how warm and protected she felt. How she felt like she was just where she needed to be.

She heard Hitomi sigh in content and nodding off. Tala smiled to herself and huddled closer to make sure the girl didn't lose any of her body heat.

Things were going to be alright. Tala was where she needed to be and she'd do everything in her power to do for Hitomi what someone had done for her so long ago.

It didn't take long for Hitomi to fall asleep at all. She had hoped to stay up SOME, maybe keep watch or make sure Tala fell asleep first. She couldn't though. She was exhausted for some reason. She nestled into Tala and her eyes fluttered closed. For the first time in a very long time, she found herself dreaming. Normally she'd either have nightmares or just...wouldn't dream at all.

This time though, her dreams were sweet and warm. She was resting by a fire, eating sweets and painting idly. There was a humming in the background. Someone was there with her. Someone that made it okay to take her mask off just this once. The dream ended shortly after she felt arms wrap around her and hold her close.

--

Slowly her eyes opened. The first thing she saw was Tala. It seemed Hitomi had moved around in her sleep some. She didn't care much though...Hitomi simply watched her for a long moment before letting out another happy sigh and snuggling up against the woman once more. She'd sleep just a little bit longer...

--

If Tala woke up before Hitomi, she'd hear birds chirping and see sunlight streaming through the windows themselves. The fire had burned low at this point and would most likely die soon if not tended to. What would catch her attention more, most likely, was a pair of rabbit ears in her face. Looking down she'd see Hitomi, not the child she'd grown used to, but the adult she'd been but moments before entering the forest. The woman had turned in her sleep, and was wrapped tightly around Tala, her head resting against the older woman's chest. She's see a small, contented smile on the Hitomi's face and, every so often, she'd seemingly nuzzle against Tala in her sleep. To get up, she'd most likely have to pry Hitomi off of her.

Despite sleeping on the floor, Tala hadn't woken up sore in the slightest bit! In fact, she slept great! She had slept so good in fact that it took her a moment to register where she was.

Hmm? I'm not home?

She looked around and could see the wood shack that surrounded her and her body could make out the hardness of the wooden floor. However, her body ALSO felt a soft warmth wrapping around her, something comfortable and soft and nuzzling against her chest...


"A-aa...." Tala's voice squeaked.

Looking down, she noticed Hitomi wrapping around her tightly and Tala's arms around Hitomi as well. The two were sleeping underneath Tala's cloak covered the both of them and Hitomi was wearing nothing more than the long white tunic Tala had lent her from the night before.

Tala's face instantly turned rosy. She hadn't minded too much when Hitomi was a child, but seeing Hitomi grown again and a little more than underdressed for some reason made her cheeks burn. She wanted to just leap out, but the way that Hitomi was hugging her and the peaceful expression on her face...well, Tala was having a hard time doing that.

Red-faced and ears steaming, she decided to do her best to gently pry Hitomi's arms off and let the girl continue sleeping. She'd test the grip of Hitomi's arms before trying to get out.

"Nn..." Hitomi would let out a small whining noise as Tala began to move. Her grip only seemed to grow tighter. She whined again, nuzzling harder into Dorrance's chest. She seemed to be having quite a nice dream. "Mm..." She smiled a bit wider as she got a better grip. Tala was certainly going to have a hard time getting out of her grip at this rate.

--

A few minutes before.

Fey couldn't believe these two. Trapped in an illusion and they'd spent most of their time cuddling. Fey had honestly hoped Tala would've grown a few new braincells by now, but...it seemed she was still the same old idiot. Well, she was cuter that way at least. All she had to do was turn that bunny small and Tala had become pretty much useless. She honestly felt a little bad.

Well...Not really.

She'd JUST grabbed their denars and stashed them somewhere nice and safe inside the forest. She didn't have much time though. She'd spent a LOT of energy just getting them into that stupid cabin. She was exhausted...Still she had work to do! She just needed to...needed to...

Thunk

When Tala eventually got out of Hitomi's death grip, and when she inevitably opened the door. She notice a small figure collapsed right near the door. She'd see a..small pixie? She had black hair, comprised of crow feathers. Oddly enough, on one side of her bangs, they seemingly lost color, now pure white instead. She wore simple black sundress and Tala would see small dragonfly wings sprouting from her back.

While not quite the same, Tala would see an odd resemblance to a certain 'pixie' she knew back in the day.

"A-aghhh...ghaaa..." Tala, in a hushed voice, tried to suppress her squeaking as Hitomi hugged her even tighter. Screw the fact the fire was almost out, Tala's face was burning at this point. In fact, she was pretty sure she could feel Hitomi's bare legs under the sheets which was making her blush even more. She honesty didn't know why she felt as bashful as she did, but she was!

Tala managed to pry Hitomi off at last by slipping the satchel in her place for Hitomi to hug. Rolling out, Tala's ears were steaming and her heart was pounding heavily.

"Too...too old for this," she murmured to herself weakly.

Despite being embarrassed, Tala turned to Hitomi to check if she was still sleeping. She'd let out a soft sigh and tuck the girl in more and start up the fire.

That would probably keep her warm. She wasn't sure if Hitomi was still cold, but was wasn't going to risk it. Tala let out a content exhale and dug her hands into her pockets...they were empty.

Tala's hands met air rather than the few coins she had in a cloth pouch. Tala padded the rest of her skirt and her pockets, but she felt nothing.

"...shit!"

Tala hunkered down onto the bed, trying to feel the satchel Hitomi was holding, but she heard no jingle of coins. She started scanning around but there was nothing anywhere either.

Oh.

My.

God.


DID THEY ACTUALLY GET ROBBED IN THEIR SLEEP!?

For some reason, the charm was gone on the door, and Tala's eyes widened. There was no way she could have slept to that alarm. Why was the money gone!?

Instantly, Tala decided to head out to see if the person had gotten away, and just as she opened the door--


THWACK!

Tala heard a thud as she opened the door, as if she had hit some small thing upon. She rushed outside, half-worried it was a bird and when she came upon the snow, Tala's arms dropped to their side.

"..."

.

.

.

.

"OH MY GOD FEY I'M SO SORRY!!!!" Tala screamed as she knelt towards the unconscious fairy, scooping her up in her hands worried she might've injured her. "ARE YOU OKAY!? ALSO IT'S BEEN FOREVER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"

Surely, Tala's screaming wasn't all that pleasant to the ears.