At the end of the night [Emil/Lalli]
May. 14th, 2017 11:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roesslyngTitle: At the end of the night
Fandom: Stand Still Stay Silent
Characters/Pairing: Emil/Lalli
Rating: 0+
Length: 523
Summary: Lalli comes home after a cold night of scouting. Emil helps him warm up a little.
Other: Prompt was "Warm and dry". [Original post]
At the end of the night
It was raining. Again.
The cold usually didn't bother Lalli. He was used to it. The way it bit at his cheeks. The sharp coolness of hoarfrost on his eyelashes. But cold rain was something else.
It sank down to the bones. Ate away at you. Drew out every bit of warmth, and there was no way to put it back.
And it was bad for tracking. And visibility. And everything else. It made the darkness darker. It left so many sounds in the air, a steady patting that covered up other sounds, distracted from what was lurking underneath.
A night with rain was never a good one. But there wasn't anything he could do about that, except whisper a spell for it to stop.
It didn't stop. It didn't get any warmer, either.
Lalli returned to the tank shivering.
And annoyed.
And cold.
He knocked on the door. Waited. Kept waiting, listening to the rain, keeping his ears clear just in case of something.
Then the door opened, and someone let him in.
Decon complete.
Report delivered.
He was done.
Lalli slunk his way to the back, still feeling the cold rain gnawing at his bones. He was hungry, but there wouldn't be food for a little while. Not until the big one made the porridge, or what was supposed to be porridge, and passed it around.
Emil was by the door to the sleeping quarters. Dropped a blanket over Lalli's shoulders, but didn't leave it at that.
Said something. Lalli couldn't make it out. He tilted his head, waited for him to repeat it.
It probably wasn't important. If it was important, it'd be easy to tell. He'd have that anxious look on his face. That green look.
Something about the rain. That was what it sounded like. Maybe.
Emil kept talking, kept speaking slowly as he steered Lalli over to one of the empty bunks and nudged him down.
Then sat down beside him.
Then took hold of his hands.
Lalli watched as Emil rubbed at his hands. Squeezed them gently. Blew on them, warm breath fluttering over his knuckles.
It was weird.
Weird, but nice, Lalli thought, watching him.
There wasn't any need for it.
He could just warm himself up the normal way. By wrapping the blanket around himself. By sitting close to the woodstove.
"You don't have to do that," he said, knowing that Emil wouldn't understand.
Those eyes glanced up at him, uncomprehending, just like he expected. Emil froze.
I didn't mean I wanted you to stop, Lalli thought. "It's okay," he said.
That was better. Emil understood that. And he kept going.
Emil sat closer after that. Slipped one arm around Lalli's shoulders and edged near to him. And Lalli didn't mind that.
He listened to the sound of the rain pattering on the roof of the tank. He listened as Emil talked, and by the words he could pick out, he could tell it was nothing. He listened to the sound of Emil's breathing.
He didn't need it. He didn't need any of this. But in that moment, he wanted nothing else.
Fandom: Stand Still Stay Silent
Characters/Pairing: Emil/Lalli
Rating: 0+
Length: 523
Summary: Lalli comes home after a cold night of scouting. Emil helps him warm up a little.
Other: Prompt was "Warm and dry". [Original post]
At the end of the night
It was raining. Again.
The cold usually didn't bother Lalli. He was used to it. The way it bit at his cheeks. The sharp coolness of hoarfrost on his eyelashes. But cold rain was something else.
It sank down to the bones. Ate away at you. Drew out every bit of warmth, and there was no way to put it back.
And it was bad for tracking. And visibility. And everything else. It made the darkness darker. It left so many sounds in the air, a steady patting that covered up other sounds, distracted from what was lurking underneath.
A night with rain was never a good one. But there wasn't anything he could do about that, except whisper a spell for it to stop.
It didn't stop. It didn't get any warmer, either.
Lalli returned to the tank shivering.
And annoyed.
And cold.
He knocked on the door. Waited. Kept waiting, listening to the rain, keeping his ears clear just in case of something.
Then the door opened, and someone let him in.
Decon complete.
Report delivered.
He was done.
Lalli slunk his way to the back, still feeling the cold rain gnawing at his bones. He was hungry, but there wouldn't be food for a little while. Not until the big one made the porridge, or what was supposed to be porridge, and passed it around.
Emil was by the door to the sleeping quarters. Dropped a blanket over Lalli's shoulders, but didn't leave it at that.
Said something. Lalli couldn't make it out. He tilted his head, waited for him to repeat it.
It probably wasn't important. If it was important, it'd be easy to tell. He'd have that anxious look on his face. That green look.
Something about the rain. That was what it sounded like. Maybe.
Emil kept talking, kept speaking slowly as he steered Lalli over to one of the empty bunks and nudged him down.
Then sat down beside him.
Then took hold of his hands.
Lalli watched as Emil rubbed at his hands. Squeezed them gently. Blew on them, warm breath fluttering over his knuckles.
It was weird.
Weird, but nice, Lalli thought, watching him.
There wasn't any need for it.
He could just warm himself up the normal way. By wrapping the blanket around himself. By sitting close to the woodstove.
"You don't have to do that," he said, knowing that Emil wouldn't understand.
Those eyes glanced up at him, uncomprehending, just like he expected. Emil froze.
I didn't mean I wanted you to stop, Lalli thought. "It's okay," he said.
That was better. Emil understood that. And he kept going.
Emil sat closer after that. Slipped one arm around Lalli's shoulders and edged near to him. And Lalli didn't mind that.
He listened to the sound of the rain pattering on the roof of the tank. He listened as Emil talked, and by the words he could pick out, he could tell it was nothing. He listened to the sound of Emil's breathing.
He didn't need it. He didn't need any of this. But in that moment, he wanted nothing else.
