Idle worries.
Summary: But this moment of peace is all worth it.
Chapter 03: The First time.
They came together in the shadows of hope. Of broken dreams and shattered families.
The Second Great War was a cataclysmic event. The number of death ranged in the hundreds of thousands. The number missing, million. An inproportionate number of those were huntsmen and women and soldiers. None hadn't lost a brother, a father, a sister, a mother, a friend, a lover or a team member. None didn't have to grieve, but few had time to grieve, for the world continued to turn and day passed and more Grimm incursions to be quelled. The war had ended, Salem dead but the Grimm headless still lived; towns to be reclaimed and villages resettled, banditry ran rampant, one village sacked for each the Grimm destroyed, nomadic caravans fading out of contact, CCT network in crumbles and fields of rice and wheat are sown on charred ashes of battlefields. Missions after missions and missions, burnt villages after resettled villages, lost and won, victories and ashes.
There was no peace, but many still tried. Stress and memories and 'what-could-have-been's, mental trauma and past battles and the lost vignettes of youth ringing in their mind, constant reminder of the tiredness seeping into bones. The grip on reality blurred, unintentional or not. Some found peace at the bottom of empty bottles, some in war and some in whatever was left of their past. They hung onto it, she and him, the last Scion of a Heroic bloodline and the final Incarnation of the Warrior spirit, clinging onto this fascimile of peace. Moments of tranquility between long periods of high-paced actions, of shared meals between two old friends and then time, of a war seemingly forgotten as all they had to care about were 'now' and not 'next', 'present' and not 'duty'. Lines blurred, limits indistinct, high-thrilled lives rarely gave time for people to pause and think only enough to jump, leapt and hope for the best.
Soft and steady intakes of air, strained but disciplined ones, two breathes breathing in synchrony. The dim light of the bed lamp shone from it's kicked-over position on the floor, casting shades of light and darkness onto the walls of the bedroom.
Silver eyes flickered, an unbroken gaze fixated at the wall ahead. With her scarred eye buried in her hand, Ruby Rose sat, and thought. Thoughts and memories, recollections coming back through the hazed buzz of her mind. Everything that went wrong and everything that messed up and worse and the little few that had been right with her life. And she wondered, her current state of nakedness was which.
Movements, sounds of skin brushing on fabric. The other occupant of the bed shifted, and sat up. Hand running through smoky blond hair. Blue eyes unblinking, gears of logic grinding, clogging, jamming; the question of 'Something wrong?' was asked and answered by his own self.
Everything.
A moment of drunkeness, of letting his impulses, unrealized feelings to takeover, of losing to the sweet euphoria of her lips. Of her losing to her suppressed emotions, to the warmth of skinship and the bond of teammates realized into something more.
"Ruby..." His hand tentatively touched her pale backside, and snatched away immediately when she recoiled from his touch. The breath caught in his throat. Her head bowed down, bangs of hair hiding both her eyes.
No words came out. No 'I'm sorry,' or 'I should have stopped', or 'what happens now?', just a prolonged silence stetching for what seemed like forever.
Steady breaths continued to flow. In, and out.
"...I'm hungry. Can you go make some breakfast?" She spoke, an order that was almost a whisper.
"Sure." And he had never been more relieved to proceed.
But a line blurred is still there, and the indistinct limits still aren't meant to be crossed. And once crossed there would be no return, however hard one tried.
There was no return, but they kept on trying.
A/N: Sorry for the very late update. Got a stiff writer block for a while, debating which route should I take with this story - slice of life or full of world building (as in, humor or angst-dripped stuffs.) Final conclusion? Experimental. Hope you guys enjoyed it!
Cheerios! :)
-P