Disclaimer: As always, I own nada.
Taste
Rydia had a bad habit of disappearing when she was upset. It wasn't something that he'd really noticed before, but after their marriage, it became increasingly obvious. Usually she'd try to hide beneath a veneer of exasperation and turn to familiar banter to ignore whatever it was that was bothering her, but on occasion, Rydia would just vanish, and reappear again hours later as if nothing had happened. Nonetheless, her reddened eyes spoke the truth. Though Edge never knew where she went – and after learning the reasons behind her rare disappearances, never tried to find out – he always coaxed her into talking about it later.
All of which meant that when Edge stumbled into the small garden that Rydia had begun to cultivate and found her crying, soaked in the rain that had been falling all day, he wasn't entirely certain what to do. He stood there for what seemed like forever as Rydia choked on her tears, trying, and failing, to act like nothing was wrong. "Rydia." It was Edge who finally broke the silence, pitching his voice low and soft to keep her from bolting, something that he knew she was all too likely to do. "What's wrong?"
He could hear her swallow. "Wrong?" Her voice quavered slightly as she tried for a light reply. The slight falter in her response gave the game away entirely. "N-nothing's wrong."
Edge bit back a sigh and stepped towards her, catching her chin between his fingers and using his hand as a reference point. He dipped his head and pressed his lips chastely to her cheek, curving his hand to her opposite cheek as he did so. Drawing back slowly, Edge flicked his tongue over his lips once. Rainwater tried to douse it, and the faint sweetness of Rydia's skin polluted it, but there was no mistaking the traces of salt her skin left on his lips. "You've been crying," he pointed out softly.
She shuddered. "Have not," she whispered, rebellious.
"Have so."
"Have –" Rydia cut herself off. He could practically feel her glaring at him. "Stop it."
"You started it," he pointed out in a perfectly reasonable tone.
She huffed and pulled back from him, a strategic move designed to hide her sniffle. It didn't work. "How do you always know?" she finally asked.
The corners of his lips rose faintly and he tapped them with one finger. "Salt, Rydia."
"Salt?"
He nodded. "Your cheek tastes of salt. Not even the rain can hide that." Edge paused for a moment. "So I ask you again; what's wrong?"
For a moment, Rydia didn't react as she processed the information. Then, evidentially giving up any hope of concealing her cries, she hurled herself into his arms, hugging him tightly as she sobbed into his chest. Edge returned her hug, though at a pressure less likely to crack ribs, and rubbed her back soothingly with one hand while he stroked her wild hair with the other. He had no idea how long she cried, but long after her sobs had reduced to sniffles and shuddering breaths, they remained in the garden, her grip looser as she snuggled up against him, drawing comfort from his presence.
"It's nothing, really," she finally murmured. Edge waited for the rest of her statement, and sure enough, after a sigh, it came. "It just… everything just hit me, and I –" she broke off to draw a deep breath. "It just hit me, that's all."
"I hope it didn't leave any bruising."
She laughed weakly. "I don't think it hit me hard enough for that."
He hummed in agreement and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. After a moment, Rydia sighed again and twisted in his arms so that her back pressed against his chest. "I'm sorry," she offered quietly. "Everything just sort of came down on me at once. I'm all right now."
"Good." Edge considered asking as to what 'everything' entailed, but had a feeling that he'd be rebuffed. Besides, most of it probably had to do with him, and he didn't especially want another reminder as to how his sight was lost now. "Do me a favor and stay that way, would you?"
This time, her laugh was true, and it coaxed a smile from his lips. "Oh, I'll be more than all right soon enough," she replied mysteriously. "Will that do?"
"Only if you promise to tell me just what you meant by that."
He could hear the smile in her reply. "Eventually."
