Affirmation
OKAY apparently I lied about this being done because I posted to that effect and then there were more prompts. Which makes me happy because I really love this meme/prompt framework far too much.
Consider this snippet a prequel to keep right on stumblin' - a part of what happened in that nameless city years before. I really do dig these two as spysassins, I admit it ... XD
"I would rather stay here and die than be without you for one more day."
"You absolute idiot," she says through gritted teeth, "neither of us is going to die here," and never you mind that she's taken a bullet to the side, never mind the blood painting red flowers on her pale dress, never mind that there's gunfire still coming at them, because she's got that wild look in her eyes and he knows she's not about to let any of those things stop her, and if he had the time to dwell on any of those things right now he'd be relieved, because he means it, doesn't know how he'd manage without her beside him, not just here but everywhere, and –
"Right," he grimaces as he whirls back to shoot at their pursuers, "no dying; I'm glad we've settled that," and the words are dry, betray nothing of how real the sentiment was, but she's determined and it galvanises him, fuels a fierce certainty that they will manage to get out of this, that there will be a tomorrow, together, because the mission is done and all they have to do now is survive – the night, the day, the week to come – and surely they can manage that, after everything else they've accomplished on this job.
Later, when they have finally shaken their pursuers and gone to ground, he peels away ruined silk and tends to the wound; later still, he presses her into the tiles of the tiny shower and loses himself in her long past when the water again runs clear. And when night finds them tangled in bedsheets and each other, the window open and a listless breeze doing little to cool the room, he toys with the wet ends of her hair and lies looking up at the unfamiliar shadows on the ceiling and comes back to his words again and realises that he'd meant them utterly – that life without her is unthinkable, unacceptable, a state he refuses to consider and hopes to never face.
"Stop thinking so loudly," she mumbles as she turns her face into his chest, and he laughs softly against her hair, feeling his heart swell with emotions he doesn't dare put a name to, and lets the the soft murmur of her breathing lull him into slumber.
So yeah. Flipping this back to open. If you feel like throwing a prompt into my Tumblr askbox (as always, I'm myalchod over there), by all means feel free! The way work has been running me lately, these little ficlets are about what I can manage (which is a pity when I have some far longer things I'm working on ...).