Orin's all too familiar dental chair was hard and unforgiving against Audrey's back, and yet she found herself instinctively focusing as much of her attention as she could on the sensation. Life on Skid Row and in The Gutter had been a harsh teacher, and she had learned quickly that with the kinds of boys you met there, it was best to have as little presence in your body as possible while they made use of it. Imagining the only exception to that otherwise solid rule she had ever had the pleasure of meeting, the sweet, considerate Seymour, who she wished could be her sweet, considerate Seymour if only she was the kind of girl who deserved nice things like that in their place didn't work, as much as she wanted it to; he would never treat her like they did. At least, he would never treat a girl he could respect, a girl who hadn't lowered herself down to the level of deserving creeps like them by living a terrible life like they did... The sudden, wretched sound and feeling of metal scraping against the leather of the chair forcibly snapped Audrey's attention back to reality, back to Orin and his semi sadistic, mocking, hungry grin, his characteristic stance like that of a hunter proudly standing over their prize doe, his sharp dental tool between her legs, way too close to her...
Even as her mind and instincts screamed at her to draw her legs to her chest and slam them shut, to protect herself, she knew she wouldn't have been able to even if she tried; he had... trained... her out of that too well, just like she was pretty sure he had gotten her to stop dissociating and snap to attention at the sound of metal against leather, because there was less fun to be had for him if he couldn't derive it from external signs of her pain. "Good, you're back. Wouldn't want you drifting off on me, now would I?" ...She knew that tone of voice from him all too well; this was one of the rare times when he wanted her to say something rather than keeping her mouth shut, and yet she did so until he was dragging the tool even closer to her... "N-no, doctor..." Orin laughed, more in a domineering way than out of amusement. "That's right; even you know that, slut. So stay with me now." He was moving the tool to her again, closer and closer, and she gritted her teeth as hard as she could, her impulse to let out the desperate sounds he wanted out of her this early on long gone but that corresponding habit still remaining due to the small modicum of distraction it provided, as he...
Audrey jolted upwards, hugging her knees tightly to her chest and only registering what had probably been several seconds but felt much longer later that the plush comfort of her and Seymour's bed was under her and Seymour, her darling husband Seymour, was sleeping beside her, breathing softly... her breathing was ragged and way too loud and bound to disturb his rest or maybe even wake him up and make him worry about her at what was probably an ungodly hour of the morning if she didn't get it under control, she realized. Audrey forcibly slowed down her breathing, finding some success in managing it but probably not enough, and she was just starting to wonder if she should leave their bedroom until her stupid problem was done and over with when he stirred slightly, blinking up at her in a dazed confusion that was swiftly replaced with horrified, much more awake awareness. She barely had time to feel her heart drop even further with the knowledge that she clearly hadn't done a good enough job of hiding her pain from him, of not dredging up issues from their past in Skid Row he had worked so hard and suffered through so much to allow them to escape if he had realized that something was wrong that quickly before he was sitting beside her, the concern etched across his face evident even in the relative darkness of their room.
"Audrey? Are you okay?" She cast her eyes away from him and at their bed, loosening her hold on her legs slightly. "Yes... no... I-I dreamed about him..." Audrey looked back at Seymour after a long moment, her heart swelling with love and gratitude at the sight of him outstretching his forearms slightly, hesitating to hold her because he actually cared about what she wanted and had agreed to. She moved closer to him, giving him a slight, encouraging smile through her slowly waning pain before draping his arm around her and settling against his chest as he held her after a moment's hesitation as if she was the most precious thing in the world. "I-I'm sorry I didn't... do something earlier, you deserved so much better than him." Audrey moved her head slightly to kiss his jawline, smiling with a mix of satisfaction and a familiar pained ache as he jolted a little in surprise; she loved to make him happy like he did her but hated the fact that that happiness and care had been so unknown to him for so long. "And now I have it. Don't blame yourself, Seymour, you were so brave to take care of him like that, and I've never been happier than I am with you." After a moment, he started gently running a hand along her hair, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through her.
"Audrey, I swear to you to do everything in my power to make you the happiest person in the world." Sighing contentedly, Audrey grounded herself further into the oh so fortunate reality of his warm touch and words, of the sheer depths of the conviction behind them and of hers for him, of him, savoring the moment and her full presence in it and wanting it to never end while feeling so grateful that it would never have to, that even in the place where depression was just status quo, they had somehow been able to find each other, and now they were able to help each other recover from that, to support and love each other in the place she had dreamed of where they could be together at last. She felt her eyes water and let a tear fall from her slowly heavying eyelids, feeling more self assured now that expressions of emotions on her part weren't a burden to him, and it was okay for her to lean on the support he so freely offered just as she supported him, as hard as that had been for her to fathom before they had escaped to this place together and still was to some small but sometimes still dominant part of her, the part that had somehow simultaneously remained in that dental office with Orin and in The Gutter with those who had come before him. With the support of her husband and her own growing power over her recovery, though, she knew that it would eventually be freed just as the rest of her had. Audrey curled up even closer to him, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it before tiredly running her thumb in circles along his palm, feeling herself slowly drift back to sleep in his embrace. "I swear to do the same for you."
