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After what seemed like moving through worlds and shattering through them, it was finally time to face the worst of their enemies, the quiet. There was a reason why Ashton liked momentum, especially now more than ever, it kept them together. Bells Hells with their strange companions in tow, had made it to their destination and then some more, and had finally hunkered down for the night. It was a dangerous pastime to think about what is ahead of them.
So, Ashton, in their usual somewhat loud way declared that they were fucking exhausted and started making a bed. It was surely played up tonight, to their credit, they were fucking exhausted, but again, it was rather stupid. They couldn’t bring themselves to ask Fearne to sleep besides them again, second night in a row that is, even if she would say yes. Maybe she wanted to do something else, the earth genasi thought, then corrected themselves, they were just being a coward. They would ask her tomorrow, they bargained, not that they had many promised days together.
FCG’s wound still fresh in their soul, Ashton found themselves momentarily lost and distracted in the heaviness of their grief. They had not even realized they continued setting up the bed and had laid down. It was the shadow of Fearne towering over them that made them snap back into reality. She was as she has always been, a sight to behold.
“Scooch.” Fearne said, waving her hand away from herself. An immediate sense of relief washed over them as they happily obliged. A tiny selfish comfort deep in their heart grew and settled knowing they at least didn’t have to be alone.
“Are you gonna get skittish tonight?” Ashton couldn’t help but ask with a smile barely contained.
“It was a really cute-” Fearne said in a single breath and sighed in defeat. “No.”
“I'm just messing with you. You are good.” They chuckled as they watched the faun plop down next to them. Then they added. “But maybe I should be the bigger spoon just in case.”
She hummed in agreement as a subtle blush flushed her cheeks. “For safety reasons.” She added too quickly. “We will rotate.”
Fearne turned around and shimmied into a comfortable position. When Ashton answered, it was directly to her right ear. “Of course.”
A shiver ran down Fearne’s spine in the most exciting of ways. It was the little promises that stuck in times like these. Ashton placed their Raushan touched arm around her waist. It was heavy and jagged. She liked having the weight of it pressed against her ribcage. Despite its bad memories, it meant that they were still here.
And there were so many bad memories she had collected now.
Fearne wasn’t sure how long she let her mind run restless before speaking up.
“I am exhausted.” She whispered.
“But can't sleep?” Ashton guessed. Upon realizing they are still awake, Fearne twisted in her place to face them and nodded.
Ashton propped up their face with their good hand and let out a small grunt. “Fair. We move so fucking fast.”
Fearne peered into their eyes for a moment hesitantly before asking. “Do you wanna talk about FCG?”
The earth genasi paused and took a breath. “Not yet.” They answered truthfully. Not wanting the conversation to dwindle down they asked. “How was dark Fearne?”
Understanding the cue to change the topic, Fearne gave a lip. “Kinda hot.”
Ashton laughed as if this was the answer they didn’t know they needed. It was a deep belly laughter that resonated between the liminal space among them. And Fearne loved it.
“I am not surprised.” They answered earnestly. They fought the instinct to give an opinion or try to explain any further. Their mind on some level still on FCG, Ashton thought they should take FCG’s advice to heart and listen more.
They started gently untangling a strand of hair from Fearne’s horn and added.
“Tell me more.”