From under the water, being dry and wrapped in a fresh towel seems like the single greatest place to be in the world. Sciel catches a glimpse of that towel and decides sheās done. She straightens up, raking her wet hair back out of her face and looking to Lune with an extremely taut smile and an urgency in her eyes. Once sheās out, she absolutely wonāt want to get back in.
Lune takes a scrutinizing look at Sciel's sodden hair and shakes her head. "Not that I can see."
She can't see the back, but what is plainly evident to her is that Sciel seems to have reached her limit. A bit of leftover shampoo would do less harm than prolonging staying in. Shaking open the towel, Lune holds it out, ready for Sciel when she gets out.
What a relief. She twists the faucet off the instant Lune opens that towel, and is out of the shower and into the wingspan of it so quickly she has to momentarily grab the wall so she doesnāt slip.
āThank you,ā she says, wrapping herself in it immediately, fingers and toes all curled in on themselves. She manages to breathe out anyway. āHopefully someone invents a machine someday where you can stick your head in and your hair comes out clean, instantly.ā
Oh, she really wanted out of there, didn't she? Once again, Lune feels a stab of sorrow at the evidence of her friend's enduring trauma, rubbing her palm against Sciel's damp upper arm once she's wrapped herself in the towel.
"You should ask Gustave if he could swing it," she says, teasing fondly with a small smile. Sobering a little, she asks, "You okay?"
Never having to sit outside the open bathroom door would be a good perk for him, too, though itās not difficult to remind herself that he likes being there for her, inconvenient and embarrassing as it feels to her. How lucky is she to have two people that will do that for her, even in the stupid hours of the morning?
Even on solid tile and in Luneās reach, she feels like her heartbeat doesnāt slow any, but itās just more noticeable without the water drumming. She nods vigorously, like she could convince them both. She clutches the towel closed around her chest with one hand, reaching with the other hand to rake her wet hair completely out of her face.
āYes, thank you. I am going to hug you the minute Iāve got pajamas on, but Iām alright.ā
"Well, I can probably handle that," Lune says wryly, lips quirking, squeezing Sciel's arm before letting her hand drop. She's not sure she's one hundred percent convinced by Sciel's insistence, but she isn't going to call the other woman out on it. Instead, she nods toward the door ā maybe getting out of the bathroom and the immediate vicinity of the shower might help settle Sciel.
Sciel is more than happy to leave the bathroom, tip toeing out and into the dark hall and right to her bedroom. At the doorway, she realizes sheās not going to make Lune navigate her mess, so she gestures to her wait with a raised finger. She doesnāt bother flipping on the lights there, familiar enough with where sheās last left piles of clothes and kicked-off pumps and pillows from her unmade bed to move around them, right to her dresser, where she grabs a clean t-shirt and shorts. Right back to Lune she goes, dripping a little the whole way.
āWeāre going to be so tired tomorrow, starting the day with a hikeā¦ā
Lune nods with a faint hum of acknowledgement, waiting obediently. For a moment, she feels silly to hang out in the dark hallway when she could just go into her own room already and wait there, but it doesn't feel right to leave after she'd made a point to stick with Sciel through the shower. And Sciel returns soon enough.
The dripping is actually kind of bothering Lune, but she tamps down on it admirably. It's just a few drops of water, she tells herself, it won't damage anything.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," she murmurs as they go, trying to keep quiet until they get into her room. "There were days when it was a struggle to get up and keep going."
On the Expedition, but she's sure she doesn't need to elaborate. At least the circumstances are less dire this time. And although Lune usually considers it a waste of time, she concedes, "I guess there's always napping."
āIt feels worse when you know you could sleep in, though,ā she whispers. āWe never got to sleep in on Expedition!ā
Sheās hot on Luneās heels down that last stretch of hall, still dripping, and she hates the feeling of it but tells herself sheāll be cozy in Luneās bed before long. The minute Luneās door closes behind them, she drops the towel to her waist and pulls the t-shirt on over her head. It says SAN FRANCESCO SUPERFEST 2025 in big letters, and it engulfs her, several sizes too big.
Lune turns away while Sciel dresses, ostensibly to turn down the neatly laid covers. At the question, she huffs a wry laugh.
"Sleeping in the middle of the day? Not in our household." That way of thinking stuck too well after she was in charge of her own self, ingrained as a waste of time. Picking up a pillow, she turns it slowly in her hands, fluffing it idly as she considers.
"But... maybe I can give it a try now."
There's a long list of perfectly normal, mundane things that Lune has never experienced, never had the time for. Maybe napping can be nextā surely that will go better than going on a date did.
Sciel drapes the towel around her neck and steps into her shorts, and then starts trying to wring more water from her hair so she ceases to drip. Her heart rate settles minute by minute, settling into a calm that's a little less forced, even if the way her hair sticks to her skin still bugs her.
"You should do it," she says. "Take a whole afternoon to just luxuriate in bed. Think about nothing, when you think at all."
"An hour," she bargains, twisting the towel around her hair hard for a moment, and then unwrapping it again and deeming it... acceptable. She still puts the towel around her shoulders to shield herself. "Half an hour isn't anything. It'll vanish in the blink of an eye."
"An hour," Lune repeats slowly, as if weighing the idea in her head. Throwing the pillow back against the headboard, she breathes out a sound caught between a sigh and a chuckle. "Okay, fine. An hour."
Turning back to Sciel, she smiles a bit crookedly, amused. "How do you always manage to talk me into these things?"
āIām very charming and persistent,ā she says, matter-of-fact, and Lune turning to her is as good as opportunity as every to step into her space to hug her, nestling her chin right into the crook of Luneās shoulder. āAnd you know Iām right.ā
If Lune is surprised or taken aback by the hug, it only lasts for a second ā Sciel did warn her earlier, after all ā before her arms go around the other woman to return the embrace, huffing a quiet, fond laugh.
"Yeah. I know." Both of those things, really. "Are you feeling better?"
She nods against Luneās shoulder, lingering right where she is. Every second is healing, one step closer to feeling completely at home in her own body again.
āYes. Thank you.ā Couldnāt do it alone. āI promise someday I wonāt be a baby about that.ā
No promises on not having a bleeding heart, though.
Lune's fingers press into Sciel a little tighter for a beat at the gratitude, a wordless acknowledgement she feels a bit awkward putting into words. She doesn't make any effort to move out of the hug, even though normally the prolonged embrace would probably feel a bit weirdā even with Sciel, who has patiently subjected Lune to more casual touches than any other person past or present, like taming a stray cat.
"Well, there's no hurry," Lune murmurs after a beat. With that, or anything else. If Sciel needs to be hugged, then she'll stand here for the rest of the night if she has to.
Lune holds her, and Sciel milks it for all it is worth, hands sliding up Luneās back, holding her so tightly that she can feel every breath in. Just past Lune is the bedroom window, and Sciel looks at the inky black of the night and the hazy yellow reflection of their hug splashed across the glass. She meets her own gaze for a moment and a question occurs to her, but she doesnāt want to ask it, so she just turns her head so her nose and mouth briefly press into the side of Luneās neck, eyes squeezed shut. She relaxes as she exhales, lingering.
Lune's breath stills for just a second when Sciel turns her face into her neck, startled by the sudden intimacy of her mouth brushing against the skin there, her warm breath when she exhales. They've embraced before plenty, but not entirely like this. Uncomfortably, Lune is suddenly thrown back to years ago, back to that night at the Tower when they were both looking for comfort. She pushes those memories back doggedly, her own breath shuddering out on an exhale; gamely, she rubs Sciel's back in a tiny back-and-forth motion. She doesn't want her own hang-ups and confusion over everything that's going on with Gustave to get in the way of Sciel getting what she needs from this.
After a moment longer, she finally murmurs, "Ready for bed?"
That sounded... suggestive. Lune feels her face heating up slightly. Vying for wryness, she adds, "We might still be able to catch a few hours of sleep."
She feels the way Luneās breathing changes, and for a long moment she wonders if she could just ignore it and keep on clinging, and see just how long it would take for Lune to pry her off. She shouldnāt push it, not when Luneās kind enough to humour her in the first place.
So she peels herself back, just enough to look at Luneās face, and she immediately catches the flush of colour on her cheeks. That pulls fond little look out of Sciel, her smile a little impish, a little apologetic.
āI think bedās a good idea,ā she says, letting her hands drop.
That smile only makes the flush on Lune's face a bit more persistent, feeling self-conscious and flustered and a handful of other things she has no capacity to handle on a good day, much less now. She pushes it all back and slams the door shut on everything that's too difficult to face, gently squeezing Sciel's shoulder before pulling away entirely.
"Okay." Lune nods her head toward the bed, smiling slightly. "Hop in."
Sciel's hair is still damp, but Lune's too tired to think of ruined pillows now if it doesn't bother Sciel herself. She scoots over toward the other side of the bed, leaving room for Sciel to follow.
Oh, Lune. Sciel wonders, idly, what really went on during that date with Gustave, but thereās no sense in bringing down a barely-healed mood with that.
But what sheās never wondered in her life what damp hair does to pillows, so she just reaches to turn off the light and crawls in after Lune, settling down on her side with only a modest space between their bodies.
āSomeday Iām going to have to get you to sleep over in my room.ā
Resting on her back, Lune turns her head in the darkness to glance over, and while it might be difficult to see the small grin on her face, the amusement is audible in her quiet murmur.
"Will you tidy up first? Sometimes I don't know how you find your bed to begin with."
āSometimes I give up and curl up on a pile of clothes,ā she says, breezily. āBut yes. Iāll put everything where it was originally intended to go, just for you.ā
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āDid I miss any shampoo?ā
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She can't see the back, but what is plainly evident to her is that Sciel seems to have reached her limit. A bit of leftover shampoo would do less harm than prolonging staying in. Shaking open the towel, Lune holds it out, ready for Sciel when she gets out.
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āThank you,ā she says, wrapping herself in it immediately, fingers and toes all curled in on themselves. She manages to breathe out anyway. āHopefully someone invents a machine someday where you can stick your head in and your hair comes out clean, instantly.ā
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"You should ask Gustave if he could swing it," she says, teasing fondly with a small smile. Sobering a little, she asks, "You okay?"
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Never having to sit outside the open bathroom door would be a good perk for him, too, though itās not difficult to remind herself that he likes being there for her, inconvenient and embarrassing as it feels to her. How lucky is she to have two people that will do that for her, even in the stupid hours of the morning?
Even on solid tile and in Luneās reach, she feels like her heartbeat doesnāt slow any, but itās just more noticeable without the water drumming. She nods vigorously, like she could convince them both. She clutches the towel closed around her chest with one hand, reaching with the other hand to rake her wet hair completely out of her face.
āYes, thank you. I am going to hug you the minute Iāve got pajamas on, but Iām alright.ā
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"Come on. Let's get you some pj's, yeah?"
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Sciel is more than happy to leave the bathroom, tip toeing out and into the dark hall and right to her bedroom. At the doorway, she realizes sheās not going to make Lune navigate her mess, so she gestures to her wait with a raised finger. She doesnāt bother flipping on the lights there, familiar enough with where sheās last left piles of clothes and kicked-off pumps and pillows from her unmade bed to move around them, right to her dresser, where she grabs a clean t-shirt and shorts. Right back to Lune she goes, dripping a little the whole way.
āWeāre going to be so tired tomorrow, starting the day with a hikeā¦ā
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The dripping is actually kind of bothering Lune, but she tamps down on it admirably. It's just a few drops of water, she tells herself, it won't damage anything.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," she murmurs as they go, trying to keep quiet until they get into her room. "There were days when it was a struggle to get up and keep going."
On the Expedition, but she's sure she doesn't need to elaborate. At least the circumstances are less dire this time. And although Lune usually considers it a waste of time, she concedes, "I guess there's always napping."
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Sheās hot on Luneās heels down that last stretch of hall, still dripping, and she hates the feeling of it but tells herself sheāll be cozy in Luneās bed before long. The minute Luneās door closes behind them, she drops the towel to her waist and pulls the t-shirt on over her head. It says SAN FRANCESCO SUPERFEST 2025 in big letters, and it engulfs her, several sizes too big.
āHave you ever napped?ā
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"Sleeping in the middle of the day? Not in our household." That way of thinking stuck too well after she was in charge of her own self, ingrained as a waste of time. Picking up a pillow, she turns it slowly in her hands, fluffing it idly as she considers.
"But... maybe I can give it a try now."
There's a long list of perfectly normal, mundane things that Lune has never experienced, never had the time for. Maybe napping can be nextā surely that will go better than going on a date did.
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"You should do it," she says. "Take a whole afternoon to just luxuriate in bed. Think about nothing, when you think at all."
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Even that could be pushing it, honestly. And not thinking about anything is definitely beyond her.
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Turning back to Sciel, she smiles a bit crookedly, amused. "How do you always manage to talk me into these things?"
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"Yeah. I know." Both of those things, really. "Are you feeling better?"
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āYes. Thank you.ā Couldnāt do it alone. āI promise someday I wonāt be a baby about that.ā
No promises on not having a bleeding heart, though.
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"Well, there's no hurry," Lune murmurs after a beat. With that, or anything else. If Sciel needs to be hugged, then she'll stand here for the rest of the night if she has to.
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After a moment longer, she finally murmurs, "Ready for bed?"
That sounded... suggestive. Lune feels her face heating up slightly. Vying for wryness, she adds, "We might still be able to catch a few hours of sleep."
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So she peels herself back, just enough to look at Luneās face, and she immediately catches the flush of colour on her cheeks. That pulls fond little look out of Sciel, her smile a little impish, a little apologetic.
āI think bedās a good idea,ā she says, letting her hands drop.
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"Okay." Lune nods her head toward the bed, smiling slightly. "Hop in."
Sciel's hair is still damp, but Lune's too tired to think of ruined pillows now if it doesn't bother Sciel herself. She scoots over toward the other side of the bed, leaving room for Sciel to follow.
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But what sheās never wondered in her life what damp hair does to pillows, so she just reaches to turn off the light and crawls in after Lune, settling down on her side with only a modest space between their bodies.
āSomeday Iām going to have to get you to sleep over in my room.ā
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"Will you tidy up first? Sometimes I don't know how you find your bed to begin with."
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āSometimes I give up and curl up on a pile of clothes,ā she says, breezily. āBut yes. Iāll put everything where it was originally intended to go, just for you.ā
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