Hadriel IC Inbox

[claritatis]

"You've reached Ignis Scientia. Leave a message and I will endeavour to get back to you post-haste."

Comments

[dedikated]

( She is. She's been in worse states than this and found herself in one piece after, without anyone to come home to.

But now she has that someone, and he's comfortable and warm by her side, an all too real reminder of what she's been missing out on all those years of trying to keep herself safe. )

'M fine. ( Ok Kitkat.Ok. We believe you. Totally. Her hand finds his and wraps around it, squeezing lightly. ) But thanks. You're sweet.

[claritatis]

['Sweet'.

That isn't a word he's ever heard applied to himself. At least, not since he was too small to be rankled by it. From her, though, it holds a kind of candid honesty that makes it impossible to take offence. The fact that she's so drunk helps a little in that regard as well.

She may be insistent upon being fine, but he's still taking her to bed.]

Don't let it get around. I shan't be offering this kind of executive treatment to just anybody.

[dedikated]

( Executive treatment?
What... )

Opening doors?

( If anything, the response has her all the more convinced about the veracity of the statement, enough that Kate laughs, unabashed and unrestrained, for a moment before the thought hits her again. The reason she got in this state in the first place.

There's been many good people who've come here and who they've had to lose. That core group who seem to be part of Hadriel's furniture, watching others come and go. Some of them going themselves to the astonishment of others. )

Shit never ends, does it?

[claritatis]

[It's always gratifying to hear her laugh, and especially so unreservedly, but such things never last and he pauses at the bedroom door to look down at her and give a light squeeze to her hand.]

I'm afraid not. All we can do is press on through it.

[Or give up.

But Kate, much like himself (and he suspects Henry, also) is not so much disinclined towards giving up as much as entirely opposed to it.]

[dedikated]

( It's tiring in a way that leaves the soul exhausted. To be trapped here for so long that the anxiety of who you'll lose next is just background noise in the back of your head, something that never quite goes away no matter how much you try to ignore it.

Giving up would be easier. To hide and harden herself again night make her get through this without constantly feeling the weight and worry. But Kate hates the very thought of it, of returning to that way of living. Remembers the horror that curled in her stomach when every surface in the city reflected their worst dread. )

'M used to that.

( Pressing on through a job she hated, through training for a new one that was so far away from everything she thought she was good at.

But it's just... tiring. And worse still to see her friends go through it again and again. )

Coming to bed?

( It is, for once, said without any weight or implication behind it. Just a request to stay with her tonight. )

[claritatis]

[Ignis does not answer immediately, but instead cups the side of her face in one hand and presses a kiss against her forehead.

He feels that same anxiety. It's what keeps him from falling into old habits with his recently-arrived friends. It's a question asked every time a new acquaintance is made. It's a worry, a fear, every time he looks at her and how he feels about her wells up in his chest like a tangible thing demanding acknowledgement only to be caged down by noisy 'what if's.]

You didn't have to ask.

[He tells her, a low murmur around a small smile as the pad of his thumb brushes over her cheek.]

Come along.

[dedikated]

( There's a moment, after his lips pull away from her skin and she glances up, where things seem to stand still and the pause in the air pricks uncomfortably at the base of her stomach. Kate's eyes catch his, too sharp and too alert for how inebriated she is. )

... ah. Sure.

( The stillness echoes in her ears and mind, silent and deafening all in one. That same feeling from their return with the orb, but stronger, clearer than before. Something that lingers as she steps back.

Bed. Right. That was her suggestion. )

[claritatis]

I assume you can manage to get undressed on your own.

[Once in the bedroom he steps away from her to start unbuttoning his shirt. Peculiarities in her behaviour are put down to the drink and little more, and the persistent daylight is still a distraction enough as he has to convince his mind that it's now 'night'.

He folds the shirt quite neatly, another small smile on his lips when he looks at her.]

Are you alright?

[dedikated]

( She's drunk, she's not an invalid. Yes, she's perfectly capable of getting undressed, and does so with ease, tossing clothes on the floor next to the bed.

His question catches her off guard, however, and the lingering whatever-it-is in her stomach continues to flare uncomfortably.

It's probably just the whiskey. )

Aye.

( She's as fine as anyone who's helped drink a friend's sorrows away could be. And to prove it, Kate slips her way over to where he stands and hooks a finger around his necklace, pulling him down for a kiss. )

[claritatis]

[You never know. Often they can be one and the same when it comes to fine motor skills. He doesn't pay her too much mind until she's close, and though he's come to anticipate the way she'll use the fine chain around his neck as a means to pull him down to her level he still makes a soft sound of concern as he takes care to not let her pull on it too much.

Then he kisses her, a gentle press against her lips while his hands find the bare skin of her hips and waist and settle there.]

Very well, I'm convinced. [He tells her, when she grants him a moment to do so.]

Though you may not agree with that assessment come morning.

[dedikated]

( That? Is morning's problem. Something to worry about then instead of the inevitable pain of yet another loss. It will happen eventually, whether randomly or because they've somehow managed to secure their returns home. She can't get complacent about that, can't continue thinking of anyone here as a fixture of the city, or of her life in it.

Instead of saying anything, Kate stifles a yawn and steps back, collapsing easily onto the bed. The hangover can definitely be tomorrow's problem. )

[claritatis]

[He watches her for a moment, amused at how even her most graceless acts of movement can still draw his eye. Once he's finished undressing he joins her, planting another quick kiss on her forehead before his own head finds a pillow.

How simple and easy it is for someone to become such a large part of your life, even when you know that at any moment they could be taken away from you. That, though, is no strange concept to Ignis.]

Comfortable?

[dedikated]

( It's not tiredness that draws her to the bed as much as it is some vague niggling in the back of her head that she should sleep this off, all compounded by the night's reasons and events. Everyone will leave eventually, and for a long time Kate thought it better to protect herself from that. To only care about the one surviving part of her family and damn the rest, they were just getting in the way. Those kind of habits keep calling to her even now with promises that she'll go home and this will all have been wasted energy and pain she didn't need to face. Why do it?

But those voices are easily ignored when she rolls over, when her hand finds his chest and her lips seek out the corner of his mouth. She remembers years of gritting her teeth and ignoring the good because it could leave her. Doing it never stopped the good from happening, didn't prevent the bad from hurting just as much. )

Never expected this.

( The words are breathed out in the moment, as her gaze lazily trails the lines of his face, the kind of confession she'd never actually make without the assistance of alcohol. )

[claritatis]

[His eyes stay closed as she kisses the corner of his mouth, such a subtle smile there that it might not have been there at all. He only looks at her when she speaks, and by then he's already put one arm around her and is idly toying with a curl of her hair, wrapping it loosely around his fingers and letting it run around them when he moves his hand.

At first, he thinks she means Saber, and nearly answers to that effect. At first, but then he remembers sharply that Kate always expects loss, and she would not have been surprised by this so much as sadly resigned to it.

He realises then, that she's looking at him, and she means--]

Nor I.

[It's more a quiet sigh than words, and a movement of his arm to pull her gently closer.]

[dedikated]

( She won't complain, her head finding a comfortable spot to rest, the words washing over her as her eyes close. This will all come to an end eventually, as everything before it has, and that knowledge weighs heavily in her stomach as she breathes in against his shoulder. One day, she'll wake up in bed alone again and the flat will be just a little too quiet. Familiar names will disappear from the network. And the city will move on, as it always does.

Sleep comes quickly, in a haze of tangled thoughts and whiskey-heavy eyelids as she reaches blindly for his hand. Dreamless, heavy sleep that will all too soon give way to the morning's headache, but for now-

For now. That's really all anyone can expect of Hadriel. The gods are tormenting us for now. This person is here for now. Everything is ephemeral, flitting in and out of the city like gusts of wind. )