"Well I've got some bad news for you." He jokes, wanting to lighten the mood. "We'll have to get you a jacket or a cloak or something, it's pretty damn cold where we're going." Though "solid ice" season is still at least a month off yet, and he hopes to have her on her way by then.
"Ugh," she wrinkles her nose, laughing a little. "Just my luck."
Still. She's well aware of how lucky actually is, having found herself washed up on the shores of Eskel's apparently boundless charity. This entire endeavor could have wound up much, much worse.
It's not boundless, if she had asked for a fine but useless dress or demanded her own horse or fussed and whined her way through the woods, she would eventually have found the edge of his patience. But as it is, he's only been frustrated with her attempts to deflect any of his efforts to get her to rest and get comfortable in the world she's found herself.
"Yeah, sorry, you probably won't be surprised to know that the organization that turns boys into monsters didn't exactly prioritize comfort or luxuries."
If she were the type of person to ask for a fine but useless dress or fussed and whined about a little hiking, she probably wouldn't be in this conundrum in the first place.
She does have a secret fondness for pretty dresses, though, and hiking gets boring and sweaty after a while. But she's not going to complain about it when there's nothing that can be done to rectify the problem.
His comment has her grimacing a little. "I'm sure it can't be worse than some of the tenements I've lived in before."
"Guess you'll find out." He says. "And it's not all bad. I mean, it's a dump, but it's home, you know?" He says, somewhat fondly. Then: "This is your last chance to come to your senses and take the bed 'cause I'm gonna pass out if you don't."
She rolls her eyes at him. "Unless you want me to come up there and try to squeeze in next to you, no."
Lifting him wasn't the most strenuous thing she's ever done, and she's fully recovered from what strain it was, but she didn't do it for shits and giggles. She was proving a point. She's going to sleep on the floor, and he can enjoy a proper mattress and a fully belly.
"Alright, darlin', you had your chance." He laughs, sitting up to shrug out of his vest and shirt before flopping back onto the lumpy pillow, sprawling as if he's savoring even this narrow mattress.
A few moments later, Steph will discover that her companion snores like a grizzly bear when he's fully asleep.
This is certainly not the first time she's seen Eskel shirtless, although this time her vision isn't clouded by that strange soft-focus haze that the spring gave everything. He's heavily scarred, yes, but that's clearly not an issue for her after the life she's lived and the fact that they've spent a whole day in each other's company, so all the dying firelight does is illuminate him beautifully and give her the opportunity to admire the figure he cuts as he gets himself comfortable and drops off to sleep.
Giving in to the urge to poke the fire a little, she gives herself a minute or two to absorb the realities of her current situation, stretches a little to make her back crack again, and then lies herself down and drifts off to the rhythmic sound of Eskel snoring a few feet away.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Still. She's well aware of how lucky actually is, having found herself washed up on the shores of Eskel's apparently boundless charity. This entire endeavor could have wound up much, much worse.
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"Yeah, sorry, you probably won't be surprised to know that the organization that turns boys into monsters didn't exactly prioritize comfort or luxuries."
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She does have a secret fondness for pretty dresses, though, and hiking gets boring and sweaty after a while. But she's not going to complain about it when there's nothing that can be done to rectify the problem.
His comment has her grimacing a little. "I'm sure it can't be worse than some of the tenements I've lived in before."
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Lifting him wasn't the most strenuous thing she's ever done, and she's fully recovered from what strain it was, but she didn't do it for shits and giggles. She was proving a point. She's going to sleep on the floor, and he can enjoy a proper mattress and a fully belly.
no subject
A few moments later, Steph will discover that her companion snores like a grizzly bear when he's fully asleep.
no subject
Giving in to the urge to poke the fire a little, she gives herself a minute or two to absorb the realities of her current situation, stretches a little to make her back crack again, and then lies herself down and drifts off to the rhythmic sound of Eskel snoring a few feet away.