Not In Our Stars

[Vittore Montegue]

She was hiding from him, shrinking down into that little hooded sweater the way she always did. Was kinda cute most of the time, but not now. Wasn't gonna just sit here and let her shy away from him: if she was running still, then he'd follow.

A slight shift on the mattress brought him a little closer, one arm resting itself gently around her waist, the other following her sleeve downwards to settle atop Sadie's pocketed hand. The fabric of the sweater was still there to protect her, her fingers not trapped or anything like that: just a gentle reminder that he was there. A kiss pressed against the top of her head completed the effect. If Sadie felt like she needed to hide from things, then fine. He'd wrap himself around her like a protective shield, and keep her safe from whatever it was.

"Ain't nothin' wrong with runnin'," he said quietly, letting his cheek rest against her hair, his thumb idly stroking across Sadie's hidden fingers without really even realising. "People act like only cowards run, but it ain't like that at all. Pretty much everythin' alive's got two basic reactions when stuff goes bad: fight, or flight. Fleein' is what keeps you safe. It's what stops you gettin' hurt when the fight's gonna be too tough to face. Ain't nothin' but rational about it."

The arm around Sadie's waist shifted a little, a little more affection added to his embrace.

"You an' me though? We get stuck with just the one. I got so good at fightin', and you got so good at fleein' that we don't even wonder if the other option might be better. But now I've got you in m' life, things are different. If I fight an' you flee, we're gonna end up gettin' separated an' I'm gonna lose you, an' -"

He trailed off, his head dropping, a kiss pressed against the thing fabric shielding her shoulder from him.

"It's time that I started tryin' to do both. If you run, then I run; but runnn' doesn't mean I stop fightin', just means I'm only ever gonna do it when I'm by your side. Means what I'm fightin' is gonna be the stuff that's tryin' to stop you bein' safe; the stuff that's gonna stop you wearin' that pretty smile on y' face. Whether it's keepin' you safe, or keepin' you around... don't make a difference to me, I'm gonna fight just as hard either way. I don't wanna lose you, Sadie. Gonna keep fightin' to my last breath t' make sure I don't."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Might have been a silly thing to say and admit but Sadie liked this whole, sittin' and talkin' thing. Was new in a way. Usually attraction of any sort just resulted in clothin' bein' torn off an' a whole lot of action. This though? This was nice. The gentle pressure of Vitt's arm around her, the same for where his hand rested on hers even if it was hidden under fabric. Then there was the way he kept findin' excuses to press his lips against parts of her that weren't even exposed, was like a nice reminder he was there with all the intent without it bein' needy... or somethin' like that. Whatever. Tryin' to describe it was like tryin' to describe why that moment you hit a planet just right and their Summer was endin' and their respected sun or suns had gone down below the horizon but there was still enough light t' see by an' the air was just startin' to cool off was her favorite time of... ever. It just felt right, y'know?

She liked what he was sayin' too. No body said things like that to her, no body made her feel like she was actually worth a damn, really. Oh sure, she had value, to some folks but it always seemed like the kind you could look up in your books and actually put a credit amount to. Vitt was one of the first people who had made her feel like maybe there weren't quite a proper thing to ascribe to her worth, but it was there. Sadie could only hope she let him feel that same way.

That was probably the oddest thing about the day. All actual revelations aside, Sadie felt like she'd gone and learned a bit more about herself than she'd known; and not just names and blood and all that - though that was good too. Was more internal than that, more about what her head and things she was findin' important that never seemed like they would be. Stuff she'd written off as things she'd never experience suddenly makin' themselves all kinds of present. In a lot of ways, kinda literally. There were two folks in the verse that Sadie knew actually gave a kriff about her well bein'. That was two more than she'd ever thought she'd have.

One of them contented sighs left her as she found herself not real certain 'bout what all to say in reply to Vitt. She leaned against him a bit and let her eyes closed just long enough to appreciate the subtle warmth that bein' so close to another could offer. Still, as if fate itself was still tryin' to tug her around and refused to let her be, Sadie was still all kinds of aware of the data chit in her hand, opposite the one that Vitt had covered. That same annoyin' feelin' of curiosity that had lead to her Inyos was beconin' again and despite feelin' pretty burnt out, Sadie couldn't help but think there may have been some kind of wisdom in gettin' everything proper done with in one go. Yeah it was overwhelmin' and had made her make some not so great decisions, but that'd been solved and Vitt was here and...

She pulled the small device out of her pocket and rolled it between her fingers as her eyes reopened and settled on it. Her mother. Woman that Sadie had given up thinkin' bout; and supposedly everythin' she'd want to know was all right at her fingertips.

Frak it.

"Hand me m' datapadd, would y'?" She half mumbled to Vittore, who was closer to the bag she'd dropped on the bed.