throws this onto the ground. just take it. take it off my hands. subtle spoilers for All or Nothing in season 4. it's not long but it still took me 2 whole days. it's not even what i had in mind to begin with.
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Cross sat on the edge of the cot, her hands resting on her knees as she listened to the sounds of her soldiers outside her tent, long ears flicking at the slightest noise. Chatter. Heavy footsteps. The clank of armor as someone finally got to sit down. A low, shuddering breath and sob. Her eyes were closed as she listened, her brow furrowed. There was a lot riding on this day and she knew no one was truly prepared.
With a soft hum she opened her eyes and began unraveling her braided hair. She only had a few hours, but she might as well lay down comfortably. Rebraid her hair.
A shadow passed across the closed flap of her tent. She watched the figure hesitate, before a throat was cleared.
“Commander?”
Cross ran a hand through her hair, now loose and long around her shoulders, and stood, slouched, taking the few steps to the door of her tent.
Green eyes met hers as she lifted the flap.
“Firstborn Caithe,” a sliver of amusement in her voice, “so formal. Come in.”
She saw her lips turn up slightly as she stepped inside. Only with Caithe, was it strange to be called by her title.
Cross went back to her cot to sit as Caithe watched her intently.
“They kicked you out of command, too?” She asked as she sat heavily, now roughly at eye level with the sylvari.
Caithe made an amused noise, “yes. And I told Aurene to rest as well, but I don’t think she’s going to listen to me.”
“Yeah she didn’t listen to me either.”
She ran a hand through her hair again and she saw Caithe’s eyes follow the motion.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your hair loose, Cross,” she looked away with a small smile, “you look good.”
Cross tilted her head and hummed.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Caithe said, still avoiding her eyes.
“Yeah?”
Caithe looked at her, those green eyes staring, glowing and intense. A white leaf shifted between them, disrupting her gaze.
“We haven’t had much time to talk. I wanted to know your thoughts.”
Cross unabashedly swept her gaze across Caithe, her eyes tracing the blue veins down her arms to glowing white fingertips, the crystal down her middle and the blooms at her shoulder and hip, settling back on her face, her skin a vibrant teal framed by white. She held out a hand, and Caithe only hesitated a moment before taking it, letting herself be gently pulled in.
“Beautiful,” she murmured against cool fingers, “you look beautiful.”
Caithe laughed lightly, resting her forehead against Cross, “that wasn’t exactly what I was wondering,” she said, amused, “but thank you.”
Cross smiled into Caithe’s palm, “you didn’t come here fishing for compliments?”
The sylvari shook her head and the pair fell into silence for a moment as she collected her thoughts. Cross watched her with a steady gaze, listening to the soft thrum of a not quite heartbeat, the feel of a thumb on her cheek, a deep breath in and out.
“You’re not afraid?”
Her voice was low, the question barely a whisper.
And it was only because Cross trusted her completely, only because it was Caithe who was asking, that she replied, just as softly, in the same whisper, “I am.”
She didn’t need to say more, Caithe knew. The pair had killed two dragons together before, and they could only hope, deeply and fiercely hope, that this would not end as Aurene’s visions claimed.
The looming fight with Kralkatorrik feels heavy.
Cross tightens her grip on Caithe’s wrist, a grounding point of reassurance, and, similarly, Caithe inches closer and the hand on her cheek holds her tighter. When their lips met it was soft, and a little desperate, moving together slowly. Caithe breathed against her lips “just in case,” and Cross whispered back, “stay with me,” her arm wrapping around Caithe’s middle, and Caithe’s hand tangling in her hair. For a few short hours it could be just the two of them, anchoring each other, refusing to think of the fight to come.
It had to be alright. It had to be.
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