Room 301, Tuesday Afternoon

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle was tired and weary, still, but a few days in Idris had done her some good. Even if everyone was still more than a little shell-shocked. Even if everyone was still in mourning for something or someone, and there had been a Council meeting to determine the place of the Seelie Court among them after their betrayal.

Even if the Hall of Accords had been draped with the blue banners of victory, a golden rune of triumph on each one.

It all felt very far away now that Isabelle was back on Fandom. Her room looked the same. Glitter and clothes spilled everywhere. Nothing here suggested the occupant had quite literally been to hell and back not too many days ago.

Isabelle sent out a single text to Flick – I'm here, and nothing else – and dropped her phone on her bed. And sighed.

[ooc: Open door, open post.]

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[seveninchmotto]

"You waited."

Her voice sounded broken, even though that was a good thing. That he'd waited.

She was just so tired.

[flickofthewrist]

"You need to lay down and sleep," he told her in response to that. "Right now."

[seveninchmotto]

"I've been sleeping," Isabelle replied, managing some mild indignance even with her eyes closed and holding back tears. "It doesn't help."

She had a lot of nightmares.

[flickofthewrist]

Flick sighed, at a loss. He didn't know what to say to that so he just held her and rubbed her back and said nothing for the moment.

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle didn't say anything either. But she wrapped her arms around him a little more tightly.

Sorry about the pressure on his ribs.

[flickofthewrist]

He could take the pressure. He was fine. He kissed the top of her head and breathed in her scent again.

"I've got your necklace," he murmured eventually, reaching down and finding her hand. He pressed it over where the necklace lay underneath his shirt. "You should have it back."

[seveninchmotto]

"Oh." She inhaled a shuddering breath. "Thank you for keeping it safe."

Because yes, the safety of the necklace was what had been questionable for the last few weeks.

[flickofthewrist]

"It was almost the only thing of yours I had left," he said quietly, closing his eyes. "I wasn't going to let anything happen to it. Ever."

[seveninchmotto]

"I took your hoodie to Edom," Isabelle replied, her fingers closing around the ruby pendant through the fabric of his shirt. "The hell dimension. We're even."

[flickofthewrist]

"I hope it helped," he told her, leaning up and kissing her forehead before reaching for her free hand and sliding it around his neck to where the clasp of the necklace. "You can keep it, if it made it back."

[seveninchmotto]

"I think it's probably beyond saving." Grimy and dusty, and there was probably blood on there too. Her fingertips found the clasp on the necklace. "I'll just steal another one."

[flickofthewrist]

"That's fine," he told her, watching her face, her eyes. "I've got plenty. You can steal whatever you want."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle leaned in and, finally, kissed him. Maybe she didn't want to be watched.

Or maybe she just wanted to kiss him, because there had been a time not too long ago that she'd thought she would never get to do it again.

[flickofthewrist]

Flick sighed against her lips and felt his body sag closer to her, finally releasing the last of the tension that had built up. He pressed his lips to hers, gently, but emphatically.

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle verged more on desperate than gentle, but that was really to be expected. She was always a little bit like that, wasn't she? Especially when she came back from danger and wasn't so good with her words and her emotions.

This was one way to show him how much she'd missed him.

[flickofthewrist]

"It's okay, it's okay," he mumbled between kisses and presses of her lips. He breathed and stroked her cheeks. "I'm here. You're here. I love you."

And he kissed her again.

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle made a small sound, but no words.

Instead, she just tried clinging to him more. Tried getting closer.

[flickofthewrist]

"What can I do?" he asked, kissing her nose and her lips and her chin. "What can I do to help you?"

[seveninchmotto]

"You can lay down with me."

He wasn't going to be leaving her room for a while. She hoped he knew that.

[flickofthewrist]

"I can do that," he told her, nodding. "Let me give your necklace back first. It's yours. You need to have it."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle wanted to argue. But he wasn't wrong – she needed the familiar weight against her chest. Like an anchor to keep her grounded.

So she kissed him, and her hands unclasped the necklace from around his neck, and pulled it out from under his shirt.

[flickofthewrist]

Flick kept close, forehead pressed to hers and eyes open so he could watch. He rubbed the spot where the warmth of the necklace was now gone.

"I love you," he murmured again, breathing her in again. "Thank you for trusting me with that."

He'd dated no one else.

[seveninchmotto]

The ruby went around her neck, safely back in its rightful place. She covered it with her hand.

"I wouldn't have trusted it with anyone else."

[flickofthewrist]

He smiled just slightly, just a bit, and very briefly before covering her hand with his.

"I'm staying here for awhile," he told her quietly but firmly. No argument. "In your room. I'll sleep on the floor if you need space sometimes and I'll leave if you need to be alone but I'm staying here."

[seveninchmotto]

"There's more room on the bed than there is on my floor." That was agreement. He could stay. He should stay. She needed to breathe him in for a while – the real thing, not just the memory of him on a hoodie. "I want you to stay."