Tiny, Glittery Thing
The days after the attack turned into a routine. Aaryn was pulled where she was needed and Thea had her own duties to see to. It kept them distant from each other, and Aaryn was a little sore about it.
The nights were late when she met Thea at home—it was painfully obvious how intimate such a sentiment was, but Aaryn didn't know what else to call it—and were usually brief before they fell into bed, sleep taking them before they'd even spoken much.
As Aaryn was introduced to the fallout of Evergale's attack, reflected in the eyes of every patient she came across, the more thankful she became for the haven inside these meager walls.
But Aaryn also… missed Thea. Even though she was right beside her.
Which prompted the late-night mead that Aaryn offered her.
"There was a mother today," Aaryn said. "She made me think of my mom."
Thea hummed, sitting on the floor with her back to the bed. She swirled the drink around in her tin cup as she listened.
"How is your mom?"
Aaryn smiled a little bitterly at the whorl of wood in the table, tracing it with her finger. Alcohol made the world a little warm, made it easier to talk about these things.
"The last time I saw her was after you stole Starspark," Aaryn remarked, glancing over just in time to catch the purple flush to her cheeks. Thea feigned obliviousness and looked toward the wall, a smile snagging on her lips.
Aaryn felt quite snagged on her, actually.
"Anyway," she added for both their benefit. "She was disappointed that I let it happen, that our titles might be in jeopardy. She was urging me to seduce the prince," Aaryn drawled.
Thea's head snapped in her direction comically fast. "What?" she asked in disbelief.
Aaryn shook her head ruefully. "I wonder how she feels now that I'm gone. She'll probably notice when I don't send her the usual stipend." In her mind she saw the cute cottage, all the pretty flowers around it. She hoped her mother would be able to keep it.
“Maybe I should send her the Tethered’s jewels. She could sell them, I suppose.”
Thea tilted her head to the side. “You really don’t want them?”
“They don’t serve a purpose anymore, do they?” Aaryn shrugged. “They remind me of Starspark, I guess,” she conceded, torn.
“They’re pretty,” Thea offered.
Aaryn shook her head, sitting up straighter as she realized, "We're being sad drunks.”
Thea tilted her drink up as if in cheers. "We're sad. We're tipsy. What other way is there to be than what we are?"
And maybe Aaryn was a little intoxicated, but the words felt profound.
"I can't believe she told you to seduce the prince." Thea's thoughts drifted from one subject to the other like a leaf on the wind, and Aaryn was along for the ride. "Gross."
"My thoughts exactly," Aaryn agreed, throwing a hand out at the unfairness.
"You seemed like you were entertaining him enough," Thea countered, pointing at her around the grasp on her mug.
Aaryn groaned. "Are we still on this? He's the prince. You don't turn down a dance from the prince. Not without making a scene."
"What about all the private meetings?"
Aaryn narrowed her gaze at Thea. "I told you already: training."
Thea's hum was unconvinced. "And during this training…" she hinted. "How did that even go? The prim and proper prince—could he even lift a blade?"
Aaryn laughed at Thea's pout. "He was a decent instructor."
"Did he ever hurt you?" Thea asked, stare locked on her mug.
With a scoff, Aaryn answered, "No, of course not. We hadn't even made it to swords by the time he dismissed our sessions indefinitely."
"Oh. So he… never drew blood or anything?"
Aaryn frowned. "No. Why?"
Thea tilted her cup up to empty it. She muttered into the emptiness, "I think that would be an even more unforgivable offense, is all—hurting you."
A stronger version of Aaryn might not have been so affected by Thea's care, but Aaryn was a bit tired, a little tipsy, and still thinking of their kisses—the only ones they'd shared. So she let the delight at Thea's concern warm her chest. Or maybe that was the mead?
"He was annoyingly gentle with me. And a little suggestive. But that was before Carissa, before he put the curfew in place." She grumbled the last bit, and wondered how the other Tethered were faring. How was Rose, whose dragon the prince had been riding? The prince, who Aaryn realized she still imagined as the man she’d left on the dance floor in Evergale, and not the man she’d seen amongst the flames of Skymore.
That man hadn’t seemed capable of taking care of himself, let alone the Tethered who he’d sworn to protect. Were any of them safe under his care—no, his rule?
Worry filled her. Just because she wasn’t there didn’t mean things weren’t still a mess.
Maybe it was a mess from the beginning.
Aaryn grounded herself back in the moment with another sip of her drink.
"Asshole," Thea murmured. "You're better off without."
"Maybe we all would be," Aaryn murmured, and then remembered what they were discussing at all. "I mean, I’m not even interested in men. At least not that one, much to my mother's dismay."
The words landed with all the grace of a young dragon at play, but it still took her a moment to notice the answering silence.
She glanced up and found Thea's gaze already locked on her.
"Me either," Thea said softly.
Aaryn felt heat gather in her cheeks. This wasn't new information.
They'd danced around one another plenty with a crush, a spark, at least when Thea had worn Evergale's crest on her armor. Meet me at Lover's Peak.
Then they'd begun a different dance, one full of spite and anger and heat.
After Thea had stolen Starspark, Aaryn had convinced herself even the spark had been a lie, the blush on Thea's cheeks and the little smiles she'd tried to hide.
Now that she recognized that blush and caught sight of the freckle on her chin each time Thea tucked a smile over her shoulder, Aaryn wondered if it had been real after all.
Maybe it was the alcohol making her brave.
She asked.
It was cute how Thea blinked at her, eyes flickering as the question landed between them, how her cheeks flushed even deeper purple.
"No," Thea murmured. "It wasn't all an act."
Aaryn took the opportunity to finish her drink as she absorbed the information, hiding the way her rib cage burst with excitement and delight.
"Sorry I ruined it by stealing Starspark," Thea said quietly, turned toward the side, as if she was afraid to meet Aaryn's eyes.
Aaryn wasn't as shy, staring at her in confusion. She thought of Starspark nudging Thea into her, of Thea curling her arms around her waist as they flew through the air, of wrapping Thea's fingers in bandages.
Aaryn stood and trailed her socked feet around the table, toward Thea. She leaned over her, bracing one hand on the bed, and grasping her chin in the other.
Her dusky morning eyes widened and before Aaryn could overthink it, she leaned down and pressed their lips together. Lightly, a tease, a hint. A reminder.
"Maybe it's not as ruined as you think," Aaryn admitted against her lips, and deepened the kiss.
Aaryn woke up and she was… warm. Comfortable. Sinking into the mattress with—an arm around her waist.
Aaryn blinked her eyes open, adjusting to the soft light of the morning. Deep breaths sounded in her ear, at her back, hypnotizing in their gentleness.
Her eyes threatened to flutter shut under the coziness of the moment, and she dared to let them.
Thea is cuddling me.
Her eyes snapped open. A smile crawled across her lips.
It was no secret Aaryn liked to cling to Thea. But Thea clinging back?
Aaryn remained perfectly still, and was torn between slipping out of bed and keeping this little secret to herself, or never letting Thea live this down, ever.
The universe decided for her. As the sun crept through the window and splashed through the room, Thea jerked in her sleep and hummed.
Aaryn had heard her making little noises like that in her slumber these past weeks. Up close like this, she found them terribly adorable.
As the fog of sleep dispersed, Thea stretched, retracting her arm and tugging Aaryn back against her, rubbing her head against the back of her neck like an oversized, surprisingly affectionate cat.
Aaryn could have sworn she felt her horns getting tangled in her hair, and bit down on a smile.
It was Thea who stiffened in the end, realizing exactly what she was doing.
"Wha—" she cried out and pushed herself away, smacking against the wall with a thump.
Aaryn chuckled and sat up, swinging her legs off the side of the bed and glancing over her shoulder. "Aren't you cute?"
The mortified, apologetic look left Thea's eyes, replaced by annoyance. "M'not cute," she grumbled.
"Whatever you say," Aaryn teased, and stood. "How are your fingers?"
Aaryn didn't receive a response and turned to find Thea staring at her hands, touching the pads of her fingers together to assess the damage. Aaryn couldn't read her expression, but she thought it felt soft in the morning light.
"Feels fine," she finally decided, and Aaryn nodded.
They parted ways not long after waking to go about their different duties.
Aaryn got word of Thea at the schools; at a few kitchens; at the barracks; and in New Leaf introducing some of the refugees, finding places for them.
She was everywhere. Meanwhile, Aaryn visited Carissa daily, making sure she was eating, either sitting in heavy silence or walking with her beneath the sun, watching Starspark and Stormstrike wrestle.
"Starspark's a little weasel," Carissa once remarked, and Aaryn gasped.
"Well, at least he's not a cheat," Aaryn drawled, and they shared a laugh before the weight of Rolim's loss struck Carissa into quietness once again.
Then she'd attend the healers’ tent, which required fewer hands every day.
In the evenings, Thea and Aaryn would share the horrors with one another.
Aaryn hummed, stirring at her tasty stew with meat and vegetables and spices. "Do you think Skymore tried standing up to them? And Evergale retaliated?"