the_lioness | (no subject)

Alanna wakes slowly, aware of the faint chill and morning dew before she opens her eyes. Pressed up against something warm and solid she immediately recognizes as Adam, she blinks once, and again, vision hazy in the faint light. The sun is moments from rising.

Their fire had long since burnt out if the icy sensation in her feet is any indication, but she keeps her frozen toes far away from Adam, for once not seeking relief by tangling her legs with his. Her arm is draped over his side, her cheek pressed to his back, both of them facing away from the bar as if she's trying to shield him from whatever he can still pick up at this distance.

Mesmerized by the dancing flames, neither of them had said much last night. He'd held her hand, smiling in a distracted manner every now and then, and she had used her Gift to soothe as many aches as possible. It wasn't enough.

She tries to imagine what it must be like to know, to feel so much. Thoughts and emotions all jumbled together in an unrelenting force invading his brain. With all the rest filling him up, she wonders how he has space for his own. For her.

It's an unsettling thought.

Only once had she felt something similar, and it's laughable to pretend it was anything truly comparable. Si-cham had given her his thoughts and memories and linked minds with Jonathan; she had been all three there in Thom's chambers, the earth shaking below. It was an experience she never cares to repeat, and one which turned her against anyone touching her mind.

Adam had said once that he never felt the need to read her thoughts. She wonders if he can help it now, and what that means.

She thinks it doesn't matter.

What matters is this, and finding a solution. What matters is living through the duel this weekend, even if she's forced to improvise in a way that would make Liam scowl.

What matters is lying here with her arm around Adam, gently pressing a kiss against the back of his neck to remind him that he's not alone. Never alone. Today, training can wait.