[He holds her a little too long, breathing in the scent of her. It may be the Horizon, he may not really be able to bring her home to Winterfell, take her to the Godswood, make her his queen, but it feels real. She is solid and warm in his arms. When she pulls back and frames his face with her hands, he keeps her close.]
She's well enough. Resting now. Some took injuries on their way down -- spills, mostly -- but she did not.
Your people?
[His concern is genuine, but it is a pleasantry: two things at once. He cares how they are because they are people, and because she cares, but he also doesn't wish to spend too many of the few moments they have together speaking on it.]
[ There could never be too long; for all that this isn't real, it's enough to recharge her, fill her cup enough to keep her chin up a little longer. Even as she fills him in on the situation, her forehead is leaning in to press to his, closing her eyes and soaking him in. ]
There are pests living in the tunnels, they have a nasty bite, but they're being taken care of. We'll be alright.
[ That's enough for her regarding everyone else, her hands hold him tightly, voice wavering. ]
I hate the distance between us. I never minded the borders before, but now...
[ Now she has no way to get to him and vice versa; if something happened to either of them, how long until the other was informed? ]
[She can feel, rather than see, him nodding, all shaky, as he continues to hold her.]
I don't know if we'll get out. I think -- surely we must. It's only a door. But Istredd is in with us, and Ambrose is gone, I don't know where, and Strange and Yennefer. No one still in the castle can break the wards on the door, not yet. I don't know what awaits us if we do get out. I don't know what awaits you where you are.
[He doesn't know what else is coming. Gods willing, this is all, and it will be over soon enough, and they will be safe soon enough.
A firm, tight squeeze, and he kisses her hair before pulling back enough to look at her.]
Claire, I love you. Know that. I don't really want to be apart from you. I'll talk to you every day, if I can. [He means if he lives, though the situation isn't so dire as that -- not yet.] All I'll do is think of you -- it's bloody dull here. Stone walls everywhere you look. But for now, we have food, water, places to sleep.
[His bed is a hard piece of the floor, rather cold, but no matter.]
A message like today, and we meet when we can. All right?
[ Claire's hands attempt to soothe, fingers lightly moving through his hair. ] We don't know anything either, I don't know how long our food stores will last. But right now, we're alive. [ She wishes she had more, wishes she could share something vital with him, but it seems like they're all in the dark.
When he steps back, his words spark just a small smile before she nods and takes his hand, pressing her lips to his knuckles. ]
All I do is worry for you. I know you're a fighter. [ Meeting his gaze, she's so torn between being proud of him, of what she knows he would do for others, and being terrified, wanting to beg him to keep himself out of the fray. ] I love you. Even if I'm busy, I'll always respond with a word, at least. [ She can manage that, a quick safe until she can speak more. ]
There are enough children to keep me busy, but not busy enough to keep my mind off of you.
[ She loves a man who puts himself in the line of danger, as if her heart could actually take it if something happened to Jon. ]
[He gives her a slow nod, holding her gaze. Mostly, it's to drink in the look of her, so he can call her up in his mind in the coming days, see her whenever he wills whether they can both reach the Horizon or no.
It's a helpless sort of love, he decides. He has chosen her with clear eyes, a clear mind. Yet he also knows, looking at her, that he could not have done otherwise.]
I'll try to come here every day. If the children need you more, it's all right. If you can't get here, or if I can't, that's all right too.
Things get worse where I am, I'll let you know.
[The rest of the time they have here, he just wants to hold her, kiss her, feel her against him. Not the lovemaking that might happen otherwise, not today -- though that might come another day, depending how long each of them is trapped where they are, and how much time they can each find to spend here. But it feels good to hold her tightly in his arms. It feels right.
Because back in Thorne, he feels lost and small and frustrated, trapped, pinned to a point of inaction.]
[ Claire is doing much the same, breathing Jon in as one hand pushes through his hair. She has never been good at saying the words, but she's tactile and willing to show her love in other ways. She wants to be done thinking about how fucked their situation is, and she gives one more nod of understanding. ]
We'll do the best we can, and know that if I could be with you there, I would.
[ If she could get to Jon, she would in a heartbeat. Better to face what comes with him than apart, but of course, there's always a separation in her life. Tilting her head up, she finally closes the distance between them in a firm kiss to which she immediately yields, determined to get lost in him for at least a little while. ]
[And he is lost in her kiss -- feeling like he's not really trapped in an undercroft in Thorne, nor really in some dream of Winterfell in the Horizon, either, but in a place where it's just the two of them, and their love.
As they hold each other, it feels like haven enough for a time.]
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no subject
She's well enough. Resting now. Some took injuries on their way down -- spills, mostly -- but she did not.
Your people?
[His concern is genuine, but it is a pleasantry: two things at once. He cares how they are because they are people, and because she cares, but he also doesn't wish to spend too many of the few moments they have together speaking on it.]
no subject
There are pests living in the tunnels, they have a nasty bite, but they're being taken care of. We'll be alright.
[ That's enough for her regarding everyone else, her hands hold him tightly, voice wavering. ]
I hate the distance between us. I never minded the borders before, but now...
[ Now she has no way to get to him and vice versa; if something happened to either of them, how long until the other was informed? ]
no subject
I don't know if we'll get out. I think -- surely we must. It's only a door. But Istredd is in with us, and Ambrose is gone, I don't know where, and Strange and Yennefer. No one still in the castle can break the wards on the door, not yet. I don't know what awaits us if we do get out. I don't know what awaits you where you are.
[He doesn't know what else is coming. Gods willing, this is all, and it will be over soon enough, and they will be safe soon enough.
A firm, tight squeeze, and he kisses her hair before pulling back enough to look at her.]
Claire, I love you. Know that. I don't really want to be apart from you. I'll talk to you every day, if I can. [He means if he lives, though the situation isn't so dire as that -- not yet.] All I'll do is think of you -- it's bloody dull here. Stone walls everywhere you look. But for now, we have food, water, places to sleep.
[His bed is a hard piece of the floor, rather cold, but no matter.]
A message like today, and we meet when we can. All right?
no subject
When he steps back, his words spark just a small smile before she nods and takes his hand, pressing her lips to his knuckles. ]
All I do is worry for you. I know you're a fighter. [ Meeting his gaze, she's so torn between being proud of him, of what she knows he would do for others, and being terrified, wanting to beg him to keep himself out of the fray. ] I love you. Even if I'm busy, I'll always respond with a word, at least. [ She can manage that, a quick safe until she can speak more. ]
There are enough children to keep me busy, but not busy enough to keep my mind off of you.
[ She loves a man who puts himself in the line of danger, as if her heart could actually take it if something happened to Jon. ]
no subject
It's a helpless sort of love, he decides. He has chosen her with clear eyes, a clear mind. Yet he also knows, looking at her, that he could not have done otherwise.]
I'll try to come here every day. If the children need you more, it's all right. If you can't get here, or if I can't, that's all right too.
Things get worse where I am, I'll let you know.
[The rest of the time they have here, he just wants to hold her, kiss her, feel her against him. Not the lovemaking that might happen otherwise, not today -- though that might come another day, depending how long each of them is trapped where they are, and how much time they can each find to spend here. But it feels good to hold her tightly in his arms. It feels right.
Because back in Thorne, he feels lost and small and frustrated, trapped, pinned to a point of inaction.]
no subject
We'll do the best we can, and know that if I could be with you there, I would.
[ If she could get to Jon, she would in a heartbeat. Better to face what comes with him than apart, but of course, there's always a separation in her life. Tilting her head up, she finally closes the distance between them in a firm kiss to which she immediately yields, determined to get lost in him for at least a little while. ]
no subject
As they hold each other, it feels like haven enough for a time.]
[FIN.]