[oom] when you're weary, feeling small

[from_the_outside]

The problem with getting a full night's sleep at Milliways is that the night is still only just tilting toward dawn when she goes out the door and back to her room in the Citadel. Sharon showers and changes, her head full of everything the place had packed into her night, which feels more dreamlike now than the dream she'd woken from afterwards.

It's not, though. And that's a problem she's going to have to face head on.

The stars are just beginning to wink out as she makes her way back down to the hut by the lake. She takes a moment to make sure the goats are still sleeping and comfortable, then goes to the spot at the side of the hut where they so often sit and watch the sunrise, drawing her knees up and looping her arms loosely around them.

She's pretty sure Bucky will be up and out soon. No need to wake him up beforehand.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

"Well, you're pretty likeable," Bucky tells her. "So I can see why."

"It's a weird place, baby, no question. And I know you hate surprises."

[from_the_outside]

"You like me," she says, amused. "But I don't think most other people would agree with your assessment. At least at first."

She shakes her head, though it's not in negation, exactly. "I wish I could roll with it as easily as you do," she murmurs. "It feels like your space. And I'm already in your space all the time, almost every day. Sometimes I feel like an interloper."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I've just been there longer," he murmurs. "You'll get used to it, I think. If you want to."

He holds her a little closer. "I don't think you're an interloper, baby. In any way."

[from_the_outside]

She puts her head back down on his shoulder, watches the lake water lap back and forth along the muddy shore.

"I will," she says. "I want to."

Honestly, it's probably good for her, getting her out of her comfort zone.

[nerves_of_ice]

He runs one hand up and down her arm, slowly soothing.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon curls against him and sets her hand at the curve of his neck so she can sweep her thumb slowly along the cord of muscle there, savoring his warmth and steady strength, soaking it up like sunlight.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Feeling any better?" he murmurs, after several minutes pass.

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah," she can say, honestly. "You?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Mm-hm," he agrees. "Do you want to tell me about that dream?"

[from_the_outside]

"Mm. I dreamed Aunt Peggy."

She lowers her hand to his chest and smooths the pad of her thumb along his collarbone. "It might sound crazy, baby, but... I'm not sure it was a dream."

[nerves_of_ice]

He frowns a little. "How do you mean?"

[from_the_outside]

It really does sound crazy. She knows it does.

"I mean... it was a dream. I know it was. Because she was young, and we were in her office at first, and then here. But it felt just like I was really talking to her. I was telling her everything that happened and she was asking questions just like she would have."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I believe you, but," he starts, and then, "... wait. Wait. What's the date that the bar's going by right now? Did you happen to notice? It's fall there right now, right?"

[from_the_outside]

She thinks back to following Wei Wuxian out to the back porch and needing to wrap her arms around herself, surprised by the brisk cold air. "Yeah," she says, "I think so. It's a lot colder than here for sure, so maybe fall."

Sharon lifts her head to give him a puzzled look. "What difference does that make?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Because that's another one of the weird things that happens there sometimes," Bucky tells her. "If you spend the night around Halloween. Sometimes you can talk to someone who's ... passed on."

[from_the_outside]

"What?"

That place is insane, but is it really that insane? "You think maybe I really talked to her?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Gently, he says, "I think you could have, yeah."

[from_the_outside]

She looks as startled as she might if he'd told her Aunt Peggy was actually alive and well and vacationing in Tahiti. "That's..."

Impossible. For anywhere but a place where the impossible happens every day. It's a long moment before she can find any words.

"Well, baby, then I'm sorry to tell you, but she threatened to haunt you if you break my heart."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky laughs.

"Yeah, I can see that."

[from_the_outside]

God, she loves that laugh. Her own smile shines out bright and strong in response. "So beware," she says, grinning.

"It was really, really nice, baby. I can't even – just seeing her was like – "

She shakes her head, unable to find the words. "I didn't know how badly I missed talking to her."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'm so glad you had the chance." He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and smiles down at her.

[from_the_outside]

"Me, too," she says, smiling back. "Even if she was a little cynical about you."

Her smile turns crooked and teasing. "Pretty sure she still remembers you as the soldier boy who flirted with anything wearing a skirt and a little lipstick."

[nerves_of_ice]

He winces at that. “Fair, I guess. Wonder what she’d think of me now.”

[from_the_outside]

"She'd love you," Sharon says, loyally. "Of course."

[nerves_of_ice]

He makes a noncommittal sound low in his chest.

“She was a really great person. I’m glad you got to see her again.”