(no subject)
She stirred slowly to the soft crackling of a fire and pushed herself up off the floor into a sitting position. She pulled at the scattered blanket around her to bring it up around her shoulders as her teeth began to chatter and huddled herself closer to the fire. She wondered why she was so cold when she had been so close to the wood heater pulling at the woollen cloth before realising that there was a wet patch that had already seeped into her clothes. She examined the floor where she had been laying and spotted small puddle smudged on the tiled floor, and she craned her neck back to look at the ceiling only to find no evidence that there was a leak.
Gently her attention was lured to the soft scent of roasting meat and spices, coming from the kitchen. Even though her curiosity pulled her to investigate, she did not make the effort to will herself to move, at the mere thought her body ached with fatigue. Curling herself back up into a ball in front of the crackling fire, she enjoyed the warmth, even though she still felt chilled completely from head to toe. She kept her eyes closed even though she could hear footsteps approaching her, a small smile creeping up on her features.
Warm hands reached out for her and she felt herself being pulled into his lap. She looked up at him, snuggling closer while he enveloped her with his warmth. “How are you feeling?” He said softly running a hand over her face so brush away the stray strands and pausing his movement to feel her forehead. “You’re as cold as ice.” He noted with a hint of worry, concern in his eyes. She smiled softly at him with a sigh. “I’m fine” She felt cold and tired, but completely at peace, content as she breathed in his aroma. “Dinner smells good” She said while she buried her face in his neck, breathing deeply. “Dinner…” He sounded confused, but she didn’t catch it, her breath caught in her throat and coughing wracked her entire body. She waited until it subsided until she tried again burying her face against him, snaking her arms around his shoulders lazily. “You smell good” She commented nonchalantly and lifted her head to look him in the eyes. “Uh- thanks, I guess” A tinge of red flushed across his features and she smiled in amusement, taking the chance to pull his face to hers in a chaste kiss.
As she pulled back one of her hands dropped from around his neck to her stomach, as though the action had fatigued her, but felt that it was because she wanted to. Her confusion at his stunned expression was forgotten as her attention was drawn to her hand and the wetness she felt. She groggily lifted her hand to where she could see it, rubbing her fingers together, trying to discern the nature of the wetness but she found her eyes were blurry.
~
The world was hazy as she blinked her vision clear. It was a surreal moment to her while she lay in warm arms as her mind slowly grasped where she was and the daydream that seemed so real, almost as if the death and destruction that lay about her didn’t exist. And she could tell, even though her vision was slowly failing, that the world would never be the same.
The wetness on her fingers drew her attention again finally immediately identifying the sleek stickiness of blood, now clumped with dirt. With a calm understanding she dropped her hand back to her lap and looked up at the sky. There was a lingering darkness in the sky that wasn’t clouds but smoke rising from the forest that now had mostly burnt itself out, only now existing in a few crackling coals she could hear close by, along with a radiating heat that reminded her of a crackling fire she felt not so long ago. And finally she looked into the eyes of the man who held her. His light blue eyes and rugged features creased with concern. She found herself gently smiling at him again “I lied.” It was barely a whisper, even though she intended it to be louder than that. She felt numb with cold and could no longer feel the heat radiating from his body or the crackling coals beside her. She watched as his eyes glistened, filling with tears and he clutched at her a little tighter. “You did?” He answered finally, his voice cracked with emotion. She lifted a hand to his face in an attempt to clear it of the tears that had begun to leave streaks on his dirty face, but only succeeded in smearing more dirt, mingled with her own blood across his cheek. “You don’t smell good at all.” Her smile widened. He blinked once at her before breaking out into a chuckle. He had been laughing, but she could no longer hear it. He hadn’t noticed as her fingers left his cheek to rest once again in her lap. Life faded from her eyes before he had regained his composure to look at her once again, a small smile graced her lips while she lay slumped in his arms. He stared silently as the tears took over once again.