[For Effy] Dated 24 August

[well_yeah_but]

When Tony wakes up, it's with a hangover and no idea how he had the good luck to make it all the way back home and into his own bed last night. Half the night is a blur to him now, a wash of lights and bodies that make his head throb all the worse to try and recall, but it's nothing particularly new. He reaches for the bottle of water kept

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[behindtheskin]

It's with a great reluctance that Effy shakes the haze of sleep that lingers as the sun threatens to filter in through cracks in the walls. A soft groan halts behind closed lips as she turns, burying her face deeper in her pillows, a furrow deepening under her brow as thoughts already try to weave into some semblance of calm. It's Tony, that much she knows from the way his hand curves around her shoulder, the sound of his voice heavy with sleep. Her own fingers weave through her hair, immediately stricken with the regret that she's come back at all.

But while Effy knows not everyone gets to say their goodbyes, perhaps a part of her wanted to make sure that she would, at least with Tony. If no one else, then at least Tony.

With a long inhale, she turns, propping her weight up on her elbows as she opens eyes heavy and distant. A murky blue. She leans in, tucking tangled hair behind an ear and sniffing for emphasis, not saying a single word.

She doesn't have to in order to make her point.

[well_yeah_but]

"Good morning, Pot, this is Kettle…" Tony says as he stifles a yawn with his hand and sinks further in against Effy's pillow. The way she smells herself, she's the last person who ought to be giving him trouble for getting laid with impunity, and he immediately decides to disregard the chastisement.

"I've no idea how I got home last night," he admits, and pushes the hair from his eyes.

[behindtheskin]

Effy closes her eyes, and she can feel it all again. Lips pressing against her neck, thumbs brushing up the curve of her hips, and far from wanting to feel all of it again in that instant, Effy simply tries to keep the memory close. It's the last that she'll have of Freddie for a while, she suspects. Hopes, at least, that Cook pulls through with his end this time, that Cook can be enough for Freddie somehow, in a way that Effy can't be simply for the way that she takes from everyone, takes and takes and never gives back without some part of her breaking in the process

[well_yeah_but]

Effy knows Tony, understands him in a way that no one has ever truly been able to. She sees right through him, yes, but never judges, never lays blame at his feet because she exists in the same orbit, the two of them heavenly bodies that everyone else in their lives strain to reach.

It never occurs to him to lie to her, but it doesn't occur to him to confirm her implication, either; she knows him too well to need it. This isn't about his fidelity or lack thereof. Maybe this isn't about him at all.

Tony's eyes narrow. "Why?"