Redhawk Caldera some day they will all be dead

it stung, but she relaxed slightly as the touch proved to be very different than the kisses father, mother and blueberry often gave her— it was intentional, focused. but she still refused to look at him, the intimacy of a shared gaze while they were this close being too much for her. she could smell metal in the air, so he must have reopened the scab that had begun to develop overnight, but oddly enough... it felt slightly better, regardless. his care removed whatever debris she had been unable to remove on her own.

she followed his instruction as he drew back, plunging her nose into the water and exhaling through her nostrils to avoid anything going up her nose. the cool liquid soothed any remaining stinging after an initial increased intensity. vesper sighed as she drew her head back up, and she exited the water as caracal sat, then stood, then drank.

vesper stood some distance away to politely shake the moisture from her coat, then moved to sit next to him as he left the water's edge. her side felt a little better, at least. the pain wasn't as sharp. her muscles felt more sore than they had before, but she kept that to herself, too. part of her wanted to continue feeling the pain.

nothing, she told him flatly. this was more or less true; for all the eventfulness of her childhood, that had all stopped when she got here. there was nothing to do. prevost was gone, and peregrine wanted nothing to do with her. and the rift between vesper and her parents only seemed to be growing. eager to turn the conversation away from herself, she asked, what about you? how do you stay occupied in this place? as if to emphasize this, vesper looked around with a slight, disappointed frown.