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She's never been a truly deep sleeper, but her time on the Mithraeum forced Harrow into an even shallower cycle, forever anticipating footsteps in the corridor and the feeling of her wards being tripped, alerts over the comm at any hour. Even, occasionally, the cool gaze of the Body from the corner of her room, a presence both soothing and portentous--and with little way of telling one from the other. The habit carried over into Darrow; the deepest sleep she'd had only came that first day, exhaustion and stress sinking her like a stone, leaving her to rise hours later better rested than she'd felt in months.
Tonight, she wakes up in the blackest part of the early morning, the space that's too late and too early all at once. It'll do not good to toss and turn, no good to lie awake and wait for dawn either. Instead, Harrow slips from her room, barefoot and small in her nightgown, and pads across the hall to Gideon's bedroom. Her cavalier doesn't even wake at the creak of her door as it opens, and Harrow lets out a quiet, half-relieved breath. Tiptoeing to the empty side of the bed, she hesitates a moment before sliding beneath the covers.
To touch her is too much, but she moves as close as she dares, pulling the sheets up and turning away, the soft curve of her back only an inch away from Gideon's. Just her presence is enough to soothe, and after only a minute, Harrow slides back into sleep until the morning.
Tonight, she wakes up in the blackest part of the early morning, the space that's too late and too early all at once. It'll do not good to toss and turn, no good to lie awake and wait for dawn either. Instead, Harrow slips from her room, barefoot and small in her nightgown, and pads across the hall to Gideon's bedroom. Her cavalier doesn't even wake at the creak of her door as it opens, and Harrow lets out a quiet, half-relieved breath. Tiptoeing to the empty side of the bed, she hesitates a moment before sliding beneath the covers.
To touch her is too much, but she moves as close as she dares, pulling the sheets up and turning away, the soft curve of her back only an inch away from Gideon's. Just her presence is enough to soothe, and after only a minute, Harrow slides back into sleep until the morning.
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Date: 2021-06-23 10:54 am (UTC)"Hi."
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Date: 2021-06-24 01:38 pm (UTC)Gideon smiles at her then, soft and crooked, and it sinks into her like an ember. "What?"
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Date: 2021-06-26 06:08 pm (UTC)"Nothing," says Gideon, still warm and sleepy, rubbing her cheek against the pillow a little bit. "Just...enjoying you being here. Are you ready for a cup of tea?"
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Date: 2021-06-26 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-27 11:46 am (UTC)"Your wish, my command, bone empress," says Gideon, rolling onto her back and stretching her arms up over her head before she pushes up into a sitting position and swings her legs out of bed. As usual, she's sleeping in boxers and a t-shirt.
"Be right back," she says, padding out of the bedroom.
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Date: 2021-06-27 03:25 pm (UTC)When she finally leaves the room, Harrow lingers beneath the sheets for a few minutes, one hand reaching towards the faint divot where Gideon had just been lying. The sheets are still warm, and she presses her fingertips against that warmth, an act she can't explain even to herself.
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Date: 2021-06-27 06:15 pm (UTC)Gideon potters around in the kitchen, absently humming to herself as she makes tea - stewed and sweet for her, weak and lukewarm for Harrow. Once the two cups are ready, she pads back into the bedroom, finding Harrow still curled on her side in her bed. Gideon tries to ignore the thought that Harrow looks like she's meant to be there.
"Here you go. Weak as piss, just like you prefer it." She sets the mug down on Harrow's side of the bed and then steps up onto the mattress, lowering herself back down on her side.
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Date: 2021-06-27 06:46 pm (UTC)Gideon steps onto the bed, jostling it, and Harrow holds tighter to her mug. "Why do you always do that?"
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Date: 2021-06-30 07:00 pm (UTC)"Because why not, that's why," says Gideon, giving Harrow her best shit-eating grin as she leans back against the pillows, her cup cradled in her hands. "Never had a bed this big before."
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Date: 2021-07-01 03:48 am (UTC)"This is a universe away from a Drearburh cot, I'll grant you that."
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Date: 2021-07-01 02:33 pm (UTC)"You fucking love me."
That much, at least, they've established. It doesn't mean that Harrow has to like her all the time. She lifts her cup and blows across the surface of her tea, having learned her lesson with that first ever hot drink in Canaan House. "You can tell me - did you make them as uncomfortable as possible on purpose? Don't mean you personally, obvs. It's got Crux written all over it."
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Date: 2021-07-02 09:02 pm (UTC)"You will be shocked to discover it's a choice that predates even the marshal," Harrow says, a faint smirk on her lips. "And yes, there was such a time. Crux is ancient, but he is not immortal." Unlike me, she thinks, though who can say if that's true? Here, Gideon is whole; here, she is still a Lyctor, in some new fullness of her power. Anything and nothing could happen. "The cells were designed from the start to be places of contemplation and prayer, not comfort."
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Date: 2021-07-03 09:59 am (UTC)Gideon notices that blush. She doesn't comment on it, but she does look a little bit smug as she sips her tea.
"Not sure I ever did much contemplating or praying in mine, boo."
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Date: 2021-07-03 05:18 pm (UTC)"You were always meant for the sword, Griddle."
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Date: 2021-07-03 08:38 pm (UTC)"I think there's a while when they just weren't sure what I was going to be," she says, rolling her shoulder in a shrug. "Although, you'd think that the fact that I screamed the place down going through those bloody doors might have been a clue." She shifts her position, resting her mug on her chest. "It's still the only thing I've ever known."
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Date: 2021-07-05 05:58 pm (UTC)"You do it well."
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Date: 2021-07-05 06:48 pm (UTC)"Not much use here, though, is it?" says Gideon, sipping her tea again. Her fingers twitch against the bedsheets and she reaches out, brushing her fingers against the fine bones of Harrow's wrist.
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Date: 2021-07-06 02:40 am (UTC)Gideon's hand shifts towards her, fingertips grazing the delicate curve of her pisiform. The flush on her cheeks deepens, just slightly. A muscle twitches, finely, in her hand, but she doesn't pull away.
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Date: 2021-07-06 07:04 pm (UTC)Harrow doesn't protest, doesn't pull away, so Gideon keeps up the slow, careful touch, tracing the bones of Harrow's hand, one finger at a time. "I guess we'll figure out what we're for, here," she says. "Just like we're figuring out everything else."
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Date: 2021-07-09 06:03 pm (UTC)"Quite a bit to make sense of, in that case."
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Date: 2021-07-09 07:10 pm (UTC)"Yeah," she says. Harrow doesn't snap at her, does't pull away, so Gideon keeps up the soft, gentle, searching touch. "Do you want to go out later? I was thinking we could try a date."
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Date: 2021-07-10 09:35 pm (UTC)"We go out plenty, Nav. How many times have you dragged me to the beach, or that...park in the center of the city?"
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Date: 2021-07-11 01:12 pm (UTC)Harrow retracts, recoils and something in Gideon's belly twists. She takes her own hand away, curling them both around her mug.
"Yeah, you're right," she says. "Stupid idea."
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Date: 2021-07-11 03:20 pm (UTC)"I should get dressed."
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Date: 2021-07-11 05:44 pm (UTC)"Yeah, me too," says Gideon, making a concerted effort to pull herself together. "I've got to be at work in..." She glances at her phone. "Like an hour."
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Date: 2021-07-11 06:17 pm (UTC)"You're home after four again, right?"
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Date: 2021-07-11 06:29 pm (UTC)"Something like that, yeah," says Gideon, draining the last of her own tea and setting down her mug. "I'll grab stuff for dinner on the way home."
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Date: 2021-07-13 03:54 pm (UTC)She ignores the plan for dinner; the subject of her diet had been raised embarrassingly often since her arrival here, negotiations made and small experiments undertaken. She's better about it than she used to be, but that doesn't mean she's required to enjoy it. She starts towards the bedroom door, towards the hallway and freedom.
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Date: 2021-07-14 01:05 pm (UTC)"Roger that, Gloom Maiden," says Gideon. Harrow scuttles away and Gideon stays sprawled on her bed for a long few minutes, staring at the ceiling, a muscle ticking in her jaw.