.:Nerys and Cassie part 2:.
"What about your friend, Vak?" asks Cassie.
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Nerys shakes her head slowly, "She's a friend, nothing more. I trust her completely but her duties and my way of life seem to conflict sometimes," she sighs, "I wish I could see my family, my mother."
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Cassie relaxes a little, "So there's nothing between you and Vak then?"
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Nerys laughs, "No, and she'd kill me if I tried anything. She made that much clear when we first met."
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A knot makes her hiss slightly, and Cassie apologises, "What about your family?"
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For a moment, Nerys seems to stiffen up again, then relaxes, but stays silent for a while, unsure of what to say. At last she speaks, her voice quieter than before, her words faltering. "My mother vanished when I was a child, I thought she was dead after I'd spent months searching for her. I moved on, found work and built up my life. I met Vak and we spent our days wandering round, getting each other out of trouble, then she became a squire and things started going wrong."
She pauses as Cassie finds a spot on her back that makes her shiver, but quickly composes herself.
"I was introduced to the joys of court life,” She explains sarcastically. "That one time I was there, I spent the entire evening being asked if I had been away travelling, having curious looks directed at me, and I had no idea why. Then there she is; my mother, on the arm of the man who has been trying to get rid of me for the last year." She shakes with unshed tears. "I'm the daughter of the man who has been trying to kill me, who I have been trying to bring to justice. The one thing that I've wanted for the last nine years brings me more misery and confusion."
Finally the sobs break through, and she pulls away from Cassie, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
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As Nerys talks, Cassie works her hands over Nerys' back, listening to the woman, but denying her curiosity and not interrupting. She allows herself a brief smile when she finds a point on Nerys' back that causes her to shiver, but continues in silence.
*Don't, she needs to let this out, that's what mam'd say. She's not much older than me, shouldn't've had this. But do I need to be gettin' myself involved?*
She sighs and continues, changing her movements from working the knots out tired muscles to rubbing Nerys' back in what she hopes is a comforting manner.
She feels the sobs overwhelm the other woman, and allows her to pull away, and watches her curl up, somehow reminded of a small child.
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Tears flowed and thoughts raced through Nerys' mind faster than she could grasp them.
*I shouldn't have, she'll hate me, why am I crying? I haven't cried over this since it happened. I've never told anyone, not even Vak, she doesn't know. She'll hate me. please! Touch me, say something. Let me know whether you hate me or not. Please.*
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Eventually she couldn't bear to watch the other woman. She thought to leave, get out while she still could, but realised that to do that would be wrong and ruin any chance of even friendship.
*Do I go to her or not? If I don't, will, she think I'm using her, or that I don't care? But if I do, she seems the type that keeps these things bottled up, she'll think that I think she's weak, which I... Oh this is gettin' me no-where.*
Slowly, so not to scare the sobbing woman, Cassie crawls over to her, and lightly places a hand on the red shirted shoulder.
Nerys flinches slightly at the unexpected contact, but doesn't pull away, a fact that Cassie takes as permission to move further.
Leaning over, Cassie places her other hand on Nerys' opposite shoulder, turning her so that even though Nerys' face is down turned, the two are facing.
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Nerys stills as she is forced to turn round, fighting the urge to lash out or bolt. She keeps her head down, and refuses to look up, even when Cassie tries to meet her gaze.
*Well, this is it. Time she tells me that I'm worthless and she hates me, and she's leaving. Good job Nerys.*
Her shoulders fall, all strength leaving her body, waiting for the bed to shift as the other woman leaves.
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But the only movement she feels is Cassie’s arms, as they wrap around her.
For a moment the young bar maid stares into nothing, a silent prayer gracing her lips, begging for patience and strength to carry this through.
Stillness engulfs the room, the only sound coming from Nerys as she sobs softly into Cassie’s shoulder.
After a moment, Cassie finds the courage to move, slowly rubbing the others back, murmuring softly.
So consumed by her concentration, it takes her a while to realise that her hand is no longer in contact with the rough cotton of Nerys' shirt, but uneven skin.
She tenses and quickly pulls her hand away, trying to ignore the tiny whimper from Nerys as she does so.
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*Hm, human contact. She doesn't hate me. No, maybe she does.*
A small whimper escapes from Nerys' lips as Cassie moves her hand from her back. Slowly she blinks and focuses her eyes before looking up at the blonde framed face nervously smiling down at her.
"Why d'you stop?" she mumbles.
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"Sorry, I, I don't want to do anything that I could regret, and I want to know where this is going first." She stammers out in one breath, before hiding a yawn behind her hand.
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Nerys nods. "I can understand. I'm not looking for a one night stand. I've had more of those than I care to remember, and I want something more. Whatever we do, it's not something casual, neither of us will regret it, at least not now."
She stands up and pulls off her shirt, revealing a scarred back covered by chest binding. She pulls open her bag and takes out an over-sized blue shirt, which she tosses onto the chest of drawers before starting to unwind the binding cloth.
"I like you Cassie, and I think I could get to like you a lot more over time." She continues talking with her back to the bed, completely unconcerned about her state of undress. She shrugs the shirt on and turns back to face Cassie.
"I haven't been chasing you all evening just to get you into bed. I'm a good judge of character, and if I'm perfectly honest, I'm somewhat lonely."
Her face falls a little, and she slumps back onto the bed.
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Cassie had slowly moved round the bed, following Nerys' movements as she changed from her travelling clothes, astounded at the others completely relaxed attitude.
"I," she started to say before stopping and thinking. "I'm glad you're not just chasing my body, but I really don't think I'd be able to travel with you all the time."
She goes to say something else, but finds herself lost for words, her mind reeling.
*What the? She's actually interested in me, rather than my body. An actual relationship, when was the last time one of those happened?*
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Nerys smiles slightly.
"That's the point. I don't want someone to travel with me. I have travelling companions, and I don't want to put you in that much danger. I want someone who isn't off running the risk of getting killed, someone who has a normal life away from all the awful things I have to deal with. Someone who I can come back to and relax with and forget the world and my family."
She pauses to think, scratching her back.
"And before you worry, I don't just want someone to sit at home and cook and clean and all that stuff. I'll have you know I'm a damn good cook!" She jokes at the end.
She then starts peeling off her battered trousers, inspecting the seams that possibly need repairing, and laying them over the back of the chair.
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