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[princess_of_ida]

Three for the gleam of a jewel or a smile.



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[princess_of_ida]

Yes.

[No. She can't get drunk enough.]

[rezni]

Yes?

[ to the tune of:

[ doubt ] ]

[princess_of_ida]

[Fuck you.]






Why do you even want to see me?

[rezni]

Because I like you. I've missed your company.

[princess_of_ida]

I'm not going to sober up for you.

[rezni]

That's alright, as long as you don't mind that I don't intend to try catching up to you.

[princess_of_ida]

I don't care what you do. Drink, don't drink, bring me more drink, whatever.
In theory I won't be passed by the time you show up. No promises.

[rezni]

Leave space for me alongside you. I'll be there presently.

[princess_of_ida]

[Lucky for Nikolai, Ianthe was not passed out, just huddled in her robe on a pile of furs and pillows in front of the fire. One of the skeletons would let him inside, a touch of blood on his skin to bypass the ward.

Try not to trip on the empty bottles. She clearly hadn't cleaned or picked anything up in days.]

[rezni]

[ Newly bloodied, hair fallen to curls at the end of the day, Nikolai shrugs off his heavy coat as he comes to settle beside her. Nudges a few empty bottles aside. They clink together, rolling further from Ianthe's nest. ]

I'm glad to see you, [ Nikolai tells her. ] Thank you for letting me come.

[princess_of_ida]

[There was a moment after Nikolai settled down where Ianthe debated what she wanted to do. Pick up the half-finished bottle of wine on her other side or lean against Nikolai.

She took a swig then leaned against him.]

I'm shitty company.

[rezni]

[ Nikolai's hand comes up, threads fingers into her hair. Settles heavy at the nape of her neck. ]

No, [ he tells her, a solid, sturdy presence for her to lean into as he asks: ] What do you need?

cw: suicidal ideation

[princess_of_ida]

[To die. To feel absolutely nothing for a bit. For Alina to walk through her door and apologize. To be loved.]

Bad poetry. Spin me something, sailor.

[rezni]

Bad poetry, [ Nikolai repeats, thoughtful. ] Let me think.

[ But Nikolai had been a sailor and he had been a soldier. He had collected a number of questionable fragments in the course of his travels. ]

Here's one, [ he tells her, before he recites: ]

The wife of Sea Captain O'Shea
Missed his dick while he was aweigh,
found a dildo of wood,
that was almost as good,
now she's happily pining away.

[princess_of_ida]

[That got a snort of amusement.]

Good one. Limericks are classic.

[rezni]

Does it help?

[ A kind of joke. A single limerick cannot possibly shift the enormity of her pain. ]

[princess_of_ida]

Made me laugh. That's something.

[Ianthe took another swig before words came bubbling out, like pus from a lanced abscess.]

How's it feel to win?

[rezni]

Win?

[ Questioning. Quiet. ]

[princess_of_ida]

Yeah. I lose. [Again and again and again...]

'Smeans you win.

[rezni]

You and I already agreed that approach was folly.

[ That their presence in Alina's life didn't require the banishment of the other.

His fingers draw through her hair, careful not to tug at any tangles. Doesn't shift their position, not yet. ]

I know something must have happened. But she didn't speak of it to me, and I can't imagine it's not something that's beyond repair.

[princess_of_ida]

She doesn't want me anymore. [If she ever did.] Flew too close to the sun, wings melted and fell down, down, down...

Don't matter what we agreed. Never mattered. Never fucking mattered. Tried so hard for nothing.

[rezni]

[ For a moment, Nikolai is quiet. They lean into each other. Ianthe's misery rattles between them. His hands maintain their gentle sweep through her hair, slow and careful of pulling.

Eventually, he murmurs: ]

Would you tell me what happened?

[princess_of_ida]

[Even drunk, Ianthe remembered the things she promised Alina. She couldn't say what happened without inadvertently giving Nikolai too much context. Alina might not want Ianthe anymore, but the necromancer still loved her. That hadn't turned her vindictive yet, so she shook her head.]

No. Between me and her.

[rezni]

[ And that is a line Nikolai won't cross, prying after to what Alina and Ianthe hold to be private.

He presses a kiss to the top of Ianthe's head. ]

It's not beyond repair, whatever it was. Unless you wish it to be.

[princess_of_ida]

[It was the kiss on top of her head that had Ianthe letting go of the bottle to bring that hand up across Nikolai to clutch his shirt. Wine spilled to soak into the furs as Ianthe choked down a sob. Even drunk, Ianthe didn't cry in front of others.]

Never.