Fluff is good!

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ Lys has foregone the bar tonight. It doesn't feel right to be down there flirting, and she really doesn't know what to do with herself otherwise.

So she scurried off to Owen's apartment, and is curled on the couch with her ipod and a book, just reading. At one point, she starts to drift off, but she wants to stay awake to see Owen when he's done with work.

It doesn't work, and eventually she falls asleep, book open across her chest. ]

Comments

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

You see me turning into anything?

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

No, but you're not a shifter. I am and I'm broken.

[ It's not a gift, it's a curse and she'll believe that until the day she dies. ]

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're just a were-weasel.

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

Don't even joke, Owen.

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

... Okay.

[He's just going to chomp on this banana then.]

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ Well. This conversation got depressing. Just gonna nibble on her sandwich. ]

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

... I think I'm gonna go to bed.

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

... Okay. Do you mind if I crash on the couch?

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

Nope. Go on. Just don't break it.

[He says as he saunters out of the kitchen, absently peeling off his shirt in the process.]

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ Oh god oh god don't stare don't stare don't--- yeah, totally staring ]

Oh... kay.

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

[Aaaaaaaaaand he's turning around.]

Something wrong?

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ she is having so many inappropriate thoughts right now dkljhdskjfslgg

She just. Buries her face in her hands ]

Nothing wrong. 'm fine.

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

... You sure?

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ she answers perhaps a little too quickly ]

Yes. Yes I'm sure.

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

Okay, sweetheart. Whatever you say.

[Derp just going to saunter off to bed.]

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ She finishes her sandwich, and cleans up the kitchen as a distraction.

Despite her nap earlier, it doesn't take her long to drift off when she makes it back to the couch.

And she has another nightmare. One she hasn't had in years. She's by the river again, everything is the same as it was that day, only now she's grown. She's grown and her family is there. They're talking to her. Telling her that she's worthless, defective. Broken. They don't want her. They don't love her. They never have. And then they push her in.

There's no rescue this time- her abilities won't respond- and she's swept away, pulled under by the current.

She wakes up gasping and crying and shaking. It takes her a moment to collect herself, and she just sits there in the dark for a while. Eventually, and against her better judgement, she pads into Owen's room, and crawls into bed next to him. She doesn't even bother to shift this time. She just needs to know that someone, anyone, is there. So she curls as close as she dares, silent sobs occasionally shaking through her. ]

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

[To be honest, he was sort of expecting this. Which is why there's an extra pillow there. And why he was sort of half asleep and listening for the door, and the footsteps.]

[He slings an arm out, too, waiting.]

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ She doesn't notice any of it, really. She's too shaken by the dream. She just crawls into bed and lies down, trying not to disturb him. ]

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

[He shifts his arm, rolling her up into a big man-hug. And pretends to snore like this wasn't at all intentional.]

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ She gasps a little, surprised. Then she apparently decides "fuck it", and clings.

She doesn't let go of him for the rest of the night. ]

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

[You know what? He lets her. Because she needs it. She needs someone to look out for her.]

[And he's okay with being that guy.]

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ She wants him to be that guy. There's no one else with whom she's felt welcomed, and cared for, and safe. ]

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

[He'll let her cling. All night. Until he actually has to get up. Then he'll slide his pillow into her grip instead.]

[But he won't go too far. Just to the chair in the corner of the room. And the guitar.]

[Good morning, dollface. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuntwLsRAts)]

[youotterknow.livejournal.com]

[ The familiar song wakes her up. She stirs a little, groggily sitting up.

It makes her cry again, but for a completely different reason than she was crying the night before. ]

[nalo-ahi.livejournal.com]

[Owen's not a terribly good singer. But he's not the kind to make eardrums bleed, either. So he's probably just sort of murmuring the lyrics along with the music until the song winds down, and he idly toys with the notes.]

Never thought you were the kind to cry at chick flicks, babe.