milliways_bar | (no subject)

Athelstan is hot on her heels. All too aware she isn't dressed for the weather, he pauses only to get a blanket from Bar.

Autor immediately hops on his carpet and follows. He zips through the back door and spots her and Athelstan both, flying high to keep an eye on them. He wonders if he should let her run to exhaust herself, and calls a bottle of water out of his sylladex for her in the meantime.

She isn't at her most coordinated, right now, but her movements are hastened by fear. Past the snow-mounded dormant plants of the gardens and the half-hidden garden fence, the greenhouse door slams shut hard enough to knock snow from its roof.

In the warm, earth-scented half-light, huddled down beneath the furthest grow-shelf, behind two large bags of peat moss and plant foot, Rae hugs her knees to her chest and tries to keep herself from shaking.

"Rae?" He was close enough to keep track of where she was going, and heard the door slam anyway. He opens and shuts it again more quietly. "Rae? It's me. He hasn't followed."

Autor drops off his carpet outside the greenhouse, and opens the door--making noise to let her know that he's there. "Rae? Athelstan and I just want to see if you're all right."

Holding herself tighter, the girl can't bring herself to answer, shaking and weak as the adrenaline runs its course. The blind panic of flight is leaving her, but only gradually. Tears of not-quite weeping wet her hoodie, leaving dark blotches against the already-dark blue.

The sound of her shaky breathing can be heard from the furthest corner of the greenhouse.

Athelstan follows the unhappy sound until he finds her, curled up under the shelf.

"There you are. Autor, I've found her!"

Autor jogs over to the pair. He crouches down, holding the water bottle, but doesn't reach out to her. "Rae?"

The girl has her back pressed against the wall, her knees hugged tight to her chest. She looks at them through her curtain of red hair, barely lifting her head. How can she go back in the bar? What if... what if that thing is still there?

"There's a set of stairs", Athelstan says, soft and soothing, "that goes up to the rooms without passing through the bar. Would you like to come to mine and Olivier's room for a while? I can make you a tea."

"There's a citrus-lavender-sage tea I know of that's nice and soothing," Autor tells Athelstan more than Rae at this point. "Rae, can I come under the shelf with you?"

The girl sniffs and lets out a quiet sob, nodding.

All that sounds... so nice. Somewhere away, safe and quiet, with tea, and people she knows and can trust.

Athelstan hovers anxiously, watching Autor wriggle under the shelf.

"Autor can come too, when you're ready. He can show me that blend."

Autor sits next to her, bending over to avoid knocking his head on the shelf. He offers Rae the uncapped bottle of water, but doesn't quite touch her. Not until she's ready.

A hand unclasped, its knuckles white, and gratefully took the water bottle. It is nearly half empty by the time she actually begins crying in earnest and folds herself up against Autor's side, clinging.

Yes, she's ready.

Athelstan doubles himself over as much as he can and slips under the shelf on her other side, close beside her, his folded knee pressed against hers.

The two of them, Athelstan and Autor, he's saying without words, will be there as long as she wants to stay, and will keep her safe.

Autor loops an arm around her, squeezing her tight against him. He gently strokes her arms and pets her hair. "Athelstan, do you have the blanket?"

"Yes." He picks it up, unfolds it, and carefully wraps it around Rae, tucking in the loose edges.

Rae weeps quietly, wishing she could tell them how much she appreciates this. The warmth, care, and company, keeping the dark at bay while she regains herself.

After some times, the tears slow. The girl wipes her red-rimmed eyes, her head feeling squashy and thick from all the crying.

"Thank you," she says, quietly. Rae may still be afraid, but the after-exhaustion of the faded adrenaline rush dulls it to a mere background anxiety. "Thank you both. For coming out after me."

There would be no telling how long she'd have stayed before feeling safe enough to return, otherwise.

"You're welcome," Autor says softly, and presses a kiss to the top of her head. He clings to her tightly, refusing to let her go, refusing to allow the fear to linger.

The boy makes silent promises against her hair to protect her as best he can, from mad raven beasts like Death or whatever may come. "We should probably go with Athelstan, now. For tea."

"You're always welcome", Athelstan backs him up. "The two of you can come with me, there shall be tea and I'll light a fire, and Rae, you can stay there as long as you like."

Autor can too, of course, he's not going to be thrown out, but Autor's not the one who needs it.

The girl shivers faintly, but loosens her hold and nods, all the same. The immediate horror of what had happened is no longer clanging through her nerves like ice, but she hasn't yet gotten it out of her head. That sudden immensity, too big to exist, too much to take in.

Her movements as she gets up are still shaky with the after-effects of the adrenaline rush.

Autor follows her, ducking his head again as he crawls out of the shelf. He caps the water bottle and holds on to it, and offers Rae what he hopes is a reassuring smile. "Lead the way, Athelstan."

"It's not far from the top of the stairs." He reaches to steady Rae, drawing her close into his side and securing the blanket around her again. "At least, it wasn't the last time I went to it."

Rae hadn't felt the cold in her mad dash outside, but she surely feels it now; shivering, she stays close to them as they make their way back towards the stairs.

"It... it won't still be there, will it?" she asks, plaintively. It, she says. Not he. "It was too big. Bigger than Milliways." The sound of her voice when she finally does speak carries a desperate need for reassurance, a need to understand in some way what she'd seen. It hadn't made sense. It was too much to comprehend, and she doesn't know how to explain that.

Autor places a hand on her head, if she lets him. "It won't be there," he promises, even though he has no way to promise any such thing. "We can check for you first and see."

He threads his fingers through her hair as they walk. "And yes, it was huge."

"We won't go through the bar room", Athelstan promises again. "And the man from Security was talking to it, perhaps he's locked it up."

She nods, hoping Athelstan is right. "It looks like a boy, but it's not. Do they know?"

Rae looks up at Autor. "You saw it, too?"

Autor nods, and then shudders. "It was... like a monstrous raven, with wings and eyes and black mist. It frightened me before in much the same manner and introduced itself as Death. I saw it as an adult."

"I only saw it after it changed", Athelstan says quietly. "I'm sure few people could have missed it."

The girl shudders again, not wanting to think about it, trying to put it from her mind but finding it terribly difficult. Her thoughts keep circling it, unable to pull away.

"Maybe... he won't be able to fool people anymore, then," Rae says, as they climb the stairs. "We'd... we'd had cake and played chinese checkers just the day before. I'd never played that game before, or tried those kinds of cakes... I just wanted to, you know, return the favor. But, I didn't know he was..."

Didn't know he was a monster. Didn't know he was Death.

Autor keeps near her, side by side. "No, I think people know who he is now. Sometimes monsters can hide in plain sight, but he's revealed himself too much now. People should know," the boy says. "He's terrifying."

"And now they will. Rae, try not to think about it. There are books in here, too, you can see the one I'm working on..." He'd offer anything to distract her, as they approach the door.

Rae nods, staying close to them.

Books are good, familiar, long-known distractions in times of fear. She knows. It sounds like the best thing she can imagine, right now. Books and tea and warmth and comfort, away from all harm.