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Bernadetta was back in her chair. The agony of the position was as bad as she remembered it, if not worse. The worn wood at her sides continued to scrape against her forearms with the slightest of movements, while her knees screamed as they were pressed tightly around the lip of the chair’s seat, her ankles bound to the legs in a way that was hard to correct. Bernie blushed, noticing that the skirt she found herself favouring these days was spread by the position- Dorothea had hammered home the lesson of crossing one’s legs when seated with a skirt. The contradiction startled her briefly, as she tried to think about where she was, before her attempt to lean forward was broken by the ropes around her waist and chest. She never remembered her father using chest ropes… perhaps tonight’s captor wasn’t her father.
She heard the footsteps of her captor’s arrival, noting the familiar clacking sound of heels. Dorothea wore them all the time, and come to think of it, her favourite active heels sounded exactly like the ones coming towards her. Bernadetta tried turning her head, only for it to snap back to face her front, away from the door, entirely on its own. The woman knelt down in front of her on her own time, pulling her head up and confirming that it was indeed Dorothea- Bernadetta couldn’t help but turn red at the thought of having guessed as much entirely by her pace.
“Help me…” Bernadetta mumbled, not quite feeling up to saying more. Dorothea placed a kiss on her cheek, and her arms came around her for a hug. And also to try and undo her chest rope, but mostly for the hug. She didn’t delay in getting the knot undone, however, pulling back to get her out of the ropes on her wrists and elbows.
“Where… where am I?” Bernadetta asked. She was groggy, yes, but she honestly couldn’t remember whether she was tired, recently knocked out or sick, or more than one of those.
“You’re with me now, Bernie. It doesn’t matter anymore,” Dorothea said. With her arms freed, Bernie lunged forward for another hug, only to find the waist rope contracting around her before she could confirm her grip. She was sent back into the chair, and Dorothea caught her before she hurt herself too badly from the whiplash.
“Just a little more…” Dorothea said, her fingers quite adept at undoing the knots. Bernie knew she had escaped from kidnappings in the past, but had never quite mustered up the nerve to ask how. Thinking of Dorothea tied up felt wrong to her, like seeing the Professor disarmed and beaten, or Magdalene friendly and carefree. That just wasn’t what happened to her friends.
“There we are,” Dorothea said, and Bernadetta jumped right off the chair to pull herself into a tight hug, danger be damned. Her Dorothea could protect her from anything. Her Dorothea was always protecting her from everything. Her Dorothea, holding her tightly as she struggled and squirmed to make sure she could move all right.
“Bern? Bernie? Are you all right?” Dorothea’s voice asked. Bernadetta blinked, looking up at the Dorothea leaning over her. Her red nightgown wasn’t quite what she had on a few seconds earlier, though Dorothea did like to bend such that she wouldn’t get a good look past those breasts of hers. Her hair was falling over Bernadetta’s face, however, and not down her own to frame it. Bernadetta realised that she was lying down, and Dorothea had climbed over her, though since her back felt incredibly comfortable lying on something much softer than a carpet, she knew she had to have been moved here.
“What happened, Thea?” Bernadetta asked.
“You were thrashing… everywhere. You nearly pushed me clean off the bed. It was a nightmare, wasn’t it? What was it?” Dorothea said. Bernadetta blinked, and pulled herself upright to get a grip on where this was. She was sitting on the bed… her bed, their bed, the one she always slept on here at the Varley’s house. She was wearing her purple nightgown, soft as silk, flattering to her figure and would’ve been torn to shreds pressed against her ropes like that.
“It was a nightmare… I was tied to a chair, and you came and rescued me,” Bernadetta said, her first thought being how bad that sounded.
“You must’ve been so scared until I got there…” Dorothea said, making sure to say something positive, as she always did. Dorothea had a quick wit and a sharp tongue, which she never failed to throw at other people, but when it came to Bernie, she never so much as joked about being angry.
“You’re always there for me, Thea. Even in my dreams…” Bernadetta said.
“And I always will be,” Dorothea said, giving her a firm kiss before pulling herself around back underneath the covers. Bernadetta dropped back down, and pulled herself tightly into Dorothea once she had readied herself. Bernie fell back to sleep, tightly grasping the real Dorothea to make sure her mind knew she had her. Dorothea grasped her firmly back, reminding herself of the beautiful noble girl that needed her.
“You are my sunshine… my darling sunshine… you keep me happy while these skies are grey…” Dorothea found herself softly singing. She could feel Bernadetta relax in her arms, and she continued singing whatever lyrics came to mind. Tired as she was, ideas such as rhyme, meter and whether the words formed coherent thoughts were far from her mind. All she needed to do was sing. Sing and feel Bernie’s stress melt away.
When Bernadetta’s eyes opened once more, it was neither on their bed or in the room with that chair. She was sitting beside Dorothea on a hill, looking out over an Adrestia bathed in the golden glow of sunlight. Dream or reality, she didn’t care which. Dorothea would be by her side either way, singing her beautiful melody.