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The underground bunker was enormous- almost the same size as one of the great halls back in Arborlon, Amberle thought, with a slight shiver of helpless wonder. But Arborlon was a glowing, graceful structure designed by the finest elvish architects in all the Four Lands, and this was...not.
Compared to the golden light, tiled floors, and soaring ceilings Amberle had grown up with, the bunker was a horrible mess- the ground cracked, dusty, and ancient underfoot, the paint flaking off bare concrete surfaces, every available crack in the walls and ceiling choked with dry earth and twisted roots. There were Old Age remnants everywhere- small round tables, scattered with rotting leaves- grimy, flimsy chairs resting in the final awkward angles with which their owners had left them- torn books and faded silks and rusted metal, all disconnected fragments of a centuries-old story that nothing and no one would ever know.
Amberle let her eyes flit from object to object as the girl at her side dug the needle and thread out from a pocket- don't think about it, think about something else- and tapped her heel absently on the cold wooden bench beneath her boots.
She wondered who had been here before the two of them, and what they'd been doing, before the world had fallen apart. She wondered if they had been happy.
She hoped so.
"Hey, I'm going to start the stitches now, alright?"
There was a soft tap of fingertips on her shoulder, drawing Amberle's attention. She looked over blankly, and met Eretria's gaze. The rover frowned, concerned, at the vacant expression on Amberle's face.
"You okay?"
Amberle blinked. She still wasn't used to Eretria caring so much. It was like she was a different person, down here in the bunker- softer, smaller, more vulnerable in the faded light.
"Yeah, I just...yeah." Amberle muttered, shaking herself out of her daze. Eretria raised an eyebrow at her, and she looked away again. "Just...please, get it over with."
Eretria studied her a moment more, and then nodded. Her fingers tightened arround Amberle's wounded arm. Amberle took a small, unsteady breath, and steeled herself.
It was over quickly- but not quickly enough, in Amberle's opinion. She couldn't stifle her various growls and whimpers of agony, and had to clench her jaw, hard, to stop the tears from falling. However, the girl's stitches were deft and sure. Just as Amberle felt as if her teeth were going to shatter from the force with which she was gritting them, there was a short, sharp tug, a little twist of the string against her skin, and Eretria drew away.
"There," Eretria said, with a proud lilt to her voice, "that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Amberle looked at her incredulously, the pain throbbing and pulsing from her now-closed wound all the way down to her fingertips. Eretria rolled her eyes, tossed a roll of bandages at her- honestly, do rovers have supplies for everything? -and Amberle just barely caught it in time, because there was an actual-for-real smile struggling at the edge of Eretria's lips, and how could she not stare at that?
"See something you like, Princess?" Amberle ducked her head, biting her lip to keep a few choice insults from spilling out- damn Eretria and her stupid, unexpectedly flirty ways. She tore off a section of bandage and wound it tightly around her arm, ignoring what must be one of Eretria's sly grins- the ones the always seemed to make heat rise in the tips of her ears for no apparent reason.
When she'd finished, she threw the roll back at Eretria as hard as she could, definitely completely totally ignoring the sharp bark of laughter from the rover.
"Shut up," she hissed, raising her gaze to Eretria's, just knowing the other could clearly see the embarrassment written all over her face- and Eretria nearly doubled over, clutching at her stomach, eyes bright in the dusty gloom. Amberle's face only grew hotter when Eretria wheezed,
"Oh my god, Amberle. You look like-" she gasped another laugh, "you look like that time Wil caught you staring at his not-so-innocent area."
Amberle clenched her jaw at that, as a fresh wave of embarrassment rolled over her- honestly, it was just her luck that Eretria had noticed the one time she'd looked- and anyway she hadn't even been checking him out really, she was just wondering-
Amberle cut off her thought mid-sentence. That was definitely far enough. She scowled against her blush and reached over to clap a hand over Eretria's mouth, abruptly shutting off her laughter. The rover looked at her incredulously, body still shaking with stifled mirth, but Amberle didn't care.
"Listen, you bloody Rover," Amberle hissed, glaring directly into Eretria's eyes, "If you don't shut the hell up, I'll be forced to make you."
Infuriatingly, Eretria smirked against her palm. "I could suggest a few ways of doing that."
Amberle snatched her hand away, her stomach lurching- not altogether unpleasantly, although she'd battle another demon before ever letting Eretria know that. With a loud, defiant huff, she rose to her feet- and almost instantly lost her balance on the uneven ground. In the blink of an eye, Eretria was up and steadying her.
"No, you idiot-" her hands settled on Amberle's shoulders, "-what the hell are you doing?"
She started to retort, but then Eretria looked up at her, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance- and Amberle's breath caught in her throat. The rover's girl's eyes were dark and shining, and her touch was light against Amberle's shoulders, and she was more beautiful than Amberle had ever seen her- not that Amberle had ever really noticed Eretria's looks before. Of course not.
Oh, who was she kidding?
"Princess," Eretria said, and her voice was suddenly quieter, "You've lost a lot of blood. Come sit back down. "
Amberle stared at her- the heartless rover, concerned for an elvish girl, of all people- and she couldn't help the smile that broke out across her face.
"What?" Eretria asked defensively, her touch wavering on Amberle's shoulders. "What's so funny?"
"You." Amberle said simply- and then instinct took over, and, ignoring the flaring pain in her arm, reached out to place her hands on Eretria's hips. Startled, the other girl flinched away- but Amberle drew her gently back, colliding their hips together with a soft bump of cloth on leather.
"What are you doing?" Eretria hissed, her expression one of utter confusion. Amberle shrugged, feigning nonchalance.
"I don't want to sit down," Amberle said, "So you're going to join me while I stand."
Eretria frowned. "Uh...what?"
"Also," Amberle's grin widened, "This way I'm taller than you, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it." Eretria rolled her eyes, irritated.
"You're really weird, you know that?"
But her arms slipped into place around Amberle's neck anyway.
Despite herself, Amberle's heartbeat quickened. She honestly had no idea what they were doing- the Elfhunters will pick up our trail soon, we need to move- but then Eretria rested their foreheads together, and Amberle lost her train of thought.
"...Yeah, whatever." She huffed. She felt herself blushing (which was idiotic- but then again, she'd been doing a lot of idiotic things around Eretria lately) and avoided the other girl's gaze. For a few moments, neither of them said or did anything. The silence crept in- slow, deadly, and almost cripplingly awkward.
Then Eretria let out a heavy sigh, and pulled back slightly. Amberle tensed, readying herself for the inevitable destruction of their spontaneous embrace- but Eretria's fingers only tucked a stray strand of hair carefully behind one of her pointed ears. Her touch lingered there. After another long moment, Amberle couldn't resist stealing a quick look upward.
It only took a glance, and then Amberle couldn't tear her eyes away.
In the half-light, this close to her, the rover girl's eyes were dark, and shy. Her arms were loose and warm against Amberle's shoulders, and her eyebrows were furrowed with uncertain care.
For the first time, Amberle saw none of her usual confidence or swaggering demeanour- she just saw a girl, soft and small and scared in her arms. It made something ache, deep and forlorn and longing, way down in Amberle's bones.
"What are we doing?" Amberle asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
Eretria studied her for a single, breathless moment, and then a bright, vulnerable smile curled slowly at the edge of her lips. It was, quite possibly, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen- Arborlon, for all its grandeur, didn't even come close.
"I don't know."
And with those three words, Amberle's universe narrowed. Gathering all of her bravery, she took a deep breath, screamed a mental SCREW YOU at everything telling her not to, and kissed Eretria.
The first second, in which their lips met, was instantly solidified in Amberle's memory. It was sparks, it was fireflies, it was chills running through her entire body in a fraction of a moment. She knew, no matter what happened, that she'd always remember the first second.
But when Eretria's fingers curled behind her ear, and she kissed her back...
It wasn't rough or desperate, but passionate, meaningful. It was weightless- what Amberle supposed flying must feel like - and made tingles run like wildfire through her bloodstream, shivery and dangerous and wonderful. Amberle's stomach swooped when Eretria tugged her closer, pushing herself up onto her tiptoes for better reach.
If Amberle had been able to form anything close to rational thought, she would've realised that she'd never seen Eretria kiss anyone so carefully before- not Wil, not Tye- but all she could comprehend was the press of her hands against Eretria's hips, and the warmth of the rover's body, and the movement of her lips against her own.
Eventually, (in what could've been hours or minutes or simply moments, she honestly had no idea) they broke apart to catch their breath, noses brushing, foreheads pressed together again.
"So..." Eretria began, when she'd finally regained her voice, "that...wasn't so bad, was it?"
Amberle laughed- a loud, breathless noise.
"Well, duh."
Eretria looked at her, eyes dancing, and...wow. Amberle's heart did stupid things inside her chest, because Eretria looked happy, more so than she'd ever seen her- smile wide, gaze joyful, lips swollen slightly from Amberle's kisses. Amberle grinned back, revelling in the fact that she, of all people, had managed to banish every last shadow from Eretria's face.
It was temporary, of course-
but Amberle Elessedil would take what she could get.
Just as she was leaning in to kiss her again (who wouldn't, with Eretria in their arms) there was a sudden commotion from above.
The two leapt apart, startled. There were several shouts from the surface above, echoing threateningly around the bunker- and then, from the jagged gap in the centre of the ceiling, several ropes uncoiled and plummeted toward the floor with a series of loud thumps.
"Elf Hunters," Eretria hissed, reaching for her dagger. Her face went suddenly grim- the giddiness of a few moments before all but disappeared, in a matter of seconds. Fear leapt, acidic and sickening, into Amberle's throat.
"They've found us."