[ Rhaenyra cannot help the selfish little stumble in her mind - what about me? - when she realizes his intent to move to his own quarters like so many others have. Still staying in the room beside his, she feels suddenly lonely.
It takes her a lingering second to collect herself. ]
That... sounds perfect for you. I've always imagined you at home in just such a place.
[ Because it's true, and the affection that image has always sparked in her kindles a real happiness for him now. ]
Yeah, more or less, [he answers her distractedly, but he can hear the hitch in her voice, and it makes him feel like he's already abandoned her, even while knowing why he reached out to her in the first place.
a fraught moment of hesitation; then, he clears his throat and says,]
Look, um. It's nothing compared to what you're used to, but it does have a loft. Wouldn't take much work at all to put in a second bed up there, a wardrobe--whatever you want, really, [said with some sheepish chagrin,] as long as I can haul it up the stairs.
[another beat, before he adds,] You don't have to. I mean, I'd like for you to, but--christ, let me start again.
[ The heaviness in her heart flies away like a bird when she realizes what it is he's actually attempting to say. He's begun badly, it seems, but she understands his intent and she feels like she's soaring.
He'd considered her. Planned for her. Alicent had been the only one here to do the same for her when she'd invited Rhaenyra to stay in the house the rest of her family had found for themselves. But that had been short-lived, had left her in the situation she's in now.
That Will had rescued her from. And he's offering to do so again. ]
You mean to give me a place to stay? A... home? With you?
[ It's as though she needs to hear him say it, properly. Yet her curiosity cannot help her from asking: ]
Yeah. Yeah, if you want it, it's yours. [something twists in his heart at what hope does to her voice. it's so easy for her pain and despair to become his pain and despair, even without seeing her in front of him. the telepathic connection between their minds does so much of the heavy lifting for his weird empathy condition; all he has left to do is endure the onslaught of feeling that follows.
it's a sensory overload, of a sort, but it's not all bad. her relief and joy warm him from the inside out, like a woodstove in winter. he's begun to smile without realizing he's doing it.]
Uh. It's, [a dry laugh of realization, because this is what started them down this path months ago, wasn't it,] it's sort of like an attic, actually. But it's not entirely closed off from the main body of the house.
...Honestly, you can have the bedroom on the ground floor if you want it instead, I just thought you might, I don't know, [a beat, where he scratches his day-old stubble, awkward,] want some privacy, maybe.
[ Even though she's been smiling to herself in the privacy of the boarding house room she's been staying in, her face falls comically at the mention of an attic. The place she's imagining for Will (with limited references, surely) doesn't have nearly the space for what Aegon had shut her up in and for a terrible moment she pictures a closet at the top of a flight of rickety stairs.
Yet as soon as he walks the offer back, changes it in the slightest, Rhaenyra doesn't have the heart to force that on him, the rearranging of his space. She doesn't want to reject such a gift. ]
No, no. I... would feel safer up above. Though I'm not sure I'm imagining it all correctly.
We could go now, if you want. I've already moved in my things and talked to Nancy. [Nancy Wheeler, his roommate; whatever reservations he has about leaving her alone in the boarding house, he feels confident enough in her ability to protect herself. he has no such confidence about Rhaenyra--not through any fault of her own, but after what Aegon and Aemond did to her--
he takes a breath, a little hesitant.] You're sure about this? [pause.] Alicent won't give you trouble about it?
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yati
no subject
Date: 2024-07-28 12:50 am (UTC)It takes her a lingering second to collect herself. ]
That... sounds perfect for you. I've always imagined you at home in just such a place.
[ Because it's true, and the affection that image has always sparked in her kindles a real happiness for him now. ]
Have the arrangements already been made?
no subject
Date: 2024-07-30 01:03 am (UTC)a fraught moment of hesitation; then, he clears his throat and says,]
Look, um. It's nothing compared to what you're used to, but it does have a loft. Wouldn't take much work at all to put in a second bed up there, a wardrobe--whatever you want, really, [said with some sheepish chagrin,] as long as I can haul it up the stairs.
[another beat, before he adds,] You don't have to. I mean, I'd like for you to, but--christ, let me start again.
[don't let him start again, Rhaenyra.]
no subject
Date: 2024-08-07 04:39 am (UTC)He'd considered her. Planned for her. Alicent had been the only one here to do the same for her when she'd invited Rhaenyra to stay in the house the rest of her family had found for themselves. But that had been short-lived, had left her in the situation she's in now.
That Will had rescued her from. And he's offering to do so again. ]
You mean to give me a place to stay? A... home? With you?
[ It's as though she needs to hear him say it, properly. Yet her curiosity cannot help her from asking: ]
But what is a 'loft'?
no subject
Date: 2024-08-07 11:11 pm (UTC)it's a sensory overload, of a sort, but it's not all bad. her relief and joy warm him from the inside out, like a woodstove in winter. he's begun to smile without realizing he's doing it.]
Uh. It's, [a dry laugh of realization, because this is what started them down this path months ago, wasn't it,] it's sort of like an attic, actually. But it's not entirely closed off from the main body of the house.
...Honestly, you can have the bedroom on the ground floor if you want it instead, I just thought you might, I don't know, [a beat, where he scratches his day-old stubble, awkward,] want some privacy, maybe.
no subject
Date: 2024-08-08 04:15 am (UTC)Yet as soon as he walks the offer back, changes it in the slightest, Rhaenyra doesn't have the heart to force that on him, the rearranging of his space. She doesn't want to reject such a gift. ]
No, no. I... would feel safer up above. Though I'm not sure I'm imagining it all correctly.
Are you... will we be leaving soon?
no subject
Date: 2024-08-08 11:50 pm (UTC)he takes a breath, a little hesitant.] You're sure about this? [pause.] Alicent won't give you trouble about it?
[about moving in with a strange man. with him.]