hollowchild | IC Inbox

[He takes that handkerchief, lifting an eyebrow at her as he pushes it under his nose to stop the bleeding. He's also giving her a rather testing look. Really, Sophie? Really? You want to wait that long?]

[she raises one right back, a mirror image]

If I have to. I might be a bit put out, but there are worse things.

[in fairness, she's pretty sure that draco will care about being stiff and cold and uncomfortable before she will. and they both know that he told her where he was because he wanted her there]

[He rolls his eyes, sitting back to lean on his free hand and just stare at the ceiling while he's monitoring the nosebleed. She's right, he will care first and he did want her there.

But he's being stubborn as hell even if she's trying to console him. So he's just staring at her without saying a word.]

[two can playing the staring game, though. her own nosebleed is almost stopped, and she just lets it run until it almost hits her lip before she dabs the black away. there's no evidence of anger or even annoyance in her expression. she's just waiting.

the only sign that she's not completely implacable is the fact that her fingers are playing with the fabric of whatever piece of his clothing is the closest to her]

[It's a good five minutes of silence where he's got the handkerchief to his nose and he's staring at her, thinking. He's ignoring the way she's playing with the bottom of his shirt, ignoring the way she's just staring into his soul for the time being.

Pulling away the handkerchief he uses his free hand to start idly examining his ribs, wincing when he finds a few places that are surely going to be bruised.]

...what was the question?

[the side of her mouth quirks down when he winces, but she doesn't move. he's a little roughed up, but it's still nothing compared to what she'd done to herself. that didn't mean jade wouldn't have a few things to say about it, though]

What is all this really about?

I told you. Wanted to get in the extra practice. [He's running his tongue over his lower lip, wincing at the split. That's a little deeper than he wanted.]

You wanted me to hurt you. And maybe to hurt something a bit in exchange. What happened, Draco?

[A shrug.] Didn't do too much damage, did I?

No. But it wouldn't really have mattered to me if you did. I'm the one who made the mistake.

And you're stalling.

What mistake? [Let's just keep stalling then.]

[simply, like there's not a world of trauma behind the reason this happened]

You pinned me and I panicked and threw you. I should've been ready for it.

...[Goddamnit Draco. You were in her dreams. You were her in her dreams, how could you have been so stupid? He suddenly looks sick as he puts the pieces together, shaking his head and recoiling again.] ...and I should've been smart enough to remember not to do that.

At that moment? No, not really. You weren't fighting me, you were fighting whatever's in your head. And no, that's not just me excusing you.

My head's fine. [And it really is, considering how he's being oh-so-careful not to look at her.] It's not an excuse either way.

[so very, very gentle]

You are getting worse and worse at lying to me. And I'm not upset about it, Draco, other than being annoyed at myself.

[He's silent again when he stares at her, idly scratching at his left wrist before looking away entirely.]

...have I ever told you how much I hate sleeping?

You've mentioned.

I hate it. I hate it, I hate this! [What "this" is, he isn't quite sure how to articulate without more or less screaming that he hates himself.]

I know.

[it's not placating, just accepting. she knows he hates the things he's done and not done]

No, Sophie. No you don't. You don't. How can you possibly know something I don't even fully understand?

Try me, Draco. Tell me what I don't know.

[it's kind of like getting angry at a wall that can see right into the depths of him and is subtly egging him on]

...[Oh. Oh, wait, what? He's just staring at her for a moment, flabbergasted that she seems to actually be asking.]

...nightmares can fuck off. The gods can fuck off. Everything can fuck off. [He's kind of just getting progressively more frustrated.] How dare they invade our privacy like that and how dare they make us relive everything we've been trying to avoid?

[because she wants to know, draco. gosh.]

They're gods, it seems they dare as they like. Most of us do that anyway. It's the part where we had to share that bothers me.

...yeah. That, too.

[He looks like he has a lot to say. He really does have a lot to say but he has absolutely no idea how to go about speaking.]

Even now that it's all said and done, the damage is still there.

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