Light A Way

24

Fractured pale sunlight struggled to find its way through the closed curtains. The light managed to find a way past the gaps where the curtains weren't closed fully. The rays flooded across the floor and took to illuminating the room within. It would be easy to say that it was this sudden light which had woken Charles up. But it was far from the truth. He had been awake for quite some time, just laying and looking thoughtfully from the ceiling to his sleeping companion beside him.

Elsie laid with half her face buried in the pillow, her mouth was open slightly and she breathed evenly, and looked rather peaceful. The only other time he had seen her sleep was when they had first met and she had slept on the plane. She didn't look entirely at peace then. But here she looked comfortable, at peace and content. Turning onto his side he propped himself up onto his elbow and leaned his head against his hand. Even with him stirring beside her, she remained unmoving. She may have twitched her nose and huddled more into the pillow, but that was about it. Her eyes remained shut, and her breathing remained steady and even.

Reaching out he pushed some of her hair out of her face, it was apparent the white locks were tickling her nose. Charles raised an eyebrow, was it possible to tickle oneself with their own hair? If not then Elsie was proving this fact was false. He managed to move her hair over her shoulder with some success, his hand halted though as he glanced at her shoulder. Even from underneath the dark vest she wore, he could spy the light trailing marks which seemed to etch her skin.

"Demon," came a tired voice, Charles looked down and noticed Elsie looking up at him tiredly. He had been concentrating on the course of the scars to not notice her waking beside him. "Devil's Child..." Elsie said in a wavering voice and wiggling her fingers, she was trying to do her best attempt at a spooky voice. She seemed to fail because he just stared at her blankly. "This is information I already informed you to." She huffed and laid onto her back. Crossing her arms over her stomach she looked up at him. "You've been awake for a while haven't you?"

"Yes, I don't think I could have slept in even if I tried."

"Please tell me you haven't been watching me sleep. That's bloody creepy if you have, Charles." Elsie looked at him worriedly.

Smirking he nodded his head slowly, she blanched and looked at him with wide eyes. "Yes, I did, because I didn't have anything else to do."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you." Elsie pointed a finger at him before resting her hand back against her stomach. Turning slowly so she was facing him, she smiled slowly. "Can we not move?"

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"It's wishful thinking I'm afraid." Elsie nodded into the pillow and shut her eyes. She let out a laugh when she was childishly poked, "Hey!"

"No going back to sleep." Charles lectured while taking to holding the hand she had swatted at him. Elsie frowned lightly yet nodded, managing to shift closer she huddled into his side and shut her eyes again. Charles merely reached down and held onto her. Smiling lightly he kissed the top of her head.

Their evening hadn't amounted to much, really. They had spent most of the time talking, mainly Elsie expressing concerns about what was to come. Charles did his best to sway her mind and make her feel positive, but it didn't exactly work. She shot him a few looks and decided to just leave it at that. Though she did flinch when he promptly told her she'd have to most likely conquer the dislike of planes, again. They had moved from the chairs near the fire, which she quickly lit while being supervised, to the bed. Nothing untoward happened, if anything moved too quickly Charles was rather sure he would have been kicked out of the room. Not that he wished to rush whatever him and Elsie had. As seemingly innocent as it was, it was fine for him, and it seemed more than fine for her.