'Be Near Me,' epilogue
Apr. 26th, 2010 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseFandom: Hellboy (movies)
Characters: Abe Sapien, Nuala, Hellboy, Liz Sherman, Nuada, and a small cast of OCs.
Timeline: post-movie-2 AU.
Summary: The trouble with getting what you want is that something unexpected almost inevitably comes out of it. If Abe actually reads fairy tales, he really should know better.
Title: Be Near Me
Warnings: Shameless OTPing, nudity, and implied sexual situations. Feel free to skip if you think your insulin count can't handle it - this is just the bit at the end that I couldn't quite convince myself to leave off, no matter how hard I tried. ;)
Rating: Teen, or so.
Pairing: Abe/Nuala
Thanks: To![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tavern_wench1 for the world's most awesome red-pen-of-doom beta job on an almost-complete draft after NaNoWriMo, and maymargaret, for giving me the seed of the idea late one night in a pub, working out the general outline with me on a walk around the lake, and generally cheerleading and never letting me forget this damned thing from the other side of the globe.
Dear gods, it's over. I'm going to go take a nap, I think...
Link to previous chapter: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
Although the pall of Aodh's death hung heavy over all of them that day, the children and Abe both began slowly to see the beauty of the court, as well as its slightly sinister, decaying qualities. The Chamberlain, now at least slightly familiar to all of them, held no more horror, and even Neasa could bring herself to be polite to the guards, despite lingering fear at their appearance. There was dinner, and music in the hall in their brother's honor, and the children took it all in with wide, slightly dazed eyes until the hour grew late and Abe saw Aedan stifling his third yawn in the last five minutes, and Neasa dozing with her head on Alastar’s shoulder. “Time for bed,” he told them gently. “There will be plenty of time to see more tomorrow.”
“Where will we sleep here?” Niamh asked, her voice muzzy with sleep.
“There are rooms prepared for you.” Nuala stood and took a shawl from a nearby shelf and draped it around the girl's shoulders - it was made of some strange fabric that looked like what spiders might make if they wove their webs of gold, but it felt peculiarly warm and soft against Niamh's skin. “Your father told me that you and Neasa usually share your room, and Aedan and Alastar another - I hope you don’t mind keeping that tradition for now?”
“No. Not at all,” Alastar said softly. He shook Neasa softly to wake her, and then helped her up, letting her lean on his arm as she stretched and yawned.
Nuala kept up a soft patter of conversation as she led them through the corridors, down into the court’s labyrinthine halls until they reached a pair of doorways directly opposing each other, made of an old metal gate fitted with a heavy gold curtain behind the wrought metal. “It looks like a cage,” Niamh muttered.
But even she gave up protest when Nuala opened both gates. Although the walls of the room were old cement and stone and the floors were of earth, just like the rest of the court that they’d seen so far, they were covered with rich tapestries and hangings in bright fabric, displaying complicated, twining images of flowers and leaves, scrolling vines and arching trees, with white birds occasionally peeking out of the stylized branches. Four beds had been laid out, two in each room, and all were set with thick coverlets. Pillows and cushions piled atop the blankets, and a coal brazier at the center of each room warmed it, while a few torches set into heavy metal sconces at regular intervals around the round rooms set the tapestries alive with their golden flickering.
“It’s beautiful,” Neasa whispered.
“I’m pleased you like it.” Nuala led them into the girls’ room first, showing them chests of clothing and toiletries that had been set in readiness. “From what your father tells me, you all prefer to sleep in open air, rather than water, correct?” All nodded. “Good, then. There are pools deeper beneath the court if you wish to swim tomorrow, but I must insist that you take your father or me with you if you decide to go down there - while some of them are perfectly safe, others are unwholesome, and I would not trust to guessing or even telling you which is which. Also, I should warn you that there are four guards stationed in the hall outside - two at each side. Don’t be afraid of them - they’re only there to keep watch for enemies, and to protect you. If you need anything, ask them. They don't speak, but they understand perfectly well and have been ordered to obey you in everything except things like allowing you down to the pools and a few other things I would fear might cause you harm. This has been a difficult day for all of us. I hope you sleep well.”
The children all thanked her, even Niamh - although her thanks was somewhat mumbled and a little forced - and then went in to settle in for bed, fighting in a tired and half-hearted way over who got which bed. Nuala closed the doors, their metal making a soft clanging sound almost like a bell as it closed, and then turned to Abe.
“Well, I... had better have you show me those pools, I suppose,” Abe offered awkwardly.
Nuala smiled and shook her head, holding out her hand. “Come with me. I’ve had a better thought for you.”
She led him further down into the tunnels, past several more contingents of the raven guards, until they reached a door that was all of dark wood covered with gold filigree in the shapes of a tree with leaves and branches spreading out across the whole width of the doorway. Abe recognized the seal of Bethmoora, remembered intensely from that night so long ago, when he'd seen it on Nuala's bracelet and known instantly that she was part of the puzzle they had first come here to solve. The sign of the royal family... hers alone, now, he supposed.
“This, ah... would be your room?” Abe hung back as she opened the door. She turned, halfway in, the door still mostly closed around her, and beckoned him on, her gold eyes and white skin almost glowing in the dim light of the corridor. It gave her an ethereal, almost ghost-like appearance that reminded him still more of the first time he’d seen her - a walking phantom clad in rough fabric that utterly failed to disguise her delicate beauty. “Nuala, I...”
“Trust me, Abraham.” She held out her hand to him, and smiled as though she thought his reticence deeply amusing. “Come in. Please?”
What could he do? He took her hand, and allowed her to lead him into the room.
If he’d thought the rooms that she’d set up for the children had been impressive, this room was a wonder. In a way it was simple - colored all in dark wood and gold with blue accents, and smallish compared to the huge court hall above them or to the rooms for the children. But the furniture was all of fine dark wood with gold inlay and fixtures. There was a writing desk with scrolls still spread across it and rolled up in a basket beneath it, and a blue-glass jar that looked to him like the sort of thing that might be found washed up on a beach, filled with long feathers - quills, he thought with some surprise. They still wrote with quills - a strangely charming and quaint thought, that of Nuala carefully trimming a quill, dipping it in ink and then writing out her court documents. There were books, too, on a shelf by the desk - books of all sorts, some old and bound in leather or even wood, some new and bound in cloth or even, in a few cases, paperbacks. It seemed that Nuala had been making at least some effort to catch up on the Human world above - Abe recognized a few basic books of science amid the collection, and a couple of pieces of recent literature. It must all of been scavenged from above, he realized, possibly even from the garbage, or perhaps stolen by agents of the court. But it was oddly charming, if incongruent.
Beside the bookshelves there was a large chest of drawers with a beautiful white porcelain ewer and bowl atop it, and a gold-rimmed mirror. Across from that was... well, Abe supposed it was a bed, but it was curtained off with fine gold drapes embroidered all over in vines and leaves, and all he could see of it other than that was a rich blue coverlet that peeked out from the bottom, and looked like at least part of it was made of velvet.
“It must, er, get very cold down here,” he offered, trying to reference the curtains and the velvet of the covers.
Nuala ignored his awkward attempt at conversation, and only said, “Look over there, Abraham.”
He followed her pointing hand. Tucked into the wall on the far side of the room, near enough to the bed to nearly be considered adjacent to it, was a pool of water. The edge of it was raised just slightly, surrounded by rocks, and - he had no idea how she might have done this apart from by magic - there were plants growing in the water. Water lilies of some kind, but their flowers were completely black.
“They look a bit dreary, I know,” Nuala admitted, walking over to sit down on the rocky edge of the pool, “but my forefathers raised them to grow here, underground, to keep us company and please our hearts. We hate to be away from growing things. They’re quite safe unless you eat them,” she added with a little smile. “They’re poison to eat, although they can be quite useful in certain spells and potions.”
“Nuala, I...” Abe shook his head, completely at a loss for words. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then say nothing. Or, I should say, say nothing but that you will stay with me tonight. I ask no promise beyond that - and would rather you say nothing than make promises you cannot keep, Abraham, because I have wanted you here for so long that I assure you I would be wrathful if you told me you would stay and later made a lie of that.” She smiled while she said it, but Abe had the distinct impression that what she said was in deadly earnest.
“Of course I’ll stay with you tonight.”
Nuala favored him with a brilliant smile. “I’m so pleased, Abraham - and so relieved.”
“How could you think I wouldn’t?”
“Well... thirteen years is a very long time. After all that's happened, and all that happened today... Also, Niamh told me of a woman back at the Bureau...”
“Eve.” Abe sighed. “She’s one of the other agents. A scientist. Niamh’s very fond of her - she’s... well, I suppose one could say that she’s... That is to say...”
“She’s been a surrogate mother to them?” Nuala suggested. “It’s all right, Abraham. I wouldn’t expect anything else. And I find it not at all shocking that you would have had a few would-be suitors in such a long time.”
“It surprised me,” Abe admitted.
Nuala laughed. “And that is part of your charm, Abraham. You will never understand, I think, how very appealing you are. Although you’ll forgive me, I hope, if I do my best to convince you of that fact.”
“I... wouldn’t mind that a bit, actually.”
“Good.”
“But... you built that for me?”
Nuala shrugged. “There are a number of underground streams in this area. I simply diverted one of them to this pool that I had made. It’s not quite as big as your tank back at the Bureau, I’m afraid...”
“That’s quite all right.”
“I admit, I thought that tank rather horrifyingly empty,” she continued. “I hope you don’t mind that I improved on it with the plants and rocks and so on. I thought you might enjoy the more natural-looking scenery.”
“I do, very much so.” Abe sat beside her on the edge. “Have you... but of course you haven’t been in.”
“No. I had hoped to save that... as something we could do together.”
Abe stared at her.
“I can swim, you know,” Nuala teased gently. “If you’re looking for someone who can match your own skill I’m afraid you would have been better off with a siren or a selkie, but I’m considered quite capable in the water by the standards of my own people. We could look into it tonight... if you’re not too tired?”
Abe shook his head in wonder. “If you feel up to it, of course.” He turned around and dropped lightly into the water, watching the ripples he caused expand out over the area of the pool. It was much deeper than he might have guessed, he realized - his feet didn’t touch the ground when he went in, and he had a feeling it would be quite a long way before they did. Nuala moved to join him, but he raised one finger to forestall her. “I think,” he told her gently, mimicking her own words more than thirteen years prior, “that you might want to dispense with the clothing.”
Nuala smiled. “Of course.”
"Just the water, tonight," Abe blurted. "The... rest... After today..."
"I know." Nuala touched his hand lightly. I hardly knew him, and I miss him deeply. I can only imagine...
Abe winced, but twined his fingers with hers, his mind a helpless blank.
"The water will make you feel better," Nuala suggested gently.
For all their layers and what, to Abe, seemed like unreasonably complex structure and closures for simple garments, Nuala made surprisingly simple work of removing her clothes. The wide sash of white and its closure-cord of gold were thrown casually across the back of her chair, and then the outer robe of many shades of blue and green simply shrugged off, followed by an under-robe of gold and another of the thinnest, gauzy white silk Abe had ever seen. That last, he thought, was almost a pity to have been removed so quickly - it was strangely tantalizing in the way it blended with the color of Nuala’s hair, and both hid the details of her without in the slightest concealing the shape of her beneath it. Her beaded gold shoes she left to last, slipping out of them and padding over to the edge of the pool on tiny feet that looked like they’d been carved of ivory.
One thing remained - a small bottle of amber glass, stoppered, wrapped in something that looked like golden spiderwebs, and bound by a sturdy cord around her neck, hanging just above her heart. Abe started to reach out toward it, wondering what such an odd little piece of jewelry could possibly mean to her... and then remembered.
"Your brother," he said. He couldn't keep the anger out of his tone - their son was not a full day dead, and Nuala wore her brother, his killer, against her skin?
Nuala reached up and untied the cord with one hand, holding the bottle in the other. "He wasn't always as he was when you knew him, Abraham. And he is still my brother. Besides..." she wrapped the cord neatly around the bottle and reached over, setting it carefully on top of her desk. "Would you not rather he stay where I can keep constant watch over him?"
"The spell you used..."
"It will keep, as long as I am alive. After that, we must bind it to someone else... but I will manage that when the time comes. Not now." She shook her head, a rueful smile touching her lips. "I couldn't manage it now, even if I wanted. You remember what I told you, that all gifts come with a price? Every favor asked, every feat achieved? My price to trap my brother in that bottle was not small. He is still a part of me, and I've locked away a part of myself in order to trap him. It will be a long time before I can do something like this again. But we are safe."
"You're certain?"
"Yes. With part of myself locked away and bound in the spell, too, I will know instantly if he breaks it. But come, Abraham... I didn't mean to spoil this little bit of happiness with talk of him. Will you still explore the pool with me?"
Abe hesitated, and cast a suspicious look back at the bottle. It sat on the desk, unmoving and unchanged. Later, he would run tests, and use everything the Bureau had at its disposal to be sure that Nuada was properly put away, but for now he would have to trust her. Nuada had ruined so much for them - Nuala was right that the best they could do would be to ignore him for now. "Yes. Yes, I will."
"Good. You’ll have to take your clothes off as well,” she pointed out to him. Now that the moment of awkward conversation had passed she looked surprisingly comfortable as she perched, unashamedly naked, on the rocks. Her pose reminded Abe of the more idealized paintings he'd seen of sirens and mermaids.
“If you insist,” Abe teased. It was difficult, but keeping the tone of their time together light seemed somehow to help put other matters aside.
“I do.”
Accordingly, he obliged her, and quickly removed his utility belt, which he reached up and draped across one of the rocks, and then his wetsuit, which went to the same place.
“You’re more confident now than you were before” Nuala pondered aloud. “Should that worry me?”
“What do you mean? If you’re worried there was someone else, I promise there wasn’t--”
“No, no. I would never ask that. Although now that you’ve told me, I must say I’m very much relieved,” she added with a little smile. “No, I was only wondering - should I be concerned, now that you are older and wiser in the world, that you won’t think me as impressive as you once did? Perhaps you’ve outgrown me, Abraham Sapien. Perhaps all my preparations were the fruitless hopes of a lonely mind. Perhaps... perhaps I’m only dreaming this, and I will wake tomorrow alone again.”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing. And I don’t think a dream would feel so real.”
“True.” Nuala reached out and touched his cheek, her fingers tracing lovingly across the plane of his cheek down to his jaw, stroking gently the smooth, almost slick skin near his throat.
“Aren’t you cold up there?”
“The water is no warmer,” Nuala chided with a little laugh.
“No, but...” He spread his hands out. “At least I’m in here, too?”
“There is that, it is very true. And that, I think, is the argument that will win me.” Nuala dropped easily into the water, where Abe caught her to steady her descent.
“It seems rather deep...” he warned uncertainly.
“I did order its construction,” Nuala reminded him. “I doubt I can explore the bottom depths with you, but I’m confident enough for a bit of swimming. The deepest part is over on that side,” she pointed, “since I knew we would be entering from here.”
“And you really built this for me.” It seemed impossible to think of such a thing, even with her there in the water with him, holding onto him, her body so close he could feel the warming in the water from her body heat.
“I told you, Abraham. I waited this year... these years,” she amended with a rueful look, “so that I could make the court ready for you and the children. Not only safe, but a place that you would want to visit, and stay when you were able. The quarrels between the clans are solved - there’s peace in the court for the first time since my father died. I knew the children would need space to themselves - I’ll have to set aside rooms for each of them alone, now that I know they’re older, but that is easily done. And I knew that you would need easy access to water in order to be happy, and a place where you could rest in it. That the place I chose is close to where I sleep was pure selfishness, I admit, but I hope you won’t begrudge me that.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
* End *
Characters: Abe Sapien, Nuala, Hellboy, Liz Sherman, Nuada, and a small cast of OCs.
Timeline: post-movie-2 AU.
Summary: The trouble with getting what you want is that something unexpected almost inevitably comes out of it. If Abe actually reads fairy tales, he really should know better.
Title: Be Near Me
Warnings: Shameless OTPing, nudity, and implied sexual situations. Feel free to skip if you think your insulin count can't handle it - this is just the bit at the end that I couldn't quite convince myself to leave off, no matter how hard I tried. ;)
Rating: Teen, or so.
Pairing: Abe/Nuala
Thanks: To
tavern_wench1 for the world's most awesome red-pen-of-doom beta job on an almost-complete draft after NaNoWriMo, and maymargaret, for giving me the seed of the idea late one night in a pub, working out the general outline with me on a walk around the lake, and generally cheerleading and never letting me forget this damned thing from the other side of the globe.Dear gods, it's over. I'm going to go take a nap, I think...
Link to previous chapter: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
Although the pall of Aodh's death hung heavy over all of them that day, the children and Abe both began slowly to see the beauty of the court, as well as its slightly sinister, decaying qualities. The Chamberlain, now at least slightly familiar to all of them, held no more horror, and even Neasa could bring herself to be polite to the guards, despite lingering fear at their appearance. There was dinner, and music in the hall in their brother's honor, and the children took it all in with wide, slightly dazed eyes until the hour grew late and Abe saw Aedan stifling his third yawn in the last five minutes, and Neasa dozing with her head on Alastar’s shoulder. “Time for bed,” he told them gently. “There will be plenty of time to see more tomorrow.”
“Where will we sleep here?” Niamh asked, her voice muzzy with sleep.
“There are rooms prepared for you.” Nuala stood and took a shawl from a nearby shelf and draped it around the girl's shoulders - it was made of some strange fabric that looked like what spiders might make if they wove their webs of gold, but it felt peculiarly warm and soft against Niamh's skin. “Your father told me that you and Neasa usually share your room, and Aedan and Alastar another - I hope you don’t mind keeping that tradition for now?”
“No. Not at all,” Alastar said softly. He shook Neasa softly to wake her, and then helped her up, letting her lean on his arm as she stretched and yawned.
Nuala kept up a soft patter of conversation as she led them through the corridors, down into the court’s labyrinthine halls until they reached a pair of doorways directly opposing each other, made of an old metal gate fitted with a heavy gold curtain behind the wrought metal. “It looks like a cage,” Niamh muttered.
But even she gave up protest when Nuala opened both gates. Although the walls of the room were old cement and stone and the floors were of earth, just like the rest of the court that they’d seen so far, they were covered with rich tapestries and hangings in bright fabric, displaying complicated, twining images of flowers and leaves, scrolling vines and arching trees, with white birds occasionally peeking out of the stylized branches. Four beds had been laid out, two in each room, and all were set with thick coverlets. Pillows and cushions piled atop the blankets, and a coal brazier at the center of each room warmed it, while a few torches set into heavy metal sconces at regular intervals around the round rooms set the tapestries alive with their golden flickering.
“It’s beautiful,” Neasa whispered.
“I’m pleased you like it.” Nuala led them into the girls’ room first, showing them chests of clothing and toiletries that had been set in readiness. “From what your father tells me, you all prefer to sleep in open air, rather than water, correct?” All nodded. “Good, then. There are pools deeper beneath the court if you wish to swim tomorrow, but I must insist that you take your father or me with you if you decide to go down there - while some of them are perfectly safe, others are unwholesome, and I would not trust to guessing or even telling you which is which. Also, I should warn you that there are four guards stationed in the hall outside - two at each side. Don’t be afraid of them - they’re only there to keep watch for enemies, and to protect you. If you need anything, ask them. They don't speak, but they understand perfectly well and have been ordered to obey you in everything except things like allowing you down to the pools and a few other things I would fear might cause you harm. This has been a difficult day for all of us. I hope you sleep well.”
The children all thanked her, even Niamh - although her thanks was somewhat mumbled and a little forced - and then went in to settle in for bed, fighting in a tired and half-hearted way over who got which bed. Nuala closed the doors, their metal making a soft clanging sound almost like a bell as it closed, and then turned to Abe.
“Well, I... had better have you show me those pools, I suppose,” Abe offered awkwardly.
Nuala smiled and shook her head, holding out her hand. “Come with me. I’ve had a better thought for you.”
She led him further down into the tunnels, past several more contingents of the raven guards, until they reached a door that was all of dark wood covered with gold filigree in the shapes of a tree with leaves and branches spreading out across the whole width of the doorway. Abe recognized the seal of Bethmoora, remembered intensely from that night so long ago, when he'd seen it on Nuala's bracelet and known instantly that she was part of the puzzle they had first come here to solve. The sign of the royal family... hers alone, now, he supposed.
“This, ah... would be your room?” Abe hung back as she opened the door. She turned, halfway in, the door still mostly closed around her, and beckoned him on, her gold eyes and white skin almost glowing in the dim light of the corridor. It gave her an ethereal, almost ghost-like appearance that reminded him still more of the first time he’d seen her - a walking phantom clad in rough fabric that utterly failed to disguise her delicate beauty. “Nuala, I...”
“Trust me, Abraham.” She held out her hand to him, and smiled as though she thought his reticence deeply amusing. “Come in. Please?”
What could he do? He took her hand, and allowed her to lead him into the room.
If he’d thought the rooms that she’d set up for the children had been impressive, this room was a wonder. In a way it was simple - colored all in dark wood and gold with blue accents, and smallish compared to the huge court hall above them or to the rooms for the children. But the furniture was all of fine dark wood with gold inlay and fixtures. There was a writing desk with scrolls still spread across it and rolled up in a basket beneath it, and a blue-glass jar that looked to him like the sort of thing that might be found washed up on a beach, filled with long feathers - quills, he thought with some surprise. They still wrote with quills - a strangely charming and quaint thought, that of Nuala carefully trimming a quill, dipping it in ink and then writing out her court documents. There were books, too, on a shelf by the desk - books of all sorts, some old and bound in leather or even wood, some new and bound in cloth or even, in a few cases, paperbacks. It seemed that Nuala had been making at least some effort to catch up on the Human world above - Abe recognized a few basic books of science amid the collection, and a couple of pieces of recent literature. It must all of been scavenged from above, he realized, possibly even from the garbage, or perhaps stolen by agents of the court. But it was oddly charming, if incongruent.
Beside the bookshelves there was a large chest of drawers with a beautiful white porcelain ewer and bowl atop it, and a gold-rimmed mirror. Across from that was... well, Abe supposed it was a bed, but it was curtained off with fine gold drapes embroidered all over in vines and leaves, and all he could see of it other than that was a rich blue coverlet that peeked out from the bottom, and looked like at least part of it was made of velvet.
“It must, er, get very cold down here,” he offered, trying to reference the curtains and the velvet of the covers.
Nuala ignored his awkward attempt at conversation, and only said, “Look over there, Abraham.”
He followed her pointing hand. Tucked into the wall on the far side of the room, near enough to the bed to nearly be considered adjacent to it, was a pool of water. The edge of it was raised just slightly, surrounded by rocks, and - he had no idea how she might have done this apart from by magic - there were plants growing in the water. Water lilies of some kind, but their flowers were completely black.
“They look a bit dreary, I know,” Nuala admitted, walking over to sit down on the rocky edge of the pool, “but my forefathers raised them to grow here, underground, to keep us company and please our hearts. We hate to be away from growing things. They’re quite safe unless you eat them,” she added with a little smile. “They’re poison to eat, although they can be quite useful in certain spells and potions.”
“Nuala, I...” Abe shook his head, completely at a loss for words. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then say nothing. Or, I should say, say nothing but that you will stay with me tonight. I ask no promise beyond that - and would rather you say nothing than make promises you cannot keep, Abraham, because I have wanted you here for so long that I assure you I would be wrathful if you told me you would stay and later made a lie of that.” She smiled while she said it, but Abe had the distinct impression that what she said was in deadly earnest.
“Of course I’ll stay with you tonight.”
Nuala favored him with a brilliant smile. “I’m so pleased, Abraham - and so relieved.”
“How could you think I wouldn’t?”
“Well... thirteen years is a very long time. After all that's happened, and all that happened today... Also, Niamh told me of a woman back at the Bureau...”
“Eve.” Abe sighed. “She’s one of the other agents. A scientist. Niamh’s very fond of her - she’s... well, I suppose one could say that she’s... That is to say...”
“She’s been a surrogate mother to them?” Nuala suggested. “It’s all right, Abraham. I wouldn’t expect anything else. And I find it not at all shocking that you would have had a few would-be suitors in such a long time.”
“It surprised me,” Abe admitted.
Nuala laughed. “And that is part of your charm, Abraham. You will never understand, I think, how very appealing you are. Although you’ll forgive me, I hope, if I do my best to convince you of that fact.”
“I... wouldn’t mind that a bit, actually.”
“Good.”
“But... you built that for me?”
Nuala shrugged. “There are a number of underground streams in this area. I simply diverted one of them to this pool that I had made. It’s not quite as big as your tank back at the Bureau, I’m afraid...”
“That’s quite all right.”
“I admit, I thought that tank rather horrifyingly empty,” she continued. “I hope you don’t mind that I improved on it with the plants and rocks and so on. I thought you might enjoy the more natural-looking scenery.”
“I do, very much so.” Abe sat beside her on the edge. “Have you... but of course you haven’t been in.”
“No. I had hoped to save that... as something we could do together.”
Abe stared at her.
“I can swim, you know,” Nuala teased gently. “If you’re looking for someone who can match your own skill I’m afraid you would have been better off with a siren or a selkie, but I’m considered quite capable in the water by the standards of my own people. We could look into it tonight... if you’re not too tired?”
Abe shook his head in wonder. “If you feel up to it, of course.” He turned around and dropped lightly into the water, watching the ripples he caused expand out over the area of the pool. It was much deeper than he might have guessed, he realized - his feet didn’t touch the ground when he went in, and he had a feeling it would be quite a long way before they did. Nuala moved to join him, but he raised one finger to forestall her. “I think,” he told her gently, mimicking her own words more than thirteen years prior, “that you might want to dispense with the clothing.”
Nuala smiled. “Of course.”
"Just the water, tonight," Abe blurted. "The... rest... After today..."
"I know." Nuala touched his hand lightly. I hardly knew him, and I miss him deeply. I can only imagine...
Abe winced, but twined his fingers with hers, his mind a helpless blank.
"The water will make you feel better," Nuala suggested gently.
For all their layers and what, to Abe, seemed like unreasonably complex structure and closures for simple garments, Nuala made surprisingly simple work of removing her clothes. The wide sash of white and its closure-cord of gold were thrown casually across the back of her chair, and then the outer robe of many shades of blue and green simply shrugged off, followed by an under-robe of gold and another of the thinnest, gauzy white silk Abe had ever seen. That last, he thought, was almost a pity to have been removed so quickly - it was strangely tantalizing in the way it blended with the color of Nuala’s hair, and both hid the details of her without in the slightest concealing the shape of her beneath it. Her beaded gold shoes she left to last, slipping out of them and padding over to the edge of the pool on tiny feet that looked like they’d been carved of ivory.
One thing remained - a small bottle of amber glass, stoppered, wrapped in something that looked like golden spiderwebs, and bound by a sturdy cord around her neck, hanging just above her heart. Abe started to reach out toward it, wondering what such an odd little piece of jewelry could possibly mean to her... and then remembered.
"Your brother," he said. He couldn't keep the anger out of his tone - their son was not a full day dead, and Nuala wore her brother, his killer, against her skin?
Nuala reached up and untied the cord with one hand, holding the bottle in the other. "He wasn't always as he was when you knew him, Abraham. And he is still my brother. Besides..." she wrapped the cord neatly around the bottle and reached over, setting it carefully on top of her desk. "Would you not rather he stay where I can keep constant watch over him?"
"The spell you used..."
"It will keep, as long as I am alive. After that, we must bind it to someone else... but I will manage that when the time comes. Not now." She shook her head, a rueful smile touching her lips. "I couldn't manage it now, even if I wanted. You remember what I told you, that all gifts come with a price? Every favor asked, every feat achieved? My price to trap my brother in that bottle was not small. He is still a part of me, and I've locked away a part of myself in order to trap him. It will be a long time before I can do something like this again. But we are safe."
"You're certain?"
"Yes. With part of myself locked away and bound in the spell, too, I will know instantly if he breaks it. But come, Abraham... I didn't mean to spoil this little bit of happiness with talk of him. Will you still explore the pool with me?"
Abe hesitated, and cast a suspicious look back at the bottle. It sat on the desk, unmoving and unchanged. Later, he would run tests, and use everything the Bureau had at its disposal to be sure that Nuada was properly put away, but for now he would have to trust her. Nuada had ruined so much for them - Nuala was right that the best they could do would be to ignore him for now. "Yes. Yes, I will."
"Good. You’ll have to take your clothes off as well,” she pointed out to him. Now that the moment of awkward conversation had passed she looked surprisingly comfortable as she perched, unashamedly naked, on the rocks. Her pose reminded Abe of the more idealized paintings he'd seen of sirens and mermaids.
“If you insist,” Abe teased. It was difficult, but keeping the tone of their time together light seemed somehow to help put other matters aside.
“I do.”
Accordingly, he obliged her, and quickly removed his utility belt, which he reached up and draped across one of the rocks, and then his wetsuit, which went to the same place.
“You’re more confident now than you were before” Nuala pondered aloud. “Should that worry me?”
“What do you mean? If you’re worried there was someone else, I promise there wasn’t--”
“No, no. I would never ask that. Although now that you’ve told me, I must say I’m very much relieved,” she added with a little smile. “No, I was only wondering - should I be concerned, now that you are older and wiser in the world, that you won’t think me as impressive as you once did? Perhaps you’ve outgrown me, Abraham Sapien. Perhaps all my preparations were the fruitless hopes of a lonely mind. Perhaps... perhaps I’m only dreaming this, and I will wake tomorrow alone again.”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing. And I don’t think a dream would feel so real.”
“True.” Nuala reached out and touched his cheek, her fingers tracing lovingly across the plane of his cheek down to his jaw, stroking gently the smooth, almost slick skin near his throat.
“Aren’t you cold up there?”
“The water is no warmer,” Nuala chided with a little laugh.
“No, but...” He spread his hands out. “At least I’m in here, too?”
“There is that, it is very true. And that, I think, is the argument that will win me.” Nuala dropped easily into the water, where Abe caught her to steady her descent.
“It seems rather deep...” he warned uncertainly.
“I did order its construction,” Nuala reminded him. “I doubt I can explore the bottom depths with you, but I’m confident enough for a bit of swimming. The deepest part is over on that side,” she pointed, “since I knew we would be entering from here.”
“And you really built this for me.” It seemed impossible to think of such a thing, even with her there in the water with him, holding onto him, her body so close he could feel the warming in the water from her body heat.
“I told you, Abraham. I waited this year... these years,” she amended with a rueful look, “so that I could make the court ready for you and the children. Not only safe, but a place that you would want to visit, and stay when you were able. The quarrels between the clans are solved - there’s peace in the court for the first time since my father died. I knew the children would need space to themselves - I’ll have to set aside rooms for each of them alone, now that I know they’re older, but that is easily done. And I knew that you would need easy access to water in order to be happy, and a place where you could rest in it. That the place I chose is close to where I sleep was pure selfishness, I admit, but I hope you won’t begrudge me that.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
* End *
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Date: 2010-04-27 12:15 am (UTC):)
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Date: 2010-04-27 04:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-27 01:03 am (UTC)The cloth she gives to Niamh -- something like it exists in the real world: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/spider-silk/
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Date: 2010-10-27 02:15 am (UTC)And awwwww, that cloth is lovely, too! Wow, and so are those spiders. That's just fantastic, thank you so much for the link!
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Date: 2010-11-02 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-02 10:57 pm (UTC)Ah well. I find that the older I get (...god I hate saying that, but it's so true) and the more I concentrate on how other writers work, the more I'm okay with self-indulgent. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. ;)