when you fall on me like night

Isla

"Notebooks, yes - though perhaps not in 12 different ways," Isla quips, laughing under her breath. "The other two, not so much - maybe one day you can teach me how to steer La Verbena. Those aren't really the things I was thinking of, though. And no - I won't be expanding on that any further tonight, because it's too cheesy." Grinning now, she shifts to sit more comfortably on the bed, nodding gently at the aviator's reasoning. 

"I was, yes, though not for very long I admit. To be honest, having been dead or Ascended for so long, even being able to taste and feel things again is a novelty. I don't take a moment of it for granted, these days." Which is why, even though the brilliant Doctor Lockwood has chosen white over red wine, she prefers both equally, accepting the glass Ever offers and clinking it against his own before taking a healthy sip.

Rather than a refill, though, she sets it down on the bedside table and scoots back properly into the pillows and sheets, holding her arms out for him. "Come here?"

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

I think I can manage being collateral damage

"No? Well, I suppose 10 will do." Ever jests. While he might have lost the unrelenting anxiety that had let him to such a system, his mind now could still appreciate its usefulness even if he was much more inclined to cut corners. His expression softened somewhat as she continued, eyebrows raising first with a boyish sort of confusion before laughing softly. "Ahh I see. You've heard about my charcuterie board skills." He hummed seriously before his, his smile grew lopsided and deep enough to have one dimple on show against his beard. Get it, because it's cheesy?

"You say that as if it was nothing." He says, meaning the way she seemed to breeze over her own death. It wasn't a criticism, but quite the opposite: For all the adventures that Everest had experienced in his short life, they all paled in comparison to the life Isla had lived. "You really are incredible, to have come through the other side the way you have." Gods knew there were enough brought back who hadn't been able to cope, or who had failed to find their way in a world slightly different to the one they'd left.

As she opens her arms to him, the aviator regards her with a look of amused wariness as if wrapping his arms around her again was a test he was meant to decline. On his head be it if that was the case, because in the space of a heartbeat, Ever was also moving to set his wine down in order to join her. Crawling up the bed, the aviator placed one hand on the opposite side of her and simply gazed reverently down for a moment, his blue eyes unable to find any one feature that he enjoyed more than the others. Finally, Ever pressed his lips gently against her forehead not entirely trusting himself not to resort to boyish mischief if he kissed her anywhere else.

Even if I had to lose you to know you I'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through

Isla

Charcuterie skills notwithstanding - and Isla does shoot Ever a withering and helplessly amused look for that - the Remedy can only scrunch her nose at his compliments, still self-conscious about the life and death of it all, in truth. "You're seeing the end result," she reminds him gently. "I was a very broken person for a very long time. I'm still healing, underneath it all." And you are helping more than you have any idea.

Settled back in bed soon enough, as her vision floods with the sight of the aviator, Isla is able to take a few moments to do some well-deserved admiring of her own. Her fingers reach up to brush across his stubbled cheek, knowing precisely where dimples are likely to appear and where constellations of freckles scatter across the bridge of his nose in the right light. Smiling despite herself, she closes her eyes against the kiss pressed to her forehead, only to turn and all but glue herself against his side.

"I feel as though we're always on a race somewhere," she admits. "Like something might happen if we stop and take a breath." Like it might turn out not to be real, or someone will tap on their shoulders and drop a bombshell that will ruin it all. But in the safety of this room in the White Hart, Isla feels like they're allowed to lay down and be - even if it will only likely last a few minutes, given how much she already wants to paint his body with her touch again.

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

I think I can manage being collateral damage

"I think that's what makes it all the more incredible." Ever whispers softly, his lips trickling down towards her ear. "I'm sure it would have been easier to remain broken or to have shattered altogether." And yet, however long it took and whatever the emotional and mental cost, she'd done it. It was a battle the aviator knew nothing about, and yet he loved her fiercely just for the knowledge of it.

"You and I, or in general?" The aviator wonders as he adjusts himself against the pillows, purely for Isla's benefit. His fingertips radiate starburst shapes against her shoulder as he holds her close, his heartbeat a not entirely steady pounding in his chest. "Because I'm perfectly fine with last place, as long as I finish with you." It isn't meant to be an innuendo, and the way his smile is entirely boyish and adoring says as much.

"I should mention, as you're a doctor—" And in no small part because of what had happened with Varus. "—that I always have a revivify feather with me. If you ever have need of it, it's yours."

Even if I had to lose you to know you I'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through

Isla

"I can't take all the credit for making it through. I had help," Isla says bashfully, resisting the urge to push at Ever's shoulder as if that might halt the flow of his pride for her. "And I meant more you and I, but... in general is true as well, I guess. Especially in the past few seasons, since Starfall came..." Something is brewing, something that has capital letters and brings ash and death on the wing, but Isla won't say that out loud. It might make it come true all the faster.

Distracted by his remark as much as his boyish smile, Ever does succeed in cracking through the Remedy's reverie, at least, and she leans up to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. "To last place, then," she murmurs, and if they'd had their wine she'd have toasted to it. Oh well.

Settling comfortably against him and relishing the heat rolling from his body and the way his hands take shape around her, Isla's eyes are starting to slip shut when the aviator speaks again, and she blinks up at him in mild confusion. (Mentioning that she's a doctor has her thinking that he's secretly been nursing a broken bone or something this whole time). But it's not medicine but the promise of life on his lips, of potential second chances, and gods but Isla has told Ever she's falling in love with him - he doesn't have to make it happen faster.

Unable to respond with words - he knows what he's offered, she thinks, and why - instead the Remedy leans up and kisses him - hard. It's the sort of kiss that speaks of desperate gratitude and relief, her arms snaking around him to clutch him close without meaning to. "Thank you," she whispers once they finally part, nosing beneath his chin to nestle against the side of his neck.

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

I think I can manage being collateral damage

"Fine, fine, you're far less impressive than I initially thought." The aviator huffs affectionately, rolling his eyes down at her, only for his expression to grow serious. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel that way, I..." Biting at the inside of his lip, his eyes moving from the ridges of her collarbones and lower still to where the blue of the nightgown was hiding a body he was rapidly coming to know quite well, he flushed, though not necessarily out of arousal. "You're right." He decides, his gaze returning to hers, looking boyishly determined.

There was no need to say how this was all knew to him, how it was nearly impossible to resist his attraction to the Remedy, how he wanted nothing else but to be by her side every waking moment. No need to say it, he could simply do better to make her feel as though there was nothing at risk of falling through her fingertips if she wasn't fast enough.

Inhaling against the sudden force of her kiss, Ever's hands remain gentle around her even as his lips meet the challenge of her mouth. "You're very welcome." He agrees softly, already reaching for the sheets to tuck them up around her shoulders. Eyeing the fireplace for a moment, it occurs to the aviator that should Isla get too warm she could simply put it out from where they lay, and so he ignored the urge to go and put it out.

Humming out a wordless I love you against the top of her head, Everest is more than content to let himself drift off to sleep as well, fully clothed and with their wine growing warm in their glasses.

~FIN

Even if I had to lose you to know you I'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through