Hope Falls

“Do I even need to say what came to mind then?” Lucian chuckled tiredly. “Here - here here.” He gestures towards his door when they came to it.

---

“Promise?”

"Dirty man." Lynette scoffed, moving her hand up to hit him across the head as she reached for the door handle, pushing it open.

---

"Cross my heart."

“I love you.” Dagmar whispered, snuggling into his chest then, shoulders relaxing as her eyes closed. “I trust you.”

---

“You adore me, urchin.”

"I love you too, Dasha darling, words can't capture how much."

---

"We weren't discussing that." She snorted, lowering herself down with him onto his bed. "Hopefully we won't need to call on Farrah to ease your back until the morning."

“Nobody here can know how it is, they already pity me because they’re gone… I refuse any more… even Conan doesn’t know.” Lucian gritted his teeth as he pulled the layers from his torso to feel less restricted, discarding his clothes on the floor until he was bare and moving to lay on the bed, chest down. His back a bruised mottled purple and black - as always, with the two jagged, raised parallel white lines that ran down his back where his wings had once been. His skin was flushed, a sore red mingling in with the other marks from where his back had been flexing and contracting.

---

“We’ll make the fantasy real one day…”

"For now, moments like these are special enough. Any amount of time with you is precious, it always will be."

---

"Do you want yes, Captain or do you want an honest opinion?" Lynette questioned, getting to her feet and heading to one of the sets of draws, opening each one in search of an ointment to soothe his back.

“Behind closed doors, you know what I expect - and nothing less, especially from you.”

---

“You’re rather silly… all the Princesses in the world, all the ladies and rich men’s daughters you could’ve chosen…”

"I think you'd be a fucking idiot to keep it quiet from your cousin. You've yearned for years to be here with him, you adore him. I think in a few hours you'll hate yourself for what you said to him today, and I think unless he knows - if he is anything like you - he will never believe that you are genuinely too unwell to come and apologise in person."

---

"Ah, but only one soul feels like coming home. That is yours."

“I can’t take the pity… it’s bad enough when they think it was just a loss I sustained that was over and done with, but the moment he realises it’s this continuous fucking torment? He’ll look at me the way he looks at his daughter when she cuts her knees. The look makes me want to throw up and ram a sword in peoples eyes at the same time. It’s bad enough Karina saw the involuntary reaction - she’ll be sat pissing herself with laughter as it is, and that’s if she’s not already had visions of you and Farah pinning me down when it acts up so I don’t hurt myself…”

---

“I love your poetic side.”

"You love him enough go be here, to bring us all here.... to take on all of this responsibility after years away to help him. You'll have to trust him with your burdens too. Pity, concern... whatever." Lynette snorted softly. "At least those two things would mean he gives a shit."

---

Conan laughed quietly, tangling his fingers in her hair. "I love all of you, even when you are kicking off because your pastry is like two minutes over done. Or you had half a shot of coffee as opposed to the full two you asked for."

“The woman he loved is dying. And he’s not noticed yet that sometimes I don’t leave the room for days at a time because I’m busy working. Now is not the time to burden him. Not when I can deal with this, when I have been dealing with this for as long as I have. It‘s okay… I just need a few hours for the muscles to settle down then I’ll invite him down and tell him what I know. Gives us time to work out what to do with Kenna and - “ Lucian reached his hand out and pulled his pillow into his mouth as his back went into another spasm, groaning.

---

“I need the extra pick me up sometimes, I work hard!” Dagmar protested with a laugh.

She glanced over her shoulder with a frown, stopping her hunt briefly when she found fabric thick enough and a secure container. Disappearing briefly and coming back with it filled with boiling water, gently pressing it against his back; "Relax those muscles. If you don't want to do it right now then, fine but you can't keep it from him if the rumours I have heard are true... if you plan on staying here for the indefinite."

---

"You? No ... you barely work." He teased.

“Cheeky.” Dagmar shook her head, trying to avoid the smirk on her face.

---

“Thank you.” Lucian groaned in relief as he released his bite on the cushion. Laying in silence for a few minutes as he allowed the pain to ease before speaking again; “If I stay, nobody will be required to stay with me. We have parted ways before, and met up again down the line. This will just be another one of those situations… I won’t force anyone to live on land… that includes you and Farah, and Kenny…”

Lynette shook her head, using the palms of her hands to massage the muscles on his shoulder blades - cautious of the more sensitive areas. "You know we will be fine, and that we'd eagerly await your return."

---

"It has been a long time since you have called me anything like that." He chuckled.

“Gods I love you for this…” Lucian groaned, unable to concentrate on anything but her touch as he all but melted into the bed. “It’s a good job I’m not actually the King because between you and Farah and your magical touch I’d bankrupt the nation giving you all the gold and shiny things you deserve…”

---

“I’m sure I called you cheeky yesterday. Your memory is terrible!”

"The gifts are very much appreciated, but you know it isn't solely about the riches. It was at first, of course... the freedom, the wealth but we have all been together too long for any of it to mean anything anymore."

---

"Ah, my day has been as busy as yours." Conan assured gently. "It feels like a life time since then.

(( Night night ))

“Mm, Mr King of a whole country.”

---

“You know it’s how I express my affection, it’s why you all have hoards of things.”

"Mm," He hummed quietly in agreement, closing his eyes as arms tightened around her. Repeating a quiet; "I love you so much."

---

"I know, we all know." Lynette whispered, running her hands down the backs of his arms as her massaging came to a stop. "You'll be brave, staying here with all of the ghosts of the past."

“I’ve always had ghosts…”

---

“I’m holding you to that happily ever after.”

"We'll get it, somehow... somewhere." Conan assured, grip of her beginning to loosen as he fought sleep.

---

"We all do, yours are louder here though. You said it was eerie, that's the ghosts." Quietly she played with his fingertips then. "You just need to look after yourself, that's all."

"We'll get it, somehow... somewhere." Conan assured, grip of her beginning to loosen as he fought sleep.

---

"We all do, yours are louder here though. You said it was eerie, that's the ghosts." Quietly she played with his fingertips then. "You just need to look after yourself, that's all."

“You worry about me, how adorable.” Lucian teased, lacing his fingers with hers. “I’ll be okay, I promise you.”

---

Dagmar tightened her grip further as he loosened his, though she too soon drifted off.

"Everyone worries about you, you're a ficking liability." She snorted

“Liability my ass, like I’ve not had to carry you to bed multiple times, or stop you from stabbing people that would have you executed with a whisper, or talk you down from the ledge of having to do other stupid life altering bullshit.”

Lynette smiled innocently then, giving a nkn-chalant shrug and stating; "None of those sound like problems to me."