"The nearest town is two day's walk from here," Rose said, handing her pack off to Eridan and sitting down on a tree stump. He could have carried them both over one shoulder, easily, but she liked to preserve some modicum of physical self-sufficiency. He needed her power as much as she needed his strength, out here in the wilderness.
"You know that ain't what I care about."
She poured out a bit of water from the canteen into her cupped palm. His entire bearing fixed on it, the pots affixed to his pack rattling against one another. "One day. A river, in the other direction," she said, shutting her eyes and gritting her teeth against the twinge of backlash. "You can survive out of the water for a great deal longer than I can survive without food."
It was a great deal more than a twinge; the water slipped through her fingers and onto the grass, and her vision went hazy around the edges with the force of the magical recoil. She choked on the air, and knew that he was making mental comparisons to a fish plucked from the water. That, more than anything, kept her from fainting.
"Right, no more magic 'til town, princess," Eridan said, and held his hand out to help her stand. She swayed on her feet and reached for her pack, but he pivoted away from her so quickly that she strumbled and fell against him.
She allowed herself to lean on his arm--just for a mile, until she could stand on her own. "There are no more kingdoms," said Rose.
"An' we ain't royalty anymore, an' so what?" he said. "Can you walk?"
"Yes." She took a step. Another. Eridan moved with her, and she knew him too well--by now, she knew him--to think he wasn't annoyed. At least he knew to keep his mouth shut, lest she turn him into a tadpole and keep him in the water jug until he was contrite.
Neither of them were rotting away in a ditch beside a revolutionary encampment, or floating face down in the water while fish nibbled at their innards and their corpses swelled under the sun, and that was all that mattered. "We'll sleep like empresses, two nights out," he said.
"We'll have to find someone to rob to pay for it."
"Or we can just con 'em."
Rose rested her head on his shoulder. "Then you're on point, your dubious majesty."
"Your wish is my command, your shabby highness," Eridan said, and she leaned on him for a great deal more than a mile, and did not mind very much at all.
FILL: TEAM DAVE<3ROSE<3TEREZI
"The nearest town is two day's walk from here," Rose said, handing her pack off to Eridan and sitting down on a tree stump. He could have carried them both over one shoulder, easily, but she liked to preserve some modicum of physical self-sufficiency. He needed her power as much as she needed his strength, out here in the wilderness.
"You know that ain't what I care about."
She poured out a bit of water from the canteen into her cupped palm. His entire bearing fixed on it, the pots affixed to his pack rattling against one another. "One day. A river, in the other direction," she said, shutting her eyes and gritting her teeth against the twinge of backlash. "You can survive out of the water for a great deal longer than I can survive without food."
It was a great deal more than a twinge; the water slipped through her fingers and onto the grass, and her vision went hazy around the edges with the force of the magical recoil. She choked on the air, and knew that he was making mental comparisons to a fish plucked from the water. That, more than anything, kept her from fainting.
"Right, no more magic 'til town, princess," Eridan said, and held his hand out to help her stand. She swayed on her feet and reached for her pack, but he pivoted away from her so quickly that she strumbled and fell against him.
She allowed herself to lean on his arm--just for a mile, until she could stand on her own. "There are no more kingdoms," said Rose.
"An' we ain't royalty anymore, an' so what?" he said. "Can you walk?"
"Yes." She took a step. Another. Eridan moved with her, and she knew him too well--by now, she knew him--to think he wasn't annoyed. At least he knew to keep his mouth shut, lest she turn him into a tadpole and keep him in the water jug until he was contrite.
Neither of them were rotting away in a ditch beside a revolutionary encampment, or floating face down in the water while fish nibbled at their innards and their corpses swelled under the sun, and that was all that mattered. "We'll sleep like empresses, two nights out," he said.
"We'll have to find someone to rob to pay for it."
"Or we can just con 'em."
Rose rested her head on his shoulder. "Then you're on point, your dubious majesty."
"Your wish is my command, your shabby highness," Eridan said, and she leaned on him for a great deal more than a mile, and did not mind very much at all.