RP: Caught in the Rain

[tt_cecilia]

Date: 22. April 2002
Characters: Cecilia Proudfoot, open to Sirius Black
Setting: A cave by the coast in Australia
Content: PG
Status: Open: Private, Complete


When drunk, the water seemed warm, though now when it was running down her body, Cecilia could have sworn it was melted water from some unseen glacier. It wasn’t though; it was simply rain water that was streaming down the rocks above the cave Sirius had found for them to take shelter from the thunderstorm that had halted their progress for the day. It was a frustrating break to make, although they most likely had at least a week before they would reach the settlement, and yet, it wasn’t entirely without benefits.

Like the makeshift shower the protruding rock was turning the heavy rain into; a nice change from her daily washes in the ocean. Aside from the chill of the water, getting the salt from the sea water and her sweat rinsed off made her feel more clean than she had since the morning she had left to meet Sirius.

Picking up her discarded clothes, Cecilia washed her underwear and socks, scrubbing them against the rocks as best she could, before she rinsed off her shirt and shorts. Though dirty her shirt and shorts were only damp when she put them on, foregoing her underwear and returned to the cave. It was better than being dusty and soaked in sweat, she figured as checked their makeshift system of leaves and branches that gathered the rain and re-filled their water bottles, bringing the filled one back into the cave.

With a small smile, she sat down next Sirius and handed him the bottle before she placed her knickers, bra, socks and boots close to the fire Sirius had started, hoping they would dry sooner rather than later. Once they were dry, she could switch, wearing her underwear while her clothes dried by the fire. “How long do you think it’ll last?” she asked him, inching her feet a bit closer to the heat. Just like every other time she had gone exploring, she had brought a change of clothes, and just like all those other times, she had shrunk it to keep it from taking up precious space in her backpack… a decision she had been sorely regretting for the past week. “The rain, I mean.”

They could be a lot worse off, she knew that, and she knew that they had been living relatively well off the food they had found on their journey. But the one true comfort she had, was knowing that Jamie was taken care of, though she still missed dearly, and had felt even further away from him when she had found her battery to be completely dead this morning.

Comments

[tt_sirius]

He watched as she laid out her underthings, doing his best to think of anything but them and the fact that she wasn't wearing them under her clothes. Which meant he was thinking of Cousin Narcissa. It was the only thing he could fixate on to quell his dessire, and not become enraged.

Sirius was feeling the cramped quarters more, given his past, than he suspected Cecilia was since she was outwardly more relaxed than he was. "Hard to say. A few hours to a day or so here," he commented wryly. There was no way he was going to stay in this cave more than overnight with her so close. "If its still going in the morning, we'll have to move on."

"Come here," he said finally, holding out his arm so she could lean against him. "You look cold."

[tt_cecilia]

Cecilia’s lips twisted into a wry smirk in response to Sirius’ answer. She didn’t take it personally, though; there was no way he could really know how long the rain would last, but it was a safe topic, and one they hadn’t talked about… at least not today. But she nodded, accepting his answer, even the part about moving on if it was still raining tomorrow, though only reason she could see for doing so, was to ease the unease she had sensed in him whenever they had holed up in a cave for the night.

At his offer, she turned to look at him, her smile turning grateful as she scooted closer, and leaned into his warm embrace. “I am cold,” she admitted, making herself comfortable against him. Being cold, however, was nothing new for her on this trip. Even though they were still warmer than on Zealandia, the nights here got chilly. But Cecilia had stuck close to their fires to keep warm while sleeping and had used the chill to stay awake when it had been her turn to take the watch. “It has its advantages, though,” she smiled as she rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

How long had it been since he had last held her? Cecilia felt that she had to know, and if she thought about it, she could probably put an exact date to it. But right here, in this cave, on a different continent without any way to communicate with the rest of the world, she couldn’t recall how long ago it had been, though she knew it had been a day or two before they had been poisoned and the outfall of that had been her handling it all wrong and had pushed him away in the process. No matter what had happened, though, she recognized his body against hers and though she had never doubted it, she knew for certain that she had been right in trying to mend the gap that had appeared between them. “I’ve missed this,” she said quietly and sighed deeply.

[tt_sirius]

"The longer we stay in one spot, the higher the chances that a predator will be alerted to our stationary scents," Sirius explained, his expression was worried and tired, though that wasn't unusual given their circumstances. He couldn't sleep deeply, not like he could when he was alone in a tree somewhere.

She moved against him, and Sirius curled his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm to try and warm her more. Being on the coast was safer and it afforded them more plentiful food, but the breeze that came off the ocean was chilly at night. Sirius glanced down when she rested her head on his shoulder, not quite sure what to make of her cryptic words. It didn't matter. There was nothing they could do now except try to get back to the settlement alive.

He nodded, resting his chin on the top of her head, and wrapping his free arm around her. It did feel good to be holding her, to be close again with little of the awkwardness that had been present since the potion incident. He knew she'd been with another man. It was hard to think of her without thinking of that other man, but it was starting to fade a bit - or at least, he was putting it to the back of his thoughts. "Me too, but you should try to get some sleep. We'll leave at first light. You can, um, sleep next to me tonight. For warmth," Sirius added with a sigh. It was going to be a long night.

[tt_cecilia]

Slowly the warmth from Sirius’ body seeped through their clothes to her skin. His warm hands were comfortable, yet Cecilia sincerely doubted they were the only reason the warmth was spreading through her body this efficiently, due to the simple fact that it felt as if the heat was coming from somewhere deep inside of her. She closed her eyes, listened to his breathing, opening them only when his voice rumbled from his chest. A small smile appeared on her lips when he told her that he had missed it too, and she nodded in agreement that she should get some sleep. She was about to say something when he continued talking and her smile faltered a bit: she could sleep next to him, for warmth. Pure practicality, that was all.

Closing her eyes again, she swallowed down. Part of her was very aware that being stranded in the middle of a primordial wilderness without any means of contacting anybody wasn’t the ideal place to wonder about the feelings she had for the man she was with. It wasn’t the time or the place to feel sad that what they had once had now had simmered down to an awkward offer of keeping you warm at night, not to mention that it wasn’t the right time for her concerns about her attraction to two very different men to bubble to the surface. And still, no matter how hard she tried, her mind still turned in that direction. Maybe it was a form of self-defense, she thought, that thinking about something as trivial as her love life – or lack thereof – was easier to think about that what would happen if their magic didn’t return, if they didn’t make it back to the Settlement, if… if… if…

For a moment, she considered turning down Sirius’ offer of staying warm next to him. The nights she had kept warm by the fire, her thoughts had stayed on the right track, of how to stay alive, how to keep going and how and where to gather enough food to feed them both, interspersed only with vivid daydreams of the scalding hot showers she was going to have when she got home or the ice cold milk, her warm, soft bed, though more often than not, it was the thought of seeing Jamie that kept her going. Not tonight, though. Tonight her mind had returned to an earlier, though no less unwelcome, thought pattern.

“Wake me when you need some sleep?” she asked him quietly, trying to get her head back on track. “You need to sleep too, and I’ll be sure to wake you when the sun starts rising.” It didn’t work and slowly she slipped her free hand up to his cheek, turning his head gently as she tilted up her own and met his lips in a soft, lingering kiss. “For warmth,” she whispered and lowered her head back to his shoulder again.

[tt_sirius]

He nudged one of the logs deeper into the fire with the toe of his boot, causing the flames to flare and lick desperately at the sky above. There was a pile of wood just to the side, within reach, for later on, but for now, the coals were burning brightly and would radiate heat for some time into the night. For now, his pistol was tucked into his boot, but after she fell asleep, he'd put it under the backpack they were using as a pillow. So far, he'd only needed it once, to scare off a predator - a raptor type taller then himself - who had gotten curious when they'd stayed just a little too long at the last stop.

"I will," Sirius assured her, though he had no intention of waking her until he absolutely needed to. The Dementors had taken so much from him, but they couldn't take his chivalry. Of course, his level of civility was still below his great grandfathers - strange as that was to say or think about. So far, the bloke seemed all right, though he still held too much of Sirius' parents personality to make Sirius comfortable around him.

Cecilia kissed him and all thoughts of his great grandfather evaporated, though it was a brief and almost chaste kiss. Just enough to wake him up. Not that he needed the help, given how tense he was with her soft body against his. "Yes," he stammered. "warmth. Right." Sirius shifted to lie down, guiding her down beside him, though he let her move to get comfortable before curling his arm around her waist. She fit against him well, though he knew that from their time on the beach. Again, those lingering doubts of that other man rose to the surface. Did she miss him? Was she settling for Sirius now?

[tt_cecilia]

Following easily as Sirius lay down, Cecilia made herself comfortable against him. She snuck one foot under his knee to keep it warm while her boots dried out, and draped her other leg over his thigh while she snuggled against his chest. For a while, she just lay quietly, listening to his heart beat against her cheek and feeling the slow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

Idly, her fingers caressed along his ribs as she gazed towards the opening of the cave. It felt odd laying here like this. Not wrong or bad, but odd. Odd to be this close to him and still miss him like she did. Sure, they spent all their time together, but they were still skating around whatever was keeping them apart, and all of their energy was spent on staying alive while making it back to the small slice of civilization that was being carved out at the new Settlement here on the continent.

Sighing deeply rather than yawning, Cecilia finally gave in to her drooping eyes when she let them close, and moments after she drifted off to sleep. Sirius would wake her, she knew that, though she also knew that unless it was an emergency he would wake her later than she would want him to. Someday, she hoped, she would be able to do the same thing for him.