riverviewlogs | i fight for every life

And I am very glad for that.

(Now that they're some distance away, the reality of everything that just happened is starting to hit her as looks down at the bracelet that saved her life. If Lucretia hadn't made this for her, hadn't protected her... Reflexively she looks behind them again. It's not over yet and she won't feel safe until they're behind the perimeter walls.

Even though the creature is not there, she picks up the pace again.)

(She nods. Likewise, the weight of what's just happened is starting to settle on her. She came so close to losing Beverly; if she hadn't been wearing the bracelet...

Lucretia shivers. Once they're safe, she thinks she'd very much like to hold Beverly tight in her arms for a long while.

Oh, shoot.)

Did you find your blaster? (She hadn't thought to look for it in all the confusion.)

No, but it's all right.

(She reaches out to take Lucretia's hand.)

I have what's important.

Beverly– (Lucretia nearly stops and throws her arms around her right then, but a low, angry roar in the distance makes her reconsider immediately. She tightens her grip on Beverly's hand instead, and quickens her pace.)

Maybe we can try this again? I was enjoying this until that thing showed up.

(For a moment, her breath catches when she hears that terrifying roar again. All she manages is a distracted murmur of agreement before hurrying towards the gate ahead. Surely they put enough distance between them and the creature by now that it won't catch up.

To her relief, as they draw closer to the wall, she sees a couple of perimeter guards out on the wall, drawn by the strange sounds coming out of the forest.)

(She's not particularly afraid in this instance but she gets it. She keeps hold of Beverly's hand until they can see the wall again, until they're passing back through the barricades and onto the other side. Only then does she let go, but not before giving it a comforting squeeze.

A lot has happened this afternoon. Lucretia doesn't think she's ever cast spells of such magnitude in front of Beverly before.)

... Are you okay?

(As soon as they are through the gate and the barricade slides back in place, Beverly turns to throw her arms around Lucretia. A long sigh escapes her, a release of the pent-up fear. She's admittedly seen worse than the Chuul, been through worse, but a close call on your own life never really gets easier.)

I'm all right, thanks to you.

(She wraps her arms tight around Beverly's midriff and the two of them stand there for a long moment, until Lucretia feels like she can bear to let go. She brushes Beverly's hair back from her face, gives her an automatic glance over for any injuries but she seems fine. Good.)

That was scary, (she admits,) I'm... too used to thinking that death isn't permanent.

(Her injuries are no worse than a bruise on her hip from when she fell and a few scrapes on her hands. Nothing to worry about, on that front at least. What does worry her, however, is that statement. Of course the cycles would change how the IPRE crew viewed death but until now it hadn't hit her just how much.)

I was scared too. That moment when the fireball exploded and I couldn't see you... Lucretia, all I could think about was how much I love you and how I couldn't let that be the end.

(Finally, she's said it, and it's scary, but nothing compared to the chuul.)

(Lucretia had suspected this might be the case, had thought that hearing Beverly say so, out loud, might cause a wave of dread to wash over her. Quite the opposite happens instead.

She's worried of course, because she knows it isn't wise to become attached, not to this extent. She's gone and done it anyway of course; how couldn't she? If anybody knew Beverly the way she did, knew of her courage and kindness, her wit and intelligence... they would forgive her for falling this easily.

The ringing in Lucretia's ears feels loud, like bells.)

I love you too, (she says, and feels positively weightless,) and I'm sorry for scaring you. I'll be more careful, I promise.

You're a good teacher.

(She isn't saying that just because she feels she should either; he is very methodical in his explanations, and it's precisely the way Lucretia likes to learn. Very helpful.)

Another point of difference between manual and digital? (She lifts the camera up to his face, peers through the viewfinder and fiddles carefully with the lens until his features come into sharp focus. There's something really satisfying about that, about doing it yourself. Lucretia has always loved working with her hands.

She lowers the camera, and smiles.)

What sort of things do you take photographs of?

(Wisdom has little to do with it. She hadn't been sure how Lucretia would respond, all she knew is that she would never forgive herself if one of them had died and she'd never let those three words pass her lips. Now that they've been said, her eyes well with tears, joy and relief mingled together.

She leans forward to press her forehead gently against Lucretia's.}

You didn't mean to. You were only protecting me.

(She laughs lightly and takes Beverly's hands, linking their fingers together.) I can do that without being reckless, though.

(So far today Lucretia's had a nice walk, saved her girlfriend from a monster, and then had love professed for her. It's shaping up to be a really good day, actually. She can't stop smiling.)

Don't cry, (she teases, and dips her head to kiss Beverly's cheek, the corner of her mouth.)

I can't help it! (She sighs, then laughs as she lifts her face streaked with tears.) I wasn't sure if... If you would feel the same way.

Why wouldn't I?

(She lets go of Beverly's hands to cup her face, wipe the tears away with her thumbs.) I was going to talk to you about it but it's... hard, to find the right time to bring something like that up.

(Also she was very nervous!!)

[ That's pretty good for her first time and Shigeru smiles holding up a thumb in a 'good job' sort of motion. He'll sign the letters one more time before typing something on his phone. ]

Try to recite the letters back to me. Go as slow as you need to. We'll stick with this for now before we move on to anything else.

(She leans her cheek into Lucretia's hand.) I didn't want to put any pressure on you. I'm the one who said to go slow, after all, and yet...

(Yet look at her. How could she have not fallen for this brilliant, beautiful, strong woman? In retrospect, she realizes that she was doomed from the moment they met.)

Thanks. I try.

[ He's just trying to take it step by step, remembering the things he had difficulty with when he first learned how to use one of these. She's very bright and picks up on things pretty fast too, though, that definitely helps. ]

Depends on the camera, but professional digital cameras still offer you the option of focusing manually. [ He smiles when she lifts the camera up to his face. Evidently he's not shy about people taking pictures of him. ]

People, mostly. I love taking pictures of people. But other stuff, too. A little bit of everything, really.

(There's a lot of woulda, coulda, shoulda going on here. Too much so for Lucretia's liking. She's too over the moon right now to bother indulging the little voice in the back of her mind that loves to overthink.)

It worked out just fine, (she soothes, and presses a sweet, soft kiss to Beverly's mouth.) I'm happy.

Okay.

(Whoops, she's already struggling with the next couple after D; they go back and forth like this for a little while until Lucretia has a tenuous grasp over half the alphabet. It will get easier the more she practices. She very much enjoys the motions of the language: it's satisfying, to mirror Shigeru's signs.)

How many signs do you know?

(Oh, so he isn't! In that case–

Lucretia raises her camera back up to his smiling face and snaps a picture. Then, she has to take a moment to look down and figure out how to advance the film along again, but it only takes a few seconds before she remembers to pull the little level across. Easy.)

Sure. I'd love to have something like this so I could take pictures of things that I'd like to paint later. That way I wouldn't have to draw from memory quite so much.

[ Well that's pretty good for now! She's going to do just fine in terms of learning and Shigeru smiles as he watches her. Being able to share his language and means of communication with something...it's really special to him. ]

I know a lot, easily over 100. But I've also been practicing since I was 12 years old and I have a eidetic memory and that helps me a lot. It's hard work, but it's satisfying when you finally get the hang of it.

[ And immediately Jim pulls off his best smile, although to be fair, it doesn't take a lot of effort for him to look good on a picture, and he damn well knows it. ]

Oh, I like drawing. Can't say I've ever actually painted anything, though. [ He gestures around them. ] So— which idea should we go with first?

[ A word, an idea, even a quote or a song. Anything would do. ]

Me too. (She laughs and sniffs, her tears quickly drying up.) Other than the almost getting eaten part that is.

True. We should pick a different activity next time.

(She drops her hands from Beverly's face and frowns, resisting the urge to stick a finger in her ear. The ringing isn't as loud as it was half an hour ago, but it's still uncomfortable.)

You can't do anything with tinnitus, can you?

i fight for every life

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