Rosethorn holds on, not daring to say a word, as her breathing moves from tense to ragged to - slowly - back to even and slow. She doesn't pull away until her eyes stop stinging, until her heart stops threatening to pound its way out of her chest in anticipation of flashbacks that aren't coming.
Gyongxe stays in her head, quietly in the background, where it belongs. Tommy stays here, on the Barge, in this homey, comfortable room, where he belongs.
She sends her silent thanks to any and every god who might be listening.
"Back home, I'd let you. Or do it myself. If she weren't an inmate, Tommy..." She's almost more drained and shaken than angry. But she knows herself. The anger will come later, rising up from where it smolders in her bones.
"Violation is the right word. I've never felt so violated."
"The pieces of her that were left would be in the cut by now," he promises her, and he means it- here, he's the man she met during the flood. Completely ruthless, and he won't shy away from violence.
"And we can't do a fucking thing. We won't." And he doesn't know how to give it a place, now.
"We shouldn't. These people are in our care for a reason. We have to put them first." She says it quietly, flatly. Usually a sentiment she believes with all her heart, now only repeated so she can keep digging herself out of this hole without hurting anyone around her.
"Thank you, Tommy." She believes him, what he's willing to do for her.
She winces, resting her hand on the back of his head. Cradling him, because she's not sure how to comfort him otherwise. She can't even begin comforting herself.
She knows he means Grace.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could promise that it wouldn't happen again, but I can't even give you that much." Not on the Barge.
"I'm going to try to find ways to defend myself from attacks like this, in the future. But nothing... nothing can be certain, here."
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(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-01 10:13 pm (UTC)Gyongxe stays in her head, quietly in the background, where it belongs. Tommy stays here, on the Barge, in this homey, comfortable room, where he belongs.
She sends her silent thanks to any and every god who might be listening.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-01 10:39 pm (UTC)But he won't. He won't touch her, he won't hurt her.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-04 06:53 pm (UTC)"Violation is the right word. I've never felt so violated."
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-05 04:13 pm (UTC)"And we can't do a fucking thing. We won't." And he doesn't know how to give it a place, now.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-05 08:42 pm (UTC)"Thank you, Tommy." She believes him, what he's willing to do for her.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 07:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-07 11:59 am (UTC)She knows he means Grace.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could promise that it wouldn't happen again, but I can't even give you that much." Not on the Barge.
"I'm going to try to find ways to defend myself from attacks like this, in the future. But nothing... nothing can be certain, here."
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-08 06:37 pm (UTC)"If you want to stay here..." He'd like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-09 08:06 pm (UTC)"I'll stay. For a while, just... for a while." For him. For her. Gods, she still wishes this were a nightmare that would vanish in the morning.