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be home by midnight

──● fairy godmother
CINDERELLA

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For a moment, everything was still. Completely, utterly still. Rune was staring at her, flat-faced as usual, but her eyes were dull and tired, red from the silver that still rimmed her eyes, desperate to trace tracks down her cheeks. No one moved. Not even her siblings behind her.

Delaney couldn't even think for a moment, and she so calmly, so quietly took the box from her hands. Or, tried too. It didn't give at first, and her eyes dropped to the cardboard, then looked back up at Rune, and gently - oh so gently, she spoke. "Rune." She kept her voice soft. That same tone that Rune had used with her when she'd been flopping around with her words like a fish out of water. 

Rune let go.

The box dropped into her hands, and Delaney felt the shift of something inside. Gently she turned, looking to Yume, who had her own eyes trained on Rune. Wide with shock, and possibly concern, but she met Delaney's eyes, and quickly rushed to take the box from her. It was a smooth handoff, and Yume rushed to take the box away, hissing at her siblings to leave them alone.

A gift that Delaney was grateful for.

Slowly, she turned back to face Rune, who's arms had gone to hug herself, digging the beds of her nails into her skin. Her eyes were dark and hollow, and it stung Delaney's heart in a way words can't even begin to describe. Her voice, once again, came out as soft as the clouds on a summer morning. "Rune-"

"I'm sorry I'm late." The words were jagged. Almost breathless, but that wasn't what struck her the most.

An apology.

Rune was apologizing. To her. Not like Rune hadn't apologized before, but it was only when an apology must have been justifiable, clearly, in this case, it was not. Rune was apologizing for no apparent reason, and something about it made Delaney feel sick. Laney apologized a lot. She had a habit of saying it even when things couldn't have been farther from her fault. Rune always scolded her for it.

"Were you late on purpose?" Delaney's eyes flicked up to her's, and behind them both, the wind ached against the trees, winding through the mountains in invisible paths. She looked at Rune for a moment, then looked back at her arm, where Ru continued to dig her fingers further into the skin.

"I..well, no- but-"

"No nothing, Rune. Clearly.." she hesitated, then gently, like Delaney always would, reached for her. "Clearly you've had quite the night." Rune didn't tense like she thought she might, when Laney put the lightest hand on her arm. "You don't have to apologize to me."

Rune stared at her for another beat, silent, and unmoving.

Delaney tried again, this time, reaching up to delicately pry her friend's hands from her own arms, taking them in her own instead, and pulling her one step inside. Gracefull, and still holding on to one of Rune's hands, she turned and shut the door against the bitter howl of air outside, the wind banging against the door as it shut, muffling the sound. Delaney shifted again, to pull Rune further inside, across the ballroom and into the foyer, where a comfortable couch sat in front of a wavering fireplace.

As soon as they sat, Delaney still holding her hand tightly, she turned to face her friend. A sick kind of sadness had begun to penetrate her heart, but she stroked her hand lightly. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Um.." Her voice was wobbly, and Rune chewed her lip for a moment, clearly trying to stabalize her voice enough to speak. "Uh, I don't know." A sniffle. "I just, um.." her voice trailed off again, and a soft sound escaped her mouth as she shrugged weakly, tears already beginning to once again glaze her eyes all over.

"Oh..Rune.." Delaney reached up, cupping her face in her hand, just as her sisters had done when she ended up crying in their rooms over some miniscule problem. "Rune, love, it's okay. You're okay now."

A choked sound escaped her, and briefly, before Rune's head ended up on her shoulder, Delaney registered it as a sob. Because then Rune had her arms around her, tight as they ever could be, and she was crying into her shoulder. It was a heartbreaking sound, and Rune was holding onto her so tightly, like somehow, someway, she would disappear.

Delaney let her cry, hesitating only for a moment, before placing her hand into her hair, running fingers through it. It was impossibly soft, albeit matted with wind, and whatever fight she had gotten into before arriving here. With each strangled sob, her heart broke a little more, until it was nothing but stardust, stirring inside of her chest, tangling with her ribs and lungs in some delicate dance of the arcane.

Characteristically, Rune didn't cry for long, because eventually it turned into nothing but sniffles and half-silent sobs of absolute exhaustion. She didn't move her head still, and Delaney didn't ask her too, stroking her hair, and smoothing it as best as she could with the matts that remained contained in it. After a time, Laney spoke, murmering to her in the softest voice she could manage, the one reserved for the people in her life who needed a soft love.

A gentle one.

"Rune?" The only acknoweldgement of being heard was she got was the gentle shift of the goddess in her arms moving to nestle her head in the crook of Delaney's neck. "Do you want to take a shower, or something?" She paused, then quickly added, "Not- not cause you smell bad, I just- I realized that you were bleeding, and your hair- and maybe, it might, i don't know, showers are nice after you cry, and things like that."

For a moment, there was silence, and anxiety began to rise once more in her chest. The only sound in the hollow hallways of darkness, being the wind, and the distant whispers of her siblings that accompanied the crackling of the fresh-born fire. There wasn't much of an answer, not even that soft huff of laughter that usually accompanied any of Delaney's half-panicked ramblings. Just a slow, steady nod, and the quiet removal of Rune's head from her shoulder as she pulled back, reaching to rub at the mascara that smeared over her face.

If it was any other situation. A situation that didn't make Delaney's star-showered heart ache with every breath, maybe she would have laughed.

Instead Delaney smiled that lovely smile of hers, taking Rune's hand once again in her own. "Okay, i'll show you my shower, is that okay?" If Venus were here, no doubt would she have made a joke, but Laney hardly thought that now was the time for that. Again Rune nodded, although this time, her eyes stalled on the hand clutching her own. Delaney dropped her own eyes as well, and let go of it slowly. "I'm..I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

Rune took it again. Picked it back up, and held it tightly, as if trying to silently convene, 'stay with me'. Laney chose not to question it, refusing to feel the rush of sudden affection that pooled into her stomach, an eruption of butterflies, as she took her hand again. Nodding again, Delaney stood, pulling her friend once again with her.

Rune trailed behind, picking up the dark dress in silence, and following Delaney up into the hallways, towards her room. Laney ignored the flush of her own cheeks at the thought, instead pushing open the door to her room, thanking the heaven's above that she had chosen to clean it earlier this morning in hopes of passing the time. She pulled Rune to the bathroom, quietly showing here where things were, before leaving, and allowing her the sanctuary of a shower perfectly safe, where nothing would bother her, and the hot water would never run out.

While Rune was in the shower, Delaney darted for her own closet, pulling out one of her largest sweatshirts. Rune was bigger than she was, and she didn't want Rune to suddenly feel consious about her height or size either - especially because the fact that she wore heels, while being so tall, was so incredibly attractive to Delaney. And of course, the fact that it was a part of who she was. After locating a warm sweater, she dug through her shorts drawer, finding some that would hopefully fit her. She folded the clothes neatly, sneaking them in through the door silently, before closing it once again, and going to change as well.

Rune didn't stay in the shower for long. Laney had only been on her phone for a few moments before the door opened with a soft squeak, and Rune stepped out. The sweater had fit her nicely, as had the shorts. Something that Delaney was glad for. The last thing in the world she wanted, was to somehow make Rune feel even worse than she was already feeling. Her hair was untangled, scraggly against her sweater, eyes glistening red still. She walked over to Delaney, where she was sitting on the bed, and just stood before her for a moment.

Delaney, in proper nature, now changed herself with makeup scrubbed off, smiled prettily, and apparently the sight made Rune's lip begin to wobble all over again, but she sniffed, rubbing the sweatshirt arm over her face before a sob could bubble up from her throat. Laney reached up, rubbing Rune's arm as she looked up at her. "Could I braid your hair?"

Once again, Rune managed a nod, and sat down in front of Delaney where she was on the edge of her bed, and pulled her knees to her chest. Laney just began combing out her hair. They were both quiet for a moment, and for a pause she hesitated, but decided to speak. "Would it be easier to talk about it without looking at me?"

Another beat of silence, and Rune finally spoke. Her voice was a little more stable, at the least. "Yeah. I think so." So Delaney quieted, and waited for her to continue. Rune brought her knees impossibly closer to her chest, hugging them. "I live with my mother here, while I go to school, because it's cheaper, right?" She went to nod, but remembered that Delaney was brushing her hair, and instead focused on staying still. Laney couldn't help but smile as she set down the comb, and began to braid her hair. Rune continued. "She...she's very traditional, and belives heavily in old modesty, and religious values. Rather, oppressive, religious values." She swallowed hard. "She was drinking a lot. She's always drinking a lot, and I..I told her, today, that I liked girls." There was silence again, and Rune sucked her teeth, inhaling a trembling breath. "I guess she already didn't like that I was going to pride parades, and I'm friends with people of color." There was hesitation, and a gross, sickening feeling stirred in the pit of Delaney's stomach, but she said nothing. "I called her a racist, because she is one." Her voice wobbled. "And then I called her a homophobe, and-" her breath hitched, but Delaney just moved to the other side of her head, to do the second braid. "and she called me..some...horrible things. And - and then she threw my stuff out her window, and told me she didn't give birth to a daughter." Rune's voice shook, and her nails dug into her legs in a desperate attempt to stop the tears from crying. "She..she said she gave birth to a um..the...the f-word." Delaney finished the braid as her stomach dropped. "And so, I got to my car- and started driving here, and my tire blew out, so that was great." She sniffed. "I just..I had a really hard day, and I just needed to see you."

There was a sudden rush of emotions that flooded her head, blurring together. Delaney stood up from behind her, walking around and kneeling in front of her friend, eyes soft. "Oh..Rune, sweetheart." She took her hands, prying them from her legs once again. "I'm so sorry that you went through that. I'm so, so sorry."

Rune hiccuped a sob, "I got your present though, um, I called your dad and everything to make sure it was fine, and you weren't - weren't allergic-"

"Allergic?" Laney cocked her head, curiousity overflowing even the warmth of the idea that Rune might like her a little more than a friend, and she played apart in her gay awakening.

Rune nodded, smearing the sweatshirt sleeve over her eyes. "Yeah. You, you said you always wanted a cat, didn't you?"

Oh.

Oh.

She had said that. On one of the days she'd been rambling to Rune in the storefront, muttering to herself as she compared and gathered the black velvet and lace she wanted for her dress. She had briefly thought about making the dress reversible, with red velvet on the inside to indicate the vampire theme even further.

"I-I did, you..you got me a cat?"

Slowly, Rune nodded. "She's a rescue, uh, which I didn't think you'd mind. I couldn't really afford a purebred or anything. Um, she's real cute though. She's black, and has one blue eye, and one green eye, and technically she was a kitten I found in a cardboard box on the street, but she was the last one left, and it's so cold, so I-"

It was less than a second before Delaney's arms were back around Rune. So tight. Like somehow, someway, she might be the one to disappear instead. Hot affection pooled into her stomach, rebuilding her heart from the stardust and sand it had been utterly reduced too, spinning it in glitter and gold. Laney let out a small giggle, a trill of a sound as she pulled back, "You like me. I knew it."

Rune stared at her for a moment. "Like you?"

"Platonically." She quickly added, just to be safe.

"Romantically, actually." Rune was quick to correct, as she always was, tilting her head at Delaney. "I'm just..very inadequate at any kind of flirting at all."

"Romantically?" Delaney stared at her, heat flooding into her cheeks as a bout of joy ran up through her throat. "Romantically! Rune-"

"Yes?"

"For how long??"

"Oh, I figure maybe a month, maybe two. That September dress you did last month was so, so lovely, but - I do think I found you just a bit more so." Rune shrugged, arms still looped around her waist.

Delaney felt that flustered heat flush into her face, but she didn't really care, wrapping her own arms around her neck. Giggling like a schoolgirl. "Rune?"

"Mm?"

"Could I kiss you?"

"You know, Laney, I don't think anything in the world would make me happier."

So Delany did. She kissed Rune Stellan right on the mouth because she could, and because they liked each other. Romantically. Pulling back after a breath, Delaney snickered into her mouth. "Your mother's kinda a bastard."

"Yeah." Rune's tone was warm, dropping her head into Laney's chest, pulling her closer. "Worth it for you though."

"That so?" Her hands again found Rune's face, cupping it, squishing her cheeks in on themselves so they caved into her mouth. She scrunched up her nose in response, reaching up and taking her hands in her own, leaning down to kiss one of the palms.

"Yeah." Rune looked back up at her, and the quietest smile rose on her face. "Yeah, I think so."

✦

✦ OPHELIA ✦

- pov: you can't stop writing

- I think there is something
definitely wrong with how
fast i'm cranking these out

- anyway, apologies for the 
angst and worries

- it's kinda my thing <3 
ily thooo

your (or your characters)
opinons on Rune + Delaney
[ ship name: dune ]

──● answers