Homesick

[royaltyjunk]

Author's Ideas: This was just a small drabble to go along with a drawing that can be seen here. Wheeeee-

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Homesick

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"Do you ever get homesick?"

Lachesis frowns, but reaches through the open window and pulls the keys from the ignition. The gentle hum of the car's engine and the blaring 80's music stops. She shields her eyes, glancing over at the rising dawn sun.

She jams the keys into her pocket and looks back at Finn, who's nibbling on a square of dried meat while he waits for her answer.

"Of course I do. Agustria has been my home for as long as I can remember. It's been my home for as long as I've been alive, and I do not know when I am going to see Agustria again. Right now," she laughs bitterly, "I can only hope."

Finn opens his mouth, as if trying to speak, before thinking and closing his mouth, leaning against the car behind him. Lachesis glances at him strangely, digging her hand into the bag of dried fruit.

"Why do you ask?"

"I... No, it's nothing." Finn shakes his head, continuing to chew his strip of dried meat.

"Finn," Lachesis glares at her companion, her eyes highlighted in the sun's nascent light. He gives her a smile.

"Apologies, Ms. Nordion-"

"Seventeen times," Lachesis counts off, and Finn hastily corrects himself.

"-Lachesis. As a bodyguard I'm much more used to... not speaking about my past."

"You're not a bodyguard now, Finn." Lachesis bites into a dried slice of apple with a little more force that necessary. "You're a friend. Not someone working under me."

"Lachesis, Master Quan and your brother Mr. Nordion have tasked me with your safety. I must ensure your safety, even at the cost of our stealthiness."

"Damn it, Finn!" Lachesis slams her fist against the car door behind her. "I don't care about what Quan or my brother said! You're homesick too, aren't you? You're tired of this. You've been running with Sigurd for far longer than I have. If you want to complain, just say it, Finn!"

The blue-haired man swallows down his last bite of jerky and glances up at Lachesis. "Permission... to speak freely?"

"Yes!" Lachesis growls, her fingernails digging into the plastic bag in her hands. "You act like you're talking to a king or something."

"I am going to ignore that last statement." Finn smiles, his gaze cast downwards and blue eyes blocked with long lashes that cast lanky shadows across his cheeks. "I refused to speak earlier because... Master Quan plans to return to Leonster, alongside Mistress Ethlyn and myself. Hearing you speak of how you had no way to know if you were going to return home made me feel guilty."

"Guilty?" Lachesis echoes.

"Guilty," Finn nods. "I felt that you did not deserve what you were going through. That a woman like you would suffer a fate that I myself deserve, I-"

"Finn, I deserved this."

"Lachesis?"

She laughed bitterly. "I deserved it, Finn. I'd been spoiled all my life. Reality was a dream to me. I'd never seen injustice, never done manual labor. It was all so surreal to me. And then it became real. And honestly?" She looks at him with intense blue eyes, eyes filled with passion, with honesty and loyalty and the truth. "I'm glad it did."

"Lachesis-"

Her ringer goes off, and Lachesis snatches her phone from her jacket pocket.

"It's Sigurd," Lachesis breathes, and swipes across her phone screen, putting the phone on speaker. "Sigurd?"

"Lachesis?" His drowsy voice comes through. "You're actually awake?"

She laughs. "Didn't expect me to actually pick up? You can thank Finn. He's punctual." She reaches over and gives him a playful punch. He glares at her.

"Right. Finn's with you." There's rustling in the background, and Quan's voice grows louder.

"Sigurd, come on! We have to get going!"

"Coming! Lachesis, where are you again?"

"About ten hours out of Sailane. We'll be the last ones there, I think."

"Yeah. We'll see you then."

The call ends, and Lachesis drops her phone back into her jacket pocket before raising her hand to Finn.

"Here's to one more drive together. For our homesickness."

Finn gives her a high five and grins back. "For our homesickness."

Two hours later when they're speeding down the Silesian highway at dawn, her hands tight around the wheel and his head resting against the passenger seat window as he snores away, she doesn't feel homesick anymore.