The trip back to the manor was.. interesting, to say the least. Shrouded in an overgrown cloak suited for a Pandaren the size of a Night Elf and nothing else, Astrid didn’t look too strange from the shrouded denizens of the City. Her bow and quiver strapped to her back at least. Woodswoman. She carried herself as swiftly as her legs would allow, caked in blood and mud from the night’s adventures. Rife with plague-rat monstrosities and bridge-jumping in Pandaria.
You shifted. You ran without me?
Not on purpose. We were ambushed by these.. plague-ridden.. creatures. It was habit.
I told you. You yearned for it. I tasted the blood on your tongue from here.
Astrid’s face from her lower lip to chin was stained a black-red, irritated from her frantic rubbing of the dried blood off of her body that was visible so she wouldn’t be stopped by the City Watch in the late hours of the night.
You may continue to be smug, but I yearn for a bath.
And to finish your conversation with Varsen. You stared death in the face without blinking but you cannot ask a man to be yours in more than just words?
We have other things to worry about at the moment, Skadi. You know this.
A heavy sigh coursed through her chest as she entered the Sunshield manor. The thinned house staff in the late hours was a boon, save for the maids that scurried about for those of the household that tended to not rest until the sun rose.
“Sh-shield.. maiden?” One asked, this one’s name was Maudie, and Astrid froze mid-step up the stairs to the resident’s wing. She peeked over her shoulder sheepishly.
“Are you.. well? Ar– do you need Miss Bee to look at you, Light–”
“No.. Maudie, I am fine, just..” A pause. “I am fine. I was promised an adventure and… I certainly had one.” She’d chuckled softly at that with a helpless shrug. “Thank you. A bath and rest is what I require.”
“M-Miss Astrid.. yer not wearin’ shoes.”
“… Yes.” Came quickly after with a soft clearing of her throat.
“I-I.. if.. if you’re sure, Miss.” Maudie blinked, nervous fingertips touching at her lower lip.
“I am. Thank you for your concern.” With that, however, Astrid had turned and hurried her way to hers and Varsen’s room. Down the hall, first door to the right. Gods, how that hallway seemed endless when you were trying to stalk your way through a walk of shame through your home.
Sure that Varsen was asleep, however, Astrid’s fingers gently curled around the doorknob, pushing the door open slowly. It squeaked at the hinges at a certain obtuse angle if one wasn’t quick enough. The Shieldmaiden pushed herself through the doorway with ease, gently closing the door behind her with an exhausted sigh.
Most nights the pair had trouble sleeping. It had been that way since they returned from Oribos. Even when Astrid had fared the wilderness of Stormheim, the wilds did little to ease her into slumber lately. But some nights it came quicker than others, and when Astrid reopened her eyes, the first sight was of her Knight beneath the furs, blond hair wild likely with the tossing and turning before rest had taken him. Her expression softened as she studied him and another soft sigh left her. So much for finishing their talk, she supposed, but whatever rest they could get was certainly a boon and an answer to prayer she wouldn’t question further. Tomorrow was another day.
Astrid’s first destination was the hearth. The flames had died down since the logs were lit and Astrid had at least saved her belt from the change. A whispered word into a palm full of runestones that activated and tossed into the fire saw it flare to life with renewed vigor!
Her second destination was the bath. Varsen slept like a rock when he felt like it and she prayed tonight he felt like it until she crawled her way into bed after. The water was turned and she waited until its warmth had filled the tub before she’d sank within. Dirt and blood was slowly scrubbed off with the rest of the trivialities of the day, the rage, the anger. Astrid was quick to free herself of the grime and into something more comfortable, slipping free of the waters as quietly as she could.
Soft leather trousers were tugged on after she’d dried herself, a loose-fitting tunic that was probably one of his was slung tiredly over her head and draped off of one of her shoulders. Definitely his. She had naught a care, though, as after she’d cleaned after herself in their room did she finally crawl into bed, inching her way beneath the furs and intent on tucking herself against him. A sigh took her, deep and heavy, as she tossed half-wet hair behind her to dry later.
There was a soft rumble from the Knight-Captain, then, that saw his eyes open blearily for a moment and his arms adjust to wrap about her smaller frame and tug her to him. Astrid chuckled softly at that, fingers touching at a bearded jaw. Her lips parted in a quiet greeting but no words spilled past her lips for exhaustion crept up on her like a familiar shadow and her eyes had lidded closed as soon as his warmth had found her.
