#21 yasha and molly for the prompts list!
21. things you said when we were on top of the world
âYou know, I always take these things and I never feelanything.â
Even as she says it, though, a smile wonât stop tugging thecorners of her mouth, as is too easily the case when faced with the undilutedgiddiness of a high-out-of-his-mind Mollymauk Tealeaf. Not that anything abouta sober Mollymauk is diluted in the slightest, his incessant voice in her headis quick to remind her.
He grabs Yashaâs hand in both of his, cheeky smile intacteven after the tumble he took off of Bo the Breakerâs shoulders earlier. Shetightens her grip around him without thinking, all too aware of the cartrumbling beneath their feet as the circus trundles down yet another namelessdirt path that reminds Yasha nothing of home.
âYes, yes,â he says breezily. âYouâre big and tough anduntouchable. But youâve never done any drugs with me, darling. That makes all the difference.â
âOh, yeah?â She gives up on trying to hide her small grin,an occurrence that has become alarmingly frequent over the past several monthswith this odd little circus and even odder tiefling. âAnd how many times haveyou done this, exactly?â
âOnce,â Molly says unabashedly, perhaps even proudly. âOrmaybe twice, but Bo keeps saying I was more stoned than high that time.â Hewinks and squeezes her hand. âSo? Do you feel anything now??â
She scoffs. Moonlight glints off the sharp points of histeeth and the deep red of his eyes, and he would look almost sinister to anyonewho didnât actually know him. MollymaukTealeaf. He certainly wasnât what she expected, when she arrived in theEmpire with nothing but the blood in her veins. Less than nothing.
âI certainly feel something, all right,â she says softly.
Her heart is light in a way that it never is. Maybe thoseherbs are doing something to her despite what she said.
Then Molly lets go of her hand and wraps his arms around herwaist instead, and Yasha is musing at the idea that he is the only one sheknows, now, whom sheâd let hug her like this, until Molly tightens his hold,straining, and Yasha begins to suspect that this is not, in fact, a hug at all.
âWhat are you doing?â she asks, mildly.
âIâmâgonna lift you high,â he grits. âLike Boâdid for me. Itâswhat friends are for.â
âMolly,â she laughs, âyou canât lift me.â
But then, impossibly, miraculously, the heels of Yashaâsfeet rise half an inch off the floor of the cart. Yasha is impressed, just intime for the cart to hit a nasty bump in the road, sending the both of themtumbling down into the dirt.
âWeâre not stoppingfor you again,â Gustav yells from his horse, even as absolutely no onetakes him seriously.
Yasha is shaking with silent laughter and, yeah, yeah, maybe she does feel something,after all. Uncharacteristically, Molly beneath her isnât laughing, and thatsurprises her so much she gets worried that her weight is crushing hiswindpipe, so she quickly rolls off of him, and they both lie there on theirbacks with a tapestry of stars spread out above their heads. In the distantbackground, she can hear Desmond grumbling and one of the carts coming to a halt,waiting for them.
Molly is grinning at her, wide, bright.
âI told you Iâd send us flying,â he says, happy and warm. âSee?You can count on me, dear.â
âI believe you,â murmurs Yasha, and just this once she lets hersmile grow freely.