It wasn’t much, but it was ruined. A light rivulet of water ran down the far wall, though it had been much wider at its peak if the damage was any indication. Malle stood in the doorway, her brow furrowed. It wasn’t hers, not really, and it seemed silly to mourn the loss of some bed linens and a desk when her losses of the month previous had been so much greater. Hands at her sides, she took it in.
The hallway was covered in debris; the drywall had begun to bow and splinter, leaving chunks where they fell. Her room seemed at once better and worse, for the walls were intact but she could see the way the bed bowed from the water-soaked mattress. One of the pictures had fallen off the wall, likely when the roof came off, and there was glass shattered by the bathroom door. Malle stepped inside, using a mostly-dry sweater to clean the damp off her writing desk. She sat a canvas duffel – Kane’s – down and turned to address the room. Better to move quickly and be done with it.
She had mostly emptied her closet before she heard footsteps in the hallway, folding one patterned sundress after another. Some of them had fallen off their hangers and sat in rancid water for god-knew-how-long; she left them. But the rest she packed, along with her other clothes. She was in the middle of folding a sweater when the footsteps stopped. Fuck. They hadn’t explicitly said not to be there, but nor had any pirate indicated that she could go inside. She just did. And so, there was a bit of guilt on her features as she turned, dark eyes lifting cautiously to see what fresh hell was waiting for her, there. Her shoulders relaxed at the familiar sight, the polite man who’d kept her from falling off the path weeks before. “Oh.” Malle gave a small smile, relieved. “It’s only you.”
Nicholas raised his brows at her as they stared at one another. Eventually, he pointed his forefinger at her. “Rude,” he replied, feigning indignation. He was carrying a bunch of things on one of his shoulders and steadied them with his other, free hand. They were objects which had laid scattered all over the hallway and it was his job for the time being to help with the reconstruction of the Tulach house. He was accordingly dressed, a protective, bright orange helmet sat atop his black hair and a thin layer of sweat covered his skin.
Memories of their last encounter flashed before his eyes and he had a difficult time to repress a triumphant smirk. With her not being able to remember him, he had every intention of using it to his own advantage. This was about him and him only.
“Nicholas,” he told her. “The name’s Nicholas. Try to remember it, I’d appreciate it.”