#all-silences

[moraldoctor]

❣

❣ –A hug after being separated

The sheer shock of it all left Harry’s gaze blurred; unable to focus, mind reeling as Silna’s fur covered arms wrap around his neck. He follows suit, shuddering as his heart pounds. His eyes squeeze shut and then reopen, eyes flicking around as he struggles not to lose total control of self. It had been a long time since he’s seen her, weeks, and he’d lost all hope of ever seeing her again. Once it settles in, Harry finds his grip on the woman tightening and he buries his face in his shoulder, only to greet her with an affectionate kunik when he pulls away.

It takes much longer to find words.

“Quviahuktuŋa.” He mumbles softly, during the kunik. As he pulls away, he tells her assuredly, looking intently into her eyes. “Uŋahaaqtagit. I have missed you. I-I have worried.”

[ratcaulker]

Between the ice and the rats and the monster, all of them free to eat away what they can of the ship and its crew, Hickey privately doubts the Terror will last too long - let alone be fit for sailing away.

At least he’s been tasked with indoor work on this day. It’s a very small secluded space he’s in, but he can’t see anything of much worth to warrant the presence of the guard lightly dozing outside the door.

He gingerly sets down his equipment, wincing as he tries to avoid certain movements. A stab of viciousness briefly courses through his mind. Damn them all.

(Hickey has been harmed far worse before, but never in front of quite so large an audience. The humiliation of it still somehow manages to sting more than his backside, even as he limps his way around.)

There’s an itch prickling away at his neck while he works, as if he is being watched. He’s become used to tiny rodent eyes observing him whenever he is in the Terror’s deepest rooms, but this feels different.

He turns sharply around.

‘Ah’, Hickey says.

It’s her. His own rodent eyes do not manage to quite hide their anger (and worry, if he’d ever admit it - because he knows the witch can communicate with the monster, and he has given her plenty reason to wish him harm). He gives a game attempt at a toothy smile, anyway, even as he discreetly slides a step further from her. ‘Your Ladyship. Having a nice stay with us, are you?’