[a/n: written for @bsd-rarepairweek 2019, day two. the themes were singing and nightmares, and I combined the two. this is the third time i’m trying to get it to show up in the tags. sorry to my followers.]
There was a moment after Gin opened her eyes where she panicked. She waited for the inevitable moment when blood would hit her face, but the feeling never came. Instead, she was sweating in a sleeping bag, her heart threatening to beat out of her chest. She stared upwards at the stars as she tried to calm, her fingers flexing and unflexing slowly as she readjusted to the waking world.
She wasn't sure how long she lay there before she finally sat up. Her eyes immediately latched onto the small fire across the clearing where Lucy poked at the flames with a stick. Gin carefully untangled herself from Yosano's and Higuchi's sleeping bodies and approached slowly. Her arms wrapped themselves tight around herself to protect from the cold night air. She was happy for the warmth of the fire once she got close enough.
Lucy looked up as if she'd been expecting Gin's arrival. There was a stubborn pout on her face as she gave a vindictive poke into the fire. "It won't give me my ham back."
Gin looked to the sad, smoldering lump in the coals, a small smile creeping on to her face. Even if Lucy did manage to get it out, it'd be far from edible. But Lucy continued to jab at the embers anyways.
There were a lot of places to sit around the fire, but Gin settled down next to Lucy on her log. She had a feeling Lucy wouldn't mind.
They watched the flames dance for a long while, only interrupted on occasion by Lucy's erratic poking. Gin was happy for the silence, the simple comfort of another living and breathing body next to her's more than enough.
"What woke you up?" Lucy asked, then she added a 'yes' or 'no' question for Gin's benefit, "Cold?"
Gin's gaze slowly lowered to her feet. Eventually, she shook her head 'no'.
Lucy simply hummed in response, willing to let the subject drop. She jammed her stick especially roughly into the fire. Gin watched with slight alarm as the flames threatened to lick at Lucy's skin. The stick had grown too short to be playing with. Gin gently took the stick from Lucy's hand and stood to find her another.
Lucy pouted a little, propping her head in her hands. She seemed to grow bored quickly while Gin tried to break off a dead branch from a nearby pine. The sound of singing reached Gin's ears before long. Lucy was singing a small, charming sounding English song. The tune of it alone was enough for Gin to feel a little more relaxed.
She returned to the fireside with a suitably long stick and held it out to Lucy. She looked it up and down skeptically before taking it. "Could've just kept the old one," she muttered, but there was a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Gin sat back down, a little closer this time. Lucy poked at the fire with fervor, completely abandoning the lump that was her ham. She watched the chaos of embers she was making with slight delight and Gin was more than happy to watch her nonsense.
The fire began to burn down and Lucy left to add two more logs to the fire. The loss of her company, even though she didn't go far, made Gin feel colder. She rubbed her arms, almost wishing that Lucy had let the fire die instead of leaving. Without Lucy there, Gin found her thoughts being dragged back to the nightmare she was trying hard to forget.
Lucy returned quickly enough, though, and she straddled the log. "Turn," she said in that commanding tone that was uniquely her's.
Gin obeyed without question.
There was a rustling sound as Lucy dug through her pack. After a moment, she produced a comb and slipped it into Gin's hands. Gin's eyes widened as she looked at the sparkling object. "Coated with real gold," Lucy said, her voice not braggadocious, "Fitzgerald gave it to me."
Gin turned the comb this way and that, watching the way the gold caught the flickering firelight. It was heavy and comforting in her hands, and she couldn't help but think that it was a terribly pretty and precious object. In her mind, she tucked away something like this into a wishlist. There were very few occasions for her to spend her money on such beautiful and delicate things, but one day maybe she'd like something like this.
Lucy waited patiently until Gin handed the comb back. As soon as she had, Lucy picked up small groups of Gin's hair and brushing it. The sensation was strange at first, as Gin hadn't ever had someone brush her hair for her before, but she quickly relaxed into it. She enjoyed the gentle, almost tickling pull on her scalp. Her eyes drifted closed as she trusted Lucy with her task.
"Your hair really is very pretty," Lucy told her, her voice soft, "It's so much longer than I'd expected."
Gin couldn't help but blush at the compliment. Since she was usually mistaken as a boy, she very rarely got told any part of her was 'pretty'. That didn't normally bother her, but it was a nice feeling all the same.
"Do you get nightmares often?"
Gin's eyes slowly opened. She stared straight into the woods, listening to the sound of soft snoring and the crackling of the fire for a moment. "Yes," she whispered.
Lucy handed her the comb again, and Gin was happy to have it. She stroked the spins with her thumb, delighted by the quiet sound they made. Lucy separated Gin's hair into sections. "What do you normally do? After nightmares, I mean."
Gin thought for a moment. Noise. Noise was what she liked after nightmares, a reminder she wasn't alone. "Movies."
Lucy hummed in agreement. "Feels less lonely that way, doesn't it?"
Gin nodded.
Lucy sighed, letting the heavy braid she'd made slip from her fingers. "You should get some more sleep," she said, turning back to the fire.
Gin frowned, turning to the fire herself. She didn't really want to go back to sleeping next to Yosano and Higuchi. They kicked in their sleep. She would much rather fall asleep next to Lucy, next to the warm fire.
Lucy picked up on this, somehow. "Well, you can stay here. You'll just have to listen to my terrible singing. Otherwise, I'll get bored and nod off."
Gin smiled a little. It was a very pleasant idea to sit here and fall asleep to Lucy's singing voice, even if she weren't brave enough to admit it. Lucy blushed immediately on seeing Gin's smile, which made Gin blush, too. To distract herself, Lucy took the fire poking stick in her hand and started stabbing it against the coals once more. When Gin didn't leave, Lucy tapped her own shoulder. "Well? Lean on me."
Gin's eyes widened a little, but Lucy didn't seem to be joking. She only hesitated for a moment before gently resting her cheek on Lucy's shoulder.
There was silence for a while before Lucy began to sing again. It wasn't the same song as before. It was quite a bit slower and softer, which made Gin think it was a lullaby. It wasn't horrible singing at all, but Gin wasn't awake long enough to tell her as much.
Every so often, Gin would be shaken awake by the start of another nightmare, only for Lucy to coo gentle encouragement to go back to sleep. And every time, Gin listened.
