Take Me Home || Anita & Marley
TIMING: The night of Marley’s Attack. PARTIES: @professoranieves and @detectivedreameater SUMMARY: Nothing like a bugbear attack to bring two people closer together.
The cool air almost stung as Marley sat on the front porch, phone in her hand. She had half a mind to just go back inside, to shut the door and not answer when Anita got there and to tell Erin not to answer either. But she knew very well that that was a terrible idea. Anita would probably never forgive her and for some reason, that thought scared her enough to stay sitting on the porch even though the cool air made her face feel like it was burning. From her messages, Anita almost seemed angry, but she supposed that was fair. Finding out from the news that she was mauled by a bear probably wasn’t fun.The actual explanation of what had happened was even less so. She rubbed the good side of her face and groaned, leaning back in the chair and closing her eyes for a moment. How was she supposed to explain this to Anita? There was no way she was going to let her get pulled into this Roy business-- it was way too dangerous. And she wasn’t going to let anything happen to Anita if she could help it. She’d tear down the city if Roy even thought about touching her. The thoughts rumbled in her stomach and she prodded the bandage on her face. Erin had done a decent job at stitching her up, even better than Jane, but Erin had practice, so it made sense. The problem was the scab and the blood. They were drying blue, leaving little dark blue streak marks on her face. She couldn’t walk around like this and let people see her blue blood. But that was a worry for another day, because Anita’s car was pulling up now and Marley had no idea what she was going to say anymore. So she just stayed sitting, and watched her race up the driveway towards her.
When Anita had seen the article, her mind went to the worst case scenario. She knew that she and Marley had been playing it cool lately, but she just couldn’t even think about how to play it cool at that moment. After unanswered texts, calls, and messages (and a few awkward messages to her co-workers), Anita finally heard back from Marley. And she was in a fucking funeral home. When she finally pulled up she saw the silhouette of Marley sitting out front. That seemed somewhat promising? She could sit up at least. As she got out of the car and ran up towards where she was sitting she began to notice the bandages all over her face, the brace on her ankle, the bruises… everywhere. Maybe it was the stress of not knowing if she was okay for so long finally catching up to her, but Anita started crying softly. Once she got up to her, she gently dropped to her knees in front of Marley and gently took her hands. “I thought you were dead.” She finally said softly after a long period of silence. She looked up at her and she wanted to touch her face, but as she started to bring her hand up she suddenly became terrified she would just hurt her if she touched, so she pulled it back down. “I was really scared.”
Marley shivered a little-- not at Anita’s touch, and not even at the chill in the air, but perhaps at the idea that she’d scared someone so much they were actually crying with relief at seeing her alive. That wasn’t a thing that happened to her. She remembered nights of aching after her one and only friend had been killed in cold blood and she wondered if that was what Anita feeling right now. She squeezed her hands and leaned down a little, brushing a finger along her cheek to wipe away the tears. “Not dead,” she mumbled finally, aching with the stiffness of her joints. “See?” She took Anita’s hand and placed it gently on the unbandaged side of her face. “Not dead.” Her chest felt suddenly heavy, perhaps with exhaustion or perhaps with pain, but she felt her body slump and she dropped Anita’s hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
If Anita had been focused on what she was doing and not just on the relief of actually seeing her, holding her, alive she might have gotten embarrassed or self-conscious of how emotional she was being. But she wasn’t thinking straight. She didn’t think straight when it came to Marley. She nodded softly, forcing a smile, “Yeah. Not dead.” When Marley dropped her hand, she stood up, looking around where they were at for a moment. “You went on and on about how invincible you are… and then …” She waived her hands towards her general direction, feeling the unexplainable anger she had been feeling earlier creep up. “A fucking bugbear.” She mumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. Anita stood there for a moment, drowning in everything she was feeling. “Get in the car. I’m bringing you to my place.” There was a sharpness in her tone she didn’t mean to direct at her, so she paused and glanced over at her. “I mean, are you ok to move? I - I can stay here with you if you need to stay here.”
Marley watched Anita pace. She’d never seen her this outraged before, and it wasn’t even truly outrage, was it? It was almost something Marley didn’t recognize. “Yeah,” she agreed with a quiet sigh. She was too tired to fight any of it. “A fucking bugbear. They’re the only things immune to my mojo,” she said, leaning against the banister as she looked up at Anita. The sharpness of her tone made her startle a little and she stared wide eyed for a moment. “I--” she looked back at the house. There were a few lights on, but Erin knew Anita was coming. She turned back to Anita. “I can move.” Stiffly, she started to pull herself up using the railing, feeling the strain of the day really wearing on her now. She should’ve been relieved after everything-- she was alive and made it out relatively okay-- but something hung on her shoulder and in her stomach and it made her body feel just a little more weak. She went to take a step, stumbled, and reached out for Anita. “Maybe…”
Anita watched Marley as she started to stand up, there were obvious struggles as she moved and it caused a sharp twinge in her chest. As soon as she saw her stumble though, she quickly reached out and wrapped her arms gently around her to steady her balance. “Come on. I got you.” Keeping her arms firmly wrapped around her waist, Anita walked them slowly to her car. She knew that there was no reason for her to be mad. But she was. Not at Marley though? Or, maybe a little bit at Marley? Mostly at whatever fucking bugbear did this to them though. As they got to the car, Anita opened the passenger door for her, helped her in, and then closed the door. In the few moments alone as she walked over to her side of the car, she took a couple deep breaths, trying to stop her body from feeling like it was shaking. Once she got in the car, she had to keep herself from looking over at Marley, knowing that if she did she’d probably start crying again. So instead, she just backed out of the funeral home parking lot and started heading to her place.
Marley didn’t protest to Anita helping her, not like she might have usually. It just felt...different. She leaned into Anita and let herself be walked to the car, trying not to let on too much how painful it was. When she slid into the seat, she didn’t even buckle her seatbelt, just texted Erin that she was heading somewhere safe and laid her head back again. Anita didn’t say anything when she got into the car, and she didn’t look over at her, and Marley couldn’t help but wonder if she was somehow mad at her. If she blamed her, she supposed that was fair. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. Next thing she knew, they were pulling up to Anita’s house and Marley couldn’t remember the past ten minutes. She blinked, rubbed her eye, wincing. She looked over at Anita. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled again, not really sure what she was apologizing for. “I can--” she sat up, opened the door, but groaned when the pain set in. “Guess I’m not invincible, huh?”
Anita had let herself be lulled into a false sense of security when Marley had told her that she couldn't be harmed at night. Her biggest fear was someone she cared about dying. She had been so calmed by her night-time immunities that she failed to consider everything that could go wrong before nightfall. “None of us are.” Anita replied softly as she got out of the car and went over to the other side to help Marley out of the car. Once they got inside her house she helped her over to the couch before going back and locking the front door. She stood in her living room for a moment, debating if she should go get a drink or go sit on the couch. As much as she really wanted to crack open a bottle, she felt an overwhelming need to be near Marley, so she just went over to her and sat down beside her. In the light, she finally took another good look at her. Her bandages covered up the damage… but it was clearly extensive. She noticed the blue blood and added that to the small list of facts she now knew about mara. “What the fuck happenned…” She knew just what the newspaper reported, but knowing how off they were sometimes, she knew that couldn’t be the whole story.
Marley sank into the couch. It was so comfortable, and Anita’s home was so familiar. As nice as Erin’s place was, there was just something about being here that let Marley sink into a comfortable sit and let her body relax. It smelled like Anita. She couldn’t entirely describe it, but she knew it was there. Although the pain meds had worn off long ago, the weariness was still there and it stayed heavy on top of her. When Anita came back, she tried her best to perk up, blinking the weariness from the eye that wasn’t covered in bandages. “It’s comp--” she started, and then remembered all the times she’d said that word to her and bit it back. “I didn’t know who he was,” she started out slowly, “he’s, well--” she rubbed her face, wincing again, “I’m sort of helping someone take down some sort of magic or otherwise crime lord. And he had followed me, apparently, to try and recruit me to their side. And when I said no, well…” she motioned to her face. The bandages probably looked bad, but the wound underneath was worse. She could feel it burning, each individual claw that had marked her face, probably for the rest of her life. She hated that thought and something burned in her eyes. Fuck, were those tears? She wiped them away quickly. “Luckily someone called the cops, otherwise I don’t think…” she hadn’t said it out loud yet and it wavered on her tongue, “I don’t think he would’ve stopped.”
Antia was about to snap when she heard her start to say the word ‘complicated’. But much to her surprise, she stopped herself. She listened as she began to explain, and while she didn’t love the fact that she was working to take down some magic crime man who aligned himself with a bugbear, Anita knew that Marley was a cop. For a split second she understood all those TV cliche’s about people who … cared about cops hating their jobs. The tightness in her chest swelled up again as she saw Marley start to cry. Anita had cried in front of her a lot by now, but this was only the second time she had seen this from Marley. She reached over and grabbed her hand. “Well. Someone did call the cops. So we don’t have to worry about that.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, but deep down she was aching. She didn’t know why she was feeling this way. Well, no. She did know. Maybe she’d known for a long time but had just been in denial. Either way, seeing Marley like this physically hurt. “And obviously you’re not gonna be able to work on the case anymore. So, someone else can deal with this guy and his bear. Right?” Based on how Marley reacted when her partner went missing, Anita wasn’t very confident that Marley was going to agree with that statement. But she had to at least put it out there.
“Yeah,” Marley repeated, nodding as if that made it true and made it so that she didn’t have to think about the fact that she probably would have died had that not happened. She swallowed. She didn’t like thinking about that fact. She wanted to not think about that fact. She wiped away the last of the tears on her face and restrained anymore from coming out. “No need to get hung on what ifs, right?” When Anita grabbed her hand, she finally looked up at her. She could see everything that was wrought through Anita-- her worry, her fear, her pain, even her relief-- and she felt as if she were being punched in the gut all over again. The air was rushing from her lungs and she had to look away. “I’m--” She squeezed her hand a little tighter. “You know I can’t do that.” Bit her lip. “I have to keep going. If I stop now, then he wins. They win. Besides, I need to pay him back for this,” she said, motioning to her face. “It’s--” ugly? Gross? “--it’s bad.” She didn’t want her to see it.
“No,” Anita protested softly. Realistically, she knew that she couldn’t tell her to not pursue whatever this was. That wasn’t what Marley did. She was a fighter, and this was clearly a cause worth fighting against. She stood up, taking a deep breath and pacing around a bit. “No. You can’t just go after these people. Look at what they did to you when you were fully healthy?” Even though she knew it was worthless, she needed to say it anyway. “Marley. If something were to happen to you? I mean, I l-” she very quickly cut herself off, recovering within seconds, “We just found each other. We just found our rhythm. And I’m not gonna just sit here and say ‘Yeah! Go after the people who almost killed you!’ because I need you alive.”
.
“This only happened because I wasn’t aware,” Marley said, watching Anita pace. “They won’t get the upper hand again. They don’t get to keep getting away with this shit. We’ll eventually be one step ahead of them. It’s--” she felt another wave of exhaustion come over her, finding it hard to focus on Anita. The world blurred slightly and she tried to blink it away. Missed the slight hiccup in Anita’s words. “I don’t-- I can’t not. I can’t just stop. You don’t have to agree to it, or even like it but--” she looked at her as best she could, “if it’s too much you have to tell me now. I can’t get used to having you around only to have you leave when it gets too hard. I can’t do that again. I can’t--” she shook her head despite the pain, “--I can’t have you just to lose you.” She wouldn’t know how to handle that. She’d never needed someone like this before.
Suddenly, Anita felt guilty for her attempt at asking Marley to back down. She knew that wasn’t the kind of person Marley was. Rather quickly she returned to her spot on the couch beside Marley. “Let me make two things clear, okay? I am never going to be okay with you actively putting yourself in harm's way. Because the thought of getting used to you being around and then having to cope with your death fucking terrifies me. I’ve already lost someone once. I don’t know if I can go through that again.” She paused, tucking a loose strand of Marley’s hair behind her ear. On the good side of her face, of course. “But I’m also in too deep. I’d rather push through the hard parts than miss out on the good parts. So, I’m not gonna idly stand by when I think you’re being reckless. But,” she shrugged slightly, “I’ll always be there to pick you up from weird funeral homes afterwards.
Marley felt almost instantly relieved when Anita came back to the couch and sat beside her. Something was building inside her chest, spreading throughout her limbs and making her feel a warmth she wasn’t used to quite yet. She’d felt it a few other times around Anita-- during their “date” the other night, lying under the stars; when she’d fallen asleep on her after the carnival; that first morning she’d stayed over and woke up next to her in the sunlight-- but it was still a mystery to her. As Anita spoke, she couldn’t help the tired smile that pulled onto her lips, curling up the visible side of her face. Even as it stung, she kept it there. “It’s just the one,” she finally said, reaching back out to take her hand, pressing her palm against her good cheek. “Just the one funeral home.” Anita’s cool hands felt nice against her warm skin in contrast to the burning of her wound. As she looked back at her, words that’d she never used before burned on her tongue and in her mind. They tasted like fire when she tried to open her mouth and say them, and she choked them back, instead saying, “You’re the only one I want to pick me up.”
Lately Anita had been opening herself up a lot more to Marley. Saying things that just a few weeks ago she would have felt scared to even think. But there was a strange calm she had been starting to feel everytime she was around Marley. A calm powerful enough to have her just say everything that was on her mind without getting worried about the implications. Well, almost everything. “One funeral home. Got it. So, I take it you know the owner or something then?” Whoever they were, Marley obviously called them first. It made her feel oddly… jealous? But other people was the one topic that had always been touchy for them. “Well, you’re the only one I’d offer to pick up.” Anita pressed a soft kiss against her good cheek, wanting so badly to be able to fully cuddle her, bit also worried about causing her any additional pain. “Can you at least promise me that you won’t go putting yourself in harms way again for like … a week? We can just stay here where it’s safe.”
“Yeah,” Marley said with a slight nod, “her name’s Erin. We’re-- friends.” Friends was the simple way of saying it, but Anita didn’t want complicated and so simple it was. She’d tell her another day, when her face wasn’t burning and her heart wasn’t racing, that Erin was the one she was helping, that Erin was part of the reason this bandage was on her face. She didn’t blame her, but she knew Anita might. Marley felt her hands shake a moment and her mouth got dry. Anita was still talking, as if she didn’t understand her words. Which was fair, Marley barely understood what she was asking for. She sat up a little and turned to full face Anita with a little effort, a little wincing, and put her hands on Anita’s shoulders, holding her firmly. More for herself than Anita, as her arms vibrated and her heart felt as if it might burst from her chest. “No, I mean--” she started, paused as her throat tightened, “--I only want you.” And maybe it was because she was still shaking from the idea of dying by a bugbear’s hands, or maybe it was the fact that all she’d thought about when she was with Evelyn was wanting to be with Anita, or maybe it was even just the morphine talking, but Marley couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I just want to be with you.”
“Right, a friend.” That was their code-word, wasn’t it? But then Marley said something that caught her off guard, and Anita stared at her a bit dumbfounded. Mostly she was wondering if it was the pain meds saying that or Marley saying it. She found herself really hoping it was Marley saying it. “As in you don’t wanna go out to bars and pick up strangers anymore?” She couldn’t help but think about the one time Marley tried to call Anita her favorite and she sort of spiraled. Exclusivity had terrified her, she openly disavowed it. But there Marley was, telling her all she wanted was to be with her. Very briefly she thought about the last time she had seen Luce and how she kept thinking about Marley the whole time. “I just want you too.” The idea terrified her. What if she wasn’t enough for Marley? What if she couldn’t be a one-partner woman? It was worth a try though. Marley was worth a try.
Some part of Marley knew that this wasn’t going to be easy. But sitting here, saying this, it was easy. And it was what she wanted. What was the point in being with other people when all she longed for was Anita? Even Marley understood that, clear as day. And perhaps because she’d never felt that way before, she understood it even more clearly. It wasn’t something she’d ever wanted before, but she wanted it so bad now it nearly tore up her insides to not say it. “Yes,” she answered plainly, heart drumming loudly in her ears. Almost so loud she nearly missed her answer. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of Anita saying no, as if she’d known somewhere deep down that she wanted the same thing, despite how much it may have frightened her. Marley could feel her fear like a tiny flame in her stomach, and she wanted to both savor it and put it out. Fear was good, Peter had told her. Fear kept you humble, kept you safe. He’d always told her she needed more fear. And not to eat, to experience. And so she’d savor this fear they both felt, and keep it close to her heart. Without another word, and despite the pain in her face, she pulled Anita to her and kissed her. Pulled away after a short moment and muttered, “Oww…” with a smile.
“And no hooking up with non-bar non-strangers?” Anita felt like she knew the answer. But this was uncharted territory for her, she wanted to make sure all the bases were covered. The night had started out absolutely terrible, but now Anita was sitting there smiling. She kissed her back gently, both feeling a need to be as close to her as possible and worry about her injuries. She hated that the kiss apparently hurt, but she knew that wouldn’t be the case forever. Teasingly, she asked, “So is this the equivalent to you asking me to be your girlfriend?” The word felt foreign on her tongue, and honestly she didn’t care much about that label. Which was admittedly a step forward because the word used to make her cringe. If Marley wanted to use it, she wasn’t going to object. She looked into Marley’s eyes for a little while, captivated by the beautiful colors. “Are you gonna take all of this back when the pain medicine wears off?”
Marley shook her head. “Just you,” she mumbled against her lips. “I’d only be thinking of you, anyway.” She could taste the blood on her lip again and lifted a hand to touch her lip, wiping it away, blue smearing across her fingers. “Damn…” she looked up at Anita, slightly surprised by the use of the word, but tonight was just full of surprises, wasn’t it? First a bear in a bar, now this. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be,” she said back. It didn’t matter to her, either, as long as the feeling was mutual. She’d never had a girlfriend or boyfriend before. She wasn’t even sure the word entirely fit, but she would make it if that’s what Anita wanted. She had a hunch Anita felt the same. The thought of their similarities settled into Marley’s stomach again, like a cat curling up comfortably in its bed, reminding her that she had found something here that she’d never thought possible-- a purpose. A way to make herself not a monster. As she had killed for Jane, she knew she would kill for Anita, too. This was how she would keep herself from being a monster, even after all the years she’d told herself she was not capable of caring. This was how she make herself anew. She looked firmly at Anita-- as much as she could with one eye bandaged over-- and said, with a coy smile, “the morphine wore off a while ago.” Before hands dug back into Anita’s shirt and pulled her close again, lips against hers again.
Anita cocked an eyebrow slightly upwards when Marley didn’t reject the word ‘girlfriend’. “We don’t need to put any kind of label on it. Unless you want.” A wide grin crossed her face as she let out a soft sigh of relief, “Good. I wasn’t gonna let you take it back anyway.” She kissed her again, wondering how long it would be until they could kiss for real. Or at least until they could kiss and Anita not worry about making her … girlfriend?... bleed. As she pulled away she moved slightly closer, so their bodies were at least touching. “Don’t think you being so damn cute made me forget that you didn’t answer my ‘please stay out of danger for at least a week’ question.” There was an odd ease in knowing where Marley stood regarding their relationship. Ugh, she hated that word. Less so applied in this context, but still. There was less of a chance that she’d suddenly walk away from Anita. Though the pain that would be caused if she did certainly would be far more unbearable.
“Girlfriend works,” Marley answered quietly, even if the word buzzed like electricity on her tongue. “Never had a real one before, might as well try it out, right?” The only other time she’d even considered the word was when she was seventeen and she’d had a high school fling with another girl who was new to the school as well. It barely counted. Marley’s lips tingled for a moment when Anita pulled away. She ran her tongue along them, wondering when she’d feel normal again, whatever that meant. She nearly scrunched her face at the word, but she’d let it slide for now, if only to spare herself the pain. “Alright,” she agreed, “one week. I’ll stay out of trouble for one whole week.” Stiffly, she readjusted herself, as Anita came closer, and moved to lay her head into Anita’s lap, laying on her back and looking up at her. Mirroring the moment Anita had done the same thing to her, last time they’d had a conversation about their feelings for each other. Her eyes, glowing red, gazed up at Anita. “Just for you,” she added on, half a smile poking out from under the bandages.
“Okay. Girlfriends.” Anita felt nervous about putting a real word on it. It made her more worried about messing it up. “I’ve never had one before either.” She wanted Priya to be her girlfriend, but they never really got that far. “I guess that means neither of us will know if the other is fucking it up, huh?” It was mostly a joke, but like a lot of her jokes it was rooted in a real concern of hers. When Marley repositioned herself, she reached down and very gently touched the bangaged side of her face, her fingers just slightly brushing the bandages. “Thank you. I’ll feel better about you going out and being reckless if you’ve at least had some time to heal first.” She sat there for a moment, running her hands gently through Marley’s hair. “Oh, uh, by the way. I may have reached out to your partner, Jane, when I thought you were maybe dead. So if she mentions some random woman who was asking about you … that was me.”
“What about--” Marley started, then stopped. Anita had only spoken once of the girl her family had killed in front of her, and even though Marley had never had that, she understood the pain it might cause Anita to talk about. She swallowed it back, instead, and let out a long breath. “Guess we’ll just have to be honest,” she answered quietly, closing her eye for a moment, letting the calmness comfort her. “Or just not fuck it up.” Even if she wasn’t sure she was capable of doing that. She didn’t want to, but how many things had slipped through her hands by now? She swallowed again, breathing slower. Anita’s hand brushed the bandage on her face and she understood with a quick thought that she would have to see it at some point. She couldn’t hide it forever. “We’re not talking right now,” she mumbled, glancing away. “I think I’m mad at her for some reason.”
“Right. Just not fuck it up.” Anita knew that was easier said than done, but this was their first hour of being girlfriends, so she didn’t want to dwell on it. She took a few moments to just relax. To appreciate the weight of Marley pressed against her and find some solace in the fact that Marley knew the very dark parts of her life, but still felt comfortable enough to lie in her lap. “You should make up. Then maybe she could help you not die on this case.” Admittedly, even though they had just agreed to be exclusive, she still felt sort of intimidated by Jane. Maybe because she never met her before so she didn’t really know what she was up against. Or maybe because there had to be such an intimate bond between partners.
Marley wanted to point out the irony in Anita saying that-- Jane had gone off on her own and actually gotten herself killed. But she didn’t need to know that. It would only make her worry more. Instead, she furrowed her brow and frowned. “It’s not that easy,” she said, wondering exactly why it wasn’t that easy. What was stopping her from just talking to Jane? “She did something stupid and got herself hurt and now she’s trying to act like it was nothing and everything’s fine. And I know it’s not, but she won’t talk to me.” She was doing exactly what Marley does to other people. Perhaps that was where her hang up was. Or perhaps it was something deeper. “I was so afraid I was going to lose her,” she muttered quietly after a long silence, “I don’t know how to tell her that.”
Almost instantly Anita regretted even bringing up Jane. The only other person she maybe felt similar about was Morgan. But she had never slept with Morgan. So she just sat there for a little while, stroking Marley’s hair and trying to figure out what to say. “You almost died tonight. I’m pretty sure she’s feeling the same way you felt when whatever happened with her happened.” It felt uncomfortable giving her advise on how to get back on good terms with Jane. But… that’s what people did for those they cared about. Wasn’t it? “I’m sure it’ll work itself out.”
“Don’t remind me,” Marley huffed quietly. She hated having to admit that that stupid bear had won this round. But that’s all it was-- round one. And she was going to make sure round two was the end of it and that round two was the end of him. She just...needed to rest first. Recuperate. Like Anita said, take time to heal. She subconsciously lifted a hand to her face, prodding the bandage. It itched. “I guess,” she mumbled after a moment. They’d have to make up eventually, right? Or Marley would just have to get over whatever was bothering her. They were partners, after all. They needed to be able to completely trust each other. Marley looked at her hand and remembered the man she’d drained the life from. She’d done it because he was one of Roy’s henchmen or whatever crime lords called their minions-- but she’d also done it for Jane. Felix had, too. She curled her hand into a small fist before opening it up again. “I think we should celebrate,” she said suddenly, looking up at Anita again.
Anita didn’t know what else to say. She had gone from thrilled to insecure faster than she thought possible. She had never felt like that before. She had never been jealous of two separate people in such a short span of time. Marley had too many friends. So she did her best to push all of those thoughts away, focusing on what she had in front of her. Anita smiled softly and looked down at Marley curiously, “Celebrate? I’m pretty sure there’s only one adequate way to celebrate becoming girlfriends with someone… and I think you are way too injured to partake.” She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, “But I suppose I could be open to other suggestions.”
Marlery pouted. “Get your mind outta the gutter,” she said, but she couldn’t hold back the grin that told her she was teasing. “I think you underestimate my pain threshold, but fine. We can do something else.” She feigned distress, putting a hand to her forehead and sighing heavily. “You know what would feel really great about now, though? A nice, hot bath. I heard that’s good for sore muscles. It probably is good for bear fighting bruises, too, don’t you think?” she tilted her head slightly, looking up at her. “I’m supposed to wash my face anyway. Two birds with one stone.” Even if the idea of Anita seeing her face torn and blemished made her wonder if she’d look at her differently. If she’d look at her and have those same eyes full of pity that she barely remembered a nurse having, before she saw the blue blood, and her look turned to confusion and distress. “I may need help undressing, anyway,” she tacked on while a coy grin stretched up the good half of her face.
“My mind’s always in the gutter. You should know that about me by now.” Anita grinned, loving the idea of a hot bath. Especially since she had the foresight to buy an extra large bathtub for moments just like this. Well, actually everything about this situation was something she ever predicted happening, but that wasn’t the point. “Mmmm. I like the sound of that. Plus, we both already know that I’m sort of an expert at getting you undressed.” It was reassuring to know that even with what they had just confessed and even with Marley having just been mauled by a bugbear, they were still able to be themselves. It made her feel even more confident about them. “As much as I love this view,” She started, looking down at Marley again, “You are gonna have to move so I can go start your bath.”
“Mmmm,” Marley hummed softly, closing her eyes to enjoy the moment just a little longer. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.” This natural...rhythm they had was so easy to fall into. Even if they’d just confessed something big, even if she’d just been injured, even if she’d been in a situation where she should have, by all accounts, died. This was always the same. Even after all the times they argued, it came back to this. Maybe that was why Marley found it so easy to ask this of her. Why she found it so easy to accept a feeling she’d never felt before. This was a relief. No matter what happened, coming here to Anita was a relief. When she opened her eyes next, Anita was looking down at her with those same big, green eyes she’d seen so many times before. She’d have smiled, had her face not already begun to hurt again, a slow burn that traveled up and down her cheek. Probably from all the talking. “What? You’re not gonna carry me?” she teased, before sitting herself up stiffly, pausing a moment to let the dizziness settle itself. “I’m wounded.”
“As entertaining as it would be for me to try to carry you, I would be terrified that I’d drop you and just injure you more.” Anita stood up from off the couch and offered her arm up to Marley. “I’ll gladly escort you though.” It was hard to not overreact about Marley’s injuries, especially since she refused to stop going after the person who did this to her. But Anita knew that the best thing for both of them right now was to set that aside and try to ‘celebrate’, as Marley put it. Admittedly, Anita wasn’t sure if they were celebrating her not dying or them deciding to date. Maybe both. Both were worth celebration.
“I’ll take a rain check, then,” Marley said, taking Anita’s arm and hoisting herself up with great effort. Her whole body ached now, as if she’d been thrown in a tumbler and then left out to dry. “Fuck, who knew fighting a bear would be this painful,” she muttered off-handedly, letting Anita lead them into the bathroom where her oversized tub was. She sank onto the side and leaned over, trying to finagle her socks off, thanking her past self for removing her shoes while she was still standing. She managed to get them off with an effort she wasn’t sure she had enough energy to repeat yet, so she sat back and let out a long breath. Glanced over at Anita, lifting a hand to the bandaged side of her face again. “Guess I’ll at least have a fun story to tell now, right?”
“Pretty much everyone.” Anita replied, even though she knew it was a rhetorical question. Once they got into the bathroom, she slid down and sat beside Marley. She tried not to laugh when she saw her struggle with her socks. “Pretty sure I offered my undressing services already. Please, take me up on them.” She knew Marley was stubborn, so there were probably going to be a lot of things she refused to let her help with. But this was something that she could do, so she was gonna. “Fun? Wow, we have very different definitions of that word.” She reached up and caressed the unharmed side of her face. “A very interesting story though, that’s for sure. Never met anyone who’s had a bar bear fight story before.”
If it had been anyone else offering, Marley was sure she would have adamantly refused. She didn’t need anyone’s help, she was capable on her own. Even if it took longer or hurt a little bit more. She’d always been on her own, doing everything on her own. Sure, there’d been small reprieves of time when she’d had people around to help her, but they’d never lasted. But if she pretended this wasn’t technically Anita helping-- that it was something more intimate-- than it didn’t make her stomach clench as hard. She held up her arms, as high above her head as they would go, only flinching a little at the pain in her abdomen, her ribs. “I’m ready to be shirtless,” she said to her. “I’m gonna be the center of every party now, with this story,” she said, letting her weary mind unfocus, “with this scar.” Under her shirt, more bruises were revealed, splintering up the side that collided with the bar top. Little scratched from the pieces of glass that had dug into her skin when she’d been tossed onto the table. She looked back over at Anita and understood that reassuring smiles weren’t going to help this time.
“Wow, ready to be shirtless? You really know how to turn up the heat huh?” Anita grinned as she teased her. Joking helped, right? As she reached over and lifted the hem of her shirt, she realized that she was actually kind of nervous to see what she looked like under the shirt. Everywhere she could see already was covered in scrapes or bruises. While she wanted to believe that was the extent of the damage, she knew that wasn’t the case. She tried to keep her face neutral as she lifted her shirt up, gently pulling it over her head. As she looked up and made eye contact with Marley, she could see the hesitation in her eyes. “Only you could still be hot covered in bruises.” She reached back to unhook her bra, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek as she did. This was absolutely the first time she had ever undressed a woman for non-sexual reasons. It was odd, but she’d do anything for Marley.
Marley watched Anita closely, carefully. She could tell this was strange for both of them. Once her shirt was off, she reached out and tugged on Anita’s. “Your turn,” she said quietly, turning her eyes down. She wasn’t quite ready to reveal what was under her bandage, even though she felt oddly vain saying it. Part of her power had been her good looks, her attraction. It was already statistically proven that people let their guard down around good looking people and she’d always used that to her advantage. Not that she thought Anita only liked her for her looks, but the claw marks down her face had changed a part of her. Marked her permanently. Even if she was just realizing this, it still burned hot in her stomach. She let out a huff, a short chuckle on the end of her breath. “Now you’re just being cheeky,” she muttered, looking back up at her. Next came the pants and Marley winced at just the thought, knowing it was going to disturb the leg that Tommy-- no, the bear-- had tried to crush. She stayed still, waiting. Watching Anita with one tired eye.
Anita smiled when Marley tugged at her shirt and then quickly complied with the request. After all, it wasn’t fair for Marley to be the only one getting naked. Before moving on to help Marley take her jeans off, Anita sat up slightly and began running the hot water. She had an immaculate hot water heater, but it did take time to warm up. She turned her attention back to Marley, laughing softly. “Me? Cheeky? Never.” She then proceeded to carefully unbutton and unzip her jeans. “Can you lift your hips up a bit?” Carefully, she slid her jeans down. Once she got to her brace, she gently tried to stretch the jeans over it before pulling them all the way down and over her feet. She then stood up and slipped out of her own pair of jeans, tossing them into the corner of the bathroom. “It’s kinda like strip poker. Except we’re not playing poker. So, maybe more like strip tennis?” She mused as she sat back down beside her.
“Strip tennis,” Marley repeated, “good one. Not at all accurate, but I’ll take it.” The bruise that ran up her leg-- which was also swollen and red-- looked a little like someone had simply dumped paint on her leg. It was purple and blue and it chased its way up to her knee, across the top of her thigh. For a moment, she remembered watching the bear fall through the air, aiming to crush her entire body beneath him. She hadn’t had enough time to get out of the way completely. What if she hadn’t had enough time to get out of the way at all? She shivered, looking up slightly startled when Anita sat down beside her. Let out a long breath. All that was left to remove were the bandages-- well, and their underwear, but that wasn’t the issue, was it? She looked down at her legs, her feet, her stomach, before putting a hand over her face. “You’re not allowed to look at me with those big, sad eyes, okay?” she muttered softly, glancing sideways at her. “Promise me you won’t change how you look at me.”
“I think it’s very accurate. But fine, I acquiesce.” Anita tried her best not to look at the extent of most of the injuries. She knew if she fixated on them it would just remind her about how close she was to losing Marley, and then she’d start crying again. What the hell was it about Marley that made her so emotional. She never cried over women. “Big, sad eyes?” Anita asked with a slight smirk. “I was unaware that I had big, sad eyes.” There was a part of her that wanted to just cloud the situation in jokes, ignore the serious stuff. But she could tell this was something that was bothering Marley, so she dropped the smile. “I could never look at you differently. Okay? Physical appearances don’t mean anything. I mean…” She gestured to herself, “This isn’t even really me. This won’t make me look at you differently. But, if you’re really worried about the scars, I know a really great place to get a glamour.”
“You definitely have big, sad eyes,” Marley said with a tired grin, “beautiful, big, sad eyes. But only sometimes. Mostly they’re just cute.” She reached out with her hands and took Anita’s hand, placing it gently over the bandage on her face. She let out a long breath, before looking her in the eyes. Somehow, she trusted herself with Anita completely. Somehow, she knew she’d tear herself apart before letting herself hurt Anita. Their soft red glow cast onto Anita’s hand on her face. “Will you show me one day?” she asked quietly. “When you’re ready?”
There was a soft flicker of panic in Anita’s eyes when Marley asked if she would show her what her true form was. She had never shown that to anyone other than Priya and that didn’t exactly end well. She wanted to show herself to Marley though, and she was appreciative of the fact that she recognized that she might not be ready yet. “Yeah. One day.” Anita pressed a soft kiss to Marley’s lips, then looked over at her bandages. “Are you sure you’re supposed to take them off already? Do mara have like… speed healing?”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Marley said quietly, but there was no push to her voice. No pressure. She knew, though, that whatever Anita had behind her glamour, Marley would still want her. Would still need her. She pressed gently back into the kiss, Anita’s cool lips soothing against the burn of her cut. She let out a soft chuckle again, shaking her head. “No, we don’t. But gods, do I wish we did,” she murmured. “But yes. I’m supposed to clean it at least three times a day and change out the bandages. Erin gave me extra.” She reached up, then, and started to peel the top of the bandage down. Her hand only shook a little, wincing with the pain. “Hope you’re not squeamish,” she said in a strangled attempt to joke, but her voice betrayed her, wavering on the words. She swallowed and pulled it down the rest of the way, revealing the four large claw marks that stretch from her forehead to her chin. Raw and bruised and caked with blue scab and sutures made for dead bodies. Her heart leapt into her throat a moment. “Still think I’m cute?”
Anita tried her very best to not look at Marley with ‘big, sad eyes’, but it admittedly was hard. Not because seeing the scar made her feel anything less for Marley, but because it was such a clear reminder of the pain that she must have been in when she was attacked. Still, she did her best to keep her face stoic. She reached over and grabbed the bathroom trash can, then tossed the bandage into it before putting it back. “Absoultey, the fucking cutest,” she said with a wide smile. “I’m also going to take that question as you finally admitting that you are, in fact, cute.”
Marley didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until Anita spoke and she let go of it. Her body deflated, finally letting out all the tension she’d been holding in since-- since, well, since she’d first arrived at that bar. She leaned into Anita, pressed her forehead to hers. “I really wish I could just kiss you everywhere without hurting right now,” she muttered, letting out a breath. She tugged on her. “C’mon,” she said, standing slowly, “it’s time to celebrate.”
“We should do that the moment you can do that without hurting.” Anita replied softly, then pressed a kiss to Marley’s nose. She stood up, then dropped the drain stopper and let the tub begin to fill up with steaming water. She then offered up her hand to help Marley climb into the tub. After she helped her in, she went over to the counter in the bathroom and lit one of the candles she had there. Then she went over to the tub and carefully climbed in with Marley.
