Shelter
@flufftober
Prompt: Stuck or Lost Together
Alt prompt 12: Keeping someone safe
Fandom: Original Fiction (name pending)
Pairing: Juliette Brightley x Warren Rolf
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"I'm not sure how close we are to my cousin's place. We haven't found the old station-house, yet." She said, staring down at the handdrawn map while they traveled the open road.
"Could be miles and miles. I know one thing: the rain won't wait for us to find shelter." Warren said, eyeing the clouds that were beginning to drift them from the farthest edge of the sky.
She sighed. She knew he was right. Warren seemed to be very perceptive, and his predictions hadn't been wrong yet. Though they'd only traveled a short time together, you really get to know a person when you walk for miles every day and only see one other person.
In spite of knowing he was probably right, Juliette saw to it that she kept a stiff upper lip. Complaining wouldn't make the rain go away.
Nor would it keep it from coming down.
The wind had moved so swiftly that it took no time at all for the clouds to roll overhead, blocking out the sky with a sudden, light shower.
Juliette squeaked, caught off guard when the raindrops began pelting her and her companion.
Quickly, Warren grabbed up his cloak and pulled it up over them, like half of a parasol.
Wrapping an arm around her, he ushered the two of them into the forest that walled the road, where the trees would at least provide some cover.
She blushed. She'd been this close to his side on accident perhaps three times before, and it was still as new and nervous as it ever was.
He sat the two of them under a clump of trees, before bouncing up again and draping his cloak over some branches, creating something of a canopy.
"Your cloak will be soaked." Juliette protested as he sat back down beside her. He turned his head, his hair falling over his should.
"It's a thin wool, it air-drys pretty quickly." He said, turning back to face the rest of the woods. He rested an arm on his knee.
Taking the time to study him, which she often did when he wasn't looking, she analyzed his features once more. Warren was perhaps the first new person she'd met in her whole life. She wasn't sure if that's what made his appearance a little harder to get used to, or if there was something else about him.
She liked the look of his wavy dark hair, which was long, but seemed not-unkempt. He'd comb his fingers through it and it seemed fine. He had a long nose-bridge, which on someone else might be beaky, but somehow, not on him. His brow was broad, and it gave his eyes a somewhat serious set, but she couldn't rightly say that he looked mean.
He looked at her.
She looked away.
The tension took a sharp turn with a heavy branch snapped somewhere beyond them.
She immediately froze, pale eyes going wide in fear.
Warren leaned forward, automatically holding his arm out in front of her.
He sat perfectly still, listening, watching. She held her breath.
Eventually, he broke the silence.
"Deer," he said, glancing at her as he sat back, closer to her. Through the pitter-patter of rain on leaves, she could hear him breath. "Doe," he discerned. She looked up at him.
"How can you tell?" She asked, surprised. At that, he hesitated, and when he tried to speak, he somewhat fumbled.
A second snap made her jump. She wasn't scared this time, of course, but still startled. Still unnerved by the fact that she still couldn't see the deer.
Almost as if he could feel her discomfort, he very carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. After an awkward half-second, he gently squeezed with his fingers.
Juliette's face grew a little pink once more. She leaned into his side, just a little, trying to let him know that she was calming down. She could feel some of the tension leave his arm, and he left his hand on her shoulder.
She peeked at his face, but couldn't see much from this angle. She tried not to wonder if his face felt warm, too. Heaven knows, she might accidentally ask.