II. Attempt at Reconciliation

[madaboutit]

He isn't confident much will have changed, but he hopes she's at least managed some sleep. It's unlikely to have reset anything, but perhaps it will start her with more confident footing; that might help.

Sweeney steps inside, tray in hand. He lingers near the door, trying to give her a moment to collect herself, and they can try to go from there.

"Good morning," he offers politely, his eyes focused on taking stock of what had been left behind.

It's his intention to condense down what was still good and collect the rest. Today's breakfast is less ample, but tailored to the things she'd enjoyed yesterday.

Comments

[whatsinfrontofyou]

Vex is awake when he arrives, sitting on the edge of her bed. The book he brought with lunch yesterday is beside her, set aside when he came in; she's been reading it off and on since the evening before, when boredom got the best of her. She'll admit (if asked) that it's been a helpful distraction, good for pulling her thoughts out of the sullen pit they'd been in.

She does look like she rested, and her eyes aren't red or puffy from crying anymore. So there's that.

As far as the rest of the room, the chair has been placed back in front of the vanity, and the leftovers have been picked at. Empty dishes are stacked neatly.

Most of what he left, including the collar, hasn't been touched otherwise.

"Good morning." She doesn't quite hesitate to respond, but there's just the hint of a catch at the start, like she's second guessing her response.

Then, before Sweeney has the chance to say anything else, she continues: "Is there a trick to running the bath? I figured out how to get water from the basin, but not the tub."

One of the ways she engaged her time the previous evening.

[madaboutit]

The reciprocate greeting is nice, and Sweeney takes it as encouragement that he can come over to deliver the new tray. Well, he got about a step and a half.

Fuck.

Well, this is about to take things south again with the distinct lack of agency.

He stills for a moment, and when he starts forward again, it's slower and more cautious.

"I have ta run it for you." It's hard to tell if it's shame or apology that colors the confession, but either way, it keeps his gaze low and askew when he sets her breakfast on the foot of the bed and takes a step back.

"I will now. If ya want."

[whatsinfrontofyou]

"Ah."

when he says it, it makes a certain kind of sense. She has to depend on him for everything else, and it's already been very clear that he'll be seeing her naked. She takes a deep breath, because it does sting. She can't even take a bath by herself. Vex lets herself feel it, then shakes her head.

"It's fine. We don't have to deal with that now."

As nice as a soak would be.

The focuses on breakfast instead, starting with the egg again.

"Is there anything else you'll have to do for me that I should know about?"

[madaboutit]

His mind starts to crank, worried that he'll miss something. Sweeney's already moving to crouch under the guise of collecting the old trays.

"Mostly, it's just me bringin' you things. Food, clothes. I'll do yer laundry." Obviously. He pauses, his lips parting then closing before he tries again. "I'll help ya prepare fer some things, when extra hands are required." Sweeney doesn't want to get into that; carts before horses and all. He shakes his head to banish the idea in favor of something else.

"If ya tell me when ya like ta bathe, I'll see 'bout bein' here ta run you one." It's not hard to deduce where some of the deterrents already lie.

"I can sit with my back ta you."

[whatsinfrontofyou]

The answer is good enough for now. She doesn't expect him to get into the details of whatever comes after the collar, but it gives her an idea—and thankfully, no more surprises.

"Usually in the evening." Though it's not something she's necessarily attached to. In this instance, it gives them some time before they have to navigate what that looks like.

She sighs, then, trying to figure out the best way to pretend that nothing happened the day before, that the idea of being leashed isn't sitting in the back of her head, and that Sweeney's not clearly trying to avoid another conflict.

"I still owe you an answer."

[madaboutit]

Yes, you do.

Sweeney bows his head, even though he doesn't need to to avoid her eyes, being as low as he is.

"Ya said ya didn't wanna play anymore. I understand." He licks his lip. "You aren't bound ta it."

[whatsinfrontofyou]

"I agreed to tell you this morning before we stopped the game. I'm not trying to get out of it." Even if she doesn't precisely want to answer either, she'd rather stick by her word.

It feels like it makes things weirder between them not to. More like there's a problem.

So she'll go along with her agreement.

"The question was if it would make me uncomfortable to have someone watch me touch myself, correct?" She reaches for a thin slice of cured meat, not looking up. "The answer is yes, I think so. It's something I'm used to hiding. It will take some time to get over that."

See? This is very normal. And a mostly complete, mostly honest answer.

[madaboutit]

When she confirms her want to tell him, Sweeney looks up to meet her gaze, should she cast it his way. The answer isn't surprising. The follow-up is. He doubts that she wants to get over it, but she's at least acknowledging the likelihood she'll need to.

"Thank you." His tone holds a bit more weight, even though he suspects she's not aware of how sacred a phrase it is to faerie. "I appreciate yer willin'ness ta answer."

Sweeney stands with the stack to be removed.

"Would ya rather I leave ya to it then?" He figures that's the only outstanding business, and if she doesn't want to bathe until the evening, there doesn't seem much cause for her to want him to stay.

[whatsinfrontofyou]

She doesn't know the full importance, though she does recognize Sweeney's seriousness when he thanks her. It soothes her nerves ever so slightly to have it recognized, at least.

Which lasts as long as his next sentence.

"What?" She sits a little straighter. "I—I thought you'd stay."

[madaboutit]

His brow crinkles in muted surprise, and it takes a second or two before he answers her.

"Ya've given the impression that my presence causes ya stress. Figured ya didn't want me touchin' you, or ta give Obedience a go, so I didn't see much reason you'd want me ta stay." Sweeney shakes his head slightly.

"I ain't lookin' ta force my company on you." At least, for as long as it's avoidable. He shrugs off the disappointment that might come with that.

"I'll be 'round fer yer bath." His tone suggests that she doesn't have to deal with him more fully until then.

[whatsinfrontofyou]

"I'm not asking you to leave."

Vex may, however, now be in the difficult position of asking him to stay. That's a step she hadn't prepared to have to take.

"Obedience may be asking a bit too much right now, but I can't learn more about any of this if there's no one here to talk to me about it."

[madaboutit]

There is clearly a difference between not asking him to leave and wanting him to stay. For a fleeting moment, he debates pointing that out, but he decides he doesn't want to start the day with another calamity. So he moves to put the trays down on her vanity before turning back to face her.

"What would you like ta learn?" His voice is smooth, but it's more about not provoking her instead of being cold. Sweeney's trying so hard not to be that.

[whatsinfrontofyou]

Vex rubs her face and turns back to her breakfast, at least partly to buy time. Chewing gives her time to thing, since she hadn't actually had an idea in mind.

In the end, she goes for something obvious hanging between them.

"What would practicing obedience actually mean?"

It's probably not the best choice, all things considered, but... well, knowing before hand would at least mean avoiding more surprises.

[madaboutit]

"You mean 'practice', right? No collar?" Those are different things as well.

[whatsinfrontofyou]

"No collar," Vex confirms. At this point, unless he can promise her brother, she's not ready to budge on the collar.

[madaboutit]

He takes a slow breath, walking through the options. In the end, Sweeney just shrugs a shoulder.

"Just the barest basics. Simple instruction: where to stand, how to sit. Maybe how ta hold yer arms." Shaking his head, he acknowledges the limitations.

"Don't think ya'll let me do anythin' else."

[whatsinfrontofyou]

Vex's eyes flash toward Sweeney, a little contrarian part of her bristling when he says that he doesn't think she'll let him do anything else. Don't tell me what I'll let you do.

She doesn't voice it. The feeling is entirely self-defeating, born from feeling trapped and frustrated, and maddeningly worried she's found a way to bad at this.

"We can still try that later. After... I don't know, I've had a little more opportunity to settle in."

[madaboutit]

She can be offended. She'd be offended if he'd told her the other options. There's no way he can avoid that particular state. At this point, he's just trying to minimize the damage.

"A'right." Sweeney accepts her answer with a small nod.

"What else would ya like ta know?"

Since apparently talking is the only thing on the menu, currently.

[whatsinfrontofyou]

"Are you mad at me?"

Vex starts in on her porridge, frowning down at it rather than up at him.

[madaboutit]

Sweeney slowly exhales.

"I'm not mad at you." He's really not. "I'm frustrated."

He isn't sure if that's better or worse; it just is.

"But that is as much at myself as anythin' else." Sweeney wets his lip, debating how much to tell her.

"I won't be granted an audience before tomorrow--at the earliest." And that's if he's lucky. Sweeney normally would be, but Leprechaun magic doesn't work the same way in the Faerie realm.

"'til I do, you got no reason to offer me anythin'." There's the weight of something else on the tip of his tongue, but he just leaves it there in the lull for the time being.

[whatsinfrontofyou]

Vex slowly picks at her food, enjoying it less than she had yesterday for reasons that don't have anything to do with the quality of the fare. It's not that she'd been a beacon of optimism before, but everything was so new...

It's still very new.

"I do," she says, and maybe she resents that. Not him, but the situation. Unfortunately, Sweeney has the honor of being the face of it. "Because one way or the other, I understand this is going to happen. All I can do is my best to influence it how I can."

And that's by playing nice. As it were.

"I am trying, you know."

[madaboutit]

There's no confusion there; she could be making everything so much worse.

"I know."

The sense of resignation is mirrored, and another bout of silence lingers.

"You..." Sweeney wrestles with himself over whether to say it. Surely, it will make things worse, but that will be true now or later, and at least if it's now, it won't be a surprise.

"Ya don't understand the whole of how it might happen." Knowing it's no time to be a vague asshole, he allows himself only half a breath before starting to explain.

"That collar dunn't bind you ta the king." His lips press slowly.

"It binds you ta me."

[whatsinfrontofyou]

Emotions flit across Vex's face, surprise and confusion melting into hurt, then turning cool. Her eyes sharpen in the end, harden.

That does change things.

Vex isn't sure how, yet, but she's sure it does.

"What?" Her tone is tart. "If you care to explain, now is the time."

[madaboutit]

Yeah. Pretty much like that. Honestly, it could have been a lot worse. Sweeney meets her eyes, his voice plain.

"I have a week ta acclimate you. If yer not in a collar by the mornin' of the eighth day, my effectiveness is put inta question, an' another Gr--" He's quick to catch himself and correct his words. "--Tender can poach you." Sweeney suck his lip and rocks his jaw.

"An' they can train you as they want." His chest swells as he breathes deep.

"I don't want ya handled in cruelty." There's no guarantee that she would be, but the unknown is high risk.

"The collar marks you as mine ta train, an' others won't be able ta touch you. It puts you under my protection an' my care."

[whatsinfrontofyou]

Vex's eyes sting, her vision clouding with tears and she looks away.

"So I might as well hold my breath for all the good trying to us putting it on as leverage with the king," she says, because if the collar has nothing to do with the king, the king also doesn't have much incentive to bargain with it. All he has to do is wait a few more days, and someone else will take care of the problem.