dragonwarder | (no subject)

[ the light catches rey's eyes as, blinking, she glances away. they're wet. because the plants were the first thing that was hers, and she recognizes there's no way for all of them to fit in riku's place. ]

I'll talk to Wei Wuxian about how many we can fit on the roof.

[ flora crowds it already. the answer likely won't be many. but it'll be more than none, and plants wouldn't survive in storage.

you'd be able to fit them in a place in new beijing, an errant thought suggests. she has avoided further thought about this possibility, but it weighs heavy on her now. ]

If it troubles you that I haven't disposed of your things--

[Daenerys' face screws up for a moment and she goes quiet again, taking a moment to process why this might be a problem for Rey. To demand all evidence removed would imply that she wants Rey out of her life -- which she had never said, nor implied. Quite the opposite.

Yet Rey was here acting as if reminders of her were a burden. Being frustrated that Kylo Ren was using them as an excuse to visit her, sure...but if she already told him off, then--]

I suppose I do not understand why it would. Just because I have been angry with you does not mean I desire you to disappear. Or that I would -- banish any reminder.

[It's so farfetched in her mind that she cannot take the tone out of her voice. She thinks there are some she might treat this way, but not Rey. Not Kylo Ren. No anyone who ever took the time to get close to her and show her loyalty.

Not unless they conspired behind her back to depose her, as Jorah once had.]

It doesn't. I'm not troubled, I'm ... grateful.

[ rey's parents had thrown her away like garbage. daenerys's cold attitude and her willingness to hear kylo ren's voice over hers had made rey believe that was possible for her, too. and things were just things. unwelcome reminders. ]

After what happened, I thought you would want to be rid of any reminder of me. I wouldn't have blamed you.

[For a few moments, she nibbles on her food while she considers what Rey is saying to her. After she swallows a mouthful, she tries again.]

For some things, I may have reacted in such a manner.

[For some things, she had.]

But your most heinous crime was refusing to trust my intentions. Hurtful, frustrating, but not something I would seek to banish your memory for.

[ she frowns. it's a little thing, never reaching past the corners of her mouth, the cast of her eyes. something about daenerys' assessment sits wrong. maybe because rey, too, had been hurt, and daenerys had taken rey's wounds on as her own. or maybe because it misunderstands what rey has repeatedly insisted was an attempt to spare others her presence.

but there's no point to arguing it now, is there? sharing her hurt will not win an empathy from daenerys, who sees no fault in kylo ren, and rey has already resolved to do better, to assume better of daenerys' friendship than this. ]

I know better now.

[ that's what she settles on. now she knows that daenerys would not want to be rid of her, necessarily. ]

[Daenerys' smile comes back easily when Rey provides that response. Now comfortable closing the small gap between them, she leans over and places a hand on the other woman's knee.]

I am glad.

[The matter of her belongings could wait. So long as Rey understands that she has a place in Daenerys' life if she wants it -- that is what matters.]

[ rey's heart swells, crowding out her doubts. this is all it had taken to be forgiven? it hadn't been so hard, hadn't cost her so much. ]

Thanks for coming out with me today.

Of course. We should make time to do so more often.

[Since...she assumes Rey is still not coming back to the apartment. But at least she understands a little better than she first had as to why she's chosen not to return.

It is not her business. But Kylo Ren had paid rent now, helped keep the house in order. It would be wrong to remove him, when he'd been nothing to loyal to her needs.]

Yeah? [ a smile spreads. ] I'd like that a lot.

[ she has kept herself occupied, but it is hard to ignore the gap in her life left by kylo ren and daenerys. time that she'd allotted for them lingers like a wound. perhaps if she and daenerys made a habit of sharing meals, it could heal both scars. ]