darker_london | Warm me from the inside out (Peter, Aly)

Aly was stretched across a simple bed, staring up at the stone ceiling above them. She could hear the wind outside, howling it's way around the crumbling walls of the convent. Aly imagined there was some kind of terrible beast beyond the walls, and just maybe that was true. Maybe doom was waiting for them tomorrow, and they would all go down in the bloody flames of war. At least it would be warm.

In the tiny cell which had, no doubt, belonged to a nun for all of it's life, Aly was covered by heavy skins which had belonged some some form of animal or another, and they kept her very warm indeed. She was waiting for her husband to come back from his bath, because Peter was Peter and he absolutely refused to go without one if he had the option. It didn't seem to matter to him that if he stepped outside after taking a bath, his crazy hair would freeze in an instant and snap off.

Peter returned to the room, announcing his presence by running into the door and then, after swearing in German, he stepped inside quickly with a white fur blanket covering his shoulders. "Smooth," Aly said softly, rising up to her elbows so she could face her husband. Her blanket slipped down a little, revealing bare shoulders.

"It's so dark out there. There's candles, but I couldn't see the door latch. I thought I had it lifted. Apparently I was wrong..."

"How was your bath?" Aly asked, pulling her legs up so her knees faced the ceiling.

"Have you ever taken a bath in 1573? Because I just totally did," Peter said dryly. He sat down on the end of the bed and he sighed. Then he looked up at his wife, amused. "I suppose you do have the memory of taking a bath then, don't you?" Not that the memories were hers. They were borrowed from the 500-year-old spirit of Mary who had been residing in David's head. When David had died and taken up residence in Aly's head, the memories became hers. David had spent a brief amount of time in Peter's head too and he would have the memories also, except that David had kept most of that from him. He knew Peter didn't want the baggage. Peter had merely been a way of getting himself to Aly.

"Close enough," Aly grinned. "Did they warm the water over a fire?"

"Mmhmm. And I had to sit in this basin thing and it felt like I was being cooked for a stew." Peter smiled at her in the dim light of the candles. "You look beautiful."

"So do you, Crazy hair! You know...I know you always told me about the things you experienced while you were out here doing your thing... But this is- Being here is so strange. I never knew, Peter Kemp. They things you all go through..."

"Like getting attacked by battle nuns?" Peter asked wryly. "How are you feeling, by the way?"

"Alright." Aly was a little sore from her interaction with one of the electro-weapons. But she was an angel. She would live. "Ready for tomorrow. As ready as I can be..."

"Aly..." Peter crawled up towards her and Aly felt a thrill go through her, deep in her belly. It didn't matter how many years she had been married to Peter, and how many times he had crawled toward her like this, it excited her every time. She was so head over heels in love, and it made her happy that she still felt that way. "I've been worried about you. Wondering if you really want to be here..."

"What do you mean?" Aly asked him seriously. She wouldn't be here if she didn't want to be. But he was sitting in front of her, a foot away, looking so worried.

"I don't know...you never used to come along and I worry that...some of the reason you're coming with me now is because...Svetlana does?" Peter looked slightly scared of her reaction, but instead of denying his words, Aly nodded.

"It probably is a little that, Peter. But mostly, it's because I can. David didn't give me this gift so I could sit at home all day sipping latte."

Peter, who had absolutely never thought Aly spent all day sipping anything since they did have rather a lot of children to take care of, reached out to trace the curve of her cheek with his fingers. "Alyona, I just want to make sure you're okay with this."

"I am," Aly said firmly. "I want to be here. And not only because Svetlana is. I always looked up to you so much for helping, and I wished I could do something. Now I can. So I will. Being by your side, Peter...it's priceless."

Peter's lips curled up into a smile and he leaned in to kiss her. Slowly, Aly let her fur blanket slip down, revealing her naked upper half. She could feel Peter's warm breath on her neck as he kissed her. "Mmm, Aly..." he said inbetween kisses, his lips still against her flesh. "We're in a convent..."

"And you are no longer a priest, Peter Kemp," Aly said, her head back and her lips parted at the feeling of his kisses. Her cheeks flushed and she grinned up at the stony ceiling. She wondered just how much of this kind of thing these walls had seen. If any. "Tomorrow we have to fight. Tonight, you're with me."

Peter said no more. Aly's words were enough. They made love under the furs they had been provided and they slept entangled and well, blissfully unaware of what tomorrow could bring.