She leaned into her brother's arms and he sang Here Comes the Sun to her while they waited. The last thing Cai saw of them was Rachel promising with all her strength to pay him his money back.
*
Then Cai was back in Rachel’s room, lying on his side with purple fluff in his mouth. Zoe was close to him, but not so close that she’d touch him, her fingers pressing firmly into her temples and her eyes closed.
The blowback from the vision wasn't as bad as before – it never was, when Zoe was there with him; jumping back and forwards in time was easier when not alone. Physically, all he felt was dizzy – carsick, almost. Unpleasant, but not crippled.
“Rach?” he asked, as he pushed himself up off the floor. “Rach, did you see any of that?”
Rachel had pulled herself backwards and was enveloped in Danny’s arms, and though both Danny and Rachel were facing him they were both engrossed in each other. Rachel had her eyes closed, leaning the side of her face against his arm.
“Zoe?” Cai asked, giving Rachel a moment to herself with Danny. Zoe let her fingers drop from her head and opened her dark eyes.
Zoe was feeling like she’d been wrong, very wrong. All of her assumptions about Rachel’s past had been various degrees of supernatural. But now she was thinking she’d been wrong that there was something extraordinary about Rachel – maybe her story was just that of a girl surviving her own family.
She felt extraordinarily guilty, for her old assumptions. And she did not know how to apologise. She certainly didn’t know how to explain it to Cai, who was looking at her like she had more answers than he did. “Rachel?” she asked instead.
“I don’t know,” Rachel said, her eyes still closed. Her head was tucked up under Danny’s shin, her cheek against his arm as it wrapped around her. “You didn’t – you didn’t see Indigo?”
“Indigo?” Zoe said, uncrossing her legs to sit on her knees instead, like she was preparing to get up and bolt. “No, we saw- you were a kid.” She looked sideways at Cai, just to check they’d seen the same thing.
Cai took this as an invitation to take up the story, as if Zoe didn’t think she could deliver it as gently as Cai could (which was true, but not what Zoe was thinking.) He took a breath, and, gently as he could, told the story to Rachel and Danny, while Zoe pulled her notebook from her bag and began to write it all down.
no subject
*
Then Cai was back in Rachel’s room, lying on his side with purple fluff in his mouth. Zoe was close to him, but not so close that she’d touch him, her fingers pressing firmly into her temples and her eyes closed.
The blowback from the vision wasn't as bad as before – it never was, when Zoe was there with him; jumping back and forwards in time was easier when not alone. Physically, all he felt was dizzy – carsick, almost. Unpleasant, but not crippled.
“Rach?” he asked, as he pushed himself up off the floor. “Rach, did you see any of that?”
Rachel had pulled herself backwards and was enveloped in Danny’s arms, and though both Danny and Rachel were facing him they were both engrossed in each other. Rachel had her eyes closed, leaning the side of her face against his arm.
“Zoe?” Cai asked, giving Rachel a moment to herself with Danny. Zoe let her fingers drop from her head and opened her dark eyes.
Zoe was feeling like she’d been wrong, very wrong. All of her assumptions about Rachel’s past had been various degrees of supernatural. But now she was thinking she’d been wrong that there was something extraordinary about Rachel – maybe her story was just that of a girl surviving her own family.
She felt extraordinarily guilty, for her old assumptions. And she did not know how to apologise. She certainly didn’t know how to explain it to Cai, who was looking at her like she had more answers than he did. “Rachel?” she asked instead.
“I don’t know,” Rachel said, her eyes still closed. Her head was tucked up under Danny’s shin, her cheek against his arm as it wrapped around her. “You didn’t – you didn’t see Indigo?”
“Indigo?” Zoe said, uncrossing her legs to sit on her knees instead, like she was preparing to get up and bolt. “No, we saw- you were a kid.” She looked sideways at Cai, just to check they’d seen the same thing.
Cai took this as an invitation to take up the story, as if Zoe didn’t think she could deliver it as gently as Cai could (which was true, but not what Zoe was thinking.) He took a breath, and, gently as he could, told the story to Rachel and Danny, while Zoe pulled her notebook from her bag and began to write it all down.