[ Athessa listens, and as he worries the quartz, she brushes her thumb over his knuckles.
Any number of the things he describes, she's familiar with. From Devigny, from the other girls at the Crimson Cat, from Ciara. She remembers the soreness. The stickiness. Bitter spit and sour words and blood and bile and bruises.
At his struggling, she shifts, moving from her chair to sit in front of him, keeping hold of his hand but limiting herself to just that touch in case touching his face would take him further into memory. ]
Colin, [ her voice is soft, and she looks him in the eye with a reassuring nod, though she can't help but reflect his tears. ] I'm here. You're alright, you're safe.
tw: sexual abuse, cont.
Any number of the things he describes, she's familiar with. From Devigny, from the other girls at the Crimson Cat, from Ciara. She remembers the soreness. The stickiness. Bitter spit and sour words and blood and bile and bruises.
At his struggling, she shifts, moving from her chair to sit in front of him, keeping hold of his hand but limiting herself to just that touch in case touching his face would take him further into memory. ]
Colin, [ her voice is soft, and she looks him in the eye with a reassuring nod, though she can't help but reflect his tears. ] I'm here. You're alright, you're safe.
What did he say?