cactusy | IC contact for lastvoyages

[Sure, okay, Root; you go refill their water bowl. Shaw is just going to trail after you, trying to tug your shirt up and over your head. Multitasking!]

[ It's easy enough to let Shaw pull it off of her when she's crouching, arms up after setting down the freshly filled bowls. Root has to grab the counter as she stands, but stand she does, turning to face Shaw in only her bra for a top now, bumps and bruises from all that tumbling and brawling last night on full display. The worst-looking ones are on her shoulders and the sides of her torso. Well-- and her face. Those are the worst by far, but-- ]

I need to wash my face. I bet it's looking festive under the makeup.

It's way less hot when it's not my fault.

[Shaw comments - sliding her hands carefully up Root's bare sides, cataloguing as she goes.]

How's the pain?

[ Root starts to shuffle to the bathroom, careful not to disturb Shaw's hands. ]

It's not hot at all even it's not your work. Fun, but not hot.

Sounds like an experience not to repeat, then, huh.

[Shaw says - shedding her own shirt along the way, and holding onto both it and Root's so that she can toss them into the hamper.]

It was still fun.

[ She fully intends to repeat the experience if necessary.

But right now, Root washes her face, patting it dry when done, and facing Shaw for inspection because this is clearly what's happening now. The hours have darkened the bruises and the scratched red skin on her cheek. And as Shaw does her thing, Root does hers and checks out shirtless Shaw because her wife is so beautiful, wow. ]

[Root's beautiful wife is on a mission, which happily distracts her from the indisputable fact that the Barge is a floating mess of impossibility that might not even be real.]

You've been putting disinfectant on these?

[Shaw asks, leaning in to peer at one of the scratches as she simultaneously reaches back to unhook Root's bra.]

You should have put bandages on these, not slathered them with makeup.

I used liquid bandages, [ Root protests as she pulls the straps down off her shoulders. ] I'm not that vain.

[ Should she still not have done it? Probably. Too late now, though! All she can do now is grab the closest hair tie and pull back her hair into a messy bun. ]

[With Root's bra off, Shaw tugs her own sports bra over her head, then starts getting to work on their pants and underwear: hers first, then Root's.]

Hot water okay?

[ Shaw works in their clothes, and Root gets the water going. ]

Yep.

[ The vast majority of her minor injuries are above the waist, but she did hit the floor on her hip once or twice, and knees tend to be easy targets. Overall, though, any marks and soreness on her legs are mostly due to tonight's performance. ]

[Good, because her own aching muscles would really love to be pounded by hot water right now. After Root has the temperature adjusted, Shaw walks under the spray, sighing a little and closing her eyes as she angles for it to hit her back.]

Hey.

[She says, as she reaches - gently! - for Root's shoulder.]

Your show thing was really cool.

[ Root likes the way Shaw relaxes as the water hits her. It feels like she's being let in on a secret, and for far from the first time, she feels impossibly lucky to be with Shaw. Even if they hadn't come to the Barge, they'd found each other.

Her usual smile softens as she joins Shaw. ]

I'm glad you liked it. And... thank you for going. [ She lays a hand on Shaw's hip. ] It was nice to know you were there.

Thanks for not trying to talk me out of it.

[She'd worried about that, a little: that Root would worry and fuss and try to convince her not to put herself through it. She gives an unbruised portion of Root's shoulder a squeeze, then leans over to grab the soap, soaping up Root's back.]

[ That feels nice. Root sighs contentedly. ]

I wanted it to be your choice. As long as you didn't feel like you had to go or not go, I'm happy.

[ The steam starts to make her cheek sting, but it's minor. It's fine. This is so nice. ]

I just don't want you to think I'm regretting it, just because I'm being a little weird right now.

[She rolls her shoulders, trying to loosen them, and tips her forehead against the back of Root's neck for a moment.]

It's okay if you regret it. And-- [ she trails off for a quiet, kind chuckle ] --I don't think you're being weird. I think you're being really sweet despite not liking what I did last night.

I really don't like what you did last night. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna patch up your injuries.

[She moves the soap in circles extra-carefully around one of Root's bruises, just to make her point.]

[ Root's still not sorry, and she'd do it again, but she does feel a little bit badly for making Shaw unhappy, given she braved the Enclosure tonight. Still... Root did this for herself.

The gentle pressure produces a soft ache, one that makes her think not of the fight, but of Shaw. ]

See? You're so much better at showing you care than you think you are.

I never claimed I wasn't good at patching up injuries...

[She drops a soft, gentle kiss onto a blooming bruise as she cleans around it.]

[ On the heels of feeling badly for making Shaw unhappy is the twisting, intoxicating prickling of knowing her assumption was right: if she causes problems, people pay more attention to her. Shaw pays more attention to her. Tim gets a little more involved than usual. ]

If I ever need surgery, I want you on the team performing it.

[ She also wants to be asleep for it. That would be nice, for once. ]

I'm not trained as a surgeon.

[Her fingers brush over Root's bad ear now, pressing into that old scar.]

I'd mess it up.

[ It's so strange sometimes, to feel sensation there but hear nothing. Root's eyes drift shut, and she takes a slow breath in, focusing on the gentle pressure of Shaw's fingers against her skin. ]

You could make sure the site is clean before the first incision, clean throughout, stitched up right in the end, covered and secured...

[ She's trying to say she trusts you with her life, at her most vulnerable, come on! ]

And that I'd do a damn good job at.

[Shaw focuses on her own breathing, deliberately matching her inhales and exhales to Root's as she rests her forehead against the back of her neck.]

[ Root feels the way they synchronize, and after a few seconds of basking in it, she turns around and pulls Shaw in for a slow, gentle kiss. ]

[It's amazing, really, that they've gotten here at all - not just onto the Barge, but here, to a place where they live together and take tender care of each other and kiss gently under the hot shower spray. Shaw has absolutely had hot shower sex before, and she's sure she will again. But she has never in her life done this.]

Hey.

[She murmurs during a break in the kiss.]

I'm not going anywhere.

IC contact for lastvoyages

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