In A Safe Haven

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG Things felt safe. It was an odd feeling for Harper, something that she found to be unsettling like her body wanted to prepare for the next battle and the next danger she would face rather than be laying around in medical as she healed from the last. Her body had come to ache less and less with the couple days that passed and while she had wanted to do anything but, she had listened to the doctors and she had stayed resting for the time that she needed to. She had been drilled into multiple times, after all, and she knew that she was lucky to have come out of Mount Weather alive rather than dead. Being taken by Cage that time when she was watching the hall could have easily been the beginning of the end for her. Like how others had come to their end in the Mountain. Like Fox. Harper pulled that thought from her mind. It was difficult, difficult to keep her mind clear of thoughts and memories. Flashbacks haunted her in the day while nightmares did at night. Even so, she tried to keep them a secret. Her own pain that she didn't particularly wish to put on anyone else. Especially when those that she was close to had gone through pain of their own. She had plans, anyway. Plans to get strong. Plans to prepare herself. Plans to avoid ever being put in such a vulnerable position ever again. But her plans for that day were a lot smaller and still just as, if not more, important. She had been put on bed rest for long enough, she had decided not long ago, and she was sure though it had only been a couple days since arriving back in Arkadia that she was fine to move again. If she managed to walk all the way to Arkadia from Mount Weather, she could walk to the other side of the room now. Her bare feet swept over the stiff sheets of the bed, landing flat on the cold metal of medical's ground. She let herself pause there, a few shots of pain running up her side and through her thigh. It wasn't as bad as it had been standing to attack in the dormitory of Mount Weather so she knew she would be able to push past it. Her plans weren't ones she was planning on pushing back to another day. Being slow as she did so, Harper let her weight shift onto her legs and lifted herself to stand. Her balance stayed steady and she began to move, one step at a time, towards the other side of the room where Raven was. The plans for that day were to finally break that distance between herself and Raven and to check that she was fine. Harper had not been the only one to be drilled into by those in Mount Weather, after all, and she knew that Raven was in pain as well. That mattered to Harper, of course, since she cared so much for the other girl and part of the haunting in her mind had come from her worries over Raven. Once she made it across the room she let a smile relax onto her lips, her eyes locked on the girl that always seemed to make her smile. A lot of times that was from her wit and humor but then, just the sight of Raven could also make her smile often. Right then, it was from the relief of seeing her safe and sound in medical after having seen her go through the pain of being drilled. "Hey," she greeted as she stopped next to the bed. She reached out to take one of Raven's hands. "How are you feeling?" cherry1 || FIRST HAVEN THREAD!! (:

[cherry1]

Raven felt restless in her bed. She’d been put on mandatory bed rest for what felt like centuries though it couldn’t have been more than a couple of days. She needed to move and get up. But no matter what position she tried to lay down in, Raven would get a shooting pain radiating from her hip. She hadn’t noticed it much before, with the pain being masked by the wounds made from the drills. But after that subsided, Raven became acutely aware of her hip. It was getting to be unbearable but like hell was she going to start complaining. There were so many others who needed more help than her.

Speaking of others, what she really needed was to find Harper. The girl was one of the most important people in her life. She was her family. Part of the reason she’d fought so hard to take down Mount Weather. And a little pain was the price for that then Raven would gladly pay it tenfold if she had to. The only reservation she had to finally finding Harper was the state she was in. She didn’t want her to see Raven like this. She didn’t know about her leg, having been in Mount Weather at the time. Raven was…broken now.

Though all those fears evaporated at the sound of her voice. “Harper?” she let out a pained smile when she turned to look at her, slowly adjusting her position on the bed in order to sit up properly. Squeezing her hand, she shuffled to the opposite side, leaving some room for Harper to sit down. “I’m better on the inside than I look on the outside,” she said with a hollow chuckle. “Come here,” pulling the girls hand down, Raven’s eyes roamed her face. “Let me look at you.”

Tag: @harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG The sound of Raven's voice was enough to strengthen Harper's smile and warm her heart, even when a fresh wave of pain threatened to destroy that bit of joy. It was difficult to ignore it, to push through it to keep smiling but she managed to keep that expression on her face. Weaker, but still there. "Yeah, it's me, Raven," she said, watching carefully as she sat up. It was obvious to see that Raven was in pain, the smile more strained than what Harper might normally see, and the pain coming out in her face in ways that Harper was able to notice from all the time she had spent looking at it in the past. Harper wanted to tell her to stay laying down on the bed, to not move so much when it had only been days since she had been drilled but by the time she came to say the words, Raven had already sat up. Harper decided to keep quiet. It would only be more painful for Raven to lay down again, Harper thought, just going from her own experience of sitting up in the past days to eat and drink. And it had been longer in time since Harper's drilling. Raven could easily be in a lot more pain than she was. Sitting on the bed next to Raven in the space that had been made for her, Harper squeezed Raven's hand back. "You are?" Harper asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice. Speaking for herself, she felt a lot better on the outside than the inside. The inside was full of nightmares and haunting memories. At least the outside was healing. Although she wasn't quite planning to tell Raven about that so she didn't add anything to her question. "I'm fine," Harper then couldn't help but say as Raven pulled her closer and had her gaze move over Harper's face. Harper didn't want Raven to know the extent of how she was feeling. She didn't want to dump on her. With how long it had been since they had gotten time together, even in the pain they were both in, Harper wanted something positive to come from this. Raven looking at her wasn't particular negative. Harper wanted to look at Raven as well really, and she did. Her eyes took in Raven's face, from her eyes to her mouth, her chin to the stray hairs on her forehead. Even in medical, even with the pain that Harper could notice, Raven looked beautiful. "I've missed you." Her voice came out quiet as she leaned closer to Raven, careful not to press against her or do anything that might cause her unnecessary pain. She pressed a light kiss to Raven's lips, a familiar gesture that they hadn't shared during all that time where Harper had been trapped in Mount Weather. "Did you miss me?" she teased before leaning back again, her side protesting at the position she had been in.  cherry1 || *dances around the thread*

[cherry1]

Raven shuffled a little, consciously moving to block Harper’s view of the brace placed on the floor and leaning on the side of the bed. She didn’t want to have that conversation right now. Not while her heart was filled with the relief of seeing Harper. Though Raven knew she’d never want to have the conversation. What if Harper reacted with aversion at the state of her…or worse yet…pity? Raven didn’t think she could bare that look in the girls face. Purging the thoughts from her mind, she decided to instead focus on the touch of their lips in a soft kiss. The familiar feeling more effective than any pain relief she’d ever taken. Smiling into the kiss Raven felt tears behind her eyes. Only for once they were of joy. She couldn’t quite believe this was real. That they were finally together again.

Chuckling she kept a hand in Harper’s needing to be in contact with her…just in case. So she wouldn’t slip away like in the many dreams she’d had while they were apart. “Nope, not one bit,” she teased. “Finally had the bed to myself,” Raven added with a smirk. Though in reality, the cold nights had kept her awake. And without Harper beside her…well she hadn’t had a full night’s rest in a long time. Squeezing her hand, Raven’s gaze turned sincere. Looking down in guilt, she spoke. “I should have gotten you out sooner…before those evil sons of bitches laid a finger on you,” There was a pause as she cringed at the image her mind had conjured up. “The thought of them hurting you…I just...” She should have been there for her. Finally looking up, Raven couldn't quite meet Harper’s gaze.

Tag: @harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG Raven's tease brought a smile to Harper's face. She had missed everything about Raven, her sarcasm included, and hearing it now just solidified the fact that this was real and not just a dream. "You'll never get the bed to yourself again," Harper teased back, although she meant the words completely. She didn't want another night without the warmth of Raven's body next to hers and without the knowledge that Raven was safe. Even now, Harper completely appreciated the fact that she was holding Raven's hand. It felt like an anchor that kept her steady in the present and in peace. Harper was worried that the memories might come to haunt her, even there with Raven. That her hands would sweat, and her body shake, but part of her felt that Raven's steadying hand would stop that.  As Raven spoke again, Harper shook her head. "You didn't know," she said. She paused for a moment, wishing Raven would look up, to see that Harper wasn't lying as she spoke again. "I don't blame you." As she said the words, she was sort of thankful that she wasn't looking at Raven's eyes. The words felt like they held more weight to them than Harper had intended. She didn't blame Raven for leaving her in Mount Weather for so long. For the pain she was given there. For the pain that Raven was in now. It didn't change how she saw Raven. She felt a hesitance around the words, nerves that weren't right for Harper, at least not the Harper that Raven knew. "If anything, I should have tried harder to stop them from hurting you."  cherry1

[cherry1]

Raven knew Harper wouldn’t blame her, her heart was too good and too forgiving for that. But hearing her say those words still brought her relief. Though they hardly did anything to stop Raven from blaming herself. Just another thing to add to the list. Guilt wasn’t exactly an unfamiliar feeling for Raven, and it was something she carried around with her anyway. “There was nothing you could’ve done.” Holding her face, Raven forced the younger girl to look at her, to see the sincerity in her expression. Blame wasn’t even in the same stratosphere of what she felt for Harper right now. “Now, we could sit here and have a pity party all day, or…” she began a devious look in her eyes, choosing to change the subject. There was no use dwelling on things they couldn’t change. Something Raven was still struggling with, she thought, as her mind wandered back to her crippled leg.

“What was that Abby? I’m clear to be discharged?” She yelled to no one in particular, with Abby not even in the same room as them. “Well it’s about damn time if you ask me.” She added, moving to pull the covers off her. Someone more deserving probably needed this bed a whole lot more than her. “What do you say? Wanna get outta here?” A smirk on her face and squeeze of Harper’s hand would hopefully convince her. Because Raven wasn’t leaving here without Harper, not wanting to let the girl out of her sight again, and she wasn’t even sure if she’d really even be able to.

Tag: @harpermcintyre