[come sail away] ic inbox (season 1)

[light_mischief]

Skulduggery Pleasant

Cabin 117 - 6:39 PM

altered from killthecake

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[light_mischief]

Less a full defense and more a momentary prickling, then. He can tolerate knowing that he's brushed up against something rawer than he'd realized, so long as it doesn't lead to more silent treatments and tactical avoidances.

"You are, indeed, here if I need you." He returns the proffered fistbump without a second thought, which should really say something. "And likewise, if you need me, don't hesitate to find me." Not that he suspects she will -- she's got more friends now than when they first arrived, and plenty of people to turn to for help. He suspects that Darcy, like most everyone else, will only truly need him whenever the world looks like it's about to end. That's fine. It's a more familiar position to be in.

[saltwaterlungs]

It would be nice to be able to accept that offer. Really. In her sleepless daydreaming sometimes she would envision being able to talk to him about small things. Arguments she gets into with her friends, things she's noticed, books she's been reading. It's hard not to notice that they've been spending less downtime together since the rain incident, less of those entirely neutral periods of just being in each other's company.

But Skulduggery knows that he can count on her, and that's enough. It's probably a relief that he doesn't have to go through the motions of dealing with her on a daily basis. Darcy knows she's good in a fight and under pressure, knows now that she can even get better at the situations she's less practiced with, and that's all she needs, to be at his disposal when he needs her. Anything else to do with dad-ing is probably just the result of misplaced grief and her own weakness. She's not going to want impossible things anymore, and especially not when the people involved tell her it's not happening to her face.

"I know," she says, and pats him on the arm as she departs, leaving the tea behind.