Marshall's Room

[Marshall]

Marsh always slept late on the mornings of the full moon stretch, which usually meant that he missed breakast. This was no exception, and he lay on his bed eating the last of the box of granola bars he had stashed in a cabinet.

He was reading The Little Prince again. He supposed it was weird, at least to some, that he would be so fond of what was technically a children's book -- except that it really wasn't a children's book at all. It was deep and meaningful, and he always read very slowly when he read the part where the Prince comes to earth and meets the fox.

Marshall, like the Prince, had learned what it meant to be tamed. And, like the fox, he conceded that being tamed was bittersweet, but it did give him a certain fondness for the color of the wheat fields.

He closed the book and sat up, chewing languidly. One more night, and the mess would be over for the month. He'd never in a million years change what he was, what he'd always been, but he could do without the pain. Right now, he was pain-free, just very lethargic. He might spend the day in his room...just resting.

[Sissy]

Continued from: Sissy’s Bedroom

She stopped just outside Marshall’s door and stifled a yawn. It didn’t look like she was going to be staying around very long- she really was exhausted- but she had the undeniable need to pop in and check on him quickly to see how his night had went before going to collapse. Once the yawn had finished, she knocked on the door, though she was certain that Marshall had already caught her scent.

[Marshall]

Speaking of being tamed...

Yes, he'd caught that scent. His wolf had understood it even before Marshall had really realized he was smelling it, and started to wriggle for joy in the back of his mind. Nevertheless, he forced himself to wait until she knocked before he said anything; after all, she might have been only passing his door. When she did knock, however, he smiled.

"Come on in, Sissy."

[Sissy]

She really did know that she should be collapsing into bed at this point, but the temptation to come see Marshall for a couple of minutes had been stronger than the one to sleep. Plus, she liked to swing by in the mornings of the full moon just because she knew that, unlike the rest of the month, they wouldn’t really be getting to see much of each other during that time, which always tended to add to the annoyance of the time. Still, when she managed to get even just a couple of minutes to talk to him on those days, she seemed to manage to make it through the time easier.

Opening the door, she moved in, immediately having to stifle another yawn even as her wolf gave a soft, happy sound in the back of her mind at being where they were. After being so stubborn last night, you should be asleep.

“Morning, Marshall. I thought I would come by and see how the night treated you before going and burying myself in bed for the rest of the day.”

[Marshall]

"You know you're welcome to stop in any time," Marshall said with a quiet smile. "It wasn't fun, of course, but it went about as well as can be expected. You look like you came through it without too much trouble." He was glad about it; Sissy, being a fair few years younger than himself, always had a harder time during the moons.

He sat up properly on the bed, and shifted over so he was on the side farther from the bed. Patting the empty space next to him, he invited her to come and sit for a minute or two. The longer she remained, the happier it made his wolf.

[Sissy]

“This is after a nice, long soak in the tub though,” she said, moving over and settling into the offered spot. “You didn’t see me when I dragged myself into my room. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and believe me, it wasn’t pretty. It was nightmare proportions.”

Stifling another yawn, she shifted slightly in her spot so that she could look at him properly. “Someday, the wolf will actually decide to let me sleep during the night of the peak. As it is, all she wants to do is howl and see how many new scratch marks she can put into the wall before she finally calms down enough for some sleep to be had. You look like you came through it no worse for the wear.”

[Marshall]

"I'm all right," Marshall replied, modestly. "Though I've got a hard time imagining you looking in the mirror and not seeing something pretty." He played with the pages of his book, a little embarrassed that he'd spoken the thought aloud.

"Well, if you're tired, you're welcome to stay right there. I'll be quiet."

[Sissy]

She blushed softly at that and quickly covered it up with, “Well, I do see my nice blue shower curtain with the gold stars on it behind me when I look in the mirror.” As soon as she said it, she groaned silently. That had been a terrible way to follow up such a lovely compliment, but at least she hadn’t groaned at herself out loud or smacked herself in the forehead for it. That had to be some sort of accomplishment. A small would, but it was going to have to do.

Of course, then she blushed a little more at his offer. He’s too good at that. What a tempting offer it was though, even if she was trying to ignore herself when her mind started to wonder if sleeping surrounded by Marshall’s scent would be even better than her own bed with it’s pretty pale blue comforter. “I wouldn’t want to impose.” Okay, I would, but I’m nice enough not to. “After all, you shouldn’t have to be quiet in your own room. Besides, I might end up taking over the bed.” She wondered if her arguments to staying sounded as weak and ‘If you tempt me too much- and it won’t take that much- I’ll most definitely stay- to Marshall as they did to her.

[Marshall]

"When have you known me to be much other than quiet, in my own room or anywhere else?" Marshall smiled. "Besides, you look so comfortable, I'm not about to chase you." Never mind the fact that nothing would have made him happier, nor his wolf more content, than to stretch out right next to Sissy and fall asleep breathing the scent of her hair.

[Sissy]

“For all I know, you could suddenly decide to crank up the radio, jump up on the bed and play some serious air guitar,” Sissy joked with a smile of her own. Oh, she knew that Marshall wasn’t actually going to do that, but it was an extremely entertaining mental picture. Of course, such unlikely scenarios usually made for the best ones, especially since reading so much seemed to have helped her gain and extremely active imagination.

“Well, it is awfully comfortable right here. So long as you won’t recruit me as a backup singer or something when you decide to start rocking out, I think I just might take you up on that lovely sounding offer.”

[Marshall]

Marsh couldn't help a snorting laugh. "Okay, you definitely need sleep, if that's the sort of images you're conjuring up. I promise that if I decide to rock out, I won't wake you up to sing along." He gave a soft yawn. "Really, I think it's highly unlikely I'm going to go anywhere. Especially if you're here."

[Sissy]

“Oh, but it’s a really funny image,” Sissy said with a grin as she shifted on the bed until she was lying down properly. She wasn’t entirely sure as to why she was doing that since she really had had every intention of arguing that she just couldn’t possibly stay, but it seemed that that wouldn’t be happening after all. “If you could see the image I’ve got in my mind, I think you’d be entertained.” She settled in comfortably and looked up at him, stifling a yawn. “It seems that you’ve convinced me.”

[Marshall]

Smiling, Marshall dared to shift over on the bed so that their bodies actually shared contact. "Hmm, this isn't so bad, is it? Rather comfortable."

He turned his head slightly so that his nose was near her hair, and the scent of her filled him. His wolf was fully relaxed, pleased, soothed as it was at no time except when Sissy was there.

"Poke me if I take too much room," he told her softly, lifting a hand and brushing a stray lock back from her face.

[Sissy]

“It really is pretty comfortable,” Sissy told him with a little smile. More than that, actually. That, however, she would never be able to say and not blush profusely, so she decided to leave that part there. She was usually good about hiding her embarrassment, but doing that always seemed impossible where Marshall was concerned. She thought that it was perhaps the fates or something, getting a little chuckle at her expense in those cases.

She couldn’t seem to keep her smile from growing a bit more when he brushed back her hair; at least she could be thankful that her face didn’t feel hot. “Oh, I’m sure it won’t come down to that. She stretched slightly and relaxed again. “Feel free to do the same if I end up taking too much room.”

[Sissy]

^{POST TIMESKIP}

It was bad when she couldn’t find anything to read, what with her massive collection and the one on offer in the pack’s library, which she had scoured that morning in hopes of finding something that would catch her attention before moving onto her own, hoping that something would stand out, would demand that she read it, even if it was for what seemed like the hundredth time. She had had no luck, though. How that was even possible, she wasn’t sure. Maybe she was just tired of rereading things, over and over, until she practically knew all the words. As for the library… Well, there was really no rhyme or reason to her having not found anything in there. Maybe she hadn’t really been in the proper state of mind while she had been looking or maybe she just hadn’t been concentrating as well as she should have, though she had been focusing on nothing but the books around her and finding something that she wanted to take back to her room.

Stopping in front of the door, she gave a knock. Marshall, she knew, had a very lovely book collection and would be willing to let her go through it and find something to read, just as she would him should he decide he wanted to. He was bound to have something that she hadn’t read yet and, if not, something that she at least didn’t have herself, which would mean that she hadn’t read it so many times she could skip over full chapters and be able to tell what had happened practically word for word.

And it wasn’t like getting to talk to him was a bad thing. There was always something to be discussed, even if it was books.