[closed] yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down

[sageprincess]

Who: Zelda and others
When: Throughout the month
Where: Dorchacht
What: Another catch-all log for Hell City shenanigans
Warnings: None atm, will update if that changes

[PM this account or hmu on plurk at jamizoid if you wanna plot out some Dorchacht shenanigans this month!]

Comments

[sageprincess]

A lullaby?

[Again, she finds her heart aching for people who aren't here, and again, she swallows that feeling down, locking it back away until the next time someone accidentally turns the key. The sincerity throws her off besides, and it's easy to read her hesitation as wariness that she's walking into yet another bout of poking fun at her reactions.]

I... would not refuse you, if that is something you wish to share with me. [The woman she calls "Shadow" doesn't reveal much about herself, and though she's curious, Zelda's never thought it her place to pry.] But I will also assure you it is not necessary. I am certain sleep will find me eventually, regardless.

[scatmaam]

[ No poking came, no teasing or cruelty, Shadow leaned herself back, humming out the melody after a brief pause, and eventually began to sing, softly, a quiet tone well practiced, and just for Zelda's ears.

She'd heard her fussing and her protests, and as she so often did, just went ahead with her intentions, stubborn as ever. But there was a gentleness in the lilt of the notes, as if she had sung this song once before, for someone else who'd been as stubborn as her... ]

[sageprincess]

[Zelda has never heard the song before, and cannot understand the words, but... there is an immediate effect, as exhausted as she is. Tension ebbs from her muscles, her form sagging slightly against the cold stone of the sewer walls. Sleep does not come to her that quickly, but it plays at the edges of her consciousness, tempting.

This is childish, she thinks. She is being treated like a child who can't even put herself to sleep. She should object, but for as much as the song and the voice are wrong, it's still one of the first positively familiar things she's experienced in this strange world so far from her own.

She misses Impa.]

... You have a lovely singing voice.

[She murmurs, quiet as not to interrupt, and listens.]

[scatmaam]

[ Shadow would easily interject that it was fine to enjoy childish things from time to time, regardless of how aged one was. But she didn't have to, as she was fairly certain Zelda's will to fuss was draining from her well more quickly than it could build, a sure sign that she was finally starting to relax, which was the ultimate goal anyways...

By the time the song finished, she let out a soft hum, checking on Zelda to see if she was still awake... ]

[sageprincess]

[Her head is bowed when Shadow checks on her, albeit at an angle that will no doubt become uncomfortable sooner rather than later, and sometime during the course of the song she has finally allowed her eyes to close. She stirs slightly after it ends, but it's a very minor thing, a furrowed brow and questioning hum as her head tilts towards Shadow.]

... Mm?

[Even if left alone, it probably won't take long for her to succumb to sleep fully. Lullabies are apparently super effective on Hylian princesses, who would have known?]

[scatmaam]

[ It's almost instinct, that guides Shadow to press a soft kiss to Zelda's forehead, the sort of affection she doubt she'd pay most people, but somehow felt right in that moment for the heavy-eyed princess. A gentle, warm touch that carried with it the same sentiment as the song, to bring peace to her, to settle her soul, and allow her to gather herself for the yet still difficult days to come.

... And rather than explain herself, she simply began the song again, right from the beginning, softer this time, quieter, letting the notes drift between them like a breath of air. ]

[sageprincess]

[Despite everything, despite years of teachings to keep everyone at arm's length, despite this horrid city bringing so many memories of persecution back to the fore, the princess leans into the gentle affection in her barely-conscious state, allowing it to linger there for a moment more.

Or perhaps it is more accurate to say it is because of all those awful things that she seeks out that soft and fleeting connection with the honesty provided to her in her exhaustion. Either way, she is not keen on explaining herself either, and soon after Shadow begins her reprise, she will feel the weight of Zelda's head resting upon her shoulder, her breathing slow and even.

Hopefully the lancer didn't have anywhere she planned on being in the next couple of hours.]