He Comes in Peace

(**Little preface before reading: This doesn’t really tie in anywhere, and the style of writing and characters’ personalities might be different from what you remembered them to be; it has, after all, been years since I’ve written about Skye and Tay. I skimmed through the chapters to see where I might’ve wanted to include this outtake, but I can’t find anything that relates. If things had gone differently, this would be wedged right around Chapter Twenty-Eight, where Tay leaves Skye abruptly. This would be an angry/fluffy alternate scene if Tay had returned to her sometime during the third night she waited for him. Also, extensive Author’s Note at the end :P)

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When Skye heard the tap at her window, she thought of two things: One, the ECI were breaking into the lakehouse to take her away, and two, Kartayon was back.

She curled up tighter underneath the covers, her eyes fixated upon the window frame. She blinked quickly, afraid that she would miss something if she had them closed for too long. In the millisecond it took for her to bat her eyelashes once, a rock broke the glass panes and sailed into her room, clattering against the floor.

She remained terrified, heart pounding, until a familiar hedgehog-y figure appeared amongst the broken glass, reminding her of the first time he’d entered her room.

Once her pulse stopped racing, she bolted out of bed.

“What happened?” she gasped. “What—”

“I spoke with my people.” He stepped over the glass shards and brushed the back of his hand along his eyes. “I will explain what happened tomorrow. May I sleep now, Skye? I am fatigued.”

Skye was relieved, then stunned at the curtness in his voice. Not even a “Hello” or “Don’t worry, I’m okay”? She tried to control her breathing. Her chest rose and fell with the rapid breaths she was taking, and a strong undercurrent of disbelief played across her mind, and her features.

Can he even fathom how worried I was?

Still, no matter how strong her anger was, she couldn’t bring herself to turn him away. She couldn’t even tell him to sleep outside in the yard, and it made her all the more angrier, until she decided to expel her frustrations through words.

“You’re fatigued? You don’t even have enough energy to explain anything beyond a sentence?” She admitted to herself that she was curious, very curious, but not enough to let go of the fact that he apparently didn’t feel obligated to explain to her what had happened.

“I can’t believe you,” she choked, unwilling to let it drop and pick it back up in the morning. “Okay. Never mind what’s going on now. What were you thinking when you left?”

He stood still, appraising her with a neutral, unchanging expression.

“You know I wouldn’t have left here without knowing where you were or what happened. You literally trapped me here. That was selfish of you.” Skye was fully aware this made her sound selfish, but she was breathing too hard and feeling too conflicted to think before speaking. “The ECI could’ve gotten me. They could’ve gotten you and there was no way for me to know. You couldn’t even have told me where you were going? Not even a ‘I’m meeting with my people’ or an ‘I’ll be back in three days’. You couldn’t even have said that?” Her voice was rising into a squeak and she broke off, screwing her eyes shut and shaking her head.

“Would an apology mend anything?” he murmured.

She laughed. “Not really.” She went to her closet and dug out a sleeping bag and pillow, throwing them at him one after the other. He caught them perfectly, of course.

“You’re sleeping in the attic,” she said, the mere thought of him curling up near her bed sending mixed feelings coursing through her brain. It was something she did not need at that point.

She expected him to be quiet about it, guilty. She was surprised when she saw a flicker of annoyance cross his face.

Did he think I’d be jumping for joy upon his return? she thought. She was happy he came back, truly she was. But just like she couldn’t bring herself to kick him out of the house, she couldn’t bring herself to forgive him for scaring her the way he did.

“If you’re tired, sure, we can talk about everything in the morning.” Her initial excitement at seeing him again was completely gone, and the initial smile Tay had on his face had long since vanished as well.

“Good night,” he said stiffly. He reached up and pulled on the attic door, shutting it behind him when he climbed up.

Skye stood with her hands on her hips for a moment. Then, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes, she shook herself head to toe and climbed back into bed. Her covers were still a little warm, and she curled up facing the wall.

She expected her anger to keep her awake, and it did. When she heard a chorus of creaks from the floorboards above her, however, she sighed. Even if her feelings let her sleep, she probably wouldn’t because of Tay’s restlessness.

The creaking ceased for a moment, and Skye closed her eyes. Barely a minute passed before they were open again, glaring up at the ceiling.

“Would you please settle down already,” she said in a low voice, wondering whether Tay could hear her.

If he did, he didn’t oblige.

The creaking continued, and it became a pattern. It would stop when Skye’s eyes were open, then start up again once she closed them.

Her breathing slowed and a sense of exhaustion washed through her. Anger had seeped away hours ago, and annoyance was slinking away now, too.

She opened her mouth to call out to him to please be quiet already, but before she had the chance to, the attic door opened, and the stairs creaked some more as Tay climbed down a few steps.

“What is it,” she said, face muffled by her covers and pillow.

“I…”

Skye heard the door closing again, and she waited a few seconds for more creaking above her.

She felt a touch in her hair and turned. Despite her eyes being adjusted to the dark, the moonlight from the window only threw Tay’s face into shadows. She was sure, then, that her own face was clear as day to him.

He sat on the floor beside her bed, holding his pillow to his stomach with one arm, sleeping bag grasped in the other.

“What?”

She saw the outline of his head move, and the light shone onto his hair. He was looking down at the mattress and fingering the pattern of her sheets.

“I cannot…I cannot sleep.”

“Clearly,” she said, before thinking.

His head snapped back up and if Skye could see, she would’ve seen his eyes dart away.

“May I sleep here? Please?” he said, gesturing towards the spot he had occupied once before.

Skye’s demeanour softened. When Tay shifted so she could see him better, her resolve cracked and crumbled.

“I cannot fall sleep in the attic,” he mumbled, “but I know I will be able to fall asleep here.” In a faint whisper, he added, “Whether or not that is due to your presence or lack thereof remains questionable.”

Skye sighed and turned onto her back. A sense of contentment settled over her. “So I’m a lullaby, kind of? I help you fall asleep?”

“Perhaps.” He set the sleeping bag down and tentatively spread it out.

“Good night, Tay.” She hesitated, paused, before adding, “I really was worried about you…whether something had happened.” She tried not to replay her worries.

Tay lifted his hand and touched her hair again, before resting it on the space beside her.

“Thank you,” he said. “I will explain everything tomorrow, I promise you. And I would like you to know that I am deeply sorry to have worried you or caused you any amount of distress.”

Skye reached out and carefully nudged his hand with her own, hooked her pinky blindly around one of his fingers. She doubted he had any idea what she was doing, but she felt him squeeze back, and it was reassuring, and it was enough.

“Good night, Skye, and sleep easy.”