#please dont tag this as ship im begging you
Day 2 of @the-line-is-erased:The Channel - Travel - To catch a breath; to rest and relax.
“Boss, what happened to your stuff?”
Zolf glanced over at Sasha. They were in the back of a cart on their way to Paris after Doris’ car exploded. Sasha was midway through munching on a carrot and looking at Zolf cautiously.
“I pitched it. When I dove in to get you,” he answered.
She took a bite of carrot and looked away. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s just stuff. I can get new armor and another mace, and Poseidon got my trident back to me.” Zolf ran his thumb along the smooth metal. “Those things I can replace. There’s only one you.”
Sasha didn’t reply, but it was clear her mind was spinning faster than the lightning elemental in the tiny sparking horse car they’d just destroyed.
“You’re more important than some things, Sasha,” he insisted. He’d never been good at the emotional side of things, but this needed to be said. “Even if it wasn’t me that dragged us out on that damn boat in the first place. I’d still dive in after you. You’re worth being saved.”
“But… you almost drowned too.”
Zolf shrugged, and Sasha sighed, shaking her head.
“If I’m worth being saved, or whatever, which, well…” She mumbled some disconnected words to try and refute the statement without outright saying so. “What I mean is, you’re worth being saved too. And like, yeah, I’m grateful you went in to get me and help me. But… sometimes I think you don’t care about yourself as much as you should? There’s only one you, too.”
Sasha watched him out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. Once she’d finished, Zolf nodded slowly, realizing that she’d read him like an open book.
“Yeah, maybe I do tend to dive into problems headfirst – this time literally.” He saw Sasha chuckle, and he couldn’t help but smile at that. “And I know we both have a hard time thinking we’re worth being saved at all. But… I know you’re worth it, and if you think I’m worth it, then, well… I guess I better start trying to believe that. Because maybe there’s something in me that’s still worth saving.”
“I’ll remind you if you ever forget it, or have trouble seeing it,” Sasha said.
“And I’ll do the same for you.”
Zolf reached out a hand for Sasha, thinking that he would put it on her shoulder to reassure her, but he hesitated. He knew she didn’t like to be touched, and he didn’t want to betray her trust, especially after the moment they just had.
It didn’t matter, though, because Sasha saw his indecision and took Zolf’s hand in her own. She gave it a quick but kind squeeze, then released him and grabbed another carrot for the rest of their ride into Paris.
They didn’t speak much for the remainder of their trip, and Zolf didn’t mind that at all. Sharing the silence was a calm moment of peace in the center of the storm. And when the hurricane came raging forth again, leaving Zolf suffocating in its wake, he would remember Sasha. If that scraggly kid from Other London thought there was something of worth inside of him, then he had to keep going, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Whenever that hope truly began to waver, he could still hear her voice in his head and remember the feeling of her hand on his, and he knew he would make it. For Sasha.
