[ Though she smiles at the possibility of going back there, she has to swallow against that rising lump in her throat. Derrica is too good, and Athessa selfishly woke her up to talk about nothing? ]
You can go back to sleep, Dee, really. You don't have to listen to me talk about nothing.
[ I miss you repeats in her head, trying to twist her arm until she speaks it. I miss us. ]
[ a soft laugh, and she rests her chin on the mattress while she thinks over the songs like that she knows. ]
Yeah I know the kind. I remember um...Watkin's Ale, have you heard that one?
[ she sings the first verse in the kind of hushed tone one does late at night, when everyone should be sleeping but are tittering about such things instead. ]
There was a maid this other day, And she would needs go forth to play; And as she walked she sigh'd and said, I am afraid to die a maid.
Oh, it was probably a tavern or a brothel somewhere, [ she finally drags herself up off the floor so she can lay down on the bed, parallel to the pillows. ] maybe on the ship, but I can't remember. What about the one you were thinkin' of?
One of my classmates heard it somewhere, and taught the rest of us. I assume she heard it somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. [ a pause, then a quiet chuckle. ] Like a tavern, probably. I never asked.
[ She smiles, unseen, at that chuckle. It's good to hear Derrica laugh, even that much. ] If you remember the words maybe you can teach it to me sometime, and I'll teach you mine. Song for a song.
hehehehehehehe
Yeah, yeah everything's fine.
[ Stupid. Of course she was asleep. ]
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.
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[ something's amiss, though derrica can relax slightly with the knowledge that no one's missing a limb or bleeding out. ]
What is it?
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Nothing, really. Just... can't sleep.
[ at least it's not a total lie; she always has more trouble sleeping when she's indoors or alone. ]
And I started thinking about that honey cake again. The smell of the spice markets. I'd like to go back there, someday.
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[ it's not impossible to go that far north, just time-consuming. ]
The market is probably still there.
[ is what Derrica says instead, around a quiet yawn. ]
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[ Though she smiles at the possibility of going back there, she has to swallow against that rising lump in her throat. Derrica is too good, and Athessa selfishly woke her up to talk about nothing? ]
You can go back to sleep, Dee, really. You don't have to listen to me talk about nothing.
[ I miss you repeats in her head, trying to twist her arm until she speaks it. I miss us. ]
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[ maybe she might mind in the morning, but for the moment, she's comfortable and hazily talking through the crystal doesn't seem too strenuous. ]
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D'you have a favorite song from — [ She almost says home. ] — back there?
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Maybe.
[ unsatisfactory. derrica tries again. ]
There's a dirty song we used to sing when we were running up and down the main tower. You know the kind, the ones about sex covered up with innuendos.
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Yeah I know the kind. I remember um...Watkin's Ale, have you heard that one?
[ she sings the first verse in the kind of hushed tone one does late at night, when everyone should be sleeping but are tittering about such things instead. ]
There was a maid this other day,
And she would needs go forth to play;
And as she walked she sigh'd and said,
I am afraid to die a maid.
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Sounds like a plan. You can pick the time and place.