Sword and Snow

Emery

Emery and Avuri slipped into their bedroom and closed the door, having said goodnight to their girls. Emery's thoughts had been bouncing around a lot over the last few days, but the relatively short conversations she had had with her children had helped to focus her on what she felt was most important.

Under the stress of all the planning, hypothesizing, and worrying that she had been doing recently, despite loudly proclaiming that she was doing all of this for her family, she had started to actually lose sight of that. Or, at least, her anger after that opening attack had been growing and taking over, her desire for revenge or punishment winning out.

She was happy that she could recognize that a talk with her kids had been enough to recenter herself around what truly mattered here. She'd go out, defend their chosen home and city, and return triumphant to continue her life. Or, if she was unable to claim victory, she would return defeated and figure out what would need to be done to keep her family safe.

But she would return. She'd make sure of it.

"That is some look on your face," Avuri said with a little smile.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You look determined.. The kind of determined that I see in you right before we tackle some real danger." Avuri said, sounding almost appreciative of it.

Emery snorted. "Seems apt for our current situation, no?"

Avuri took a step closer and embraced her wife tightly, using more strength than she had to, to be sure Emery really felt the squeeze. "It is."

"Besides, you don't exactly feel weak-willed to me right now, either, Ri." Emery said against Avuri's shoulder. Even with their connection kept on the thinner end for the moment, Emery could feel Avuri's determination burning just as brightly as her own. Avuri's face simply had a tendency to remain calm more than Emery's did.

"I suppose I can't argue that, can I?" Avuri giggled. They held the embrace for an extra few moments as their resolve firmed more, their kids giving them collective strength. Eventually, Avuri took a deep breath and broke the hug. "Wash and comb my hair?"

"Yeah." Emery breathed out a matching sigh. Together, they went about their evening routine, taking their time. Something about the day - whether it had been the mostly settled plans being in place or something else - seemed to take the rush and pressure out of things. They could rush through their bath and get to meditation and Cultivating as soon as possible, but for whatever reason, rushing didn't seem like a priority anymore.

Avuri had cheated a little, using her Qi to force moisture into her hair quickly and shampooed it quickly, finishing her wash before Emery, despite her much, much longer hair. By the time Emery had properly scrubbed herself down and washed her own hair satisfactorily, Avuri was gently lowering herself into the soaking tub.

Emery stood to join her, and waited patiently until Avuri was fully settled. Once she was, Emery slid into the water, positioning herself in Avuri's lap and leaning back against her. Wordlessly, they both cut their connection fully as they simply relaxed there. It was something they didn't do very often. Even after the relative difficulty of having the windows to each others' minds thrown entirely open, cutting the connection entirely felt wrong.

It was something they chose to reserve for special moments when they were alone together. When their literal connection had no real purpose, and they just wanted to be properly together. During daily life, Emery had grown so used to having her wife's constant presence in her mind that it had grown to be mundane and comforting. She was rarely ever truly alone, even in her own head, and she had grown to find it reassuring.

That also meant that, during normal everyday life, Avuri's mental absence was something that weighed on her heavily. On the incredibly rare occasion that they had been far enough apart to lose that connection during everyday activities, it left her feeling uncomfortable and stressed.

But during quiet moments, when they were the only two in the room, there was something almost intoxicating about closing that connection. Emery didn't understand it; not entirely. If she thought too hard about it, it actually just made her more confused. But they had discussed it before, and could only agree on it - there was something unexplainably intimate about being together and closing that connection off every now and then.

Emery let herself drift in a very surface level meditation as she enjoyed the bath. She emptied her mind of her problems and worries as best she could. Instead, she focused on the warmth of the water and her loving wife. The feel of the arms around her and the body she snuggled up into. The overwhelming feeling of safety, but also the quiet serenity of being well and truly alone, together.

It wasn't an overwhelmingly long bath, but they took their time. Emery was able to utilize her still-new fire Qi to keep the water hotter for much longer, and it was a skill that they both welcomed. Especially when it came to bathing. Eventually, Avuri added some scented oils to the bath, allowing them to soak in the soft lavender scent for a while before they finally left the water.

Avuri used her Qi to dry them both off, the evaporation of the water leaving more of the oil-scent behind that a towelling would have. They both considered that a nice bonus as they each shrugged on a loose but comfortable silk robe.

Emery believed there was something almost ritualistic to the way they went about cleaning up and preparing to sit down to tend to Avuri's hair. They did so quietly, keeping their connection closed. Avuri retrieved her cushion and placed it beside the bed on the floor, even though they wouldn't use it yet. She also chose her comb for the night - a lovely but well-used bamboo comb with a matching, soft brush. She set those beside herself on the bed, just a little bit behind her.

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Emery, for her part, gathered other tools. More scented oil and a cup of water to keep the comb and Avuri's hair moist. She also took a moment to tie up her own hair, keeping what she could away from her eyes. Finally, she arrayed the items before her and settled onto the bed, sitting a bit behind Avuri, who placed the ends of her long locks into Emery's lap.

Emery got to work without delay. She began by running the comb through the ends of Avuri's hair, teasing out knots and tangles as she went. Admittedly, she could have gone through the process much faster, but the time and diligence spent on the ritual was part of the point. Before long, Emery had her wife's hair split into multiple sections, each spread out across the bed and her legs, trying to keep the tresses separate and easy to manage.

As her fingers and the comb worked through each length of hair, Emery scooted a bit more forward to comb the next section. It took only a few minutes to have her crossed legs pressed up against Avuri's lower back and completely covered in the vibrant silver-white hair. At that point, she slowed down even further, taking pleasure in the slight, grazing touches of Avuri's back each time she reached for a new lock of hair, working the comb through each section more deliberately than she needed to.

When Emery's work had reached the base of Avuri's neck, she doubled back over the combed locks with the oil and the brush. It was a part of the ritual that they didn't perform every time, but they still used the oil often enough that the brush was deeply scented of flowers - mostly lavender and chamomile. The soft bristles were wonderful for spreading the oils through Avuri's hair while smoothing out the long silver locks.

When she finally finished with that entire section, Emery leaned forward to rest her chin on Avuri's shoulder and lean the side of her head against Avuri's cheek, speaking for the first time since they started their bath.

"All finished up here," she whispered quietly, which drew a slight shiver and smile from Avuri.

"Alright. But you're going to need to get off me so I can move." Avuri whispered back.

Instead of honoring her wife's words, Emery's arms snaked around Avuri's waist, holding her tightly. "Do I have to?"

"You do. Eventually." Avuri said, sounding entirely unconvincing.

"Not in a hurry to get rid of me then?"

Avuri let out a weak grunt of disagreement as she nuzzled against Emery's head.

Emery decided she was feeling a little devious and angled her head so her lips were all but brushing Avuri's ear when she whispered a quiet "Okay". She pulled Avuri against her, reversing roughly the same pose they had sat in in the bath earlier in the night.

As they sat together, Emery could feel their breathing synchronize slowly as they both relaxed, their breathing evening out in a way similar to sleep. Long, slow breaths that came with comfort and relaxation. After a while, Avuri's fingers tapped on Emery's forearm which was still cinched in around her waist. Returning to their shared silence, Emery took that as the signal to let Avuri go.

Avuri gracefully slid forward and off the bed to settle onto the cushion she had laid out earlier on, while Emery scooted forward to keep Avuri in reach. With the height difference of the floor and bed, it put Avuri's head at a great height for Emery to work with to comb and brush out the rest of her hair.

Once again, Emery returned to her work of teasing out the tangles and knots in Avuri's silver tresses. With the ends of the hair already silken smooth, she was able to really focus on the hair that fell around and above Avuri's neckline. That also meant that Emery was able to touch various points on and around Avuri's head as she picked out locks of hair to detangle, letting the same grazing touches from before turn into more targeted, more forceful massages.

She got a sort of pleasant satisfaction in watching Avuri's facial expression change as she worked at pressure points, accompanied by the soft, almost inaudible moans and breaths that came with the massages.

When she had finally finished combing, oiling, and brushing all of Avuri's hair, Emery smiled. Since they had been taking the night particularly slow, she pushed a little bit of Qi out from her fingertips, coalescing soft metallic nails that she had perfected over the years for pleasurable scratching and returned to work.

Avuri, familiar with the practice, melted against Emery's legs almost immediately, letting her head droop into Emery's lap. Emery simply took her time, letting her infused nails trail long lines around Avuri's scalp, alternating between long, gentle glides and shorter, more intense scratching. Avuri twitched delightedly in her lap, eventually turning around to more fully lay her head and arms on Emery's thighs. Emery just smiled peacefully as she drew nonsensical patterns in her wife's scalp with her nails.

"I could die perfectly happy right here, like this." Avuri muttered.

"Don't you dare." Emery said, taking a momentary break to flick Avuri in the forehead before continuing. "I'm not cleaning up a dead body on a night like tonight."

Avuri peeked up at her with a single eye. "A 'night like tonight'?"

"Yes."

"And what makes it so special, hm?"

"I'm relaxed, in perfect company, and enjoying making my wife melt into a puddle at my feet." Emery said with a sneaky little grin as she trailed two nails down toward the back of Avuri's neck, drawing a shiver from her.

"Yeah, alright." Avuri said, giving in immediately without so much as a glimmer of resistance.

"Oh? Not going to fight back at all tonight?" Emery asked with a taunting smile.

"Why would I?" Avuri responded with her own question. "I literally could not imagine better treatment."

"No? And here I had some other ideas." Emery responded, trying to sound disappointed.

Avuri remained quiet for a while. Emery was actually surprised how long her wife held out before Avuri's head rotated under her hands to face upward. "Alright, you got me. What else were you planning?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing." Emery said dismissively. "It might be better to stick to this, anyway. We're supposed to be generally at rest, so I think it'd be bad if one or both of us couldn't walk in the morning."

The suggestion was enough to set a fire in Avuri's otherwise cool eyes. "Oh?"

Emery simply smiled down at her. "But I would have to stop scratching your head."

"There's plenty more of me you could scratch." Avuri suggested, her tone still playful, but slowly moving toward more seductive.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Avuri met Emery's eyes straight on and simply said, "Yes."

Emery's answering laughter filled the room, by far the loudest sound either had made since they had closed their door.