#if i tried to cover my partner would know somethings off inmediately

[betweeninstrumentsandbooks]

.

[candy-corps]

A Needed Hug

Astra belongs to @mygardenofmuses !

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 21:34 Uhr

A wish? "A ... hug would be nice" Belle answered honestly, a small sad smile tugging on the corner of her lips.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 21:36 Uhr

Astra smiled. It was nice when people answered to her questions with such simple wishes.  "Then I'll give you many!" she said happily, jumping to give her a tight hug.

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 21:39 Uhr

Belle smiled wider and sincere at that. "Thank you" she replied quietly while Astras hair tickled her nose.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 21:41 Uhr

"You're welcome, I'm always happy to provide. I won't let go until you tell me to stop." Astra knew by experience that when people asked for hugs, they were usually touch-starved. Which meant she had to make this moment count.

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 21:51 Uhr

Woops. That was ... genuinely kind. Belle did not expect that. A sudden knot in her throat had her swallow while tears watered her eyes.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 21:54 Uhr

Astra rubbed gently Belle's back. "My name is Astra, by the way. What's yours?"

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 22:10 Uhr

" ... Belle" she answered short, arm raising to wipe off a tear before it would fall. She couldn't be seen like this. Her wing, once touched, moved over to Astras back, as if Belle was the one to do the comforting.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 22:12 Uhr

"Belle describes you very well, as you're sweet and beautiful." Astra squeezed  her a little, as if such gesture would make her words more believable.

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 22:24 Uhr

That, too, was nice. "I lost two of my children" Belle said then heartbroken as new tears dwelled up and fell before she could help it. "And can't even ... - tell ... my partner" she finally spilled.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 22:27 Uhr

"Oh.... OH. That... that's terrible... " Astra inmediately connected to Belle's pain. While it wasn't exactly the same, she understood the pain of losing loved ones. "I'm so sorry, Belle." She raised her hand and petted gently the back of hear head. "Wish I could help, but life and death go beyond my possibilities..."

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 22:33 Uhr

"It's okay." Belle exhaled slowly in an attempt to get a hold of herself. "Thank you ... " It was good to have said it out loud. She had no one to talk though its been eating on her a lot, or so it seemed.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 22:35 Uhr

Astra kept petting her head. "You're welcome. Is there anything I can do to help you to feelo better, apart of hugs?"

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 22:47 Uhr

Oh, usually. Usually, she would have a witty response up her sleeve. But now. Now she just nestled her head in Astras neck and cried the last couple of tears that had to fall before she'd calm down.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 22:48 Uhr

Astra did feel the tears. She just kept hugging Belle, petting her head every now and then. She hoped these touches would comfort her, at least.

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 22:59 Uhr

"I don't do this ... usually" Belle spoke up, withdrawing her head eventually. She loosened her hold on Astra, too, but obviously, was not quite ready yet to let go yet. For which she felt pretty ashamed. "You're a good hugger" she added, cheeks read and eyes puffy from crying, just to say something to get the conversation back to somewhat normal again.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 23:01 Uhr

Astra chuckled lightly. She raised a hand to wipe gently the tears from Belle's eyes. "Well, when you've gone an eternity in a lamp, hugging pillows is great practice." she tried to joke, in hopes this would get Belle to laugh.

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 23:24 Uhr

Belle let Astra fix her face, even though it made her blush deeper. It just felt really nice. "Can I do something in return for you?" Belle asked.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 23:25 Uhr

"I think all you can do is smile and focus all your energy in getting better. Can you do that for me?" Astra chuckled. She had managed to turn her reply into something to help her, and she felt oddly proud of that.

ßaegels🐦-gestern um 23:43 Uhr

Belle's gaze lowered. No, she couldn't. She still had children to care for. A mate to to feel safe. She couldn't take care of herself. Belle took Astras hand and shook her head at the question.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-gestern um 23:48 Uhr

Astra cocked her head. She didn't understand her gesture right away.  Then she looked up and understood. Her face said it all. "Wait... you can't do that?"5. April 2018

ßaegels🐦-heute um 00:09 Uhr

Belle took a deep breath before answering. "Sheila and Shawn. Sam. Bahadir. Audrey, Promosis, Enkidu. I miss them. They vanish and there is nothing I can do but keep quiet and enjoy what time we have." Belle held on tighter on Astra with that. "I shouldn't be telling you this" she figured too late. Once she was sharing, it was hard to stop.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-heute um 00:13 Uhr

All the names went overr Astra's head. She knew none of these people, but in a way, she could relate. She pulled Belle closer, giving her a tighter hug. "It's OK. Let it all out. I lost a lot of people myself... so I understand. Keeping things bottled is much worse."

ßaegels🐦-heute um 00:25 Uhr

That was better. Belle was shaking but not crying at least. She held Astra tighter than she'd dared to before, accepting her comfort.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-heute um 00:26 Uhr

Astra pressed a light kiss to her temple, then rubbed Belle's back. "I'm here for you. It's gonna be alright..."

ßaegels🐦-heute um 08:44 Uhr

"No. It's not ... " Belle replied weakly. It was a matter of time before the next person vanished.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-heute um 11:24 Uhr

"It will. Believe me, I'm 2,000 years old. I know what I'm talking about." She insisted, trying to prove a point.

ßaegels🐦-heute um 11:28 Uhr

"It's not." Life experience or not - Astra did not know the situation she was in. After one last sigh, the batwoman withdrew. "It's okay."  She didn't need to be hugged anymore.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-heute um 11:30 Uhr

"Will you be alright?" Astra asked, unable to hide her concerns. She didn't understand that shift in her words.

ßaegels🐦-heute um 11:38 Uhr

Belle shook her head. She was not going to be alright - at least that she knew. It was still awful, but after saying it out loud, she felt at least calmer about the whole thing. "I might lose more of my children. Maybe my partner. Maybe my family. And I don't know when or how or if at all." She sighed. It was quite bad.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-heute um 12:17 Uhr

"Sadly, losing loved ones is part of life." Astra reached to pet her shoulder. "All you can do is hold onto the memories. As long as you remember them, they'll never be truly gone. They'll stay in your heart forever."

ßaegels🐦-heute um 12:22 Uhr

"You don't understand." Which wasn't Astra's fault - her situation was pretty unique. Belle's wing covered her shoulder before Astra's hand could. She turned away - no longer feeling too touchy. "Thanks for listening, though. Is there really nothing I can - ?" She'd like to help. Do something.

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-heute um 12:26 Uhr

"You're... welcome?" Astra felt something was amiss. Maybe she could lure her into talking more if they were together a little longer. "Huh. Would you like to take a walk with me?"

ßaegels🐦-heute um 12:29 Uhr

Belle thought about that for a second before she replied. "I'd like that. Where do you want to go?"

🥚💀 Skele-Aura 💀🥚-heute um 12:36 Uhr

"I don't know. Wherever our feet lead us to?" Astra answered, winking her an eye. "Any place is fine with a pretty lady by my side~"

ßaegels🐦-heute um 12:47 Uhr

Let's explore then. It was good with her. "Okay." She just hoped to be somewhat pleasant company.