feyrah:

Heartbreaking (but hopeful) idea and ficlet written by @bnaz <3

Carmilla had grown accustomed to the smell of mould and humidity. She’d even grown accustomed to the low light and lack of windows, and the way their voices echoed through endless corridors filled with old bookcases and clammy floors.

She hadn’t, however, grown accustomed to the lack of anything soft to sleep on. She’d found old rugs and blankets and sheets that were covering piles of books, but she had given that up for Lafontaine and the Cupcake under the pretense of having a sturdy vampiric constitution. But sleeping with no layers between her and the mucid stone wasn’t something she could easily get used to after having spent months laying on an actual comfortable mattress.

So, Carmilla sat on a small step that led to - get this, yet another corridor, and rested her back and head against a stockpile of books. She glanced across the room and her eyes landed on the small, shivering lump under a mass of blankets. Laura had complained about the cold. And then, she heard her name. Carmilla sat up, and she heard it again and the shivering had turned into full on body jerks and Laura was clearly calling for her.

“Carm!”

Carmilla shot up and hurried to kneel next to Laura, gently cupping her hands around her cheeks and brushing damp strands of hair from Laura’s sweaty forehead. “Laura, Laura hey, you’re dreaming,”

Laura peeled her eyes open and reached for Carmilla’s shirt, gripping it. Her whimpers then faded into soft gasps and she sat up. “He was killing you,” she whispered, failing to suppress a sob. “He was killing you and I couldn’t move.”

“Shh, it’s okay,” Carmilla watched Laura’s face while soothingly rubbing her thumbs along her jawline. “I’m okay, see?”

Laura blinked once before looking up to meet Carmilla’s stare. A tear rolled down her cheek.

“I’m right here.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Laura laced her arms around Carmilla’s neck and held on for dear life. She was there. She was there and she wasn’t dead and Laura could happily spend the rest of her life being held by those arms.

“Could you…” she sniffled, removing herself from the hug and wiping the tears away with her sleeve. “Could you stay here? Just for a little while?”

Whatever was left of Carmilla’s self-imposed dispassion (if she had any) flew out the window in an instant. “Of course.”

And so, Carmilla held the blanket over Laura as she slid back down on top of the pile of old rugs before laying next to her. Carmilla could still feel her trembling against her body, and she could hear her heart thumping loudly against her ribcage. In a gentle motion, Carmilla snuck an arm under Laura’s neck, pulling the girl’s head to her chest, and she used her free hand to cup her cheek.

“It’s going to be okay, Cupcake,” she said, pressing a fleeting kiss to the top of Laura’s head. “You’re going to be okay.”