.::Tender Sugar::.

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

"Wait, Sol, that's not how..." Lena completely lost what she was going to say when Sol licked her. She shuddered and jumped to her feet, blushing. "Wh-What the hell?!"

The other female's actions made sense when she started ranting about the ground being gone. Lena wiped her cheek on her hand and smirked. "I see. You're off your a** drunk." She spotted the small container nearby and laughed. "Lightweight. Well, better get you to bed before I go, then... Can't have you lying here all night."

Lena picked Sol up easily; the female didn't weigh much. Since her room was now vacant, and she didn't know where Sol usually stayed, Lena took her there and set her on the bed carefully. "Now, be a good girl and stay put, got it? Enough of the guards are injured as it is... Honey doesn't need you falling and breaking something."

She reached out to touch Sol's face, but drew back at the last second and stood. "I've got to go, Sol," she said in an even quieter voice. "You really don't know what's at stake if I stay." She laughed a little bitterly. "You'd probably hate me if you knew who I really was... Not that it matters now."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena blushed again and sighed through her nose in frustration. "Fine. I won't go. Not until you're sober, anyways..." She tossed her hat aside and let her cloak fall off, kicking off her boots as well before flopping over on the bed beside Sol. Lena squirmed a little in the female's grip, testing it. "Uh... You can let go now, Sol... Really, I'm not going anywhere tonight."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena laughed softly and patted the girl's head. "Ooookay, then. Try to sleep, Sol. We both could use some rest..." Lena looked down at the smaller girl and sighed, almost wistfully. 'She's really ******** cute... But no. Can't have her. Can't have anyone. It would be too dangerous. Besides, Sol deserves someone better. And on top of that, she's drunk, so she might not mean a single word she's said. Can't hold a drunk to their word... I should know that better than anyone.'

She hesitated for a moment before slowly wrapping her arms around Sol and closing her eyes, managing to relax enough to slip into unconsciousness in spite of her stress. 'Still... If everything else managed to work itself out... Well, I could get used to this...'

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena woke the next morning, her left arm aching a little and feeling a bit stiff. She carefully removed the still-sleeping Sol's arms from her waist and sat up, popping her back and considering her next move. 'Would one more day really make that much difference? But maybe the longer I stay, the harder it'll be to leave...'

She looked down at the sleeping girl and, of all the embarrassing things, felt tears pricking her eyes. Lena shook her head briskly to rid herself of them, but the thoughts were not so easily banished. 'I'll at least wait until Sol wakes up. Even if it's just one person, I need someone to know who I am before I leave... Anybody... Might as well be her. Doubt Honey would let me leave if I told him...'

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena had been changing clothes when Sol woke, but luckily she was already pretty much fully dressed by that time. She'd noticed the girl thrashing around slightly and sympathized, but didn't go back over to comfort the girl, for the same reason she wasn't staying another day. In the end, it would only make it harder to leave.

She smiled back at the other female and crossed the room to sit on the bed beside her. "Yeah, surprisingly. Looks like you didn't, though." Lena shifted a bit awkwardly. Being nice, and genuinely caring about an individual person, were both uncomfortable for Lena. But she would try, for two reasons; stalling, and partly because she really did care about Sol, in spite of her efforts not to. "Um... You wanna talk about it or something?"

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena nibbled on her thumb nervously for a moment before she began talking. "It's odd... I've kept this secret from everyone for four years now... To think I'm going to tell someone I've only known for less than a day..." She laughed and let her hand fall back to her side limply.

"Then again... I think someone should know, before I'm gone, who I really am. I can't tell Honey, or Azul, or anyone else... Because I know they'll try to stop me once they find out. But... I hope, at least, that you'll let me go, that you'll understand why I have to leave once I show you who I am."

Hands shaking slightly, Lena pulled off the gloves she hadn't removed in front of anyone in four years. On the back of her left hand was a red thorn-tree tattoo; the mark of Naum Kisin's successor. She looked at the dark red mark with distaste. "Such a ******** ugly thing, isn't it?"

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena stared at Sol in shock for a few moments before averting her eyes and attempting not to look as flustered and confused as she felt. She listened to Sol tell of her own wretched past and smiled slightly, taking the girl's left hand between hers. "That b***h... I'm sorry she did that. I can't imagine how anyone could hurt you..."

She worked up the courage to look at Sol again. "But I'm not just his successor, Sol. I'm his daughter. I'm Alena Kisin. And now he's coming here... I know why. He's coming under the guise of checking up on the extension of his precious church, but I know why he's really coming... He's been tracking me down ever since I escaped. He's coming to kill me."

Lena sighed and bowed her head a bit, taking off her hat and pushing back her hair in a weary gesture. "That's why I have to leave, Sol. This is the end of the line. He must know I'm here. He'll tear this place apart looking for me... And can you imagine what he'd do if he found me? Tender Sugar and everywhere within a five-mile radius would be a grease-spot. I can't let that happen."

Hesitantly, Lena raised Sol's hand to her lips and kissed her Spinalogy tattoo, then let go of her. "You... Isis... Honey... Azul... Jennifer... Isaac... Riley... I have a million important reasons to leave. To protect you all the only way I can. You're good people, all of you, and I can't let you be hurt because of me."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

"Don't you understand that I don't give a ******** about myself? That it's you and the others I'm worried about?" Lena looked into Sol's eyes for a much longer period of time than would be considered polite. She wasn't positive what she was looking for in them, but apparently she found it, because Lena nodded eventually. "Okay. I'll stay for now. To tell the truth, I was iffy about leaving you... er... everyone... alone when Daddy Dearest comes calling."

Lena pulled her gloves back on and adjusted her hair in front of her scarred face again, also replacing her hat and pulling it low. Suddenly she stood and smiled down at Sol. "Hey... Thanks. For... Y'know... Being awesome about all this. Most folks wouldn't react too well to my identity."