Work Text:
Comfort in Silence
by Pirate Turner
Blue eyes, glazed over with pain, flew open in the shadows of the darkened room. Stifling a moan through gritted teeth, the blonde pulled herself to a sitting position and forced herself to stand. Pain seared through her leg as she began to force herself to walk.
While her back was still to him, the red-tailed hawk flew into the room, but she knew he was there even though he did not make a single sound. Feathers blended together and melted into human skin. His beak parted, changing into a human nose and mouth. His wings became arms and hands and his legs and talons, human legs and feet. Within seconds, the morph was completed, and he was just in time to rush to her and catch her as she fell.
Rachel was not surprised that Tobias had arrived at the same time that the pain had surged through her leg. His timing was always impeccable when it came to her and he lately always seemed to know what to do whenever she needed him. Those were just two of the millions of reasons that she loved him. Red-hot pain that was even more intense than before flared through her cramped muscles, and before she could stop herself, the blonde tumbled backwards, falling right into his waiting arms just as she knew she would.
Without a word, he helped her to limp to her bed. She sat down and scooted backwards toward the top of the bed, and he slipped up onto the bed behind her. Taking her calf in his hands, he gently massaged the skin there, slowly but surely rubbing the pain away. He knew why she was hurting there and the details of the injury that this pain was somehow still caused by, even after all this time. He also knew what had caused it to flare up. However, neither spoke a single word. His gentle hands on her tight skin felt so good that, despite herself, Rachel's eyes drifted shut as she gave away the pain and relished in his touch.
Finally, when his hands ached too badly to be able to massage her any more, Tobias slid further up on the bed and wrapped his arms around Rachel. He did not need to ask how her leg was now for he had already sensed the pain leave several minutes before. She opened her eyes but leaned into his touch, her hands cradling his elbows just as he cradled her. They cuddled in silence, each fully enjoying the feel of the other one and just being so close together, and neither needing any words. They stayed like that, wrapped in the warm glow of their love, until the two hours of Tobias' morph was almost completely up. He then reluctantly pulled himself away from her and forced himself to slip from the bed and return to hawk.
She watched as he flew over to the box that she had first fixed long ago for him, the box that she lovingly tended to each day after he had slept in it the previous night. He descended into the box, but as he was settling down, he spoke for the first time that night, [It's going to rain tomorrow.]
Rachel's continued smile that lit her blue eyes reached him despite the shadows, and he gloried in her breath-taking beauty. [I know,] she said simply. She knew he was not surprised that she already knew and that he had made the statement only out of concern for her. [Sweet dreams, Tobias.]
[Sweet dreams, Rachel.] They spoke no more that night. They had no need for soaring statements of love or flowery prose for they knew in their hearts how they felt for each other and could read each other's eyes as well as they could their own thoughts. From across the room, blue and golden eyes gazed lovingly into each other until they finally slipped into peaceful slumber and happy dreams, both still smiling.
The End