Open or Closed
Yoko still has fears; Love does his best to fix them.
“It’s alright if you want the door open,” Love said, seeing Yoko hesitate with her hand on the doorknob to their bedroom. She nodded, not yet looking away from the door to meet him.
“It’s just us in the house, no reason to close it,” he continued after a few moments of them both waiting for the other to decide. The tiefling’s hand moved to lay atop Yoko’s, waiting a beat or two before wrapping around it to move it away from the doorknob. The kitsune’s fingers wove into his, holding onto his hand as she tried to calm down. It’d been years since she’d been held captive, but the fear of it hadn’t left her.
“Hey, hey, it’s alright. Keeping the door open’s not a crime,” Love half-joked to comfort her when she let out a faint sob. Unable to hold back the frustration anymore, tears spilled down Yoko’s cheeks as she turned towards him, hand clinging onto his.
“I should be past this,” she hissed through clenched teeth, every bit as angry with herself for still doing this as she was fearful of the past. Love made no effort to remove his hand from hers, using his spare one to reach up, wiping away the tears.
“Not going to get anywhere just being mad at yourself about it, right?” the tiefling shrugged, smiling down at her. It was enough to still her for a moment, a distraction as she involuntarily returned the smile. The kitsune nodded, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, grounding herself back in the here and now.
“Right,” Yoko answered. Neither made an effort to move away from the other, dwelling in the doorway together for another few minutes. The kitsune spent the time calming herself down from the panic she’d worked herself into; the tiefling spent it considering what he might have left in the old toolbox if what he’d already said wasn’t enough.
“Want to get to bed?” Love offered, thumb rubbing across her knuckles where her hand was still tucked into his. He waited, almost certain he’d have to figure out a new method for getting her down from the mental ledge she’d clambered onto when he didn’t get a response for a few moments longer than it’d taken him to ask. Maybe he’d try convincing her that the door should stay open for fresh air anyway, and he’d go open one of the windows out front to solidify his point. Or maybe he’d just remove the door before tomorrow night, you know, for an open concept.
“I think we should; night’s getting pretty late,” the kitsune said at last, nodding as she let go of his hand. Love waited for her to move first, letting his wife get her footing to walk towards the bed before he followed along, the both of them well overdue for some sleep. It really didn’t matter whether the door to the bedroom was open or not, but Love did doubt for a moment whether he’d remembered to lock their front door before they’d both fallen asleep.