(2025-05-25) Somewhere Safe to Sleep

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Author:	Alli
Summary:	The evening reinforcements have arrived at Wyrmrest Temple, Cressidha finds Sil to check how he's doing after the unexpected siege situation. They discuss the benefits of one having a safe place to sleep. ~2200 words
Rating:	T for Teen

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characters in a romantic relationship, hand-holding

Wyrmrest Temple is more crowded, now that the dragon's allies have all arrived. Those not actively fighting are resting or speaking in small groups, and two infirmaries have been established. There are still sounds of combat audible from the battlefield outside, but there's an air of hope among the defenders. The Dragon Soul is here, the temple has not fallen, and now all that remains is for the Aspects to determine how to use it in the absence of one of their number.

The day is drawing to a close, and Sil Silentstep sits against a pillar on the base floor of the temple, staring across all of the activity with a gaze gone vague with weariness.

"Silvestre, good evening," Cressidha says as she approaches, holding a hand out to indicate he doesn't need to stand. "Might I join you?"

Sil looks up sharply, and seems on the verge of standing when he registers her hand. "Sidha, yes, please do."

He shifts over to make room for her next to him against the column.

Cressidha sits down with her legs stretched out in front of her. She smooths out the skirts of her robe and turns to Sil. "I had not anticipated that the five of you would have been trapped here."

"Yeah, I didn't anticipate that either," Sil says, drawing in a slow breath. "I figured, you know, we'd escort Thrall and see him safely to the Aspects, and then… go home."

Cressidha looks at him with a glimmer of concern and offers, "You could, if you need to get out of here. Go home, that is. Reinforcements are here at Wyrmrest now."

"I know," Sil says, with a tired smile, reaching over to take her hand in his. "I know you'd make me a portal if I asked. But… I also can't just leave. Not when people I care about are here. You, Ben, Mordecai, Cole, the 7th Legion folks… and everybody else."

Cressidha gives him a look half-fond and half-sad. "I didn't expect that you would choose to leave. But perhaps it will help to know that the option is there, if the day may come when you do need it."

"Yeah, it's comforting to know," Sil says, leaning (slumping?) a little closer to Cressidha. "Seems like we end up in war a lot. Like, the earthen and the troggs in Deepholm, or the Ramkahen and the Neferset in Uldum. But nobody wants to be in a war, and if I find myself in it, with people who are gonna depend on me. I can't walk away. You're here till the end, aren't you?"

"I expect I shall be," Cressidha says thoughtfully, "but I've only just arrived. If I had a reason to leave, I might, I suppose, but I've packed enough for quite some time."

Sil nods, as if he expected that. "With the forewarning, I'd figured you'd come prepared, yeah." He pauses, and adds, "Did you hear about what they're doing up there, the Aspects? They're trying to figure how Thrall can step in as Earthwarder, like they wanted him to for Nordrassil."

"I did." Cressidha pats his hand. "I went up there, when we were invited."

"Right, right," Sil nods. "There was a cultist — an ice ascendant — on the way in who guessed the plan. He was all sneering that it wouldn't work, but then he did try to kill us. Kind of implies they were worried about it, yeah?"

Cressidha smiles faintly. "It does. And it seems he was unsuccessful."

"Very much so," Sil says, smiling back briefly. "I don't think they counted on us being such a formidable group. They sent an assassin at us next, and then…" Sil pauses, his expression growing more serious. "Have you had a chance to talk to Cole and Mordecai?"

"Only briefly," Cressidha admits. "They're working as healers here, which does not surprise me. Did something else happen?"

"Yeah… we ran into the Twilight Prophet," Sil says with a sigh. "Turns out that was just another name the Twilight Father picked up — it was still the Archbishop Benedictus. He turned up right near the Temple, tried to trick or intimidate us into giving him the Dragon Soul."

"Ah." Cressidha looks at him seriously. "Were you able to stop him permanently?"

"Yes," Sil says, with some reluctance. "We brought him the Light's justice. If we could've talked him down, helped him see he'd gone wrong, you know we would have, right? He was… pretty settled in his views."

"Of course," Cressidha assures him. "Zealots of the Twilight's Hammer are often beyond reason - it's the madness of the Old Gods that draws them in, past a point."

"Yeah, and he was all about the true masters and everything," Sil shakes his head. "How they got to him, in the middle of the Church of the Holy Light, I guess we'll never know. He must've had some hidden despair he kept locked away where nobody could see, something eating away at him. What, I've no idea. I wish he'd shared it, rather than just let it… grow."

"In a position like that, I imagine the sense of responsibility for his people he felt must have been immense. What went wrong… I do not know."

"Might be he let the responsibility weigh him down too much. I guess we can't ask him anymore. We'll have to keep an eye on whoever the new Archbishop is, though. Or maybe not we, but the ones in the church. To make sure he doesn't veer off the path," Sil says.

"I don't spend much time there myself," Cressidha admits. "Colson finds it comforting, but I get restless."

"It's not really my place, either," Sil admits. "Not that I don't like the Church, of course, but just not the same way Cole does. Still… I bet they'll have their hands full, trying to find what little ways he might've led people astray. Not to mention a lot of people probably feel lost, realizing the person they looked up to was not what he seemed."

"The architecture is beautiful," Cressidha says a little belatedly. There, she's said something positive about the Cathedral. "Well, they'd best manage," Cressidha decides. "It's not like they already gouged their own eyes out. They can be a little lost."

"Ouch," Sil says with a wince. "Is that common with the cultists?"

"I was thinking of Aszera Sunstrike," Cressidha says a little sadly. "Who followed someone she believed in for a little too long."

"Ah, yeah. She… did that," Sil curls his hand around Cressidha's. "But she's finding her way again now. So maybe the others can, too. On that note, Aze is around here, somewhere. I saw her slip in earlier."

Cressidha squeezes Sil's hand. "I shall have to say hello, then, if I see her."

"I bet she'd appreciate that," Sil says with a smile. "Can't be easy, trying to start up a life in a whole new place. Challenging enough for me, when I left my family, and I didn't go to any new place."

Cressidha blinks at him. "You aren't in need of any financial assistance, are you?" she checks.

"Financial? Oh, no, I'm fine," Sil quickly clarifies. "I probably was in a bit of a state, when I first left home. I wasn't worried about it, of course. I figured things would work out, and they did. Cobalt is more than I need — puts me in a position to help other people, when I can."

"Very well," Cressidha says. "I believe… Alysson might still be in need. He doesn't seem to have a place to do laundry. But I don't entirely know what would be appropriate for me to offer. I no longer have a residence in Stormwind."

"I think there's nothing inappropriate about helping a friend," Sil suggests, sitting back against the stone of the temple. "I've done something like that before. Back when I first met Aze, she had nothing. She was in pain back then, and she was just wandering the streets — used to complain about nightmares. That was a while before you met her. I couldn't do anything about most of that, but then Cole suggested maybe it'd help if she had somewhere safe to sleep."

"So I rented her a room in Shattrath," Sil says, glancing over to Cressidha for her reaction. "I was camping at the time, by choice, so I had the money for it. I think it did help — she ended up staying in that place till the Northrend campaign, though she eventually took over the money. So I think if there's something like that we could do for Alysson, it'd probably be worthwhile. As long as he's willing to accept the gift."

Cressidha nods approvingly. "That was well done of you. Do you think Alysson might accept the offer if it came from you? He was reluctant to even accept a spare tabard from me."

"I could always try," Sil says, considering. "One thing that helped with Aze was to offer it as a thing already done. I've rented this place for you, and you can use it or not. She was kind of wary at first, like it was some kind of trick, but she did go for it. Maybe we could try something similar for Alysson, in Stormwind?"

"If you can find somewhere, I would be happy to pay for it," Cressidha offers, since Sil has already included himself in this project.

"I'll have a look, then," Sil says with a smile. "What sort of place do you think he'd like? Maybe we can get him more likely to agree, if he likes it particularly."

"I don't know," Cressidha says honestly. "He lives in… crates, he's mentioned, although I am uncertain how large they are. He will likely wish to keep them."

"I would suspect most places would be large enough for crates," Sil considers. "Maybe a studio apartment, so it's like what he had before, but safer and indoors."

Cressidha nods. "If you believe that would be suitable."

"I hope so. He strikes me as someone who doesn't always look out for himself like he should," Sil says. "That was one reason I was in favor of him joining Cobalt. He seems a good sort, but a little easily confused. I think he has a lot of positive things to bring to the world, but he needs people willing to look out for him. Friends."

Cressidha smiles faintly. "Indeed. Thank you, Silvestre. I'll sleep easier for it, knowing he isn't cold in the winter."

"I hope he'll go for it," Sil says, smiling back. "Can't get on that until whatever happens here finishes happening, but hopefully that'll be well before winter."

Cressidha makes a 'hm' of agreement and looks up at the ceiling of the temple, although she seems to be listening more than examining the design. "You must not have had much rest, before we arrived."

Sil rests back and shakes his head. "It was… pretty dire. Mood was, temple could fall any moment — there weren't so many of us inside, and you saw all those elemental portals. And then that big elemental started smashing at the foundation. Felt like all the defense was about to be for nothing, if the whole structure came down. I've had… maybe a couple hours rest snatched between Friday and now. Been running in adrenaline mostly, I think."

"Did you have bedding packed…?" Cressidha checks. "I know you're a camper, but that doesn't necessarily mean you packed for this…"

Sil shakes his head. "Get tired enough, though, you can sleep anywhere. I wasn't expecting it to be an overnight thing. It'll be alright — I can hold out till the Aspects are ready."

"I, ah, brought some things for you and the others," Cressidha says, and opens up an embersilk bag. It contains five different sleeping bags, rolled up neatly. Two of them seem wider than the other three. They are all in shades of yellow and orange, possibly because of an abundance of embersilk. There are more pillows than there are sleeping bags - seven in total.

"Whoa, thanks," Sil says, his expression brightening. "That looks a lot more comfortable than stone floor. I bet the others'll appreciate it too. None of us expected to be stuck here long term. The dragons are probably fine, though, this is their place, after all."

Cressidha nods. "Indeed. You get first pick, as it happens."

Sil considers carefully, and picks one of the wider sleeping bags, in a deep orange color, and one of the pillows. "Now that everyone's here, I guess we'll set more sensible shifts for the defense. We're stable, at the moment, so it's not all hands all the time lest we all fall. I finally can get some real rest."

Cressidha smiles faintly and closes up the bag. "Rest well, Silvestre," she says, and moves to stand.

"I'll see you in the morning, Sidha," Sil says, climbing wearily to his feet, but this time with a sleeping bag in tow. "And hopefully, we can save the world pretty soon."

Cressidha's smile warms a little at the nickname. "Just so," she says, and moves off into the temple.