Re: quickie: hotel hallway; cee & cris & bbzoe
[She didn't go jumping or even bracing for bad when he came through the door and into the hotel's hall. She was still soft in the turn, cheek restin atop an angel's blond halo. And there it was, a sign of that tension, glimpsed in the eyes. Spooked, or maybe not, because she blinked, and then she smiled. Her smile was hesitant, toughskinned like she'd never quite learned how to make anything gentler feel natural.] 'Ey.
[Then a glance down to the top of the little girl's head.] Sh's 'eavier than she looks. [A swift of the girl's weight from one hip to the other, and Zoe protested groggily as her cheek found a new shoulder to claim for a pillow.] Sh's got some clothes n' stuff. [She tapped the colorful kindergarten backpack with unpainted, calloused fingers.] Some cash if she needs an'thin. An' if she d'nt, jus' keep it.
[He asked if she was holding up, and Cee gave him a shrewd look. Dirty gas chamber eyes, tarnish on top of green.] Bin better. [Been worse too. Maybe some sleep would strip her clean, to fine white bones that didn't jar so easily.] It'll jus' be the weeken. [There was a detail sitting on her place, and they should know if anyone was creeping around within a couple nights time.
There was a pause.] This okay? [He'd said it was, but she wanted to read him while she asked it again. It felt backward, entrusting her little girl to someone else. It wasn't effortless, but it was easier than she'd thought to give him an inch of trust. The least amount of faith was always reserved for herself.]