The woman leaned on the arm of the couch, staring thoughtfully into the flames of the fire before her. She lifted the teacup in her left hand, taking a sip from it with a slight hum before lowering it to rest on the arm. The quiet crackling of the fire was her only company as she thought of small things; the bill from Sawbones would be easy enough to cover, helping at the grand opening would be easy money to replace that she paid, her captaincy would be nice despite the rough first day from Garret. The Countess sighed, handing her nearly empty cup off to the Varran servant and then resting her left palm against her forehead in silence.
Her attention turned slowly to the window besides the fireplace, her gaze caught on the tree outside it. She pushed herself to her feet, moving silently to the window to look out to the slow drifting clouds as her arms crossed quietly. The clouds looked like cotton, like they looked before it rained in a few days but it rained often in Regalia she had learned. The noblewoman watched in a long silence before a hand touched her shoulder, startling her. She turned in alarm and stepped backwards, her husband looking bewildered by her sudden fear.
"Juliette?" He asked softly, his wife letting out a shaky laugh in response.
"Oh.. oh, I'm sorry. You scared me." She shook her head with another soft laugh. Lautaro gave a small smile, taking her wrist in his hand and gesturing back towards the way he had come, the other wing of the estate.
"I was looking for you, you weren't back when I woke up." Her expression turned down, slight sheepishness on it.
"I was thinking about things, I was about to head back." Her husband shook his head with a small grin.
"Don't lie to me, if I hadn't found you, you would've stood there for another hour before coming to your senses, come on." He rested his other hand on her shoulder and turned, as if to guide her away.
"Honestly, I was just thinking about-"
"Julie, you don't need to explain to me." He interrupted, looking at her with an understanding expression. "Whatever it is, it's not important enough to keep you up all night." She stood there a long moment, blinking a few times in thought before slowly nodding. He rested his arm over her shoulders and lead her off, the unimportant thoughts that kept her awake being left behind besides the fire and moonlight.
@MCMANN32
