KINDRED. ━ enola holmes. ( ✔️)

VII. AN ODD FEELING.

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THE ROOM WAS SHROUDED IN DARKNESS,  the only light coming from the fire. A comfortable silence had filled the air, only interrupted by slight hisses of pain from both the girls as they cleaned their wounds, which dripped with blood. 

Neither had said much to each other following the fight, both exhausted after all the running they'd done, along with the punches they'd thrown. They sat on opposite sides of the small, cozy living room, dabbing their wounds with water. Vivienne examined the revealed parts on Enola's legs, noticing that there were considerably more amount of cuts on her legs then Vivienne's. A gigantic one lined her knee, and Vivienne assumed it had split open. Enola had taken more blows then she had, and upon realization of that, Vivienne felt guilty. She'd done practically nothing for them.

"When I was a child," Enola suddenly said, making Vivienne's head shoot up out of surprise."I cut my knee open trying to save a sheep from the cliff edge."

"That's quite heroic, isn't it?" Vivienne chuckled, making eye contact with the girl in front of her who had a smile painted on her face.

"I almost died, in truth." Enola paused, looking back at her knee. "Mother was very angry. Very angry." She put the cloth down, examining her wound one last time, before looking back at Vivienne. " The truth is, I did not ask for Viscount Tewksbury, Marquess of Basilwether in my life. Nor did you. I did not want the Viscount Tewksbury Marquess of Basilwether in my life. And once again, nor did you."

Vivienne thought back to the boy. She didn't like him at first, she found him rather needy. Though when they were staying out in the forest that one night, she was forced to work with him, and since then warmed up to him. She still didn't particularly like him, but she felt as if she needed to keep him alive for now. She felt responsible for him, as if she was a parental figure to him. 

"So why is it that, you, and I, to an extent, feel responsible for the Viscount Tewksbury, Marquess of Basilwether?" Vivienne questioned, biting her lip in thought.

Enola nodded. "Because, there are those that want to hurt him... and he has not the strength to stop them... and we do have that strength. My mother- she would have me leave him. He is foolish,"

"And proud," Vivienne added.

"And utterly ridiculous." Enola finished. She paused for a moment, almost as if to build up dramatic effect. "But he's on the edge of a cliff. And so, finding my mother will have to wait."

"I guess it will."

Enola looked up at her with wide eyes. "You'll go with me?"

"I- Enola. Over the past few days, I've nearly died quite a few times. And each and every single time, it's been because of some stupid things that I did not cause. And each and every single time, you have saved me. I trust you Enola." Vivienne smiled up at her. "More than anyone, if I'm being honest. It's stupid, I know. I've known you for what- three days? But I've never trusted anyone like I trust you. I'd go anywhere with you." 

"That was quite the monologue, Ms. Augustine." Enola murmured. 

Vivienne giggled. "It was. But it's true."

"Thank you for that, honestly. The past few days have been, well, rather exhilarating, and not in the good way. And you don't have to thank me for saving your life, it's what any half-decent person would do, though I understand the world lacks those these days. Most of the population is full of total gits- much like my brothers." Enola spat the last word out like it was venom. 

"I'd assume the great Sherlock and Mycroft, was it?" Enola nodded. "I'd assume they were better people."

"If I wasn't related to them I'd think the exact same thing. They're rude, obnoxious, little menaces. Sherlock isn't as bad as Mycroft, but he's still terrible." Enola looked at the torn up corset that lay a few feet away from her, before looking at the hairbrush that sat next to Vivienne. "Hand me the hairbrush, would you? I have this knot in my hair, and I'd like to get it out."

As Vivienne handed it to her, she stopped for a second. "Do you want me to do it for you?"

"Brush my hair?"

"It's the least I could do, after you saved my life on multiple occasions." 

"Fine, but I told you- don't thank me for that."

"I'll try not to, Ms. Holmes." With that, Vivienne crawled over to Enola, who had turned from her position on the wall so that Vivienne could untangle her hair. As she began brushing, another silence filled the air, though occasionally the sound of a brush stroke would break through that. As Vivienne reached the knot itself, she struggled a little bit, making Enola both laugh, and wince out of pain.

"I'm a mess," she mumbled, amused. "Knees split open, dried blood all over myself, hair knotted- if only Mycroft could see me now, the things he'd say. 'You look like a rag! Nothing like the beautiful marble sculpture we expect you to be!' "

"Well, this is the real you, is it not?"

"It is."

"Then it's the most beautiful form there is." Both their cheeks flushed at the raven haired girl's statement. 

"Thank you."

"No reason to thank me for being honest," Vivienne continued brushing through Enola's hair, finally getting the knot out. "However, you can thank me for that!" She smiled cockily.

Enola rolled her eyes, before moving towards the single bed. "Would you prefer to sleep on the couch, or the bed?" she asked, ignoring her friend's statement. 

"I don't have a preference." Vivienne's cheeks grew even redder at the thought of sharing a bed with Enola- and she couldn't tell why. It wasn't as if she hadn't shared a bed with a girl whom she wasn't related to before. But something was different- and she couldn't tell what.

"Then you're sleeping on the bed with me, because otherwise I'd feel terrible waking up in the morning to see you sprawled out on that crusty couch." By now, Enola was tucked in  neatly off to one side of the bed.

"Uhm, alright." She climbed in and soon enough she found her palms becoming sweaty at how close she was to the girl next to her. Enola had already fallen asleep, her soft snores filling the silence.

As Vivienne looked over to her, she could find herself feeling some odd emotion towards the girl. Almost like infatuation. Which it totally wasn't.

Right?

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