"I would never," she said kindly. "I'm only going to make you a cast so we can build this fort without you hurting yourself." She fastened the towel around his neck in a makeshift cast, and nodded approvingly. "Okay," she said. "What do we do first?"
We must make the base, and drape the sheets from them!" he ordered, standing up suddenly. "Using pillows and whatever high points we can find."
"Alright," she said, kissing his cheek. "I've never built one of these before, so you kinda to have to show me how to do it."
"I will lead the construction!" he said, rushing off to gather the pillows and blankets to start building. "It's super best when you're done."
"Super best," she said nodding. "Of course." She picked up a pillow and held it quizzically. "Where does this go?"
He pinned a sheet by setting a lamp on the corner. "Hmmm. That one can go inside," he said slowly, setting another corner so it formed a type of ceiling, though you could only fit if you crouched.
"Inside?" She turned the pillow over and stared at it before nodding. "Oh, yes. I see. Okay." She held up her sheet from her room. It had been left on Francis' bed since that morning. "Okay," she said. "What about this one?"
"Oh, perfect! I can use this to make it bigger!" He took it and hurried off, setting it up. He had a bit of difficulty though, only able to use one arm. After a moment he took a step back, viewing the crude and quickly made fort. "I think it's done!"
She stood up next to him, her hands on her hips. "It's beautiful," she said, nodding approvingly. "Good work."
He followed her in. The white sheets draped lazily above them, and yellowish light lit the small area. "See? Isn't it coooool?" he asked, his eyes wide.
She smiled sleepily at him, resting her head on her hand. The weight of the day had caught up with her, but she watched him with a fond expression. "It's lovely," she said, pulling her knees to her chest. "You did a great job."
Despite his loopiness, he noticed that she was tired, and scooted closer. "Do you, uh, want to sleep?"
"Don't worry about me," she said, waving off his concerns vaguely. "I'm okay. Just a little tired, that's all."
He laid flat against the floor, staring up at the ceiling. "Oh ok." He paused, then looked at her. "You're really really pretty."
She blinked as she looked down at him, a little surprised. "Thank you," she said eventually, a faint blush crossing her cheeks. She wasn't very good at responding to compliments, and she cleared her throat awkwardly before sliding to lie down next to him. "Did you build pillow forts a lot when you were a kid?" she asked, resting her head on her arm.
"No, I always got in to trouble for making messes," he said, bringing hand to his face and watching it with interest. His wrists were deep purple and yellow with bruises.
"Yeah, but I've dealt with worse. That, and I'm choosing not to look like I feel pain in order to impress you. Ha ha."
