a/n: oorangeewafers made this super cute concept piece for Lucy Gray Liville!! Haha tbh the smiling doesn't fit the sad vibe of the chapter but love it so much :))
tw: mentions of emotional abuse, mentions of depression, light smut
Liville was so tired.
So, so tired.
In a way she didn't think she could be tired.
Liville was shivering as they stepped into the house. Even with a towel and blanket wrapped around her, the walk back had been too cold for a girl with wet clothes and wet hair.
Coriolanus was acting like he had no idea what happened. The way he fussed over her, trying everything he could to keep her comfortable the whole way home, he acted like some gentlemen who came across a damsel in distress.
He held branches out of the way, held out a hand when they came across a step, and even stopped to pick her some roses on the way home.
Yes, he grabbed a bunch of red roses, trying to give them to her like it would snap her back to normal. But she refused to even hold them.
When the house came into view, he hurried up the steps to unlock and hold the door open for her.
"Let me get that for you," he quickly said, taking all that was in Liville's hand and setting it on the floor. "Here-Take this blanket instead, it's warmer." He draped the thick living room blanket over her body. "Are you, um, Are you thirsty at all?"
Liville kept her eyes on the floor. She whispered, "...I'm cold."
"Yes. Yes. Let me fix that. We have heating in here. Let me get that on." He practically ran to turn on the house's heating system. "And, you know what, I'll-I'll draw you a hot bath."
She didn't speak to him.
"I'll start the water to get it warm for you," he quickly shot out. Again, he practically ran down the hall, this time to her private bathroom.
Liville stood by the front door. Her eyes stung from the lake water. Her hands trembled from both the cold, and her spiked adrenaline.
She reflected on how pathetic she was for fighting back tears right now. Here she was, in her house, completely safe, and she felt like sobbing.
Liville didn't know why Coriolanus did these things to her.
"I'm running the water," he called from her room. "Come-Come in here. The steam is making the room warmer already."
Liville slowly made her way to her bathroom.
Coriolanus was moving all around the bathroom quickly, preparing the perfect bath with scented soaps and bubbles and even spritzing the water with perfume.
"Look-" He said. "I will add rose petals for you."
He washed off the roses he'd grabbed in the sink, and then picked off the petals, tossing them into the water.
"No," she suddenly spoke out. "I don't want those."
"For your bath-"
"No," she said, louder. She moved forward, grabbing the petals and throwing them on the floor. "I don't want them."
"Okay," he said, holding up his hands like she was the one acting irrational. "Okay. That's fine. No petals. Do you-Do you want anything else? Anything to eat? Anything to drink? I can bring a tray in here for you."
