escordvi | closed ⚡🪶 and forevermore, i'll be chasing the storm we had.

[He watches her carefully, leaning a little into her touch.]

How so?

[She knows what he's doing... and for once, she doesn't completely mind it. She won't chide him for it, and instead, her eyes continue to remain on him, as if transfixed. Her cheeks flush, or maybe they were already flushed, and her lips part with a silent sigh.]

Your smile is easier.

[Her thumb runs along his lips.]

Your eyes are softer.

[And it comes with such ease that she wonders what it was about that place that made him that way. Or what it was about Waloed that didn't. There's a slight pang of jealousy that aches in her chest, but it does nothing to deter her, nor does she chase it away. If anything, she thinks she has every right to be a little envious...]

[There's a slight surprise in his eyes, but then his lips quirk up a bit into an amused smile.]

Not a bad thing, I hope.

Terrible.

[There's a glint in her eyes and a quirk to her lip, a laugh that masks that saddened envy.]

You are the most insufferable man I know now. Too confident, too handsome...

[Ahh, his poor ego! She'll soften that blow with a kiss.]

[A laugh as he nips her lips.]

You say all that, but I think you quite like it.

[Her laugh is a low sound in the back of her throat, and she shoves herself closer against him when she feels his teeth catch her lip. Yes, she definitely has a type.]

Perhaps I do. It's not as there is a way for me to escape now, is there?

[She teases him with a nip right back before her eyes soften again, that glint in them dimming.]

I meant... that you smile more often now when you hadn't before.

[And it becomes more and more obvious with each day that she spends with him. Of course, she won't give herself any credit, thinking that it all has to do with this world, with his little hideaway before coming...]

You are more... relaxed. Even now...

[Just another chuckle, because no. There is no escaping. Not anymore.

But then it's his turn to turn a little somber at her words, staring at her for a moment before his hand rises to brush his fingertips against her skin and hair in a soft caress.]

Perhaps that's true... But even there I wasn't so relaxed.

[A light brush of his nose against hers.]

Not like this.

[Surely it was that place that had changed him so much from what she last remembers him as? No longer does he look out so far into the distance, no longer does he carry that weight in his shoulders... He has spent the last five months cracking jokes with her, pressing every one of her buttons and revelling in it, getting under her skin at the worst of times, and yet... still finds a way to make her fall in love with him.

Her eyes open, and they pool with fondness, and a touch of self-consciousness.]

What do you mean?

[A light smile as lightly brushes his lips against hers.]

Well, when you have a sizeable bounty on your head and trying to change an entire social system...

[A more wry grin as he continues that light touch.]

It was more freeing to be able to move as I wanted, but that didn't mean I didn't have other worries and other things on my mind. And even here, while I don't have to worry about any of that...

[He pulls back now a little more so she can see him more fully, and him her.]

This is the first time in a very long time since I felt more at peace.

[A soft smile.]

Happy.

[Of course he had his genuine moments of joy with others, especially when around his daughter, Mid. How could he not? She made it easy for him to smile and forget his worries. But that's also why he feels the same towards Benedikta—because she has such a special, important place in his heart.

Like with other people, there is always those special people that tug them in different ways than others might. It's a different kind of happiness, a different sense of peace. One that only very few can give him, and Benedikta is one of them.]

[Happy...

The word rings like a clear bell in her head, echoing those earlier sentiments of her own as she fell asleep in his arms and then woke up in them. To know that he had been feeling it too, almost like it was such a foreign thing for both of them.

Except he wears it so much more easily than she does. It fits him like a glove.

So much more so that she has a harder time believing what he's saying...]

... Right now?

[It's another brief moment of selfishness. Another moment of self-doubt when she needs his smile to reassure her what she thinks might not be true.

Yes, she has noticed the shift, she can feel it in the way that his arms hold her tighter than ever to him, but she needs to be certain that what she sees isn't there simply because it's what she wants to find.]

Edited 2024-02-02 07:15 (UTC)

Yes.

[As if sensing her uncertainty, he leans in and presses his lips firmly against hers.]

Especially right now.

[There's also some sadness—that will always linger because of why he's happy. Happy to finally have cleared these misunderstandings, taking these steps towards a better future. But it won't overshadow that happiness he feels that she brings him.

Why, many may ask.

Why, when he knows how she can be, what they've went through.

But that's just how it is, isn't it?

Emotions, and especially love, can never be rationally explained. It just is. And that's how he is right now.]

[She breathes in, lungs trembling, when he kisses her, as if that answer was the very air she needed to breathe, and they are finally filled.

And yet, there is a sadness that lingers on both ends behind the light smile.

For her, it is that she can only now so clearly see how hollow her life had been. How empty his absence had made her feel. Now that her heart has allowed itself to fill with something besides burning hatred and contempt for everything and everyone around her, it makes that past feel so bleak in comparison.

She hates herself for it.

And the only thing that she hates herself more for than that in this moment is that she was not there to see that initial shift. To be the one to make him smile like this before they had to go and break each other down.

She kisses him again anyway, so devastatingly tender, this one laced with something of an apology.]

I'm a little jealous, you know...

[He can sense that sadness, and he can only tenderly brush her skin with his palm as if to soothe her.]

Of what?

Edited 2024-02-02 07:31 (UTC)

[She huffs with a small, self-deprecating laugh, chiding herself for feeling this way.]

... Of all the people who saw it for the first time. That change.

[She shifts, moving closer to hide herself against his chest.]

I wish it had been me...

[...Ah.

He can't help but feel a little somber as well, but be only lets it be for a moment before he hugs.]

But you're the first for this one, and there will be more changes that you will be the first to see in the future.

[It isn't even about the changes... Or maybe it is. It's more or less about being there to see the weights being lifted off his shoulders. And to think that she might have been one of them at the time, to no fault of either of theirs, she realizes now.

She hums against his chest, a small sound of affirmation, before she lifts her flushed face to look at him.]

...It looks better on you.

[A softer smile as he gently pokes her cheek.]

I hope to see the same on you, too.

[And swatting his hand away gently in case he tries to get another poke in.]

Perhaps now you will.

[As if it wasn't obvious enough already, the way her eyes practically shimmer when she looks at him, their colour sweetened by the new fondness that's sparked to life in her chest.]

You've your work cut out for you if you want it, though.

[He can already see the beginnings of it to be sure, but he really wants to see more of those changes. He knows she won't turn back to who she was... But as he told her before, he's come to like some parts of her sassy, ruthless self, and that it was more of what she did and why she changed that he opposed. But if he could soften her up a bit, make her path a little less crooked, then all the better.

There's still a diamond hidden in there, waiting to be unearthed and polished yet.

So he just laughs, forehead lightly bumping against hers.]

You know how I like challenges. And this one will be worth my while.

Mm... I do.

[Against him, she stretches out like a sleepy cat who's just been roused awake, her eyes closing as she steals another kiss from him.]

You may start by making me breakfast.

[And here he was starting to snuggle in for more cuddling—]

What—now?

[A small grumble of protest as he holds her closer, entangling his legs around hers as if to cling to her. Which he practically is.]

[He'll hear her laugh in his ear.]

Well, you asked for more challenges.

[Her own legs tighten around his, in spite of her words. She has no intentions of letting him go just yet.]

That is your first one.

[A low groan and sigh...before he smirks.]

Didn't have enough from earlier, hm?

You know me...

[She shifts, purring against his lips as she gives them a small nip.]

I'm difficult to please.

[Lies. Not when it comes to him.]

Well... Always willing to give you more.

[A low voice as his lips brush against hers, along with his hips as he pushes more against her.]

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