escordvi | closed 🪶 i'm in the end, just what you made me.

Cidolfus, what are you—

[No time for words, only spinning as Cid grabs hold of and spins with her, not making it any easier for her to catch her balance on the way. If anything, he's only made it harder for her, and so Benedikta goes tumbling down with him. Fortunate that the bed is so close to where they'd been standing... she supposes... though, it isn't her that breaks their fall but him.

Only she is the one who's landed on top of him, arms around him and his around her, and her face landing unceremoniously against his shoulder. Good thing she's light??? And when she lifts her head, it's red with both fuming anger and embarrassment as she stares down at him.]

Did you plan this?

[Indeed at least she's light and at least he's not hurting his back this time.]

I'd really be a genius if I could plan that.

[A somewhat dry remark as he looks up at her.

...

And then rolls them over so he's on top.]

This however...

[All right, he's not really planning on keeping her or doing anything, but he couldn't help tease her some because of her remark.]

[She only makes a noise of discontent when she's suddenly flipped around, her hair fanning out beneath her as she sinks into the mattress and frowns up at him. If the sun could scowl, it would look like Benedikta does now, as she rolls her eyes and pouts.]

Get off me.

[Except she makes no fight to shove him off besides a slap to his arm.]

[Just a light chuckle.]

And if I don't?

[But his expression is light and playful so she can get the impression that he's not being too serious.]

[She narrows her eyes at him when he laughs before she's pressing a palm right to his face.]

I very much doubt that you'd want us to fight here, of all places.

Depends on the kind of fighting.

[Despite having that palm against his face, he still gives her that annoying smirk and little waggle of his brows...and then turning his face to lightly nip her skin.]

[She hitches a breath when his teeth graze over the skin of her hand, but she very quickly reins herself back in to glare up at him, meeting his eyes through her fingers.

The audacity of this man knows no bounds. Truly.]

Not the sort that involves me staying on the bed.

Ah...

[A small nod as if in understanding.]

So the floor? Or should we move to the desk?

[This man—

And he is practically lounging on top of her, completely relaxed as if without a care in the world and whose only purpose is to mess with her—]

[She is going to kill him.]

Your desk looks so organized and new. I would hate to mess it all up with my claws.

[Please, she would love nothing more at the moment.

Though, whether she means fighting or fighting is a whole other matter—]

Easier to replace.

[Not relenting whatsoever.]

Has a warranty and I can just say my cat got to it.

[Wouldn't be wrong either.]

Or...

[He leans in a little closer.]

Maybe I'd like the new style and getting it worn in.

[She narrows her eyes at him when he moves in, but she doesn't flinch away. Just meets his gaze evenly, her lips parting ever so slightly with a ghost of a sigh.

He really is not giving up, is he?]

Be careful what you wish for, Cidolfus. I can promise you that it will not finish intact.

You make it sound like it's supposed to be a bad thing.

[Just a low chuckle, and he leans in as if he's going to kiss her...

...

But just as she might feel his breath ghost over her lips, he pulls back instead, rolling off her.]

[And once again, not moving. If he wants to kiss her, who is she to stop him, really? He's made it this far with pushing her buttons, what's one more—

But when he doesn't and instead, he rolls away from her, there's something forlorn that pangs in her chest, and it takes every bit of strength she has to not sigh or whine at him. She does, however, have some left to roll her eyes before she's sitting up.]

You would be fine with having to buy a whole new one?

[Ugh, now her hair is a mess again!!! Thanks, Cid.]

[And he's going to sit up and try to help fix her hair.]

Or try to rebuild it. Depends on how many pieces.

[She waves his hand away from her hair, shooting him another look in warning.]

Splinters. Good luck with that.

[He's just trying to help!!]

Going that rough and hard on it, eh?

[No, he's just going to mess it up further! Just like he messed up her shirt when he rolled them over, and she's just going to give it a little adjust, pulling it back up, with a sharp clearing of her throat.]

You know exactly what it is you are getting yourself into. It would not be the first time.

Still not sounding like much of a threat. Not only that... Despite your words—

[Hand just slooowly slides behind her as he leans in close.]

You're still here.

[Her back stiffens upon hearing his hand shifting, and she immediately jumps to her feet.]

I was just leaving.

[And before he can say anything more on the matter—]

I had already been on my way out if it weren't for your cat getting in the way.

[He just watches her stand, an amused smile playing at his lips while there's something a little soft that flickers in his eyes before it disappears and he stands after her.]

Maybe you've grown on her and she wants you to stay, too.

I very much doubt that.

[Where is the little brat anyway?

Benedikta searches around, and there she is, on the other side of the door, sitting and grooming herself as if she had nothing to do with any of this. She doesn't even look at Benedikta or Cid as they get up, or as she makes her way out of the room.]

I think it's just you.

[She has a feeling Ashtail would rather she leave so that she could have Cid all to herself again... ... ...and the thought makes her bristle.]

[She's probably right, honestly—

But Cid just half shrugs as he follows her, no longer going to try and hold her back. Though...it had been a little fun. Just something stupid, silly—trivial. Mundane. Nice. Where neither of them were dealing with the emotional baggage that they continue to drag around each other like chains. It's these kinds of moments that makes him think back about the words exchanged earlier...of how he needs to think things over of what he's doing.

Again, when he thought he already had things all figured out, only to be proven, again, that no, he doesn't.

So he doesn't immediately answer, instead staring at her for a moment. Staring at her small back, towards the wings outlined hidden beneath her shirt, before he finally does.

By reaching out to grab her hand and pull her back suddenly, his hand going to her cheek to hold it in place before he kisses her. Not too rough, but not too soft, either. As if he's making a brief statement before he pulls back.]

I hope not.

[That he's not the only one who at least wants her to stay. That she may have thought it even for just a moment.

But he knows he's being unreasonable, that she's about to peach him for that, and so he only holds her and her gaze for a moment before there's light quirk of his lips and he lets go.]

Edited 2023-12-01 03:38 (UTC)

[It's a good thing he catches her, because not even Benedikta can straighten herself out when he so suddenly grabs her and tugs her backwards, spinning her around in the process...

And there is the smallest sound of surprise and even a bit of an objection before it's eaten by his lips over hers, his hand at her cheek as if to hold her right where he needs her. ... Right where she needs to be. The shock of it is quick to wear off, and brief as it is, soft as it is, Benedikta returns it in kind by yielding to it with her lips molding against his.

When he holds her gaze, he'll see the confusion in her eyes as they slowly flutter back open to stare up at him, and she wonders if he can feel the way her pulse is racing, or how her breath has become just a touch uneven in a matter of seconds. As he pulls back, the air around her suddenly feels colder, as if he'd taken all that warmth that had buzzed between them in that short moment away with him...

...

Without much thought to her next move, Benedikta surges forward and crashes her lips to his, fingers in his hair as she's kissing him with the same amount of heat that he had given her.

Briefly.

Before she pulls back. But she keeps him close, and murmurs against his lips.]

Peaches, Cidolfus...

Edited 2023-12-01 04:20 (UTC)

[He hadn't been sure how she'd react, but when she crashes into him, his arm moving more around her into a tighter hold as he accepts and returns it with equal fervor.

Founders, Greagor, Meteia, gods.

Why did they have to be cursed with this mess that they were thrown into? Why did their fate have to be so twisted, so broken? Why are they forced to have to pick up the pieces and be continually cut by those sharp edges?

It's in these brief moments, when she seeks him out and that heat is burned with a rush of anger veiled beneath the passion that wishes he could go back and rip everything apart, to take their lives back. But since there's nothing he can do about the past, the now is all he has left...and at the very least, they have a now.

So there's just a low exhale of his own as he looks down at her, eyes filled with those complicated thoughts and emotions before he presses his forehead against hers.]

...I know.

[But he won't apologize for it.

Instead, his thumb will gently stroke her cheek before he slowly...very slowly lowers his hand. She told him to never let her go again, and here he is, needing to. Damn, when did he get so clingy? Possessive? Or perhaps it's hard not to when every time he looks at her he's afraid she'll once again slip through his fingertips to a place he can no longer catch her. Hard not to when she looks at him with the same eyes, reaches out to him with the same want.

He's trying to walk that thin line of respecting her wishes, but what to do when those wishes conflict with one another?]

[Her eyes close again when his forehead presses to hers, and she gives it the slightest push back, the gesture saying far more than she could with any string of words. She could weave the world's finest poem and it would still do no justice to the complex mess of feelings that continue to fight between them. That strong need to be together, that powerful draw towards one another, and yet fate would have it that they cannot be together, all thanks to their past.

A past that has her drawing that line once more and hurting herself while doing it.

Six years she has wanted him back, and now that she has him here, his lips only mere inches away from hers again, his thumb caressing her cheek just like he used to do, she can't bring herself to accept it fully. Things are too complicated right now, her heart too messy—it knows where it wants to be, but not where it should be, and so it continues to waver, pushing her over that line only to draw her back behind it. She knows that he must feel the same.

She doesn't want to leave... She doesn't want to part ways with him again because it means returning to that place in her head that she doesn't want to go back to. A place of darkness where it is only fear that grips her, a place where his hand cannot reach to pull her out of it, or where his light cannot go without being snuffed out.

But she can't keep dragging him into the dark with her.

As much as she wants to remain right where she is, she knows that she can't. Not for herself, nor for him. Yet, it takes so much for her to not chase his lips, to not chase the old memories that they are trying hard to let go of.]

... I need to go.

[With a trembling breath, she takes a firm step back lest she fall into that same trap again, and it's back to business as usual.

Or, tries to be.]

You will hear from me in a couple of days. After I've found us a suitable place.

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ramuhs - 2023-12-01 05:32 (UTC) - Expand

💚💜 fin.

garudas - 2023-12-01 06:54 (UTC) - Expand