& OPEN NSFW POST ( i. )

[aeneia]

NSFW OPEN POST ( I. )
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[komarran]

No, it's not that, [ the words tumble out of his mouth, quickly and hurried. He isn't trying to push her away, far from it.

He peels his gaze from the hole he'd been burning into the floor to try to meet hers. Eye contact, this would be far easier if he maintained that. So she was interested in him. That was far from what he expected and he doesn't bother trying to hide the surprise in his expression. ]

I didn't think you were interested in me. [ There's only a second of hesitation before he asks, ] Have you been trying to get my attention?

[mahalakshmi]

Yes. For months now. [ There's a bit of relief for that. She didn't mind so much making a fool out of herself, it was the nature of risking anything.

But that he looks up at her, finally, eases her some barely kept line of tension in her spine she didn't realise she was holding. He didn't loathe her, there was that at least. Another bit of laughter. ]

[komarran]

Months? [ That can't be possible, how the devil could he have ignored that for months? His brows furrow as he hears her laughter. That had to be a good sign at least. She tended to be in good spirits when they were together. ]

I didn't realize I had been so blind.

[mahalakshmi]

Quite, I'm afraid. [ He looked so taken back by that. She bites her lip on another bit of laughter. ] I wasn't sure, to start with. I didn't know how would be right for your own people. But the - ah, the Komarran women, about how to approach you and they said 'any usual way'.

[ Which wasn't the most helpful, in hindsight. ] Then Miles told me you would not have the faintest idea if I did not become direct with you. [ And she shifts, her invitation that he should be allowed to look she thinks is made, her hand slides out from underneath her, lowering herself down, her legs uncurl against the sheets. Let him look. Dear God, give her just one indication as to whether she had made a fool of herself or not. The faint chime of the belled anklets, the rustle of material and she sighs a little. ] So I did.

[komarran]

[ Would this have been how Laisa felt had he approached her after months of him not making his advances obvious? The shoe on the other foot.

He swallows thickly and his gaze does take her in more fully. Beautiful. She had always been, but he had not taken any liberties with where his eyes wandered. Until now with her explicit permission. ]

And you're suggesting...? [ Sex. He's not as oblivious to not realize what she's hinting at. ] That may be moving more quickly than I can go.

[ Which isn't to say he's uninterested. There's a short pause before he steps closer, moving to sit on the edge of the mattress beside her. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ She lets out a breath, as he does, relief flooding her. Even as she doesn't do much, doesn't get too close, nor move against him too directly - she wasn't sure what she was expecting in that regard. Him to be nervous, certainly, she knows what she is, if nothing else, and he has always been respectful of that. Even when she sometimes wished he would not be. ]

As you wish for it. [ She could feel her pulse, thick and thudding in the back of her own throat. Nervousness was a potent exhilaration in its own right. A warm taste in her mouth. ] All of it, nothing at all. I might disappear as quickly as I came, and I will always have one devotion, and those are the only things I can be sure of. But the rest - ?

[ There she hovers, not moving close, not to startle him where she's so clearly taken him by surprise. But her hand lifts, hovering in the air a moment before she lets it move closer to him. A mimicry of how she had touched him before. It has made me sure. He keeps making her sure. Her fingers against her jaw, a closeness of space where she's - and he - is just there. It's flat and open in gaze, an utter appreciation and blindness to all else but him. ] Ask, and I am happy to give.

[komarran]

[ He tentatively reaches for her hand, taking it in his gently. ]

I don't want you to disappear. [ That's said with confidence. He's certain he wants her here, with him, for however long she's willing to stay. ]

It's been years since I've been with anyone. [ A confession of sorts. ] Are you certain?

[mahalakshmi]

[ she pushes up with that invitation. That lack of surety asks for nothing else. That want to not have her disappear and a surety, that she wouldn't - not right now. ] Nor I, since my husband passed.

[ The sheet holds, if barely, her hand slips from his to slide against his shoulder and then over it, pushing herself forward into him, to kiss him and nothing else. The taste of wine on her mouth, the downed glass of champagne she'd drunk to make it possible to do - any of this. Her head tilting at the angle to slip against him. It's a press and nothing else, asking no more than other to say yes as loudly as possible. Yes, yes she is certain. ]

[komarran]

[ There's a small gasp of surprise as their lips meet, but it only takes a moment for him to relax into it. A minute ago he wouldn't have imagined them doing this and yet here he is, trying to memorize how her lips feel against his. ]

You're beautiful, [ he murmurs, lips brushing against hers when they finally part. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ She sighs against his mouth in contentment for it. Her eyes shut, taking slowing calmly breaths as she presses her lips together. A brief conjure up of that pressure as he moves back. His compliment as easily given as he kissed her, soft, almost and she doesn't expect it. Doesn't expect up it flushes warmth up her, into her features. Would he like her - her marred skin, her calloused fingers. Her husband called her such, yes, once, but that was before war came and scarred her body, before Lycans ripped into her skin, before Hasting's vampire kin clawed her flesh. It had been a long time since she ever thought of herself like that. Would Duv still find all of her such? Most men wouldn't, she knows, she's not a soft woman anymore. A little, little noise because it almost hurts. ] It's been some time since anyone called me that.

[ Which is to say - she doesn't need it, but to know that he looks at her and sees something he likes - well, that she might want to herself, greedily taken. ]

[komarran]

[ The color in her cheeks causes him to smile. Hard around the edges with a certain grace and softness she kept hidden from most. The way she carried herself had been something he admired and his gaze shows as much as he pulls back to regard her. He meant what he said and intertwines their fingers together. ]

A mistake on their part. [ Missed chances to get to know her, to spend time with her. ] Do you want to dress?

[ Because while he wants to spend time with her, he moves far slower than she seems to be expecting. ]

[mahalakshmi]

[ Much, much slower - a little too used to the way she was raised. That these things are snapped up quickly, and to that where she offers everything and nothing. Always her way. Always too much. She lifts the hand her joined with his, their thread fingers so she could kiss the back of his knuckles. Then to turn his fingers around and another to the inside of his wrist before she untangles them.

Still, she can't help but tease a little. ]

If you want me too.

[ Still not a bit of shame, but she doesn't look at him as she unravels the sheet from herself, letting it fall away with an easy confidence now that she's sure of him. Steps off the bed, comfortably bare as she pads away from him to the draw she'd been keeping her clothes in. Fishing out a nightgown to pull over herself, letting it fall down her body comfortably. Not going back to him immediately, leaning forward to undo the chains from around her neck.

Give them both a moment, to catch their breath, it seems. ]

[komarran]

[ He needs that moment. With a deep breath, he pulls himself up further onto the bed and wonders for a brief moment if he should take the initiative to move towards the couch. No, that would be too off-putting. He trusts her, trusts himself to keep within whatever limits they set. They had been living in close proximity to one another for a while now, but this feels as if they were only just now getting to know each other's true intentions.

With a light stretch, he sits up against the headboard and waits for her to return. When she reappears, he holds out his hand to offer it to her. ]

Do you want me to sleep here tonight?

[mahalakshmi]

[ She moves back to him once she's a little less - more? - dressed. A little warmer at least as she comes back to the bed. Glad he's still there - wouldn't be sure how she felt if he had gone away so quickly. But she takes his hand and moves to settle next to him in the bed, a moment, where she's knees either side of his hips. Posed over the top of him before she keeps going to sit. Turn to face him, smiling still. ]

I would like that. [ It had been easy, the first week, when she was too tired and relieved at not having to check her back every night. But as it had gone, it felt wrong, after awhile. Spent some nights when she was a filled with terrors of a world away, thinking what it would be like if he was there beside her. ] Seems wrong to be in your bed and for you not to be here.

[komarran]

[ His heart skips a beat as she poses over him. Was she going to--?

There's a sag of relief that he doesn't have to refuse her a second time when she settles in. That made this easier. The transition was already going to feel strange without skipping through several steps. ] I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, [ he replies with a slight shrug. ] You were more deserving of it than I.

[mahalakshmi]

[ She turns her face away with a bubble of laughter. Her hair falling in front of her like a curtain for a minute. ] Hardly that. It would only settle me more, rather than drive me further away.

[ Bubbles with it. ] Once I had to sleep a week with corpses the other side of the room. Believe me, you would have to do far, far worse than ask for your bed back. I had expected you to do so earlier.

[komarran]

[ That... has his brows furrowing. Duv has had his share of poor conditions, but corpses being only a stone's throw away was new. Likely a trait of her time where proper disposal of bodies was more difficult, particularly in the heat of war.

He sighs lightly and reaches to tuck her hair behind an ear. ] You having worse conditions doesn't mean you should have to endure poor ones for the rest of your life.

[mahalakshmi]

[ She stretches up into it, her eyes drifting shut without a push for anything else but sheer enjoyment of those motions. Permission as obvious as could be that he was welcome to do that as much as he likes. A flutter of her pulse in her throat. ]

No, but even sleeping on your floor would be a marked improvement over my more recent years. Everything here - everything you have done for me is... more than I ever expected.

[komarran]

[ It's nice seeing someone who enjoys his touch and wants to be near him. It's a feeling he's been missing for years now beyond the few lasting friendships he's formed. With only a second of hesitation, he combs his fingers through her hair as he watches her. ]

I couldn't leave you without help. You deserve more than being left out to hang and dry for ending up in the wrong time and place.

[mahalakshmi]

[ She's happy to keep letting him, as much he likes. Greedy, needful, some shared vice of royalty, that greed. But even so, it feels good - years and years, that for once it isn't just blood, isn't touching and being touched that isn't soaked in violence and blood. ]

Most wouldn't. We both know that.

[ Neither of them were particularly shocked to the cruelty of others, she'd found. ]

You are marvellous resistant to someone trying to say thank-you, has anyone ever told you?

[komarran]

I was thinking more stubborn than resilient.

[ A trait that ran deep within him, for both good and bad. He wouldn't have gotten as far as he had if he weren't, but it made moments like these difficult. He smiles apologetically and rests his hand on her shoulder. ]

You're welcome.

[mahalakshmi]

[ She leans to kisses softly the back of his hand where it settles on her shoulder. ] Better. [ Murmurs it softly with laughter to his skin, softly parted lips left there as she speaks, her head turning after a moment, laying her cheek against it. ]

You'll have to remind me, from time to time, how this is supposed to work. I've ah, fell somewhat out of practice. War does not leave much room for anything but the most direct affection.

[komarran]

So have I, [ he replies with a small, nervous smile. That had never been more evidence to him than when he had tried to court Laisa and fouled it up beyond imagine. ]

The blind leading the blind, or so they say. We'll have to practice together.

[mahalakshmi]

[ She couldn't tease him too much on that account. But she brings her fingers up to lace over his hand and shifts that little closer again. ]

May I kiss you again?

[komarran]

I would like that.

[ A lot. He would like that a lot. His other hand settles on her waist, touch still light, hesitant in case she wants to move away. ]