leave me at the altar, knowing all the things you just escaped
He has no reason to trust her.
But he does.
When she tells him that she will not allow the flames to hurt them, the muscles relax by fractions. Insignifiant at first and then something more tangible until he is standing before her just as relaxed as he’d been before the fire had erupted in a ring around them.
There is mischief in her smile and delight, too. And yet, he smiles back. Something placid and slanted. Something boyish, despite the grown-up language he uses and the grown-up way he uses his body. Despite how desperately he wants to be so much older than he is.
He does not understand the magic that allows her to rifle through his thoughts, but there is nothing he wants to keep secret anyway. There is nothing he needs to protect. Because he does not understand the magic he wields yet. Not the magic that has to do with hearts and love and all of these things that are so far beyond his comprehension. If he knew how to use it, perhaps he might have concentrated hard and let himself be consumed by the flame. If he thought it was the fire she loved, he could have concentrated hard and let the illusion of flame dance across his skin. But he does not understand it yet.
There is only one magic he understands. It does not come to mind when she looks at him and assesses, correctly, that there is something he wields. It does not come to mind because it lives in his bones and in his skin and he does not need to think about it for it to work. He only has to feel it.
It is only because of this that he does not give himself away. He only tilts his star-strewn head and goes on smiling. Yes, he wields something. He draws in a shuddering breath and moves toward her. And he is confident in his movement. He moves slow but steady. He moves to her and then through her. Because the magic he wields and understands is the magic that makes him nothing at all. He is stardust as he passes through her to emerge behind her.
“Why?” he asks, studying her, “why are there no mysteries, Sunlight?”
@[Sunlight]