10-24-2016, 10:19 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-24-2016, 11:21 PM by Revol.
Edit Reason: weird spacing
)
One step, two, three. She wanders still, her feet as restless as ever. Oh, but there is a sharp edge to that restlessness now, where once was nothing but the soft, almost intangible boundaries of fluffy white clouds floating in a clear blue sky. A splintered, jagged little shard of glass mars the smoothness of her stride, the serenity of her smile, the far-off look in her eyes.
She tried not to let it hurt, the way he’d brushed her off as nothing, the way he’d looked at her with such disgust when she’d told him they could be more without being everything. She tried not to let her heart break, to only bruise a little with the blow of that look in amber eyes as they dismissed her. And it worked...at first. But every time she remembered his face just before she’d walked away forever, her heart got a little more battered, a little closer to broken. Until she finally couldn’t lie to herself anymore. She’d never been very good at lying, after all.
Oh, she hadn’t done anything as stupid as falling for him. Not quite, no matter how he made her heart race, or how he set her body on fire with just a look, a word, a touch. Love takes time, and he’d cut her off long before it could come to that. But she’d been...she’d been his in a way that she’d never been anyone else’s, had given more of herself to him than she’d ever done before, and...well. And he’d turned away in disgust.
The Meadow doesn’t feel like home the way the Forest always did. It doesn’t feel like a sanctuary, or like adventure waits just around the corner. It feels too open, too exposed, too cacophonous and chaotic, but where else is she to go? She isn’t the type to sign on for kingdom life, though perhaps kingdom is no longer the right word. And she promised to do her best not to bump into him again, so she won’t go back on exiling herself from the Forest. So she wanders the Meadow, one step, two, three, and with each step she tries to leave him behind.
And with each step she fails.
She can still feel his touch, lips trailing along her skin. She can still hear his voice, still breathe in the scent of him, though it’s long since faded from her skin. Except that seems a little too real, and she tenses, nostrils flaring to draw in the breeze, the way it taunts her with hints of his elusive scent. She pauses, eyes closed, trying to shut out what couldn’t even quite be wishful thinking, because if she saw him again what could possibly go right?
But then she hears her name. “Revol.” Murmured softly, so softly, and carried to her on that same breeze. The sound trails along her skin leaving tingling in its wake, tangible as a caress, sinking deep into her chest to set her heart to racing. Anxiety and an insidious flicker of want war inside her as she slowly turns to face a familiar stranger, a newfound wariness in her eyes.
“Hello,” he says with a smile on his lips. Lips that had traced her curves and edges, lips that had lingered on her skin, teased and touched and tasted until she was on fire for him. Lips that had curled with distaste when she offered him more of the same. That smile draws her in, makes her want to smile in return, but she just stares, confusion clouding eyes the color of far-away skies.
And then.
Oh, then. “I’m Ainlif,” he says casually, as if it isn’t the biggest thing in the world for him to finally tell her his name. “It’s nice to meet you.” Her eyes widen, and her traitorous heart flickers with something dangerously akin to hope. She doesn’t give into the impulse to rush to his side, but the corners of her lips curl upwards in a tentative smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ainlif,” she replies, savoring the feel of his name on her lips. And there is a hint of her old self in the sparkle in her blue eyes as she takes a single step toward him. “What brings you to the Meadow on this fine sunny day?”
She tried not to let it hurt, the way he’d brushed her off as nothing, the way he’d looked at her with such disgust when she’d told him they could be more without being everything. She tried not to let her heart break, to only bruise a little with the blow of that look in amber eyes as they dismissed her. And it worked...at first. But every time she remembered his face just before she’d walked away forever, her heart got a little more battered, a little closer to broken. Until she finally couldn’t lie to herself anymore. She’d never been very good at lying, after all.
Oh, she hadn’t done anything as stupid as falling for him. Not quite, no matter how he made her heart race, or how he set her body on fire with just a look, a word, a touch. Love takes time, and he’d cut her off long before it could come to that. But she’d been...she’d been his in a way that she’d never been anyone else’s, had given more of herself to him than she’d ever done before, and...well. And he’d turned away in disgust.
The Meadow doesn’t feel like home the way the Forest always did. It doesn’t feel like a sanctuary, or like adventure waits just around the corner. It feels too open, too exposed, too cacophonous and chaotic, but where else is she to go? She isn’t the type to sign on for kingdom life, though perhaps kingdom is no longer the right word. And she promised to do her best not to bump into him again, so she won’t go back on exiling herself from the Forest. So she wanders the Meadow, one step, two, three, and with each step she tries to leave him behind.
And with each step she fails.
She can still feel his touch, lips trailing along her skin. She can still hear his voice, still breathe in the scent of him, though it’s long since faded from her skin. Except that seems a little too real, and she tenses, nostrils flaring to draw in the breeze, the way it taunts her with hints of his elusive scent. She pauses, eyes closed, trying to shut out what couldn’t even quite be wishful thinking, because if she saw him again what could possibly go right?
But then she hears her name. “Revol.” Murmured softly, so softly, and carried to her on that same breeze. The sound trails along her skin leaving tingling in its wake, tangible as a caress, sinking deep into her chest to set her heart to racing. Anxiety and an insidious flicker of want war inside her as she slowly turns to face a familiar stranger, a newfound wariness in her eyes.
“Hello,” he says with a smile on his lips. Lips that had traced her curves and edges, lips that had lingered on her skin, teased and touched and tasted until she was on fire for him. Lips that had curled with distaste when she offered him more of the same. That smile draws her in, makes her want to smile in return, but she just stares, confusion clouding eyes the color of far-away skies.
And then.
Oh, then. “I’m Ainlif,” he says casually, as if it isn’t the biggest thing in the world for him to finally tell her his name. “It’s nice to meet you.” Her eyes widen, and her traitorous heart flickers with something dangerously akin to hope. She doesn’t give into the impulse to rush to his side, but the corners of her lips curl upwards in a tentative smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ainlif,” she replies, savoring the feel of his name on her lips. And there is a hint of her old self in the sparkle in her blue eyes as she takes a single step toward him. “What brings you to the Meadow on this fine sunny day?”