06-07-2017, 04:09 PM
He crooned so quietly and rocked her so carefully. Even though she was long lost to deep slumber, he continued, his voice low and lilting on the lyrics he only spoke in his mind. Every so often, he brushed his tears off on his shoulder to keep them from falling on her and waking her. And though she was already nestled deep into his side, he found himself time and again tucking her in with soft nudges of his nose and warm breaths on her glassy skin. He couldn't help but comfort himself with touching her.
When the forest whispered a sigh, little unseen fingers walking down his spine, his eyes lifted. No other part of him moved from where he lay, ducked and wrapped around his sleeping child of glass, but those bright, piercing blue eyes locked on her like a silent target. Wary as a wolf. The low rumble of his quiet humming didn't falter, didn't hesitate as she hesitated, this stranger. And he continued, watchful and still with a lullaby pressed behind closed lips, lips that were pressed to a smooth, fragile neck with soft, tender kisses.
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral..
Hush now, don't you cry.
She stepped forward. He watched, his voice lowering further, going softer. Quieter. "Hi," she barely said, and her head drifted low to the ground, deliberately not approaching nearer to Polaris carefully sheltered in her father's embrace. Flakes of powdered white melted on the woman's face, close enough to be surrounded in this supernatural Winter even as she took another step closer.
"My name is Australis," she said in a voice as carefully quiet as his so as not to wake his girl. He released her from the sharp glow of his gaze as it returned to settle once again on Polaris, seeing and sensing that she meant no harm. He brushed another kiss gingerly to the smooth glass of his baby.
Too-ra-loo-ra-li--
His humming ceased abruptly and he tensed as she touched him, her mouth grazing across the arch of his dark hair. Strands teased free and struck out as wild and free as the man, and he looked up at her again, searching her eyes and her face. He found a deep yearning there, a soft longing as she tasted the crisp snow lightly coating him. Not a longing for him, of course. They were both strangers to each other. Yet still his heart raced at her nearness, and he swallowed, casting his eyes back down again. That moment wasn't between him and her, but between her and the cold, the snow, the ice.
She lowered gently beside him, her nose burying deeper through his hair and to his neck beneath, stroking absentmindedly. His lips parted with a puff of hot breath, trying not to think of a face of gray as each pass sent electric ripples through his muscle. His wife was the only one to have laid so close and touched him so openly this way, and he found his mind silently echoing the words she said: You have no idea how much I needed this.
She came from Before, she said. From the Tundra, a place he'd only heard of in passing as he'd wandered for many years before returning home to the Valley he was born in. With the wolves. And Kilter.
"I never needed anything more than the snow and the mountains and my family," she continued. He wondered at the past tense, if she felt she needed something different now, or something more. But he didn't ask, only met her gaze as it turned to him. She watched him a moment, hesitating, then reached to brush her lips to his forehead, sweeping his hair from his eyes. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, allowing her for only a brief moment before he slipped carefully out from under her touch. It was too much, it hurt too badly.
The pain of his loss reflected in his face again, the ache in his chest expanding. He did need this, maybe. But he didn't want it.
"I came to see my family, Maribel and Romek, but," she paused, looking over his face that must surely show how pathetic and broken he was just then, "can I stay here with you instead, for a while?" Her eyes fell to Polaris, still cradled and sleeping against him. "You make this hurt less," she added, tucking her chin to gesture at her heart. But he'd seen how she was drawn to the snow, and knew it wasn't him that made her pain hurt a little less.
He said nothing, only nodded slowly after considering it a moment. He should have offered his name in return, he knew, since she didn't seem to know him. But if she knew his name from Maribel or Romek, he didn't want his position to force her away or change her manner toward him. So he only softened quietly, and gently blew a long breath of his minty winter against her face. It unfurled and stretched, gliding across her cheeks and down either side of her neck, blanketing her body in the brisk chill. A layer of snow manifested on top of the cold, tiny shards of ice glittering in its surface each time the persistent moonlight peeked through the trees. He worried it might make her too cold, but she seemed to like it.
His eyes held hers for a few moments, before he dropped them to Polaris again. "This is Polaris," he offered so very quietly, a deep rumble in his throat. "I found her, abandoned. Have you ever seen anything like her?" he turned to ask her, genuinely curious for the answer, though, naturally he couldn't hide the subtle hint of awe in his voice. She was such a rarity to him. Was she such a unique creature to the rest of the world too?
When the forest whispered a sigh, little unseen fingers walking down his spine, his eyes lifted. No other part of him moved from where he lay, ducked and wrapped around his sleeping child of glass, but those bright, piercing blue eyes locked on her like a silent target. Wary as a wolf. The low rumble of his quiet humming didn't falter, didn't hesitate as she hesitated, this stranger. And he continued, watchful and still with a lullaby pressed behind closed lips, lips that were pressed to a smooth, fragile neck with soft, tender kisses.
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral..
Hush now, don't you cry.
She stepped forward. He watched, his voice lowering further, going softer. Quieter. "Hi," she barely said, and her head drifted low to the ground, deliberately not approaching nearer to Polaris carefully sheltered in her father's embrace. Flakes of powdered white melted on the woman's face, close enough to be surrounded in this supernatural Winter even as she took another step closer.
"My name is Australis," she said in a voice as carefully quiet as his so as not to wake his girl. He released her from the sharp glow of his gaze as it returned to settle once again on Polaris, seeing and sensing that she meant no harm. He brushed another kiss gingerly to the smooth glass of his baby.
Too-ra-loo-ra-li--
His humming ceased abruptly and he tensed as she touched him, her mouth grazing across the arch of his dark hair. Strands teased free and struck out as wild and free as the man, and he looked up at her again, searching her eyes and her face. He found a deep yearning there, a soft longing as she tasted the crisp snow lightly coating him. Not a longing for him, of course. They were both strangers to each other. Yet still his heart raced at her nearness, and he swallowed, casting his eyes back down again. That moment wasn't between him and her, but between her and the cold, the snow, the ice.
She lowered gently beside him, her nose burying deeper through his hair and to his neck beneath, stroking absentmindedly. His lips parted with a puff of hot breath, trying not to think of a face of gray as each pass sent electric ripples through his muscle. His wife was the only one to have laid so close and touched him so openly this way, and he found his mind silently echoing the words she said: You have no idea how much I needed this.
She came from Before, she said. From the Tundra, a place he'd only heard of in passing as he'd wandered for many years before returning home to the Valley he was born in. With the wolves. And Kilter.
"I never needed anything more than the snow and the mountains and my family," she continued. He wondered at the past tense, if she felt she needed something different now, or something more. But he didn't ask, only met her gaze as it turned to him. She watched him a moment, hesitating, then reached to brush her lips to his forehead, sweeping his hair from his eyes. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, allowing her for only a brief moment before he slipped carefully out from under her touch. It was too much, it hurt too badly.
The pain of his loss reflected in his face again, the ache in his chest expanding. He did need this, maybe. But he didn't want it.
"I came to see my family, Maribel and Romek, but," she paused, looking over his face that must surely show how pathetic and broken he was just then, "can I stay here with you instead, for a while?" Her eyes fell to Polaris, still cradled and sleeping against him. "You make this hurt less," she added, tucking her chin to gesture at her heart. But he'd seen how she was drawn to the snow, and knew it wasn't him that made her pain hurt a little less.
He said nothing, only nodded slowly after considering it a moment. He should have offered his name in return, he knew, since she didn't seem to know him. But if she knew his name from Maribel or Romek, he didn't want his position to force her away or change her manner toward him. So he only softened quietly, and gently blew a long breath of his minty winter against her face. It unfurled and stretched, gliding across her cheeks and down either side of her neck, blanketing her body in the brisk chill. A layer of snow manifested on top of the cold, tiny shards of ice glittering in its surface each time the persistent moonlight peeked through the trees. He worried it might make her too cold, but she seemed to like it.
His eyes held hers for a few moments, before he dropped them to Polaris again. "This is Polaris," he offered so very quietly, a deep rumble in his throat. "I found her, abandoned. Have you ever seen anything like her?" he turned to ask her, genuinely curious for the answer, though, naturally he couldn't hide the subtle hint of awe in his voice. She was such a rarity to him. Was she such a unique creature to the rest of the world too?
