01-01-2021, 06:12 PM
She very much loves the way his face changes when he sees her. The way his ancient eyes grow wider and alight with something she recognizes as delight, something that seems soft and gentle and painfully kind. She can see it in the way the muscles along his cheeks soften, the way his jaw is less rigid as it gives way to a shape she thinks will become a smile in just a moment. She can guess at the feeling inside his chest that makes him change in this way, knows it intimately from the way it has come to live inside her, too.
He says her name and even that makes her glow inside, like she’s basking in the warmth of the tone she is so selfishly sure he saves just for her. Or at least she hopes he does, even though she has no right to. She can feel when his attention leaves her, but she doesn’t mind because she knows she is only sharing him with the gleaming star sitting patiently above them, and his face is still against her neck, his breath in her hair like maybe he craves this closeness.
She knows this feeling too.
“Yes.” She confirms, inching those few steps closer until she is pressed comfortably against him, the feathers of his beautiful wings just inches from where her wandering lips can reach. “I can tell because she’s bossy.” It’s nonsense of course, but she hopes it makes Warden smile nonetheless. His tenderness is a balm she did not know she wanted, and when he leans into her so deeply she can feel sparks skipping around inside her translucent chest. It feels so silly, and if there was any heat inside her body it would be pooling now in her delicate ruby face.
“I suppose I don’t know.” She tells him, and she does take a step back just so she can tip her head to look up at the twinkling ball above them. She watches it for a long moment, unaware of how the glow of it must be leaving red fractures of broken light across the angles of her delicate face, like rivers of glowing ruby light.
The star falls suddenly, spinning like a cyclone of light, and Flower is surprised to feel Warden draw her in close again. She watches him for just a second, studying the worry in his expression, this new guardedness as he all but glares the star into stillness again. It ignores him, bouncing off his nose before falling away into the sky above them again. “You know, I don’t think she appreciates your rejection.” Flower is smothering a smile, and there is a new gentleness in her eyes when he presses his pale cheek to her neck again.
He snorts and she smiles again, nudging at his shoulder. “I admit I haven’t met very many stars, so I’m not all that familiar with the qualifications.” There is laughter in the warmth of her voice and in the gold of her shining eyes. “But I do think you might want to speak more softly or it seems likely you’ll get punched in the face again.” Her eyes are sparkling now, and they lift to the sky, the brilliant light of the ball above captured within her irises. “I think maybe stars are the essence of those we’ve lost. Maybe not alive anymore, and not like us. But of us.” Her voice is so soft when her gaze drops to his again.
He says her name and even that makes her glow inside, like she’s basking in the warmth of the tone she is so selfishly sure he saves just for her. Or at least she hopes he does, even though she has no right to. She can feel when his attention leaves her, but she doesn’t mind because she knows she is only sharing him with the gleaming star sitting patiently above them, and his face is still against her neck, his breath in her hair like maybe he craves this closeness.
She knows this feeling too.
“Yes.” She confirms, inching those few steps closer until she is pressed comfortably against him, the feathers of his beautiful wings just inches from where her wandering lips can reach. “I can tell because she’s bossy.” It’s nonsense of course, but she hopes it makes Warden smile nonetheless. His tenderness is a balm she did not know she wanted, and when he leans into her so deeply she can feel sparks skipping around inside her translucent chest. It feels so silly, and if there was any heat inside her body it would be pooling now in her delicate ruby face.
“I suppose I don’t know.” She tells him, and she does take a step back just so she can tip her head to look up at the twinkling ball above them. She watches it for a long moment, unaware of how the glow of it must be leaving red fractures of broken light across the angles of her delicate face, like rivers of glowing ruby light.
The star falls suddenly, spinning like a cyclone of light, and Flower is surprised to feel Warden draw her in close again. She watches him for just a second, studying the worry in his expression, this new guardedness as he all but glares the star into stillness again. It ignores him, bouncing off his nose before falling away into the sky above them again. “You know, I don’t think she appreciates your rejection.” Flower is smothering a smile, and there is a new gentleness in her eyes when he presses his pale cheek to her neck again.
He snorts and she smiles again, nudging at his shoulder. “I admit I haven’t met very many stars, so I’m not all that familiar with the qualifications.” There is laughter in the warmth of her voice and in the gold of her shining eyes. “But I do think you might want to speak more softly or it seems likely you’ll get punched in the face again.” Her eyes are sparkling now, and they lift to the sky, the brilliant light of the ball above captured within her irises. “I think maybe stars are the essence of those we’ve lost. Maybe not alive anymore, and not like us. But of us.” Her voice is so soft when her gaze drops to his again.
FLOWER
i'm only steady on my knees