andaerosdawnflare

[andaerosdawnflare]

Andaeros, far off and away, in the course of his day cannot help but feel heat on his neck and along the sylvan length of his ears.

He cannot help but feel a swell of the heart, a pull of memory and fondness; he sees her face and smiles, warm and bright and full of love.

🔥 for Andy!

"What a thing to ask me.

I... admittedly try not to speak too much of him. Tis not shame that would have me do this. I have always been reserved. Modest. And before Andaeros, love and romance were silly, foolish things, unrealistic and nonexistent. To me, they were just stories of flights of fancy and little tales parents told their children simply to waste time.

Andaeros Dawnflare is a great many things. I will not pick a favourite trait of his. Cannot be done when I feel as I do. So instead, I will simply speak of many, how beautiful they are, and how wonderful a man they come together to make.

He is a very wise man, inevitably shaped by his past and the things that haunt him. He is touched by this adversity, and it streaks him in dark, brooding colours. In the face of that wisdom, sometimes this sombre nostalgia can be seen in his eyes. I believe when he feels things, he does so deeply that it is a wonder he does not crumble beneath that overwhelming prominence.

The man has humour. Clever. Witty. Cunning. Sharp. Sometimes rather on-the-nose and a bit obvious, but I believe that contributes to his excessive charm. Andaeros is a... force to be reckoned with. It is hard for my eye not to go to him directly. It is a hard thing to look at anything else when he is around, for he so does command a presence, I think.

He is gentle and loving. Treats me well. Treats those he cares about well. Tries to. Andaeros has good intentions and he has a fragile heart. He knows that he is flawed and rather than trying to hide them, he wears them. He is not free from error, from mistake, from social faux pas, but he always acknowledges that, even if, at times, he may seem stubborn. His every little imperfection is a glowing one. It binds me to him in a way that I need, for I too, am so imperfect and so flawed.

He is always teaching me something new. Making me think about things in a different way. Presenting life to me in a different way. He inspires in me the want for things that before him, I was so very adamant to avoid. What a magnificently dangerous man he is, with those eyes that make me think of blooming flowers and withering trees.

When he smiles, truly smiles, the lines pull at his eyes, and when he does that my heart swells so and I should think it might very well burst. He oft gets this... rather schoolboy demeanour about him, as if he has a bit of a crush, which is terribly endearing. He makes our romance come alive. He makes me come alive.

There is not a thing about him that I do not favour. Even when it comes to things that displease me or, on occasion, hurt me, it feels like these are things that need to happen. Andaeros always seems to know when that is. Unwilling to let me run from everything I want to run from, his persistence might one of the things that I value the most about his person. For certainly without it, I would not be here now.

What a man. A spectrum of colour from one end to the other and every shade and tint and alteration in between. Andaeros Dawnflare is a walking masterpiece. He is precisely as he is meant to be and he is splendid and exquisite for that.

And I, am a fool woman, in love."

( Thank you, @the-man-with-the-mohawk. Obligatory mention for @andaerosdawnflare. )

[andaerosdawnflare]

For @andaerosdawnflare and for @the-man-with-the-mohawk (If that's your sort of bag)

send me a 🔥 and i'll tell you one thing my muse finds attractive about yours

[andaerosdawnflare]

[TT]: What is she looking forward to the most?

Andaeros and Laeynna have, in the works, a plan to go on an extended holiday together. They're planning to start in Stranglethorn and then make their way down to Krasarang in Pandaria. They're going to have a fishing competition, try to live off the land a bit, probably go swimming (Laeynna will flail about stupidly and make Andaeros carry her everywhere), generally explore. Then in Krasarang, they're going to do even more fishing and eat local cuisine.

They haven't decided when they're leaving, but it was something they started discussing and have been regularly talking about since he came back from his last job. Should be a very wholesome, relaxing trip! Maybe Laeynna will come back with some (read: a very small amount of) sun.

Thanks, @saltsparkle!

[andaerosdawnflare]

[andaerosdawnflare]

[andaerosdawnflare]

[andaerosdawnflare]

George Bellows (American 1882-1925): Dempsey and Firpo, 1924

[andaerosdawnflare]

[andaerosdawnflare]

[andaerosdawnflare]

He most certainly did have a splendid evening.

"Hearing you and Andaeros banter was terribly charming. I hope you both had a splendid evening!" ~ Fiorenze

"I think we did, yes. He certainly seemed to. It is likely that I may have spent more time worrying if he would or not. Perhaps the banter added a bit to the occasion, though I should think there are so very few moments where we are not, in some way, taking playful jabs at one another.

Fortunately, it seems we did not make anyone turn ill with our antics, it seems!"

( Thank you, @saltsparkle! )

[andaerosdawnflare]

Sinful or Sweet Sunday:

"Yo Laeynna, got a question for ya! Do you have a special someone in your life? If ya do, how'd yous meet and how'd yous know yous were meant for each other?"

"When first you and I met, I believe he was away for work, so it was not until the most recent gala that you had the opportunity to see him in the flesh or to even know of him.

We met at Fancy Cakes last year in the spring, rather entirely by chance. Neither Master Dawnflare nor I believe in concepts like 'fate' or 'destiny,' so we would not call it 'knowing we were meant for one another.'

Love does not work like that. Love is communication and patience, time, circumstance. Understanding. Compromise. It is learning the language of the other person, even though you may be both speaking Orcish, Common, Thalassian, whatever it may be. It is growing alongside them. Allowing them to help you grow as well. And 'love,' for what Andaeros and I have, is a small term. The word for what we are has not yet been written or sung of or aptly described.

It was never a case of us being meant to be. If anything, it was a case of we met one another when we needed to. We simply were not aware of it. Some could call it fate, but that is not what it was. Other may even call it coincidence, but that is not really it either.

We have rather affectionately taken to calling it serendipitous."

(Mentions for @andaerosdawnflare.)

(Thank you, @ruzzellgoldgrin!)

[andaerosdawnflare]

[andaerosdawnflare]

TMIT for Laeynna: "You and Andy are so open in your affections for one another at Cakes, was there a time when it made you uncomfortable to be like that with other people, especially strangers, around you?"

"Are we?"

Laeynna had to wonder about that. Maybe she had become more affectionate in the last year. So many times she was reminded of how she had tiptoed around Andaeros, not wanting to be so transparent with her affections. For his sake, perhaps. Likely more for her own. Affection had never been a convenient thing for her. She had often questioned if she was even capable of that. Didn't seem to matter whether it was public or private.

Looking thoughtful, she experienced older memories again and again, like she was trying to connect the points to see how she'd gotten where she was in the future.

"Perhaps... things are a little different, now," she admitted slowly, still calculating the way she wanted to respond. Class. Refinement. Honesty. Sometimes difficult to get all of those in the same proverbial jar. "I am, by nature, not a very affectionate person. Exchanges with Master Dawnflare have had to be gradual, and he is a very patient man. I wonder if he might like it were I to expand on my affections."

Folding her hands together in her quiet contemplation, she dipped her head. "In watching my parents, I never saw them exchange affection. I do not doubt I have always assumed to follow in those footsteps. It was all I had known. Difficult to break one's way of thinking after experiencing it for such an extended period of time. I have had a history of others commenting on my lack of affection. I may have, in a way, sought to avoid that."

Squinting, she thought about the complexities of relationships, both specific and in general. Then her features softened. "For a period of time, I was under the impression I was not permitted to be affectionate with Andaeros. I respected that and employed it. I still often feel that way, though nowadays... things may be better. Regardless, I imagine no one is particularly interested in seeing such exchanges. I could be wrong, of course. How does one celebrate us if I am unwilling or hesitant to show it?"

Raising her eyebrows, Laeynna issued a very quiet laugh. "The balance is so precarious. My affections stir deeper than what anyone else can see. Little by little, I gain the courage to display it. Mayhaps as time proceeds, I will feel comfortable enough to be that much more free with him. I should certainly like to be."

(Mentions for @andaerosdawnflare.)

(Thank you, @nahisummerhold.)

[andaerosdawnflare]

[andaerosdawnflare]

The Soul of an Artist

— [A long overdue response to Gifts.]

For all that Laeynna Emberflame had grown up in a world of privilege and fine things, she had often tried to separate herself from that life. It seemed impossible, however. In every way she moved, conversed, carried herself, and carried on with others, it was plain and evident. Laeynna always had been and always would be a noblewoman. One could, and had, stripped her from from noble lands when she was exiled across the ocean, but nobility had been steadfast and adamantly in her blood.

In spite of that, she had found the simplest gifts to be the ones that stirred her heart the most.

She hadn't told Andaeros when her nameday was. He knew the month and she'd left it at that. She didn't want to celebrate it. Didn't feel there was anything to celebrate. She had lived for a couple of centuries at least and really had nothing to show for it. She had existed in a broken world as a broken woman that Andaeros had been slowly piecing together.

He would have been worth celebrating, however, and she'd suspected that he would not tolerate that.

When he'd returned, Laeynna had been an amalgamation of sentiment that she couldn't wholly wrap her cold, calculating logic around. Overwhelmingly relieved to see him. Afraid that he would never return. Afraid that in his absence, he had come to the conclusion that she was less than worthy of him. Afraid that he had simply fallen out of love with her. Afraid that he had, or would, replace her with someone more befitting of him. Someone more deserving of him and his love.

And if he'd had, she had been fully prepared to accept it. To respect it. And to quietly leave his life.

Laeynna had always expected the worst, as it had seemed that the alternative was often so far out of reach of her. Instead, when he returned, he had been overfilling with his love for her. And she had been afraid. Steeled for the worst possible outcome. She'd used her studies to keep herself from him for the first fortnight. Every excuse she could make to distance herself. Afraid that he would simply leave again. Knowing that she couldn't expect him to stay. Angry with herself for being so controlled by her fear. And angry with herself for putting him in a position where he felt he had to question if she still loved him.

She couldn't imagine a world, a timeline where she didn't.

On the day that he had given what he had composed for her, things had gotten steadily better. She had warmed. A little. Although her apprehension and hesitance had still kept her from welcoming him with the reception that he'd deserved. In spite of whatever careful expression she'd worn, however, Laeynna had loved it the moment she set eyes upon it.

He'd pieced it all together himself. She knew it the moment she looked at it. It even smelled like him. Cedar. Bourbon. That earthy aroma and spice she always associated with him. Soft fingertips pressed over leather with an undeniable reverence, like it was more religious artefact than scrapbook. Like it was some divine relic more than tome of memories.

The interior was... overwhelming. It was... her. It was filled with her. So many different sides to her. She had, once or twice, caught Andaeros sketching in the past. There were so many more pieces in the book he'd made for her that there were clearly so many times he'd drawn her without her knowledge. He thought of her so much. He thought of her with such an intensity that she was willing to wager it rivalled her own. She had stirred his heart so much that he had been willing to make something so beautiful for her.

And at the time, she had been so measured about it, despite the turbulent way her insides turned and ached just holding it.

Then the moment she had to herself, Laeynna had wept. Not out of bitterness or upset, but because she knew how fortunate she was. That someone like Andaeros could love someone like her. That despite how monstrous she had been in her past and how she still saw so much of that beast inside of her, he still loved her. How had she been so blessed? Gods that had never seemed to care anything about her had put her in his path, or perhaps he in hers. They had both gone through so much just to be where they were.

...Laeynna wondered how she had survived it all. How he had survived his own hardships and adversities. She wondered what made him stay. If love had any logic to it at all, or if it was some mass of complexities that just couldn't be explained pragmatically.

After that day, she looked at it often. A little every day. As if it would serve as proper reminder that being in love, being loved, was not, and had never been a one-sided endeavour. It wasn't merely that Andaeros loved her. It was that she loved him. And to simply call it 'love' underestimated all of its power and influence. It's magnitude and abundance. It wasn't just love, but the words for its boundless, vast presence weren't ones that had been discovered yet.

It was a perfect gift. One that so perfectly embodied so many things said and unsaid alike. A gift that attempted to contain what could not be restrained within pages or silver tongues.

She loved it. She always would. In the same fierce, undying, unwavering passion that she loved the man who made it for her.

(Mentions for @andaerosdawnflare. ♥)

(Written at the request of @kharrisdawndancer.)

[andaerosdawnflare]

Tin: Does she consider herself intelligent? In what ways? In what ways does she think she may be lacking, if any?

For better or worse, Tinnaire does consider herself intelligent.

She is highly trained and skilled in the use of a variety of magical schools and had a very good education in both Silvermoon and Dalaran. She knows several languages and Tin likes to study various broad and esoteric topics in her free time. She thinks of herself as intelligent and wants to keep her mind sharp.

She knows herself though, and if it's not a topic she's intrigued by, she isn't going to put the effort in to do more than get the basics.

She does think she lacks some 'emotional intelligence', and that worsened the last year after the falling out with Andaeros.

mentions: @andaerosdawnflare

[andaerosdawnflare]