astrasalis

[astrasalis]

"No one said I couldn't be second best to you, my love." He allows Tiernan to drink in his image, he looks back at her with love, with love, with love. He pulls them on top of him, kisses their lips, their cheeks, their jaw, their jaw, their jaw. Clove is full of need, full of want, he says it with his tongue, with his hands that search the expanse of Tiernan's skin, bare. "There is nothing, nothing keeping me away from you today. I'm barricading the doors, little prince." His mouth is at his throat, nipping, tongue peeking out to taste her, to swallow her. Clove groans against them, presses his head to their throat, hands moving down his spine, slow, slow, slow and hungry. "I have missed you." He will spend the day showing Tiernan just how much. Tomorrow he could bear the weight of the truth, of Taru, of Jude, of Jude, but for now, it's just them, It's their mouth and their thighs and their moan in his ear. He will have them all, have them whole. He will not let fear keep them apart ever again.

the night before had absolutely exhausted tiernan. between the revelation and conversation and clove and being forced into a random room until the council decided it was alright for them to leave and return home. only, tiernan hadn't returned home. or rather his former home. but no part of him wanted to leave clove's side. not after everything that had been said.

while sleep wasn't exactly necessary, it felt nice to close their eyes and have clove's body next to their own throughout the night. it had been years since they had been able to sleep more than a few hours. it was almost as if his body - nay, his heart - knew that clove was next to tiernan the whole time. after years, tiernan felt whole. a groan escaped from tiernan as the disruption, their eyes beginning to blink open before feeling clove press his lips against their own. "i have the rest of my existence to sleep. i have already lost enough time with you." tiernan's fault, of course. but that was in their past.

tiernan smiled against clove's lips, wanting nothing more than to bask in the moment. "clove, if i am beautiful, then how are we to explain you," they gushed, reaching up to pull clove's face back a bit so that they could look at each other properly. though his eyes never failed him, it had been so long since she had allowed themself to truly admire clove in the light. they had memorized his face: the lines, the curvature of their lips and they way their eyes pierced into his soul. how had tiernan gone this long depriving themself of clove's presence? was it worth it to even dwell on the question? no. they should enjoy this moment. their return back to each other.

their new beginning.

"tell me there is nothing to force us from this very spot today? we can carry on usual tomorrow but for today, i want you to myself."

[astrasalis]

He wants to go out in search of Emrys and smack him across the back of his head. Their friend is a lot of things, but busy and worried were definitely not any of them. Instead Charlie levels a look at Rhys, lips pursed together. He really was pretty, pretty like a doll, pretty like a flower. He swallows, he swears he can taste him on his tongue--salty and bitter. "Sure," he relents, possibly it would give him more of an excuse to see him. Would he drop it off himself? A little thrill runs down his spine at the prospect. God. He's got it bad, bad, bad. I think this is where I belong. Charlie doesn't believe that for a second. He wasn't always this, he could be something else if he really wanted it. Rhys had a lot to offer the world, Charlie has seen it first hand. He removes his hand from the other's face, glances down towards his mouth before meeting his eyes again. Kiss me, he thinks, so desperately, so open and wild. "I could take you home, if you'd like." He puts his hands in his pockets to keep himself from reaching for him. "I'm done here, anyway."

“And he’s my best friend,” he replies, though his tone stays soft. “He has enough to deal with, shouldn’t have to worry about the idiots in here too. It’s a responsibility I can deal with.” If deal with means getting his ass kicked from time to time, but still taking care of the problem, it was good enough for him. Someone had to take care of them, and he’d already taken on that responsibility many years ago. It was something he’d gotten used to at the point, something he wanted to make sure no one else had to deal with.

“Okay, that’s a fair point, I suppose,” he agreed, letting out a small sigh. He was grateful for Charlie though because it didn’t matter how badly he got hurt, or what the other had been doing in the moment, he was always there to help him. To fix up what wouldn’t be healed later. “Maybe I can pay for the dry cleaning from time to time.” Did that get the blood out? He hoped so. “Something bigger?” It was barely a question, because he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer. This had been his life for the past forty years, if there had been something else, he’d have found it by now. “I don’t know, Char. I think this is where I belong.”

His gaze returns to Charlie as he checks his nose, and as his eyes aren’t on him; just for a moment, he finds himself staring. Finds himself looking over each of the features on the others face, finds himself admiring each of them. Remembers that night. Then he blinks. What the hell is he doing? “Yeah,” he begins, clearing his throat. “Yeah, you’re right. I should probably text Em and let him know I’ll be out for a bit.”

[astrasalis]

Are the answers you're searching for really worth possibly losing your life to get? He wanted to laugh, to cry, to rip all the roots in the earth straight out. He wanted nothing more than to give up his life. He does not know why he was saved, why he's here taking up space. So yes, yes, he would be willing to risk it all to look the person in the who decided he would live, he would belong to them and them alone. "I was saved, I don't know why, I don't know who, and I would like to. I would like to know who I sold my body and mind to." He looks up at the other, lips pressed thin together. "Does that answer your question?"

Her eyebrows furrow together slightly as he takes a step back, not in surprise. She isn’t surprised one bit, more so in concern. Her intention isn’t to scare him, or no, maybe it is. Not that she wants him to be afraid of her, more so of the dangers of trusting a stranger. Or thinking they’d be so kind as to help someone out because of a simple trade. That was the problem with the faeries though, wasn’t it? They could easily make themselves look innocent, look like a kind, helpful soul. Then when you’re most vulnerable, they turn on you. Not all fae were like that, but she had learned rather quickly that many were mischievous, would do whatever they could to get what they want. Was that what she was doing right now?

“What do I want?” She repeated the question, thinking it over, before fully turning her attention back to the water. They were silent for a moment, watching her own reflection ripple across the water. “What I want,” she began after a moment, “is to know why you’ve come out here. I don’t mean what answers you want, I mean why. After everything that’s been said about Kelpies, why would you go searching for one? When they’re more likely to kill you before even having a chance to ask what it is you want to know.” She paused for a moment, the air around them suddenly still. “Are the answers you’re searching for really worth possibly losing your life to get?”

[astrasalis]

[astrasalis]

"Oh, right." Sometimes she forgets her life was more than bar repairs and fried food. It also has grown to include faeries, mermaids, vampires and other sharp teethed animals. She's transfixed for a moment, watching the water move like a snake back into it's rightful home, inside that damn broken pipe. "Duct tape? Duct tape, okay, du--." She runs off to the back office, rummaging through each shelf with a kind of panicked frenzy. In the third drawer she finds the duct tape before running back to her friend and leaky pipe.

She makes quick work of the tape, overlapping it over the pipe as much as she can before making eyes at her friend, "Okay, I think that should hold until I can find that--valve was it? Jesus." She's sitting on the floor next to the pipe, soaking wet. "If I was thinking, I would have called you much, much sooner."

Del's eyes shoot open widely at the scene she's stumbled upon. "I didn't know pants were necessary!," she argues, looking around for a way to make herself useful. "This skirt makes my legs look cute, okay!" Surveying the damage, she takes a few deep breaths. "Okay, okay, just give me a second-" Dropping to her knees, Delphine placed her hands flat on the tile, her face screwing up in concentration. Suddenly, the water stops gushing out of the pipes, some of it creeping its way back into the mechanics of it all and the chaos seems to settle slightly. "No plumber," Delphine grits out around her clenched jaw, using her right hand to keep the water in the pipes away, while her left hand begins moving the water flooding the rest of the kitchen into a spare bucket. "Duct tape over the burst for now, then - uh - what's it called - shoot, okay, duct tape first, and then a new valve. I'm sure there's a spare in the storage room? I watched Ric do it once on the ship so- duct tape first."

[astrasalis]

"Horny?" Scout blinks up at the man standing beside her, brows knit together in confusion. She glances back at her screen where her screen was taken up by the image of naked faeries dancing in a circle. She'd been busy reading the caption the article had provided her when the man had come up behind her. Her cheeks went red, "Oh! Oh, no, no. This is not what it looks like. I swear I'm just doing some research."

closed starter for @fvinches ( phin & utp ! )

"Not again," Phin groaned, running his hand through his hair. "Get your horny ass outta my library."

[astrasalis]

starter: closed @lunarrbxnshee muses: holden + damir location: damir's home

He's cold, he's the coldest he's ever been. He should go home, he knows he should check on Shep and Jane, and he will, but he needed to see them, he needed to know they were both still here. Something yawned inside of him, this great big black hole that stunk of grief and horror. He didn't know when i showed up, he didn't know how to get rid of it, it just grew and grew as his memory came apart like frayed fabric.

He doesn't bother knocking, just pushes his way through the front door, his heart thundering in his chest. "Dami? Hugo?" Holden closes the door behind him, calling out again as he makes his way down the hall to his friend's bedroom. It's cracked open, like it always is, like it always, like it always--he pauses at the door, held breath before pushing it all the way open. "Dami?"

[astrasalis]

"I gotta be honest, at this point you really should stop cooking. You’re gonna set your house on fire, Pheebs.” Holden was too lost in thought to notice her change in tone. Not that Holden was particularly gifted in reading people to begin with. If you didn't outright tell him, he probably wouldn't notice the difference at all. It was the main reason he didn't date girls, he always ended up hurting their feelings somehow.

"Sure, get a small pineapple and tomato for me," he wasn't hungry, but maybe that's just because he hasn't smelled anything he really wanted just yet. He goes room to room, window to window pulling them open so the cool evening breeze could wash away the smell of burnt food and metal. Metal. Something gnawed at his memory, the smell of metal, metal, metal. He pauses at the last window, his eye catching movement somewhere in the woods. "Hey Pheebs...have you heard from Hugo all day?"

She wasn’t quite sure why she kept attempting to cook anything, really. She could barely operate a microwave, let alone the stove or oven. Thankfully, she didn’t eat quite as often as humans, she didn’t really need to, but it didn’t stop cravings from her childhood from rearing their heads. Then no matter how many times she burnt food, or nearly burnt her house down and told herself she would never cook again, there always came a time. “Would you believe me if I said pasta?” It sounded ridiculous. Who burns pasta? Her, the answer was her. “But yes, I’m perfectly fine.” They promised, turning on their heels to follow Holden back into the house.

Her next train of thought was to return to him, because something was clearly off. When she had first opened the door, her mind had been on the mess of a dish she had just made, but it had hit her moments later how pale her friend looked. He almost looked- no she hadn’t wanted to make that connection, but as she turned back to follow him into the kitchen, she noticed how the light seemed to almost pass through him instead of once reflecting off his skin; and that’s when her suspicions seemed to click.

No. That couldn’t be right.

She blinked, rubbed at her eyes, hoping that maybe it was just the smoke getting to her. It had to be, right? But what if it wasn’t, what if- “Huh?” The words took a second to register, her eyes flickering to the pot on the stove and letting out a small groan as she walked over, moving it to a cool burner so it could finally cool off and then probably end up in the garbage. “Pizza would be great, I seriously think I should just opt to getting take out anytime I want food.” She joked lightly, but the humor was barely there. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice. She was sure he hadn’t noticed himself yet, surely he’d be freaking out right? She should tell him, say something, but instead, “I can call it in, then do you mind helping me open some windows? Air out the smell.”

[astrasalis]

There would have been a time Clove would have cared for such words, to be told he was unlike the other vampires, that he was kinder, softer. This Clove, this shell of a person, didn't have it in him to pretend that kind of thing mattered anymore. He overturned his hand and let the bird's ashes catch in the winter breeze, a cold look settling in his eye. "I suppose you're right." He wasn't that man anymore, he hasn't been kind in a very long time. So why did it still hurt? Why did he see something small and want it to live?

He turned his attention back towards the stranger, tucking his hands into the pockets of his coat. "I should thank you. Do you drink, perhaps? My hotel isn't far from here."

And perhaps pre-incarceration Evan would've held back, even shown a sign of their humanity but after spending a near century, everything had changed. Listening to the other, their gaze shifted from the fire dancing in their hand to the bird in the other's, the answer having seemed so simply mere seconds ago. "I'd argue that's all subjective, to those of us born with the gift of fire, it's a bringer of life. Water, however," Evan spoke as casually as if they were sitting in a bar.

Hardly flinching, Evan cocked their head to the side, stepping forward to get a better look at the bird. "If it helps you sleep at night, though I've never known a vampire to care for a creature other than themselves," they simply stated as though it were fact. "It would've suffered longer." Now focused entirely on the bird, Evan sent a couple sparks in its direction, finally glancing up at the other. "That, or a crueler beast would've seized the opportunity."

[astrasalis]

He didn't know what else to say. Clove didn't want to believe a word that came out of his mouth. Trusting Emrys was a slippery slope, one he could not afford falling down. Not again, not ever again. And yet, and yet something tugged at him, ugly and raw and wanting as emotion welled in his voice. He wanted it to stop hurting, to keep his heart buried at the bottom of the ocean where he left it so long ago but love was finicky that way. It didn't let things remain buried no matter how deep you dug.

"Why didn't you?" Clove searched his face, looking for any crack in his facade. "Why didn't you come looking for me all this time?" I waited for you. I waited for you to find me again, to explain yourself. Why did you never come? "All these years I lived in Veritas, you never bothered to come find me. So why now, why tonight?"

"Wolves may live slightly longer than the average human but I was never immortal," Emrys shook his head. "If I knew what was coming after you--" He began, the memories of returning home to his siblings dead. He wishes he hadn't ever taken the gift he'd been given, instead of spending the agonising years without them.

"I-" I loved you. The words catch him off-guard and he falters, his expression falling. "I didn't let you fall alone," He admits softly, hating the hurt that seeped into his tone. "I did love you, and I- I'm sorry I lied," The apology falls from his lips. Too little, too late.

"I didn't think I could come back. I wanted to, I wanted to run back into your arms, to let you love me. To cry until I couldn't cry anymore but---" He pauses, letting out a sigh. "It doesn't matter. I cannot undo the hurt I caused you."

[astrasalis]

"Glad to know you find me so attractive, Nyx." Clove slows besides him, coming to a halt entirely at the crosswalk. "We can be done, if you'd like." He reaches for a stray hair, tucking it back gently for the other. "I wasn't asking for a favor. I only asked what you had heard, but it's fine. I have other little birds to whisper in my ear." His eyes are bright, shining almost as he leans in close to Nyx. "I just thought this would be more fun."

Clove smiles, he's radiant, he's the sun, his eyes linger on the other's golden lips. "Let me know if you change your mind about no more repeats." He pulls away entirely, taking his warmth with him as he turns to leave. "Have a good night, Coldwell."

"Mhm good. As hot as you are, no repeats." Nyx shrugged. He watches the other carefully, wondering if he'd been used the entire time.

"You may consider it a virtue, I consider it a curse. Well, I'm not telling you, so go and charm someone else." Nyx rolls his eyes. "Are we done here?"

[astrasalis]

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