[ much as he is enjoying looking into her face, hythlodaeus is quite exhausted, and so he soon rolls onto his side beside her, his hand dropping to smooth over the thigh that hooks over his. she is so easy to touch, to hold, achingly familiar in a way that makes his heart constrict in both pleasure and pain. how they will untangle this great knot between their hearts remains to be seen, but untangle it they must. he has been given this lifetime, this great gift, and he means to use it properly.
moments like this, moments of blissful peace.. oh, how he has missed them, despite how his heart still wavers. but they will, in fact, muddle through it all. ]
I am very interested.
[ closing his eyes, he touches his brow to hers, and sighs. ]
[It is only fair that she let him rest— he had been flagging even before she had brought him here to the Annex, given how busy their evening had been out and about in the city, and she has no doubt that what they had allowed to happen here had only served to bring him to the very brink of exhaustion.
She presses a soft kiss against the end of his nose, another at the corner of his lips before stretching out from the waist up, her own eyelids lowering once more as he brings his brow to touch hers, limbs otherwise remaining entangled. She reaches, briefly, to grab hold of the blanket they have left neglected until now, pulling it up over the both of them before letting an arm encircle his waist, settling into a comfortable embrace.]
We do have that, don't we.
[She lets out an exhale of her own, half-chuckling as her eyes close fully.]
Enough so that we can talk further once we've both slept, if we so choose.
[Or they could just do more of this and say it serves a similar purpose. She's quite flexible, on that front.]
[ much as he would love to stay awake, to keep looking into her face and enjoying the warmth of her body, it has been a long day and an even longer night, and lovemaking has a way of taking it out of you. but it also has a way of bringing the sweetest rest, and hythlodaeus is sure that he shall sleep quite well tonight.
her hand at his back earns a soft, warm sound between them, the corners of his mouth upturning in a gentle smile. ]
Loathe as I am to sleep, I think you are right.
[ he can already feel a yawn coming on. the blankets come up, and hythlodaeus slips both arms around amri's middle, languid and comfortable as they settle heavily against the sheets. ]
[Her smile pulls a bit wider as she echoes him, her own eyelids remaining heavy, and though she feels the threat of a yawn beginning to creep up on her, she never quite manages to let it escape. Instead, settled comfortably against him, sleep comes quickly— a first since she can't possibly remember when. It has been a long, long while since she has well and truly rested, but along with the relative peace of the present days, their combined efforts have worn her out in full. Sleep descends, and she welcomes it.
It is unusually late in the morning when she opens her eyes once more, judging by the angle of the sun filtering in through the window to her room at the Annex, and it takes her a few moments to regain herself, to put the pieces of her present state together. She stretches, reaching up with one hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, one after the other, and her shoulder gently bumps against her companion's chest in the process, still rising and falling softly with the even breath of sleep.
She smiles to herself, recalling the way they had left things off the night before, and rather than slip out of bed to search for clothes, she burrows just a bit further beneath the blankets, studying his lovely face for several moments before reaching out to lightly touch her fingertips to the soft curve of his lips, followed by the line of his jaw. Though not surprised that he'd stayed, the feeling of waking up beside someone is decidedly novel.
Cautious, she lifts her head and leans over to press a kiss against his impossibly soft lips, then carefully lays back against the pillow. If he's not ready to stir, she won't bother him unnecessarily, in this, she couldn't quite help herself.]
[ hythlodaeus sleeps deeply, and fully through the night, which is a great feat, really, for he has ever been a light sleeper and prone to waking. yet the previous day's exhaustion followed by he and amri's, uh, antics had tired him to the core, and they slept deep and true, tangled beneath the warm blankets.
yet he cannot sleep through the touch of her fingers, the drag of them gently across his skin, and hythlodaeus' eyes flicker open, bleary and unfocused. it takes him a moment to take in the scene, the late morning light slanting beneath the curtains, the lingering smell of sex and skin, and.. amri beside him, warm and real and smiling.
he cannot help but smile in return. ]
.. good morning.
[ stretching his long legs beneath the covers, he sighs and rolls onto his back, rubbing at his eyes with his knuckles. ]
[Thoroughly exhausted and curled up together as they had been, she had slept well and deeply. His smile is bright enough to give that morning sun a run for its gil. She shifts beside him as he stretches out, the blanket pulling a bit taut as they both test its limits with impossibly long legs, and even as he rolls onto his back, she lets a hand come to rest lightly against his abdomen, index finger drawing idle patterns.
They would both do well to bathe at some point, she's certain; she has no intention of going about her day with the scent of sweat and sex clinging to her as they do now, but she's in no hurry. For once, her responsibilities are surprisingly few, and she's quite interested in seeing what other 'muddling' they might get into.
She leans in to gently nuzzle just beneath his jawline, her hand trailing upwards so that her fingers can count each rib on their way, a contented sigh leaving her and rolling down the curve of his neck.]
[ her hand rests against his belly, and already they are so very casual, already this is coming so easily, and while they do still have muddling to do - for even now he does not know if he loves this affection because of amri, or because of azem - it is still so very welcome. ]
I rather like it as well.
[ one arm crooks upward to cradle the back of his head, while the other drops down to hers on his abdomen, his fingertips dancing across her knuckles, learning the shape of them, the texture of her skin. one might think that such little things might not feel different person to person, but after keeping the same lovers for millennia, these things are sharp contrasts. he could never forget the feel of azem's hands any more than the taste of hades' mouth, and so all of amri's differences are stark.
[Part of her wants to suggest that they should arrange for it to happen more often, but she stays herself— they had already agreed on wanting things to move in the same direction, but no doubt they both still felt some caution necessary. Besides, with such an agreement in place, she supposes that might be implied to begin with.
She nudges inward, pressing a soft kiss to the curve of his neck, the scent of him warm and inviting, the tang of sweat serving as its undercurrent, and as he tucks an arm behind his own head, she props herself up on one elbow so that she can lightly trace the curve of his ear with her finger, teasing at a loose lock of his hair while his own touch moves over the hand against his belly.]
You're even lovely when you first wake.
[How is that even fair? She laughs softly, shaking her head— not everyone is so fortunate, though if she has any misgivings about what she looks like first thing in the morning, it certainly doesn't show, especially not as she leans forward to press another kiss against his sweet, smiling mouth.]
Is this— too much?
[She asks him with her lips still hovering close to his. They are rather a mess, aren't they? And while she feels herself compelled to show him affection, to kiss and touch and enjoy the warmth that comes with being curled up beside him, if he would prefer her to allow him some space, it's a request she can most certainly honor— difficult as it may be to do so.]
[ it is unfair, really, how very easy it is to fall into closeness and affections with her, how all of these kisses and touches come so simply, thoughtlessly, and it certainly does little to ease the tangled knot between their hearts. to allow them to discern what is real, between them, and what exists only due to the past. hythlodaeus suspects that there will always be some remnant of his relationship with azem, that both of their tender souls will feel it until the end of her days, or his, for he has no idea how long he has to linger on this star.
but that does not mean that he cannot come to love her for who she is. for all the differences that he has already come to appreciate. for all the ways she is like azem, there are equal ways she is not, yet hythlodaeus is fond of her all the same. ]
.. perhaps it is.
[ he answers, truthfully, his violet gaze fixed on hers as he reaches with his free hand to tuck her dark hair back, his fingertips brushing the soft fur of one of her ears. ]
But in the end, I think, doing what feels natural is our best course. All else will work out in time.
[The honesty itself is refreshing. That they both still harbor some doubt is undeniable, but so is the simple fact that they cannot bring themselves to pull away from one another, that time spent together comes easily and, while not quite second nature, could well be soon enough.
'Doing what feels natural' is sound enough advice. Perhaps she is biased, given that's what she's already found her heart leaning towards for better or for worse, but the shiver that jolts between her shoulder blades and races down the length of her spine as he gently touches the edge of her ear serves as an excellent reminder of just how drawn to him she has found herself.
Her smile pulls to one side; though she hadn't gone far to begin with, she leans in for another languid kiss, the fog of sleep not having quite lifted entirely.]
Whatever feels natural. Seems simple enough.
[Even if the situation itself is far more nuanced than that, at its core. It doesn't change the way her fingers thread themselves into his hair, or how her touch slowly begins to dip below his navel, patterns tracing lower.]
[ doing what feels natural has ever been hythlodaeus' way. in everything, for better or worse, he has followed his heart, and he cannot say that he does not have regrets.. yet also, without risk, there can be no reward. this pull between them will not simply evaporate should they ignore it, if anything the ache will only deepen, and given their shared history - whether or not they remember it - they owe it to one another to explore one another, to get to know one another, and not ignore what is right in front of them. it would be a disservice to them both, and to azem's memory, to cut amri away from his life.
they were friends, after all, in elpis. though their time together there had been brief, he had nevertheless grown fond of her.
at any rate, he cannot help but catch just how she reacts to the brief brush to her ear, and hythlodaeus' brows both lift, his mouth tugging into a smug smirk. ]
Sensitive indeed.
[ yet the words are breathless, for her touch is already teasing lower, lower, lower, and instantly there is a spark of heat igniting in his belly, his lips parting in a low, lengthy exhale. ]
[Ah, yes— she had warned him against that, hadn't she? Though her face colors, the smile she offers him is sly and knowing, rather than sheepish.]
I'm afraid you caught me.
[Perhaps she had gotten a little ahead of herself when it came to laying down rules the night before— but in her defense, when they had been discussing sharing the bed, she had still been of a mind to resist the persistent pull that she'd felt building between them.
Clearly, that had gone swimmingly.]
Pleased with yourself, are you?
[That exhale tells her that he's pleased with something, at least, and her touch grows bolder, fingertips trailing towards his hip beneath the blanket, tracing the lean muscle of his abdomen en route.]
[ he says around a smug smirk, though she soon has him biting his lower lip to stifle a soft groan, while her fingertips slip into the dip of his hip, teasing and slow. heavens know he's already hard, even ancients aren't immune from, you know, the morning wood, but the heat of anticipation nevertheless begins filling his groin.
he'll leave her ears for now, however, and wait until the opportune moment to spring his touch on them again. but hythlodaeus never forgets the details, especially when it comes to his lovers, so she can be sure he will file this knowledge away somewhere easily accessible.
but for now he only arches his hips indulgently, more than pleased to be waited on hand and foot, it would seem, for how lazy he always feels in the mornings. ]
[The kind to take pleasure in any small victory, and while he does leave her ears unattended for now, she has no doubt his touch will find its way there again in the near future— at which point she's certain she'll be entirely unable to disguise just how sensitive they have the capacity to be.
She allows the arch of his hips to encourage her, her touch smoothing over his thigh before moving to where she finds him already wanting— she's not surprised to find him already hard, given the nature of biology, and her long, deft fingers are cautious as she drags them along the length of his cock, gently curling them around the base and lightly pulling her thumb along the seam beneath as she leans in for another lingering kiss, baiting him.]
[ her touch is slow and skilled and hythlodaeus finds his breath leaving him in a rush, his heart kicking up into his throat, beating fast. despite how satisfying their previous encounter had been, hythlodaeus finds himself responding nonetheless, heat rushing to his groin, pleasure prickling in his belly. for a moment he allows his eyes to close as her fingers move over his cock, basking in the sweet sensation of it layered over his warm, comfortable drowsiness. ]
Cruel indeed..
[ he murmurs, before his violet eyes flicker open again to find her own, and his left hand drops to close over her own, fingertips tracing her knuckles, while his right lifts to her face, tangling in her dark, wild hair. ]
[The touch of his hand coming to rest atop her own, to move along with her steady, gentle ministrations causes a pleasant flutter in stomach, her gaze heated as she meets his own before bending to press a soft kiss against his jaw, followed by another to his neck. There is none of the frantic or needful force of the night before— though she certainly has no complaints about any of that— but the warm haze of sleep still lingers slightly for the both of them, lending itself well to comfortable, lazy affection.]
Well, I'll admit, it isn't entirely selfless.
[She chuckles warmly against the smooth curve of his neck, eyelids lowering as she inhales the scent of him again and feels her pulse quicken ever so slightly. It's almost criminal, she thinks, how easy it is to touch him, to fixate on him— and potentially very bad for any plans she may have had for productivity.
She turns her face into his touch, her lips puckering against the pad of his thumb as she trails a finger quite deliberately along the underside of his cock from base to tip.]
Maybe I'd just like to make the most of waking up beside you.
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no subject
moments like this, moments of blissful peace.. oh, how he has missed them, despite how his heart still wavers. but they will, in fact, muddle through it all. ]
I am very interested.
[ closing his eyes, he touches his brow to hers, and sighs. ]
We will manage, in time.
no subject
She presses a soft kiss against the end of his nose, another at the corner of his lips before stretching out from the waist up, her own eyelids lowering once more as he brings his brow to touch hers, limbs otherwise remaining entangled. She reaches, briefly, to grab hold of the blanket they have left neglected until now, pulling it up over the both of them before letting an arm encircle his waist, settling into a comfortable embrace.]
We do have that, don't we.
[She lets out an exhale of her own, half-chuckling as her eyes close fully.]
Enough so that we can talk further once we've both slept, if we so choose.
[Or they could just do more of this and say it serves a similar purpose. She's quite flexible, on that front.]
no subject
her hand at his back earns a soft, warm sound between them, the corners of his mouth upturning in a gentle smile. ]
Loathe as I am to sleep, I think you are right.
[ he can already feel a yawn coming on. the blankets come up, and hythlodaeus slips both arms around amri's middle, languid and comfortable as they settle heavily against the sheets. ]
In the morning, then.
no subject
[Her smile pulls a bit wider as she echoes him, her own eyelids remaining heavy, and though she feels the threat of a yawn beginning to creep up on her, she never quite manages to let it escape. Instead, settled comfortably against him, sleep comes quickly— a first since she can't possibly remember when. It has been a long, long while since she has well and truly rested, but along with the relative peace of the present days, their combined efforts have worn her out in full. Sleep descends, and she welcomes it.
It is unusually late in the morning when she opens her eyes once more, judging by the angle of the sun filtering in through the window to her room at the Annex, and it takes her a few moments to regain herself, to put the pieces of her present state together. She stretches, reaching up with one hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, one after the other, and her shoulder gently bumps against her companion's chest in the process, still rising and falling softly with the even breath of sleep.
She smiles to herself, recalling the way they had left things off the night before, and rather than slip out of bed to search for clothes, she burrows just a bit further beneath the blankets, studying his lovely face for several moments before reaching out to lightly touch her fingertips to the soft curve of his lips, followed by the line of his jaw. Though not surprised that he'd stayed, the feeling of waking up beside someone is decidedly novel.
Cautious, she lifts her head and leans over to press a kiss against his impossibly soft lips, then carefully lays back against the pillow. If he's not ready to stir, she won't bother him unnecessarily, in this, she couldn't quite help herself.]
Good morning.
no subject
yet he cannot sleep through the touch of her fingers, the drag of them gently across his skin, and hythlodaeus' eyes flicker open, bleary and unfocused. it takes him a moment to take in the scene, the late morning light slanting beneath the curtains, the lingering smell of sex and skin, and.. amri beside him, warm and real and smiling.
he cannot help but smile in return. ]
.. good morning.
[ stretching his long legs beneath the covers, he sighs and rolls onto his back, rubbing at his eyes with his knuckles. ]
I trust you slept as well as I did.
no subject
[Thoroughly exhausted and curled up together as they had been, she had slept well and deeply. His smile is bright enough to give that morning sun a run for its gil. She shifts beside him as he stretches out, the blanket pulling a bit taut as they both test its limits with impossibly long legs, and even as he rolls onto his back, she lets a hand come to rest lightly against his abdomen, index finger drawing idle patterns.
They would both do well to bathe at some point, she's certain; she has no intention of going about her day with the scent of sweat and sex clinging to her as they do now, but she's in no hurry. For once, her responsibilities are surprisingly few, and she's quite interested in seeing what other 'muddling' they might get into.
She leans in to gently nuzzle just beneath his jawline, her hand trailing upwards so that her fingers can count each rib on their way, a contented sigh leaving her and rolling down the curve of his neck.]
I rather like waking up next to you.
no subject
I rather like it as well.
[ one arm crooks upward to cradle the back of his head, while the other drops down to hers on his abdomen, his fingertips dancing across her knuckles, learning the shape of them, the texture of her skin. one might think that such little things might not feel different person to person, but after keeping the same lovers for millennia, these things are sharp contrasts. he could never forget the feel of azem's hands any more than the taste of hades' mouth, and so all of amri's differences are stark.
he has so much still to learn about her. ]
no subject
She nudges inward, pressing a soft kiss to the curve of his neck, the scent of him warm and inviting, the tang of sweat serving as its undercurrent, and as he tucks an arm behind his own head, she props herself up on one elbow so that she can lightly trace the curve of his ear with her finger, teasing at a loose lock of his hair while his own touch moves over the hand against his belly.]
You're even lovely when you first wake.
[How is that even fair? She laughs softly, shaking her head— not everyone is so fortunate, though if she has any misgivings about what she looks like first thing in the morning, it certainly doesn't show, especially not as she leans forward to press another kiss against his sweet, smiling mouth.]
Is this— too much?
[She asks him with her lips still hovering close to his. They are rather a mess, aren't they? And while she feels herself compelled to show him affection, to kiss and touch and enjoy the warmth that comes with being curled up beside him, if he would prefer her to allow him some space, it's a request she can most certainly honor— difficult as it may be to do so.]
no subject
but that does not mean that he cannot come to love her for who she is. for all the differences that he has already come to appreciate. for all the ways she is like azem, there are equal ways she is not, yet hythlodaeus is fond of her all the same. ]
.. perhaps it is.
[ he answers, truthfully, his violet gaze fixed on hers as he reaches with his free hand to tuck her dark hair back, his fingertips brushing the soft fur of one of her ears. ]
But in the end, I think, doing what feels natural is our best course. All else will work out in time.
no subject
'Doing what feels natural' is sound enough advice. Perhaps she is biased, given that's what she's already found her heart leaning towards for better or for worse, but the shiver that jolts between her shoulder blades and races down the length of her spine as he gently touches the edge of her ear serves as an excellent reminder of just how drawn to him she has found herself.
Her smile pulls to one side; though she hadn't gone far to begin with, she leans in for another languid kiss, the fog of sleep not having quite lifted entirely.]
Whatever feels natural. Seems simple enough.
[Even if the situation itself is far more nuanced than that, at its core. It doesn't change the way her fingers thread themselves into his hair, or how her touch slowly begins to dip below his navel, patterns tracing lower.]
no subject
they were friends, after all, in elpis. though their time together there had been brief, he had nevertheless grown fond of her.
at any rate, he cannot help but catch just how she reacts to the brief brush to her ear, and hythlodaeus' brows both lift, his mouth tugging into a smug smirk. ]
Sensitive indeed.
[ yet the words are breathless, for her touch is already teasing lower, lower, lower, and instantly there is a spark of heat igniting in his belly, his lips parting in a low, lengthy exhale. ]
no subject
I'm afraid you caught me.
[Perhaps she had gotten a little ahead of herself when it came to laying down rules the night before— but in her defense, when they had been discussing sharing the bed, she had still been of a mind to resist the persistent pull that she'd felt building between them.
Clearly, that had gone swimmingly.]
Pleased with yourself, are you?
[That exhale tells her that he's pleased with something, at least, and her touch grows bolder, fingertips trailing towards his hip beneath the blanket, tracing the lean muscle of his abdomen en route.]
no subject
[ he says around a smug smirk, though she soon has him biting his lower lip to stifle a soft groan, while her fingertips slip into the dip of his hip, teasing and slow. heavens know he's already hard, even ancients aren't immune from, you know, the morning wood, but the heat of anticipation nevertheless begins filling his groin.
he'll leave her ears for now, however, and wait until the opportune moment to spring his touch on them again. but hythlodaeus never forgets the details, especially when it comes to his lovers, so she can be sure he will file this knowledge away somewhere easily accessible.
but for now he only arches his hips indulgently, more than pleased to be waited on hand and foot, it would seem, for how lazy he always feels in the mornings. ]
no subject
[The kind to take pleasure in any small victory, and while he does leave her ears unattended for now, she has no doubt his touch will find its way there again in the near future— at which point she's certain she'll be entirely unable to disguise just how sensitive they have the capacity to be.
She allows the arch of his hips to encourage her, her touch smoothing over his thigh before moving to where she finds him already wanting— she's not surprised to find him already hard, given the nature of biology, and her long, deft fingers are cautious as she drags them along the length of his cock, gently curling them around the base and lightly pulling her thumb along the seam beneath as she leans in for another lingering kiss, baiting him.]
It almost seems cruel to leave this unattended.
no subject
Cruel indeed..
[ he murmurs, before his violet eyes flicker open again to find her own, and his left hand drops to close over her own, fingertips tracing her knuckles, while his right lifts to her face, tangling in her dark, wild hair. ]
How kind of you to be so.. attentive to my needs.
no subject
Well, I'll admit, it isn't entirely selfless.
[She chuckles warmly against the smooth curve of his neck, eyelids lowering as she inhales the scent of him again and feels her pulse quicken ever so slightly. It's almost criminal, she thinks, how easy it is to touch him, to fixate on him— and potentially very bad for any plans she may have had for productivity.
She turns her face into his touch, her lips puckering against the pad of his thumb as she trails a finger quite deliberately along the underside of his cock from base to tip.]
Maybe I'd just like to make the most of waking up beside you.