corrupts absolutely,
or almost.
Anandi shivers. Maybe it’s because of the chill autumn breeze on her ocean-damp skin, but more likely it’s because she’s seized by anticipation. The next few hours are so very full of possibilities: Apolonia would arrive soon, and the night would thicken, and who knows what would follow? It could be innocent, it could be insidious. The strangest part was that she did not know which she wanted more.
The emissary watches the pied girl descend to the beach, braids thick black, gleaming like silk rope in the ripening sunset. A moment later she steps forward. “Apolonia.” She approaches from the cliffs, not the water-- had her guest expected otherwise?-- head tilted in warm appraisal as she looks down. “When we’re apart I always forget quite how beautiful you are.” A small part of her thinks I could get used to this. This sweetness. It could be like this all the time.
She takes that small part of herself and she strangles it.
(And anyway, on second thought, there is something decidedly not-sweet about the way she says beautiful.)
“Come, let's walk.” Anandi waits for Apolonia to ascend the cliff then leads the way down the coast, taking a wide berth around the crowded bonfires. There was never not a struggle within the kelpie (hunger and affection, desire and responsibility, morality and instinct-- the list goes on) but tonight there is something particularly pensive behind her lovely green eyes. Silent forces are at play, wrestling beneath the placid grey of her skin. Finally, she breaks the quiet between them. “I’ve been thinking… I realized I don’t even know that much about you. Tell me something about your family.” It is spoken like a command, but her tone is light, her gaze gently inquisitive. It is (somewhat) clearly a request, easily denied without being taken personally-- at least, not very personally.
Subtlety is an inherent strength of hers, but she is still learning what it is to be gentle. The two are far more different than they seem.
@
some say the loving and the devouring are all the same thing
☾
