CYRENE .
per aspera ad astra
She used to think that there could be nothing more beautiful than the night sky, nothing more lovely than the moon’s caress as it painted the world quicksilver bright. She was wrong. Because he existed. And unlike the elusive moon, the taunting stars—he was right there; a feather’s touch away. So close. Too close. Was the liquor working already, for her to lean so carelessly towards him like a foolish, giggling maiden?
If so, then the girl’s utterly pitiful tolerance would very well be the death of her hard-won dignity. The two meager chestnuts Cyrene had consumed soaked up the wine about as well as two pebbles would have—and as she shifted away, she cursed her swimming mind and her traitorous, floundering heart.
Though Cyrene could not deny her relative inexperience in… romance, relationships—anything of the sort, really—she was well aware of the weapon any shapely, giggling thing wielded over the fantasies of men. Especially ones with stones for brains, and she had met far too many of those in the span of her year-long journey. Not a drop of guilt had dared to stain her honeyed lips as she strung them sweetly along; a wink here, a light brush of teasing feathers there. A girl traveling alone was a dangling invitation for disaster—and Cyrene had needed all the knives (metaphorical or not) she could pluck to survive as well as she had.
Yet Velorca, it seemed, would be her grand undoing—with just a glance, a tilt of velvet lips, and the finely spun threads of caution the girl laid out like a spider’s web disintegrated within his burning gaze. Unwilling to face her mess of tangled feelings, she blamed his catastrophically good looks instead.
As his voice dragged like cool fingers through her too-keen ears, Cyrene waved her swarming thoughts away like a nagging mosquito."Solterra…” those keen, crimson ears of hers did not miss the irony that curled itself sleekly inside his dismissive words. "Dusk is welcoming, perhaps too much so—though it is nice to have it easy, for a change,” she murmured softly; not quite rebuking his comment. Yet all the same, Cyrene wondered at the weight his toneless utterance held. "Though if I ever knock upon your Solterran door, I hope you’ll return my greeting.”
Regardless of his intentions, she would doubtlessly visit the Kingdom of Sun one day. For Cyrene did not expect him to come to her, and the thought of never seeing those golden eyes again jabbed sharp and frigid against her chest.
“Did you come alone?”
Sable lashes blinked in momentary surprise, as the question caught her unawares. The travel-worn lass had gotten so used to going anywhere she pleased unescorted, that the thought that proper ladies never did so appalled her. Did he see her as a poor, companionless girl, then? A creeping embarrassment bled subtly into her amber eyes as she doled out a bold answer.
"If I had not, I wouldn’t have seated myself upon this lonely log, and I wouldn’t have met you—it would have made for a dull evening.” A silvery chuckle spilled from her lips as she realized the truth in what had originally meant to be a jest. Infuriatingly enough, her head spun as she did; staunchly though she resisted, her body remained adamant in protesting liquor’s unwanted intrusion.
And so when wine-red feathers glided softly, swiftly, across Velorca’s lounging, storm-kissed frame, the touch transpired from fumbling limbs than conscious seduction. Meaning to steady herself upon the wood, Cyrene’s wings had opened of their own accord—much too widely, to her horror. Quickly she jerked them away, the spot where she had touched him burning like it had been singed."My apologies,” she breathed. What a way to sober her instantly.
If so, then the girl’s utterly pitiful tolerance would very well be the death of her hard-won dignity. The two meager chestnuts Cyrene had consumed soaked up the wine about as well as two pebbles would have—and as she shifted away, she cursed her swimming mind and her traitorous, floundering heart.
Though Cyrene could not deny her relative inexperience in… romance, relationships—anything of the sort, really—she was well aware of the weapon any shapely, giggling thing wielded over the fantasies of men. Especially ones with stones for brains, and she had met far too many of those in the span of her year-long journey. Not a drop of guilt had dared to stain her honeyed lips as she strung them sweetly along; a wink here, a light brush of teasing feathers there. A girl traveling alone was a dangling invitation for disaster—and Cyrene had needed all the knives (metaphorical or not) she could pluck to survive as well as she had.
Yet Velorca, it seemed, would be her grand undoing—with just a glance, a tilt of velvet lips, and the finely spun threads of caution the girl laid out like a spider’s web disintegrated within his burning gaze. Unwilling to face her mess of tangled feelings, she blamed his catastrophically good looks instead.
As his voice dragged like cool fingers through her too-keen ears, Cyrene waved her swarming thoughts away like a nagging mosquito.
Regardless of his intentions, she would doubtlessly visit the Kingdom of Sun one day. For Cyrene did not expect him to come to her, and the thought of never seeing those golden eyes again jabbed sharp and frigid against her chest.
“Did you come alone?”
Sable lashes blinked in momentary surprise, as the question caught her unawares. The travel-worn lass had gotten so used to going anywhere she pleased unescorted, that the thought that proper ladies never did so appalled her. Did he see her as a poor, companionless girl, then? A creeping embarrassment bled subtly into her amber eyes as she doled out a bold answer.
And so when wine-red feathers glided softly, swiftly, across Velorca’s lounging, storm-kissed frame, the touch transpired from fumbling limbs than conscious seduction. Meaning to steady herself upon the wood, Cyrene’s wings had opened of their own accord—much too widely, to her horror. Quickly she jerked them away, the spot where she had touched him burning like it had been singed.
@Velorca | notes: tipsy cyrene has made contact ;D
