[Venat puts a finger to her lips, eyes briefly upturned in contemplation.]
As to that, some research may be involved, I must admit.
[But her stalk doesn't slow. She drops one knee onto the bed, just touching his own, and leans over him -- and in, the better to capture his notice as the only thing in the world that ought to matter to him right now. Almost as an afterthought, she plucks the journal off his chest, sets it respectfully on the nightstand, and then replaces it with her palm and a little bit of her weight to support that lean.]
[ It takes so little. Venat doesn't even have to apply pressure; he goes easily, relaxing back onto the bed, reaching up to brush her hair back from her face, nearly reverent. ]
I'm afraid you're going to render me speechless before I can get a story out. Unless that's your intent...?
[A case in point: she leans down, now, hair tumbling down and around them as if to create their own little world. Her lips meet his, the kiss intense in ways that aren't mere heat, much as the sun itself shines with a warmth that is only in part its temperature.]
[ Every time since the first, a kiss from Venat sends a giddy, disbelieving jolt through his system. In all the lives he lives across all realities, he'll never understand exactly how his stars aligned to bring them together in this one.
Both of Maruki's hands come to rest against her cheeks, thumbs stroking tenderly over pale skin. It's a wonderfully intense kiss, all his boundless depth of feeling in it, but Maruki isn't a man who moves quickly. He's in no rush to pull her down with him. He's all too curious what's gotten into her to reveal itself on its own. ]
[After a long, intense moment -- one not suited to be measured in seconds, but heartbeats, for they are the only thing in the world she is aware of outside of him -- she withdraws only slightly, her lips barely brushing his when she speaks.]
I've every intention of seducing you, barring only two things -- I need your assent, and I've no notion at all of what I am doing. I do not believe the second one will truly be a hindrance, however... particularly if matters thus far are any evidence.
[As for her thoughts, feelings, what lurks behind those brilliant eyes and deep in her heart? Well, Venat -- Venat, of all people -- is trembling, ever so slightly. And not even the greatest fool could think it stemmed from even the slightest hint of fear.]
[ The world, or at least their small, secluded pocket of it, stills.
Maruki pulls back farther, enough to be able to look her in the eye, read her expression to try to find any hint of mischief that belies this for the prank that it must be, but–
He fails to find it. Venat is luminous as always, and a little teasing as she so often is with him, but earnest. Excited, like a person poised on the edge of a cliff, ready to take a leap with full confidence in the parachute strapped to their back. ]
You're serious...?
[ She is. It's plain to see.
Maruki swallows hard, nerves making his smile flicker in and out of existence as his suddenly overcrowded mind tries to settle on a reaction. ]
I...
[ He can't pretend he hasn't wanted this.
Can't pretend it doesn't come with its own tremendously heavy baggage, either.
He loops both arms loosely around Venat's shoulders and settles on nothing less than honesty, even if it's mortifying. ]
You can rest assured that I assent. But I should tell you it's been... a long time. In mortal human years, I mean. [ The blink of an eye for her, and not a period of time he's eager to endure teasing about. Anything else, yes, but– not that. ] We might as well both have no idea what we're doing.
[Venat tilts her head slightly, her smile somehow ever more radiant.] No, I misspoke. I do not know what I am doing physically. On an emotional level, I have naught but the strongest certainty and confidence.
[So saying, she kisses him again, with love and sweetness in it -- but also with passion, fierce and fiery passion. Of course she would be eager, almost aggressive, her fingers tightening in a way that threatens his shirt. Heated, hungry --]
[--and then after a moment, she has to break it, because she erupts into laughter instead. Bright laughter, but also faintly embarrassed, accompanied by the deepest blush she has ever exhibited in all her many, many years.]
Oh, I am going to need to take off my robes, and I need to know -- should I simply dismiss them, or should we disentangle so that I can stand and permit you a proper view?
[Ancient society was repressed without question, after all! She shocked it by her breaches of custom in baring her face more frequently than others! This is... well, something very much different in its entirety.]
[ There's no time for him to explain that that's what he meant too – it's been so long, and he's put the possibility of ever experiencing this again so far from his mind that he might as well be doing all of this for the first time all over again. The mind is a powerful tool, and Maruki's has been working against him for quite some time now.
And then–
She's breaking away, flushed and laughing. It's the most beautiful sound in this reality to him. He stares at her with open awe, and he can't imagine ever wanting anything more than this exact moment, even as the opportunity for it is pressed right into his hands.
His own face turns redder, hotter at the question. ]
Venat...
[ He strokes fingers compulsively through her hair, watches her face, guileless and vulnerable. ]
We can take our time with it. With one another. I'd like if we did, I mean. [ What he really means is that it's necessary that they do. Even just this is making his head spin.
Maruki's hands fall to her shoulders then, worrying the fabric of her robes between his fingers. ]
[His question makes her laugh again. True, it might be a little bit of peaked emotions making everything more intense, but is this not how it should be? Happiness, joy, delight?]
Yes, certainly. Though one thing we'll address first.
[One hand slips up behind the mask she never wears on her face but never leaves behind, fingers fiddling briefly before it drops gently onto Maruki's chest. She picks it up, tugging it so that its strap eels its way around her body and out from the folds of her robes. Once it's free, she tosses it aside without any regard for it; it's made of stuff too sturdy to come to harm no matter how it falls or bounces.]
There. Now. Let us see if you can navigate the rest, then, or if I must accept fate and simply banish the robes whole-cloth.
[ It occurs to him, as the mask drops down onto his chest, that aside from her dress at the dance in December, he has never seen her without it – and he's never explained it's yet another commonality they share. His own mask still sits at the back of a dresser drawer, untouched.
Some other time. For now, he only laughs softly as it's tossed away and reaches up to take her face in his hands again, drawing her down for a slow kiss.
Eventually, his hands travel down to fuss with the fabric of her robes, and he breaks away with a quiet huff of a laugh. ]
Don't give up on me too easily. I have to learn for myself, don't I?
[ It's not as if he wants to rely on asking her to magic away her robes every time in the future, if he's lucky enough for there to be future times!
But...
After a bit of fumbling looking for any sort of fastening, his cheeks do flush as he looks at her sheepishly. ]
[Though her elbows remain on either side of him, her head drops to the side of his, and her gentle laughter comes out hot on his neck. Then her voice is a gentle murmur in his ear, all the more intimate for being so quiet and close.]
I fear you must needs pull them off over my head, working from the bottom. Which will be tremendously undignified and embarrassing for the both of us, but I mind neither of those things at all, you should know. My thoughts are only of you.
I'm beginning to see why you'd rather just banish them. Maybe we'll only do this the old-fashioned way once...
[ And with that–
Maruki does indeed try to help gather her robes to shift the fabric up over her head.
It is indeed very undignified, and he can't stop himself from laughing, a breathless, musical thing that bounces off the walls of the room. Hopefully their shared humor makes this somewhat bearable, because his reaction to whatever comes next surely won't. ]
[Never has he seen, or is he likely to see again, such an undignified display from Venat. A lot of thrashing, kicking the robes to get them moving, and wiggling to adjust when they bunch up or catch here and there. Once again, a reminder than Ancient society was very repressed in many ways.]
[But a little time and a lot of effort see them cast aside at last, and there sits Venat on the bed next to him, her legs tucked up and a deep blush coloring her face and neck, and perhaps a little lower. But she is smiling, on the verge of bubbling laughter, as she looks at him.]
Maruki inhales sharply, keeps his eyes trained on her blushing face. His own must be just as dark, and every time his eyes start to drift, he snaps them back up to hold her gaze.
His voice comes quiet, arrested. Nothing less than entirely earnest. ]
You're the most beautiful person...
[ Now him.
His fingers tremble as he undoes the buttons of his shirt. It's easy to shrug off, though; he never minds being without his shirt, frequently sleeps that way even in the winter weather, just to be able to feel his skin against another.
His belt gives him pause for a moment, blush burning all the way up to the tips of his ears, but– better to just get it over with. Gracelessly, Maruki wriggles out of his trousers, kicks them off onto the ground along with the rest of his clothes.
There's nothing impressive about him, and he's very aware of it. A gangly man with no real muscle definition to speak of, practically delicate with the nip of his waist and prominent hipbones. Only a small patch of soft, downy hair low on his abdomen that disappears beneath the waistband of his boxers – otherwise his skin is pale, smooth, unmarked by every wound Azathoth has healed before it could scar.
His flush sprawls all the way down to his chest as he sits up to face Venat and blinks sheepishly. ]
[Venat watches all of this with avid ardor, not hesitating to explore his body with her gaze as he reveals it. It isn't as if she'd never seen anyone naked before, but never in such a context -- never to be appreciated, admired, seen for the sake of being seen.]
[But she is a woman predisposed to action, rather than simple passive perception. Within moments of his words, her hands reach out, resting on his chest to appreciate the feel of his skin, the warmth, the contrast of its texture to the muscle and bone beneath. Then she slides them up, over his collarbones and shoulders, catching the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss -- this one fiercer, all vibrant eagerness and excitement.]
[He needn't worry that she doesn't like what she sees.]
oh yeah blanket cw nsfw for the whole thread cheers!!!
[ It's a boldness that's wholly befitting of Venat, and yet manages to take him by surprise anyway; Maruki yelps as he's pulled in, the sound muffling into their kiss.
His hands falter for where to land, because–
If he starts letting himself want, he may never stop. If he starts to touch, he may never let go.
It's an old track that the wheel of his mind have worn deep grooves into. Dislodging himself from that isn't so quick or simple.
Finally, they land on her waist – safe enough, but her skin is bare, and warm, and that alone is enough to make Maruki break away to tuck his face into the crook of her neck. ]
Venat. One moment, please.
[ It's a tremendously vulnerable note that his voice strikes. ]
I don't think you realize what you do to me. It's like looking at the sun.
[She lets his mouth go when he seeks to free it, her head leaning against his as she holds him. Her heartbeat pounds, loud in her ears as never before -- a totally different cadence and character than the thrill of battle or the fear of failure.]
No. I do not know. But I wish to.
[Skin touching skin, more than just hands -- a soft, warm intensity she hasn't the words for. Venat may not know, but she understands, for this is something more than she could have possibly imagined.]
[ Maruki huffs a quiet, overwhelmed laugh against her throat. ]
I don't know if that's possible.
[ He'll always lack the precise words for exactly how Venat makes him feel, and he knows himself well enough to know that he'll certainly never be able to show it in action. It's something that resides firmly in his soul, beyond comprehension, but...
Slowly, cautiously, one hand at her waist drifts, the touch feather-light more out of nerves than any real desire to tease. In over her stomach, up her sternum, until he can run his fingertips just over the swell of her breast with a soft inhale, his breath held.
He finally manages to pick his head back up again, captures her lips in a kiss that begins to show fault lines of desperation in between his whispered words. ]
[Venat barely has time to gasp from the sudden sensation, entirely new and desperately welcome all the more for that. Then his lips are against hers again, and her return kiss every bit as hungry as his.]
[When they separate again, it is but an inch at most, her radiant eyes locked on his.]
More than okay. Do not stop. Please. Do not stop until you absolutely must.
[An ache for more pounds in her chest, a feeling like she's about to be swept away on a current far stronger than she could ever imagine. And she wants it. Very badly.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
As to that, some research may be involved, I must admit.
[But her stalk doesn't slow. She drops one knee onto the bed, just touching his own, and leans over him -- and in, the better to capture his notice as the only thing in the world that ought to matter to him right now. Almost as an afterthought, she plucks the journal off his chest, sets it respectfully on the nightstand, and then replaces it with her palm and a little bit of her weight to support that lean.]
no subject
I'm afraid you're going to render me speechless before I can get a story out. Unless that's your intent...?
no subject
[A case in point: she leans down, now, hair tumbling down and around them as if to create their own little world. Her lips meet his, the kiss intense in ways that aren't mere heat, much as the sun itself shines with a warmth that is only in part its temperature.]
no subject
Both of Maruki's hands come to rest against her cheeks, thumbs stroking tenderly over pale skin. It's a wonderfully intense kiss, all his boundless depth of feeling in it, but Maruki isn't a man who moves quickly. He's in no rush to pull her down with him. He's all too curious what's gotten into her to reveal itself on its own. ]
no subject
I've every intention of seducing you, barring only two things -- I need your assent, and I've no notion at all of what I am doing. I do not believe the second one will truly be a hindrance, however... particularly if matters thus far are any evidence.
[As for her thoughts, feelings, what lurks behind those brilliant eyes and deep in her heart? Well, Venat -- Venat, of all people -- is trembling, ever so slightly. And not even the greatest fool could think it stemmed from even the slightest hint of fear.]
no subject
Maruki pulls back farther, enough to be able to look her in the eye, read her expression to try to find any hint of mischief that belies this for the prank that it must be, but–
He fails to find it. Venat is luminous as always, and a little teasing as she so often is with him, but earnest. Excited, like a person poised on the edge of a cliff, ready to take a leap with full confidence in the parachute strapped to their back. ]
You're serious...?
[ She is. It's plain to see.
Maruki swallows hard, nerves making his smile flicker in and out of existence as his suddenly overcrowded mind tries to settle on a reaction. ]
I...
[ He can't pretend he hasn't wanted this.
Can't pretend it doesn't come with its own tremendously heavy baggage, either.
He loops both arms loosely around Venat's shoulders and settles on nothing less than honesty, even if it's mortifying. ]
You can rest assured that I assent. But I should tell you it's been... a long time. In mortal human years, I mean. [ The blink of an eye for her, and not a period of time he's eager to endure teasing about. Anything else, yes, but– not that. ] We might as well both have no idea what we're doing.
no subject
[So saying, she kisses him again, with love and sweetness in it -- but also with passion, fierce and fiery passion. Of course she would be eager, almost aggressive, her fingers tightening in a way that threatens his shirt. Heated, hungry --]
[--and then after a moment, she has to break it, because she erupts into laughter instead. Bright laughter, but also faintly embarrassed, accompanied by the deepest blush she has ever exhibited in all her many, many years.]
Oh, I am going to need to take off my robes, and I need to know -- should I simply dismiss them, or should we disentangle so that I can stand and permit you a proper view?
[Ancient society was repressed without question, after all! She shocked it by her breaches of custom in baring her face more frequently than others! This is... well, something very much different in its entirety.]
no subject
And then–
She's breaking away, flushed and laughing. It's the most beautiful sound in this reality to him. He stares at her with open awe, and he can't imagine ever wanting anything more than this exact moment, even as the opportunity for it is pressed right into his hands.
His own face turns redder, hotter at the question. ]
Venat...
[ He strokes fingers compulsively through her hair, watches her face, guileless and vulnerable. ]
We can take our time with it. With one another. I'd like if we did, I mean. [ What he really means is that it's necessary that they do. Even just this is making his head spin.
Maruki's hands fall to her shoulders then, worrying the fabric of her robes between his fingers. ]
Let me help you?
no subject
Yes, certainly. Though one thing we'll address first.
[One hand slips up behind the mask she never wears on her face but never leaves behind, fingers fiddling briefly before it drops gently onto Maruki's chest. She picks it up, tugging it so that its strap eels its way around her body and out from the folds of her robes. Once it's free, she tosses it aside without any regard for it; it's made of stuff too sturdy to come to harm no matter how it falls or bounces.]
There. Now. Let us see if you can navigate the rest, then, or if I must accept fate and simply banish the robes whole-cloth.
no subject
Some other time. For now, he only laughs softly as it's tossed away and reaches up to take her face in his hands again, drawing her down for a slow kiss.
Eventually, his hands travel down to fuss with the fabric of her robes, and he breaks away with a quiet huff of a laugh. ]
Don't give up on me too easily. I have to learn for myself, don't I?
[ It's not as if he wants to rely on asking her to magic away her robes every time in the future, if he's lucky enough for there to be future times!
But...
After a bit of fumbling looking for any sort of fastening, his cheeks do flush as he looks at her sheepishly. ]
Well. You might have to show me.
no subject
I fear you must needs pull them off over my head, working from the bottom. Which will be tremendously undignified and embarrassing for the both of us, but I mind neither of those things at all, you should know. My thoughts are only of you.
no subject
[ And with that–
Maruki does indeed try to help gather her robes to shift the fabric up over her head.
It is indeed very undignified, and he can't stop himself from laughing, a breathless, musical thing that bounces off the walls of the room. Hopefully their shared humor makes this somewhat bearable, because his reaction to whatever comes next surely won't. ]
no subject
[But a little time and a lot of effort see them cast aside at last, and there sits Venat on the bed next to him, her legs tucked up and a deep blush coloring her face and neck, and perhaps a little lower. But she is smiling, on the verge of bubbling laughter, as she looks at him.]
And now you.
no subject
Maruki inhales sharply, keeps his eyes trained on her blushing face. His own must be just as dark, and every time his eyes start to drift, he snaps them back up to hold her gaze.
His voice comes quiet, arrested. Nothing less than entirely earnest. ]
You're the most beautiful person...
[ Now him.
His fingers tremble as he undoes the buttons of his shirt. It's easy to shrug off, though; he never minds being without his shirt, frequently sleeps that way even in the winter weather, just to be able to feel his skin against another.
His belt gives him pause for a moment, blush burning all the way up to the tips of his ears, but– better to just get it over with. Gracelessly, Maruki wriggles out of his trousers, kicks them off onto the ground along with the rest of his clothes.
There's nothing impressive about him, and he's very aware of it. A gangly man with no real muscle definition to speak of, practically delicate with the nip of his waist and prominent hipbones. Only a small patch of soft, downy hair low on his abdomen that disappears beneath the waistband of his boxers – otherwise his skin is pale, smooth, unmarked by every wound Azathoth has healed before it could scar.
His flush sprawls all the way down to his chest as he sits up to face Venat and blinks sheepishly. ]
Well. Here we are.
no subject
[But she is a woman predisposed to action, rather than simple passive perception. Within moments of his words, her hands reach out, resting on his chest to appreciate the feel of his skin, the warmth, the contrast of its texture to the muscle and bone beneath. Then she slides them up, over his collarbones and shoulders, catching the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss -- this one fiercer, all vibrant eagerness and excitement.]
[He needn't worry that she doesn't like what she sees.]
oh yeah blanket cw nsfw for the whole thread cheers!!!
His hands falter for where to land, because–
If he starts letting himself want, he may never stop. If he starts to touch, he may never let go.
It's an old track that the wheel of his mind have worn deep grooves into. Dislodging himself from that isn't so quick or simple.
Finally, they land on her waist – safe enough, but her skin is bare, and warm, and that alone is enough to make Maruki break away to tuck his face into the crook of her neck. ]
Venat. One moment, please.
[ It's a tremendously vulnerable note that his voice strikes. ]
I don't think you realize what you do to me. It's like looking at the sun.
no subject
No. I do not know. But I wish to.
[Skin touching skin, more than just hands -- a soft, warm intensity she hasn't the words for. Venat may not know, but she understands, for this is something more than she could have possibly imagined.]
Show me.
no subject
I don't know if that's possible.
[ He'll always lack the precise words for exactly how Venat makes him feel, and he knows himself well enough to know that he'll certainly never be able to show it in action. It's something that resides firmly in his soul, beyond comprehension, but...
Slowly, cautiously, one hand at her waist drifts, the touch feather-light more out of nerves than any real desire to tease. In over her stomach, up her sternum, until he can run his fingertips just over the swell of her breast with a soft inhale, his breath held.
He finally manages to pick his head back up again, captures her lips in a kiss that begins to show fault lines of desperation in between his whispered words. ]
I love you. I do. Is this okay?
no subject
[When they separate again, it is but an inch at most, her radiant eyes locked on his.]
More than okay. Do not stop. Please. Do not stop until you absolutely must.
[An ache for more pounds in her chest, a feeling like she's about to be swept away on a current far stronger than she could ever imagine. And she wants it. Very badly.]