Folder for Whatever I Hyperfixated On

Her thoughts no longer vied to replace his but wove seamlessly into the fabric of his consciousness, a delicate symbiosis of two minds moving as one. When her chest pressed to his back, the quiet rhythm of her heart syncing with his, until he couldn’t say if he hears one heart or two at once. Her need blanketed him with delightful heaviness, making him pliant, giving him the opportunity to lean back into her, to surrender, in a way.

His senses parsed her chemistry instinctively, with reverence of a lover. Every molecule was a hymn to their bond, a hymn that spoke of trust deeper than words, a love built on the unshakable foundation of shared understanding. She was the only one who could dismantle him so completely and rebuild him stronger in the same breath.

Her giggle bubbled up in his own throat, light and unrestrained, a sound so rare it startled him into opening his eyes. The echo of her laugh ringed in his mind, while her lips stayed closed and her joy spilled into him like sparkling wine trough the intricate wires connecting their consciousness. He turned his head, catching her mischievous smile.

“Something amuses you, Sapphire?” he asked, though he didn’t need an answer. Yet, he asked anyway, because hearing her voice was a pleasure he would never take for granted.

She laughed then, actually laughed. A soft, velvety sound that vibrated against his skin as her hands slid up his chest. “Something… someone…” she murmured, her voice a whisper that settled over him like silk. Maybe a little deeper than remembered, like she grew more confident in her own body.

Her hands slowly slide up his body, hard planes of his hexed flesh throb beneath each caress and Viktor lets out a short sigh, just as Sapphire hums in appreciation in the space between his uncovered shoulder blades.

She chuckled again and Viktor felt the corners of his lips tilt upward.

He stopped her hand, intertwining their fingers and lifting them into the light filtering through the greenhouse glass. The interplay of shadow and glow caught the metallic threads in his hexed flesh and reflected in the delicate human softness of hers. Their bond was there, palpable in every shared glance, every unspoken thought. Her consciousness brushed against his, tentative but present, giving him a taste of her emotions, her unwavering trust, her unspoken devotion.

“You’re cataloging scents again,” she teased, her voice carrying the gentle lilt of her amusement. “A brilliant mind that refuses to rest even for something so trivial...”

“Scent? Trivial?” Viktor’s voice dipped into incredulous disbelief, though there was a faint curve of amusement to his words. “You do realize how much information a single molecule carries? How it can tell a story, mark a moment, or even warn of danger?”

Sapphire’s smile widened, and she tilted her head to nuzzle into the nape of his neck, lips grazing metal etched into the spines. Her voice a low, teasing whisper. “I realize you’re the only one who could turn my perfume into a philosophical debate.”

Her breath ghosted over his skin, pulling a quiet hum from deep in his chest. “Hardly philosophical. Perfume, as you call it, is merely a layered compound, designed to—”

She cut him off with a playful squeeze of his hand. “—to distract and delight. You love it because it reminds you of me, not because of the molecular structure.”

He paused, turning his head just enough to catch the edge of her grin. Her words disarmed him, as they always did, wrapping him in that strange, contradictory comfort she embodied. She was his chaos and his clarity, and it left him feeling both unbalanced and utterly centered.

“I…” His voice softened, hesitant but honest. “I love it because it’s you.”

For a moment, the light filtering through the greenhouse caught in her hair, turning the strands into threads of liquid amber. Her smile softened, the teasing glint in her eyes giving way to something quieter, something far more dangerous to his carefully guarded heart.

“You see?” she whispered, leaning forward until her lips touched the sensitive skin of his neck again. “Even you can admit it. You’re not as logical as you like to think of yourself, Viktor.”

“Mm,” he murmured, his lips quirking again, this time with a hint of self-deprecation. “And you’re not as gentle as you pretend, Sapphire.”

For a long moment, they stayed there, quiet in the haze of the greenhouse, her warmth sinking into his back, his pulse slowing to match hers. Viktor finally broke the silence, his voice a whisper meant only for her.

“It is a lot of power to hold over someone. I wouldn’t want to abuse it.”