#adenial

Somewhere only we know . . .

@adenial asked: "I could never love you the way you'd want me to love you. You should give up, we should stop this."

The remark came as Sevika adjusted her arm to stroke along Lovek's side. She had been quite content to just relax at the moment with her but soon took to listening to her words. Sitting up, she shifted to touch her face while steel eyes eased to gaze at her lover.

𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, overwhelming in its force, its ceaseless flow impossible to divert. Having lived under the yoke of prophecy for nearly the entirety of his long existence, he is still uncertain of that sentiment. If fate must be defied with sacrifice, where life must be the coinage for this precious freedom, then it seems too steep a price. He still remembers those final moments that he will carry as a weight within his heart for the rest of his days. It is the best he can do to honor a trust imparted to him – by remembering, by never allowing the memory to fade.

Thus, when the one god he has ever known has left such an indelible mark upon his soul, it is impossible not to make comparisons when in the company of yet another. Just as the flow of a river, the current of his own fate will cross with those of the remaining seven. It is only fitting, he supposes as he sits across from the one who bears the mantle once celebrated for love, that it would be this one. From what he has learned from the Traveler, the Tsaritsa is adamant in changing the course of those rivers.

Will she too learn the same lesson as he and so many others on the matter of prophecy and fate?

@adenial

It was no secret that Maru liked to touch. He was forever doing it without thinking - brushing a lock of hair aside, touching hands, arms, shoulders and everything while he talked, even little things like brushing his tail against someone.

Lovek had come to know this.

What he may not have expected though, was that the feline was even worse when he was sharing a bed.

The Viera was awake before Maru and in the hazy light of the early morning, shortly before the feline was likely to wake on his own anyway, Lovek woke to being subject to the Miqo'te's clinginess.

Maru was partially sprawled across him, head pillowed on the Viera's chest. One leg thrown across Lovek's waist, one arm across Lovek's chest but bent to rest his hand in a loosely closed fist not too far from the steady beat of his lover's heart.

No nightmares for either of them.

No sudden jolts into wakefulness, no racing pulse, lips pulled pulled back in a snarl or a grimace, the taste of blood on the tongue.

Just quiet. A gradual awareness of the birdsong outside, gentle and lilting. The stream of light and the motes of dust that danced in it, playing over the feline's bare shoulder and the tattoos that decorated it. And gradually, as Lovek's hand rose into the untidy mop of snowy hair, the low rumble of content purring as Maru woke to warmth and comfort.

Rare was it that life granted them such softness, such tenderness. Rarer still was it that they allowed it for themselves.

Now there’s naught but an empty home, a lone child to occupy its halls. A ruined relationship only recently mended, if but barely. He thinks mayhap it best to delay their departure – to have Lovek remain alone once more… even if for but the passing of a handful of moons, he mislikes the thought. Yet for what Radagon is now, for what needs be done, he can no more remain in the manor than he can ignore the plight of the world. ‘Tis for his beloved child that he must continue. He must make right what has broken in his absence.