#arrwd

@arrwd + unprompted

nothing pretty nor nothing extravagant, they’re too busy, too focused, too scattered against the pressing of war-torn hands / gentle, the tips of fingers, catherine laughing into the sway of dark hair, they don’t need a ceremony. 

“ i don’t have family to invite, ” catherine mentions, trying to imagine shamir in folds of white, a tender sweetness strange against the sharp visage of a woman who looked better in leather. no dresses for catherine, not anymore.

shamir says, “ then don’t invite anyone. ” and it’s fitting, that answer, blunt and self-assured and –

“ why, so you can have you all to yourself? ” catherine’s lips curve in a smile to see shamir’s dismay, feigning pain at a sharp elbow. marriage. marriage. marriage.

and to think it had meant something less hopeful, once, a compromising of freedom. tight-lipped and choking, bubbling up resentment but holding it out down for duty.

shamir didn’t care for the church. didn’t care for the belief. didn’t care for the way blood ran too thick in catherine’s veins, leaving expectance in its hue. different and hating her for it / different and loving her for it / different enough to not care for the way brands still burn even when you try to put out the fire. it was just – 

“ catherine, i want to take you to my home country. we can start a new life there, ” shamir says, and catherine can feel her heart galloping across her lungs. she can scarcely breathe, the way she’s holding it, the sharp tangy taste of shock, and with her face flushed she shakes her head.

“ how do you say those things so easily? ” she says, taking shamir’s hand and smiling when she’s allowed to hold it, thumb rubbing against the golden band. after a pause, catherine continues: “ when are we leaving? ” 

shamir pinches her face, and catherine laughs.

@arrwd

+ catherine’s birthday is 9/15!

she’s shy, catherine can tell – it’s a gradual thing, the knowing, enveloping her senses enough to know shamir closely, every detail important. it’s not a shyness of the usual sense: it’s awkwardness at its finest, a discomfort in an unfamiliar situation. catherine has a hard time trying not to tease, but finds the desire overwhelming and all-encompassing, especially in the wake of shamir’s small kindness. ah, she can be a little selfish on her birthday, can’t she?

pulling the gift from shamir’s open hands and using a free hand to pull shamir closer, catherine’s lips tug up, playful in the purr of her voice. “ what’s that, shamir? you’re so quiet. ” she says, stealing a kiss while looking smug. “ thanks shamir, for remembering, ” she says softer, a fondness tender in the blues of her eyes, quiet if only to drink in love in the smallest gestures.

that is, until she notices what the gift is. “ oh! is that a two-toned whetstone?! shamir, i could marry you now! ” catherine exclaims, letting shamir go to look closer at the gift, expression alight; not unlike a child, her body is full to the brim with buoyancy, her smile wide enough to show teeth. “  ha, well, you can ignore that last part, ” catherine murmurs, pocketing the whetstone to press her forehead to shamir’s as gentle as she can, “ but thank you. i know it was hard to find. ”