#attoye

Mwah!

Chapter 6 from the third installment of The Alliance Kingdoms series.

Summary: Attuma soothes Okoye's doubts. Okoye takes matters into her own hands.

Excerpt: It was a wonder that news from a trusted servant reached the Shark Prince before the gossip of others regarding Princess Okoye’s current condition. Attuma found her in her quarters curled up on the bed. She looked at him with sad brown eyes when he entered the chambers.

"My Sweetness?” Attuma asked as he moved toward her and took up a seat.

“I failed,” said Okoye.

Summary: A quick 300-500 word drabble based on the prompt: Aftermath & Recovery

Tags: Fluff, A Whiff of A Hint of Plot, & a Smidge of Blood Mentioned

~~~

Her body was still shaking.

It was hard to know if it was the adrenaline leaving, or if she was going into shock. Being soaked to the bone probably didn’t help matters.

Consequences of nearly drowning, she supposed.

Her ears were still ringing from the blast, and her heart felt like a herd of wildebeests stampeding through her chest. Her lungs burned for air, but she couldn’t force her mouth open for anything more than a gasp. The shakes took on a violent tremble between one breath and the next, and her teeth began to chatter loudly. She blinked, trying to clear blood and blurriness from her field of vision to no avail.

A hand found her hip, sending a flood of warmth from the point of contact. Another wrapped around her back, pulling her away from the cold steel she’d been trembling against and into a steady, heat-filled embrace. The ringing in her ears began to fade into a jumble of faint murmurs as her surroundings began to orient themselves again. She tried focusing on the voice, brows furrowing as she heard a string of profanity.

“Shitshitshitshitshitshit.”

She felt herself being maneuvered to the floor and bundled into the talking warmth’s arms, curses and questions spilling out in equal measure as they moved.

“Okoye? Can you hear me, in yakunaj?” The voice grew clearer as the tremors began to subside, murmuring a dozen assurances against her forehead. “It’s okay. You’re okay. We’re gonna get you warmed up, I promise.”

Something just as warm was pressed into her hands, then guided up to her mouth, urging her to drink.

“Drink, mejen, drink.”

She swallowed reflexively, letting the heat and sweet slide down her throat, allowing herself two more guided sips before pulling back. She tried tucking herself further into the warmth surrounding her, only to be met with another string of curses.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Fucking shit!”

Calloused hands cradled her face, drawing her blurry eyes up to a familiar brown gaze.

Attuma.

Attuma, who was using more profanity right now than she’d ever heard him use.

“Chaac and Bast and all the damned heavens, ‘Koye,” he murmured, swiping a gentle hand over her bloody brow. “Ayo’s going to kill me.”

The worried affection in his tone was also something she’d never heard before.

“D-Don’t tell me you’re scared of the General, oh m-mighty Nacom,” she teased, vision finally clearing as he cleaned the blood from her face.

“I promised you wouldn’t get hurt, and you decided to get blown off an aircraft carrier,” he said, still cradling her face like she was something precious. “You’ll have to excuse my wariness in telling her about the three-inch gash across your head.”

Her lips quirked up despite the tremors.

“L-lucky for m-me, you’re a pretty g-good fisherman.”

Summary: A quick 300-500 word drabble based on the prompt: Warmth & Intimacy

Tags: Fluff, General Coziness, & an Absolute Lack of Plot

A/N: This is mostly just me attempting to revive my dead muse. I’ve written 5 of these so far and I think I’ll post one a day on here. If you’re impatient and wanna read them all, feel free to hop on Ao3.

~~~

The air felt chillier than usual tonight.

There was a bite to it, one that told her winter was coming sooner rather than later.

No more late nights on the beach, then.

As if confirming her thoughts, a swift breeze whipped off the incoming tide, spraying a fine mist over her body and sending a chill through her bones.

She shivered despite the fire at her back. It was a quick, almost imperceptible thing that would’ve gone unnoticed by most people.

Fortunately for her, Attuma wasn’t “most people”.

A warm arm wound itself around her shoulders before the chill had time to settle, pulling her into an even warmer body. Something like peace stole over her with the motion. Something better. Headier. She leaned into it, curling further into him with a wistful smile. Her knees pressed against his outstretched legs, and her fingers sought his, tangling together—easy as breathing. She tucked her head beneath his chin with a soft sigh.

“Okay, in ba’al?” He asked, voice a velvet murmur in the quiet of the evening.

To answer with a simple “yes” felt like an understatement. She hadn’t felt anything as simple as okay in weeks. Maybe even months. How could she explain to him that happy was too insufficient a word for the unending well of joy she felt when they were together? What words could possibly describe the sense of fulfillment that bubbled over when she was wrapped in his arms?

Okay simply wasn’t enough.

“Okoye?”

A hint of concern bled into the warm depths of his voice, and she realized she hadn’t answered. An easily remedied error.

She brought their entwined fingers to her mouth and pressed a lingering kiss to the back of his hand, hoping he could feel all that she wanted to say.

“I’m perfect.”