#pridevowed

im leaving you for nyx

send ღ for my muse to sit on your muse’s lap

His eyes offered her a challenge,and Aranea was fully aware of it. Titus was comfortably reclined on his couch, onearm outstretched and resting on top of the backrest, the other folded along hisbody as his hand nursed a glass of wine. He wasn’t wearing much – only a robethat let part of his chest to be seen, and the scars he had there as well.

Aranea closed the door behind her, one hand going to her hairand removing the pair of sticks which kept her silver tresses in a bun. This…Was not the general dressed for the dinner she had been buggering him about.Well, at least not at a restaurant – there was the smell of food in the air,and the fact he had been drinking something else but the beer they usuallyshared was a sign as well. The commodore smirked, leaving the chopsticks overthe table and then removing her jacket, revealing the short dress with fishnetstockings she wore underneath it all, boot-clad feet making surprisingly lightsteps until arriving at the couch.

“You’re cheating,” she proclaimed with a wider grin, and thefact she wore make-up that night (mostly in the form of lipstick and eyeliner)made her smile a bit more noticeable than usual, “This is not you taking me outto dinner like you promised.”

“Are you interested in dinner only?” he tilted his head up,facing her – and Aranea would have loved to rip his smirk out of his face, ifnot for the fact that he wasn’t wrong – it was just that she was used to takingcharge and the initiative far too often for someone else to anticipate hermoves. Damn.

“I’m interested in being spoiled and a fancy restaurant is anice start…” she replied, finally crossing the last line – Aranea climbed ontothe couch, settled on his lap and reached for his glass. That motion per seimplied in the commodore getting well acquainted with his body in such anobvious state of undress, as well as offering a nice view of her cleavage asshe stretched her body to steal the wine.

Drautos might have started this game, but Aranea was a decentplayer herself.

“You don’t strike me as the type of woman to be offended if Idon’t buy you flowers and dinner first, Highwind,” he inquired back while shesipped the wine, finding it… Too sweet from the cheap beer she usually bought,but not in a terrible way, “Thought you appreciated cutting to the chase andavoiding all bullshit.”

“You’re such a bastard,” she replied with a small laugh, butdidn’t return the glass – instead, she emptied it, in a quite formidabledisplay – enough for one red droplet to fall from the glass and travel down herchin, the tiny ruby being easily captured by one of his fingers. Aranea justwatched him clean the smudge away, and then was surprised to feel a large,strong hand against her back, pulling her close so the tip of his tongue couldtrace her throat, finishing off the task of cleaning up her small mess.

Her breath hitched, and this close, Titus certainly noticed.But there was a small victory for Aranea in how his body reacted under her, aswell.

“I don’t appreciate being outside in Gralea… Too risky forsomeone with my face,” he confessed in her ear, the stubble brushing against herskin and making her smile, “So I thought we could have the fancy dinner broughtover to us, unless you insist on me donning that ‘monstrosity of an armor’, asyou so elegantly named it, and heading out.”

The empty glass was placed on the couch, near Titus. Araneathen chuckled against him, using both hands to pull his robe open and to tracethe scars with her curious digits, liking the feel of warm, rough skin againstfingertips rather than the ridiculous armor he wore to the battlefield. Shemoved on his lap without any real reason but stirring something up – and letout a breathy laugh near his ear as her nails dug into the skin of his chest.

8( HURRY UP I DIDN’T TRAIN YOU TO BE SLOW

Happy Birthday Clarus!! ↪  @pridevowed

         Clarus never normally did anything for his birthday, to him it was just another day that continued to tick along. He’d spend some time with the kids, often they had a family meal, last year Iris baked him a cake. But other than that Clarus wasn’t expecting any special treatment.

Roused from the grips of sleep Clarus was greeted with the scent of coffee and food and Titus. Nuzzling into the other man briefly Clarus placed a few lazy kisses against Titus’ jaw, voice still thick with sleep when he spoke.

“Mornin’..” Words were buried against the slope of Titus’ neck, Clarus pretty content to stay there until he was guided to the breakfast upon the nightstand.

A small smile lifted Clarus’ lips as he helped himself to the coffee and tried to ignore the jump in his heart when he saw the clock.

Titus must’ve taken care of things, sorted out a teacher for his lessons. When was the last time he’d had a lie in? Clarus was always up, always active and doing something. It was a surprising change and Clarus felt rather well rested.

“Titus..”

The cup was set down and Clarus turned his attention back to the man beside him, lacing their fingers together.