#valontines

He could feel the fingertips lapping at the back of his neck, the slight cold slip of a close-cut nail against his shoulder, as the four others tried to blindly grasp for safety, like a wild animal flung down a river rapid.

The hand wrung itself against the dark, wrist over-extending, tendons stretched. It was searching for a rescue. From somebody.

Anybody.

Valon’s body felt heavy. Heavier than it had in a long time.

He could feel the soreness of his muscles, the sting of fresh cuts and aches of bruises. His fists, brutalized, and soaked with violence he didn’t remember. Cold and warm and exhausted. In his periphery, he saw it - felt it - the hand grasping onto his shirt, knuckles white and trembling against the dark. An almost-aura vibrating in its struggle.

Valon felt himself smile, the corners of his mouth pulling against this sudden onset of pain as his eyes adjusted to the dark. His neck ached, muscles tearing into screams as he ground his head towards the shadows behind him.

Then he took in a breath, shaky and exhilarated, chest rattling and throat dry.

It tore against his windpipe and the oxygen made him dizzy, but it was his.

She had kissed other men before - not as many as some may think - but a few all the same. Stupid men in her younger days. Days she dared to kissed someone so softly, so foolishly. She’d open her eyes in a girlish daze, only to see her stare returned with a smug satisfaction that made her stomach sink into the carpet. Her hands would sweat and her back would stiffen. She would make a biting remark, try to catch them off-guard and leave on the higher ground. But out of sight she would wobble on her heels and her breath would catch in her chest. No matter how many hot showers she would stand in the sensation could never scald itself away and it became something she began to avoid altogether. Because it was all the same. They were always the same.

But here.

She cupped the back of Valon’s head, fingers curling into the tips of his hair, feeling the skin of his neck heat underneath her touch. His thumb rubbed her cheek while his other hand curled in a gentle fist on her lower back, guiding her body closer to his. Mai could feel his chest press into hers, and her heartbeat - or maybe his - began to thrum into the rest of her bones.

Mai is just a tall girl - absolutely fits her harpy/amazon deck to a T. When she wears actual heels (not the casual ones here) she's definitely pushing past 6 ft, on par with Seto. She doesn't compromise her height for anyone and loves being tall. I feel like she moves more towards her usual lighter colors for her wardrobe again - but she'll have some darker pieces here and there (like her sensible boots here or motorcyle boots). She always dresses for the occasion because she's incredible 😔👏💖💖💖

Valon is just a dense and compact guy - built like a knuckle. I thought he was canonically shorter than Mai for the entire fourth season until they stood next to each other and I just thought "hmm...this seems like a mistake." So I'm rectifying it here! Had him (and Mai) both an inch shorter, but also trying to fit where Yugi would be height wise (he'd be around 5'5), I felt Valon would be just a bit taller than him. Valon definitely doesn't care about his height because who should? He loves how tall Mai is though :3c Loves looking up at her 😏💖