Anahita
Her eyes flicker as the flame's caress tugs her back into the present, her fingers reaching for the warm tendrils - ointment for her temper. And then, the sudden creak of metal makes her heart flutter. Her eyes excitedly leap to the searing chains as the layer of rocky dust that had crawled over them falls away crumbling.
As the red chains stretched, she added force to Danta's efforts, pulling down with a wince and a ping of pain from her awkwardly hung wrist. A breathy chuckle left her lungs when they staggered forward, and she looked warmly into clear blue eyes, lips parted to speak their thanks... when his words reached her and gratitude remained stuck in her throat. She blinked, slipping out of his grasp to glimpse down at the truth.
Fingers found the clasp behind her neck. A moment later she yanked the delicate chain off and raised it into the low light, brushing her thumb across cloudy sapphires. Coming into focus all at once, traces of time glanced back at her from crumbling corners, collapsed walls, all the way down to her own stone-encrusted chains. In a breath, her body seemed to lose the strength that had held her in place for all those years. "I...", a shy smile escaped her, suddenly completely out of grace, like a dolled-up fool chained to a wall.
Then, she burst into laughter.
Coming up from her chest and stretching into the cove, it bounced off the walls. It hunched her over before she was able to settle against the far wall, dragging her chains along the way. She caught her breath, and just as abruptly, her laugh thinned into silence.
Ana spoke to the man in the room as much as to the room itself. " Did it upset you? I... I find myself rather empty. Or overwhelmed, perhaps. In any case, upset doesn't come close to it, she scoffed, and quickly added, I can't say I'm willing to contemplate it without a stiff drink in my hand. Well aged, preferably", she finished with morbid mirth, unlocking another burst of laughter, short and hearty.
She felt the weathered necklace, still in her hand. Muttering something to herself, sharp and succinct, she gathered up the hair that hung loose around her face, pulled it back, and wrapped the once gleaming jewels around it roughly.
"Say, could I entice you to repeat that trick?," she cracked a smile at him, eyes shining wild and awake, and slipped her bound ankle out through the slit in her onyx-colored dress, the light fabric easily parting.
As the red chains stretched, she added force to Danta's efforts, pulling down with a wince and a ping of pain from her awkwardly hung wrist. A breathy chuckle left her lungs when they staggered forward, and she looked warmly into clear blue eyes, lips parted to speak their thanks... when his words reached her and gratitude remained stuck in her throat. She blinked, slipping out of his grasp to glimpse down at the truth.
Fingers found the clasp behind her neck. A moment later she yanked the delicate chain off and raised it into the low light, brushing her thumb across cloudy sapphires. Coming into focus all at once, traces of time glanced back at her from crumbling corners, collapsed walls, all the way down to her own stone-encrusted chains. In a breath, her body seemed to lose the strength that had held her in place for all those years. "I...", a shy smile escaped her, suddenly completely out of grace, like a dolled-up fool chained to a wall.
Then, she burst into laughter.
Coming up from her chest and stretching into the cove, it bounced off the walls. It hunched her over before she was able to settle against the far wall, dragging her chains along the way. She caught her breath, and just as abruptly, her laugh thinned into silence.
Ana spoke to the man in the room as much as to the room itself. " Did it upset you? I... I find myself rather empty. Or overwhelmed, perhaps. In any case, upset doesn't come close to it, she scoffed, and quickly added, I can't say I'm willing to contemplate it without a stiff drink in my hand. Well aged, preferably", she finished with morbid mirth, unlocking another burst of laughter, short and hearty.
She felt the weathered necklace, still in her hand. Muttering something to herself, sharp and succinct, she gathered up the hair that hung loose around her face, pulled it back, and wrapped the once gleaming jewels around it roughly.
"Say, could I entice you to repeat that trick?," she cracked a smile at him, eyes shining wild and awake, and slipped her bound ankle out through the slit in her onyx-colored dress, the light fabric easily parting.
