Kaisel
He'd wanted nothing more than to gather her in his arms and press this away, but he hesitated to crowd her, uncertain if she might snap at that too and not sure he could remain whole if she did. So when she rejects his hand, turning his offer into something even better, for the first time since Astaroth said yes about being naked, he feels like he can take a full breath.
The kiss itself feels too brittle for it to land right, built from wariness and tears trying to break apart. It's the gesture that matters though, and while her hands cradle his face, his settle on her sides. As she relents back to her heels, his palms skim behind her, arms winding around her back, pulling her into a full body hug. His face slips over her shoulder, burying into her hair with a sigh. He doesn't do anything for a while except hold her as tight as he can, steadying with every inhale that draws her in with it, sea salt and bonefire smoke.
In time, his grip slackens a bit, but he doesn't pull back much, just enough to rest his chin along her shoulder and hum in thought to her words. "We should have a code phrase, or word," he mumbles, soft with consideration of the distance to her ear as much as caution over all the fresh bruises they earned from each other. "Something to tell us we need to stop and reset. Because you're always what matters most, and I never want to do this again." An emotional safe word, if you will.
His fingers curl against her back, a soft exhale skimming against her neck. He's been trying to figure out how to say this differently, searching for the core of it inside him, not always able to understand the why behind feelings, especially not at first. "I think," he starts, dipping back into what she'd said. "I was mostly upset that it felt like my concern was being brushed off. And it was the first time it's ever felt like you didn't have my back." He's not trying to blame her, just walk through the escalation of it all.
"I don't need you to always say I'm right, but I need you to hear me out, at least." If anything, he wants her to tell him when he's being an idiot, because he has those moments too. Maybe this is one, in some ways, but whatever her opinion about his discomfort with it, that's not the idiot part here. "I mean, I'd float with hundreds of dicks, for you, if I had to. I just need you to understand how much I'd hate it the whole time."
The kiss itself feels too brittle for it to land right, built from wariness and tears trying to break apart. It's the gesture that matters though, and while her hands cradle his face, his settle on her sides. As she relents back to her heels, his palms skim behind her, arms winding around her back, pulling her into a full body hug. His face slips over her shoulder, burying into her hair with a sigh. He doesn't do anything for a while except hold her as tight as he can, steadying with every inhale that draws her in with it, sea salt and bonefire smoke.
In time, his grip slackens a bit, but he doesn't pull back much, just enough to rest his chin along her shoulder and hum in thought to her words. "We should have a code phrase, or word," he mumbles, soft with consideration of the distance to her ear as much as caution over all the fresh bruises they earned from each other. "Something to tell us we need to stop and reset. Because you're always what matters most, and I never want to do this again." An emotional safe word, if you will.
His fingers curl against her back, a soft exhale skimming against her neck. He's been trying to figure out how to say this differently, searching for the core of it inside him, not always able to understand the why behind feelings, especially not at first. "I think," he starts, dipping back into what she'd said. "I was mostly upset that it felt like my concern was being brushed off. And it was the first time it's ever felt like you didn't have my back." He's not trying to blame her, just walk through the escalation of it all.
"I don't need you to always say I'm right, but I need you to hear me out, at least." If anything, he wants her to tell him when he's being an idiot, because he has those moments too. Maybe this is one, in some ways, but whatever her opinion about his discomfort with it, that's not the idiot part here. "I mean, I'd float with hundreds of dicks, for you, if I had to. I just need you to understand how much I'd hate it the whole time."
Wanted me to fail out of spite, I didn't
All bark but they don't bite, they timid
All bark but they don't bite, they timid
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
