It takes a leap of faith

Amalia

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stop thinking so much

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"Everything suits you." Perhaps there is something else she should have said, playful or eloquent, teasing or true- but oh, her mind is drawing a blank, thoughts fading in the shadow of his monolithic form. It is all she can do to keep from gasping as he rises from the tub, the full imposing breadth of him glistening and on display. More than a man, he is a mountain, carved lines and muscles like stone, crags and cool rivulets, ice and flame. Were she to make a monument to the human form it would look like him-

And somehow, by some miracle, he is hers.

By the time he steps out of the bath Amalia is composed enough to follow, rising in the lukewarm water, shivering as air assaults her damp skin, goosebumps rising quickly. Before she can ask for a towel, however, one is placed around her shoulders; she gasps and giggles pleased surprise as he sweeps her easily off her feet. The softness of the fabric is matched only by his touch, and as he works to dry her Amalia finds herself reaching out, littering soft kisses wherever she can reach him, her lips pressed dulcetly on any exposed olive skin.

He leaves the fabric on her head, and she raises her arms, miming Ludo, wrapped in scraps of cloth. As Deimos soaks up their inadvertent flood Amalia makes her way into the bedroom, the towel wrapped around her waist. Curious, brazen, a searching cat- she wants to see his haven, his sanctuary, to know him for all he is.

She has just opened a drawer when his voice floats into the room, a new sort of urgency fuelling her thoughts. "The pie!" Pulling on the first thing she can find - a thin white shirt that hangs halfway down her thighs - the baker scurries toward the stairs, bounding down them three at a time, laughter following in her wake. "Vi's beard, I completely forgot!"

Luckily, by some miracle, it does not quite smell burnt.

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you're breaking your own heart

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