no stone unturned

HARPER

Her smile, even as reserved as it is, is positively radiant. There's no conceivable way to drown in an expression and yet he feels it nonetheless. Breath stolen away by the world's boldest thief as she chains his feet to the floor with a single quirk of her lips. "I'm afraid you have huntress." But instead of mimicking her teasing he is smiling brightly, content with this entrapment she offers. Helpless but to touch her again and again, smiling shyly down at her. "If it means seeing you smile again, I'm sure I can make your web a home." Because Harper has learned many lessons in his life, and one of them is that life is too short to conceal or mince words.

Her agreement makes him grin boyishly as ever, so easy around this wonder of a woman. "Then lead the way? Unless I'm keeping you from your evening rituals." Harper doesn't have the option if he's staying over, but it's far from an inconvenience.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

She’s clearly amused by him when he tells her that she’s trapped him – though she can’t figure out how. Her hands were too bloody, she was too much of a mess, too much of everything for someone to want to be around. Perhaps she’d let him live in ignorance a bit longer before she reveals her secrets, to find the further cobwebs hidden within the web itself, but she stills, her eyes seeking his own when he mentions he could make her web a home, trying to find the lie, trying to find the jest within it.

Trying to find any and every reason to avoid the certain heartbreak that will come.

She inhales perhaps a bit shakily, looking down and away from that steel gaze, a small nod given to him when he tells her to lead the way, and her body cries out as she pulls away from his embrace, to pull at his hand to lead him away from the desk she’d pinned him against, to guide him to her room in the far corner reaches of the house, following along dark hallways until the golden doorknob is in sight.

She opens it, and he’ll find the armor Deimos made her on display on a mannequin of sorts so she could put it on easily, among a variety of weapons – the far wall pelted with throwing knives, each etched with snowflakes or icicles among their hilts that she hadn’t removed yet. And she lets him enter first, to get an idea of what the room was like, the large bed in the center with plush furs and blankets, plenty of pillows, and Auni’s bed along the foot of the bed.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

Honestly he's split between feeling proud to have struck her wordless, or fearing he has misstepped with his honesty. At the very least she doesn't seem offended, doesn't roll her eyes or dismiss him out of hand. Apologizing for his own feelings wouldn't happen, but at least he would have apologized for making her uncomfortable. Perhaps he hasn't though, not with how she backs away and grabs his hand to lead him deeper into the house. He trails along pleasantly behind her, gaze taking in everything they pass with interest that only grows as she opens a door and leads him into what is clearly her room. Well, that's his answer regarding her night rituals.

Sapphire eyes sweep the room, appreciating the finery of the armor that his eyes first land upon before cataloging every other detail that remains. It's like a snapshot of who Kiada is, this most private space of hers. It's a deeply humbling experience, to be let into her sanctuary like this, and one he doesn't take lightly. When he soaks it all in he turns and smiles at her, and - hoping to chase the seriousness from her eyes - grabs her around the waist and quickly hustles towards the bed, tossing her onto the matress in one swift motion, mischief gleaming in the cut of his grin.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

She steps aside to let him view the room, accepting his offer of sharing the night and secrets in the night and nothing more – finding it to be a strange sort of exposure of hers, and she doesn’t even know where to begin. She’d never told Ezra. Ru’in had been there for part of it. Rixen had also been there for the prolonged part of it. But Harper? He was new and different, came from a different world where the horrors and decisions she’d made hadn’t destroyed it, hadn’t created enemies across the world with people arriving that had witnessed it.

She’s surprised when he shifts his attention to her, diving toward her to grab her around her waist, and she shrieks a small amount with the surprise, wrapping arms around his neck to keep her balance before she’s tossed onto the mattress, and she locks her arms around his neck, pulling him down with her and a huff of loud snickers that leave her, hair a mess as a crown around her face, dragging him down into the furs and blankets as she tries to catch her breath from the surprise. Then, she squints a small amount at him, something in an attempt to chastise him. “Harper!” She says in an attempted serious tone before breaking into a fit of laughter.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

Oh, it's far too easy to make her laugh and shriek, and his own laughter rumbles in his chest as she clings like a limpet to him. Dragging him down by the neck until his knees buckle and he falls with her with a laugh, at least having the sense to awkwardly stick his arms out and keep from crushing her with his larger body. Her hair splays out in a dark halo, and Harper grins down at her with a smile that's all sunshine despite the spark of mischief in his blue eyes. Even her chiding was weak, soft around the edges with laughter and disbelief. "Kiada!" he mimics back to her in the same offended tone. Kicking off his shoes and wriggling overtop her, dragging her along by the waist once more as he playfully rolls her across the covers to get them better situated.

When he is content with their arrangements - a system that nobody but him would really understand - he props up on one elbow and beams down at her. "You've got me in your bed you minx. What will the Settlement think?" He fakes a scandalized gasp, free hand going to his heart as he falls onto his back dramatically. "My reputation!" As if he cares what anyone really thought about him, but she probably knows that just from seeing him make a fool of himself at every given opportunity. And even times that were definitely not given to him but which he took anyway.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

He mimics back to her as he props above her to not crush her, and she snickers with the accurate representation of what she’d said, shaking her head to him before a quiet yelp leaves her and she kicks her own shoes off as he moves her. “I’m not even ready yet!” She says in quiet chiding, letting him move her wherever he chooses, beaming at him is a surprise in her own right, but she does it all the same. It gives her time to shed extra layers, the extra furs on the bed that will be too warm with him staying – imagining the dramatic man is a furnace, and she settles in to let him prop himself over her.

And gods he’s surprisingly adorable when he freaks out like this, falling onto his back with a bump of the bed that causes a shiver to run down her spine and she brushes her hair back and away from her face, taking the opportunity to wrap it up and keep it out of the way, though it reveals the scars along her shoulders, the X along her neck as she turns to face him in the bed, the briefest of burn scars that peek over her spine on the back of her neck. “What reputation?” She teases him with a small snicker, reaching for him to give him a look that suggests exactly that.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

"That sounds like a personal problem!" he laughs at her giggle-fueled indignation. He gave her time for her evening rituals, it's her fault she didn't think of including taking her shoes off in that list. Clearly Harper is entirely innocent in this event. Hopefully she won't take revenge by kicking him off the bed in the dead of the night, though she's definitely the sort to do so.

As she speaks playfully he turns his head back to her, rolling halfway onto his side to properly regard her. He's far from bothered by her scars being on display, scarcely lingers over them with his gaze. His own are luckily not focused around his most prominent areas, but he has his own gruesome ones that would make him deeply hypocritical to judge hers. "Are you implying I don't have a pristine, virtuous reputation? What do you think of me?" His grin is far too devilish to even try to play at being innocent, but if it drags her into further conversation then his goal will be achieved.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

Personal problem or not, she makes it his problem as she wiggles after he places her and she manages to get her shoes off, twisting toward him as he peers down at her and she questions his reputation. What’s left of it, at least. And he turns, rolling halfway onto his side to look down at her, and she can feel him glance to the scars – something… Almost nervous about them being so fully on display. That if he sees her with her battles marked upon her skin that he might be afraid to touch her should she break.

Sometimes she thinks she might anyway.

But he gives her a devilish grin and a response after and she snorts to him with a playful roll of her eyes. A hand reaches up to tap at his nose in idle amusement before she gives him her own devilish grin. “I think you definitely don’t have a pristine, virtuous reputation.” She teases him with a quiet breathy laugh. But she gets a small amount daring here with the teasing, and she shuffles on the bed slightly to get closer to him, icy gaze seeking out his steel blues.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

She hides her fear well, and he doesn't call attention to it. There are some things that are too delicate for the hours of dusk, things that can only be spoken in the dead of night in hushed breaths. Whatever it is she fears of him - his reaction, his judgment - all he can do is prove with his actions that they will not come. Often those speak louder than any hollow, comforting words he could stumble over trying to deliver.

A light touch against his nose and Harper playfully snaps his teeth at the offending finger, eyes like liquid pools of warmth and amusement. It is so easy to be like this around her, and Harper doesn't know why. Part of him is terrified by it, because the last time he felt like this...a familiar burning grief steals away his breath, but he doesn't let it show on his face. Not when Kiada is teasing and wriggling closer and she - unlike the ghost that still haunts him - is so real, so present and alive. It's so easy to fall into her and he should be scared of it. As she grins at him, he can't find himself being scared at all. "I object, I came here to check on you like the kind gentleman I am and you're the one who came onto me. I'm clearly the innocent one here." His own grin is so natural, and he tentatively drapes an arm over the dip of her waist, loose and resisting touching her more than where his forearm presses into her shirt. "But I'll let you think what you like, I wouldn't want you to kick me out for being contradictory." The grin he aims at her is daring, playful, and he knows she'll give back as good as she gets.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

She’s used to hiding her fear. Giving into it when she lived in the Rift was a death sentence. There were eyes always watching, glowing and glimmering eyes of malice that wished to attack on the weaknesses displayed. And she had learned to craft her mask well – but people hadn’t quite gotten this close to her, to see how she’d displayed them with tape and cracks. Fine from a distance, a disaster up close. A disaster that she smiles through in an attempt to detract, derail.

Luckily it works, as she taps his nose and he snaps at her finger, a hum of laughter leaving her throat at that. And she looks up at him with warmth softening the ice to her gaze, the snowscapes beneath it all as she focuses on him more clearly. His grin is natural, his touch is soft and yet still open, and she finds herself wishing that he’d scoop her up and hold her tight all night, to let his hands roam wherever. But they’d proved to keep it simple, slow, and she follows that too.

His comment is directed at her with a hum of a snicker, shaking her head into the pillows lightly as she looks up at him from her vantage point. “Mmm, I’m afraid you may have mistaken the dragon for the princess, your highness. No problem, though, we can fix that.” She teases him, sticking her tongue out at him.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

For such a simple thing - laying above the covers still, only physically touching in one small area - it feels unbearably intimate. This is precisely why Harper doesn't rush into the physicality of things. Not only because he is quite protective of his heart when it comes to deeper romances - and sex to him is the most sincere act of union - but because this alone is worth so much already.

He relaxes against the bedding as she teases, and he can't help but tilt his hand to dig his thumb against the sensitive backs of her ribs in retaliation. "I was a circus kid, certainly no 'highness' involved." Laughter shakes his frame against the bed, but he's far from ashamed of his roots. "You definitely seem more the royal type, should I be worried about corrupting your reputation then?" And Harper wonders to himself exactly who she was in her past lives, wanting to know so much more about her than he currently does.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

He relaxes as she teases, and she relaxes with it. Her icy gaze softening as a laugh erupts from her, wiggling away from the thumb that digs into her ribs, curling herself closer to him until she buries her face under his arm. But there’s a part that confuses her, and she peeks out from beneath his arm to look at him with a raised brow. “What’s a circus?” She asks with some small part of confusion, at least… Until he continues and she rolls onto her back to look at the ceiling.

“I guess I sort of am.” A shrug. “My father was a King. My mother was a Thief.” Her gaze flits to him with a dark raised brow in her quiet contemplation. “A younger version of my mother got brought here when I did… And she’s queen now.” It doesn’t make sense to say it aloud – that those who knew, like Deimos and Amalia did might understand it. But just like the circus, she’s sure it might confuse Harper on that topic as well.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

Laughter rings in his ears as she coils closer and burrows beneath him, and he allows her as close as she desires. He's quite content to be a pillow, blanket, or space heater for the entirety of the night. Though she's not the first to be unaware of what a circus it, is still pangs at his heart to know that this world is so very different from his own. "It's like a show, with exotic animals that are highly trained by handlers doing tricks. Acrobats dancing high in the air on silk fabric, or riding horses in death-defying stunts around a ring. Swallowing swords, fire breathers, clowns that make you laugh..." he trails off, wondering how else to explain it to someone who has never been. "People come and eat fun foods while they watch us perform. It's all held in a big tent, bigger than you've ever seen before. I was a trapeze flyer, I would be high in the air and grab onto a horizontal bar held to the roof by ropes. Sometimes with one leg, or my hips. And I'd swing and let go to grab another bar, or one of my parents would grab me if we were doing pairs." Harper's awe-filled voice trembles here, gaze going dark and distant. He tries to remember the good things, the pleasant days with his parents, but it's hard when all he can bring to mind sometimes is the sound of their bodies hitting the circus floor.

It seems he's not the only one with family issues though, and he rolls a little to look at her better, empathy written over his expression. "Rexanna is your mother then?" An educated guess, as he'd been there when the woman had been voted into the role. "Was it strange, to have her back so young?" A softly spoken question, not wanting to pressure her into answering if she does not want to share that particular part of her history.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

She looks up at him with wide eyes, listening and trying to imagine what the whole idea of it is. She imagines a variety of things, trying to pinpoint it, listening as he trails off though it makes little sense. She doesn’t know what a clown is, doesn’t know the term for acrobats – though she was somewhat versed in the agility required to likely be decent at it. But he explains it better, and she focuses on the mention of food, the tent its held in, what he did – and it brings in a slight smile on her face with the awe-filled voice.

“High in the air… Like how high? Like rooftop high or.. Spire high?” She asks, probing him for more questions, more ideas as to what he did, who he was. “I jumped off the Spire recently.” She explains, a bit sheepish and smiling at the thought, the wind blowing through her feathers with her descent.

But she explains her own lineage, and she looks slightly away from him as he looks to her better. “She is, yes.” A quiet admission, though there’s something that feathers in her jaw at the thought. “She doesn’t remember it firsthand because it didn’t happen to her. But she can remember that other version of herself… She’s different than she was before. I don’t know if I like it or I hate it.”

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA