Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 27, 2006 22:53:14 GMT -5
"I'm staying here. If you want to see better you'll have to come closer."
Kashan regretted those words the moment she said them because she knew Nairi was likely to do just that now that she'd given him the idea. "And you're not worth my time," she protested weakly. "...but Nanai likes you." Yeah, right. 'My cat likes you so I'm here. Like that excuse would work on anyone--even a scatter-brained sword boy. She didn't actually know why she was here, not precisely--maybe because scatter-brained or not, Nairi offered her something she'd been desparate for most of her life--someone to talk to who wouldn't judge her or pity her.
...if that somebody seemed to be drawn to the very thing that pushed most others away...well, she supposed that was just typical and tried not to look into it too deeply.
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Nairi
Novice
Fey-Touched
Posts: 60
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Post by Nairi on Dec 27, 2006 23:02:33 GMT -5
"I wasn't actually going to suggest that. You have no one to blame but yourself for this." Nairi snickered and got to his feet, though not before kicking off his boots - the smooth, rounded floor in here offered little for him to fear, and it felt nice on his heated skin. He paid no mind to her admittance - she'd said that he wasn't worth her time in the same way that she said anything, as if she didn't even believe her own words. That was just another one of the things that fascinated him.
"That's fine, but Nanai didn't agree to come along with me to this isolated place, and she didn't drink water that might have been poisoned... and she isn't letting me get this close to someone who seems all but terrified of the thought." He could see her strange figure well enough now; how the wings fit so perfectly into her frame, even though she made such efforts to keep them subdued and hidden. The scales continued down past her neck, as he'd previously thought, but hadn't been bold enough to ask for a look before... and now where were they? He stood before her, quiet for once, eyes swimming with color that could've been the dancing reflection of the water or perhaps something else. A faint "You're gorgeous," and for once, he actually blushed.
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Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 27, 2006 23:10:47 GMT -5
Kashan was mentally cursing herself as she muttered "Nanai can't talk." A weak argument and she knew it but the only one she had at the moment. She had trouble bringing herself to look up.
"You're lying," she retorted. A shame. If she could bring herself to look at him and see the color on his cheeks Kashan might almost believe him--almost. As it was she sat hugging her knees to her chest.
As she'd said, there were scales on her arm and shoulder, working their way from her back and neck on down in splotches rather than an even stretch of scales instead of skin. They were the same shade as the rest of her--almost impossibly pale against a black sleeveless blouse that tied behind the neck and left all but the waistline of her back bare save the bandages still loosely draping out of the folds of cloth.
She wanted to believe him--that was the catch. She wanted to think, because he was kind of a little crazy, maybe he actually believed the things he was saying...but old habits die hard.
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Nairi
Novice
Fey-Touched
Posts: 60
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Post by Nairi on Dec 28, 2006 0:07:02 GMT -5
"I'm not." His response sounded urgent, and he took a few steps toward her. There was something so familiar about this, but he couldn't place it for the life of him... just like everyone else, he experienced déjà vu from time to time, but this was so much stronger.
The last thing he really thought about was how lush the forest was, and why he was so hopelessly enchanted by it. He had no original intentions of wandering so far, but the only way to get the song in his dreams out of his head would be to hear it in person - and he had to come here to do that. He defied safety and reason in his actions, seeking something that he was sure didn't exist (maybe he really was insane?) and getting himself lost in the process. Night would fall soon, or so he thought, even though it didn't seem to be getting any darker. Hey... there was someone. Perhaps he could ask directions? His mind didn't seem to register that this someone was a small, blue-skinned creature hunched on a tree stump, back to him. It beared several swirling tattoos that he felt he could easily become lost in if he stared too long. His feet seemed to move on their own, and his lips twitched. Almost there, and then it turned around to look at him...
Poor Nairi. He had no real chance of friendship with Kashan, not after this. Before he even realized that he was dreamwalking, he'd gotten down on his knees before the withdrawn deus and brought his lips to her own... and then he snapped out of it. There weren't any trees, or soft summer wind. This would be the end of whatever relationship they might've had, but he didn't pull away, knowing that. It would be his only opportunity to convince her that he was more than just confusing words and hallucinations.
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Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 28, 2006 9:21:07 GMT -5
Kashan, startled by the bizarre behavior, scooted back, but she didn't get far with a wall right behind her and soon found Nairi on his hands and knees and close. Too close. What was he...
...and then their lips met and she knew exactly what he was doing.
Her eyes went wide with shock and she froze solid under the kiss for an extended moment. It was her first kiss, after all, and he'd just gone and stolen it. It being right after he so seriously insisted that he wasn't lying, as if he was desparate for her to believe him Kashan found her own mind going blank as she was oh so tempted to, just this once. Not so much to believe she was beautiful, but to believe that Nairi--in all his craziness--thought so.
The tension in her shoulders relaxed a bit and her eyelids began to drift downward. She didn't mean to give in. She was half-dracon, she should-and could-just shove him away, grab her coat and hat and Nanai and just run like hell. But...it was her first kiss, and maybe the only one she was ever going to get. It was the sort of gentle contact she'd been yearning for probably her whole life.
...and then the tears started falling. Damn them--tears for all the years she spent hiding so desparately when there was at least one person who didn't despise her for it (or at the very least faked not despising her for it well), and for her desparate need for contact...and for her just as desparate fear of being hurt because of it, and tears for having her first kiss stolen by some insane swordsman who half the time didn't even seem as if he knew what he was doing...Well for a long, extensive number of reasons, really.
Eventually, the kiss broke with a soft sob as Kashan turned her head and buried her face in her hands. That would be the fatal blow to her already crumbling pride, wouldn't it? Nairi seeing the tears tumbling down her cheeks over something as seemingly simple as a kiss.
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Nairi
Novice
Fey-Touched
Posts: 60
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Post by Nairi on Dec 28, 2006 11:11:42 GMT -5
Though it wasn't strictly his fault, he still felt responsible. There was something twisted and broken inside of him that caused this, something that saw her there, withdrawn and mysterious... just like the creature in the forest. What forest was that, anyway? What was he doing there? If these memories were in his head, then why couldn't he dig up the most basic of details? Oh well. There were more important things to deal with, like trying to apologize for making Kashan cry.
"I'm sorry... it was like I couldn't help myself." Unsure of what to say, he just ducked his head and looked down. He could still faintly taste their kiss, and it brought color to his cheeks and a shiver to his spine. Nairi wasn't exactly practiced in the arts of intimacy, so these sensations were new to him as well (as far as he could remember) and he knew that there wasn't anything simple about the kiss they shared. "I should... probably leave..."
It would've been the best thing for Kashan. She pretty much had life figured out on her part - sure, she wasn't really happy hiding from everyone, but she had her hobby and Nanai to keep her entertained and he assumed that was how she'd been living all along. She didn't want someone like him coming in and screwing things up, and he'd already done enough damage. He looked towards his things near the back of the cavern, considered... and then sighed. "No... I don't want to. I can't." He placed a light hand on her thigh, wondering if he should do anything about the tears. If he could, at that.
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Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 28, 2006 13:32:21 GMT -5
'No. Don't go!' Her mind said it but she couldn't make her mouth repeat the phrase, just shaking her head back and forth in her hands. She didn't know why she wanted him to stay so badly. Life was easier without him around. Life made sense without him around...
...but she was starting to get used to things not making sense.
As a mechanic she knew that just shouldn't happen. If there wasn't logic to it, it got on her nerves--like magic. There was no sensible reason for it to work, but it worked anyway, so she didn't like that it existed at all. Well, science and magic never did work well together, but this...
...this was something entirely separate from both of those things.
She had to struggle to collect herself and wipe her eyes. She reached for her hat to find Nanai sleeping in it. Well, so much for hiding in plain sight.
Her hand sheepishly snaked back to her person and, of its own accord briefly covered and then laced with Nairi's, lowering it from her leg. Her other hand joined it and she found herself staring at it. Holding hands. That's what they were doing. 'Am I a complete idiot?' she wondered. She was acting like some shy little kid. In theory she understood that. In practice it was the only way she could seem to convey that in spite of the things that came out of her mouth most of the time, she didn't want him to go.
...and knowing that terrified her.
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Nairi
Novice
Fey-Touched
Posts: 60
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Post by Nairi on Dec 28, 2006 18:32:54 GMT -5
Nairi gave her a good amount of time (and a reasonable amount of space) to recover from her crying, keeping his eyes down for most of it. As was mentioned earlier, he didn't do very well with tears. He never took his hands off of her, though... someone would have to be insane to rely on someone as unbalanced as he was, but he wanted to show Kashan that she could when it was appropriate.
Eventually, when she was through, he offered the most encouraging smile he could. Did this mean she didn't hate him, then? She was still here... but she might just be sticking around because she thought his erratic behavior would take a violent turn if she tried to leave. The kiss was unexpected, sure - even to him - but it wasn't that out of sync with his previous behavior. Perhaps, like Kashan, he became bolder when the sun wasn't watching. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry, about that... but not about the kiss. I wanted to do it. It felt right. I didn't think I could, but I guess I was wrong." The hallucination was gone, like a dream after your morning bath - he remembered, clearly, telling Kashan that he wasn't lying about her beauty and walking over, kneeling, and kissing her. He wasn't sure why he did it, just that he had.
"I'd like to do it again." He was blushing again, and this time the deus couldn't miss it.
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Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 28, 2006 21:40:12 GMT -5
Kashan made the mistake of looking up. Somehow her eyes got trapped on Nairi's and she couldn't break the gaze as he spoke. Tears threatened to well up in her eyes again, but other than some moisture she managed to hold them back. It was both happiness and sorrow. She was nervous and confused, mostly. "I..." she stumbled to manage a full sentence. "It...was my first," she barely managed to say at an audible tone. She wouldn't mention that in over 40 years she'd never been kissed before--that was pathetic and she didn't want to admit to it, but as far as Nairi knew she was in her twenties. She looked like it.
Her own cheeks flared when he said he wanted to kiss her again, and also in response to the fact that he was actually blushing as he said it. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Why?"
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Nairi
Novice
Fey-Touched
Posts: 60
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Post by Nairi on Dec 28, 2006 22:07:23 GMT -5
Nairi had no recollection of any kisses before this one, so in his strange, forgetful way, it was his first as well. He could see the shine on her eyes, wondering if she would cry again; he would hold her if she did, making a sort of promise to himself. She deserved that much for putting up with him. He gave her hands a light squeeze and shrugged one shoulder.
"I just... do. And again after that... and probably forever." He ducked his head, feeling a little abashed for once at his forward nature. "How was it for you?"
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Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 28, 2006 22:17:41 GMT -5
Kashan's face flared so that the faint blush on her cheeks became a rather bright contrast against her pale skin. How was she even supposed to answer that?! And why did he even ask?! Her natural defense mechanism kicked in and she pouted and tore her gaze away saying "don't ask it as if we just did...that." Ah yes. 'that', her word for intimacy of a much more graphic variety.
"I-it...I..." she stuttered and then decided to give up trying. "I was too nervous to really notice," she copped out, realizing immediately after that he'd probably suggest trying again now that she was paying more attention. 'Damnit!'
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Nairi
Novice
Fey-Touched
Posts: 60
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Post by Nairi on Dec 28, 2006 22:32:26 GMT -5
"That?" Nairi seemed genuinely confused by this and leaned closer to her, as if eliminating the distance between them would impart some sort of wisdom that she had and he didn't. He was also unsure why she kept inviting him to say things she didn't want him to by asking certain questions; it was entertaining, but she always got so frustrated. He couldn't help himself.
"Nevermind that," he said in a hushed tone. "I have your full attention now, don't I?" He smiled and raised a hand to her cheek, turning her head gently so that his lips were almost close enough to brush her own. He could've kissed her, but he seemed to be waiting for her...
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Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 28, 2006 22:38:49 GMT -5
Urgh! She'd been about to say 'nevermind' but then he was turning her head to face him, and he was so close...and she almost burst into tears again because this just couldn't be happening. Insane or not, Nairi seemed to kind of like her, to find her...appealing...and he wanted to kiss her and be near her and...she'd never dared dream there would ever be someone like that, but here he was, in all his mentally unstable and yet extremely attractive glory.
She bit her lip. She almost nodded sheepishly, but they were too close--their noses would bump. She could feel his breath on her lips. Soft and warm. "Y-yes..." she answered very, very quietly. Was he waiting for her to bridge the distance? Could she? It was scary! She might do it wrong and...and...
...oh and she didn't even know what! Swallowing the lump in her throat she leaned in just that right amount to let their lips brush ever so breifly, her heart thudding in her chest so hard she felt as if it might burst right out and make a bloody mess of everything.
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Nairi
Novice
Fey-Touched
Posts: 60
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Post by Nairi on Dec 28, 2006 22:58:50 GMT -5
Nairi treasured these moments. They were the only times where he felt like Kashan actually wanted him here, felt like they shared a deeper connection besides their constant bickering. That's all he really wanted. The deus was a natural attraction to him and if he could just help her shed all those misconceptions about how the world didn't want her, he might be taking a step towards repenting for all the things he'd screwed up.
He could worry about that later, though. Right now was the kiss and Kashan's sweet breath, feeling nervous and excited at the same time. It wasn't much of a kiss, granted - the lightest sort - but it was their kiss and not just his, even if it could've easily been a mistake on her part. "You're so nervous." He laughed softly, fingers stroking her cheek now where they'd been laying idly before. "You don't have to be. I feel the same way you do. Just... relax." He leaned forward again to catch her lips, already sitting close enough that there was little effort involved. It was firmer, more like his original kiss, and he squeezed tightly where her hands were still joined with his.
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Kashan
Novice
You Can't Fix a Life.
Posts: 61
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Post by Kashan on Dec 28, 2006 23:07:31 GMT -5
"Of course I'm ner--!" she didn't get to finish her protest as their mouths joined again more firmly. Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but then she let herself relax a bit and try to get used to the feeling of someone else's lips--Nairi's--pressing against her own. She wondered if kissing anyone would be the same, but it was a fleeting thought and she let her eyelids drift downwards--that's what people did in this situation, right? Otherwise it would be even weirder. Maybe.
It was dangerous ground, really. Nairi was trying to get her to trust him--something she didn't do easily or often. ...and she was starting to fall for it. She could only hope it worked out in the end.
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