there's still fire in the darkness; aysel

[magnus]

I wanna give you wild love, the kind that never slows down
I wanna take you high up let our hearts be the only sound

He has heard such stories before, these tales of lands beyond Beqanna, but he finds that he is just as fascinated every time. His lids droop slightly as he listens to her speak, concentrating on her words,, letting the richness of her accent roll through him, the edges of it as warm as the sun that covers his back. One corner of his mouth lifts into a crooked smile, his ears perked and angled toward her amongst the mess and tangles of his forelock. He imagines the worlds as she describes them, envisioning them as she tells of her family, of the powers they wielded, of the kingdoms they ruled and lived in.

So similar to the worlds here.

So different.

He wishes that she could take him there. Wishes that she could walk him through these places that she knows so intimately so that he could see it for himself. But hearing it from her is enough and he finds himself enthralled, his golden gaze smoldering when he lifts it finally. “You have a way with words,” he manages in whiskey-voice, dipping it her way. “You’re right, of course. Kingdoms are like the tide. They rise, they fall, they weaken and strengthen.” He cannot stop himself from reaching over to bump the ink of his nose into the crook of her neck where the skin curves to her jaw. “Although, I feel Tephra’s rise.”

At her words, teasing and coy, his eyes darken, something of the Amazonian wildcat still lingering in their hungry depths. White teeth flash against the soot of his muzzle and his voice drops, taking on a huskier edge. “You know enough about me now to know that the one thing I never do is pull my punches.” He is many things, but weak is not one of them. He couldn’t afford to be in a world that was constantly stacked against him. He never has had gifts to level the playing field. He never had the ability to turn the tide in his favor through the strength of powers rising up like him in an ocean tide. He’s just had his own grit and his own training and his own reliance of muscle and sweat. 

“But you have no idea how rough I can be.”

I wanna go where the lights burn low and you're only mine