"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Ohhh, it was well due time he should see his wee love again, yeah. Got some good moments in with his li’l dove and the snippy rascal at her side, but maybe once a lead stallion, always a lead stallion, and he kept his girls pleased just as he had when he’d led a whole herd of them. Much quieter this way, less bickering between them when he allowed them to live so distant from him and each other. Much simpler. More alone time together. Fewer eyes, or rather none at all now that he kept invisible and typically visited them when they were alone. Hmm, perhaps he should grow this herd one day. Tonight though... Tonight he was haunted by a particular beautiful face and he had every intention of satisfying his ache to see her.
He skimmed the shadows far beneath him, white wings cutting through the air and green eyes searching for just the right woman. Lovey lovey, where have you wandered off to tonight? Such a chilly night too. Surely she would appreciate her Shadow come to hold her close, blanket her in his warmth and sweep his soft touches over her skin. Oh yes, he had missed this one, certainly. Well passed time he should be nestled up against her and showering her in his doting affection and--
Ah! There you are, my little shadow witch.
He swooped to the ground a distance away, far behind her to mask the sound of his soft landing. Immediately picking up the trail, he started humming quietly, a lilting little tune that sounded as pleased as he was at seeing her again. He silenced it as he drew closer though, stepping up through the moonlight that passed right through his unseen form and dragged his mouth across her hip to that sweet hollow where it met her belly.
“Mmm, ‘ello luv,” he purred sweetly, breathing in that scent he loved so much. Why’d she always have to smell so damn good? Look so damn good? Well, as if he’d settle for anything less, right? Of course she was beautiful. Perfect. Just right. Even better, in fact. Better than perfect. That was a thing, he was sure. Because, see? Here she stood. Better than perfect. “Did you miss me at all?” Maybe not as much as he’d missed her. But he’d never tell her that, now would he? Maybe not for the same reasons, either.
His lips drifted further along to her shoulder, lifting a wing just enough to drag downy feathers across her back as he made his way to her neck, settling slow little kisses into her sweet skin. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek before pulling away to admire her - couldn’t help it, really. He sort of always had to. How could he not? “Tahhg. You’re so gorgeous, ya know.” He very nearly trailed a kiss to her lips when he leaned in then, but he hadn’t taken her quite that far yet, and his heat reluctantly fell away from her face. Maybe soon. “You know how much quieter the nights are without you? Colder, too.”
It wasn’t exactly an I miss you, but it was close enough.
It is in the silence and darkness that he arrives, a glimmer of warmth and radiance against the shiver of her cold skin, a cloak of relief in her darkened and lonely world.
He never fails her. He has yet to disappoint her, or to fall away from her. He is loyal and steady, a thrumming heartbeat against her own, a breath of shadow in the wisp of a frigid wind. He will always be there, she has decided, to linger beside her with the sultry voice that calms and soothes, a touch that resurrects and awakens her. He is part of her, an invisible entity that does not frighten her but rejuvenates, beautiful and mysterious.
Augusta is not even sure the last time she has spoken aloud. He is her only companion, a fleeting encounter that she longs for each time it ends. She has fallen hopelessly and almost madly in love with a faceless creature, her shadow that is hers and hers alone.
She is almost too afraid to speak, knowing her voice will quiver and quake not only with disuse, but from his touch. It had not been long since he had last visited her, but hours become days and days become years when he is gone. “It is unfair,” her voice sways beneath the soft wind of night, her breath alighting as vapor from her ivory lips, “that hours turn into seconds when you are with me.”
He is here, a firm and solid warmth against her side, her heart thrumming wildly with elation.
“Shadow,” she croons to him as warmth that felt like lips press into her mottled cheek, turning and reaching for him as she always does. Sometimes she is lucky and she swears that she can feel him and the frame that would form him beneath his shadows and light, but she dares not to pry – the mystery of her shadow prince does not infuriate her; instead, it only strengthens the bond she has woven. “I have missed you like the moon misses the sun. I miss you at this moment, even though you are still with me.”
He covers her with his cloak of velvet, hushing her shivering skin against his own. “So cold,” she repeats in a quiet and breathless murmur, leaning into the strength that presses against her, allowing him to shroud her in his loving embrace of shadowy darkness. “Stay with me…”
”It is unfair,” that soft, sweet voice began in an angel’s murmur, ”that hours turn into seconds when you are with me.”
He smiled, letting her feel it against her cheek when he kissed her. Shadow, she called him, this little Siren that could call him anything at all and he would gravitate to her, pulled to her side time and time again. Wicked thing, how did she do it? Something more than her beauty, but he hadn’t found it just yet. His sweet Enigma. ”Shadow,” that mesmerizing melody again, urging him closer. Always closer. He hummed, so pleased, and listened to her lullaby-voice as he drifted nearer.
”I have missed you like the moon misses the sun. I miss you at this moment, even though you are still with me.”
Mmm...Mine, he couldn’t help but think to himself. But he wasn’t naturally possessive. No, that wasn’t true. Plenty possessive, not so much with territorial though. Why would he be when he could just sweep in at any time, any night, and sway her away from whatever idiot had caught her beautiful eyes? His, whenever he wanted. That was how this worked. And not his when he didn’t want her. Hah, though had that even happened yet? No, not with this one. Such charming little puzzle, this one. Managed to keep him intrigued, and that was hard to do anymore. A long life, plenty of women; he’d seen them all.
”So cold,” she agreed as he settled with her and blanketed her in his warmth. Damn, she smelled so good. It was so nice to have her back again. No, to have caught her again. ”Stay with me…” And what sort of gentleman would turn down a soft plea like that? Not that he'd been one of those in a very long while, a gentleman. So many years ago, but he could remember. A rogue, though. That’s what they really wanted when he came to them. And he gave her a rakish grin though she couldn’t see it, trailing so-soft kisses down her nape to her shoulder, over that perfect, graceful curve and along her spine.
”Where else would I go, luv? Here is where I am whole.” He gave her a little bite, a small nibble there at the join of her nerves to send a shiver like lightning across her skin. Knew all the right places, he did. His expert lips pressed softly to the same spot, chasing away the quiet, wild sensation with something sweeter. Almost an accident, but no, never that.
"You've been traveling some," he commented quietly, sounding far more absent-minded than he was as he focused more affections slowly trailing back up her neck. He watched her, of course he did. Always watching. Looking after what's his. From a distance. "There a place you like best, luv? You wanting to set down roots somewhere? Or only roaming?" Mostly just curious. Wanted to know her, really know her. All of her.
He is there, all-encompassing and forever flowing inwards and outwards, coiling and curling around every crevice of her smooth shoulders and sloping hips. Like a tidal wave crashing over her, like a hurricane that she cannot escape, a powerful and stoic being fading in and out of the atmosphere he is, her heart is in her throat, pounding rapidly and unevenly, her breath caught in her chest. She wishes so much that she could see him; she dreams about what color his eyes are – would they be crystal blue or a robust brown, sparkling with energy or smooth with a knowing glaze? Oh, how she wishes to stare deep into their depths, to become lost into the abyss and to never resurface…
Speaking his name draws him closer to her and she smiles into his embrace, the warmth of his shadowy-blackness cloaking her in a loving hold.
‘Here is where I am whole.’
Her eyelids flutter, white lashes bold against the grey cream of her skin as her heart skips beats. She cannot help the sweet smile that pulls at her lips, a simple hum resounding in her chest in response, quite happy and content with his reply. A small gasp interrupts her gentle humming, her breath catching in her throat as his teeth pinch gently at her skin, a playful gesture that causes her skin to shiver and for her to attempt to step closer into him. Slowly, she opens her eyes to try and find him (though she knew she would not), searching the depths of twilight as if some outline of him could be seen, or maybe she could speak to him while looking into his eyes.
His words pull her from her dream-like state, where she was so content to bask in his warmth and loving, tender kisses. She presses her lips together thoughtfully, and for a moment her mind flickers to something else besides her shadow prince for the first time in a very long time. She is not sure, but the frigid cold of autumn now seems more intense as she reflects, her thoughts momentarily resting on her sister, Luster, of her mother and father, and to the realization that she has surely become a vagabond, wandering the world of Beqanna with no other company besides her dearest, darling shadow.
“I, I…” her voice trembles, suddenly so hesitant and uncertain. Their conversations and fleeting moments normally did not question her like this, forcing her to realize her current state and to decide if she currently is truly enjoying the moments in between their meetings. “I want to be where you are,” she answers decidedly, though her voice quivers, knowing that her request is not all that simple. The place she likes best is beneath his embrace, for nowhere else in her travels has she found peace and comfort like she did beside him.
