"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
The sunset rains like a bullet hole; trees only seem for hanging.
Too long. I have been hiding for too long, running from the world I used to love. Once upon a time I was a young girl full of wonder and curiosity, reveling in the wind tangling in my violet mane, reaching for the sky with everything in my restless heart. Once, I was a leaf floating on that same wind, soaring through life determined to see the whole world with my own two eyes and love every moment of it.
I'm done being afraid. I'm done locking myself away from everyone but my family, doubting myself and every single person I interact with. I miss the girl who was captivated by sky blue eyes and an innocent smile, the gentle blush on a stranger's cheeks. The girl who tangled with lightning and wanted more. I've spent too many years afraid, and I'm not going to waste the few I have left afraid I'll fuck up and bring tragedy down on my family, or hurt someone I love, or any of the other bullshit excuses I've used to keep myself isolated for so long.
I have more than a few demons to face down. And the best place to start is the meadow, where so many of the scars on my heart began. Oh, the ones that should marr my skin are healed long since, through magic and despite my wishes at the time. Now I'm glad of it, glad family and strangers alike ignored my demands to leave the scars so my outside would match my inside. I wanted to look like the patchwork monster I'd believed myself to be. As the breeze dances along my unmarred skin, invisible fingers stroking the smooth expanse of pale blue and lingering along the darker steel blue primitive markings, I send silent thanks to the stubborn souls that healed me anyhow.
The meadow is unchanged and ever-changing, grasses grown high with the heat of summer going to seed as fall starts to settle in. I walk past places that were once stained in my blood and the blood of those I loved, and no trace of pain or tragedy remains. It has long since been washed away by the cleansing rain, transmuted by the verdant earth back into new life. Not even the place where the earth swallowed Gendry whole shows any sign of the devastation that day wrought, any more than my skin shows the impact of his fire devouring my flesh.
Youthful indiscretions shouldn't merit being burned alive. It took me a long time to see that wasn't my fault. So I'd gotten carried away by lightning dancing along my skin a little sooner than was wise. I was hardly the first girl to get caught up on that kind of ecstatic thunderstorm a little bit before I should have, and I doubt I was the last. I love my brother, but I didn't deserve to burn.
He was wrong.
I take a deep breath, closing my eyes as something shifts inside my chest, another broken piece of me settling back into place and making me one step closer to whole. I haven't let anyone touch me since that day in anything but casual affection or comfort. I never saw Jack again, and part of me was glad. The static shocks that rippled between us even as he walked me home felt a little too much like fire instead of that earlier rush.
I miss that goddamn rush. I can remember, if only just, what it felt like to feel free, like the world was mine to explore and experience, and all I had to do was spread my wings and let the wind carry me aloft. I remember climbing a mountain just to see what the land would look like sprawled out beneath my feet. Following the gentle tug of wanderlust across the vast stretches of Beqanna, by myself or in the company of someone I loved, just for the sake of seeing what was beyond the next hill, or the one after that, or the one after that.
I am not fire and endless burning like my brothers and my mother. But I have forgotten how to be the wind. And right about now, I wish I could be fire, if only to burn away the gilded cage I've somehow built around myself. But there isn't even a spark of it buried deep in my chest. Frustrated and disappointed, I shake my head and turn my back on the place where my body caught fire so long ago. If anything could have awoken some sleeping ember in me, it would have been facing down the place where my life went so far off course. Giving in to the restless discontent itching underneath my skin, I turn to walk away. I shouldn't be surprised it didn't work; I was never meant to be fire, was never meant to burn. I'll find another way.
The moon is a target range, and rivers seem only for drowning
He watches her as she ponders her life, her eyes straying to spots in the Meadow that bring back the memories she is fighting against. He can hear her thoughts, his mind wide open to her thoughts, her feelings, to every single thing that was going through her head right now. Some of them made him smile.
sky blue eyes... Even as she thinks it, his eyes fade into the blue beauties she remembers. His body shifts towards chestnut and then bay, the coloring lightening and darkening until he decides that his current body color will be plenty. The black seeps from his face, falling down his neck until the red begins, fading until it looks like nothing more than a red smear across his legs. Color changing but not uncommon in Beqanna (more than enough of his own children had the same ability). She would not be to alarmed to see him like this.
He throws the shadows from his body, tossing them aside like a heavy cloak at the base of the thick oak tree to his right. He goes to meet her, with a smile on his face. It is not the same adoring smile that he had before when they had first met. It is not the same smile that says he would have done anything for her.
This smile is a little darker, a little more pain and you will probably like it type of smile. This smile said, I am not what you thought I was.
His eyes are the same as is his normal body type. He is a bit taller than she is, a bit more muscular. And he has magic. He can do whatever he damn well pleases to her and there is no one, no one left that will save her.
"Ryss." He practically purrs her name as he slides closer, his eyes still the same. So intense that it was hard to look away from. His lips with that tingle passing across her shoulder, touching her and giving her little chance to dodge his advances. "Looking as beautiful as ever."
04-20-2016, 12:33 AM (This post was last modified: 04-20-2016, 01:28 AM by Daeryssa.)
The sunset rains like a bullet hole; trees only seem for hanging.
I didn't think I'd find another way this fast. I've only just turned to walk away from the meadow and all the old memories I can't shake when that other way rears its exquisite head. Restless discontent changes into something much more interesting, a charge building along my skin even before I see him, static electricity that stops me in my tracks. I haven't felt like this since...oh. Oh my. Since Jack.
Well hello, stranger.
He looks different now, darker somehow than when I saw him last. But aren't we all? Red stains his legs like blood, and the look in his summer sky blue eyes wakes something wild and long forgotten in me, almost burned to death and buried deep beyond reach. Wicked and lovely, that wildness curls the corner of my lip, lowers my eyelids, sets my heart to pounding with possibility.
Well that could work.
His voice sets off little sparks along my spine when he purrs my name, the one that's his alone, and his lips along my shoulder are electric. “Jack.” The croon in my voice as my lips trace the edge of his ear makes it almost unrecognizable compared to the soft, unassuming sound that usually comes out of my mouth. I don't know the person who drags my teeth down the side of his neck and leans into his touch. I don't know her, but I want to.
I can still hear Gendry's warning in my ear, a far-too-late explanation that the delicious lightning coursing through me and doing all sorts of interesting things to my body just might be something dark and dangerous. That he'd sensed magic in the air and magicians were bad, and probably some other very important and ominous words that should matter a whole lot more right now.
It's not that I don't believe him. There's danger in those summer sky eyes that I didn't see last time, shadows and a hint of a threat lurking in the shape of his smile. But that lovely, wicked something locked away inside a gilded cage loves the way it makes my heart race, makes my whole body tingle, makes me feel alive. And this time there's nothing to stop me, paltry cage bars already trembling beneath his touch. “Just who I was looking for.”
The moon is a target range, and rivers seem only for drowning
"Liar." He said the words against the dip in her back as his lips trail across her skin there. "You are looking for trouble, something to get that heart thumping against your ribcage." His teeth pinch her only to sooth her with his lips as he pulls his face away from her body, tilting his head just slightly so he could see her. A knowing smile curls his lips. "I just happen to come along at the right time." Coincidental how that happened wasn't it? Who's to say that he wasn't there with her all the time, watching and waiting for her to return, some tiny part of his magic lingering within her from the last time they had met.
Secrets curled themselves in his eyes and he wanted to let a few of them loose. So his magic tingles them both as he presses his skin against her own. His chest angling to press into her barrel, even as his lips find their way along her back. His teeth grazing here and there, changing his patterns so it wasn't predictable.
"What do you want Ryss?" He had pulled back, separating their skin until his lips could find her ears. He purrs it into her ears, asking her what she wanted him to do, what he could do. Was she up for fun or something? Did she want to fight those demons or just forget?
Today he was feeling generous. He would allow her to choose what dangerous torments he would put her through. "Pain?" His lips still touching her ear, even as he smiles. "Or perhaps a little pleasure?" Another smile, his teeth latching gently onto her ear before he drags them lightly down her cheek until their eyes were level with one another.
The sunset rains like a bullet hole; trees only seem for hanging.
I grin at him over my shoulder, hungry eyes roving the hard planes of his body as he calls me a liar. If he thinks anyone else could make electricity sing in my veins, he's tragically mistaken. Though I suppose there's really only one way to find out. Mmm, maybe later we can find someone else to help us test that theory. Right now, his teeth pinching my skin are too delicious a distraction, and I want him all to myself. At least for a little while.
Heat follows his lips, his teeth, as he trails them along my skin, little sparks dancing with every touch. But those lovely little pinches and scrapes are too damn gentle, nothing but a tease, and I want so much more. When he withdraws even those teasing touches, a groan escapes my mouth, frustration and delight mingling as he purrs into my ear again. “Pain or pleasure?” I ask, stepping into him, almost shoving him with my shoulder as I close the distance between our bodies. “Why pick just one?” My teeth are not nearly as gentle as his were, biting down hard before I chase the pain with my tongue, my lips, my breath.
What do I want? I want to rattle these bars, to pound them into dust and let the wicked, hungry something caged inside unfurl her wings and soar. I want to dance in the middle of the thunderstorm brewing between us, completely uncontained for the first time in years. I want to leave marks on our skin, his and mine. I want my name on his lips, want him all over me, want to see how loud he can make me scream. I want to feel echoes of this moment days from now if I move too fast, aching little aftershocks jolting through my body to remind me that I am free.
“I want all of it. Show me everything.”
The moon is a target range, and rivers seem only for drowning
He laughs groaning himself as her teeth find his skin and bite it. She chases the pain with the soothing touches of her lips, her breath and he begins to find it so he cannot stand it either. His lips go back to her skin and he waits (not long) for her answer, trailing those light teasing kisses and bites across whatever skin he can reach.
“I want all of it. Show me everything.”
He groans aloud at her answer, pressing his skin against her own. Their body heats mingling and making it almost unbearable as his blood roars in his veins. Subconsciously he builds a wall around them, protecting himself as he gives more of himself to this girl than he has to anyone in a long time.
----------------
He's not sure if it has been hours or days, but even his own body trembles. The muscles twitching beneath his skin even as the blood drips from various places on his body. His breathing is ragged but he still stands, is still steady enough. The scent of magic, blood, and other things is thick in the air and the wall that had been around them is gone. He was covered in her scent, in their sweat and blood that had mingled until he had not known where he had stopped and she had began.
It had been a beautiful thing.
He touches her neck with his lips, that same smile curling his lips. "Was that enough?" His body finding its way to touching her again. (Dear Gods she was like a drug.) He didn't know if he would be able to get enough of this, this something that happened when they both liked to play. His previous toys had been broken when he had found them, broken even more when he was done. But this...this glorious creature that had his blood and sweat mingling with her own, she had enjoyed their time.
And the thought of this scared him a little.
pazuzu
**Disclaimer, posting to Pazuzu can result in maiming, torturing, and all kinds of nasty things possibly happening to your pony. If you do not agree, do not post to him or if you do not want your pony horribly maimed, please say so. Most of the time he will just leave some nice new scars, either mental or physical.
The sunset rains like a bullet hole; trees only seem for hanging.
Well. Wish granted. God, I can barely move and I'm still trailing my lips along his skin, reveling in the faint little tingles that are all that remains of the storm that raged between us. I lick blood off his neck, and if I had any energy left I'd be all over him again remembering how it got there. Instead, my eyelids drift half-shut and I breathe out a satisfied sigh.
His question has my lips curling in a lascivious little grin. “Mmm, that will do...” I leer at him as I taste the salt of his skin, breathing in the mingled scents of blood and sweat and sex. “For now.” I may be running on empty at the moment, but I don't think I'm finished with him just yet. And the feel of his lips on my skin makes me think he'll have no problem with that idea.
Later.
Right now I'm about ready to collapse into a heap of exhausted satisfaction, and I can't feel even an echo of those old cage bars. If I could manage it, I'd be purring, and all I want to do is sprawl out in a pool of sunlight and bask in this delicious glowing feeling for a while. For half a second I wonder again if he'd be up for finding some new blood to play with too, because now that I've had a taste of what I've been missing...mmm, but asking would require too much energy, and it'll keep.
As I trace idle patterns into the skin of his shoulder I wonder if it's always like this, or if it's being with him that made it so electric. I've never wanted anyone else so ferociously, never felt lightning dancing in my veins just being near someone. Oh, there was the giddy little rush of a first crush, some blue-eyed girl whose name I don't even remember anymore, but that was nothing in comparison. Sweet and soft and tentative, and far too gentle. This, with Jack, was dark and hungry and glorious, ecstasy raging through my whole body. Is it him, or just that I've changed so much since that first flirtatious encounter with a cute stranger?
I bite him again just to keep him on his toes – apparently I have that much energy left, anyhow – and then arch my back, stretching languid muscles and wondering if it would be rude to curl up for a nap right here. There's a promising ray of sunlight practically murmuring my name. Ryss. Ah, fuck it. Rude or not, I can't find it in me to resist and I sprawl out in the sunlight, leering up at Jack through the veil of my eyelashes. “We should do that again sometime when I can stand.”
The moon is a target range, and rivers seem only for drowning
He doesn't realize this yet, but this might be the beginning of the end for our residental asshole tormentor. Or then again, it might just be the beginning of something new and raw that might take him over by storm.
Pazuzu had found a different kind of passion. Something that came from the deep depths inside of him, some lingering trace of old magic and personalities that he not found. It curled in his gut, twisted in his mind until he could just stand there. He cannot say he fell in love with her, because that would be the end of him. He can say he fell into lust with her, fell into her like a drug.
One taste won't be enough.
She bites him and his muscles twitch, his body jerking slightly in response. He purrs in response, his vocal cords changing subconsciously so he could. His body hums next to hers until she goes to the ground, sprawling out at his hooves. His smile returns, although it seems to be a bit more absentminded as he ponders her.
His magic doesn't bother to heal her marks on his skin. He doesn't offer to heal hers either. He wanted those marks and wanted those marks on her. He wanted to claim her...again.
"I could easily fall into you and drown." He finally says. His body still lose and relaxed, but his eyes narrowing slightly. He wouldn't let her become a weakness of his. But he wasn't quite ready to walk away yet. He moves so he is standing closer to her, his head dropping so his lips can trail over her face.
"Anytime." That smile curls his lips again in response to her own. And her thoughts of his name almost make him jealous. He was not Jack, not anymore. "My name's Pazuzu darling." His lips no longer trailing over her face. "Not Jack."
pazuzu
**Disclaimer, posting to Pazuzu can result in maiming, torturing, and all kinds of nasty things possibly happening to your pony. If you do not agree, do not post to him or if you do not want your pony horribly maimed, please say so. Most of the time he will just leave some nice new scars, either mental or physical.
The sunset rains like a bullet hole; trees only seem for hanging.
It's probably for the best that I'm no shifter, or I would be melting into a puddle on the ground. I can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed; even the twitching of over-used muscles feels exquisite, and my eyes drift closed as I bask in the sun. I ache in ways I half-hope last forever, and I can still feel Jack's teeth on my skin and the marks he left behind. I left my share too, and a tired little spark flickers inside me as I remember the hungry sounds he made when I did. A wicked grin curls the corners of my lips.
“I could easily fall into you and drown.”
His words are unexpected, and I'm honestly not sure what to do with them. Puzzled, I meet his gaze, those summer sky eyes of his narrowing a little. I don't need pretty words, sweet nothings murmured in the aftermath of raw passion. I don't expect anything from him (except perhaps a repeat performance once we've both recovered from the first one, that is), and I don't need empty endearments. But I don't think that's what he's giving me, either.
It would feel careless to quip something clever and suggestive in response to those inexplicably serious words. The only thing I can think to offer him is the gentle brush of my lips against his cheek, a lingering caress that offers no promises and simply accepts his words with solemn grace.
He trails soft kisses across my face, and something small and surprising and tender stirs inside me. Those pretty words start to make just a little bit of sense as I feel his lips curl into a smile against my skin. His next ones distract me though, and I breathe out a gentle laugh. All the times I screamed his name, I was using the wrong one. I guess we'll have to make up for that next time, won't we?
“Well. It's nice to meet you, Pazuzu.” I purr his name for the first time, and it feels good on my tongue. A little bulkier than 'Jack,' but there's the lovely buzzing vibration in the middle that might make it fun to moan in aching desperation. “Mmm, Pazuzu,” I test it out, my voice going breathy with the echoes of desire. “Okay, yeah, I'm going to enjoy that.” I grin up at him, and somehow it's already been too long since I touched him because I want his skin on mine again, want the taste of him on my lips, want the weight of his body pressed against me.
Maybe this is what he meant about drowning.
The moon is a target range, and rivers seem only for drowning
His legs were steadier than they had been. His breathing had evened out. Besides the scratchy blood that was dried on his body he felt okay again. He probably could even walk without staggering. She says nothing to his words at first, and that is okay with him. He probably shouldn't have said them. In fact the next set he shouldn't say either but he was going to at some point today.
Before he left.
Distance. He needed distance from this wild creature that was close to capturing his own wild side. But she smiled and that urge both intensified and faded away. She says nothing about anything, only until he tells her his name. And he is glad that he had. That his old names were not the ones coming out of her lips.
Jack Skellington had been an angsty stallion that did nothing to change any one's world.
Pazuzu had already changed...several.
Although he remembered these other lives, even the beginning with Saqr, he knew that he would be the last. This magic had morphed and twisted into what he was now, taking little bits of each stallion and the one mare that had all hoped to tame the darkness in it. It hadn't started that way of course.
Her thoughts pull him from his own thoughts and he smiles a wicked smile in response to them. "Next time." His lips do touch hers again and then he snags her flesh in between his teeth again, adding another spot where she bleeds. He trails his lips to her haunch, leaving a bloody smear before he turns and walks away.
"This is all I can give you." He says in her mind without turning away, knowing she hadn't asked for anything else, but unable to leave her without either of them knowing what was at stake.
Pazuzu was dangerously close to becoming tame.
pazuzu
**Disclaimer, posting to Pazuzu can result in maiming, torturing, and all kinds of nasty things possibly happening to your pony. If you do not agree, do not post to him or if you do not want your pony horribly maimed, please say so. Most of the time he will just leave some nice new scars, either mental or physical.
