Help me out before I drown
Save me now before I give up
There’s relief that whatever they had been through had left her unharmed. It’s not much but its something. The worry does not leave him though as she starts to speak and hesitates. She’s going to tell him to go, he thinks. She’s going to tell him to leave. No matter what she personally thought of him, if she even truly believed him a better man after all she had seen, she was still a Queen. Now she knew what he could become, what he could do. A threat, a risk. One not worth taking.
“It’s fine.” He starts as she stumbles. “I underst…” Then she is pressed against his neck and he freezes in the warmth of her contact. His words instantly die on his tongue as she folds into him, finding that somehow they fit perfectly against each other. She is slightly taller and to some stallions that might be off-putting, however he finds that he fits perfectly just beneath the crook of her neck and his muzzle comes to rest where her pulse flutters across her throat.
There is nothing but the soft sound of their breathing and the distant crash of waves as they both come to rest into each other, as they steady each other in the aftermath of a wish. It was worth it, to have her like this against him. Worth reliving the past over and over again if it meant she would do this every time. The realization of how badly he had wanted this resonates deep within him, a sudden weight thudding in his stomach. That sensation in the heart of crystal begins to ache with the longing to feel. To beat wildly for her, to bleed for her, to connect itself to hers.
He can’t remember what that felt like, love. If he had ever truly felt it before. Ever since the glass had been lodged in his chest he could feel some emotions. Anger, fear, pain, sadness, guilt. He could care but it always seemed to ache just a bit and that alien sensation would return, something cold yet warm. Something soft yet hard. It aches now, more so then it had before, with her pressed against him. Something else stirs in response deeper in his core, something more primitive that doesn’t necessarily need love to materialize.
She has lowered her head enough at this point that he can tuck her beneath him and he curls himself protectively around her (being careful of her wing from remembered experience), his muzzle buried into the thick lushness of her twilight mane as he breathes in all the aromas of purple that she carries. His good eye has closed as his breath lingers warm and featherlight against the skin beneath her mane. Nothing had ever felt more right but also felt so wrong. He has no heart to give her and the residual fear from relationships past are still a laceration across his mind. Yet he can’t pull away when they seem to melt into each other and the feel of her is too good, the scent of her is too much.
“Hmmm?” He mumbles into her, intoxicated by the moment. Then her question seems to solidify through his haze and he blinks back to life. He doesn’t recoil from her, doesn’t remove himself from their current entanglement. Instead his teeth find a small knot that’s managed to tangle in her violet hair and he absentmindedly works at it, as if they had been in this position a thousand times before. It’s an action meant to soothe him as much as it does her as he thinks of what she is asking him. What should be a clear answer is much more complex then she realizes.
While the glass heart was surely a curse, it had protected him (in a way) from feeling the pain and heartache that he had felt before. It numbed him to a point, kept him at arms length from anyone that could possibly hurt him again. At the same time, when he looks at her, he wonders if it could be different. If maybe… just maybe… Love could actually heal instead of harm.
“Of course I do.” He finally murmurs into the sensitive skin at the base of her mane. “But you saw Carnage take it. And the price he asked me to pay to get it back is too high.” His expression is troubled again but he finishes untangling the knot before gently, reluctantly, taking a step away from her. Just so he can find her bright honeyed gaze and once again that feeling deep in his center stirs. “The price is too high Oceane.” He searches her face, there was absolutely no way he would allow her to sacrifice herself or anyone else on his behalf. And if she was gone or heartless, then it would be pointless for him to get his back in the first place.
She’s the only one. He realizes and is startled by this notion as his eye widens slightly. If he tried to get his heart back, the only reason it would be worth it is if he can give it to her. Could he do it? Could he take someones heart if it meant being able to love her? Suddenly uncomfortable, he breaks her gaze and looks into an unrelenting sea beyond the canyon walls. He didn’t know where Oceane spent her personal time or who with. She was simply being kind, friendly, and he should not expect more than that. “Of course I wish I had my real heart back but I won’t hurt anyone to do it.” He finally manages as he slowly looks back to her, resolved to do better at not toeing that fine line between them.
Ledger
@Oceane