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

It is easy to fall into this conversation. Easy to let himself pick up the natural rhythms of it. He has always enjoyed the company of women best, charmed by their intelligence and their sharp tongues or their kindness or their bravery. He had been taught from an early age the beauty that they all possess and it was natural for him to relish the time spent with them. It brought out the best sides of his personalities, made him more charming, more patient, sharper. And thus, he eases into this conversation now, letting his gold-flecked eyes warm with affection as he listens to her talk, ink-tipped ears swiveled forward.

“May my tongue fall off before I ever say something untrue,” he teases, grinning a crooked smile down at where she nestles into his shoulder. It has been a long time since he has felt the warmth of a woman there, pressed into the sun-heated flesh of his side. It causes an ache in his heart as he thinks of those who have once laid their head against his shoulder. His heart twists painfully, the ghosts rising up his throat, but he turns from them, giving her his full attention. Carefully he reaches out to brush her forelock away so that he can better see her eyes. “All of these things you say, they are what make you perfect.”

She is the jungle and the vine and the panther and it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t feel the life that brims within her because he does. She is not just a ruin, although there are monuments of the past built within her. She is alive and simmering with passion and his gold-flecked eyes spark as he traces the lines of her face. “I should be the one thanking you.” His whiskey voice is low and he looks away from where she leans into him to the rest of the land that spreads out, lush and beautiful, teeming with the same life that he hears echo in her heart. “Tephra will be better for having you in it. I’m so glad you’ve come home.”

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