01-19-2023, 12:58 AM
Noémi made him want to explore parts of his own soul thought safely imprisoned, trapped far from the reach of a thin sun. The thought hit like light breaking the dark of night. Surprised at himself, passion stirred. His lips broke into a smile around hers before the gravity of thoughts tangled pulled him back again.
She was the whisper of beauty that should grace the arm of the Ascendancy. Her eyes drank in the mysteries of a cosmos that were normally reserved for Nikolai himself. When she beheld the stars, did she see light or did she see the unattainable? She should be the perfect partner for the Ascendancy. If he were to pluck her from obscurity and but slip her hand through his arm, the world would elevate and worship her. But Noémi was both beneath and above all that. She did not seek him like so many had before. She was the star in the distance that waited for him to attain her light, knowing very well that he might never have made the journey.
In that moment, her steadfast patience wilted and pulled him closer as much as if she led him inch by inch for a thousand years nearer. He wrapped her in his arms, a thing he wanted to protect. Time might as well have stood still. For the Ascendancy, whose will alone could freeze the passage of time, every breath was coveted and he wanted to preserve her. He was drawn closer. A step. An inch. He wasn’t afraid.
Except there was another voice in the back of his mind.
But neither did he stop.
He kissed her cheek, her jaw, her ear. Her hair smelled of soap and longing, but when he pulled away, it was to tilt her chin into his and gaze unblinking into her eyes. They flickered in the low light. “Everyone sees what I want them to see,” he said.
He stayed near a few more moments then released her chin with a slip of the fingers. He drifted away, relaxed. But it was to lay arms along the line of the furniture, and waited for her to follow.
She was the whisper of beauty that should grace the arm of the Ascendancy. Her eyes drank in the mysteries of a cosmos that were normally reserved for Nikolai himself. When she beheld the stars, did she see light or did she see the unattainable? She should be the perfect partner for the Ascendancy. If he were to pluck her from obscurity and but slip her hand through his arm, the world would elevate and worship her. But Noémi was both beneath and above all that. She did not seek him like so many had before. She was the star in the distance that waited for him to attain her light, knowing very well that he might never have made the journey.
In that moment, her steadfast patience wilted and pulled him closer as much as if she led him inch by inch for a thousand years nearer. He wrapped her in his arms, a thing he wanted to protect. Time might as well have stood still. For the Ascendancy, whose will alone could freeze the passage of time, every breath was coveted and he wanted to preserve her. He was drawn closer. A step. An inch. He wasn’t afraid.
Except there was another voice in the back of his mind.
But neither did he stop.
He kissed her cheek, her jaw, her ear. Her hair smelled of soap and longing, but when he pulled away, it was to tilt her chin into his and gaze unblinking into her eyes. They flickered in the low light. “Everyone sees what I want them to see,” he said.
He stayed near a few more moments then released her chin with a slip of the fingers. He drifted away, relaxed. But it was to lay arms along the line of the furniture, and waited for her to follow.