Strange Happenings [Glob] [M]

[DaGlobster]

"N-no no, it's alright, I'm fine," he said, and he raised a hand to stroke her hair when he saw that it was still bloodied from when he'd struck Tyrrel. He lowered it, and used his lower arm instead. He had some scuffs on his back and scratches on his neck from Tyrrel's nails, but apart from that, he was undamaged.

"I'm okay, I just..."

He put his head on her shoulder, looking on past her as he continued to embrace her.

"I've never... I've never killed anyone before..."

[DragonSong]

"Oh, sweetheart..." Twilight reached up to cup his face in her hands, then sighed and just held him against her shoulder, swaying gently from side to side. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I wish you'd never had to do that for me."

She frowned and turned her face into the curve of his neck and shoulder, holding him tighter. "I was so stupid, I never should have left, I shouldn't have trusted him!"

She sniffled and bit her lip. "I was so scared," she whispered. "I-- I didn't think I'd ever see you again..."

[DaGlobster]

Vel nodded gently, and turned so that he could lightly nuzzle the top of her head. He was silent for a few moments, mind caught in a dark place. Even now, a brutal truth still remained burned into Vel's memory.

That it was easy to do, that he did it almost without thinking. He did it like a machine.

"I'm just happy to have you back," he said finally, and he let his halfway form out so he could leave a kiss on the top of her head.

"And that you're safe. Are you hurt?"

[DragonSong]

Twilight shivered gently but shook her head. "No. He didn't...really hurt me. Just-- kept me frozen like that." Another shudder, this one a little more violent, and she clutched him tighter.

"I was trapped in my own head," she whispered. "I could hear him talking, and sort of see them all moving around me. I-- I felt him touch me, stroking my hair a-and things, but I-I couldn't do anything."

She whimpered and buried her face in his chest, trying to swallow down tears. "He's h-horrible. The things he said..."

[DaGlobster]

"Don't," Vel said, and after he collected himself enough, he continued.

"You'll never have to worry about him again. I'll make sure of it, we'll be ready, and...."

He trailed off, and his tone got lighter.

"Where did you learn how to do that? With the sword and the shield?" Vel said.

"That was incredible!"

[DragonSong]

She looked up at him with a cautious sort of smile, eyes still haunted but some of the tension leaving her body.

"I...don't really know," she murmured, shaking her head. "It was like I just- I just knew. I was fractured and lost and frozen, and then I saw him coming for you and I just... My magic woke up. It took over for a moment and..."

Twilight shrugged. She'd suddenly ducked her head, unable to meet his gaze. "And I, um...remembered. I remembered a lot."

[DaGlobster]

"O-oh," Vel said, flushing when he caught her words. Then, he kept speaking, still excited.

"Well, either way it was great! You stood up and you had all this energy swirling all around you. To channel like that without even knowing how, Gods..."

Finally, he paused himself.

"How... what did you remember?"

[DragonSong]

Twilight still couldn't meet his eyes, though whether it was embarrassment or a fear of bursting into tears she wasn't sure. Maybe both.

"I think...everything," she whispered. She curled her fingers around the ring on her hand, holding it close to her chest. She took a careful breath.

"We-- we met by a river," she murmured. "And right away you offered to help me. You didn't even know me, but you just wanted to help." She smiled softly, eyes a little over-bright. "Our first kiss was Starbright. And-- and the first time we made love, it was Midnight. And I loved you, I knew I loved you, so impossibly fast..."

She took another breath and finally looked up into his face. "I loved you. Because it was me. As much as Star and Night were their own people, they were me. And I remember."

[DaGlobster]

Vel listened as she spoke, smiling to himself and nodding along at points, content to hold her. When she finished, nodded and smiled breathlessly, awed and overjoyed all at once.

"I love you too. So much," he said, and he leaned in to kiss her cheek before resting his forehead against hers, a particularly favorite action of his.

"I was always afraid of going too fast, but whenever I had you in my arms like this I just couldn't help myself."

[DragonSong]

She closed her eyes and tipped her head back slightly to nuzzle her nose against his. "Are you sure you're alright?" she murmured after a moment. "He really didn't hurt you?"

[DaGlobster]

"Yeah, I'm fine," Vel murmured, smiling a little more when he felt her nuzzle his spectral nose. He adjusted the tilt of his head and gave her a short kiss. He spoke when he pulled away.

"Just a scratch or two. Nothing I can't mend," he said, and he passed a hand along the back of her head. His eyes met hers, but then a glint in the room caught his eye.

Her sword and shield were still there!

His eyes snapped back to Twilight. In his eyes, Vel had an inkling of that insatiable curiosity that she'd find familiar.

"Your weapons, they're... they're still physical," he stated, and he looked at her.

"Do you... can I see them?"

[DragonSong]

The smile she offered was a little tired, but her laugh and the warmth in her eyes were genuine. "Of course, Love."

She pulled away from him reluctantly and knelt to retrieve both sword and shield, crossing to lay them out on his work table. Her fingers buzzed with energy as she touched the metal and she stared at them curiously, clenching and unclenching her hands in fists.

[DaGlobster]

She set the equipment down, and Vel was there, examining it. He gave her an almost breathlessly excited look, and then picked up her sword. Perhaps it was he fact that he himself was synthetic, but Vel had a practiced eye for the artificial. Magical construction was his specialty, after all!

"Remarkable. It remains solid, even when the mage isn't focused on it..."

He spoke more to himself than her, and even worded measurements to himself as he picked up the sword and stared straight down the point. He held it in one hand, seemed awed, and then started passing a finger down the blade.

"Perfect symmetry, perfect balance, even the smelt's perfect. I haven't seen steel this pure in ages."

He passed a hand along the sword, and then looked at her. Giving her a smile, he pushed it a bit towards her. Then, he picked up her shield. As he studied the symbol on her shield, he spoke.

"You'll need armor. You have everything else," he noted, and he walked to join her at her side of the table.

He put a hand on her side, and gave her an appreciative look.

"But right now, I just want to have you in my arms."

[DragonSong]

Twilight watched him examine the sword and shield with no small amount of her own curiosity. As he pushed the blade toward her, she wrapped her fingers around the hilt and lifted it easily, elegantly.

She smiled when he wrapped an arm around her and pressed closer to his side, but her eyes were a little distant, distracted. “Is this what I am?” she murmured, almost her herself, as she swung the sword in a lazy arc. The ruby in the pommel glittered.

It felt right. Standing beside Vel, ready to defend him. Almost trance-like, she pulled away to heft the shield on one arm, looking down at both weapon and defense. “Thank you,” she told them, as though they might actually hear. A pulse of magic radiated outward from her core.

The sword and shield glimmered, then vanished. Twilight blinked, surprised that she wasn't surprised, and turned toward Vel again.

With a tired little noise somewhere between a groan and a whimper, she fell into his arms, wrapping her own tight around his middle and hiding her face in his chest. “Take me to bed?” she pleaded softly. “I’m so tired, Vel...”

[DaGlobster]

Vel watched as she pulled away to heft her shield. He studied everything about her, then. How the magical weapons showed up on optical methods of magic detection, how the fields swirled around the weapons and mingled with Twilight's own energy. He could see that the weapons were, in fact, not merely the sword a sorcerer might conjure in a pinch and then dispel later, but real, tangible objects!

He was observing the lingering magic in the air when she swung the sword, and he was so captivated by it that when the sword and shield disappeared, he only had a moment to blink at her as she turned around before she fell into his arms. He forgot all about the shield and the sword as he held her.

He left a kiss on top of her head, nodding against her hair.

"Let's go, then," Vel said, and he pulled away, although he took her hand to start leading her up to the elevator.

[DragonSong]

Twilight smiled softly for the little kiss, and she laced her fingers with his when he took her hand.

There were several moments of silence, then she ventured cautiously, "Vel, are you...alright?" She flushed, cleared her throat, and tried again, "I mean...that was a lot. He-- he said some things. About me. About you. Are you...okay?"

[DaGlobster]

"I heard, and it made me sick. But all of his sick plans don't mean anything now, because we beat him," Vel said, and the elevator started to rise.

"And he'll never get the chance again. I'll make sure of it."

He looked up as the platfrom rose past the several library floors, and then back down at her.

"I'll be okay once we're in our bed, and I can hold you to me-"

He paused to kiss her. When he broke away, it was by the barest amount that their lips were seperated. After a few moments, the platform came to a stop, and he smiled. Above them, green light from the Earth Plane's skies shone in and gave the room a faint emerald hue.

"That night I spent without you was maddening, Twilight..."

[DragonSong]

Twilight smiled again, feeling her heart leap happily as he kissed her. Gods, she'd had no idea how much she'd missed this, just being near him and holding him and knowing what he meant.

"It was only a day," she whispered, but even as she said the words her smile turned sour. "But I missed you."

She sighed and pressed in against his chest, wrapping her arms right around him. "I— I never want to do something that stupid again. I'm so sorry, Vel, I was...so confused. But then I got scared and— and he said he could help, and I just wanted to get back to you..."

She swallowed a little thickly and laughed, throat tight. "Let's...let's go to bed."

[DaGlobster]

(Guh, I forgot Vel had all this armor on :|)

Vel had so much more he wanted to say, but when Twilight let out that laugh and made her request, he nodded, and smiled with her. Gently, he pulled her along, assuming his human form and looking back at her. Since he was wearing his wooden outer plating (which he was eager to take off, he felt it limited him), his human form was wearing armor as well, rather looking like a suit of light plate armor.

"You'll need to help me out of my armour first, though. Comfier to sleep that way."

His smile brightened a bit.

"Comfier for other things too."

[DragonSong]

[Oh shoot, me too haha]



She smiled again and nodded, stepping forward to begin working at the straps on his chest and shoulders.

"I didn't even know you had this," she murmured almost absently. It was difficult to place if it was curiosity or regret in her tone. "I...never really thought about you wearing armor before."