Song of the Sea [Juno]

DragonSong · June 27, 2018, 04:13:10 PM

"Here?" She looked up into his face, her palm feeling the steady thump-thump beneath his breast. She smiled shyly, cheeks flushing just a bit. "Your...heart?"

Her smile softened and she dropped her eyes slightly. "It doesn't...bother me."

Juno · June 27, 2018, 06:51:37 PM

Was that what it was? His heart?

Yan met her eyes cautiously after a moment of observing her hand against his chest, nodding slowly. It left him with a mild ache, his throat tightening with nerves he didn't entirely understand. "Why do you ask, then?"

DragonSong · June 27, 2018, 07:02:14 PM

The air between them suddenly felt thick and heavy. Ash found herself swallowing almost compulsively and licked her lips. "I-- I just...wanted to know," she whispered.

She hardly noticed that her palm still rested against his chest, the steady beat of his heart a soothing rhythm against her own skin.

Juno · June 27, 2018, 08:23:37 PM

Yan nodded thoughtfully, reaching out to her again to splay his fingers out against her own chest. This time he felt her own heartbeat strong against his palm, but the contact stirred something inside him as he felt his own heart flutter briefly in his chest and a small shiver racing up his spine.

He gasped and dropped his hand, curling it into a loose fist as if he'd been shocked and looking down at it with a frown. "Sorry...didn't mean to hurt you," he muttered in guilt, assuming whatever he'd felt had been passed to her through the brief contact.

DragonSong · June 27, 2018, 08:29:48 PM

"Y-you didn't," Aishling stammered out quickly. Her eyes were very wide, and she abruptly found herself missing the warmth of his hand. "Yan, I..."

Her cheeks flushed deeply and she dropped her eyes, stepping back. "Sorry. I'm sorry, I-- I'm not hurt or anything. A-are you okay?"

what the hell had just happened?

Juno · June 27, 2018, 09:09:10 PM

He relaxed some to hear she was alright, eyeing her warily for the way her face was turning red again. Why did it seem she only did that when he was taking his human form?

Yan shook his head gently, offering her a nervous smile. "No, it's... I don't think you did anything. I think it was just me."

He cleared his throat, unable to stop himself from reaching out to her again to try to comfort her despite what had happened just a moment ago. He settled his hand at her arm, squeezing lightly to try to reassure her. "You didn't...feel that?" he asked incredulously.

DragonSong · June 27, 2018, 09:25:36 PM

"Feel what?" Though he had moved his grip to her arm, her own hand still rested on his breastbone. She glanced down at it. "You mean...this?"

She looked up at him again, tilting her head. "Your heartbeat?" She'd felt it skip, but hadn't given it much thought; her own heart did that all the time, when she was nervous, or excited, or--

Oh.

Juno · June 27, 2018, 11:02:44 PM

He looked down at her thoughtfully but shook his head, a little nervous to admit, "There was something else...when we touch." It seemed like she hadn't noticed, though, but he kept his hand steady against her as if trying to will it to happen again.

DragonSong · June 27, 2018, 11:16:13 PM

When they touched?

...

A possibility that she hadn't really considered as such floated to the front of her mind, deepening her blush even as she smiled shyly. "Sort of...like a fluttering in your chest? Like you're nervous, or scared, but so so happy at the same time?"

If she was right, if he was feeling what she was feeling...

Juno · June 28, 2018, 06:14:28 AM

The way she put it into words... His pulse jumped sharply again, eyes dilating in realization. That had been what he'd felt, he hadn't been shocked at all.

Yan nodded eagerly, though his eyes grew hesitant as he moved his hand up along her shoulder and down to press against her chest again as if trying to feel out the same thing in her. There was no danger after all it just...started happening when they were close, though he didn't even realize it had been building up inside him. "Do you...know what that feels like?"

DragonSong · June 28, 2018, 06:23:21 AM

She took a breath, then let it out in a shaky laugh. "Yeah. Yeah, Yan, I do."

Her free hand moved up to cover his, pressing his palm against her heart. Her breath became a little ragged all of the sudden, and she felt her pulse jump erratically.

It struck her, suddenly, that even though he seemed so different from her most of the time, so much wiser and more worldly, in many ways he was finding himself in life just as much as she was. Maybe even more so.

"Yan, do you..." She swallowed. When she spoke again, her voice was nearly a whisper. "You know that feeling when you like someone-- really like them-- but there's so much happening, s-so much going on around you, you start to think it must just be the excitement, the adventure, because it would be silly if you felt that way about them, and-- and they'd never look at you that way because you're just too different...?"

She was babbling again. Biting her lip, she peeked up at him through her lashes, shuffling her feet. "That's... For me, that's was this feels like."

Juno · June 28, 2018, 11:12:19 AM

Yan stared down at her with open curiosity as he listened to her speak. He was becoming more in tune with the gentle fluttering of her heart against his palm, noticing the slight differences every time she hesitated or looked nervous. It felt so private and personal, but he also couldn't bring himself to move away.

"Look at you that way," he repeated, frowning as he mulled it over. How was he supposed to see her? She was still Aishling to him, but she was also very special in a way no human had ever been. Before her he'd been distant with them, never lingering too long in their villages and mostly watching them from afar. He'd never dwelled on it before, but it wasn't the first time she'd called herself "too different" and now...it made his chest ache a bit.

"I feel like...you see me that way. Too different. But to me...we are just different. Not too different."

DragonSong · June 28, 2018, 05:37:31 PM

Her heart leaped into her throat. “Really?”

She flushed and added with a slight stammer, “B-because I didn’t even know you could be human at first, and you’re this— this powerful, magical thing and I’m just...I’m just me.” She didn’t stop, it almost felt like she couldn’t. “But I— I really care about you, Yan, and sometimes, when we're...like this...”

Ash swallowed thickly as she looked up at him. “I know everything has been so— so crazy lately.” she whispered. “But I...do you think maybe, after we f-find my mother...we could...stay together?”

Juno · June 28, 2018, 07:09:43 PM

The young dragon was amazed that she still held him in such high regard. To his own kind he knew he was young, untempered, and inexperienced. His gifts were more developed at his age because of his lineage, though he didn't think it was anything to take as particularly special. There were plenty of others just like him somewhere out there, but Ash...

She seemed to see him as truly special, someone worthy of caring about. For that he was grateful. He wasn't quite sure how to put it into words that would be less intense yet, but he understood in that moment the bond he felt to her went beyond their friendship. There was something deeper, something his elders had warned him to keep an eye out for. The thought that he might be opening himself up to explore it was both terrifying and exhilarating.

The warmth of happiness bubbled in his chest and after only a quiet moment he nodded eagerly in agreement, smiling with relief. His slid his hand down away from her chest and stepped closer, wrapping her up in his arms for a warm embrace that lifted her just slightly onto her toes. It was their first proper hug as he was but it didn't feel unnatural. It felt rather special, in fact, a pleasant tingling racing through him as he rested his cheek against her own.

"Please?" he chuckled softly, finally finding his voice again. "Ash...you're very special to me. I'd like to stay with you, wherever you decide to go."

DragonSong · June 28, 2018, 07:15:59 PM

Her heart stopped, then picked up again in a rapid double time. Ash beamed and wrapped her arms tight around his neck, rocking up onto her toes as far as she could to press closer.

"Okay," she whispered happily, and nuzzled gently into the curve of his shoulder. "Together, then."

She hesitated a moment, then turned her head to press a quick, light kiss against his cheek. It wasn't like she'd never done it before— though of course then he'd been in his true form, and now just felt...different.

Juno · June 28, 2018, 08:50:55 PM

It felt good and...right to be holding her close. He hummed happily at her agreement, nuzzling close and then freezing at the contact of her lips to his cheek. That certainly felt different in his human form, the touch causing his chest to tighten in a mess of butterflies.

Lifting his head slightly he eyed her thoughtfully for a moment before turning to press a gentle kiss to her temple. It happened again and Yan shuddered and huffed in surprise, gooseflesh racing up his arms that was not at all for the chill of the wind outside.

"Everything is different like this," he commented in mild awe, fingers gently kneading along her back as he tried to put it into words. "All my...senses are different."

DragonSong · June 28, 2018, 08:59:02 PM

For her part, Ash was trying to focus on not letting her suddenly shaky knees give out beneath her body for the way his fingers kneaded at the small of her back. Why did that feel so good? She’d never thought she was particularly sensitive there!

“Is it...good different?” she asked after a moment, tilting her head slightly to search his face, her arms still draped loosely around his neck.

Juno · June 28, 2018, 10:26:10 PM

"Yeah," he huffed, meeting her eyes with a shy little smile as he tried to explain, "You're still the same but it feels...really nice to be close with you. I don't...feel you as much when we touch normally, human skin is more sensitive."

Yan stared down into her eyes once they'd separated a bit, his fingers slowly working their way up her back to settle at her waist instead. Something still pulled at him, though, the air feeling so alive around them.

With a small frown he leaned down to press another kiss to her forehead, such a brief thing immediately causing his heart to leap and hammer in his chest again with nerves.

DragonSong · June 28, 2018, 11:02:11 PM

Ash smiled, and closed her eyes with a soft sigh when he kissed her brow. Her heart seemed to be sitting higher in her chest than was typically normal, fluttering delicately against her rib cage every few breaths.

"I'm glad," she murmured almost without thinking. She took a breath, taking a moment to just enjoy the closeness they'd fostered between them, then tilted her head back and rocked up on her toes to press her lips to his.

It was an incredibly brief touch, not even quite all the way to a proper kiss, then she was rocking back again, cheeks flushed and eyes downcast. "Was— was that okay?"

Juno · June 29, 2018, 08:07:27 AM

He wasn't quite sure what she was doing until it was already happening, the brush of lips giving his heart a jolting stutter like he was suddenly in a freefall. Just as soon as it had started it was over, though, his eyes blinking at her in wonder. She'd left him with more questions than answers, his hands idly adjusting at her sides as he tried to make sense of how that had felt so...just good.

She seemed nervous again, but he tilted his head to watch her curiously as she ducked away from him. "Yeah...why did you stop?" he asked softly, curious to try it for himself and leaning in to touch his lips to hers with a gentle, lingering pressure.