shelley_winters | (no subject)

(no subject)

Shelley had been tired when they got back, so tired she had gone to bed immediately rather than reading as she normally did.

But sleep, when it came, was disturbed and confusing. It is warm in her room, but she shivers in her sleep, dancing alone in a room that is empty but she's being watched...

The girl sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes. The tension isn't going away even in the peace of the night, that prickling of undefinable vulnerable terror that the dreams she has been having leave her with.

After splashing her face with water, she quietly steps out of her room to wander down the corridor outside. It's dark and silent, which is oddly comforting as she walks up and down through the silent house, avoiding the area where Elan's study is. He sleeps little, and is often awake working at this time of night.

Her bare feet make no sound on the smooth floor, only the faint brush of her nightdress as she walks telling of her presence. She stops only to look out of the window for a time, trying to calm herself to sleep again. A soft mist has replaced the former clear sky, and she can only just make out the garden past it.

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A slight tilt of his head as the hand slid down her side to her hip, a gentle caress. A touch of curiosity in his voice. Blue eyes watch her carefully.

"My lady?"

There's a hitch in her breathing now, almost a sob although she's not crying yet. The colour in her cheeks hasn't faded, but she is curled in so defensively.

"...Don't. Stop it."

Fear, though she blushes, and shame that she has.

His brow furrowed slightly. His voice almost confused. Blue eyes glint beautifully. A peal of thunder.
I wish I had an angel
"Here in our night of peace..."
For one moment of love
His hand caressed her side.
I wish I had your angel
"Is this not respite?"
Your Virgin Mary undone
His hand traced circles on her shoulder.
I'm in love with my lust
"Is this not escape from the misery?"
Burning angel wings to dust
His hand lay on her blushing cheek.
I wish I had your angel tonight
"Is this not wanted?"

(Beauty always comes with dark thoughts)

The edge of the windowframe is pressing almost painfully into her shoulder, she's pulling back so hard. Under his hands, she shakes.

"No. No, I- No."

Her voice is as weak as her hands, knotted tightly in folds of her nightdress.

A soft smile as his hand rested on her cheek, the warmth of his body against her. Her scent, pomegranates, and the rain.

"Am I lying then?"

An intensity to his voice as his face hovered so very close to hers. The icy wintergreen of his breath.

"Have you not found comfort, and respite from the loneliness with me before? Have your tears not stained my shoulder while my arms held you? Are you not warm?"

Shelley stares hard down at her feet, stubborning refusing to look up at him. To say no would be a lie, and he knows it, but she will not- she can't agree.

The girl sits in tense silence, letting her red hair fall slowly forward as if its curtain can shut him out.

A delicate touch parts her hair. Pretty blue eyes watch her face. A fond smile.

"Is it dawn yet, Lady Shelley?"

Shelley still doesn't look up, gaze staying on her feet.

But she can still see the dark grey of the rainclouds through the wet windows. Night.

"No."

Fingertips on her chin, a gentle touch as if to raise her head. His blue eyes to meet her green ones.

"Then you are safe from any harm by me."

A pause and then the repetition. A glint of white teeth as he speaks slowly and precisely.

"Safe."

I don't believe you. You were always a liar.

Shelley doesn't move.

One day of peace in however many, what is that? How much more will it hurt, the danger, the betrayal, if she trusts him even for such a short time?

She sits in silence, fear and doubt still twisting, but she can't let it go.

The grave's a fine and private place,

A delicate, chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth. So very gentle. Loving.

But none I think do there embrace.

Her small hands are clenched so hard her nails are hurting her palms. Shelley fights to keep her voice level. Peace.

"I asked you to stop."

Delicate fingers held her chin in his hand, a gentle touch and a sad smile.

"Do you enjoy being miserable?"

"I get by."

Her small voice is determined, bright eyes turned away still.

A touch of curiosity in his voice, even concern. His hand sliding down her throat to rest on her collarbone. A sensitive caress.

"Are you alive though?"

A slight twitch, almost a flinch away from his hand, though there is nowhere she can move to.

"...So far."

His hand slid to the center of her chest. A pause as he felt her heart beat.The warmth of her beneath his hand, the smell of her. His own heart beating as well against her warm body.

"Your heart is beating, but are you alive? Your heart is beating your slow march to the grave, but you can die without living."

"I'm alive. I'm- Stop it."

The urge to try and pull his hand from her is strong, but the girl stubbornly concetrates on looking away from him. She can't stop herself shaking.

Your beauty cascaded on me
A single fingertip trailed up her shoulders and neck where it joined the rest of his hand in touching her face. His mellifluous voice sang so very softly to her. The winter's rain pattered outside the window, a time signature to his music.
In this white night fantasy
"Crestfallen soul, rest for this night.
Love is here, right here under my wings."

Maim me
A note of panic under her voice, misery apparent as she shifts involuntarily under the gentle trailing of his fingertips.
tame me
"Stop. Please..."
you can never change me

A tilt of his head. A slight peal of thunder as hand pulls from her. The night's cool air. His bare chest pulling slightly away from her.

"Do you want to be miserable any longer? Do you want keep being in pain from the loneliness?"

"I'm all right."

A low voice. Shelley is still stubborn, even now. But it's easier to breathe suddenly, in spite of the chill in the air.

He leaned in close, but not touching her. A touch of curiosity and concern in his voice and in the tilt of his head.

"...Are you really?"

"Yes."

They both know that she's lying. Shelley almost manages to glare at him. Almost.

A gentle touch on her cheek. A soft look in his eyes.

"Let me hold you."

His thumb slid across her cheek.

"We have a peace till morning's light. No fear, no pain."

The soft rain came down, the low, rolling thunder.

"Let me hold you, and you can have rest from the misery for this one night."

His body slid next to hers. Bare chest against her as his white robe clung to his body.

"Tomorrow will come as days do, but we will leave it for tomorrow. Let us have peace for this night."