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nyandereneko) wrote2020-07-01 08:00 am
nyandereneko) wrote2020-07-01 08:00 am
Entry tags:
A Simple Vow
Word Count: 1,280
Summary: Nova and Desair have a heart to heart that turns a little more passionate than they anticipated.
Author’s Note: That summary makes it sound like this goes somewhere suggestive or something but I swear it doesn’t fhieslfhesf this was just an idea for a fic I had a while ago, I’d like to do one in the reverse where Nova offers Desair this kind of comfort…I’m sure I’ll get around to it someday lol. Thank you for reading!
“That must have been rough.”
His words were an understatement, but Nova wasn’t going to judge him for that. It was a heavy, uncomfortable subject, one she tended to avoid bringing up if she could help it. Sharing the sordid details of her past was difficult, harrowing, but lately Desair had become the type of person she felt she could trust. As odd and unlikely of a development as that sounded considering the state of their initial acquaintance, neither party could deny that the connection they shared now was not just profound, but sincere.
They weren’t putting on airs, or secretly thinking of ways they could use any of the vulnerabilities that they so hesitantly, trustingly revealed to one another to their advantage. No, at the core of it all they were just interested in getting to know each other better, in learning everything they could with the hope that they might be better equipped to help one another. It was a far cry from the unfounded vitriol they’d started with, and it still felt a little surreal to be sitting beside each other so calmly, contently, like that was just how things had always been. In the aftermath of such heartfelt exchanges, detailed discussions regarding the painful truths of their pasts, they found nothing in their hearts but compassion, sympathy, caring for one another.
A light flush colored Nova’s cheeks as her companion gently placed his hand over hers, which she’d folded neatly in her lap. It wasn’t until he’d drawn her attention to them that she realized she’d been clenching them so tightly her knuckles were white, her muscles growing sore from the tension. She tried to loosen them a bit, feeling Desair’s supportive, comforting touch almost seeming to spur the action along. She should have turned to look at him, should have tried thanking him for his subtle thoughtfulness, but she was still just a bit too overwhelmed to take the risk of facing him directly.
“No rougher than anyone else,” she finally spoke up, and her heart skipped a beat as Desair’s hands suddenly cupped her face, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Don’t say things like that.” He presented the words as a demand, but his tone was delicate enough to negate any bite they might have had. His crimson eyes blazed with a warmth, an ardor that set her heart fluttering like the soft, fluffy wings of a bird. “It doesn’t matter how rough it was. I mean, it does, but there’s no sense in comparing your experiences to others. We’ve all felt pain, varying degrees of it, and lost things that are important to us. Even if we’ve all suffered in different ways, there’s no one right way to suffer. And I know that sounds a little ridiculous, but what I’m trying to say is--”
“I think I understand,” she reassured with a smile that set his own heart thrumming with fondness. “Everyone’s pain matters, even if it’s different. And trying to undermine someone’s suffering by comparing it to someone else doesn’t do anyone any good. If anything it just redoubles the suffering, encouraging people to downplay not just their pain, but also their healing. It’s an unfortunate and arguably inevitable result of examining things through that lens.”
“You said it better than I could have,” he praised, and Nova’s ears perked up in a mixture of surprise and happiness. “I think that’s essentially the point I was trying to make. So regardless of how much you and I have lost as individuals, it doesn’t make one of our positions worse than the other’s. And rather than dwelling on things like that, I’d like to do what I can to help you distance yourself from that suffering. To help you move past it until it’s just a negligible blip in your memory.”
“I’ll do my best to keep that in mind,” she replied timidly, still a little overwhelmed by the intensity of both his kindness and his proximity. “And thank you for hearing me out. Just knowing that at least one person’s willing to listen makes things a little bit better, somehow.”
“An ear, a shoulder…I’m always willing to lend anything to you,” he confessed, and Nova swore her heart came to a full stop for a moment. “Anything you need, anything that will help you feel better, or make you smile. That’s what I’m here for.”
“Such chivalrous words coming from you,” her tone was teasing, but the shimmer in her eyes betrayed just how touched she really was by his ardent display. “I didn’t think you’d ever be willing to say something like that to someone like me.”
“You’re not just someone,” he continued, and this time her lungs experienced a temporary malfunction as well. “I know it’s taken me a long time to realize that, too long, but it’s the truth. That’s how I feel, and if I’m smart, I won’t let any kind of petty, unrealistic, misplaced blame come between us.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” she replied sheepishly, considering trying to dislodge his hold so she could hide her burning face in her hands instead.
Before she could make a decision, she felt the warm, unmistakable sensation of his lips pressing tenderly to her skin. Flustered beyond belief as her physical state devolved into chaos, she tried to pull her thoughts together enough to ask him exactly what it was he thought he was doing, and why. It took her a minute to realize that the spot he’d selected to christen with his fervent, heartfelt kiss was the same place her horn was supposed to be. The same place it would have been if she hadn’t had it forcibly removed as a child. She’d explained as much to him in the tale she’d brought him here to tell, and the fact that he felt compelled to make such a kind, caring display at all…she couldn’t hold back every tear as a few of them managed to escape down her cheeks.
The shock that these tears brought to his system as the young man leaned back to glimpse her precious face once more, however, wasn’t comforting in the slightest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--”
“Thank you.” That phrase was all she needed; it encompassed every sentiment she was so desperate to communicate as she thrust herself into his arms, trapping him in her own. “Thank you, Desair. For being here for me, for being so nice, for just being you…honestly, I know things haven’t always been the best between us, but…now, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Stunned to silence for a few moments more, his bemusement towards her response eventually faded enough to free him from its petrifying grasp. He smiled, his chest aching with a combination of contentment and solace, relief that he’d managed to overcome his own shortcomings enough to make it to this point. If he’d still been preoccupied with hating her for unjust, unfounded reasons, he knew everything would be so much more miserable, most of all himself. But he didn’t have to face a future like that now, and he enveloped her in his arms as his tail involuntarily thumped in delight.
“Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you never have to face the possibility of living without me, if it’s really that important to you.”
“Yes,” Nova affirmed, her words muffled by his embrace. “It is. So thank you, again…just know I’m definitely going to hold you to that.”
He snickered and sealed his vow by pressing a delicate kiss to her ear. “I expect nothing less.”
Summary: Nova and Desair have a heart to heart that turns a little more passionate than they anticipated.
Author’s Note: That summary makes it sound like this goes somewhere suggestive or something but I swear it doesn’t fhieslfhesf this was just an idea for a fic I had a while ago, I’d like to do one in the reverse where Nova offers Desair this kind of comfort…I’m sure I’ll get around to it someday lol. Thank you for reading!
_____
“That must have been rough.”
His words were an understatement, but Nova wasn’t going to judge him for that. It was a heavy, uncomfortable subject, one she tended to avoid bringing up if she could help it. Sharing the sordid details of her past was difficult, harrowing, but lately Desair had become the type of person she felt she could trust. As odd and unlikely of a development as that sounded considering the state of their initial acquaintance, neither party could deny that the connection they shared now was not just profound, but sincere.
They weren’t putting on airs, or secretly thinking of ways they could use any of the vulnerabilities that they so hesitantly, trustingly revealed to one another to their advantage. No, at the core of it all they were just interested in getting to know each other better, in learning everything they could with the hope that they might be better equipped to help one another. It was a far cry from the unfounded vitriol they’d started with, and it still felt a little surreal to be sitting beside each other so calmly, contently, like that was just how things had always been. In the aftermath of such heartfelt exchanges, detailed discussions regarding the painful truths of their pasts, they found nothing in their hearts but compassion, sympathy, caring for one another.
A light flush colored Nova’s cheeks as her companion gently placed his hand over hers, which she’d folded neatly in her lap. It wasn’t until he’d drawn her attention to them that she realized she’d been clenching them so tightly her knuckles were white, her muscles growing sore from the tension. She tried to loosen them a bit, feeling Desair’s supportive, comforting touch almost seeming to spur the action along. She should have turned to look at him, should have tried thanking him for his subtle thoughtfulness, but she was still just a bit too overwhelmed to take the risk of facing him directly.
“No rougher than anyone else,” she finally spoke up, and her heart skipped a beat as Desair’s hands suddenly cupped her face, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Don’t say things like that.” He presented the words as a demand, but his tone was delicate enough to negate any bite they might have had. His crimson eyes blazed with a warmth, an ardor that set her heart fluttering like the soft, fluffy wings of a bird. “It doesn’t matter how rough it was. I mean, it does, but there’s no sense in comparing your experiences to others. We’ve all felt pain, varying degrees of it, and lost things that are important to us. Even if we’ve all suffered in different ways, there’s no one right way to suffer. And I know that sounds a little ridiculous, but what I’m trying to say is--”
“I think I understand,” she reassured with a smile that set his own heart thrumming with fondness. “Everyone’s pain matters, even if it’s different. And trying to undermine someone’s suffering by comparing it to someone else doesn’t do anyone any good. If anything it just redoubles the suffering, encouraging people to downplay not just their pain, but also their healing. It’s an unfortunate and arguably inevitable result of examining things through that lens.”
“You said it better than I could have,” he praised, and Nova’s ears perked up in a mixture of surprise and happiness. “I think that’s essentially the point I was trying to make. So regardless of how much you and I have lost as individuals, it doesn’t make one of our positions worse than the other’s. And rather than dwelling on things like that, I’d like to do what I can to help you distance yourself from that suffering. To help you move past it until it’s just a negligible blip in your memory.”
“I’ll do my best to keep that in mind,” she replied timidly, still a little overwhelmed by the intensity of both his kindness and his proximity. “And thank you for hearing me out. Just knowing that at least one person’s willing to listen makes things a little bit better, somehow.”
“An ear, a shoulder…I’m always willing to lend anything to you,” he confessed, and Nova swore her heart came to a full stop for a moment. “Anything you need, anything that will help you feel better, or make you smile. That’s what I’m here for.”
“Such chivalrous words coming from you,” her tone was teasing, but the shimmer in her eyes betrayed just how touched she really was by his ardent display. “I didn’t think you’d ever be willing to say something like that to someone like me.”
“You’re not just someone,” he continued, and this time her lungs experienced a temporary malfunction as well. “I know it’s taken me a long time to realize that, too long, but it’s the truth. That’s how I feel, and if I’m smart, I won’t let any kind of petty, unrealistic, misplaced blame come between us.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” she replied sheepishly, considering trying to dislodge his hold so she could hide her burning face in her hands instead.
Before she could make a decision, she felt the warm, unmistakable sensation of his lips pressing tenderly to her skin. Flustered beyond belief as her physical state devolved into chaos, she tried to pull her thoughts together enough to ask him exactly what it was he thought he was doing, and why. It took her a minute to realize that the spot he’d selected to christen with his fervent, heartfelt kiss was the same place her horn was supposed to be. The same place it would have been if she hadn’t had it forcibly removed as a child. She’d explained as much to him in the tale she’d brought him here to tell, and the fact that he felt compelled to make such a kind, caring display at all…she couldn’t hold back every tear as a few of them managed to escape down her cheeks.
The shock that these tears brought to his system as the young man leaned back to glimpse her precious face once more, however, wasn’t comforting in the slightest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--”
“Thank you.” That phrase was all she needed; it encompassed every sentiment she was so desperate to communicate as she thrust herself into his arms, trapping him in her own. “Thank you, Desair. For being here for me, for being so nice, for just being you…honestly, I know things haven’t always been the best between us, but…now, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Stunned to silence for a few moments more, his bemusement towards her response eventually faded enough to free him from its petrifying grasp. He smiled, his chest aching with a combination of contentment and solace, relief that he’d managed to overcome his own shortcomings enough to make it to this point. If he’d still been preoccupied with hating her for unjust, unfounded reasons, he knew everything would be so much more miserable, most of all himself. But he didn’t have to face a future like that now, and he enveloped her in his arms as his tail involuntarily thumped in delight.
“Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you never have to face the possibility of living without me, if it’s really that important to you.”
“Yes,” Nova affirmed, her words muffled by his embrace. “It is. So thank you, again…just know I’m definitely going to hold you to that.”
He snickered and sealed his vow by pressing a delicate kiss to her ear. “I expect nothing less.”