fondofapples | Inbox -- Genessia

Regina Mills
~~Queen~~ ~~Mayor~~ Mother
Sorceress
Fond of Plants

"You've reached the inbox of Regina Mills. Leave a message. If it's urgent, it's probably too late."

(text, voice, video, action, ooc planning if necessary for Genessia only)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil caught the expression, and it drew his attention in all the wrong directions as his gaze flicked down and over to her shoulder, the marks he'd left.

As much as he enjoyed them--couldn't stop the fierce swell of possessive pleasure he felt at the sight of them--he'd gone too far, and he knew why. That was the part that bothered him.

Once the teleportation mist cleared, Neil took more care setting her down, sitting her on the edge of the tub. Rolling his lips together, tellingly quiet, he called a ball of dragon fire to life in his palm, drained the flame, then forced the raw magic to coalesce into a glossy, iridescent orb before carefully placing it on the edge of the tub, then tipping it in.

The orb immediately dissolved into a mist that spread across the surface of the tub, then began to fade but not disappear. It became, instead, wisps of gentle steam rising off a bathtub now full of water on just the right side of a little too hot, a heat that would burn before it promptly began to cool and sink into aching muscles.

By the time the steam settled into something less mystical, Neil's brow had broken out in a sweat from exertion--which was precisely what he wanted: to keep the fire in his veins quiet.

From:

fondofapples

"Neil." Tightening her stomach muscles first to avoid the inner shifting, Regina reached up to smooth the sweat from his brow. "Don't punish yourself for giving me what I asked for. I know you think it was too much, but it wasn't."

As though to prove it, she eased herself into the tub without his help. The water briefly scalded--just enough too hot to pierce through self-protective muscle tension--and then immediately cooled to the perfect temperature to coax out a slow, smiling sigh.

"Join me," not a request. "And then tell me what's bothering you about this even though I've told you it's more than okay."

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil didn't even stop to think about it: when she spoke, he obeyed, sliding into the water with far less of a reaction to the heat so he was facing her, not quite meeting her eyes.

"I'm not--punishing myself, just keeping my head on straight." he murmured. Lifting wet hands from the water, he scrubbed them briskly over his face for a second, refreshed by the warmth of it washing away more of the residue of his dried sweat.

"I told you once before--the fire doesn't just come after my body, sometimes it can get in my head, too." he explained. "When it's close to the surface, like it was today, it can seep into my thoughts and sort of...take over. Not coercive, or like possession, it's more like...it finds the things we both want, and makes it almost impossible for me to stop and think before I act. It doesn't take control, it burns it away. Normally it likes bloodlust and anger, and, uh..."

He trailed off, wincing at himself as he raked a hand back through his wet hair.

"I called you to deal with the anger, and...when you presented something else to work through the bloodlust, it--liked that idea, I guess."

From:

fondofapples

"Unsurprising," Regina replied, voice steadier from the heat sinking into her body. Abraded vaginal tissues burned uncomfortably, but that would pass by morning. For now, she simply moved carefully to keep from irritating them. "Sex and battle are intrinsically linked."

She pressed her calves against him and rubbed his hip with her foot. "You're ashamed because you liked the pure physical domination, and it feels wrong because you want to protect and care for me?"

From:

hellorhighwater

"It's not that I liked it--that's...Ember's Breath, that's one of the things I can't get enough of with you." he admitted, reaching beneath the water to embrace that contact, absently circling her ankle with his fingers, smoothing his thumb over the inside of the joint with his thumb. "You're not afraid of the things I want--the things I need. And you give as good at you get, I...I probably like that way more than is remotely appropriate."

For a second he smiled--pure male hunger as he finally met her gaze--but it didn't last, the smile faltering as his expression grew more introspective.

"And that's it, it's...how much I liked it." he finally sighed. "Not only have I never gotten that rough in bed with someone--"

He raised a hand immediately to forestall any remarks--mostly in jest, as another quirk of a smile attested to.

"--metaphorically speaking, shut up."

Dropping his hand, he continued with a roll of his neck and shoulders.

"But I was...maybe eighty percent in control of my own actions. And yeah, it was...great, but I felt like I could have crossed a line somewhere in there. Markin' each other up is one thing, I got no problem with that, but look at that."

He reached out with his free hand, gently running his fingers over one of the bite marks he'd left on her shoulder--not just a mark that would bruise, but one that looked just plain mean.

"I never, ever wanna be responsible for flat out hurtin' you, Regina."

From:

fondofapples

She tipped him an amused smile for his metaphorical 'bed' and flexed her foot in his grip. And when he reached out to touch the bite he'd left on her shoulder, she didn't wince but turned her head to kiss his fingertips, to let him know both she was listening and she was all right.

Still, she didn't rush to answer him, other than to acknowledge his concerns with a nod. If anyone understood the dangers of letting the darkness control her actions, it was Regina. And yet, he needed an outlet for the bloodlust or he would snap. In that way, it was different than dark magic. She could suppress it with her will indefinitely as long as she stayed strong.

For a long moment, she held his gaze in steady quiet while she considered it. Eventually, she said, "You trust me to hold your leash and be your eyes. Trust me not to let you hurt me."

From:

hellorhighwater

Looking into her eyes, Neil could all but see the wheels turning--not in earnest calculation, but rolling something over in her head, turning it again and again like a precious stone in hand to examine its surface and its fire. He watched her think, wondering if it was strange that he could sit for hours and watch that beautiful mind work...

But when she asked more of him, more than he'd given, more than she'd asked for in any other instance, he found himself strangely fascinated by it. This woman, so certain that she was driven by darkness, so afraid and overwhelmed by things like her true love or his dahgo--she took control of him so reluctantly, and asked for the whole of him so earnestly and honestly. She asked for no oaths, and he gave them to her anyway, demanded to be obeyed as a queen only when he asked of her the rule of one.

She handled power with reverence and with honor--not with the iron fist and dominion of his king. He respected both ways, loved both his king and his queen in their own right for how they commanded him...but she didn't wield her power over him in darkness, but in light. And she did it with so little effort.

He wondered if she realized how frightening she could be for that: because she took such care with the control he gave her, made him feel so safe that it was easy to offer his throat, to open his ribs and extend to her his beating heart to care for.

"The will of the gods upon your tongue." he replied after a long silence, strangely unable to avert her gaze as a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Another oath, though that's probably pretty obvious--but it's one I never bind myself to lightly. I hope you know that."

From:

fondofapples

They did this often, she realized, held entire conversations in the interstices of talk, him watching her and her watching him, questions asked and answered--here a glance alighting on a livid bite mark, there the brush of lips over fingertips, here the lift of an eyebrow, there the softening of a gaze, the twitch of a smile, a deeper breath. This time without verbalizing any of the considerations she'd weighed, she'd convinced him that something he feared was not to be feared and when she'd finally made the request, he'd answered with an oath.

She hadn't asked for it, wouldn't have, because his freedom to choose was his safety from her tyranny. But oaths he gave freely, they weren't the same as behavior enforced with a held heart. And because she held his oaths, she'd allow him liberties she'd extend to no other partner.

"I know," she replied, the words an echo of the acceptance already given in the softening of her gaze and the subtle shifts of her body as she began to move in the tub to put her back against his chest instead of the hard ceramic. "I promise I'll let you heal what you can and soothe what you can't, any time you get rough, and I won't pretend I'm not sore if I am."

Not an oath on the gods but on the trust between them, and Neil knew how much she feared exposing her vulnerabilities.

Edited Date: 2018-10-14 02:34 pm (UTC)

From:

hellorhighwater

Another precious piece of her offered, another little jewel to tuck away in the space made by plucking out his own heart—he understood the weight of what she offered, and it was warm, grounding in the middle of his chest. It made him smile a little as she shifted to get closer to him, at which point he reached out to help her twist around so he could help her lay back comfortably against his chest.

“Fire doesn’t offer me much skill in healing—too destructive, too wild.” He admitted, even as he looped his arms around her shoulders and pressed his nose against the top of her head for a moment with a heavy sigh. With breath, he felt some of that worry and that remorse bleed out of him a little, replaced by the comfort of his oath, the assurance of her word of honor—more binding to him than any vow or oath for the abundance she had of that precious virtue.

“But what I can do, I will do.” He added, letting fingers brush over the bite on her shoulder. He rested his chin on top of her head then, mapping the border of the bite with fingertips and a curious little frown. Lifting his hand, he called forth a tiny tongue of fire between his fingers and drained the heat with a deep breath, a tiny shimmer of luminous rainbow light pinched between thumb and forefinger.

The magic coalesced into a pearl of light, one he laid against her skin and fractured with pressure. It had no solid edges, but subtle healing warmth would leech into muscle and soft tissue as his fingers smoothed over the bite. It wasn’t enough effort to strain him, nor was it enough to heal the wound completely—but by the time the energy faded, having done its work, the bite mark was far milder, raw edges healed and a deep bruise just starting to fade on the perimeter.

From:

fondofapples

"My magic isn't much good for healing either," she shared as she sank back into the water and against his chest with a slow exhalation as the tension between them began to dissipate with his oath and her promise. "I can heal small wounds, make a bad injury less so, put a person in stasis to keep a disease from progressing, but fire burns and darkness strangles...I also never studied it. Beyond force-healing my knights, and Henry's scrapes, I never had a use for it."

She tipped her head forward while she spoke, exposing the bite to his ministrations. It did hurt, significantly more than previous marks he'd left, but in the moment, it hadn't been more than she could take or even more than she wanted. And his magic soothed the abrasions and tearing.

When he'd finished, she lay her head against his shoulder and tilted it back, giving him a wry, vaguely awkward half-smile. "Do you have to be able to see an injury to do that for it?" She didn't mind the internal bruising, but friction-burned vaginal tissues were uncomfortable.

From:

hellorhighwater

It helped to assuage his conscience some to be able to help, at least. It was also just plain nice to have her tucked against his chest, heat from the water soaking into him, calming the fire in his veins even as it put out new heat of its own. He felt encouraged...and then she tipped her head back to look at him with that little smile that spoke to things that always settled over him with a deep sense of comfort.

Because he could see that awkwardness, and as heavenly as things could be with her, or as volatile--the little, even uncomfortable moments made it all more real. He didn't trust perfect, so those reminders always soothed that tiny place in the back of his head that made him doubt.

"Or understand it." he confirmed with a little smile of his own, thinking of Ellis from his unit. Technically, treating a migraine wasn't healing per se, but some conversations with the healers about blood vessels and the mechanics of pain and enough time in combat triage training made him fairly sure he could figure some stuff out.

That took some of his smile as his features settled into a thoughtful frown, one hand dropping to sweep low over her belly, mirroring the protective touch she sometimes used with him. "Why, you got pain inside? How serious?"

From:

fondofapples

As his hand slid low and protective over her belly, Regina felt a pang of a grief so long forgotten that it startled her. She buried it immediately, shoving it far down into her psyche where it would have to stay, because that was one hurt he could never heal. Hopefully the awkwardness of the topic would cover the issue, since he already knew about her poisoning her womb, and explaining that he'd accidentally made her long for something neither of them really wanted.

"It's not serious," she reassured him as quickly as she found the words to do so. She took his hand and drew it down between her thighs, unself-consciously parting her labia to put his fingers against her vaginal entrance and her urethra. "More here, from the friction. Stings. And women get infections easily."

It was not a conversation she'd ever expected to have with a male partner, but Neil defied so many of her expectations that she simply accepted it and allowed it to happen.

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil let her guide his hand, a strange mixture of that moment of awkwardness and more guilt pinking his cheeks with heat he tried to push aside. He could be slow, but he could add two and two together and did with a rueful grin as he kissed her temple.

"Think I can help a little, just...lemme know if it hurts or burns more." he replied quietly, removing his fingers from her entrance and lifting them above the water to summon a small flame, stealing another little pearl of magic before he slipped his hand between her legs again. Shutting his eyes, he tried to use what little he knew to give the power direction, not just mechanically but to heal, a thing he was not made for. Bigger wounds and larger pains, brute force worked, but this was a gentle use of smaller magic--not a matter of life and death, but of care and comfort.

A few soft, breathy utterances of words in the dragon tongue preceded the gentle pressure of his fingers against her entrance, and that subtle heat of magic as it did as he bid, soothing and healing until a good measure of the burning was gone.

From:

fondofapples

Under different circumstances, the soft, pulsing heat might be erotic. But quite frankly, if he'd tried to make her climax again right now, she'd elbow him in the ribs. Fortunately, he didn't tend to get all macho and masculine about her pleasure, so his ribs were spared the bruising point of her arm.

And the entire train of thought was pointlessly defensive, she realized, when he withdrew his fingers and she felt the peculiar urge to press her legs together. The vulnerability of non-sexual genital touching was painfully intense, and the pink on her cheeks made her want to bury her face in his shoulder.

Instead, she murmured, "Thank you, Neil," and drew both of his arms around her. The burning had all but subsided and it would be fine by morning. "The deeper bruising will take a few days to heal, but as long as we don't do that again until it does, there's nothing to worry about."

From:

hellorhighwater

"There's not a chance of that happening again in the next few days." he reassured her, leaning in to kiss her temple as she settled comfortably back against his chest. It took him a second to realize how that sounded...

"...not because I wouldn't want to have sex with you--'cause I always wanna have sex with you. I mean--not that I only want sex, with you--obviously--I just mean--"

He cut himself off, rolling his lips together and letting his head fall forward, then back with a harsh breath through his nose, a huff at his ever-present stupidity.

"Goddamnit..."

From:

fondofapples

It had to be post-coital, post-pain bliss, because once he started tripping over his stupid, she let out a laugh, and then another, and another that quickly gave way to giggles. And Regina Mills did not giggle. Except apparently in Neil's arms after being fucked within an inch of her life.

Of course, the giggles shook her insides and she gave up a quiet little groan at the ache. She kneaded the muscles of his thighs with her knuckles and thumbs, in part to stop the giggles, but in part out of the awareness that he'd probably strained a few of his muscles along with hers.

"And maybe next time we do that, I can kneel on the bed or bend over a desk," she continued, mostly teasing him at this point, but it was worth saying now while they were still talking about it. "A little more support for me is a lot less work for you."

From:

hellorhighwater

Ember's Breath--if he could make her laugh like that by taking her the way he had, then healing her after, he'd do it a thousand times without regret. That merry giggle stole his breath with pure joy, even when it made her protest at the discomfort. Holding her a little tighter, Neil vowed silently to find a way to make her do that again...or would once he could think again, the pressure of her fingers tearing quiet little sounds of pleasure from deep in his chest. Beyond sex, he'd done himself no favors with the stress of his earlier workout.

"And without the presence of...well, anything that makes me want to kill someone." he added, bending his head to kiss her shoulder. "Being a little bit careful means that we can have a lot more fun later being less careful. If...that makes sense. If not, just punch me or somethin', 'cause I'm only gonna get stupider the longer I sit here."

From:

fondofapples

"Whether or not it made sense--" Her fingers worked deeper into the muscles of his thighs, and she paid special attention to the tendon attachments to the knee he'd injured. If she was neither a healer nor a physiotherapist, she'd paid attention to his stories and knew enough to predict trouble spots. "I understood it."

She turned her head to kiss his face while he kissed her shoulder, seeking out and enjoying the simple intimacy of lingering with their heads close together and his breath on her skin. "Even if I hadn't, you'd be safe from punching for now. Anything that requires unnecessary turning, tensing, or shaking of my lower abdomen is off the table tonight."

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil grinned at her reassurance--and hissed softly with pain and pleasure as her fingers dug into a spot on the outside of his knee, pressure on that stiffness throbbing briefly before it gave way and melted into warmth as the tendon relaxed a little. It was another little reminder of how closely she listened, that the insignificant details of old injuries and battle stories mattered enough for her to remember and use that knowledge of weakness to help, to soothe.

Turning into the brush of her lips, Neil enjoyed the same simple closeness, muscles contracting and shifting into her hands as she worked loose the stiffness and aches that promised to punish him later for his loss of control.

"We'll both take it easy." he promised, hands smoothing over her arms and shoulders with a deep sigh. "More you than me--and don't argue, I'm not gonna hurt myself, just gonna take care of you first. Park my ass down next to you when I'm done. Let's start by cleaning up, hmm? Water's nice, but...well, fire mage. You can have a nice long soak if you want, but I'm not wired to find it relaxing."

From:

fondofapples

It only took a few heartbeats' worth of consideration for her to know she didn't want to stay where he wouldn't be. She shook her head quickly, almost too quickly, and turned her head to catch his gaze.

"No, that's all right." She pursed her lips, then wet them with her tongue, and then pressed them together again. Words weren't her friends at the moment, and she felt, well... raw, vulnerable... in love, and very much in need of his closeness to feel comfortable and safe.

How did she explain any of it to him without making him worry she was hurt? Or he'd scared her? Oh but for fuck's sake. He wasn't stupid and it wasn't that complicated.

She shifted again, this time to put her side against his chest and tuck her knees somewhat under his thigh. "I'd rather be where you are right now. Side effect of being fucked like that is--" A small shrug, so small the water barely rippled. "--wanting what you're offering. And I've never allowed myself to have it. I never trusted anyone not to use it against me."

But she trusted him.

From:

hellorhighwater

In truth, her actions did give him pause, a moment of fear that he'd done something wrong that she wasn't letting on about. The way she tucked into him was reassuring, and when she laid it out for him it made a little bit of sense.

It also did a good deal to assuage his fears: that he'd pushed her that hard, but she still wanted him to comfort her, to take care of her. The knowledge settled something in his chest...a lot of things, all of those pieces of herself she shared and he tucked away inside, filling up the void once occupied by his beating heart.

It felt huge and wonderful, and as much something he needed as it was something she did.

"So," he drawled a little playfully, sliding a hand up her bare arm, deliberately channeling a little bit of heat into her body to help further soothe her muscles, "if I use that against you, does that mean you won't trust me with the rest of your weaknesses?"

He bent to kiss the top of her head, then her forehead.

"Like that?"

Lifting his hand off her arm, he ran damp fingers through her hair.

"Or that?"

Grinning, he leaned over and ghosted his mouth over hers.

"Or this?"

Without waiting for an answer he kissed her, long and slow and sweet--a kiss to savor rather than inflame, enjoying the way she curled into him and the simple luxury of having the taste of her on his tongue.

From:

fondofapples

Yes, she started to say, but Neil knew perfectly well that using any weakness against her, ever, would be a major breach of trust. The reason for the question became apparent in the next moment when he kissed the top of her head and then forehead. The smile on his lips and the glowing, intent warmth in his eyes said he meant to use her 'weaknesses' to soothe and comfort her.

His mouth ghosted over hers and she sighed out, soft and sweet, into his mouth and he took the opportunity to kiss her more fully. He exhaled and she inhaled, trading breath and heat along with deepening emotion, until she melted into him to be sheltered and held, in the way she most wanted to be.

From:

hellorhighwater

The way she sank into him so eagerly, with so much fucking trust was fleetingly scary, pushed his heart into his throat for moments with the true weight of what she gave him with something like this. Not just taking care of her now, but taking her over before, knowing she might need this from him later.

It was humbling, a kind of trust he'd never been given before, and in that split second he was frightened of being incapable of justifying it--of being unworthy.

The kiss broke, and as he rested his cheek atop her head, the fear passed...and all that was left was that trust, holding him up in its own strange way, compelling him to rise up to meet it.

Rather than move to grab things like soap and shampoo--because he was going to help her clean up and lay down for a while--Neil snapped his fingers, calling a sprite to life and giving it orders in the dragon tongue. It obeyed quickly, darting around to transport it all to the edge of the tub, and when it was done it flew straight into the water, making it a little warmer with a split second ripple of glowing coal energy.

"Okay--here, back facing me again." he instructed, helping her sit with her back to him so he could wet her hair in preparation to shampoo it for her. "I'll take care of this and--"

Through the open bathroom door, a distant flash of light came, followed by the audible thud of something soft and heavy hitting the ground. Neil frowned, peered at it--then remembered his sprite from the gym.

"...oh! My stuff and your clothes." he muttered, turning back to Regina. "Took that little jerk long enough to get here..."

From:

fondofapples

Warm, dozy, and as content as she could remember being, Regina did as he bid her, turning again so that her back rested against his chest. She let her eyes stay closed once the lids fell because Neil had the situation under control and she trusted that--her gut flipped a little, tightening at the thought she'd given such complete control over anything to someone else but it was just a bath and having her hair washed. And if it started to go wrong, she could just open her eyes and fix it. Which was a ridiculous thought, but no more ridiculous than how she'd lived the rest of her life under strict and perfect control, as perfect as possible, only letting go of control to lash out and attack people who caused her pain.

She wasn't exactly thinking about that as Neil wet her hair, because the gentle tug of his fingers in her hair was its own special kind of bliss, and she'd never really noticed how nice it was to have someone else wash her hair for her although she'd had someone to do it whenever she wished for much of her life.

The flash of light and the thud, soft as it was, startled her alert. Magic flew to her fingertips, prepared to meet any threat, but all she saw was the bathroom and Neil peering at something over the side of the tub.

She glanced back at him, then leaned over to see for herself just as he was explaining--which was good, because she was having a little trouble connecting what she saw with-- "But you told it to take them to your sanctuary..." And as she said it, the words and the actions lined up, sending a peculiar little thrill through her.

Her room at this inn was his sanctuary. She was his sanctuary.

"Here, with me..." she mused aloud, and then couldn't help asking, "...but why?"

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil felt the words catch in his throat, as big an admission of weakness as he'd ever been forced to confront--and despite everything he'd been raised to believe, all of the lessons and lectures of the Night Dragon, he couldn't make himself push aside the fact that this supposed weakness made him feel...immeasurably powerful.

"I feel safe here." he finally got out through the tightness in his throat as he squeezed some of her shampoo into his hand, rubbing both hands together before he started gently working it into her hair. The admission hung for a moment...

"...I don't feel safe anywhere. Didn't, I mean."