fondofapples | Inbox -- Genessia

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

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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."

From:

fondofapples

Although she wanted to press him on why he felt safe with her, in her space, she knew that at some level the answer was the same as why she felt safe with him.

The warmth of it swelled in her chest until the words she'd been fighting rose up, sweet and syrupy on her tongue, and she wanted to say them. She almost said them, but if she said them now, today, he wouldn't be sure it wasn't because of the sex, even if she already knew she loved him and so did he.

Instead, she lowered her head for him and ran a hand over his thigh, not kneading, not probing just caressing. She understood how he felt, how hard it was to never be able to let down your guard, and she knew how exhausting that was. "I'm glad there's somewhere now. I'm glad it's with me."

From:

hellorhighwater

The reply she gave made his throat close up--not with fear or any sort of apprehension, but with emotion and a thousand times a thousand questions that came along with what he felt.

Why are you glad? Why do you trust me? Is this what a home feels like? Can a person even be a home?

The answers were close--as close as her fingers trailing over his thigh, as close as the scent of her shampoo in his lungs...as close as the nape of her neck that was bare to him as she bent her head forward. To have them so close, but so far away was infuriating.

Dahgo. The answers would come, if he stopped asking the questions. He had to trust the path.

Letting out a breath, he let the questions go, felt his throat loosen and something in the back of his chest settle.

"Yeah. Me, too."