[ P ] Boo

He'd done well, of that he was certain. And while it was uncommon for him to wear an expression portraying more emotion than a deadpan stare, there was a small smile on his liips. It curled there at the corner, softening his expression into something oddly sweet. As if he'd become freshly fallen snow instead of frigid ice. And it didn't end there. From the darkness of the crumbling building he'd had servants find him in Sussex, Elias' pale eyes were bright. Brighter, even, than his cat's. Useless had taken to exploring the back rooms of the rundown building. She'd gone past some fallen, rotting rafters, drifting into crevices that Elias couldn't follow her into. Not that he would. It was Useless that followed him. And he'd finally stopped trying to ditch her because that always made her mew and chirp incessantly. In fact, by not trying to run away, she had taken to drifting further away from him. Further and further... such that he got some peace and quiet most days. Except she'd always come back. Ah—but someone else was coming back today. Pale ears perked as he heard footsteps approaching. Were those the mercenaries he'd hired? Periwinkle eyes sparked with the faintest hint of excitement as he rose silently onto his paws. When he saw her, he stepped forward as quietly as a ghost, moving to lightly touch his nose to her cheek. It didn't occur to him that she wouldn't see him. Or like this broken, rundown, murder-hiding safehouse. “You seemed to replace your brain with your heart ."

STOCK ➤ Bine G. Dawnthieves MANIP & CODE ➤ Twisty

@Orlaith

orlaith kinnaird

Days. Days had passed, with Orlaith curled up in her cell, with Gwydion by her side if he wasn't talking to all of his girlfriends. A small sliver of jealousy had bloomed within her heart, as he had had a few visitors, and she had... none. Elias often flashed across her mind, and she spent hours wondering where he was. Surely, he would have been told of her demise. Yet still, day after day passed, and the ghostly man never came by.

Maybe her being labeled a criminal had caused a rift between them, and he never wanted to see her again. While logically, she couldn't blame him, knowing now that he was some fancy noble from the mainlands, it still hurt, like a knife had punctured her heart. Her mood sank even lower when she realized that this would mean she'd never see the little kitty again, either. And though Elias could be... stoic, Orlaith enjoyed his company.

The earthy girl had no idea what time it was - or what day - as they now all blended together. Three months. That was her sentence, while her brother got a fraction of her time. It was only Arrans face when she thought about the protest, and each time it reignited the fire that simmered beneath her skin.

The cells were extra dark right now, surely it was night time. Gwydion was fast asleep, and Orlaith herself was dozing off. Her ears twitched every time someone else in another cell coughed, or sneezed, or made some other noise. The young girl couldn't help but be on edge here, and couldn't wait until she got out. As she allowed sleep to blur the edges of her mind, she plotted what she would say to her brother, and to Elias, once she was free again.

...

The clinking of the locked door roused her a little, and blue eyes blinked in the dreary light. No words were spoken as a bundled cloth was stuffed into her mouth, preventing her from screaming, and a blindfold was wrapped around her head. Orlaith struggled against her kidnappers, limbs flailing but ultimately it was useless - they completely overpowered her, as mercenaries would. One attempted to calm her down with tense hushes, not wanting to rouse the other wolf in the cell. Oh, Gwydion, she pleaded, knowing he would feel horrible once he awoke and she was gone. She couldn't see him as they whisked her out of the cell, and she unknowingly never had to step foot back there again.

...

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it was enough that her muscles were stiff and sore from being roughly carried. The scents that swirled around her were unfamiliar - so they were still in the Mainlands, she just didn't know where. The creak of a door, then floorboards, told her they had entered some kind of house... oh god. Dread coursed through her, realizing that literally anything could happen in the next few moments. Was she being taken to that Thieves Guild she had heard of, to the brothel? Or sold off to some rich dude who wanted a young, pretty slave? Panic caused bile to rise in her throat, though the scream she was trying to work out was quickly cut off as she was placed - remarkably gently - upon her paws.

The cloth was removed from her mouth, and the blindfold soon after just as a nose pressed against her cheek.

The girls eyes, disorientated from being blinded for so long, took a few moments to adjust to the dim light in the room. Her heart thudded like a caged rabbit within her chest, her breath coming in quick gasps, as she stared at the white figure before her - though recognition did not sink in for a good few moments.

If it wasn't for the fact that deep down, she knew he had gotten her out of jail, if it wasn't that somewhere within her, she respected him, if it wasn't for a lot of things, the fiery highlander would have bit his nose clean off. Instead, she froze - surprised, bewildered, shocked at this uncharacteristic show of affection from him. From Elias. Her eyes blazed like a cool fire, searching his face as she tried to calm her erratic breathing, but failed. The men behind her were quickly forgotten.

The look on her kidnappers face was comical, and if she hadn't been scared out of her wits and ready to die only moments ago, maybe she would have laughed. Instead, she just stared at him, before her eyes darted to quickly inspect their surroundings. This definitely wasn't his home... so what was going on?

"I... well, thank you, I think," she whispered, her tone deadpan, turning her attention back to the ivory prince. Questions swirled in her mind, obvious upon her face but it was useless to try and form them into actual sentences. An ear twitched as she heard movement from another room - probably Useless, she thought - but not a muscle moved.

And after a few more moments of frozen silence from the girl... she suddenly took three steps forward, closing the distance between her and Elias before he could probably react. She curled into his chest, tears welling in her eyes as a few sobs shook her small body. "I'm--- I-- I'm so sorry," she cried, though her voice still remained remarkably soft. No one would really know, including herself, what she was apologizing for. "I was so-- so scared, I thought they were going to sentence me to die, I thought I was going to die-- I tried to run b-but Arran attacked me! Why were the soldiers attacking us?" and like a waterfall, her worries, her fears and sadness and anguish completely overwhelmed her, because she finally felt safe - safe with the prince who had shared a trauma with her in their past. The tears flowed from her blue eyes, trickling down her cheeks as she pressed her cheek into his warm, comforting chest, paying no mind if he tried to resist.

"I thought-- I was down there for so many days... I thought you didn't want to see me again, because I'm some..." she couldn't bring herself to verbally say criminal, and the thought only made her more distraught, especially with the fresh knowledge that he was someone who was important - not like her. She sniffed, the words bubbling from her throat. "Which... I'd get it, you know since... since you're all noble and stuff, and you have Aurora now, again. I'd understand." but I would be so hurt. Orlaith, admittedly, wasn't too educated on how the Mainland worked.

Slowly, her breathing calmed, as if just his presence and his listening ear were a sedative. And realization made her muscles tense, and she pulled away from the teary, wet patch she accidently left on his chest. Embarrassment coloured the skin under her dark fur. "You didn't have to do this, I'm just-- I'm just criminal scum now," another sob made her sway, her eyes squeezing shut as she looked down at her paws. "So why did you?" the girl asked quietly. She didn't even care that she didn't know where she was.

@Elias

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At first, she didn't react. Their eyes met, his little more than a pale shadow compared to hers. Although they looked the same on the surface—him in white and her in earthy hues—they had inexplicably swapped places. Orlaith's gaze was the cold, unfeeling one, as if she'd turned to ice and hidden her thoughts beneath the frost. Elias on the contrary, uncharacteristically pleased to have her returned to him, looked at her with soft, open eyes. He seemed to have, in this moment, abandoned his usual frigidness. This stillness was so unlike her. It was the first time that he hadn't been able to read every emotion upon her face just by glancing in her direction. But he didn't dislike it. He waited, content to stare, to take her in as the shock of her newfound freedom settled in. "I... well, thank you, I think." Elias' ear twitched slightly at the I think. His gaze darkened slightly, yet he exercised enough restraint to not step back and dismiss her. No, rather than react immediately, he waited for more. Anything else that might indicate whether he could justify the feeling of pride in his heart for having busted her out based on Aurora's tip. Or, if she had preferred the jail cell, he could take this moment as a lesson about helping others in the future. She stepped forward, the ice around her melting into tears as she folded herself against his chest. Elias' ears peeled back against his head, muzzle wrinkling at the uncomfortable wetness. But he didn't push her away. Rather, his brow knit together as he looked down at her. The more she cried, the more he... sympathized? Truly? His feeling of disgust over the tears steadily melted away as he felt a pang in his heart. It hurt to watch her weep. The annoyance was now what was causing the tears, not the tears themselves. Slowly, awkwardly, he let a paw drape along her back. He had seen others do it before—had done it before, yet with who he couldn't quite place. Someone important. He felt her memory scratch at the back of his brain like an itch, but Orlaith's explanations stole away his attention. "I thought-- I was down there for so many days... I thought you didn't want to see me again, because I'm some..." Waiting for her answer, Elias' eyes narrowed and he canted his head to the side. Why had she been torturing herself with expectations of his thoughts? And what did being noble or knowing Aurora again have to do with any of it? He was about to speak but, alas, she pulled away before he could. "You didn't have to do this, I'm just-- I'm just criminal scum now." Elias' ear twitched again, expression darkening a fraction more. "So why did you?" “Because I wanted to," came his answer and he stepped forward again. Their noses were but centimeters from eachother as he looked down, seemingly appraising her. “You are—" mine. But, for perhaps one of the few self-aware moments of his life, he stopped himself from finishing that sentence. In fact, he wasn't sure where that sudden flash of posessiveness had come from. Logic asserted that she belonged to no one. “—So afraid of what others think. Of me, of the sentence. Why?" Leaning forward, he brushed away a tear that had settled by the corner of her eye. Its asymmetry had bothered him, just as he assumed the wetness had been bothering her. While Elias could not say that many wolves had made his acquaintance, of the few that did, he had not expected Orlaith to be so trapped by the perspectives of others. “You are still... you." She was so free with her emotions, why had she made a prison for herself? Not for her body, but for her heart? “You seemed to replace your brain with your heart ."

STOCK ➤ Bine G. Dawnthieves MANIP & CODE ➤ Twisty

@Orlaith

orlaith kinnaird

His arm wrapped around her comfortingly, and Orlaith leaned into his touch, thankful for the calm steadiness that he provided. The warmth from his body slowed the nervous shivers that shook her own; teeth chattering as if it were still winter.

"Because I wanted to,"

His reply was quick, as if he didn't even need to think about the reasons. It made her head snap upwards, her blue eyes shining with remaining glistening tears and she looked at him, a familiar curiosity replacing the sadness and guilt. What surprised her the most, though, was the emotion that was painted upon him. It was this that she marveled at, wondering if maybe she was dreaming, that none of this was real and her body still remained in that dusky cell with her brother.

But no, the ice prince continued to thaw; he was winter and she was spring. In a way, one needed the other to thrive.

He continued to speak, hesitating once before questioning her insecurities. It was a hard question to answer, and the young girl bit at her lip as her eyes lowered to study the ivory furs along his neck. At the very least, she wondered the same thing herself. It wasn't as if her parents pressured her to be anything. Though, she was sure they would want her to amount to something... more than a branded criminal. Her brows pinched together as she thought deeply, wanting to give Elias an honest answer.

And then Arrans face flashed through her mind, and the girl nearly flinched. He was always so... proper, though she wasn't sure that was the right term. He held the highest expectations for his family than anyone else, and before he had left for the Army he was nearly insufferable. Did her insecurities about her image stem from him?

"I hadn't given it much thought, to be honest," she began, her tone thoughtful. "I didn't care as much before... before I met Aurora, or you," her gaze flicked upwards, hoping that didn't come across in a negative light. "I am baseborn; a lowly peasant compared to wolves like you and her, and I've never met any nobles before. It was definitely humbling, in a way, and showed me that there is more than the Highlands." she knew this wasn't really answering him, but maybe it would give him some insight on why she was feeling the way she was.

"Regardless, even at home, criminals aren't seen in a good light. I was sentenced for a while, Elias - I attacked a guard. I knocked them unconscious. They were attacking Gwydion... not that that defense had any standing in the courtroom." she swallowed, remembering the face of the surly judge and the sound of the gavel echoing across the room. Again, another situation she never thought to be in. Her eyes had wandered, but now they found his pale ones again. "And now here I stand, broken out of the cell thanks to a guy I hardly know; who has motives and duties and obligations I know nothing about."

She fell silent for a few moments, leaning forward into his embrace again for his comforting security. Chaos was not something she greatly appreciated in her life. "This has all just been very jarring." Orlaith then lifted a paw, gently smoothing out the white, slightly damp furs she had caused. "Sorry for crying on you." she added softly, hoping he wouldn't be too upset.

@Elias

template © bean

He found that he didn't mind holding her. She fit neatly against his chest, her face close enough to touch. Her eyes were brighter when up close and the tears had caused her lashes to form an ornate frame around each one. Whenever she looked at him, he got the sense that he was a puzzle she had found. One that she couldn't quite crack but that she didn't wish to give up on. The more that he was around her, the more he yearned for her to unlock the little pieces, to unfold him so that perhaps he might understand himself better too. Unlike how he was with so many others, Elias didn't want her to give up and discard him. He wanted her to keep trying even if, in many ways, it was unfair to ask. She began to speak and Elias listened, quietly taking in her expression and the emotions that lingered there. At first, her gaze was cloudy like the sea before the storm. Then it eased into self-deprecation. Her mentions of baseborn and lowly caused his brow to crease and the muscles jumped in his jaw. The urge to talk over her was strong and yet he stopped, restraining himself. Orlaith wasn't done. Another first was the fact that he didn't stop her from working through her thoughts. In this moment, she was the puzzle, and he'd do what he could to help her. She explained her alleged crimes—and her defenses—yet he still struggled to understand. What did it matter? It didn't sound as if she had intended to hurt anyone. Didn't that mean anything to her? Even she seemed to acknowledge that, had the judge been more sympathetic, she might never have been given this label. So why... did it hold power over her? Then she turned her thoughts to him. To his motivations and duties. At that, Elias couldn't help but snort softly. “To be fair..." he paused, catching her gaze if she allowed it. “I don't remember those either." And the corner of his lips lifted in a wane grin. As she tapped his chest, Elias shrugged as if to say it didn't matter. Then a moment of silence passed, one in which he was still hold ing her, and she was still allowing herself to be held. And he realized that he needed to respond now. “You aren't less than," was his soft reply as he regarded her again. It was the strangest thing—every time he looked at her, he found something new to discover. Stepping back, he sank down onto his belly and looked up at her. “Now, you are above me." A pause, one in which he'd ignore any wise crack she made if she chose to try and tear apart his analogy. Then he'd stand back up and, if she didn't fight him too much, he'd press a paw to her shoulder and gently tip her back onto her back. Standing over her, he lowered his muzzle down until it was but a centimeter from hers. “And now I am above you." The sight of her staring up at him sent an odd rush of warmth through his skin. His pulse quickened, his gaze became half-lidded, but he refused to let go of the thread of his thought. “It's all arbitrary. Can you please see it that way too?" Elias canted his head to the side ever so slightly. “It..." was difficult to focus with her beneath him. “... hurts to see you waste your tears." And not because they wet his fur. “You seemed to replace your brain with your heart ."

STOCK ➤ Bine G. Dawnthieves MANIP & CODE ➤ Twisty

@Orlaith

orlaith kinnaird

Quietly, the young girl wondered if Elias, in what she considered was his previous life, had ever had to deal with consequences of his actions or high risk scenarios. He always seemed to carry an air about him that nothing mattered, as if he were used to somehow twisting situations to either benefit him or, at the very least, neutralize it. He also didn't give her the impression that he cared about what his parents thought of his actions - and that, perhaps, was one of the most curious things about him. Was this because of his amnesia, or had he always been like this? What were his parents like, did they love each other? Or were they one of those families that money somehow replaced that?

Orlaith's eyes watched the prince intently, her ears angled forward and twitching every so often as he explained his point of view. A small, bemused smile was daintily painted upon her maw, enjoying how she got a physical explanation along with words. Typically, she would react in the sense of thinking he thought her a child, but this was somehow different. The two of them were total opposites in a lot of ways, yet somehow they didn't act like oil and water. She was still trying to determine exactly what they were.

Her gaze followed him as he slid to the ground, looking at her with his pale eyes that yearned to be her voice of reason. His words were calming; tempering the imagined barriers between them that she had formed in her mind.

That calming sedative quickly diminished, however, as he got up and gently switched positions with her. His touch was light, almost ethereal, as he cradled her and placed her back against the floorboards of her new home. Her heart fluttered like a trapped bird caught in a cage, and her eyes were wide - though not with fear - as she looked up at him intently. What was weird to her was this was not panic or anxiety, but something else entirely that she hadn't felt before.

“And now I am above you."

Orlaith swallowed, a slight nod moving her head a fraction of an inch. He was so close to her, all she could smell was him; of berries and, faintly, lingering scents from back home in Perth. She could smell his breath when he spoke, and even that wasn't bad - she remembered her brothers when they were younger, always exhaling in her face and making her face scrunch up. But for some reason, everything about him smelled so nice.

And she could hardly focus. She heard him speak, knew what he wanted from her - she knew, deep down, that he was right - and so she simply nodded again, unable to rely on her voice. Gone were the tears from her eyes, burned away from the intense fire that now spread across her cheeks and through her body like an uncontained wildfire. The girl couldn't even bring herself to look at his pale eyes now; a nervous, almost childish giddiness causing her muscles to quiver underneath his weight. And even though she was pinned under a man larger than her now, she felt... safe. Like he was a blanket she couldn't wait to curl underneath of.

It was hard to control her breathing, and she'd given up on trying to calm her heart minutes ago. Instead, she gave in to her impulse (though some may call this reckless), her eyes closing slowly as she lifted her head to kiss him - if he didn't pull away and reject her.

@Elias

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His little bird had been caught—not within a cage but within his palm. Her gaze held his, the color no longer that of storm-tossed oceans or demure, pale blue skies. Instead, he beheld two electrified sapphires. He could sense her watching every movement of his just as he watched her. It was heat, it was hunger. His chest constricted as his pulse continued to rise. A cloud seemed to settle over his thoughts, muddling them despite his commitment to convincing her that all of this status was meaningless. Her worth was immeasurable. There was no number he wouldn't have paid to continue holding onto this closeness, the tension of it was pleasurable as it was maddening. Orlaith nodded and yet he could not tell if she truly believed him or if the spell of their closeness had made her more agreeable. More to the point, Elias couldn't be certain why he couldn't tell. Was her expression too unreadable or was he too focused on the warmth of her and the desire he felt to suddenly bury his face in her fur, to sink onto his belly so that every inch of them touched. When she closed her eyes and began to move, Elias felt another first: the need to touch and be touched by her. When she lifted her lips to his, he met her with a mix of anxious relief as he lifted his hands to cradle her face as their lips met. His eyes closed as his hands then moved again, one sliding down her neck while the other touseled in her hair. Then, his thumb drew a small circle over her collar bone while he continued to explore every inch of her, as if memorizing every detail. He was so lost in it, that for a second, he almost forgot to breathe. Breaking briefly from the kiss, he pressed his forehead to hers, unwilling to be too far apart. His breaths were heavier now, the yearning and attraction all too obvious within his gaze. And if she didn't move, he'd kiss her again, this time shifting his hands to her hips to pull her in even closer. “You seemed to replace your brain with your heart ."

STOCK ➤ Bine G. Dawnthieves MANIP & CODE ➤ Twisty

@Orlaith

orlaith kinnaird

Like a match to a bone dry forest, the wildfire exploded with an intensity she had never experienced before.

Many of her firsts were experienced right here, right now, like a domino effect. His touch - this feeling, was intoxicating, clouding her mind and numbing her body in a pleasure that was oh, so much better than any fermented drink she had tried to date. And when he actually kissed her back, she was stunned. This boy, this man who had a beautiful home and a gorgeous bride to be somewhere and and and -- he made her feel so completely desired in this moment that none of that mattered.

Had he truly chosen her? Of all people? Or was this... Orlaith shoved the anxiety from her mind, refusing to allow that to infect her mind - not right now.

So instead she melted into him; physically and mentally, and everything in between. Her body didn't resist as he pulled her in closer. She took a quick breath when he pulled away, but almost immediately closed the distance again, not wanting to feel the chill air that hung between them. She needed his warmth, his affection - even if he was made of ice. Every piece of her that touched him burned in such a delightful way, and thinking became so disorientating that she gave in completely. Her only thought was him.

Orlaith completely entangled herself within his body, pressing herself against him; following the primal urges that filled her mind.

[ fade to black ]

@Elias

template © bean

Her breath intermingled with his just as his fur intermingled with hers. Where he ended and she began was lost on him as he continued to explore her. He would touch her cheeks and the faint hollows at the corners of her eyes. Her forehead, her ears, the hollow of her neck... he touched her as if he cherished every centimeter of her body—and he did. Just as a queen might hold and feel a new necklace that was hers, Elias did the same. The thought of someone else—someone that was not him—knowing more of her than he was as maddening as it was instinctive. And so he sought to unwrite that possibility, to gently pepper her in kisses and small bites until she, too, forgot what it was like to be touched by anyone else. Pleasure and satisfaction warmed his skin as she responded to his touch, leaning in and keeping the distance between them fractionally small. He took this as consent to keep going, to keep exploring to his heart's content. - fade to black - “You seemed to replace your brain with your heart ."

STOCK ➤ Bine G. Dawnthieves MANIP & CODE ➤ Twisty

@Orlaith