Dark Thoughts within a Troubled Mind (Litani)

by **Dasreide** on June 16th, 2013, 7:09 pm

Dasreide listened intently. How she spoke of her gift and how it was amplified with touch. How she enjoyed the thought of being wanted by another and how she would not draw his own blood in fear of harming herself. Dasreide frowned, his look scruitinous as he weighed the chances of her words being true. After a bit, but without a word, he walked around her to the bedside table and took his Lakan back, running his fingers along the length of the blade. He had an unsure feel to his thoughts, as if he wasn't quite sure any of this had happened the way it should have.

Lightning arced by the window again and Dasreide turned back to Litani, "Your words are... perplexing. I've never heard such things before... at least, not without the magics of Aura-reading.[i]"[/i] He said, reaching out and taking her hand into his own, allowing her the connection to be felt. "If you will not draw blood, then I cannot force you to. You can keep my Lakan until you feel the debt has been repaid. It will... suffice." He placed the dagger, which was sacred to him above all else, into her hand so that the blade rested against her wrist and the hilt in her palm. He then closed her fingers around the hilt before speaking again, "You will have to keep it close, though. An Akalak that looses his blade is disgraced and I do not wish that upon myself."

He took a step forward and lifted her chin so she looked directly into his eyes, the golden pools reflecting light from the storm outside. "How long have you been longing? How long have you desired to be wanted?" He asked with a passive tone, as if he was trying to hide his interest, "And how soon will you seek out a companion? I know that is a contributing factor to why you came here." His voice was silky smooth, the baritone pitch of his words rumbling like the thunder outside. He wanted to do more, wanted to get closer and try to woo her into submission so soon after meeting her. He had been without anyone to care about for decades before Ruby came along, and seeing an older, much more matured version of her standing in front of him drove his mind wild. His hand still touched upon her own, his fingers calloused from swordplay on a daily basis. He just honestly hoped that she would not feel too deeply into him.

by **Litani** on June 16th, 2013, 9:59 pm

Watching him in the darkness, Litani's eyes tracked him taking back the blade and then closed for a heartbeat, cursing herself at once. It wasn't yours to take, fool! That's not what he wants, he... But then he started talking and she just listened in silence, all but holding her breath, forcing her inner monologue to shut up for once.

Of course he doubted. It was natural. She expected nothing less - those who did not doubt, feared. They feared and shied away until they needed her. Then, when a joint was misaligned, when an affliction threatened to take away the ability to move a limb or when the welts of training left a body so tightly cramped that only her hand could sooth, then they came to her. Not before, and not after. A tight smile graced her lips as he spoke and she inclined her head softly to the reference of magic. It was another way of achieving the same, probably better. She wouldn't know. It wasn't magic to her. It just was. It wasn't mystical and it wasn't specific, it just affected her profoundly and she'd learned to... translate. To decipher which emotions meant what. What it came down to, actually, was what the person wanted. You could tell a lot about someone by what they want... It was more subtle without touch, of course. More ephemeral. Less... primal.

She raised her head then and exhaled a slow breath, listening as he went on. And then he touched her. And gave the blade to her.

She did not know which was more distracting, the cool of the steel on the delicate skin of her wrist or the warmth of his hands around her fingers. She took a breath to reply, to tell him that she could not dream of losing such an treasured gift, but then he was closer...

His words cut a line so sharply into her that she actually shivered - subtly, almost not at all, yet enough to be felt. Her brows furrowed lightly, her expressive eyes looked almost grieved, yet deeply passionate all the same. "Too long..!" she whispered, breathing a laugh of utter self-depreciation. She shook her head, feeling as if all sense had abandoned her and even her inner chastising was surprisingly quiet. The foolishness of what she was doing - what she was allowing to happen - was clear enough. She didn't even need to tell herself. But, for those moments, for just those moments, it didn't matter.

He knew was he was doing now, making her look at him, keeping hold of her hand. He knew, and he invited it still. But just how was she supposed to answer? How could she tell him who she was, what she had been before coming here, why she had come here? Of course she had come for companionship. Here, she would be treasured. Here, she would not be shunned, distrusted, whispered about... Here, her kind was precious. Not to be feared. No matter her ability. Here, she would not have his eyes on her every day, watching her, wanting her but refusing to touch her. Here, she could do as she willed without fearing to hurt the one she could not have, but cared for beyond words. Here, she could escape, be free of her past and of false obligation.

But she had no idea that this would happen - could happen - on the first day!

Again, her throat moved with a sort of tension and she delicately cleared her throat, trying to find her voice again. "Dasreide, I... " Careful. The damn voice was back. Throw him out now and he might take it wrong... and might not come back. Let him stay, and once he's tasted you, it could be the last he has need of you. Dryly, internally, she wondered which of the two she should prefer. Aloud, she finished in a quiet contralto, "I thought perhaps to... seek out The Sanctuary. To make myself useful." Her voice evened, now, as pride strengthened it. She understood Riverfall, it seemed. "Perhaps once I've proven my worth."

With this, she fell silent, caught in the inbetween of the moment - close enough to hear his breath, but not in his arms. Close enough to read as deeply into him as she dared, yet holding desperately to her own awareness instead. Close enough to lose herself in the song of his eyes.

by **Dasreide** on June 16th, 2013, 11:51 pm

The encounter between them had lasted nearly half an hour now and Dasreide could sense himself keening to give into sleep, which he desperately needed. His mind dimmed for a moment as he tried to process her words, nodding softly and letting his eyes close for a moment as he replied, "I see... the Sanctuary would be a good place for you." He said, his eyes peeling open again to reveal the golden yellow orbs which shone in the dark. The lightning storm outside had churned to a stop, no longer loosing bolts of light from the dark masses of clouds.

Dasreide released her hand and brought bother hands up to cup her cheeks, bringing her close to him so he could lay his lips onto her forehead quietly for a moment before releasing her. "It is time for us to part ways, I would assume. You seem to be withholding thoughts due to fatigue and I can feel fatigue beginning to grip me as well." His body wanted to yawn. His body wanted to lay down and sleep, but Dasreide remained vigilant, unallowing to such things as he placed his forehead against hers, his eyes locking on to her own. He spoke then, in a rough form of Kontinese that was heavily abated with his Tukant accent. "Fate will bring us together when it befits the world. Not sooner. Not later. Until then, we must wait and go our own separate ways. Do not fault yourself if things go wrong. It is the will of the land." It was an old saying he was taught by his father. The expression had been meant for him and his father, but fate had decided to take him away before they could reunite.

He only spoke the phrase because Litani had mentioned her own father and compared him to the unknown Akalak. It had made him feel like he owed it to her to pass down the knowledge to her. With a heavy sigh, he pulled himself away from Litani and circled around her again, moving back a step and releasing her before turning and walking off to the door where he paused. "Your father raised a beautiful daughter, Litani of the White Isle." He said before departing the room, drawing the door closed behind him. He waited outside for a moment or two before his footsteps could be hard echoing off the tiling on the floor, fading off into the distance until there was no more sounds, only the soft pitter-patter of rain hitting the windows outside.

by **Litani** on June 17th, 2013, 12:17 am

They were both tired. That much was too certain, too present to be a guess. Litani nodded softly as he confirmed as much, though something about her eyes was still so alert that it almost sparkled in the darkness. When he brought his hands to her face she caught herself expecting him to kiss her, closing her eyes but... that... was not quite what she thought he would do. All over again, she was calling herself a fool inside as he briefly touched her forehead with his lips. Just a child... remember?

She barely understood the Kontinese that he murmured to her. She wanted to cry, realizing the language that he spoke, as the moment shut down and she knew he would walk away. But forced herself to close her eyes, exhale a breath, and mentally translate. She nodded slightly, piecing together the most of his sentiment. A flicker of a smile, however sad, touched her features and softened them. She leaned into that expression, allowing it to cover everything else she felt. There was no need for him to see anything else. This was what he wanted... this is what he should have. Should be used to giving people what they want by now, fool girl. But when he stopped at the door and invoked her father's memory, her breath caught in her throat and she could only thank Avalis and Laviku that he didn't give her a chance to respond before shutting the door behind him.

Alone, holding the Lakan, a rush of a breath warped itself into a silent cry and the exhausted Konti curled herself briefly around it, running her fingers along the blade as she felt the sting of shamefully weak tears at the back of her eyes. Blinking them away, she set the weapon on her bed and crossed the room on a hurried step to fetch something from her pack. Swift and sure, her hands found it - the dead metal soul of an Akalak no longer of this world. For a moment, Tromik's daughter stood holding the last fragment of him she had, looking at her own eyes in the blade as the remnants of the storm dimly brushed their flickers of light over her room. And then, with a mournful sigh, she returned the blade to its place. Out of her sight, but always close. Where she did not have to see, and did not have to relive the fact that he was dead.

Turning, she paused and let her eyes find the blade on her bed. Her weary mind reeled with what it might, or might not, mean. And with no further energy, she took herself to the sheets, caught the blade up in her hand, and fell asleep with its cold caress against her cheek.

by **Magpie** on June 21st, 2013, 4:46 pm

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Dasreide :

Litani :

Notes :

If you have any questions or concerns about what was awarded, please don't hesitate to PM me.
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Completed Dark Thoughts within a Troubled Mind (Litani)