Crash into me [Hotaru & Sayuri]
His clipped voice startled the mage, uncertain of whether or not she really liked it, given the manner of which he spoke. But she did not want to share with him why she was hurting, of what it was that caused her such pain with the tattoo that almost seared her skin on her back. She almost… couldn’t share with him. Would he leave when he found out what it was? Would he even find her just the same like those of the Rania court, looking at her with disdain?
It was only when she glanced up to notice the barely contained rage did Sayuri try to glance away but found it difficult. She even found that she could not move when he stepped forward, uttering words to her that she had said in a state of intense nostalgia and emotion. She ignored the slight burning in her eyes at the words, especially when he repeated back to her the word that she had whispered so quietly, she had hoped that he didn’t even hear. It had been… something that rang so painfully clear in her heart, that she did not understand what the entire meaning of the word.
Forevermore.
She bit her lip and lowered her gaze to the side, his growl causing her to clasp her hands together before squeezing in front of her chest. At his words of how she refused to let him in, she glanced up with her eyes wide. It had not been her intention! It had not been anything like that! She was… she was afraid that he would leave her, the only real connection that she has had for the first time in a very long time, and she didn’t want to yet sever it so soon. He was… he was different and she wanted to find out why… Why did their hearts sync up like it did? Why did every fiber of her being wish to be held by this man when she barely even knew who he was?
“Make me not regret my decision in believing you. A dragon’s trust is not easy to earn, but if you wish for me to do so, then you must do the same for me.”
She flushed at the touch of his fingers pushing aside some strands of her hair away from her face. Her gaze lifted to watch his, ignoring the pounding of her heart at the proximity that they held with one another. She opened her mouth but stopped as Hotaru went about fixing the yukata, turning to tend to the whistling kettle. Once he had settled with pouring the tea into teacups was when she finally answered his words.
With a curtain of her bangs covering her eyes, she squeezed her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white from the stress, “I’m cursed, Hotaru.”
She didn’t say anything else until he would turn and face her, and already, she could hear the slew of questions that he might have for her, but no matter what it was that he said, her answer would be the same, “A tattoo on my back tells me I am cursed, and every so often, it moves as if it was trying to consume me.” She didn’t even wait for him to say anything more as she continued, never once giving him the opportunity to speak, “I’ve had it since birth and I do not know where it came from and how I can rid of it. All I know is that this is a part of me and that it will eventually take my life. I… I would only burden those who are around me so I didn’t dare tell anyone. But because it’s you, Hotaru, that… that I wanted to.”
For the first time, she wanted him to be there to help her try to break the curse and to help extend her life. She didn’t want to die, she didn’t want to end this life of hers when she didn’t know when it would, and she didn’t want to leave behind any of those people she loved. She waited for him to say something, not daring to look up to see the male’s face. What would he say? Would he force her to leave? And even further still, would he still look at her with that child-like wonder and relentless gaze that he looked to her with?
Still not allowing herself to face him, she stepped back and bowed politely, murmuring quietly, “I… I will leave once the rain lets up, so that I may not burden you further." I cannot burden someone like him with the curse… it would be too much, she thought, wincing inwardly at the thought of him suffering as she had. She turned in her place, moving as she was about to head to the living room to sit.
Hands started their skillful dance upon the exquisitely crafted pottery, the dragon willing all his attention upon the fragile china he was handling. While it wasn't as though the arts of tea brewing was unfamiliar to him; on the contrary, Hotaru was extremely adept in it. A skill he had picked up over the years of training as the next exalt in line. It was the only way to distract himself from the girl who stood not far away from him, and if it was even possible, Hotaru could swear that his senses grew even more attuned to her than before in his futile effort.
Zen. Hotaru breathed in deep. Calm. Peace. The three words repeated themselves in his mind to aid in his wavering concentration. His hands continued to busy themselves, oblivious to the scalding heat of boiling water. Zen. Calm. Peace. The mantra was starting to take effect, Hotaru finally sinking into the activity before him--
"I'm cursed, Hotaru."
He felt the frost set in, colder than the coldest winters that he had ever experienced in the centuries he had survived. His whole body seemed to lock into place at the shock of the revelation, his blood freezing, paralyzing him with a variance of emotions.
As though his motor nerves had come to a complete shut down, Hotaru could neither summon any word nor action in response to the young mage. A flurry of questions flooded his mind. He had his suspicions that it wasn't going to be anything pretty -- perhaps an ugly scar, but that he could live with. He had his fair shares of them and felt they were nothing to be ashamed of. However a fatal, chronic curse.
Heart clenched to the point of suffocation at her fate, the way her voice sounded so different, so resigned, so....dead. It was as though with every word, a shard would embed itself into his chest cavity, filling him with an eternity of dread.
“A tattoo on my back tells me I am cursed, and every so often, it moves as if it was trying to consume me.”
Don't say it anymore. Fingers slowly curled, clenched into tight fists that his knuckles whitened at the force he extruded.
“I’ve had it since birth and I do not know where it came from and how I can rid of it. All I know is that this is a part of me and that it will eventually take my life."
Don't say it anymore. Her voice sounded so faraway now, like an illusion, a mirage. Her words barely permeated through the fog that surrounded his thoughts.
"I… I would only burden those who are around me so I didn’t dare tell anyone. But because it’s you, Hotaru, that… that I wanted to.”
Don't say it anymore. Jaws grit themselves tight, the strain of his reservation evident in his distress. He hated how Sayuri sounded. Sayuri wasn't like this. This isn't the Sayuri that he knew.
“I… I will leave once the rain lets up, so that I may not burden you further."
"Who do you think you are." Hotaru finally forced through clenched teeth at her retreating figure, a sudden feeling of possessiveness overwhelming his entire being, screaming at him. Despite his initial intention of maintaining a safe distance between the both of them until he had figured out what was the cause for the anomaly that would occur to him when he was near the mage, it was all in naught.
The dragon couldn't help himself but prowl towards her, like a predator stalking after its intended prey. "Who do you think you are," he repeated coldly, each word enunciated by every step that brought him closer to her. "Who do you think you are to crash into my life, wrecking my solitude and then leaving as you please?"
"I will not allow it," he snarled, cornering the mage against the wall, both his arms propped on either sides of her face. "Look at me," he demanded with all his arrogance of an exalt, lowering one arm to clasp her chin in a forceful grip of index and thumb, tilting the other's face up so that her own vermilion hues were locked with his own.
"Know this, Sayuri, and remember it well," his lips curled with his absoluteness. "You will not leave me. Not a single human, mage, dragon, or creature will take you away from me. Not even a curse. Not even you. They who do will face tenfold of my wrath and," eyes narrowed as they reflected the cruelty behind his words. "I will show no mercy."
He allowed the weight of his words to sink into the other, and only then did he soften his gaze, as well as his harsh tone. "I will free you from this shackles, I swear it." As though affixing the stamp of his promise to the other, Hotaru brought his face closer to Sayuri's, sealing his own lips against the other's in a dominating kiss.
Because you are mine.
