"Dost thou favor this, lavishing attention upon thy person?" the Darkwraith crooned teasingly, talons scraping still through Simon's beard. "To luxuriate in thy mistress' ministrations~?" (BYE)
flowery prose aside, there is directness to her words that gave Simon some pause before responding. typically, he was as quick with a response as he was with an arrow notched in his bow, but there was enough deviation in the present situation that he finds it prudent to immerse himself in her words a moment longer. there was… something about it that ultimately had him fazed.
( it was definitely not due to how fixated he was on the contrast of the cold metal and the gentle cares of her touch. )
a low groan settled deep in his throat: imperceptible to others, perhaps, but to him it was as plain as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. between that and the stark reality of their situation - a retainer who was more than fond of his lord - Simon had plenty to feel self-conscious about. he thought himself beyond such predictable cliches and yet-
he took her hand, holding in place as he brought his lips to place a kiss upon its ink black veneer. bolder still, his unoccupied hand sough to busy itself in snaking around her waist, pulling her so that they were chest to chest.
“Aye, I do. You know I do. Terribly selfish of me to claim your attention when so many others are more deserving, more in need of it. And yet…”
he breathed in the scent, sighing at the familiar incense that reminded him so much of the homeland they had left in order to grant deliverance for their kind, for all hollows. a goal so great it almost seems sacrilegious to be so taken with the unremarkable wants of the flesh…
“Forgive me my fervid tongue, but to be able to care for you as you have for me would the greatest honor, my dear lady.” perhaps he could provide even more than that, but Simon found it prudent to hold his tongue.
at least until Yuria willed it otherwise.