lost on you + p, peri

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]Another voice sounds out from behind the panther, and whatever interaction he'd been having with V is completely forgotten. His smile falls flat, and, like some alerted Jack Russel, he lifts his head to peer above the crowd, ears swiveling towards the sound. It's Imperia. For a moment, he's frozen where he is, held back by the dread of how she might react to the newly scarred lion. He's never exactly been glistening in his appearance, but this took it to a whole new level. It didn't matter how hard he'd tried to scrub the blood from his fur.

He swerves through the crowd until he finds her, and whatever emotions he's feeling only heighten when he sees how she stands, an unstable, disheveled Imperia. As much as he likes her with messed up fur, he knows this look is for all the wrong reasons. She'd probably been terrified in there. And he'd been gone. He drags himself forward on bated breath until he stands at her side, and, sheepish and hesitant, tries for a smile. "Hey, he says, because he's completely lost for words. His tail floats behind him, badly wanting to touch her shoulder or comfort her in some way. But they're not there yet. His words are pathetic when he speaks. "You okay?"

— TAGS

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0px;"]The soft words of Warringkingdom distract Imperia from Versailles' spectacle. A tired smile spreads across black lips as she regards the former cleric with warmth. "You look like you are feeling much better," she says, taking note of how much Rin seems to have improved since she announced her sickness. "Thank yo--" anything else she might have planned to say is immediately forgotten as soon as she spots Moonmade approaching.

Those chiseled cheekbones are the same, as well as his narrow frame. But there are fresh wounds. New scars. Markings of torture and abuse. "Mon dieu," she murmurs, a concerned crease forming between furrowed brows. "What did those monsters do to you?" She knows that Moonmade is perfectly capable of tending to his own wounds, but an immense guilt blossoms in her chest. This means he returned alone, while she was stuck inside. And she could not even help dress his wounds for him! Imperia feels useless. Some part of her believes that somehow, some way, she should have escaped that Observatory on her own just so that she could have been there for Moon when he needed her.

Silver eyes flicker over his form. The pink aura still clings to him, but it is muted somehow. Perhaps by sadness? Worry? "You okay?" Yes, worry. It touches her. Warms her. What did she do to earn his concern? It brings tears to her eyes. Tears of happiness, of anxiety, of all the emotions she desperately kept at bay while entombed in the darkness of the Observatory. On impulse, Imperia launches herself at the lion, pulling him into a deep embrace. "I am now," she whispers softly, muzzle pressed into the short mane growing in tufts upon his neck. She feels a little strange, but the feeling is not as strong as the comfort she feels when she presses up against him. "I missed you.." So much.

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]The french. It'd grown on him. He'd never given a fuck about language. Hell, his introduction to the bilingual members of the Ascendants was Gabriel-- if he ended up hating all the Mon dieu's and Bonjour's, it'd be justifiable. But he loved it. He held the language so close to his heart now, associated it with Imperia so strongly, that if he were to hear anyone else use it, it'd just feel wrong. They didn't speak like she did.

Something tight wound itself around his throat when she turned his way and spoke. Like a boa constrictor of foreign emotion he couldn't name. It made his face feel warm, and there was a prickling at his eyes that he could only hope weren't tears. That'd be ridiculous. Ridiculous. But he'd missed her more than he realized.

The hug takes him so severely off guard, whatever threat of tears in his golden gaze quickly disappears. He goes tense immediately, shoulders stiff and head lifted upright as the wolf presses her face into his neck. But then, slowly, the scent of the flowers, wilting now, reach his senses and her soft words, spoken so close to his ears, float into his mind and he slumps. He a breath, one he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, and presses his chin ever so gently down against her head. He doesn't know what to do with himself, doesn't know where all this touch came from, but it feels like it's meant to be. Like if he interrupts it, Aphrodite herself will come down from the skies and knock him out. "Missed you too." says the lion, as quiet as it is soft, as he's all too aware of their surroundings. But he feels like he needs to say it. It feels like a mandatory cheesy proclamation, a masked confession.

"Could-- Could we go somewhere?" he says, once he's dragged himself a step away from her. The loss of contact feels cold, but at that moment, he's completely overwhelmed. It shows in the set of his eyes, the shape of his lips. He needs out, out of the gazes that surround them, out of the vast plains that stretch before them. Somewhere for them. Voice quiet with thinly concealed desperation, he says, "I just want-- I need to-- you know. Will you come with me? Please?"

— TAGS

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0px;"]He is tense at first. Perhaps her gesture of affection surprised him. But he warms to it eventually, sinking into her embrace with reciprocating emotion, and then some. Although Imperia initiated the contact, when Moonmade leans into her, a brilliant warmth blossoms within her chest; fluttering like butterflies. She holds him there for as long as she can, indulging in the bliss which originates from her proximity to someone she...cares for immensely. Although those three whispered words shared between them hint at something more, something deeper, all Peri can think about is how empty she felt without Moon beside her. He calmed her when no one else could, made her laugh when she wanted to cry. Of all the people in the world, only he can do those things.

There is a brief moment of world-shattering disappointment when he steps away from her, but Imperia is careful not to let it show upon her visage. She does not want to be seen as rude or ungrateful. Instead, the petite wolf listens quietly to his words, doll-like eyes fixated upon the lion with a gentle intensity.

"Okay," replies the creature with a tiny smile; shy and uncertain, though curious. "Lead the way." He must want to say something more, but not in front of the others. Her heart thunders in her chest, but is it out of anticipation or fear? Who knows? Perhaps her heart knows more about what is going on between the two of them than what her logical brain would like to admit.

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]The Cleric's Hide. Dem was just realizing that it was actually situated in the Observatory, and so all the time Moon had supposedly spent there, moping, while everyone was locked up, hadn't actually happened.

He was eager to get back to it. He didn't know exactly why, but it probably had something to do with the long nights he'd spent there, watching over Har, or the long days he'd spent there, the scent of Peri's flowers overpowering even the strongest herbs. It probably had something to do with the fact that he'd never really had a home, and so, at even the slightest offer of one, he'd latched on, never to let go. Being away from the Hide while in the Typhoon, being away from it when there was a ten foot steel door between him and the room, had been weird. It was an uncomfortable, detached feeling. He missed it.

But he didn't want to bring Imperia back in there. He knew she was on edge. He remembers the day they got locked in that room in the Underground Complex, and how she'd almost lost it when she'd realized. If it was anything close to that, he could only imagine the days she's had. Perhaps they could compete with the days he's had.

"Sorry," is the first thing he says. It feels weird in his mouth, clumsy. There's a bizarre anxiety that's finally ebbing away, but he'd be caught dead before admitting that was the reason he'd asked to leave. "Sounds dumb but, I just-- Crowds for some reason. I don't-- I mean, look at me. Not looking so good right now." He forces a small smile, glancing at her as they walk. He's not sure where they're going. Anywhere. Anything to get his paws moving, with another set in their wake. "Can't have them thinking Captain Hook took my good looks away."

It's an attempt at humor that falls dry, lacking his typical pearly grin. His muscles hurt when they work to carry him. The side of his head pulses like molten lava. The pain is as distracting as Imperia is. Silence falls for a moment, and, mostly unaware, he drifts closer. He's still worried. "How were you in there?" asks the young lion, voice soft as he casts a look her way, brow gently creased. He says the words and then he realizes it might be none of his business; she might not want to reminisce on the time in the Underground Complex. Maybe it's none of his business. "I mean. I just, you know-- Just because you don't like being trapped. Like everyone else didn't like being trapped. Not that you'd freak or anything." he pauses, frowns at his paws for a moment because he sounds like a fool fumbling with a lie. But he's already in deep; might as well keep going. "I came to the door when I got back. I could hear everyone in there-- V, Hazel. We were talking. You weren't there."

— TAGS

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0px;"]Imperia follows him in silence, her gait casually elegant as she trots beside the male. Pallid silver eyes observe Moonmade as he leads her somewhere private; tracing the lines of his face and curve of his jaw, unable to avoid the horrible wounds marring his handsome physique. He is still painfully alluring, of course, in that goofy way of his, but it pains her to see that someone harmed him and she was unable to come to his aid. Funny, how being apart for so long dredges up so many emotions which she knew she possessed, but never really acknowledged. She wonders if he will let her embrace him just one more time.

A tiny smile tugs at the edge of black lips as Moonmade begins to speak. Imperia subtly shifts her pace, making sure to walk in step with the larger creature, sterling eyes locked upon her companion's visage. "Tu es très beau et parfait sous toutes les coutures," Peri finds herself murmuring before she can stop herself. Sometimes she is very thankful that he cannot understand French, for such a thing would have been excruciatingly embarrassing were he to comprehend its meaning. Or maybe she wants him to hear it, and simply chickened out at the last moment. "That is impossible," she amends, referring back to the claim of his lost "good looks." There is laughter in her eyes, though it is clear she wants to say more but cannot bring herself to do so.

The lightness in her expression quickly crumbles and falls away when the subject changes, drawing her conscious back to the memories of being trapped within the observatory. Imperia visibly wilts; burdened by the sudden rush of emotion which threatens to consume her. But her gaze remains locked with his, and she finds strength in it. "It was...difficult," she replies finally, her voice small. "I'm sorry if I caused you to worry it's--it's just--" she seems to be struggling. To find the right words, perhaps? "It was hard being apart from you. I was so worried and then I just...lost myself, I suppose." Coward. What a coward. Peri curses herself for not being able to say it. Well, she said it, but she could not say it without watering down the meaning.

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]She smiles, and for a moment, he gets lost in it. He feels like a dumbass in a badly written romance novel as he watches the lovely crease that forms around her lips, the crescent shape of her eyes as her mouth lifts. It keeps fucking happening-- he keeps getting caught up in how gorgeous she is, and he'll flick his gaze from the ground to her face and back again because he doesn't want it to be obvious that he wants to stare, but she's magnetic; he can't look away. She draws him back again and again and he has no fucking idea how he ended up like this, but there's no stopping it now. In his head, he thinks of the scene in The Polar Express where the train ends up on ice and the breaks don't work, and it's racing over thin ice towards an inevitable disaster, and Moon never liked that movie that much, but he feels like the train, now.

Her mouth forms shapes and he realizes he's zoned out a little bit. He catches the tail end of her words; '--sous toutes les coutures'. Something intensely fond blossoms in his chest. She's back with the the obscure french statements, again. His mouth curves into a close lipped smile, and he wanders impossibly closer to her, bumping shoulders and paws and staying there, because Moon never had any self control, anyway. His head ducks in close and it looks casual, playful, almost, but when he speaks its molten and rich and heated, the air begins to crackle between them, and the part of his brain that's self-aware has it's palm over it's face, shaking its head in dismay, because this is how it starts. "Thought you would have learned by now that I'm too slow for that shit, Frenchie." They're close like they were back outside the Observatory, but there's no stares burning into his back, now, and he's dragged in by the scent of her, the recent memory of his face in her fur. He nudges the side of her face, because he can, because he's hooked and he's not putting up a fight. "I know you do that on purpose. You playing me? Taking advantage of my linguistically lame brain, Angel?"

The rare moment fades. He sees the uneasiness in her and is reminded of his own, and he wishes he could soothe hers with his presence, but the reality was that not even Imperia being here, with him, was calming his own anxieties. He still felt unsteady on his paws and his heart still beat too fast, feral and unsettled in his chest. There's no changing some things. They'd just have to live with it. "It's okay." He says, words short but genuine. He kicks a rock with one muddy paw. "All that matters is you're out, now. Next order of business is convincing Bast to ditch the Star Nerd theme and burn down that rat trap shithole."

— TAGS

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]Between them, the air becomes electric. First Moon stares, and then Imperia returns his gaze. The romantic words tumble from her mouth before she can stop them, and her only saving grace is that her companion does not understand the French language. He teases her, each step drawing him closer and closer until their pelts are touching and only millimeters exist between their faces. She watches as Moon's aura transforms from a shy, blushing rose to a passionate rouge, and she nearly falters.

Her body burns. She aches to lean forward, to close the distance. "I think you are more clever than you are willing to admit," she counters, trying to keep it cool and not become distracted by the nickname. Angel. And the touch. Though it it brief, it is enough to make her melt, were she composed of wax and not flesh. Imperia's heart practically sings. The words, those three words, balance precariously at the tip of her tongue. A shallow breath, a nervous twitch of an ear. Peri steps forward, opens her maw and begins to speak--

But the moment passes. Moon visibly dims, and a distance appears between them once more. All courage mustered crumbles into ash like a log after the wildfire burns it to a lump of charcoal. Imperia manages a smile to disguise her despair. Argentine eyes tear away from the fresh scars on Moon's cheek and linger on ground as she drifts along. "Burning it all down is not necessary," says the she-wolf with a faint chuckle, shaking her head in amusement. "But it could stand to undergo a renovation to make the override controls more accessible." She refuses to go back into that building, if she can help it. Or any building, for that matter. Not for the next couple days, at least. She missed the freedom of the open landscape.

Silence befalls the pair as they wander. Imperia's heart thunders in her chest. Say it, just say it! "Moon?" her voice is little more than a whisper. She slows to a halt, gazing up at the lion with full moon eyes the color of stardust. "I think I love you," is what she wants to say. But the words just don't seem to come out. "I--uh--" She stumbles. "Are...are we really just friends?" She still remembers when Moon claimed that everything between them was just friendship. Peri believed him then, but it has been bothering her ever since. And now, after lots of thought, she realizes just what she has been trying not to see for weeks. They are not friends. They are more than that.

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]"I think you think I'm better than I am." He counters. And thats how it ends, as all good things do. His smile is small and forced as he stares down at his paws, browned against the dirt. He wanders, so slightly you'd miss it if you weren't paying close attention, to the side so that they're not crowded up against each other anymore. Whatever had been in the air is replaced with something that leaves a lot to be desired and their brushing fur is only contact, nothing more, and he's got his lip caught between his teeth instead of against the side of her face.

He'd seen it in her eyes. Glittering and gorgeous as they always were, but so warm, too-- The type of warmth that instantly reeled him in and for a moment he'd wanted to kiss her, like he had so many time but more so, now-- but he hadn't. Because that type of look was the kind he'd get hooked on. And if he'd of kissed her, they would've skipped off into the sunset together, stared lovingly at eachother for the good half of an hour before he'd inevitably do something wrong-- he always did something wrong. And she'd realize what big fucking mistake she'd made and she'd take off. And a good thing would be ruined. They wouldn't even be friends. And he loved her. He needed her to stay, because he was a weak piece of shit and at this point, he didn't know what he'd do without her. He needed to not fuck this up, and if that meant playing safe--

'Are we really just friends?'

Fuck.

A falter in his step. He takes a moment where he stares at the ground and watches the crease of the grass under his paws. Sucks in a breath, turns hesitant, golden eyes on her. This is where it all turns to shit. "What else would we be?"