Private Tales Sliver of Time

[Míriel Fëanorna]

Miri stood with her hands behind her back as he took it all in, one hand clasping the opposites elbow, and ran her foot lazily through the sand as if she were attempting to draw a pattern. The silence stretched on for such an agonising amount of time she began to doubt the wisdom of what she had done; of course he would not want to be reminded of home when he still had to far to go. It had been a long time since she had wanted to do something on this kind of level and she had gone wrong.

His words alleviated the crushing weight from her shoulders and she audibly breathed out a deep sigh of relief. It was replaced instead again by that fluttering in her stomach as he spoke of his own feelings. Never directly of course, always in tandem but still... he had give them solidity. Miri knew pragmatically it would be best to squash them now or it would hurt more when he left but today... today she would let herself enjoy it.

"It's purely selfish really," she cleared the emotion from her throat. "I thought we could cook what we catch over a fire down here..."

 

[Baise]

"It is not even slightly selfish," he said, "and I should have started with thank you."

Valthar turned towards her. He was smiling all the way to his eyes. He had always been and would always be a very serious man. The concern of not being able to reciprocate the grand gesture could wait until later.

"I can't remember anyone ever doing something for me this..." he waved both arms in the air, words escaping him as they often did.

Valthar turned towards the boat and took a few steps towards the shore. He stopped abruptly, turned on his heel and closed the space with Miriel in just a few strides.

Valthar barely slowed. He grasped her waist with both hands and practically carried her further up the hill, taking her for a stride before he captured her lips in a sudden, fierce kiss.

 

[Míriel Fëanorna]

His smile was infectious and she felt her own lips slowly curving up in response. It gave her a surprising amount of satisfaction and joy in itself to see him so happy. She had been about to follow him to the shore, her hands about to tuck themselves into her pockets and get on with enjoying the day when he suddenly turned towards her. Shock rearranged her features for a brief moment as he closed the gap between them in seconds and hoisted her up as if she weighed nothing. There was no gasp of surprise though, nothing that might be associated to a woman in the throws of romance being swept of her feet for Miri simply wasn't like that.

Yet he liked her all the same.

As he claimed her lips her hands came up to cup his face and her legs automatically wound about his waist. She returned like for like. Passion met hunger, desire met a confused turmoil of love, sadness that they would soon be parted met with the pain of a loss yet to come.

 

[Baise]

As a man, he wasn't prone to being dominated by his passions. He wasn't often deviated from his simple, pragmatic life to persue his desires, his dreams. His father had been a war hero, songs were still sung in the halls of eratejva and Valthar had been content with his life.

He wanted Miriel. He didn't want to give her up. The battle would rage on until the inevitable heartache, but for a few moments he forgot anything but her. Valthar gave himself over to the effervescent bliss she brought him.

He put his past behind him. Right now she was in front of him. He didn't know what the future would bring - so much was beyond his control - but he hoped there would be a place there for the two of them.

With strong hands he hitched her closer. The kiss turning slow and deep as he held her tight.

"Did you want to take the boat out?" he asked softly when he broke for air. It would seem a shame to ignore the gift, but he would have happily enjoyed some more of the morning sun in the bay. It seemed quite secluded.

 

[Míriel Fëanorna]

With his hands on her like this and the heat of his kiss still burning on her lips she most definitely did not want to take the boat out. Her hazel eyes simmered with an overriding desire for him though it tampered a little the more air she managed to pull into her searing lungs. Her fingers were still cupping his face and she used her advantage to pull him gently back towards her for another kiss. Unlike before this one sought to soothe the raw emotions inside of her.

"Today is your day, that is my gift to you," Miri murmured when she let him go again and rested her forehead against his. She didn't know how long fishing took but they didn't have to spend all day out on the cove waters. "It seemed only fair after giving you such pretty bruises yesterday," her lips curled into a satisfied smile, no hint of shame or apology in her gaze as her fingers ran into his hair.

 

[Baise]

"My day?" he asked, his eyes burning with possibilities. So much fuel to those fires. Not enough time.

Valthar was breathing hard and those bruises and aches suddenly seemed unimportant things. The body had other concerns.

Lifting a hand to her cheek he trailed a finger from behind her ear, across her jaw and slowly down her neck. Two fingers gently tugged at the collar of her tunic.

"So I get..." One button went.

"Whatever..." The second button.

"I want."

 

[Míriel Fëanorna]

Miriel's lips curved into a sinful smile as the buttons fell into the sand. She leaned forward to gently capture his bottom lip between soft teeth and looked up at him through the thick rim of dark lashes.

"Yes," it felt like lightning coursed through her veins, gifting her with an energy that was only going to be spent and satisfied in one way at this rate. An eyebrow raised as she watched those eyes that felt as though they marked her very soul. She quietly made a note that such displays of romantic affection were a must for any future courting if it won her looks like that.

"Anything."

 

[Baise]

A thing was not taken if it was offered freely. He didn't deserve this, but that was the point. It wasn't a reward for something he had done. Miriel just wanted to see his reaction and she was clearly enjoying it.

It was a good time to be on the water fishing. He didn't care. It would be delayed, but it wasn't about the haul it was sharing the experience with her. For a man so dedicated to his simple profession it was a rather startling realisation.

With hurried motions he bunched her tunic around the hem and lifted it up and over her head. He at least had the sense to toss it over a rock and not to the sand. Hands to her hips, barely able to breathe for how starved he was for her lips, he tugged her towards the blanket.

 

[Míriel Fëanorna]

Miriel would remember that day for Millennia to come.

They carved out for themselves a little piece of the world that was entirely their own. In that cove there was no thoughts of leaving or further danger, there was no pang of sadness or loss. Love permeated the day. It was in the way they claimed each other in the sand, in the sea, how they lazily tried their hand at fishing merely as a method of respite. Through it all only the ancient rock face was there to bear witness to it.

But all good things have to come to an end.

Miriel leaned against the doorway as she watched him cast one more look around the house to ensure he had everything he would need for the next leg of his journey North. Home. She had barely been able to sleep through the sickening feeling of worry and dread that had clawed at her heart. All morning she had been close to offering to accompany him at least part of the way but she knew a part would turn into all of it. And she had things keeping her here right now; the horses would be foaling soon and they would require most of her attention for the next few months.

"All set?" she tried to keep her voice casual and offered him a lazy smile.

 

[Baise]

If he hadn't wanted her to ask him to stay, this was a question she has asked that he didn't want to answer.

"All set," he replied.

Valthar peered into the house from the doorway. It was difficult to remember how it had seemed to him at first. It had been a strange and unfamiliar place. Valthar found it almost nostalgic to try and think of it that way, but he had only been here a few days.

For a moment he matched her smile, but it soon faded. Drawing in a slow breath, he bowed his chin to his chest.

"This hurts," he admitted quietly. He knew that he wasn't the most expressive man. The least he could do was be truthful so that she knew for certain what this was to him.

 

[Míriel Fëanorna]

"I know."

Miriel's smiled had faltered as he spoke. She ran her hand through her hair and thought, in the way of a person not wanting to deal with their current situation, that it really ought to be cut soon. It would be less painful if she didn't go to him just then but she couldn't not with his face the perfect picture of agony. It tore her heart to shreds. So she stepped forward and on her tip toes she cupped his cheeks. Her thumbs slid over his skin to beneath his jaw where she then tilted his face towards her. As their eyes met she searched his gaze quietly.

"I will see you on the Winter Solstice, your Summer Solstice. Faarin port," her words were soft but firm: it was a promise. She held his gaze a moment longer and then one hand slid back behind his neck and she tugged him down into a passionate kiss. Her free hand slid round to join its partner and run up into the tendrils of his blonde hair. There was fear for his life in that kiss, hope for their reunion, all bound up in the emotions she was falling desperately into for him.

 

[Baise]

Valthar was so aware of every touch that where her thumbs slid across his cheeks it felt as if she branded him. He wanted to be able to feel that touch as long as possible, but he knew the tingle would fade before he reached the city gates.

He kissed her, holding nothing back. Nothing but the desire to stay another hour. He couldn't. He knew that another hour to indulge in her touch would become a day, that would become a week. Already she had worked her way beneath his skin, if he set down roots then tearing himself away would go from painful to impossible.

"I will see you then," he said softly when their lips finally parted. Eyes closed, he kept his forehead pressed to hers. They breathed the same air for a few moments longer.

This was not supposed to have been the hardest leg of the journey.

 

[Míriel Fëanorna]

Please stay.

Miriel didn't move.

So this is what it's like to find a match.

She drew in a shaking breath. Tears threatened to overwhelm her and for a moment she tightened her grip on him and opened her mouth as if she were about to ask.

And this is heartache.

But she didn't. She had promised. If she told him that she loved him he would stay. He would resign himself to living here but there would be a part of him that always missed home, that worried about his family and wondered whether they still watched the seas for his return.

He would never be satisfied.

Miri slowly released him though it tore at her very soul. She stepped back as if physical distance might help her not ache for him so much.

Let him go.

"Safe journeys, Valthar."

 

[Baise]

He could barely remember feeling pain like this, like something clawing against the inside of his ribcage. Grabbing his lungs and squeezing the air from them.

When she stepped back he lifted one foot. In taking it off the ground it had moved forwards and not back. Valthar lingered there, on the threshold. He knew that if he followed instinct to follow into the space she had left between them that he would dash all chances of leaving at all.

He set his foot down behind him.

Words thrashed around his head, tumbling around the cage and never forming anything safe enough to be released. A pained expression rippled across his features to be replaced by a set of determination. He locked into her gaze, watching the emotions play out in those hazel depths.

"Even if it hurts," he finally said, voice wavering, "I wouldn't change a moment of it. I will cherish this time and I look forward to making more of them."

He shrugged his shoulders, feeling the weight of his bags and the weight of other things that would tether him down on those difficult days.

"Goodbye Miriel," he said, sighing and finally forming a fond smile. Valthar turned away and one foot in front of the other he continued his slow journey north.