Private Tales There Are Worse Poisons That Exist

[Saffia]

Saffia blushed, the softest pink colouring her cheeks as Aerium pressed those featherlight kisses to her knuckles. It made her want to laugh, shy and startled by how proper, how gentlemanly he could be. He was so... fancy. She managed a curtsy with a quiet chuckle.

But then he looked at her.

Gods. That look. The kind of look that stripped her bare without ever touching her, that made her feel beautiful in a way no mirror had ever managed.

"You are very sweet." she answered when he complimented her. Her heart stumbled, and tripped entirely when he said he may have been falling for her.

Saffia stopped walking. Her hand was still caught in his, her fingers small and warm in his larger palm, and for a beat she said nothing. Her gaze flicked up to his face, and though there was a flicker of worry in her eyes, uncertainty, hesitation, though it softened into something fond. Something aching.

“You shouldn’t say things like that, Aer...” she murmured, voice low and touched with a rueful kind of smile. One hand rose to tuck a dark curl behind her ear, a motion she often did when flustered. “Those kinds of words are dangerous.."

She didn’t pull away though. No, she held his hand tighter and fell back into step beside him, brushing her shoulder gently against his as they walked.

When he mentioned food and sweets, she huffed a small laugh, eyes lighting again.

“You’re going to fatten me up,” she teased, grinning now as the mood lightened. “Is that the plan? Woo me with sugar and charm and compliments until I can’t run away anymore?”

She bumped his hip with hers, playful now, despite the storm still quietly spinning in her chest. “Because it might just work.”

 

[Aerium]

Aerium laughed aloud, the sound traveling through the area heartily as if it were part of the nature residing here. That this day was already picturesque, that the weather was so blessed, Aer could not contain the mirth sitting with him. For that was the effect Saffia had on him. She already had made a home in his heart and mind, even if she was unaware of it yet, but Aerium was sure to leave that space there for her.

It warmed him, that her presence could have the effect of the sun upon him.

"Aye, that it precisely what I am doing to you." He grinned, toothily, widely. "And perhaps the fact that I think of only sweets when I think of you... must be because of that Daylily cupcake you got that night we met."

Daylillies. He had taken the time to find some this morning to no avail, but the bread he had baked had the flower carved upon it. Not his best, but he was pleased enough to pack it into the basket he had brought with him.

 

[Saffia]

Saffia couldn’t help but laugh along with him, his joy infectious, rolling through her like the warm breeze that rustled the canopy above. His laughter felt like something sacred. She wanted to bottle it, carry it with her when they inevitably had to part ways. She sighed at the thought, her smile faltering.

She gave him a sideways look, feigning suspicion. “You’re a romantic, aren’t you? Hiding behind that Inquisitor training and that ‘proper’ attitude. But really, deep down, you’re soft as bread and twice as warm.”

Her hand squeezed his, her thumb brushing across his knuckles in a quiet, absentminded gesture of affection as they walked. A part of her still didn’t know how to hold all of this, the attention, the warmth, the promises he kept slipping between his words. But gods, it was sweet, and he was beautiful.

 

[Aerium]

Aerium could not help but pull her to a stop. His hand pulled her further in, until she stood against him. His free hand came up to smooth away her hair from her face. "I guess I am a romantic. No other girl has made me do all of this."

His hand traveled down, the back of his fingers brushing down her arm before snaking to press his palm flat at her lower back. Aerium leaned, slowly guiding her to tilt back with the help of his sturdy hold on her. "Have I said it enough times yet? That I fell moments before you called me over to dance. From the moment you indulged me in a kiss. Gods, Saffia, I wanted to be yours then, as I do now."

His hand released her hand. Forefinger tucked beneath her chin, his thumb pressing at the skin below her lip and dragging it down to watch her lips part. "Would you indulge me again?" Aerium's deep voice was a rumble than a soft murmur. Despite his softness, the goodness, it was clear her had undergone training to become an Imperial. It was that strength he held her with, but it was his love for her, longing for her, that kept him kind.

 

[Saffia]

Gods. What was she doing here?

Saffia could almost hear the voices of her elders hissing in her ears, warning her to turn back, to guard her heart, to think. But thinking had never made her feel this alive.

Her heart thundered in her chest as he held her, as he looked at her that way. As he spoke to her like he meant every syllable, like he’d carved them from truth just for her.

And she, usually so quick with wit or deflection, found herself wordless. All she could do was stare up at him, her wide, dark eyes brimming with wonder and something dangerously close to hope. “I told you…” she breathed eventually, her voice quiet, trembling. “Words like those are dangerous.”

Her gaze dropped to his lips. She shouldn’t. She knew she shouldn’t. But gods, she wanted to.

She believed that he meant every world, that he truly believed that he was falling. And she wanted to believe that he wouldn’t break her heart.

Her people were dreamers and romantics. They believed in fate and signs and stolen kisses. And how wild, how free, could she truly claim to be if she didn’t throw herself headfirst into a whirlwind romance like this?

She was done being careful.

The kiss came hard and fast, a reckless crash of lips that left no room for doubt or regret. She surged into him, arms flung around his neck, holding him like she meant to make the world stop spinning.