[spoiler][i]It started with a drink...[/i]
I thought I’d post another little something from the era of House of Wolves. Enjoy the awkward ;)
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Page 137
"Oh, no no," Shadow holds out her hands to the Reef eliksni. "It's not for me. You have anything for your people?" She speaks slowly, points to him.
Exchanging a confused and irritable glance with his companion, he does so, instead handing Shadow a drink suitable for his own kind, whatever that may be.
She takes the cup from him and gifts him a bit of glimmer. "Thank you," she says cheerfully.
But her cheerfulness doesn't last. As she approaches Ives in the Vestian Outpost, violet light dancing across her skin, her stomach twists with anxiety. His unfriendly gaze following her doesn't help. Hardly sparing him an awkward look, she walks past him.
"Okay..." she murmurs to herself, straightening her cloak nervously.
It takes mere seconds for Variks to notice her. As his sparkling blue eyes meet hers, Shadow's heart flutters like a trapped bird. Taking a slow breath in, she smiles and gives him a friendly nod. "Hi, Variks."
"Ah, you again, my friend," Variks chitters, hobbling closer to her. "What brings you to Variks this time?"
"I..." Trailing off awkwardly, Shadow averts her gaze. His presence is stifling, her suit suddenly far too hot. Words elude her however desperately she searches for them. She fights against a frustrated frown. Flirting seemed to come so much easier with anyone other than Variks. Silently, she scolds herself for trying to flirt with him in the first place. He's an eliksni, not a human or awoken. She should find someone among her own people. Her chest grows even hotter. The knowledge that her ghost is watching her and Traveler knew who else, as she made a fool of herself, was very disconcerting.
She swallows hard as Variks straightens his posture, creating a further gap in height between them.
"Seems the Great Machine has taken your speech." The warden taps his staff down onto the floor with a bang, his tone amused. Despite his teasing, it lightens the mood. Variks always seemed to know what to say and Shadow finds this comforting.
She huffs, her shoulders losing their tension, though an awkward smile tugs at her mouth, her face flushing violet. "I uh, I just thought maybe you'd like a drink. You look tired." Holding out her offering to him, she suddenly wonders if she's said the wrong thing.
Variks, observing the drink, slowly takes it from her, his hand brushing against hers.
Shadow's heart thumps hard against her chest. "Uh, I didn't mean that in a bad way—" Graced with dark lined eyes herself, Shadow was no stranger to being questioned if she were sick or tired.
Variks blinks each eye slowly, one after another, before looking back up at her. She wonders if he does so on purpose. "No, no. Not to worry," he burbles, good natured as always. "Thank you for the drink... You are very kind. I am getting too old to stand out here all day without one."
"Oh, nonsense, you don't look old at all," the hunter insists immediately. "You look—"
Stunning. Breathtaking. Gorgeous.
"-great." Her voice breaks a little, and she swallows nervously.
Traveler's sake. How long had it been since she'd bought a man a drink? A long time, she assumes. Surely she hadn't always been so clumsy? She shoves down the thought struggling to the forefront of her mind. [i]It's just with him. He's different.[/i]
The hunter feels something like satisfaction when he looks away from her. He moves, weary eyes shifting about the outpost, as if he doesn't know how to respond. She smiles. It's good to have any sense of control around the eliksni.
She was so used to his display of confidence, sometimes she wonders what lies beneath it. There must be more. She's seen hints of him, the parts he keeps locked away from everyone else. Brief moments he lets her in. When he speaks of his past, of the Wolves, the choices that lead him here. She wants to know him.
The momentary lapse doesnt last, however. He shakes his head, meets her eyes again. Shoulders straightened. Wall raised back up. "You flatter me, guardian," he says, silky toned as ever. "Hmm... Going soft for the eliksni?" he teases, chattering amusedly.
Shadow falls silent in her hesitation. Variks seems taken aback by her sudden thoughtfulness. "I... I think so," she says quietly, then is overcome with another bought of shyness. She looks away from the scribe's wide, curious stare.
Just her luck, a Corsair approaches them. Shadow doesn't pay attention to whatever it is they say to Variks. All she can hear is her own heartbeat in her ears.
She gazes back up at him, his head is turned to the awoken woman now. Her chest tightens with that strange, foreign emotion she's been feeling since she met him—
"What does Petra need now?"
His words startle her back to reality. Variks clicks his mandibles irritably, then looks to Shadow. "We will talk another time, yes? I am needed elsewhere."
She nods, hiding a disappointed expression, but she's sure Variks sees through her when he adds, "Come see Variks again soon."
"I will." Beaming, the hunter smiles. With a sudden burst of confidence, she calls out to him as he turns away from her. "You owe me a drink!"
Variks tosses a wide eyed glance back at the hunter over his shoulder.
The Corsair beside him halts with a scowl of disapproval.
After a moment to recollect himself, Variks chuckles, and blinks fondly at Shadow before leaving her presence.
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1 ReplyI thought Shadow was drunk the first few paragraphs. [spoiler]DRUNK WITH LOVE MAYBE.[/spoiler]