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 Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:36 pm
(( backdated to directly after play me a song to set me free )) It was warm here. Orah felt warm all over, comfortable, or mostly. Her position was a little awkward and she shifted restlessly as she came back to herself. Not nearly uncomfortable enough that she wanted to truly move...
Blinking blearily, she opened her eyes to squint out at a view of her garden and off across it, the friends she had brought here... a few minutes ago? Hours ago? The angle of the light had changed from the last she remembered, but she still felt exhausted. Purifications were no joke with the amount of energy they took. There was still plenty of energy radiating from the surface of her asteroid, soaking into her like water on parched earth, but the effort of concentration had been a slog. Maybe marathon was a better analogy, doing one right after the other that way. Not that that would stop her from doing it again, quite the opposite. Now that she knew she she could, she'd be much more confident about it if it was ever asked of her again.
And now Murikabushi and Volterra were safe. She could see him with Illy... probably going over senshi things. Maybe getting his new phone and some instruction on the apps. Maybe getting his new henshin pen... she didn't know if the purification fixed the pen too, or if the pen worked regardless of faction... it was too much for her tired thoughts to hold on to and she let it slip away. They were safe, and free, and she'd been able to help. They could start new lives now, free from the influence of chaos and free to truly be their authentic selves now. Their planets would finally have their caretakers back.
She was by the table still, on the same cushion she'd knelt down on... but her head rose and fell with the surface under her cheek, and she could hear... a heartbeat. Held... but not by Illy. And not by the two new senshi, since she could see them across the way. Kerberos then?
Orah felt a new flush of warmth, following that thought path to its conclusion. Kerberos, or maybe Keiran, was holding her while she slept and recovered some amount of energy. That was his arm then, around her waist, and his chest she rested on. It gave her a giddy little rush, her own heartbeat picking up pace. In the silence of her own head, she could admit she rather liked it... and liked that Kerberos had been the one to hold her when she had all but toppled over. She could be just a little selfish about it... he could have laid her down in the pillows, or in her hammock, if he'd wanted to.
Drawing in a breath, she let it go with a soft sigh, relaxing her limbs again to sink down into the comfort of being held by someone else.
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Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2024 10:07 pm
There was something peaceful, about all of this. About watching Illyria help Volterra and Murikabushi with their phones and whatever else they might need. About being on Ida, and enjoying the peace of another world.
About having Orah laying against him, resting and recovering her strength after all she'd done. It made his heart flutter a little in his chest, if he was honest. And with her so close, he could feel her stir, and he smiled, just a little.
"Good morning, Princess," Kerberos said, softly. "Feeling any better? That really took it out of you." Not exactly surprising, all things considered. "We can stay here for a while longer, if you want."
He hoped she wanted to. He liked this, the warmth of....well, if she was awake, it probably qualified as cuddling, now. This, them, together.
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2024 9:51 am
It wasn't morning, or at least she hoped she hadn't slept so long it was morning again, but it was a sweet greeting to have. Hard on the heels of that was the Princess and a rush of embarrassment mixed with a fluttering pleasure and just a hint of nostalgic ache.
Hver had called her 'princess'. It had always been that same sort of mix of feeling that had come with it, because they both remembered her being a princess, even if she hadn't truly been one. Half title, half endearment... something that made her feel cared for, treasured and important... but also so much like she'd managed to convince them she was worth more than she actually was. Which, honestly, was silly. Logic knew she was worthy, at least mostly, but she supposed she'd never really be free of that terrible, whispering voice in the back of her mind.
Her fingers reached up to smooth the drape of cloth over his chest next to her face.
"Yes, a little. Still tired..." She murmured, content not to move more than that. "You ok?"
Hopefully, he wasn't uncomfortable in that position, with her weight on top of him like that. Orah was reluctant to have to move, but she could have roused herself, if need be. It was just... comfortable. And she struggled to remember a time in the last few years that she'd had anyone to hold her like this. She missed it deeply, she realized. The warmth and the connection of having someone close. Of trusting them enough to let herself be held.
That Kerberos was that person was another level to it all, a warmth that eased something inside of her like a bud finally releasing and starting to open. Orah had to admit now, in some small corner of herself, that she felt something more than she had realized. It was... freeing, even as it made her ache.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2024 5:19 pm
She was so beautiful. It felt cheesy even to think it to himself, but really--she was.
"I'm fine," he said, and he let his hand shift so that he could gently fiddle wit the ends of her hair while still holding her close. If she wasn't going to move or protest, he certainly wasn't going to make her. Not when this moment was so....lovely.
"We can stay here as long as you need," he promised, "and if you don't mind, I'd like to walk you home after we get back to Earth? Or at least close to, if you don't want me following you all the way." He'd accept it either way, but he wanted to make sure she was safe, especially after all this.
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Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2024 8:29 pm
Finally, Orah stirred herself enough to be able to tilt her head back to look up into his brass eyes. She felt both shy and bold at the same time, and amused by his caution. After everything, he thought she might not want him to see where her apartment was...?
"I would like that." She said, with all honesty. Reaching, she caught his hand in both of her own and held it, letting their fingers curl together. "I'd like you to see the apartment, despite how crowded its gotten recently. You're always welcome there, for any reason, even if its just because you want to visit."
She'd been to shy to invite him there last time, after their little date at the crystal exhibit. It had felt awkward... and still was, a little bit. The apartment was overfull, between herself and Arian, Ash in the back room and Cameron on the couch. Not to mention Liryn and Illyria, despite how little room they took up in their cat forms. They had more privacy here than they'd probably ever get back home.
Here, at least, they could sit together without sharing the space, and she could touch him, be held by him, without being watched by someone... at least as long as Illyria kept the two new senshi busy. Here, where she felt more at home than probably anywhere else on Earth, even the flower shop that she'd grown up in.
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Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2024 9:11 pm
"I didn't want to presume," Kerberos said, a little airily. "But I'd be glad to come. It sounds incredibly lively." To say the very least. So many people crammed in, all of them magical....really, it seemed like an amazing time.
When she caught his hand in hers, he squeezed, gently, glad for yet another point of warm contact between them. Then, he bent and pressed his lips to her hair--a little bold, perhaps, but they were so close, like this, it was hard to imagine it was unwelcome.
"And same to you--my apartment isn't nearly as full, but you're welcome there or at the cafe any time. I'll always be glad to see you."
He hoped Murikabushi and Volterra were busy sorting out whatever they needed to sort out, because he wanted this little private moment to stretch on as long as possible.
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Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 9:09 am
The touch was nice. All of them were, in the way food was nice to the hungry. Orah felt like she was ever starved for physical contact, holding herself back for the sake of other's comfort. She didn't want to invade someone's personal space, but it was also hard to ask for it. Asking placed a social burden on the other person. So. It was nice when Kerberos simply did it.
"I don't mind if you presume." She said softly, boldly. Kind of. "I might, um, actually encourage it. I really don't mind."
It felt difficult to express that they'd become close enough that liberties were allowed, at least on her part. Close enough friends, even if it was also more than that. If she hadn't been so tired, she felt like she'd be buzzing with nerves over it, like there were bees under her skin. The exhaustion made it hard to work up that much energy for it. Which was maybe a blessing, really.
Tilting her head back so she could watch him, Orah reached up to cup his cheek in her palm. Blue hair tickled her fingertips as she ran her thumb along the ridge of his cheekbone.
"Thank you, for helping with this. I knew I would need someone to take care of me, and I wanted that to be you and Illyria. I knew I could trust you with it. Its... hard for me to let go of stuff like that. I'm so used to being the one taking care of everyone else."
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Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2024 2:54 pm
Oh. Well then. Kerberos smiled, a little playful but mostly fond.
"If presuming is encouraged," he said, "I'm glad to do so." And to take this chance to walk her home, and spend more time with her.
The warmth of her hand on his cheek was a comfort, and another step forward--it was obvious, he felt, what they were dancing towards, slowly and shyly.
Kerberos decided that perhaps a bolder step was in the cards.
"Of course. I'm always glad to be there for you. However you need--however you want, really."
He leaned in towards her, and then stopped, perhaps a few centimeters from her lips from her lips. An invitation. A request. One she could accept or deny, if she wanted to. But he hoped his intentions were more than clear.
"All you ever have to do is ask."
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2024 3:10 pm
He bent in like he was going to... but then he stopped, and she felt that little zing of anticipation unfulfilled. She wanted him to kiss her. Orah realized it then, when she found that she wished he hadn't stopped.
But she had to ask. Of course he couldn't read of her mind, of course he needed actual, adult communication to know what she really wanted and what was okay. She felt like they'd been dancing around something for weeks now, and maybe that's what she'd needed. Not someone who made her doubt everything and teased her relentlessly, and not someone who she pined for for years before that far off star finally let her touch it...
She was too tired to let her nerves hold her back. What was the worst that could happen, he'd say no? When she was half in his lap with his arms around her and their lips a breath apart?
"Would you kiss me, please?" She murmured as she watched his face, brushing strands of hair back from his eyes. This felt like the safest place she could ever be... here, and now with him. Safe enough to do something a little vulnerable, to try something new, with someone she cared about more and more.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 6:03 pm
Ah. Yes. There it was. Kerberos nodded, just a little.
"As you wish," he said, warmly, and then he leaned in to press their lips together.
This was what he had been hoping for, for....well, quite some time, but most sharply and with the most longing since their little Valentine's almost-date. A culmination of a hope, that he might be what she wanted, that they could be something together.
It seemed, after all, that they could.
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