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In Laudna’s defence, it had been a long day. She had awoken in a cave, a dark, deep cave stinking of death (her fault, she’d caused that) and for a few moments she’d been blissfully ignorant before the reminder smashed into her skull like an unruly mallet. Laudna had almost forgotten about the druid in the other room, blinking up at them as they’d entered the chamber and looked around at the group, before offering their way home. Another blink- they’d said goodbye to Deni$e, had meant to say goodbye to Prism and had finally been spat out in Jrusar.
And Jrusar. Their longest home. Even here, there was no comfort of normalcy. The markets that’d usually be bustling with residents of the Spires were swarmed by soldiers. The business that would fill the air on the market day had been replaced with a standoffish- she didn’t want to call it hostile, they weren’t postal workers after all- and stagnant atmosphere. After everything over the last few days, this just unsettled her.
But here, curled up at Imogen’s side, with gentle, capable hands threading through her hair? Here nothing could touch her.
The tavern was loud, louder than Laudna was used to- after all, they usually had to retire much earlier to spare Imogen’s mind. But looking at her now, face flushed with joy and mediocre ale, Laudna felt something rise in her chest and the inescapable urge to catch her breath. The slight movement caught Imogen’s attention, her eyes meeting Laudna’s, and the affection she found mirrored could’ve broken her anew.
She’d been aching for her for days, a weight in her chest cavity drawing her down towards the earth- a magnet pulling her towards Imogen perhaps? - but after this afternoon, she had felt it shift. Call it fantastical dreaming, but if she squinted maybe she’d see a red ribbon, drifting lazily and anchored at the centre of Imogen.
And Gods, this afternoon…
Imogen felt like a dream. She had been truthful all those other times when she’d said she hadn’t imagined romance- romance just wasn’t in the cards for her. She was dead. She was dead and necrotising and peeling and decaying. Her bones were splintering. Her flesh was slopping off. And Imogen had seen all of it. Two years, and she’d never quite gotten used to the wonder that was Imogen. Imogen choosing to stay with her no matter the vile lady in her mind or her collection of oddities. No matter that she was denied entry into some towns because of her complexion or ran out of it because of a holy man's muttering. She had been enough for Imogen.
A huffed laugh from above yanked her mind back to the present. Here was Imogen, holding to her like a lifeline- she had scarcely let go of any part of Laudna since the marketplace and honestly, who was Laudna to deny her that? Laudna, curled into the dent of Imogen, categorising each stretch of Imogen she found herself pressed to: ridged hands tangled up with her own skeletal ones, the burning expanse of her chest pressed impossibly close- not that that stopped Laudna from wanting to nestle further and further and further in, a cavern carved just for her- another purple-grooved arm cocooned around her neck, anchored and digging soothing patterns into her scalp. She squeezed her eyes tight to tamper down the urge to bury herself deeper into Imogen’s flesh.
Another sweet breeze adorned her gaunt cheeks and her eyes fluttered open. A stunning sight- eyes that had been so clouded with guilt and panic in recent weeks, now alight with wonder and warmth. Flickering around Laudna’s face as if mapping every detail she could, before snapping back to Laudna’s. A lazy smile cracked through Imogen’s face and if that didn’t send an electric jolt down her decrepit spine- another breathless sigh tore from her lungs.
“Y’tired, hun?” The mischievous glimmer in those deep purple eyes cut through the innocence of the murmured question. She must’ve let her momentary confusion show on her face, as the twinkle in Imogen’s eye grew brighter and she continued, “It’s been a long day, I know, but you mentioned wanting to share that new tea blend with Zhudanna? Plus, we gotta make sure she’s not wrestled that bed together herself.” Laudna squinted a bit to herself. Although she loved her late-night talks with Zhudanna, the old woman didn’t exactly make a habit of staying up late, rather she’d be more likely to wander into the kitchen after waking up sometime in the early hours. Zhudanna waiting up just didn’t make sense in her mind, no matter how excited she was about their return.
Oh. Oh, her girl was clever.
A conspiratorial grin stretched across her features as she peeled herself from Imogen’s side. Looking around the table at their friends, most of them locked in a light-hearted argument above some dice game, she fought her face into a neutral expression. Neutral-ish. Raising her voice a little and turning back to Imogen, she sighed dramatically.
“Oh, Gods, yes. We can’t leave her waiting up- I mean, we promised we’d be back after our dinner. She must be so excited!” At this, the table turned towards her in varying degrees of notice. Fearne and Chetney almost immediately went back to their bickering (though Laudna did catch the eyebrow wiggle tossed her way- Fearne was not subtle) with Letters doing their best to mediate. Ashton was throwing an odd expression at her but made no attempt to speak on it, so that was that.
“How’s she been with all of this?” asked Orym. Laudna exchanged a weighted look with Imogen, before letting out a quiet sigh.
“She’s been… worried. Understandably. She’s barely been out these last few days because of these soldiers everywhere- I doubt she’s seen anyone in days, truthfully.”
“She’d be glad to see you again, I bet.” He smiled, though it was unsettling to see the strain that simple expression seemed to cause him now. “Do you need any of us to walk you back? Shits a bit weird out there at the moment and I don’t…” Orym shook himself, letting his words trail off into the raucous din of the tavern. There was a small squeeze around Laudna’s entwined fingers and she shook her head, holding his eye for a moment with an icy intensity, her smile sharp.
“I wouldn’t worry. I think we’re scarier than anything out there, right now.”
“I do. Worry.” He paused, considering. “Get back safe. We’re here if you need… anything.”
Laudna let her gaze drop at that, nodding slightly as she nudged Imogen towards the edge of the booth. She searched out the corner of her eye for Imogen’s expression, suddenly acutely aware of the interaction she’d just had in front of her, and with a jolt of… something, was entranced to see though Imogen’s smile had eased slightly, the intensity behind her stare hadn’t waivered. She turned fully into Imogen’s studying gaze, letting herself bask in the mutual fascination. A tug further into that whirlwind brought Laudna stumbling into the present, and, sharing a grin with the woman in front of her, she followed Imogen towards the tavern’s exit.
A fist knocked against her shoulder and she glanced back, meeting Ashton’s stare. She turned back to Imogen, their hands still curled together, going lax for a moment but still tethered together. Imogen smiled and nodded back behind her as if to soothe her. Wherever you’re going.
“Spooks…” Ashton searched her eyes for a moment before giving her an upturned smirk- grimaced but sincere in that typical Ashton fashion- “Get some rest, yeah? You deserve a moment to just breathe. Let her”- they jerked their head towards the front of the tavern- “Let her take care of you, ok?”
Something felt stuck in her throat. Laudna wanted to tease him, make some lightly prodding comment about the tender edge their voice took, but no sound made it past the sudden appearance of her heart in her mouth. She swallowed, took a breath, then quietly.
“Thank you, Ashton.”
A lingering, rough hand on her shoulder let her know Ashton’s acknowledgement more than words.
Outside felt just as hot and heavy as the tavern but was a breath of fresh air from the bustle of the tables behind them. A cool breeze cut through the humidity. The smell of incoming rain drifted between them and Laudna’s heart soared- she was being wrapped in the reminder of Imogen and for the first time in weeks she was here, smiling up at her as she offered her arm out to her. As if she could refuse.
“So, Zhudanna’s then?” A light blush seemed to settle on her freckled cheek, though it could have been a trick of the Ruidus-lit sky. Laudna let herself hope the opposite.
“You seemed quite eager to get back, darling. You haven’t forgotten how early that woman goes to sleep, surely?” The bright red ears poking out from purple curls and the undignified squeak in response to Laudna’s teasing told her everything she needed to know. She gave a fond smile in Imogen’s direction and bumped their shoulders together, turning them towards the Windowed Wall.
Something settled in the air. It wasn’t awkward, Laudna supposed, it felt somewhat different to that, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Imogen was right, it was weird to not have her commentary as they wound their way up the Spires, tinkling thoughts rattling around her mind like tiny fireworks behind her eyes. She’d been so used to feeling that blissful weight in her cranium that she felt lightheaded with the lack of it. Of course she was glad for the circlet’s aid, but she did miss the echoing laughter that would bounce around her skull in moments like this.
Maybe that was it.
But the odd glance- ok, it was more frequent than the odd but Laudna would give Imogen the illusion of subtlety; She would give Imogen anything if she asked- and the growing red blooming beneath her eyes begged another reason. Laudna smiled to herself, energy seemed to pour off of Imogen’s skin, and yet she kept her hands clasped around Laudna’s still. It was sweet.
They couldn’t’ve been more than a few minutes away from Zhudanna’s when Laudna decided to put Imogen out of her misery. Rolling her eyes with a grin, she squeezed the rough palm beneath hers, slowed her pace.
“Is there something you want to tell me, darling? You’ve tripped almost your whole way up here.” Allowing her smile to stretch a little further: “Something more interesting, hmm?”
A blush. A sharp inhale.
“It’s just… It’s not sinking in, Laud.” she chuckled breathlessly. Imogen’s lip worried between her teeth in a poorly concealed grin, drawing Laudna’s gaze down. The air grew thicker. “I can look at you. Not that I couldn’t before, I just- I can look at you!”
The words caused Laudna to glance up, ensnared by the pure affection bleeding from Imogen’s gums, eyes. Her hand came up to cup Laudna’s cheek, smearing the fondness like a dye across her gaunt skin as she stepped ever closer. “Laud… you are so beautiful. I know that might be a hard concept for you for a while but… unless you ask me to stop, I will remind you until my breath runs out. Whatever you need, however you need me, I would give my breath to tell you that, honey.”
Laudna was acutely aware of her chest stuttering beneath her, etching an expanse into Imogen. She took a sharp breath, her eyes roving over Imogen’s similar state as she tried to process the maelstrom in her sternum. She finally met Imogen’s eyes again, giving a small reassuring smile and feeling the brush of a scarred thumb smooth her cheekbone as an answering smile shone back.
“I trust you. I don’t know,” a pause, “I don’t know if I can believe that for myself, but I can certainly believe it for you, Imogen. You know I would do the same. You have been my everything these past years and, I’m afraid, that doesn’t seem to be changing. My pride for you knows no bounds, you astound me. You are so powerful, so breathtaking, so capable… and it is truly a gift that you allow me into your heart.” The air grew thicker, still. “I don’t know where we’re heading, but I do know that I trust you, dear. With my heart, with my flesh. Just… ask me, Imogen, and I would follow you.”
She felt her eyes crinkle as her smile grew again, “Though I would say, I rather like you with air in your lungs. Only one of us can do the haunting, dear.”
“Then haunt me.”
The air around Laudna felt alight, her lungs burning, the urge to gasp for breath luring her closer to Imogen, a line pulled taunt. Her world felt off-kilter, a constant movement until she blinked once, twice- it was Imogen. Her chest was heaving, so much so that it was actively rocking her body, and Laudna’s by extension. Scar-gashed hands had dropped to hold echo-soft against Laudna’s hips, conflicting with the tension running down the rest of her arms. Laudna’s eyes drifted back up to Imogen’s and the urge clawed up her throat with a hitched inhale. Her eyes, a rich purple vortex bore into the weak hollowed bone behind her own, crackling with a torrent of devotion, holding her aloft, holding her in reverence. Streaks dashed across those lilac expanses and Laudna was entranced. The need to *feel* rushed up her gullet, and her hands lifted, zealous, to hold Imogen’s face. To frame the storm housed in her cranium, to mar her gorgeous flesh with the bleeding devotion she could feel dripping from every pore. They stood, the air crackling between them, transfixed.
Until a jolt. Imogen’s eyes broke contact with her with a silent crack as she lifted a hand to her hair, then glanced up, scowling slightly. Another jolt and Imogen’s mouth fell open, seemingly affronted. Confused with the sudden shift, Laudna glanced up, only to be met with the same fate as Imogen. A splash above her eyebrow turned into a running droplet as she slowly tilted her face back to Imogen, who was stifling a smile at the exasperated expression Laudna was shooting her. It didn’t take long before they both broke, snickering into each other’s shoulders as the rain pelted down, drops growing fatter by the second. Laudna glanced at the purple tresses plastered to the sorcerer’s forehead and had to muffle another fit of laughter at the miffed expression shot her way.
“Laudna. Laudna! Come on, we gotta…” she broke off again into giggles as she tugged the other woman towards a nearby building, and then some, into a shadowed alley that Laudna hadn’t previously seen. They rounded the corner, ducking out of the entryway as they caught their breath. Imogen glanced up just in time to see Laudna, incredulous, her eyebrow raised at her as several new raindrops ran down the side of her face. “Fucken- I thought we’d be more sheltered in here, hon.” She laughed breathlessly.
“In an alleyway? Darling, I know it’s been a few days, but I think your eyesight’s got worse, I mean-” The warlock’s head tilted, smile melting into bemusement. In front of her, Imogen’s brow had furrowed, her lip caught between her teeth as she studied the wall behind Laudna. And maybe Laudna herself.
Clenched in her hands was her skirt- Laudna did not have time to question why before Imogen had crossed the few steps between them, the fabric whipping up on all sides and coming to rest held to the wall above Laudna’s head. Her mind went blissfully blank.
“…Imogen?” she breathed, caught once again by the gaze pinning her to the stonework. Then- another droplet. She glanced up, scrutinising the fabric above her before turning back to Imogen.
“Imogen,” Disbelief. “Imogen, love, what the fuck did you think that was going to do? Darling, that fabric is see through! I’m not discrediting its beauty- it’s gorgeous, Imogen- but look at this material! The rain is going straight through!” She laughed, mirthful, before, “Wait, weren’t you in a tundra? With snow? Imogen, you got an outfit commissioned by a King and Queen, and you chose the most weather-inappropriate material? ”
A nod.
“Imogen.” An offended hand to her heart. Imogen’s head nestled into Laudna’s shoulder, the heat radiating off her cheeks surely enough to create a fog. A muffled sound of protest prompted Laudna to tuck a finger under a red-stained chin and lift it up. “Sorry, what was that dear?” she gently teased.
“-ShushShutUpShutUpIWantedToDoSomeThingGentlemanlyAndThisWasTheOnlyThingICouldThinkOfRightNowAnd-” With a whine, she ducked her head right back into the curve of Laudna’s neck, who chuckled at the display.
“Well, consider me swept off my feet.” Softly whispered into the shell of the purple sorcerer’s reddened ear. Glancing about, Laudna eyed the fabric still bunched in Imogen’s hands by the sides of her head, considering. She reached up, careful not to jostle Imogen, still cradled in her neck, and pried the fabric from her grip. Just as Imogen’s hands started to fall, she caught them, drawing Imogen from her hiding spot. With a smile, long blacked talons purposefully placed scarlet brushed palms against the wall, right where they had been. A careful tug, drawing the sorcerer closer into her, and biting her lip, she waited for Imogen’s gaze to meet hers.
They might’ve been stood for hours, unperturbed by the drizzle scattered around them. It could’ve been minutes, studying the other’s face in a way that neither had allowed themselves before. A gentle simmer under the skin; twin flames in a summer storm. Another brush of black-stained knuckles across dusted cheeks, and:
“Can I kiss you?”
As Laudna held Imogen’s gaze, it was as if someone had cast Daylight in the space behind her eyes. Her eyes shone. Her face looked like it would splinter apart with the joy begging to burst forward, held back only by the bottom lip trapped between her teeth. Imogen nodded.
Laudna leaned forward, savouring the blissful way Imogen’s eyes fluttered closed as she moved ever nearer, stealing one last look at the woman below and brushing her lips against hers. Instantly, Laudna felt her bones melt, the extra few inches she’d occasionally tease Imogen over disappearing in the enveloping feeling of home. She could feel Imogen all around her, in the smile threatening to break past her lips, in the weathered palms that had moved to cup her face, in the unfettered love she could feel surging from Imogen’s throat and gushing into her own.
She pulled away, reluctantly, mesmerised by the blissed look crowning Imogen’s face and the way she unconsciously chased Laudna’s lips, tethered like a lure on a line. She waited for a half-beat, searching Laudna’s eyes for something before she joined with Laudna once again. The care delivered with the kiss delivered a double punch to Laudna’s roiling gut. Here was Imogen, for whom she would gladly offer any morsel of her undead being to champion, ensuring her passion was shared. Making sure Laudna wanted this, offering the choice. Laudna felt another wave of breathlessness crash over her lungs.
Imogen was the one to pull away this time, gently knocking her forehead against Laudna’s, an awed breath breezing over Laudna’s parted mouth. It was only then they both seemed to remember the weather around them: a little drizzle seemed manageable to ignore, but the rain was thundering down now, soaking the pair completely. A beat passed before they broke out in winded laughter, clutching to each other’s dripping clothes.
“Darling, you’re so wet,” the snort she received in response made Laudna’s eyes roll, “Oh, shush, you. You know what I meant.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay I’m done, I swear. You’re not much better, you know?”
“And whose fault would that be, hmm?” A smothered grumble was the only retort. Just as Laudna opened her mouth to tease further, she was caught by a purple blur pressing a lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth before tugging her out of the alleyway. The fondness dancing in Imogen’s eyes as she looked back struck a hearth between Laudna’s ribs.
That’s not to say they got much further. Imogen had lost any sense of tact at this point and was actively glancing from the warlock with a sly grin to somewhere off to the side as they hurried down the sodden street. She apparently found what she was looking for, drawing Laudna into yet another alley where she surged up to connect their lips again. Laudna chuckled, catching on fast, and took less than a minute once they’d left that particular alley to pin Imogen to a wall in another. The journey from there was a whirlwind- tantalisingly dizzy on the outskirts, but sharp and full, clinging to Imogen. In every new crevice, there was less of a fevered collision, softening out instead into breathless giggles across each other’s mouths.
But as Imogen went to peel away from this alcove, finally in sight of Zhudanna’s house, she felt a catch on her arm- found herself once again looking into cavernous pupils. She huffed theatrically but softened into the kiss offered to her.
“You’re impossible” Laudna whispered, revenant fingers running through the sorcerer’s purple tresses. With a lingering press to Imogen’s cheek, she stepped up towards the house.
Inside, they fell into a practised dance. Laudna peeled off towards Zhudanna’s bedroom to check on the older woman, whilst Imogen took her well-worn path towards the kitchen, tossing a quick look at Zhudanna’s chair by the window. The old routine slotted comfortably into their skin, months melting away in the familiar domesticity. The only difference was the extra weight crackling in the air.
Ducking into their old room, Laudna was met with the soft glow of candlelight, bathing the figure on the bed in an ethereal light. Closing the door softly behind her, she allowed herself a moment to just… look.
Imogen was beautiful. Laudna had never been shy in her praises of the woman but stood in this place she’d been so many times before, she found her tongue leaden with words aching to escape.
Her eyes raked up Imogen’s form, wrestling with a towel around her head, committing all she could to memory. Soft, sun-weathered skin littered with freckles, spilling down her arms, her collarbone. Lilac fissures carved through her skin, a leaked pen on a cartographer’s parchment. Laudna wanted to memorise it like a constellation. Irises dripping with mirth as they caught and held Laudna’s gaze, accentuated beautifully with the light dusting of red across her cheeks. A staticky buzz below her eyes told Laudna hers were in a similar state.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Imogen chuckled, feeling beside her for an identical towel.
“C’mere, you’re still soaked,” she whispered. As Laudna reached out for the towel, she pulled her hand back slightly, searching her eyes. “Let me? Please?”
Laudna said nothing- couldn’t even if she wanted. She could only nod, eyes wide in awe as she stepped gingerly forward, unwilling to break the stillness around them. As soon as she was within reach, lavender-whittled arms curled loosely around her waist and guided her to the edge of the bed. It took Laudna a second to peel her eyes from her lap once she’d sat, but the view granted bruised her cheeks. Imogen, hair messed, eyes warm, a half-formed smile adorning her face. Laudna ached for that smile. Ached to collect each shedding and fashion it into something she could preserve and cradle.
“Turn around, hun,” she said, her voice barely raised above a whisper. The warlock twisted as if Compelled, a contented sigh escaping her lips as Imogen’s hands reached forward to tuck her sinuous hair behind her ears- met with huffed laughter. A second later her warm hands returned, carefully placing the towel at the top of her hairline, followed by a warmth spreading through the material, swirling with the scent of ozone. Gently, Imogen began her charge. Meticulously, she would massage one section of Laudna’s scalp- careful of her sensitivities- delicately knead her way up the strands, cupping it in her hands to Prestidigitation and dropping the warmed wisp before moving to the next, folding the finished pieces in front. Somewhere along the line, Imogen had picked up a bottle from her washbag and had pressed small licks of the sweet rocket product into each brush. Laudna felt dizzy with the feeling.
And throughout it all, the melody that was Imogen: little hums and considerations- at a particularly loud chuckle, Laudna tilted her head back towards her in bemusement. “What?”
“You ever think about making something out of this?” she asked, eyes crinkling as she held up tangles of discarded hair that had come loose, despite her best efforts. “Makin’ a blanket for Pâté or somethin’?”
“Or something. I don’t… why would I do that? Would he want that?” A genuine question.
A brief moment passed where Imogen seemed to taste the words laid on her tongue, before finding Laudna’s eyes and smiling slightly. “Who wouldn’t want to be wrapped up in you?”
Laudna had no response.
It couldn’t have been that long, really, but Laudna had drifted mindlessly into the tender push and pull on her scalp, eyes fluttering shut, unconsciously leaning into the touch. The light tug of hands threading through her hair, once, twice, three times, drew her out of her drifting and the brief moment of hesitation Imogen gave as her hands held her head made her want to turn, like an itch in her bones, just to see her face. She held herself still, somehow, as thumbs traced unconscious circles across her skin. And featherlight, at the top of her head, a brushed kiss.
One last card through her hair and Imogen pulled herself from Laudna, climbing off the bed and to the opposite side of the room to where her nightclothes lay folded. If she seemed to notice Laudna’s dazed appearance as she looked back at her over her shoulder, she chose not to draw notice to it, instead prompting the still figure with a gentle joke about ‘ruining her hard work by catching a chill from soppy clothes’. Laudna could barely concentrate, shockwaves still echoing from the touch to her forehead.
It took her a few more moments to collect herself, stand, walk over to the cabinet where she could see her own nightclothes folded just as Imogen’s had been. The absolute care she could see smoothed into the fabric made her heart wrench and her arm instinctually reach towards the bleached bone smear spilling out of the wooden house. Pâté had calmed down significantly from before, now more than ever seeming to sense she just needed a moment. With her palm firmly stroking his pale skull, he took branched fingers in between his beak, gnawing softly until a wheeze dislodged from her swamped lungs. Satisfied, he wrapped a gnarled tail around her wrist and dragged it gently whilst nudging the clothes in her direction. The action earned him a small, sincere smile and a rougher scratch to the base of his skull. Laudna chuckled softly as he deemed his job done and began stuffing himself back inside his house, and, mind still lingering behind her, she began going through the motions of getting changed and taking down her hair. She tried her best to pry her thoughts away from tender presses to her forehead as she tucked Pâté into bed. A plan which, of course, crumpled delightfully as she turned back around, only to be greeted by a wild mane haloed by the candlelight.
Beneath it was an outstretched arm, coaxing the deathly pale figure towards the warming sheets. As if she ever needed to be coaxed.
She reached the bed in a trance, locked onto lavender eyes like a lure. There was a slight nervous air around them- settling like blood on her tongue, though nothing in the room looked different. One last glance to the eyes still boring into her and she crawled beneath the blankets into the widened wound beside Imogen in the bed. Reaching over, she pinched out the light.
With the candlelight snuffed, inky black spilt over the room. Nothing had changed- it had barely been a second since the room had been wrapped in light- but it felt like the world had squeezed just that little bit closer. Curiously enough, it didn’t bother Laudna like it might normally. It was probably Imogen. Imogen with her burning flesh just out of reach, her oddly stilted breaths- the idea that Imogen might be just as nervous as she was sent static up Laudna’s brittle frame- the gentle pound of her racing heart. Even from here, too far away, the bed shook with the heartbeats.
Silence fell with the shadow like a thick blanket, stretching timelessly into the night.
“You still awake?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
Imogen shuffled, twisting to face Laudna in the dark. Despite the darkness that had settled around them, Laudna could see the energy crackling beneath Imogen’s skin, dancing behind her eyes as they flickered towards her.
“Laudna-”
“Kiss me again,” quiet, a torrent broken free “please.”
Imogen’s breath hitched, her eyes flickering in the dark and her fingers pressing deeper into Laudna’s cheek. Deliberately, she lifted herself up, Laudna’s eyes tracking her until she felt breath cascading across her crown and she could no longer keep them open. And- there. Pressed like a brand on her skin, her body set alight with the intention.
And again. Firmer this time, with more confidence, more need to show. The presses drip slowly down Laudna’s skin, coupled with the intoxicating brush of Imogen’s thumbs smearing affection onto any crevice of her face as she can. A change in direction, Imogen made her way to the side of the warlock’s skull. She paused, giving Laudna time to redirect her. Smiled when Laudna tilted her head to her with a wide, pleading look and reached up to brush the tip of her mangled ear before dipping her head to skim a soft kiss along the ragged edges. Again, and again and again those caresses were dropped carefully onto marred skin- Laudna felt dizzy with the attention. A breath ghosted over the shell of her ear and one last purposeful kiss found its home in the cavity.
A soft knock to her brow urged her eyes open, the world spinning in violet hues- Imogen’s head locked against hers and her rapid breaths spilling across cool lips. She was slowly moving again, thumbs moving up to brush below Laudna’s eyes. A question in her eyes that Laudna met with an adoring smile, talons reaching up to rest at the pulse point at Imogen’s wrists. The sorcerer reached up again and gentle lips pressed against her fluttering eyelids, sending a shiver down her twisted spine. A beat. The press of lips to the corner of her mouth.
Laudna’s grip tightened unconsciously, breath ragged and blinking eyes swirling with hunger.
“Imogen.
Imogen, please, can I-” Imogen froze still, pupils burning into her, kindly refusing to finish her sentence.
“Can I kiss you?”
A nod, and a crash. Pallid lips collided with red-brushed, urgency drowning the soft explorations from before like a riptide. Laudna felt her hands curl around the base of Imogen’s skull of their own accord, fingers tangled in lavender strands, pulling her in closer. The buzzing dance that Imogen was trailing across her skin spurred her on further; the way she seemed to want to entirely smother Laudna made her breath hitch against Imogen’s lips. A tightened fist on her shoulders in response simmered the ichor under her skin and she felt her bones crumble as a tentative tongue brushed against the bottom of her open lips. A hunger yawned inside her. Inhaling sharply, she surged back up to capture Imogen’s lips, nudging her onto her back. Delighting at the open mouth sighs that graced Imogen’s face, nipping gently across the curve of her jaw.
Surging back into her haven felt electrifying from her new vantage point. Her fingers skimmed anywhere she could reach, a bone-deep thirst swelling every time she brushed fabric to savour that tender flesh beneath. A tease at the bottom of the fabric, a deliberate glance at Imogen in question. Imogen held her gaze, mouth pulling into a smile under her.
“Darling, I want to… can I see?”
Imogen’s head was frantically nodding before she’d even finished the sentence, a shaky exhale pulled from both of their throats. Laudna pulled back, caught by the sight of the blooms appearing on Imogen’s jaw, just as the sorcerer opened her mouth, hushed:
“You can always look. I… before you, I would’ve scrubbed my arms raw if it meant I’d look like everybody else. Laud, yknow you’re the reason I can wear that new shit without wanting to scream? You never looked at me like it was some kind of curse or disease and… And you called them beautiful, Laud. You never even wavered on it. And I trust you, and I think I trust you on that. I... I’m starting to think I only want to be seen by you.”
Laudna stilled, engulfed by the emotion she found in her eyes. She brought a hand up to Imogen's cheek, brushed tenderly, dropping a chaste kiss in her wake. Swallowing the number of reassurances on her tongue, spoke softly: “Thank you, dearest.”
Fingers skating lightly, Laudna pulled at the material- never quick enough to rush, but just enough to not get distracted. It wasn’t a two-person job, but Imogen helped anyways, guiding her hands and lightly stroking along Laudna’s arm. Somewhere, a soft Imogen was pulled from her throat. She reluctantly pulled herself back with another press to the corner of Imogen’s mouth and pulled the fabric onto her lap. Imogen’s eyes followed her as she folded the clothes, leant down to place them at the side of the bed and rose back up slowly, her own eyes glittering in the low light. Bruises bloomed across her cheek at the affectionate grin Imogen shot at her, ducking her head as she climbed back onto the sheets, onto the red-sketched sorcerer.
A hand on her chest stopped her from moving any further. Her head whipped up, worry darkening her eyes, but was met by the same expression decorating Imogen’s features- with an added question in her eyes.
“May I?” she asked, tugging on the hem of Laudna’s nightclothes. Affection bloomed in her sallow cheeks as she nodded and allowed Imogen to pull the linen over her head, fold it and place it gently on top of her own clothes. Her hands reached for Laudna’s once more, letting them tangle lazily as the pale woman leaned forward for another light kiss.
Bone spurs trailed down the burning body beneath her, following rivulets engraved on the flesh. Digging at certain points, brushing at others, needing to press herself deeper into the ravines, all the while burying herself further and further into her home on Imogen’s lips. She delighted in the mounting gasps coaxed from her gullet, tasting them as they passed into her own mouth. Laudna was enraptured. Imogen wanted her to see. She wanted to see.
Ripping herself from Imogen's lips again was excruciating, but the sight that welcomed her soothed the ache- Imogen, motionless besides the heaving of her chest. Eyes glazed, iris’ almost pooling down the side of her skin. Her lips dotted and bruised and slick with Laudna. Her flesh marbled with sweat and canyons of scarlet and violet. The occasional twitch to her hands as she just stared.
Overcome, the warlock sank bonelessly back to the sorcerer’s neck, revelling in the burning warmth she found there. Spying a dip behind Imogen’s jaw, she pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the spot and melted at the sound that escaped Imogen, felt more than heard. The spark flared back up inside her, and Laudna found herself searching for those jaded scars on her neck with her tongue and dragging herself from one landmark to the next, littering kisses and the occasional nip, all to hear more of the saccharine noises spilling from the sorcerer’s mouth. A heavy hand fell to the back of her neck, clutching at the black strands and tugging with each new spot. With a gasp, Laudna’s jaws latched onto a new target, following the pathway of scarlet up her arm and savouring each crack- in her flesh, in her voice.
Laudna found her other arm trailing Imogen in a haze: a staticky feeling running under her skin leaving her breathless with bliss. She let her hand grow heavy, feeling it tugged like a magnet towards the raised flesh and revelled in the twitches and sounds left in her wake. Pressing further, a symphony clawed its way from Imogen’s exposed throat. Her hips bucked with another rake. The whine spilling from her lips made cold lips pull into a smirk around pointed canines as Laudna nipped new constellations up and across to her collarbone. Finding the sorcerer somewhat distracted, she drifted her hand down and down until her cold palm rested on top of Imogen’s naval, and, with a cheeky glance up towards Imogen, found the scars that lay there and pulled, dragging her talons through the purple stained grooves.
She felt the hair on the back of her neck rise in anticipation as she closed in on her prize, tongue snaking out to meet the unscathed flesh caught between branching purple. Once again Laudna dragged sharpened fingers up from Imogen’s navel, softer this time, to cup her other breast, basking in the honeyed moans dripping from Imogen’s swollen lips. Above her, Imogen drew in another shaky breath and there- Laudna sprang, taking the flushed nipple into her mouth.
The feeling of light-headedness grew with her ministrations, a buzzing that ricocheted through her bones. Her canine brushed against the stiff nipple and a burst shot through her.
White, searing heat shocked through her body. A flash of black shadow and shadowed bark leapt off her. An arcing bolt burrowed through her guts, lodged itself in a writhing heap at the base of her stomach, curling between her legs. Laudna choked on a breath.
Imogen flinched hard to the back of the bed, her face splitting in terror.
“Laud- hun- I’m so sorry I-” She reached her arm towards Laudna, and then seemed to realise what she was doing and yanked her hand back as if burned. “Please, hun, what can I do? That was so much- I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,”. Her voice trails off, broken vowels fighting through the wave of panicked breaths and her hands recoiling to shield her face.
Laudna considers. She wants to reach out, comfort Imogen, but the way Imogen’s face had crumpled warned against it. The pit in her stomach ached with the burst of electricity and was arcing its way towards her centre. Blackened wisps still clung to her talons. Shadows curled around her heaving chest.
Cocking her head, she lets the reins slacken. Discordant crackling of bone slice through Imogen’s rising breaths as Laudna stretches and stretches and stretches. First in the tips of her long claws, cracked and gnarled from the quick growth, then clawing up her arm in whorls. Her pupils, already blooming with mounting desire, dilated and overflowed with ichor and spilled sluggishly down hardening cheeks as they met Imogen’s. Laudna held her gaze as she felt the warped tissue solidify as bark, still dripping with ooze, and turned her hand out slowly. Beckoning Imogen forward. The sorcerer cast one last hesitant glance to her hand (Not you, it’s not you) and placed it tenderly in her elongated fingers. Studying the younger woman’s expression, she gently tugged her hand forward and placed her palm on the sallow skin directly above her putrefying heart. She knocked her forehead against Imogen’s.
“Again. Do it again.” She pleaded, voice grating in her throat. Spine popping, a gasp escaped her: “Darling.” Cool air rushed between them as Imogen sucked in a breath, braced herself and pushed.
Laudna felt as time had melted around her. A burning white lanced around Imogen’s irises, illuminating dazzling hues, before burrowing into the soft skin beneath her cheeks, ripping their way down her curled neck, branching across her sternum, twisting along the canyons and ravines of her sun-scarred arms, into deft fingers and leaping into Laudna’s papery flesh. The burn spiralled out from the site and left fissures in their wake, winding around her limbs and climbing up her neck- a near mirror of the woman in front of her. An ichorous sap trickled onto the scarred hand. In the moment of quiet following, the warlock leaned forward to press a soft kiss to the crown to Imogen’s head, revelling in the ozone that spilled onto her tongue.
“I don’t think I’d be totally against you pulling something like that again, darling.”
A slight draw back. “Laud, I can’t, I’m going to hurt you again. Please, I can’t get you hurt again.”
“Imogen, look at me.” She murmured. It took a moment for Imogen to look up, guilt glistening in her eyes. She offered a smile and brought up an oozing palm to cup the sorcerer’s cheek. “Let go, darling. I can survive you.”
Imogen’s breath hitched as her hand came up to cover Laudna’s, her other arm reaching out to wrap around the gaunt figure in front of her, wanting to drag her as close as possible. Those lightning laced eyes flicked between the warlock’s for a moment longer, then surged up to capture her lips, the gift of electricity coursing through Laudna at the contact. Grinning around the kiss, Laudna felt herself shift further with the sorcerer’s influence. Her nails twisted, maw widening with a crackle, her bulging spine joining in the chorus. Imogen gasped, a beautiful sound, eyes dancing in wonder as they took in the splitting grin and the cloying darkness surrounding the taller woman.
“You are everything to me.” Breathed the warlock, low in her mangled throat. She pressed feather-light into the crook of Imogen’s neck, met with stuttered breath, and after a heavy beat tentatively scraped canines along the lilac-lit flesh. A strangled noise escaped from the woman beneath her and emboldened, she pressed again, harder. And again.
The constellation of softly pulsing scars guided Laudna down. Across valleys and gorges, tracing canines and ichor-slick claws, the heady taste of the sorcerer christening her tongue. The spirals lead her up the swell of a soft boob, her claw returning to its place on it’s opposite and she eyed the pebbled nipple above her. Mouth watering, she took it in her mouth, swirling it around with her tongue. She released it with a muted pop, littering the surrounding flesh with bruising, hungry kisses before moving to capture the other breast. At an insistent whine, the warlock chuckled and continued moving down Imogen's sweat-soaked stomach- leaving a few soft nips and a trail of frosted ichor in her wake- and settling with a low groan beside damp curls. Laudna's mouth watered at the sight.
Using the pads of her fingers, Laudna traced soft patterns into the flesh of her scarred thigh, entranced by the sight before her. Ripples travelled up Imogen’s body at the sensation, and Laudna watched in glee. An awed breath left her throat and the sorcerer convulsed at the iced cloud, a low moan clawing its way from her throat, echoed softly by the culprit between her thighs. With a smirk, she burrowed herself into the gap and got to work.
Nibbling at ridges of flesh, running her tongue along rivulets of sweat trailing down sweet thighs, spurred on by sighs and gasps from above. Claws inched their way up to once again etch weaves and patterns into the soft skin of the sorcerer’s navel and Laudna followed, pressing soft bites into the flesh at ichor-smeared hipbones.
Enraptured as she was, she was drawn from her task by the feeling of a hand knotted into the oily strands of her hair. An insistent pull, followed by a gasped ’Laudna’, beckoned her back towards her sorcerer’s lips: A siren song. Melting into her kiss, she vowed she would give Imogen anything. Especially this. She pored every ounce of affection, of warmth, of love into Imogen’s hungry mouth, and more. Despite the heat and static swirling around them, in this moment curled around the other woman, Laudna felt only adoration cocooning them. She could spent centuries buried in this limbo.
Her girl, however, was not known for her patience. Soon, she could barely hold back open-mouthed pants, abandoning her mission to explore the warlock’s mouth in her frantic writhing. Her hips jerked as if compelled by her own static. Laudna drew back and watched on in amusement. She leant forward, burying her face in the crevice of Imogen’s neck- dragging her swollen fangs along the marred skin there in an attempt to hide her giddy smile- and pressed her own thigh firmly against the sorcerer’s centre. Imogen keened.
Soon the sorcerer had settled into a rhythm- frantic, but unrelenting, nonetheless. Laudna was content to let Imogen grind, comfortable in her nestled spot beneath her chin, lining her jawline with sharp bites. Her claws mindlessly traced up and down the other woman’s body as she writhed against the swollen bark of her thigh. Another venture, further down, earned her a heaved exhale spilled like honey from blushed lips. Again and again, Laudna teased, revelling in the melody above her. Talons drifter further down, lazily, though the witch’s eyes held rapt attention to every twitch of Imogen’s face, waiting for- there. The pad of a greyed finger gently brushed the sorcerer’s clit and her face erupted in bliss, eyes snapping shut before pinning Laudna with an intense focus. Laudna shot her best innocent expression, chased by a muffled giggle at the half-hearted eyeroll shot back at her. A moment passed and she drew back, wanting to see her girl.
She was a dream. Her chest heaved, shadows glistening off sweat-slicked skin. Hips twisting and bucking and begging for release. Purple hair lay like a halo around her with curls forming in the damp air. Her eyes ran oceans deep and bore into her own with deep, bellied hunger. Laudna could only rip her eyes away to focus on the smeared drops of ichor adorning Imogen’s skin, and a deep desire to stain her in the essence.
An idea slammed into her cranium. She leaned forward to brush her lips to the shell of Imogen’s ear with a soft ’Let me help, dear.’, echoed by a sudden crescendo of creaking and splitting- her ribcage cleaving itself apart, dozens of twining branches snaking their way down to surround the sorcerer’s torso. At the insistence of a near-delirious nod, the branches curled under her, cushioning her, and Laudna’s talons strayed to clasp Imogen’s hips and tugging her down onto her thigh. A trickle of ichor seeped from the gaping hole, painting the witch below.
With each new splash, Imogen’s hips rolled faster and faster, frantically grinding herself on the whorled bark. In her haze, she could barely focus on anything but the nest of Laudna around her and she curled herself deeper into the twisting boughs, desperate to cling to any part of her love that she could. She gave one last burst of strength to latch herself onto the warlock’s neck, peppering open mouth kisses as she convulsed. With a low shout, she slumped, boneless, into the tangle of sheets and branches below.
Laudna crawled up the still shuddering sorcerer, taking in her blissed expression. She dotted kisses around the flushed skin of her face, humming softly until lavender eyes blinked open and found hers. She pressed one last fleeting kiss to the bridge of Imogen’s nose, rested her head against her brow.
“Was that ok?” murmured the warlock. The soft snort and crinkling around Imogen’s eyes coaxed her into a smile, but the sorcerer must’ve seen the lingering concern on her face as she softened and brought a hand to cool, rough cheek.
“Laud. Laud. You… that was amazing. Gods, hun,” Laudna smiled sheepishly at that, reaching up to cradle Imogen’s skull in her oversized talons and knocking against something in the process. It was an effort to tear her eyes away from Imogen’s blushed form, but she dragged her gaze upwards to catch the glint of metal.
“Imogen, your circlet?”
“Mhmm?” Distracted, Imogen had closed her eyes once more.
“Imogen, it’s come loose.” Laudna drew back slightly, unsure. “Do you still want it on?”
The sorcerer’s shifted under her, violet gaze finding hers. For a moment they were locked there, Imogen lost in momentary thought, before she sighed. “Yeah. I think at some point I’ll take it off- it’s not that I don’t want to hear you. I just… I don’t want to rely on reading your thoughts for everything. They’re yours. I need to know what you want. But from you.”
“…I want,” Laudna stole another lingering glance at her girl, still vibrant and bursting and smudged with pools of ichor, matching the streaked white on her bone-barked thigh. Already encased in her makeshift ribcage and burrowing herself deeper. An immediate response clawed in her throat. She had an urge to swallow it down, supress, but one crackling look from Imogen tore it loose from its confines. Softly: “To consume you.”
A low moan rumbled from Imogen’s chest. She dragged the warlock in for a frantic kiss, all sharp edges and appetite as her body trembled beneath Laudna. The warlock gave a small nip on the corner of her lip, dragging herself slowly down as Imogen broke into another open-mouthed whine. The coiled ribcage dribbled away in a breath of shadow. She dragged the tips of her teeth down the grooves lining Imogen’s skin: felt a hand tangle in her hair, loosely, just cradling her skull.
With the simple pressure guiding her, the warlock eventually reached her new haven. A deep, not unintentional sigh escaped her lips and she barely noticed the sudden jolt of hips in her staring. Imogen was soaked, glistening like new daybreak and Laudna was starving. Laudna was spellbound. A soft ’Oh, Imogen’ spilt from her lips and her a spindled finger reached out to draw some of that slickness from the witch’s folds, wrenching a low moan from both of them. In a haze the warlock brought her finger to her gaping jaw, eyes snapping up to Imogen’s, and wrapped her lips around it. The look in Imogen’s eye could only be described as ravenous. Earthy tangs erupted across her tongue, and she felt her cheeks split in a grin as she moved to grip the sorcerer’s hips. She locked her eyes back on the vision in front of her and swiped her tongue across the same path her finger had just moments before, eliciting a violent shudder and whine from above. She dove again. And again. And again.
Laudna was in bliss. Surrounded by the heady taste of Imogen, the swirling harmony of her sounds, buried in the quaking mountains of Her. She could feel each moan, each shaking breath course through the flesh around her in a beautiful concerto. She dodged another jerk, dug her talons into the soft flesh of Imogen’s hips in warning. Maybe she would be buried soon. She crawled back up, gracing the noise of protest she received with a low chuckle. Sitting atop her girl, she sighed heavily, a torrent of iced breath spilling down her chest onto the body below, rolling over itself until it crashed over Imogen’s chin. Her irises were barely visible as they climbed up Laudna’s form, percussive cracking accompanying a swelling in the bark shrouded witch. A tide of ooze poured, leaking from between brittle claws and hollows of bark and dripping jaws. They opened wider, a horde of pointed teeth spilling out- in their place, needle-like rows of canines protruded from black gums. The ichor that surrounds the pits of her eyes does nothing to offset the blazing love swirling within. Laudna leant forward, gnarled hands resting on Imogen’s hips, highlighted beautifully by the soft momentary glowing in her claws. Her silhouette cackling with magic. Watching the cold wave of her Uncanny Presence settle over the sorcerer.
“No moving, now darling. Wouldn’t want to break anything, would we?” A small whimper escapes her girl and she grinned.
She leant on one hand, bringing the tip of a shadowed claw to trace the shell of Imogen’s ear. “Oh, do you like that?” Frantic nodding tore Laudna’s smile apart further. Quieter, barely above a whisper: “Is this ok?”
A rustle dragged the warlock’s sight to the woman next to her. Imogen had turned to face her, running her gaze down and up her shambling, inky visage lit by the soft violet glow of her scars. Their eyes met again and Laudna had to suck in a breath to cushion the thunderclap love radiating from Imogen’s lovely gaze. Beneath the leafed and wooden curtain adorning her face snuck two purple and black stained hands, cradling her head and drawing her in for a sweet, simple kiss. A knock of foreheads and a press to the corner of her mouth delivered her message. ”Please.”
Laudna grinned, catching Imogen's mouth in a kiss as she retreated back down towards her aching core. She made sure to scratch her talons into the flushed, ink dappled skin, delighting in the symphony enticed from her girl. Her fingers danced as they spattered and dragged the ichor, pressing it into the divots of Imogen's scars. She glanced at the pools of ooze freckling her skin and spilling like a sluggish waterfall with fascination. Distracted, she reached out to smear another trail.
“I wonder if this stains?” she whispered dreamily. Imogen sighed lowly above her, a melody sounded suspiciously like a 'please'. A soft laugh left the warlock's lips as she daubed a new path with a light claw and descended into the warm nook in Imogen’s thighs.
A starved look crossed Laudna's eyes as she stared at the wonder before her. She tilted forward, tongue snaking out in a tentative taste before diving back in with a vigour harmonising with the approving moans above. Imogen was divine: holy water for a parched disciple, her cracking voice a swelling choir.
Over and over Laudna buried herself between dripping folds. She felt frenzied- an urge to taste and savour every inch of the soaked flesh in front of her spilling throughout her body like an itch. To stay buried here forever, a tomb carved from Imogen’s thighs. Over and over she curled deeper, swirling her tongue to the melody of whines from her girl.
Her girl, whose hands had been fidgeting between being clenched in blackened sheets and curled around mussed, shadowy locks. A crease had formed on Imogen’s forehead, small but brimming with pleasure. Laudna felt a fiery heat fill her chest- she wanted to climb up and kiss the tension away, she wanted to adore the sorcerer so they never left, a permanent etching of pleasure on her skin. Laudna moaned at the sensation, needing to fill Imogen with the same desire roiling through her. With one last drawn-out lap to the edge of her folds, the warlock leant her head back on a pillowed thigh. Distantly, she heard a sound of protest, questioning. She considered her talons for a second, taking two in her jaws and ripping them from their beds with a wet tearing. Looking up, she met Imogen’s eye, wide and swirling with lust, her jaw slack. Slowly pushing her fingers through the cocktail of her own ichor and the sorcerer’s dripping wetness before slowly, torturously making her way to her slick entrance, all the while studying her girl’s face. Imogen took a shuddering breath then nodded her head, so wildly Laudna briefly worried for her neck’s stability. She dropped a small kiss to the inside of the sorcerer’s thigh in thanks, and pressed a finger in, biting her lip to stifle her laughter as Imogen’s hips bucked beneath her, despite the Uncanny Presence.
It didn’t take long until Imogen was writhing for another finger. Laudna curled inside her, groaning at the tight press of heat against the ice-cold of her fingers. The waves of whimpers and noises spilling from Imogen’s throat at the sensation swirled in the leafless boughs above her head and split her jaw open in a bright smile. She had never seen Imogen so untethered, so unrestrained in her joy. Each new push seemed to send her spiralling higher and higher, gasps and incoherent praises falling faster and heavier from her lips. The sorcerer had apparently shaken off the Uncanny Presence as she twisted and curled around Laudna, seeking more and more from her.
Until, with a wicked grin on her face, Laudna slipped her fingers from Imogen. She ignored the gasped whine, ignored the violet-scored hand that gripped her own retreating one. She lifted her head slightly to grin wildly at the sorcerer above. Opening her dripping maw, Laudna watched as Imogen’s breath stuttered, wide eyes transfixed on the swelling tongue twisting out. Growing and coiling, it dripped pitch-black onto the sheets, just missing Imogen’s burning centre.
“Please. Please Laud,”
Laudna dove in.
With a renewed vigour, she tackled the burning core one again. Pumping her stretched tongue in and out with an excitement she barely knew, spurred on by the heady ozone tang leaking in the air around her. Her hands, urged by the need to move and touch, painted wet lines of ichor and Imogen anywhere they could reach. In the tangle, Laudna’s hand found Imogen’s, already unravelling itself from the sheets to hold onto her. Laudna could have wept for that one moment.
The sorcerer rocked herself deeper and deeper onto the warlock, pace stuttering along with her voice. From her sanctuary under Imogen, Laudna watched the sparks arc around the witch- small at first, then arcing, until they forked from scar to scar. With one final thrust from Imogen, the light collided, racing down in a blinding radiance towards Laudna. Her mouth split open in a giddy smile as it hit, before her body tensed with the immense power of the wave. In the fog, she felt her tongue seize and curl, deeper and deeper into a still thrashing Imogen. A blissful moment and a sweet taste on her tongue sent her eyelids drifting down.
Lost in the haze of white, Laudna was left floating- a calming weight draped around her but a white flash seared on her cerebrum. Slowly, her vision returned and she blinked up into a soft smile, curling around accented words not quite registering in her ears. She let out a quiet sigh, a giggle freed as her sorcerer dropped a kiss to the corner of her mouth. A few moments passed before Imogen tugged gently, her arms wrapped around Laudna’s waist, urging her to cuddle further up.
“There you are,” she murmured. She pressed another kiss to the bridge of the warlock’ nose, noting the withered and withering branches slowly melting away. “Hun, you were amazing.”
The awe in her voice left a blaze across Laudna’s cheeks, and she ducked her head with a smile. For a few moments, they laid curled up breathing in tandem, Imogen dotting kisses along the bruising blush of the warlock’s cheek.
A scarred hand drifted from it’s perch at Laudna’s waist, brushing against her thigh in question. She looked up at the sorcerer, mirth dancing in her eyes despite her fatigue.
“Is this ok?” whispered into the shell of her ear. “Can I…?”
Leaning up with a contented hum, the warlock pressed a kiss under Imogen’s jaw. A breathed ’Yes’ fell from her lips as she nestled further into her sorcerer. A littering of kisses fell across her brow as Imogen’s hand crept lower, a finger sliding in the ichor that had gathered between her legs. They gasped in unison at the sensation, exhaling in one breath as Imogen began to move slowly, pressing soft patterns to the pliable flesh of the warlock’s core. As her hand danced, she began peppering kisses once more around Laudna’s content features. A twisting path across her brow, dotting around her temple, dipping down to her cheeks over her eyes pinched tight with pleasure, coasting besides her ear. Words dripped from her lips like honey as she moved, a torrent of praises whispered only for Laudna.
“Beautiful.”
“You sound… so wonderful.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You keep me here.”
“You’re so pretty, yknow that?”
“You’re my tether, my anchor.”
“You’ve been everything to me.”
“You saved me.”
“You’re my favourite.”
With her words, Imogen’s pace had slowly built, her scarred fingertips curling tighter and tighter circles around her clit. Brushing against it every so often, cradling Laudna’s softly buckling hips, she matched each with a press of lips anywhere she could reach. Laudna felt them fall, like brands on her flesh, revelled in the embers they left. With each new whisper, the warlock drifted deeper and deeper into her girl’s eyes, overflowing with simple love and longing, heavy enough to taste in the air around them.
Soon, her eyes had drifted closed by their own accord, unable to stop herself from squeezing them tight in bliss, no matter how strong the desire to fall back into her girl’s gaze was. Contented hums had broken into mounting whines pressed into the sorcerer’s chest. A lingering kiss just above her eye and a shifting around her coaxed her eyes open, her girl mapping out her face with a soft look.
“You always take care of me, yknow I love you for that, right? But you don’t always have to. Not for me to love you. Let me take care of you, hun.”
A bead of ink teetered at the edge of the warlock’s eye at her last words. She nodded, slowly, gracelessly, an awed smile pulling at the edges of her mouth. Imogen cupped her cheek and tugged her up gently, so they were eye to eye, forehead to forehead, wiping away the tear with a matching smile of her own. She leaned forward to plant a sweet kiss on the warlock’s lips, drawing back only to ask: “You ready?”
Laudna nodded harder, before nestling back into Imogen’s neck with a drawn-out sigh. The hand by her core redoubled its efforts, twisting and curling with purpose as the room crackled with energy. The warlock caught Imogen’s eyes just as they flashed with that beautiful flickering light, watching as it danced down her body. She gulped in a breath as the burning static left the fingers pressing into her folds, her body arching in Imogen’s loose grip and her mouth agape in silent gasp. Delicious white filled her vision as she felt herself shatter around her sorcerer and felt her consciousness drift breathlessly once more, tethered by the soft ministrations as Imogen held her through.
Slowly, she returned, guided like a lighthouse to shore. A relaxed arm wrapped around her, a warm pressure resting on her forehead. Gentle fingers carded through her hair and an accented hum spun a melody around her. Catching her eye, a yawn threatening her features, Laudna ducked in for a slow kiss. Smiling when she felt lips move against her own.
“You’re home, love. I’m here for you.”
Soft quiet spilled over the room, only gentle breaths stirring the air. A bone-deep content that neither of them had felt for a number of days settled over them, comfortable enough to drift in the space between waking and sleep. Then,
“I called you my sister from another mister” A giggle.
“-What??? ”