Blue and Green

Log Info

• Title: Blue and Green
• Emitter: Aryia
• Characters: Aryia, Venom
• Place: Fernwood Pub
• Time: September 13th, 2021
• Summary: In a rented room in the Fernwood Pub, Aryia is busy practicing picking up a new trade. A knock comes from the door, it opening to reveal none other than Venom, her seeking to talk. They start with Venom answering a question left hanging from some days ago. Yet soon moves on to something more serious, brought up by Aryia. Through tenebrous and tumultuous thoughts and confidence, a singular confession is made. And with a few seemingly simple words, some gestures, and gentle assurances, immense catharsis follows.

Fernwood Pub, Aryia's rented room, dusk.

Above the business at the Fernwood was that of the rooms for those that wished to lay their heads from weary travels, a long day of work, or to sleep off a drunken stupor. One of these abodes was pitch black, seemingly empty were any to peek under the door. Though, a trained ear could hear shuffling of feet, the shifting of paper, or the faint snip of cloth being torn.

Aryia sits on her bed in her umbral room, staring at a piece of fabric in hand with a perplexed expression about her. A book nearby was open, detailing some steps on how to sew an article of clothing, but it held some words that were foreign to her. The room itself was... not a mess, per se, but busy. The lone table was filled with a sewing kit and a few bolts of cloth, the bottom of the wardrobe lined with scrap cloth, and the desk was ever present and full of paper.

She sighs.

In time, as sometimes happens over the course of it, there comes a sort of odd tapping at the door; repeated sequences of rapid taps against the doorsill, denoting a close array of tiny impact points with aslight rubbing against the wood.

Beyond, Venom's 'clerical' silhouette of concealing clothing stands outside, scanning tither and yon awaiting a response from the inside.

Aryia blinks, sitting upright. Did.. she order food? She couldn't remember. With a soft noise, she stand from her bed and places the half done attire down. The elf pads over to the door, the lock flicking as she pulls the door open.

Before Venom was Aryia, as normal, yet she looked completely candid. Barefoot, no metal plates on her hands, no extra attire. Just a long sleeved shirt, pants, and a surprised look.

Shimmering eyes blink, a hand slowly raising in greeting.

Venom is edible to some extent, depending on one's dietary concerns.

Her head cants at Aryia's attire, given the hour, and the greeting gesture is mirrored by the shrouded woman.

She gives a look down either end of the hallway, then signs a quick, "If you're getting ready for bed..." she starts, her hands freezing for a moment in the air before her, then, "Can I come in?" <hndspeech>

Aryia blinks. Then blinks again. Then finally remembers to breath. "No no no, I'm not I'm just... yes, yes come in," she gestures briskly, padding back into the room, disappearing into the inky black once more. There's a spark, and a lantern hanging from the wall is lit, dispelling the artificial night. The elf scrambles around, moving different pieces of half made cloth away and piling it more onto the table, flipping something over in the pile, as well as cleaning off the desk chair and turning it around for Venom. "Here you go. Sorry it's a bit of a mess right now." <Handspeech>

Venom steps smoothly inside as Aryia grants her leave and she gives the Mul a little bow on the way past the threshold.

The quick flurry of organization she, at several moments moves hesitantly to either assist, or at least not impede Aryia's work, but the elf's brisk pace leaves her in second place on all counts. After the flurry is moved to the bed, her hands rise to begin the complexities of remove her shrouds. Ruffle and buckle, veil and mask are undone, withdrawing from the Acanian with a relieved sigh, and the subtle hint of sweat may have something to do with it, as she says, "Thank you. How are you tonight, Aryia?" in a gentle tone before easing into the seat.

Once the mess was taken care of, she steps behind Venom to shut the door and flick the lock closed. She slips over to sit on the bed, her craning her up to look at Venom.

Her visage softens, a faint sigh leaving her.

She smiles some, her reaching over for a piece of fabric that looks like it should have been a handkerchief, but was torn along one side. She offers it to Venom, for her face. "-'m -k-y," she answers with a soft hiss and click, before her hands continue her answer, "Trying to figure out this tailoring business. I'm... having some progress. Some. And you? How are you?" <Handspeech>

Venom sets her adornments in her lap before accepting the handkerchief, "Thank you." She dabs at her face with a sigh.

Clearly, she spends a lot of time warm.

Her eyes take in the damaged cloth, a thumb tracing along the tear, then they rise to her friend's face, "I'm fine. I... just thought we should... talk. Where we can..."

The unveiled Acanian swallows and looks down to the cloth in her hands, "It's a... good start..."

Aryia scoots back to sit cross legged on the bed, back against the wall as a makeshift seat. She smiles a bit more, perking up at the notion of speaking more like they did some nights ago. But it evens out at Venom's hesitancy.

She leans forward, one hand propping her head up while the other one gestures. "Talk? I'm always open to talk with you." She tilts her head to the side."Is... something troubling you?" <Handspeech>

"Blue." comes, at first, a single word from the human, still absently stroking the cloth.

She draws her lips into a quick, nostalgic smile and her eyes lid, "I.... think I like... the blue of the sky midday, but far from the sun.. that... I like that..." Swallow, "It's... freedom from Him.... I like that blue..."

Aryia, in a now becoming common occurance, blinks again. And the soft smile breaks into a wide one. "Blue!" she motions once with a wave of a hand off to the side. "That's a good color. I think I have something like that in the stack over there..." she gestures off to the pile. "I like green. Like a dark green. And silver."

Her exuberance abates slightly, eyes settling on her friend. She scoots forward to the edge of the bed, a hand reaching out to rest on Venom's knee in reassurance. "That's a good color, with really good reasons behind it. Thank you for answering that." <Handspeech>

Venom nods, smiling a little awkwardly with some rose tinting across her cheeks and she swallows.

Ahem.

"Those.. are good colors, too." she notes, as her eyes turn reflexively toward the pile she indicates, then back to her friend's face.

A hand comes up as the Mul'niessa had previously requested, to cup against her cheek, "You're welcome. Thank you for sharing." she returns, smile a little more easy, casual.

Aryia blinks, the smiling visage cresting demure for naught a beat. Though, the hand against her scarred cheek not only her face, but her breath as well. The elf quietly sighs, closing her eyes and relaxing into the touch. She reaches up, putting her rough hand over the other. "Anytime..." her free hand trails off. Her eyes crack open, settling on Venom's visage. Damn it...

Another breath, this one a sliver shaky, stilling any nerves that dare crept up now. "Is... there another reason why you came up here to see me? I take it wasn't just about colors." Did her heart always feel so loud in her ears? <Handspeech>

"It's..." Venom/essa starts, "Part of it."

She keeps her hand there for a time, content in Aryia's clasp and looks into her eyes, "We haven't had a lot of time, alone. I know you don't.... like it when I don't answer right away. Not around others." she says quietly, then glances sidelong off to the floor.

Realization dawns across Aryia's face, her reaching forward to also cup Venom's cheek and gently nudges her to return the gaze. She peels her hand off of the one on her and gestures slowly, "I hadn't... meant to pressure you. I sometimes forget small things like that you're... very careful about. Forgive me, V. I'm sorry for making you worry about that." Her shimmery eyes smile. "Well... we're alone, now." <Handspech>

"It's ok." V returns, smiling a little under the touch, yielding to the guidance to look back to Aryia, leaving her hand, for the moment, where it is.

"I know this is going to be complicated, just... I wanted you to know that not answering in the moment, isn't the same as never going to answer."

Aryia tilts her head to the side, brows pinching together, but she gives a slow nod. "I understand," a single finger flicks beside her head. Though, she had to pull her hand away, the smallest, faintest twinge of anxiety now making her pick at her fingers. "... let's... try and uncomplicate it. What... is it?" <Handspeech>

Venom shakes her head a little at first, "I mean... this. Talking." she says softly, "I have to act a certain way outside... so I might not answer you right away with them, it just.. means I'll answer later." she says for clarity's sake.

Aryia makes a very faint 'ah' sound. "It's okay. I don't mind. I'll just be sure to remember if you don't answer something, to wait until later." She smiles some, nerves washing away.

There's a silence. And a faint voice in her head with crossed arms tells her something in a memory. The nerves come rushing back. She picks at her fingers again. She swallows.

The shadow elf closes her eyes and nuzzles the hand on her cheek softly, getting some minor nature out of it before giving a deep sigh. "V..."

One step. Her shimmery eyes avert down to her lap. One hand fidgets with the hem of her pants while the other motions, "I... It is I that needs to talk to you about something." <Handspeech>

Venom draws her hands to herself as they're released, removing her gloves to join the rest in her lap.

Her brows furrow at the sound Aryia makes, her lips dropping only just apart enough for a hint of teeth.

Her hand, calloused, but bare now, gently smooths the Mul'niessa's hair back before curling once more against a graceful cheek, her eyes full of questions, but intent upon the gestures sure to follow.

Aryia's eyes flutter closed at the touch, somehow making her nerves smoothed out, but always more frayed. Head pushing into the hand. Her jaw flexes against Venom's fingers, a shuddering breath getting sucked in. Come on.

Aryia gulps, her wringing her hands together. Just say it. She points to herself, "I..." Cold feet, but she stops herself from fleeing the topic. The 'what if's started to pour in. A deluge of them, flooding her mind. Why was this so hard?

She starts to tremble. It difficult to parse the next few attempts to communicate. "I-I-I..."

The elf buries her face into her hands, shakily sighing. "- -s th-s s- h-rd..?" she hisses softly to herself. <Handspeech>

Venom lets out a slow breath, "It's alright, Aryia." she croons softly, then, thinking back to things she's observed in the past, lifts from the seat, leaving her accessories to their fate on the floor and settles onto the bed beside her. Her arm encircles the Mul'niessa, and she considers the magic pressure point Vaera suggested, but this seems perhaps like not the moment for it, instead, "It's alright." she repeats.

Aryia bounces slightly as a weight joins her on the bed, face lifting only slightly as she's soon brought into a side hug. Against the human, it's obvious her frame is trembling. The smaller woman curls up some in the hold, squeezing her eyes shut as she does her best to calm.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Were it the gentle care, or outside pressure (perhaps a combination of them both), no one knows, but it gave the socially cripple elf enough leverage to unwind herself. She turns towards her friend in the hold, shimmering, trembling eyes settling on dark ones.

The elf had to do it now. Else she was going to delve further into being a nervous wreck, and the line was fast approaching for no return. Bottom lip trembling, one hand grips onto the other wrist, keeping it stable as she deliberately does three simple gestures: she points to herself, pulls the hand away from her chest with thumb and middle finger touching, and then points to Venom.

"I like you."

...

Oh no. Would her veiled friend even know what that meant? The thought only occured to her before it was too late. Her breath too bated to even tremor from the thought.<Handspeech>

The human's arms, larger, though a mite softer, meet around the Mul'niessa as she twists, an obsidian gaze of open concern meeting the glimmering eyes.

Almost as rote, V's brows knit slightly and her lips purse before she answers, "I like you, too."

Honestly.

Guilelessly.

Perhaps cluelessly.

Oh no. No no no no.

Aryia's nerves are only kept in check by the gentleness surrounding her now. There is a brief moment of jubilation that wells within, but quickly is overriden. She leans forward, planting her forehead against Venom's shoulder. She shakes her head. Another moment, as if trying keep it forever, is taken before slowly pulling away to make some space to speak. Hands gesturing shakily, trying to clarify as best as she could with the words she didn't have and the crumbling foundations of her already faulty confidence. "Yes, I-I feel that as well. But I mean... I-I am fond of you. Ever since you saved me at the d-docks... I..." she trails off, trembling in her seat. <Handspeech>

Venom's arms tighten some as Aryia tucks into her shoulder and for a moment forgetting herself, rests her forehead against the elfmaid's hair.

It takes a few moments for her to realize she should draw back, and she does in time to catch the gestures.

While it's debatable how much the young woman fully grasps the finer mysteries of such things, she rests her head against her once more and gently intones, "No one... is closer..."

There is a flurry of emotions whirling within the mute elf's heart. Confusion, joy, trepidation, worry. All of which blends together as the words reach her clasped ears. A twitch. The typhoon swirls upwards, misting her eyes over and slowly wetting her scarred cheeks. She turns her head slowly, pressing her forehead against the other's.

Wide, shaking, leaking shimmery eyes take up all of the other's vision. Both hands reach up to cup the Acanian's face. The softest, faintest of voices reach Venom's ears. Filled with uncertainty, along with a twinge of hope on the wind. "P-Please... s-stop me if... if I'm making a mistake..."

Venom's head nuzzles tenatively, lightly as their foreheads touch. Dark eyes consider the tears with concern and... sympathy.

The other night... when she was... in her dark place.

Aryia was there for her.

With her.

She seems vaguely puzzled as she is cupped to both sides of her head for a moment, before her hand lifts to gently stroke back around Aryia's ear.

There are.. parallels, but... is it still...?

"Let's... find out."

Aryia wasn't sure. She wasn't sure. Even as she moves her head to accommodate the touch, silver clasps chilly against the skin of the human's hand. The gentle touch makes her tremors settle. Her nerves knit together. And her shaking eyes settle.

The parallels were there, they were. But maybe, just maybe, in the decades of hardship. Perhaps the mute woman could have a tiny sliver of light in all the dark. She hasn't bared her heart like this before. Something she guards carefully as the only thing she's every truly had was herself. So she reaches down. Into the dark, up to the shoulder, cradles the beating beast, and pulls it out into the light of day.

Her breath hitches as she closes her eyes, gently smooths the sides of Venom's cheeks with the pads of her thumbs, and carefully pulls her down.

She leans forward.

And presses her scarred lips against the other's.

Scarred lips are met by the softer others, as Venom allows herself to be drawn down into Aryia's affections.

If that is even the proper phrasing.

She draws against the smaller woman with an arm slipping about her waist, while the other hand drifts back, behind the ear for the special spot Vaera mentioned.

One that's supposed to help Mul'niessa relax.

Her eyes close.

Two souls in silence...

In Darkness...

In warmth...

In union....

A thousand thoughts of self-preservation scream in Aryia's head as she holds the tender moment. To fix the mistake, to apologize, to hide, to over explain, to run away. But just one... fleeting moment. Were everything worrying her just wasn't there. Was all she wanted.

And the moment became two moments. Then three moments.

The elf lets slipped a choked sob, her parting from the other, yet lingering ever close. Her hands brush through the silky black hair, frame tensing a beat from the touch, but soon slackens as a soul deep sigh leaves her.

"V... V-n-m..." Aryia's voice cracks, tears flowing freely. Tears not of anguish or fear. But of joy.

Five moments. Six moments. They didn't stop.

Venom opens her eyes as she feels Aryia withdraw, her lips parting slightly to leave their first, tender kiss quartered, the dark pools glimmering and intent.

She shivers slightly as the fingers comb through her hair... she likes that.

She's always liked that.

Her brows furrow, expression melting at the crack in Aryia's troubled voice, and har embrace tightens, and the gentle stroking at the back of her head draws her to the larger woman's shoulder as she leans in to plant a tender, lingering kiss at the crown of her hair.

While she has a think for language, and her pronunciation is perfect, there is a certain.... deficit in the more flowery syntax for situations such as these. Even in those moments in times past that left such a wound on the Acanian, their 'snuggle talk' was probably pretty sad.

What she comes up with is earnest for her inexperience, crooned for a particular set of ears:

"I'm here...."

For as many moments as need be.

Aryia crumbles into the hold, nestling her head into the crook of Venom's neck as she's held close. An arm slips around the human enigma, the other hand buried into the ebon hair. If there was any trepidation remaining, the affection left upon her crown makes it wash away.

Her ear twitches at the gentle words. Lack of any frills, but still soft and caring all the same.

A gentle nod, a shift of lips next to an ear. "... thank you... thank you thank you... a thousand times thank you..." the winds breathe.

A quiet sniffle, another breeze. "Please stay..."

There are possibly things the enigma has on the docket, but what they are is likely unfathomable to anyone but her.

Save, perhaps the one who made her.

The gentle arms continue their embrace, thumb and finger massaging the soothing spots behind the artfuly decorated ears, ears awash in the warm breath that carries her next words, as if it weren't even a question, "Of course..."

The shadow elf was slowly melting into the hold as the spots were smoothed out. She lightly pulls, guiding Venom down. Down into comfort. Into a longer moment. And into a warm embrace.

With shimmering eyes resting and watching the other, Aryia face shines with a broad, pure smile. More moments. The wind picks up, heard from only from nothing else obfuscating the silent room. "... I like green because..."

A grey hand reaches up, wraps around the dial on the lantern, and clicks it off.

-End Scene-