|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2014 0:53:34 GMT -6
i’ll wrap them all up in a kiss They were after her. She was going to die. Her lungs burned, and her limbs quivered. Green eyes the color of beach glass shut against the world. Ashelia leaned into the wind and pumped her arms harder, faster. The sound of her running shoes slapping the pavement ricocheted around in her head, a gunshot pulse reassuring her that she was moving, she was living, even as she felt her body dying on a cellular level. Closer closer closer …!
Ashe yanked out her ear buds. Vicious growls and hungry moans blared from the tiny speakers as she came to a stop and doubled over. Sweat plastered her bangs to her forehead in a silvery curtain and chilled on the back of her neck, but she smiled anyway and gave a breathless laugh. Without the sounds of her own personal zombie horde, the city’s early morning white noise seemed immense. Digging in her pockets, she switched off the Zombies, Run! Application and forced herself to stand straight.
Flushing Meadow Park spread around her in dew-drenched glory, an ethereal morning fog lining everything with gauzy silver. In the few weeks that she had been here adjusting, the park had become one of her favorite places to run. It wasn’t far from the townhouse, and it was surprisingly peaceful and quiet. Shading her eyes with her hand, Ashelia looked out over the lake in the middle of the lush grassland; the sun speared off it like light off the edge of a sword, shimmering in the fog. Against all protest from her legs, she made her way into the skeletal shade of a winter-dressed willow tree and sat down on the bench beneath its bows. With a sigh, the slender blonde shut her eyes and leaned her head back.
@leon
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2014 1:29:21 GMT -6
His phone in hand, Leon walked down a sidewalk, listening to the soft tunes of the season's nature while enjoying a coffee. If nothing else, he would be happy just to have the peppermint mocha, but the newly appointed professor had other plans for the morning. Slipping his phone in his pocket after sending his text, Leon looked across the park. With a flash of his eyes, he remembered reading that this was Flushing Meadow Park, and recalled the location he was supposed to meet her this morning. At least I found the right location.. Leon thought to himself as he took a deep inhale of the crisp morning air.
Normally, he'd be cold in this weather compared to the rather temperate weather he'd experienced most recently, but his black jacket kept out most of the goosebumps. The white fur lining that sat on the back of his neck, especially. He had found it most easy to remain at a decent core temperature so long as he could maintain having this jacket or a scarf on.
It came a slight surprise when he heard the sound of rapid footsteps quickly dissipating in the distance, but as it was followed by the quiet hum of headphones blaring and then gasping breath, a smile drew to his face. She's out for a run. Of course. he thought to himself as he continued walking. She always stepped loudly, and being someone who worked with a great deal of stealth prior to meeting her, he always noticed. There was a rhythm she kept when she ran, and that was typically very noticeable. In comparison, his own feet made very little sound, even when running. Should be a nice surprise, then. he thought, continuing his walk with a rather brisk gait.
Softly, but swiftly, he walked closer to the location where he thought she'd stopped running. His black pants and white shirt made him an easy target for her most of the time. That, and his red hair. As obvious as he should be to pick out in a crowd, Ashelia was one of few who noticed him everywhere he went. His feet carried him to within about 20 feet of the bench beneath the willow tree onto which she had collapsed, and halted.
Standing there, he realized, the sun would be behind him as his back was facing east. She might not recognize his silhouette, but he'd wait for her to notice at least a presence before approaching while her adrenaline was still running. Leon had found it was best not to disturb her already volatile emotions when they were going in full swing. One look at the headphones hanging, and he deduced she was probably using her Zombie Run app. That produced a slow roll of his eyes and a slight chuckle as he stood there, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Good morning, angel.", he called across the short distance he had placed himself in.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2014 22:48:30 GMT -6
i’ll wrap them all up in a kiss Soft humming warmth fizzed up from the base of Ashelia’s wings, filling her chest with a delicious, bubbly feeling. Seconds later, Leon’s voice called out to her. A smile bloomed on her lips, and she sat up. He stood not twenty feet away, haloed in sunlight that lit his scarlet mane on fire. A flurry of emotions and thoughts hammered through her at the sight of his handsome form; every time she saw him was just like the first time all over again, and she had never gotten over the butterflies. In the midst of her run, even, she had almost forgotten that he was going to be meeting her today, and she must have missed his text thanks to the zombies.
“Leon!” she called out as she finally stood. “You’re back!”
Jogging lightly to him, the little empath stood on her toes to plant a kiss on her fiancé’s lips. He tasted like chocolate and mint, and it made her smile. Her fingertips pressed gently into his shoulders as she leaned upwards for a second, lingering kiss. Here, kissing him as the sun rose on the horizon…she could stay here all day and never think to do elsewise. The thought made her smile again, the curve of her mouth breaking their kiss as she finally settled down onto the plane of her feet.
“I’ve missed you…How was your trip?” As damp strands of hair tumbled out of her ponytail and into her face, she brushed them aside and looked down at herself with a helpless laugh. Worn old running shoes, black leggings that clung tightly to her skin, and a similarly clingy white tank top beneath a spring green fleece jacket (both cut and sewn with holes at the shoulder blades for her wings, today unbound). “Zut alors,” she sighed, “I must look a mess. I’m sorry; I should have brought a change of clothes.”
@leon
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 1:00:37 GMT -6
The things he loved so much about her always flooded back after having to depart her company for an extended amount of time. His feelings may have been accentuated by her wings being unbound, while his emotions were so completely bound to her, but he had the lingering smile that only he could bid upon his visage.
Her lit up eyes in response to his presence came as a wave of relief while her voice sent a light shiver down his spine that was his body's equivalent to having butterflies in his stomach. The way she flowed across the short distance to kiss him gave him joy, and her kiss came as a welcome gift to his lips. He'd sorely missed that feeling, and it always left his nerves tingling with a desire for much and more. With only his one hand free, Leon embraced her and leaned down to kiss her once more, listening to the surprise in her tone with a soft smile.
"Why a change of clothes? I, for one, think you look beautiful, and any woman that takes care of her health the way you do deserves to be admired, not admonished." he responded quickly.
His eyes and general demeanor took on a much softer tone in her presence, and though he got bumped into more in crowds with her on his arm compared to the generally wide berth he was given else-wise, he loved having her there. As if in confirmation of that feeling, he extended his free arm for her to take.
"Come now, let's walk and catch up. I'll tell you on the way." said the soft-toned professor.
"I could use as much fresh air as possible, and I've missed having an angel at my side. Our time spent together is always too short and time spent away far too long." he began, taking a sip of his mocha.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 22:59:10 GMT -6
i’ll wrap them all up in a kiss Leon made her so happy. Every time he touched her, she wanted to melt, and as he leaned in for his own kiss, she rested her forehead to his and hummed a note of content. His hand on the small of her back, so close to her wings, had her entire body thrumming with positive feelings, both hers and his. She’d missed him so.
Shutting her eyes as he spoke, she rested on his chest and gave a little laugh. There wasn’t much she could do about changing his mind, once he’d set it. She loved the way he made her feel about herself, even if it was just telling her she looked beautiful just after a ten-mile run. He was one of the few people that never threatened her health with his emotions, even the negative ones, and she’d never once felt uncomfortable around him.
“I’m glad you’re home,” she murmured into the fur of his jacket before pulling back to smile at him.
She slipped her arm into his and leaned her head to his shoulder. Her legs were sure to give out eventually, but Ashelia took any opportunity for spending time with Leon that she could, and an early morning walk was among her definition of “perfect” things.
“That’s true,” she said, “but now that you have a stable job at Vireximus, things should be better, right? I’ll even be working there, too! If we don’t see each other at home, we’re bound t see each other at work,” she laughed.
@leon
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 23:52:18 GMT -6
Leon began walking down the very trail that she'd been running on, continuing in the direction that he assumed was closer to home since he had not passed it coming from the other direction. That, he was sure he would've felt. Thoughts buzzed by in his head such as how tired she must be, and if she can keep this walk up for very long. That was accompanied by a variety of solutions before he resolved to just carry her piggy-back if she collapsed.
He knew it would most likely come to that, as she did not often show weakness, and hated showing it around him even moreso. Her legs would give out before she admitted to him that she couldn't take a walk with him. Just the thought made him lightly chuckle before he replied.
"Hey, I'm glad I'm home, too. Work typically sucks anyway, but work that I have to spend 16 hours in a plane for one way? No way." he replied rather frankly.
Leon let her sentence linger in the air for a bit as he kept their pace light and sipped his coffee. As much as he really wanted to settle down, Leon had never done this before, and to tell it true, it scared him a little when he first thought about it. At this point, his confidence had shot the fear to pieces, and he could have no thoughts but positive, lest his emotions betray his fear and cause her to be scared. This was simply a situation that he had to take one step at a time.
"At the very least, I have a job I am likely to resent less." he said with a laugh.
"Your presence is always the best part of any situation for me. It's just something I'm going to have to get used to, you know? Not moving around all the time. We can do it though. I believe in us." the scarlet-haired man said as he passed another willow tree on the way down the trail.
"We're not too far out from the house, right? I'd like to get you somewhere you can sit down and relax so we can enjoy the rest of our day." Leon said with a half smile that looked dangerously like a smirk.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2014 0:14:07 GMT -6
i’ll wrap them all up in a kiss “Sixteen hours? Mon dieu, that’s such a long time!”
Even as she said so, Ashelia smiled. There had been many more plane rides of just that sort while they were courting—when she lived in France and he had only rarely been able to come see her. Every hour had been worth the wait, and so had their final trip together when they had moved to the States. She had spent most of that ride drowsily tucked under Leon’s arm as they shared headphones to his iPod.
The thought bid her smile, though she hadn’t yet stopped. It was hard for her not to smile around him. She traced her fingers lightly on his arm as they walked and tilted her head back to the pallor of the morning sky. Pinkish clouds like cotton candy gathered overhead, soon to turn winter grey she was sure, but they were lovely when the branches of a willow tree silhouetted in front of them like lace.
“You’ll make a fine professor,” she said with a squeeze of his arm. “And you’re right. We’ll be able to do anything, together. I’ll be here for you the whole of the way.”
Leon’s smirk had her blushing, and Ashelia glanced away with a faint cough. He was too damn good at reading her. Rubbing her neck with her free hand, she pointed down the path and a little to the west.
“Just a couple miles down this path. I took my run around the other side of the park, so we shouldn’t be too far.” Smiling sheepishly, she leaned up and pecked his cheek. “A relaxing day with you sounds nice.”
@leon
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2014 0:36:46 GMT -6
Sixteen hours was a long time. They'd truly both spent that much and many more hours on planes for more pleasant reasons; however, this one was probably the last for quite some time. Such pleasant feelings always surrounded their reunions. Leon vaguely wondered what it would be like not being apart. It had always gone well for them after they'd spent at least an equal amount of time apart as they did together. But then they'd had the rekindling reunion.
Of course, there was always the concept model of "The Family Man" where the main characters end up together in such a reunion, that the rekindling lasted for years into their marriage. There was another word he was a little worried about. Though they were engaged, marriage just seemed like an entirely different commitment. Leon sighed contently as the feeling of her fingers against his arm soothed is overactive brain into a serene acceptance that she was right. Everything would be great now. This was just fear of the unknown.
"I can't think of someone with a more vested interest in the safekeeping of the children, but I suppose I can think of someone higher-qualified. I'm still quite young for a professor, you know? I think I'm the youngest on the staff." he noted with a chuckle.
"Although I've the experiences of one much older." Leon remarked upon his own comment with a light shrug so as not to disturb her head placement whilst she gazed upward.
Relaxing day indeed... he thought to himself, taking another couple sips of his mocha.
"Let me know if you start to tire. I'll carry you on my back to the house to save your energy for later." he hinted with another devilish smirk.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2014 1:04:14 GMT -6
i’ll wrap them all up in a kiss It was easy to tell when Leon was spending too much time in his head. He did it often, quietly watching the world around him. Sometimes it was purely meditative, but his mind often worked in a persistent overdrive, and she could feel it wearing on him like a constant tug on her heartstrings. She could feel it now, nagging at the back of her throat, and shut her eyes patiently.
He was nervous—so was she. Neither of them had done this before. Sure, she’d led a mostly sedentary life, if you didn’t count her daily zombie runs, but she’d certainly never been engaged before, much less married. She really wanted to do her best for Leon and the life they were building for themselves, but it was hard to know where she was going sometimes. Eyes still closed, she took in a deep breath and continued to massage his arm, settling the both of them down before either exacerbated the problem.
“Jusque’ici, tout va bien.” So far, so good. And she looked at him with a smile. “Care for their well-being is the only qualification you should need, after everything you’ve been through dear. You’re young, oui, but they hired you anyway, non? They must have seen what I see.” Standing on her toes, she pulled him to a stop and kissed him gently, murmuring against his lips. “A strong, intelligent man who has nothing but the best in heart and mind for his pupils.”
Heat flared across her cheeks at his latter comment. This, most decidedly not from her earlier exertion (rather in preempt of exertion later to come, she was sure, which only raised the temperature in her cheeks and her body). Torn between wanting to continue walking with Leon and wanting to simply rest in his arms, she fumbled a moment with the decision to take him up on his offer or not. Yes, she was exhausted. Did she want to let him know? No. Did she want to get home faster? Yes? Did she want a quicker recovery time? Yes. Three to one.
“I…am feeling a little worn after my run,” Ashelia conceded quietly at last.
@leon
|
|
