Eli likes puzzles. (dashdotdash) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-08-19 03:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, brother athelstan, eli |
Who: Eli and Athelstan.
What: Eli has news!
When: 8/18, evening.
Where: Athelstan's apartment.
Rating: PG-13 for up the shirt makeouts.
Status: Complete!
Athelstan had just gotten back from work at the garden centre, settling down into his favourite armchair for a read. He was pleasantly sore and winded, but it felt nice. He hadn’t gotten outside and really worked for some time, so the more he could do, the better. He might telephone Eli later on, but for now it was nice to relax.
Eli knocked on the window, having been sitting on a branch outside his window, waiting for him to get home. She waved a little, smiling, knowing she was allowed to come in but not wanting to without him seeing her.
This time when he heard the knock he knew what it was. Athelstan rose, smiling, going over to peer out. The eyes he saw were familiar.
Opening the window, he chuckled. “Hello, Eli! You may come in. How are you?”
She smiled and swung fluidly into his window, shutting it behind her before wrapping her arms around his neck. “I come bearing good news! How are you? You have been working in the dirt. It suits you.”
Athelstan held her close, smiling and going for a light kiss before letting her go. “I’m quite well, actually. I got a job at the garden centre not far from here - the owner is about to give birth, and I can be of help to her. What’s your good news, my dear?” He motioned for her to sit down on his couch, next to him.
She sat down, happy to be kissing her boyfriend. “Flowers! That does suit you, more than I thought it would have.” Sitting down, she grinned, fixing her skirts and crossing her legs under her body. “I am going to be the eldest sister in my family.”
Athelstan blinked a little, working that out. “Your father’s lady friend ... oh! That’s rather wonderful. Are they going to be married, then? When did you find out?”
“I don’t know if they’re getting married. Papa is still chicken.” Eli grinned, her face lighting up. “Well, I had just woken up, and Papa was having his Cheerios and beer - you do not have to say anything, it is disgusting, we all know. And we could um. Smell Mama’s hormones had changed. Papa is special that way, and I am vampire. It’s how I knew you’d worked with flowers mostly today.”
“I didn’t know your sense of smell was that defined.” Athelstan was interested. “Do you know how far along she is? I mean, if she’s only just with child, that’s rather impressive.”
“About a month or so.” Eli twirled her hair around a finger. “I fed yesterday, perhaps that is why?” She reached up to stroke Athelstan’s hair, wondering if she could tell him that he smelled like sunlight and fresh earth right after it rained.
“Perhaps, yes.” He liked her petting him, and kissed her forehead. “I should show you the garden centre; you might like it. It’s full of flowers and greenery, and the owner’s quite lovely. She treats me a bit like an adopted son, which, to be honest, I’m not certain how to handle.”
“Be grateful. It is how I am with Papa.” Eli wondered if she could smell the owner on Athelstan, and as such, buried her head in his neck. She smelled something that was rainbows and laughter. “She is not human?”
“No, she isn’t.” Athelstan raised an eyebrow. “She’s a fairy. An honest to goodness flying fairy, with wings and all.”
“She smells like rainbows.” Eli sighed, closing her eyes. “There are lots of fairy stories about fairy blood making vampires hallucinate.” She couldn’t help but giggle. “I am sure they are true!”
“Really, are there.” That was news to him, and it amused him to hear it. “I’m not sure I’d like to see you on a hallucinogenic. It’d be awfully silly.” He grinned, nosing at her neck just a little, more out of affection than anything.
It made Eli giggle again, but this time she was just slightly more bold, moving to kiss him firmly. She might never be this brave again, so she wanted to make it count.
Athelstan blinked when she pressed it, but he liked that; he appreciated that she felt so comfortable with him. He held her closer, smiling a little as they kissed.
She smiled as well, scooting a little closer. She hoped he knew that her father approved of him, that there wasn’t really anything to be feared.
He would never entirely be convinced that Logan approved of him, but at least now he had other things on his mind. Athelstan made a happy noise, risking putting his hands on her back, even snaking his fingers up and under her shirt. Just a little.
That made her gasp a bit. Everything he did felt a thousand times more to her due to her vampiric senses, and she tugged him closer, fisting his shirt a bit in her hands.
Whatever he was doing, she liked it, so he didn’t move. Athelstan just felt her skin under his fingers, soft and surprisingly warm for what she was. He sawed his lips to get some breath, but he didn’t let up. Not yet.
It was because she’d fed recently. Eli curled up closer, moving so she was all but in his lap. She realized how much she loved him in that moment.
That was a pleasant if terrifying surprise. Athelstan swallowed, looking up at her as if to ask her if she was sure. They weren’t going to do anything, at least not yet, but he might wind up with an embarrassing problem even so.
Instead of saying anything, she just cupped his cheeks and kissed him again, smiling a little to herself. “When you are uncomfortable, say so.”
“I will.” He appreciated that, but he kept going. He liked exploring her, and she seemed to like the same thing. “Ah, Eli, you are beautiful.” It just slipped off his tongue, but he meant it.
Eli smiled, running her fingers through his hair. “That is where you are wrong. I find you more beautiful than I.” She let her lips ghost over his earlobe before gently skimming her human teeth over his neck.
“And I find you far more beautiful than I.” Athelstan retorted amiably, eyes fluttering closed. “We can disagree.” He sighed softly, letting her nibble with her non-fangs.
The trust that he had in her was something she valued more than anything. After a moment, she leaned back. “You truly know I’ll never hurt you. Thank you.” Sometimes she felt dark, twisted.
“You would only ever draw blood if I asked you to.” Athelstan nodded, brow furrowing. “Do you worry?” She seemed to have iron control.
“Even if you ask me to, I cannot. Not with my teeth.” Her fingernails were safe, but her teeth would infect him. “Of course I worry. I have control now, but I may not always.”
“Maybe we can find a sorcerer of some kind.” One might think he was being sarcastic, but he wasn’t. There were vampires and fairies; why not a witch or a sorcerer? “Someone who can protect me with a spell or something.”
That wasn’t a horrible idea. “I thought of turning you, if you asked, but it wouldn’t be right.” She didn’t want him to have to deal with what she had to.
“That’s a last resort, I think.” Athelstan couldn’t help but kiss her once more. “I just don’t want you to worry about me, my dear.”
“I will always worry about you, I love you. That is my job.” Eli smiled and kissed him again, pulling him a little closer. “I consider you part of my family.”
He was rather touched by that, actually. “Careful; you wouldn’t enjoy my parents’ company very much.”
“I do not know about all of that,” Eli smiled. “My biological mother was very traditional as well. Would they hate me, do you think?” She bit her lower lip.
“Not hate, no. But they would think we ought to be celibate - not even any holding hands. Everything would have to be done by the book. Well. The book.” Athelstan chuckled. “I honor my parents, but I prefer to touch you.”
Eli blushed brightly. She’d just fed, so she was able still. “They’d think me an abomination. You’re not meant to lay with a woman, not a vampire.” Eli grinned cheekily.
“I daresay.” He had to be honest. “But I am not the small boy I was once. I think that God led me to choose this path. To find you. And besides. My sister approves of you.” He grinned at her. “At least, what I’ve told her of you.”
Blushing again, Eli looked down. “Oh? What did you say?”
“Sister Mary Agatha knows you are strong, and look out for me, that you were an orphan but got adopted by a loving family, and that you think I’m handsome, and don’t think me too strange for all this religion.” Athelstan said it with the proverbial twinkle in his eye.
That made Eli laugh. “Would she be happy to know I was raised in the church myself? I always made friends with the clerics that were soldiers.” She’d liked their devotion and been attracted to their piety. It was admirable. Perhaps it was what had attracted her to Athelstan.
“My sister would think it was nice, but my sister trusts in God and my judgment.” Athelstan pulled her close again, liking the feeling. “She is a nun; she believes God has a plan for me and this is part of it - coming here, I mean. Meeting you has been an unexpected gift.” He nuzzled her neck.
Eli felt herself tearing up. She looked up, blinking back bloody tears. “You are too sweet, you know. You make my heart feel so light. You know, the first thing I asked Papa after I ended up this way was if you would still like me?”
“What did he think?” Call him curious.
“He said that he thought you’d still like me. He said that you would see I was still myself.” Eli smiled, wiping her cheeks. “I think that is why I love you. You have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met.”
“I try my best not to judge.” Athelstan shrugged. “I’m not God. It feels like the least I can do.”
“You’re good,” she murmured. “I”m just... I feel like a better person for knowing you.” She grinned, kissing his chin. “You make me better.”
“You make me better than I am. I think that’s what relationships are, my dear.” Athelstan kissed her again, risking sliding both his hands underneath her shirt. That might not be good per se, but he thought it would make her happy.
She closed her eyes at that, biting her lip and smiling. “You’re so warm,” she murmured. If her heart still beat, Eli thought it would be hammering.
“Am I?” That pleased him, somehow. Athelstan kept his hands around her waist, but he liked how calming this was for him, and seemingly, for her, too. “In all honesty,” he said, knowing he could trust her, “I would like to ... go a bit further ... but I’ve been a bit afraid.” He hadn’t wanted to push the envelope.
She shook her head. “I know my own mind, Athelstan.” She smiled and kissed him again. “If you did something that made me uncomfortable, I would simply tell you.”
“I know. Really, I do. Just ... I’ve never actually done anything ... like that. And I wouldn’t like to upset you.” And yet her skin smelled wonderful. “Just ... say the word?”
“I’ve never done it either,” she smiled. “You were my first kiss, Athelstan.” Someday, she wanted him to be her first in everything. Leaning forward, she kissed him again, a bit more firmly, just because she wanted him to know she wanted him.
Athelstan believed her, and responded. He took his time, if only to not look anxious, but he slowly lifted her shirt over her head. Then he did the same with his own.
She could blush because she’d fed recently, and she did; her chest, cheeks, and ears all went pink. Eli was glad that she’d worn a cute bra that day, and she looked down at Athelstan. He was deceptively well-muscled, and she leaned in to kiss him again.
Even just this might be enough for him; the sheer expanse of skin was beautiful, and the ability to touch her all over was humbling. She had a larger bosom than her clothes usually hinted, and hesitantly, Athelstan ran a hand over her left breast, light but firm enough.
That made her close her eyes, biting her lip and moving a little closer to him. “I am not upset, quite the opposite. Please.” She didn’t know what else to say besides ‘please’.
He did the same thing with the other, still feeling faintly nervous, but also feeling very proud of himself. They were both happy. He kissed her again, leaving his hands where they were, just trying to drink her all in.
She just liked tasting him. She could taste his blood type, what he’d eaten yesterday, smell the rain from three days ago and the sunshine from that morning. Instead of being upset or telling him she wasn’t ready, Eli was happy and moved closer to him. She wondered what would happen if she unhooked her bra. Well, nothing to do but to try it. Reaching behind herself, she unhooked her bra and let it fall.
Athelstan’s blood ran cold, but in the way that signified excitement, not terror. At least he thought so. “You’re beautiful,” he said, looking at her, running his hands back over her breasts, caressing as much as he dared.
“You are as well,” she murmured, leaning forward again. She just wanted to hold him for a while. They were moving slowly, but she liked that. Certainly she had a libido - being a vampire hadn’t helped with that, either - but she liked going slow. It teased things out longer, made the doing of them all the better.
He got the message, and pulled her close, sitting back against the couch, sighing contentedly. Things were good, at least for now. He’d keep praying for them to stay that way.