I want you (R18)

After another convoluted silence, I finally pluck up the nerve to say:

"Fell in love..? But I thought you didn't-"

"Feel love?" he finishes, giving me an wan smile, obviously having heard that one many times before. Slowly, I nod, unsure whether to be alarmed or impressed about the extent he knows his own collection of rumours- after all, I doubt he visits the Upper Realm that often.

Valerian sighs, pushing a hand through his hair as he leans backwards on the stool, before double taking, instead deciding to place himself next to me, his eyes trained on mine as he closes his hand over my own.

"I think it's better I show you," he says, splaying his hands, smiling a little at the look of perplexity that overcomes my features. Shuffling forward a little, I tilt my head to the side in silent questioning, willing him to answer. But for a minute, no answer comes.

From above our heads, a tiny fluffy dilopuff makes its way down from the eaves of the tall room to settle on top of my head, burying its fluffy body into my hair with an audible huff. Messing up each white strand, the dilopuff wallows there until the top of my head appears more as a bird nest than a human head. But I let it be, too tired to care.

When at last Valerian has managed to wipe the humoured smile of his face, and the Dilopuff has sufficiently turned the top of my head into its number one nesting site, the Devil at last realises that perhaps I do not understand what he means by 'show me'.

"Ah, sorry," he apologies, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous gesture, his eyes flickering shut. "What I mean to do is give you a vision, well, it's more like a memory really, that way you can experience the event for yourself. Its called memory splaying, and is one of the few established tricks we have down here." Then he pauses to look at me, a pleading look dancing in his eyes.

"May I?" he asks, holding out a pale hand reaching towards my temples, his eyes eager, alight with an emotion I haven't seen for a while. Passion.

I get the feeling that the Devil has been waiting to do this trick for a very, very long time. Perhaps it is by this reason that I am so compliant in letting him do so.

"Okay but what's going to me, I-"

By the time I can even get around to voicing any protests, its already too late.

As soon as his fingers touch my temple, my mind begins to blur, a hazy fog coming over my vision as I lean woozily over to one side, the combination of drunken residue and spurts of purple magic flowing into my brain, dragging my mind into hazy fog.

The last thing I see as I fall backwards, collapsing heavily onto the couch behind me, is Valerian's delicate hands reaching out to catch my body, scooping me up next to him as he presses me close to his chest. He is whispering something, but its too far away to hear, blurred by the lulling sensation of sleep and memory. Then blackness consumes my vision in rolling waves, the corners of my vision blurring until at last my senses are pulled under into darkness, a cold sweeping over my body as my mind descends from consciousness straight into Valerain's living memory.

***

The scene forms around me the way fog rolls in from the sea- descending across my vision in a hazy blur of particles that condense with every passing second, the picture becoming clear as my mind focuses on the scene before me.

The first thing I recall is the smell- a dizzying mixture of jasmine and incense- a perfume perhaps? Then there is another, much more subtle smell, floral and delicate like the man it belongs to, lingering in the air between us like a freshly come spring breeze. Lilies. It is intoxicating, seductive, making my mind blur with a hazy wanton as I look across the room to were a familiar winged figure dances on his own.

"Lyla," he calls, sweeping back his hair as he dances gracefully round the room, a frantic waltz, his purple eyes gleaming with joy. There are speckles of white in his hair, his wings, that I am certain weren't there before. Until I remember with a pang what Valerian had told me: the changes that had occurred due to the Etherium.

"Dance with me, Lyla," he calls jovially, scooping me up in his arms with a laugh as he twirls us around the room, and I laugh too, a dizzy, star stuck laugh that bursts from my chest like a flower in bloom. It feels so good to be happy. It's been so long.

I note we are in a room- a bedroom, unfamiliar to me, laced with golden lanterns that string up around the ceiling, pin pricked with dilopuffs that chitter and bob and weaved among the constellations that swim in the air between us. Magic floats in the air like handfuls stardust, reams of purples and blues and golds, floating like stars among the vast expanse of the veiled sky. It is beautiful, majestic, encaptivating- exactly like their creator. I almost am not sure what to look at.

When I speak, it is a voice that is not my own.

"I can't believe you made the entire palace. In a day too!" I laugh, my voice rich and commanding, but light with the wondrous authority of a woman confident in her word. Valerian watches me through gleaming lilac eyes, a smile playing on his lips as he pushes his body close to mine, his face bright and fresh with the wonders of life. It is only then that I realise how tired the Valerian I know looks- how wearied, how sad under the smiles and laughs he gives, as though something is missing, something that he will never be able to replace.

I think I realise what that is now.

"I made it for you, Lyla, a home, if you will," he whispers, his fingers trailing down to linger around my waist as we dance, eyes twinkling with a mischievous joy as I reach out to prod his chest teasingly, my pale skin glistening under the lamp light. Little dilopuffs scatter as we pass, chittering with bird like chirrups, big eyes blinking as they watch on in wonder at this magnificent scene.

"How kind," I tease with a laugh, before tugging him by the hand, pulling him out into the centre of the room as we dance there, his black wings uplifting in the breeze that rushes up around us, newly formed tail curling through the air, testing its limits. Then I stop to catch my breath, giving him a sly, sideways look. "And what should we do to celebrate, I wonder?"

The comment is no less teasing than the last, but as soon as the words leave my lips, something shifts in Valerian's face, his lips parting. Then he grows quiet, a lulling silence overcoming the two of us, until at last he leans down beside me, his voice tickling my ear as he breathes seductively:

"I have an idea."

A red hot flush works its way across my face. He has never spoken to me like that before.

No words follow, but instead, a string of actions, soft and tender as his hands make their way over my body, sliding over my waist, behind my back, tugging me close to him. Part of me things I should push him away- after all, this is so new too me, and his actions seem so fast. And yet as his hands glide further over my body, I find myself falling deeper into him, captivated by the glint of his eyes, the movement of his lips as he whispers close against my skin:

"I think I love you, Lyla."

And I think I love him too.

But he knows that already. He has known that from the start.

"Val, I-"

His mouth meets mine, soft and tender, his lips moving against mine as his kisses me, his hands roaming my body hungrily, anxious to feel more. I feel my heart flutter in my chest, a euphoric feeling overcoming me as I press my body against his, relishing the warmth of his skin against mine, his lips, his body, as I slide my fingers through his hair, deepening our kiss.

"I want you, Ly," he whispers between kisses, his honeyed voice now a seductive growl, his body visibly shaking with a wanton need. But he holds back for me, trembling as he reigns in his feelings, desperate to not let them overtake him. But my heart is pounding, my face flushed, body warm with a need that I have never felt before, pooling at my core.

Slowly, I break our kiss, blushing at the strand of saliva that joins between us as I lean down to whisper against the shell of his ear:

"Then you have me."

And that is all that needs to be said.

Guiding me back towards the bed, I suddenly find myself falling backwards, my back hitting the bed with a noisy puff of sheets and covers. The sensation in my core grows into an irresistible throbbing as he wavers above me, his body enclosing mine, hands either side of my head. From this view I can see him clearly- the flush of his face, the heaviness of his breath, the charming curls of his tousled hair. I can see the signs of arousal in the heat of his breath, the flush of his skin and his...

I draw my eyes away, blushing immensely out of pure embarrassment for my actions. Valerian only smirks.

"Like what you see?" he asks to which I nod slowly, covering my mouth with one hand to hide my smile. Clucking his tongue, Valerian pulls my hand away, planting a light kiss on the back of it as he whispers:

"Good."

Then his hands are on my body, his lips against my mouth in a string of passionate kisses as he lowers himself to me and-