Hiding [Raeh]

[Ayara]

After fifteen nights the walls of Castle Town were in sight. They'd stopped close to an alcove Ayara frequently hid in when Rwaht had to go to the city. A full fifteen nights of restless days and nerve-racking nights and no privacy whatsoever and the only thing Ayara had really learned about Raeh aside from everything she'd talked about every night since they'd met was that she was confusing, baffling, six kinds of crazy and in a lot of danger.

After getting acclimated to Raeh's constant interruption of their life, Ayara had found that she wanted to be close to her. She liked the way Raeh smiled at her, and the way her body curved when she stretched, and the way Raeh touched her even though Ayara usually had a six-foot personal space normally as impenetrable as Rwaht's silence.

There were times when Raeh made her heart race and her mouth dry and every time it happened she grew a little more afraid because this was something new. New things always meant a change coming on. What if this change meant losing control of herself? She didn't want to hurt anyone.

It was an hour to midnight and Rwaht was unpacking the cart and preparing for the trek to town when Ayara finally managed to snag a moment alone with Raeh and ask her something that had been on her mind ever since they'd learned about her gift. "Ah, Raeh? I was wondering..." Shy? How could she be shy? Ayara was never shy. "Do you think you could make me look human? If you hid my appearance and I brought my cane we could all go into town together."

She couldn't help but let her nervous excitement show. Castle Town. So many people and so much light. Ayara liked solitude, of course, but to walk unnoticed in a crowd was an opportunity she might never get again.

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh was enjoying being with Ayara and her father,

even if that meant she spent most of her waking moments at night. She really did love the light, and the sun, but she liked to think of Ayara's eyes as two little suns that the world didn't get to see in the daytime. She'd wanted to mention it to Ayara a couple times, but her father had at least warned her that Ayara had a hard time taking a compliment. That struck Raeh as very sad. Ayara certainly deserved them. She was a very nice girl, even if she was so sad, and though she could be caustic, she was equally compassionate. She enjoyed talking to Ayara, though she sometimes wondered if Ayara enjoyed talking to her. She hoped she did. Or at least, she'd try and make it so.

When Ayara asked her a question, though, Raeh was delighted. In the past couple of weeks, Raeh had probably been the biggest talker. Ayara's father wasn't a very open man, and Ayara herself was ... well, it was understandable. So many years of hiding away from the world, with so many people being mean to her ... Raeh didn't know much, of course, but even she could pick up the general sense of things after being around two people for so long. She tried to be helpful, as much as she could, but mostly all she could do was smile, talk, and listen. Of course, she made Ayara's false glasses for her every day, since it was still her fault that Ayara didn't have her regular ones. She enjoyed looking at Ayara's eyes. They were so unique. It was Ayara's question that made Raeh frown. She didn't often get sad, but now she was.

"You shouldn't have to hide," Raeh said softly, touching a finger to Ayara's cheek. She didn't mean it as a provocative gesture, but it wasn't chaste, either. She frowned. "I want to go with you, but I don't think it'd be right for me to use my gift to cover you up. You shouldn't have to hide." She forgot that she'd said that already. "You're really pretty, Ayara. You're special. You shouldn't have to pretend to be something you're not," Raeh said, taking her hand down from Ayara's cheek. She felt as though she should apologize, even though she wasn't entirely certain what, exactly, apologizing meant, so she kept it to herself. She was reminded of the little moths that she'd made a light for, back on the night she'd met Ayara. They were only attracted to what burned them. She didn't think anybody was like a moth, though--people were much more complex--but she felt that they had that much in common. She didn't want to guide Ayara to a flame.

"You shouldn't have to hide," Raeh said, for the third time. She was looking at her hands in her lap. They were white as snow.

[Ayara]

Despite the way Raeh made Ayara feel she suspected she would never get used to the way Raeh so carelessly skipped over Ayara's boundaries and hopped right back out again before Ayara could grab her hand and tell her to cut that shit out. Nerves already frayed after the journey and frustrated further by the way Raeh kept throwing mock admiration in her face, Ayara snapped at Raeh. "But I do!"

She grabbed Raeh and pulled her up so close she could feel her breath on her face and look her straight in the eyes and she finally opened up and dropped the word of the Goddesses on the beautiful, infuriating girl. "We have to hide and run and cut everyone and everything out of our lives because I'm a blind poisonous spiderfreak and I'm getting sick and tired of you mocking me so stop it." She bared her teeth and growled and hissed out of sheer frustration, little droplets of venom escaping her mouth and landing on Raeh's skin and Ayara could have sworn they sizzled on Raeh's perfect white skin.

If anything it was an excellent reminder of what she was. Tearing herself away from Raeh, Ayara practically stomped back to the cave that would be her home for the next few days and buried herself in her blankets. She was glad for the darkness because once she realized what she'd just said and done she didn't want anyone to see her because she couldn't be sure she wouldn't cry or scream or kick the walls or all three at a time.

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh wasn't afraid.

She wasn't even hurt. But she understood, she thought, quite well. She smiled in spite of Ayara's anger, glad that at least this way, she was close to Ayara. Ayara's strong metal fingers dug into her skin where she'd grabbed her, and the pain was intense, but Raeh didn't mind. Pain was just another companion on the road to death, after all, and every person came to know it. She kept looking into Ayara's eyes, her beautiful eyes. She didn't seem surprised when Ayara hissed at her, but she did accidentally let out a high-pitched, doglike yelp! when some of Ayara's venom dropped onto her skin, her ears flattening against her skull in pain. She looked at it curiously, then ignored it as her body healed itself. Luckily, it wasn't enough to make her really tired. She suppressed the yawn, and followed Ayara into the cave, guiding herself by holding her hands out in front of her, walking blindly. She would never light up Ayara's cave on her. It was her place. Ayara liked the darkness, and Raeh would not break it.

Eventually, she found her way back to Ayara's resting place, on a combination of memory and luck. She crouched down next to Ayara, not knowing if Ayara knew she was there. She poked Ayara's shoulder so that the spider girl would know Raeh was there. She realized her skin was glowing faintly in the dark, not enough to be bright, but just enough to make her stand in frank contrast to the darkness. It was an accidental illusion, she realized, and she dimmed it.

"You are not a freak," Raeh said firmly, her tail wagging softly, which was about as close as Raeh got to being unexcited. She tentatively rested a hand on Ayara's shoulder. "I would never mock you, Ayara. Please ..." Raeh was surprised to hear the sadness in her voice. That wasn't like her. "Please believe me. You're the most special person I've ever met and I don't want to mess it up," Raeh said quietly, finally sitting down on the cave floor. "I mean it when I say you're pretty! I wouldn't lie about that! I'm not that mean ... I hope you don't think of me that way," Raeh continued, sounding slightly dejected. "You are pretty, and special, and nice, even though the world's been so mean to you. I don't care what anyone else says. I don't even care what you say about it. I know it's true. You are beautiful." Raeh said it firmly, the sadness having evaporated from her voice. She was playing with her hands in her lap, she realized, grappling with her own fingers. She stopped it.

"I'll do this if ... if you really want me to. Because people can be mean sometimes. I can forget ... I don't know much about people. But I think it's awful that you should have to hide. If you found a gemstone deep in the earth that glittered like none others before it, would you blacken it with coal?" Raeh asked. It was oddly philosophical of her. Then again, Ayara made her feel oddly philosophic. "Even without your horns or your eyes, I think you'd still be beautiful ... but it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be you."

[Ayara]

Curled up tight in her blankets, Ayara clenched her teeth and bit down on a sob that threatened to make itself heard and she clung to Captain Patches even harder. Captain Patches was her teddy bear and her constant companion since leaving her mother's house. There was nothing left of his original skin. He was all patches now. Captain Patches would know what to do in this situation. Captain Patches wouldn't have lost it like that in the first place. Captain Patches was smart and strong and he never hurt anyone he didn't mean to even if his curse was trying to make him do things he didn't want to.

Everybody liked Captain Patches.

Ayara didn't move while Raeh talked. She just listened. Somehow the idea that Raeh might be sincere scared her even more than the thought that she might be lying to them. What would Captain Patches do? Captain Patches would be cautious. Captain Patches would give Raeh another chance at things. "I'm not a gem," she mumbled at last as she sat up, still clutching Captain Patches close to her chest. "I'm a spider. And if people find a giant spider crawling around in their home they crush it."

She mustered up enough courage to look Raeh in the eyes. "I'm so sorry I hurt you. I shouldn't have gotten so angry and it wasn't fair to you. Can you forgive me?"

Ayara did something she'd never done before. Hesitantly, unsure of how it was actually done, she tried to open herself up to invite a hug.

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh was smiling.

It was the sort of honest, impossibly sincere smile that she was known for, one that sometimes made people think that she was simple, or at least ignorant. In a way, she was, but in the ways that really mattered, Raeh wasn’t ignorant at all. She looked at Raeh’s little teddy bear and smiled. It was so precious, unique, and special, just like its owner. She wanted to say so, but she didn’t want to scare Ayara.

“I don’t crush spiders,” Raeh said softly, almost as an afterthought. ”Well, I don’t really crush much of anything. Except some plants, but I can’t really help that,” She admitted, sounding absurdly guilty about it. Raeh brought drastic new meaning to the word “pacifist.” Indeed, her unique powers made it almost impossible for her to harm, hunt, or displace anyone: her healing powers didn’t really work on animals, unless she tried very hard, but perhaps her nature as a healer made her loathe harming anything. That had been what her father, who was one of the most accomplished hunters of the Minish woods—barring only a shocking black shadow that slid through the trees and claimed whatever crossed its path—so unable to accept that his daughter was so unlike him. He hadn’t really hated her or shown any dislike, but he’d never really cared about her, either.

“And no, you’re not a gem. You’re a much more special person, named Ayara!” Raeh said cheerfully, before letting Ayara continue. She forgot herself, sometimes. Well, nearly all of the time, if she was to be really honest about it. When Ayara looked into Raeh’s eyes, the dog girl was beaming, her tail wagging eagerly. She loved Ayara’s eyes. Raeh laughed and said,

”There’s nothing to forgive! Pain doesn’t last very long, and besides, I still hurt you much more when we met. So we’re not even close to even! You haven’t even dropped me out of a tree!” It was hard to tell if she was joking, or being serious. It was probably both. When Ayara opened up her arms for a hug, the look on Raeh’s face was one of sheer, utter delight, that almost said audibly “oh my gosh yes!” Without any pause at all, Raeh lunged into Ayara’s arms and hugged her tightly, burying her face in Ayara’s hair. She had really wanted to do that for a while. She pulled away and looked into Ayara’s eyes, not really aware of how close they were, though she was aware of a certain, pleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach. She just wasn’t sure if Ayara felt the same. Dog minish were a little notorious for not really having anything resembling restraint, and Raeh didn’t want to do something that might make poor Ayara feel bad. She’d already done far too much of that. Instead, she decided to talk about the bear.

”Your bear is really nice! He looks so adventurous!” Raeh said, not wanting to say something like ‘tough’ or ‘beat up,’ both because that might make Ayara feel bad, and because that would be very unfair to the poor little bear. He’d probably seen a lot in his strange life, if Raeh had any guess at it. You looked at him and just wanted to hug him, knowing he’d be protecting you a bit, too. At least, that was how Raeh saw him. Then, suddenly, Raeh had an idea. Honestly, it was her most brilliant idea ever in the history of her ideas. Her ears were perked up with excitement, and her tail was positively fanning the area around her. She’d forgotten she still had her arms wrapped around Ayara.

“Ha! I know what I’ll do! I’ll agree to make you look more like a human, but only if you’ll agree to let me make myself look like you! I mean it won’t be real, but at least I’ll know what it’s like to look like you. That, and I think I’d look pretty cute with a pair of horns. I think I will make them squiggly,” she said, sounding utterly determined. She was biting her lip, an indicator of great, deep thought. ”Yep!” she decided, ”Squiggly!”

[Ayara]

Ayara wasn't really that good at human contact. She wasn't that good at anything at all when it came to interacting with people, actually. It had always been easier - and safer - to simply keep people at a distance. But right then and there with Raeh's arms wrapped around her and feeling her body pressing up against her Ayara found herself returning the hug, pulling Raeh closer, mimicking her action of smelling her hair. Holy fuck how did Raeh smell so good?

She laughed at Raeh's joke(?) about the tree, and smiled broadly when Captain Patches was brought up. "Thank you. His name's Captain Patches. Captain Patches things it's about time this crew got a proper woman's tou- hey!"

Trying her best to look properly offended, Ayara stuffed the Captain back into the mountain of blankets. She reacted a lot more calmly to Raeh's final conditions than she thought she would. Touching her forehead to Raeh's, Ayara tried her best to let it show how serious she was. "Raeh, I don't think that's a good idea. It is very dangerous looking like this. People would be afraid of you, and many of them would want to hurt you and drive you away or kill you."

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh liked being close to people,

Ayara in particular. It felt like a small, private victory in Raeh's war to crack open Ayara and get her to smile without regret. Getting her to laugh was a very good first step, Raeh thought. Ayara had a very nice smile, one that transformed her face when she made it. That probably had more than a little bit to do with her rather unique jaw structure and teeth, when Raeh really thought about it. She smiled as Ayara stuffed the teddy bear back into the blankets, but didn't say anything. All she knew was that Ayara had included her in Captain Patches' crew, which was really important and made Raeh feel very special. Idly, she created an image of a floppy pirate hat on her head. Instead of a skull and crossbones, it had a bizarrely accurate image of Captain Patches' face on it.

"I don't think I'm really a very proper lady, Ayara," Raeh said wistfully, frowning and looking up at the brim of her imaginary hat. It was plain and black, which was a little boring. She gave it a golden trim. Much better. "I like playing in the grass too much! Honestly, it's a miracle my clothes haven't gotten stained or anything yet," Raeh said idly, looking away from Ayara to examine her own dress. Luckily, it was still more or less clean, barring a few small spots that faded into the black dye of the clothes. She supposed the man who'd got her the clothes--ah stop thinking about him--had made sure of that.

"Well, I will have you to protect me, won't I? Oh, and your dad. I don't think anyone could hurt me if he wanted to stop them!" Raeh said cheerfully. Seized by an idea, she made her hat disappear, then kissed Ayara on the cheek without thinking about it. Her skin was a little warmer than she would've expected, and it was nice. She smiled. "Just tell me if I get it right!"

A soft, green light passed over Raeh's form, and slowly, her features began to shift slightly. Her clothes, for reasons known only to Raeh, changed from her dress/cloak get-up to a combination of a black shirt and skirt, while her eyes changed from their usual vibrant green to sunshine yellow. Her skin faded from its usual brilliant white to a dull, smooth grey, and finally, the promised squiggly horns sprouted into being on her forehead.

She thought she looked pretty spiffy.

"What'd'you think?"

[Ayara]

I really don't think you should do this. Being so different from everyone else isn't fun, Raeh, it's hell and if you had to live with it day after day you'd get as sick of being around people as I am, but you'd want to be around people because pretty soon no matter who you're traveling with you'll learn to live with the feeling of crushing isolation and loneliness day and night and you'll do anything to try and keep your mind off of reality. You'll support every decision to stay away from anything that could be called civilization, you'll learn to see hate and mistrust in every face you see and you'll pare down your life until you only have one person - just one - who you make yourself cling to because that one person has never left you and never will and if they leave you then you're a dead woman.

So just forget I said anything. I'll just go back to my cave and you two can go on ahead without me because I don't want you to do this to yourself because you're scary and wonderful and so much more than I will ever be and you're the first person I've let into my life in a very long time and...

It's kinda nice.

Ayara would have said all that and more. But what came out of her mouth was closer to "Buh wuh bluh wha-" and then she just stared as Raeh remade herself in Ayara's image and somehow took everything that made Ayara a grotesque freak and made it stunning.

(or at least cute, but even that much was something she had up until that point thought impossible)

Not for the first time Ayara found herself feeling something she couldn't name. She got to her feet and approached Raeh, running her hands up and down the horns, letting Raeh's hair flow through her fingers before finally bringing her face to Raeh's and looking deep into those eyes that were a near-perfect reflection of her own. She pulled off her glove and brought a hand up to touch Raeh's cheek, carefully, precisely, it felt completely real. She was stunned. "You're perfect..."

[raeh]

x x

promise

Ayara's touch warmed Raeh's skin.

It was a wonderful feeling, even if the dangerous barbs that were her fingernails were so close to the tender flesh of Raeh's cheek. She didn't care, though. She would heal herself if Ayara did slip, and being close to Ayara was worth it ... though Ayara's heat only went skin-deep, Raeh could feel her blood warming beneath her skin. She could feel her own heartbeat pounding against her thoughts. Something about being so close to the other girl was thrilling, sending waves through Raeh's being. Her stomach was hot and cold all at once, and she realized her eyes were slipping from Ayara's eyes to her lips, those full, enticing lips with those incredible fangs. Raeh realized she was getting close to panting, and tried to keep it in check. Ayara was just so close, and she was touching Raeh and it felt really really nice and she just knew she wanted more of it. But she didn't want to freak Ayara out.

"I'm glad you like it! But this is only an imitation of the original," Raeh said happily, her voice growing distinctively ... smoother, almost smoky. It was hard to stop herself. Ayara was just so pretty and special and--

oh no I'm going to get in trouble again! Raeh thought meekly, but it didn't have much effect. It was hard for her to care about things like that. Inhibition came as naturally to her as not being poisonous came to Ayara's teeth. That is, it didn't come to her at all.

"You're so pretty ... I really mean it, Ayara. I just want...." Raeh's voice trailed off. It mightn't be wise to voice exactly what she wanted from that moment. "I just want you to know how beautiful you are. You're perfect, with your claws and your fangs and your eyes and everything. I don't want to make you look like anything else ... but if it'll let you come with us, then ... I guess," Raeh said slowly, forcing her eyes to stop wandering down Ayara's body. Instead she stared into Ayara's brilliant eyes, eyes that glowed. It was the most beautiful thing in the world. She raised her own hand to Ayara's cheek, letting it lightly graze Ayara's skin, like a feather's touch. She really wanted to kiss her. That would be how things would work if this was a story. But it wasn't a story, and Raeh didn't even know if Ayara liked her--or if she even liked girls at all. Some people were really particular about what they thought was attractive, for some reason. Instead, Raeh let a soft, green light fade over Ayara, instantly changing the color of her skin--and making her metal arm appear normal--and making her horns disappear. It took a long time for Ayara's eyes to change, but Raeh finally did it. She didn't really want to. Ayara did look nice, but not as special as she always did. Raeh didn't really like that she'd done it.

"Well ... there you go. Let me make you a mirror," Raeh said, turning a stone wall nearby them into a perfect mirror of both of them. She looked at herself with her new skin color and horns. She liked it. Her own skin was so boring. Though the best parts of Ayara were hidden, now, she was still beautiful as a woman, and the feelings stirring in Raeh weren't going away. She looked back at Ayara, more specifically at Ayara's lips. Without knowing what she was doing, she slowly moved closer to Ayara, resting her hands on the other girl's shoulders. She could still feel the metal arm--it was still there, just hidden beneath an image. "I really like you, Ayara," Raeh whispered, her lips inches from Ayara's. She didn't say anything else. The silence, and the darkness--they were nice.

[Ayara]

There had been entire mornings where Ayara had lain awake trying to figure out exactly what Raeh made her feel. The closest parallel she could find was a memory from when she was eleven. It had been the last time she'd tried to run away. So stretched and tense she could almost break. Horrified, devastated and relieved all at once. Her heart racing so fast she could almost explode. The moment of complete confusion and panic when she'd blindingly stepped off a cliff.

But there was also a sense of want. Ayara wanted to do something to Raeh. To be close to her. To touch her. To hear her voice. Thinking back on everything Raeh had said, and what she was saying now and pushing away her doubt made the cave suddenly feel surprisingly... hot. She could feel herself growing more and more flushed, her skin gaining a slightly blue tinge. When Raeh touched her Ayara's lips parted just slightly and she did pant, just a little bit, desperately trying to make sense of what she was feeling. What was it she wanted? And did Raeh want it too? Rwaht did say she was supposed to be more in touch with her 'animal side.' Was that all the two of them were? Just animals in human-shaped bodies?

The thought was pushed out of Ayara's mind as Raeh started working the illusion. What would it be like after all these years to look human again? What would her father say when he saw her? Would Raeh still think she was pretty? Why was she worried about Raeh still thinking she was pretty?

She turned her head to look at herself in the mirror. "Oh my Gods," she squeaked, shocked at her own appearance. Was that her? Hale and beautiful? "Raeh, this is- I can't- I don't know what to say."

It turned out she didn't have to say anything at all. As Raeh came closer the world shrank until it could barely contain just the two of them with just inches to spare between them. She placed her hands on Raeh's waist, tracing the curve of her body all the way down to her hips with her right hand while bringing her unfeeling left up to her back, moving just a fraction of an inch closer until she had Raeh comfortably in her arms. She felt weak in every muscle and her heart was racing and her stomach was twisting like she'd just swallowed a live rat and it was clawing to get out. It finally hit her. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to kiss Raeh. And judging by the way she could feel Raeh's breath on her face and the way they were touching Raeh probably wanted to kiss her too. "I like you too, Raeh," she confessed.

She closed the remaining distance between them slowly, forcing herself on whenever the thought of stopping came to mind. And then it was too late to pull away because suddenly Raeh was right there and their lips brushed for just a moment and she forgot why she was ever afraid in the first place.

Their first attempt resulted in Ayara's now-invisible fangs meeting Raeh's teeth with a clack. They tried again, slowly this time, but Ayara's fangs nicked Raeh's lip and at the first taste of blood Ayara pulled back, horrified and apologizing profusely. After the cut healed and Ayara calmed down they tried one more time with Ayara ceding most of the lead to Raeh at the start and then kissing back when she had some idea of what she was doing and Ayara moved her left hand from Raeh's hip to rest on her butt and brought her right hand up and ran her fingers through her hair and pulled her even closer and it was amazing why hadn't anybody told her kissing was so amazing it was like parts of her were melting, breaking down walls she didn't even know she'd had until she was full of heat and fire that pooled low in her belly.

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh wasn't a doubtful person,

but she'd been unsure of what she'd been feeling, and what Ayara might feel ... as she Ayara came closer to her, both literally and figuratively, her doubts faded. She felt Ayara's warmth pressing in on her, as the warmth in her own blood coursed through her own veins, somehow making their every touch crackle. Raeh had been raised to embrace these feelings, the callings and stirrings that guided her. She was incredibly aware of Ayara in front of her, like nothing else she had ever known before. This had to be the right thing to do. She wasn't going to get in trouble. She smiled.

"I'm glad. I want you to know that I think you're even prettier than this, without the illusion. I think you're beautiful," Raeh whispered, running her hands up from Ayara's shoulders, through her hair, and to the invisible horns on her forehead. She could still feel them, and caressed them gently. She didn't know if they had any feeling, but she wanted to touch them. Then Ayara touched her and Raeh nearly lost herself, awash in the pure thrill of Ayara's touch against her skin. As Ayara's hands moved down her hips, her insides all but twisted in on themselves, sending her head spinning. She nearly lost the strength in her legs, her body leaning onto Ayara's suddenly. She was still smiling. When Ayara's lips touched hers, even if it was only for a moment, everything felt right. She forgot about the rest of the world and its ugliness and focused only on the girl in front of her. When Ayara cut her tongue, Raeh only pulled her back and kissed her again. Raeh didn't care. The pain meant nothing compared to what she wanted from Ayara. She felt Ayara's hands exploring her body, and she lost nearly all of her strength, leaning into Ayara even as Ayara pulled her closer, pulling her in. Their bodies were nearly melting into one another, nearly one, and she could finally feel herself penetrating Ayara's walls and getting in to feel her in her most intimate moment. She wrapped her arms around Ayara and pulled her close, carefully plunging her tongue deep into Ayara's mouth, playing with hers, navigating all the deadly daggers with deft precision. Her tongue was limber and quick, like a dog's, and it was as eager as one might expect.

After a long moment, she pulled herself away from Ayara's mouth, just for a bit, and let out a gentle growl. It wasn't an angry or upset sound, but it simply meant that all Raeh's instincts were taking control. She smiled and let one of her hands up to Ayara's head, running her fingers through that amazing hair.

"Ayara, please ... can I take the illusion down? Just for now. I want to be with you. All of you," Raeh whispered, her voice low and serious. Ayara acquiesced, and Raeh stripped away both their illusions, leaving them as they properly were. Raeh smiled like a fox. It was strange on her face. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I've never enjoyed this before," Raeh admitted, kissing into Ayara's neck, sucking on the grey skin there. It was a change of pace, and a bit of a break from trying not to get her tongue skewered. She realized how cowardly that was, and slowly licked Ayara's neck up to her mouth, slipping her tongue between Ayara's lips once again, her own pale lips surging against Ayara's night-black ones. While one hand played with Ayara's hair, the other moved down her body, slipping under her shirt, ghosting along Ayara's skin.

"What I said--" Raeh sucked on Ayara's lips in between words "--earlier was a bit of an understatement--" her hand slid up to Ayara's chest "--I really like you, Ayara. A lot."

She kissed the spider-girl, and found peace and oblivion there. Nothing else mattered but them.