A/N: Written for the 100moods challenge over on LJ. Prompt 33: Enamored
Pairing: unrequited Actaion/Artemis
Rating: PG-13
Warning: implied femmeslash
Moment
For one endless, glorious moment, all is silent and he looks at her. Trying to keep his balance by hugging the tree nearest to him, he leans toward the glistening lake where she's floating in the water. His ears are pounding, not only with the speed of the hunt still present in his limbs, but also with the rush of enamoured blood that explodes inside him.
Artemis' nymphs, speckled with the sunlight filtering through the trees, laugh with soft, tinkling voices – much like rivers themselves – and they tend to her shining body with their hands. One of them catches water in the cup of her hands and lets it flow out over the goddess' hair. As if he's standing in a tunnel with only her magnified image on the other side, Actaion sees how the drops cling to her lips and run off her cheeks as she smiles. A second nymph takes the place of the first, folding her hands around Artemis' brow and touching her head in such a way that the goddess closes her eyes and lets out an almost inaudible sound of contentment. Around her the other women wash each other's hair and adorn it with the small white flowers that float on the surface of the lake. They bathe each other's shoulders with gentle, slow movements and share soft, intimate smiles in the small space between their faces. Short, fleeting kisses are exchanged between Artemis' servants; one of the nymphs drags her top lip gently over the wet exposed flesh of another's neck, while yet another rests her hands on her shoulder blades, massaging them.
All this is lost on Actaion. He stares at the sun that is Artemis' body in the pool, at her nipples that are lapped against by the movement ripples of the water. Where her servants touch her, she flushes red. Her body is like a shell; open, accepting.
Then, she suddenly looks him straight in the face and all of the relaxation drains out of her body. The moment is lost. She screams as her maidens scramble around her to protect her from his eyes – and she yells and she yells and something's happening to him and he needs to run away now –
He can hear his hounds barking in the distance.