A/N: Drabble inspired by Vladimir Nabokov's 'Ada, or Ardour', a tale, like James and Zilpha, of an incestuous love affair between two siblings. Specifically, a pastiche on Part 1, Chapter 9, available at the Ada Online archive project run by the University of Auckland.
Nabokov goes on like this for several pages. I can only manage it for 100 words.
Was she pretty, at twelve? Did he—could he—have wanted her then? Her black hair tossed over a bony shoulder was a vision; his dreams—those shadowy locks as silk upon her naked skin. The dreary English climate made pallor of her Mediterranean palette. Dark lashes lowered in a demure crescent on smooth cheeks; her face delicate and sharp as carved ivory, flint eyes to cut a hollow in the stone of James Delaney's heart.
Fervent and arduous, James burned with the fever of his ardour. Long before Africa, he surrendered his virginity to a German whore and thought only of her.