So I recently joined the ToG fandom because damn theses books are amazing. Manon x Asterin my OTP so yeah. Here's a fic for yah.

Manon's voice was quiet as she spoke, eyes fixed on her Second.

"What was like?... To love?"

Asterin was quiet for a while, one hand pressed against her chest. Of all of them, all of the Thirteen, Asterin was the only one. The only one who knew what it was like to love. The emotion that humans spoke so fondly of.

Manon could only imagine what it was like. She'd bedded many a man and felt pleasure from sex but nothing ever seemed right. Nothing seemed to fit. She didn't know. Maybe their kind was the kind that could never love another. They were different, heartless...

Asterin was still quiet, the only noise between them the rise and fall of their breaths. Manon waited patiently, giving her time to compose herself. Asterin wasn't looking at her, instead staring at the ground. Manon still remains silent.

And finally Asterin spoke.

"Love..." her Second breathed. "It was like dying a little every day. It was like being alive, too. It was joy so complete it was pain. It destroyed me and unmade me and forged me. I hated it, because I knew I couldn't escape it, and knew it would forever change me."

Finally Asterin raised her eyes to meet her own. Manon gazed into those gold-flecked black eyes and all the emotion in them. There was no grin, no amusement, no raw fire dancing in the beautiful girl's eyes.

There was something else. Something deeper and darker. Pure and strong.

Asterin raised a hand towards her but Manon did nothing to stop her. She let her Second touch her face, the fingertip's skin hardened from years of training and battle. Asterin cupped her cheek, a thumb brushing over her cheekbone.

She was so close that Manon thought she could hear the thrum of her heartbeat. Or maybe it was her own, the pulse throbbing in her throat. Was this nervousness she felt? But from what?

"It's caring about someone more than yourself," the golden haired witch whispered. "Putting them before you. Your life is meaningless without them. You need them more than anything."

Her other hand slid around the side of Manon's neck, her iron nails out and pricking her skin. Manon felt them rest of the back of neck, just above the spine. Her thumb rested below her chin, keeping her gaze level with her own.

A while ago, Manon might have snapped Asterin's wrist for daring to draw her nails at her.

But it was different now. There was nothing threatening about the way her Second touched her. It was... Sensational. Her skin prickled, feeling the iron giving gentle kisses to her neck. It pricked but didn't break skin. If Asterin so wished, she could end her life there and then.

That feeling of helplessness, vulnerability, stirred something inside her.

"When you have nothing, they are all you want," Asterin continued. "Your mind wanders to them without meaning to. They are your life, your whole world. They mean everything to you. "

Asterin had stepped forward. Manon could feel her Second's chest gently skimming her own. They were touching but barely so. The heat of her body, the warmth dragging her closer, closer to her. Asterin's eyes were dark, pupils so enlarged that they were practically pure black.

"Asterin..." Manon exhaled.

Then her Second kissed her, mouth achingly soft against hers. The hand on her neck steadied her while the lips did their work. Manon didn't know how to react, what to do with her hands. Where even to look. So she just stared at Asterin.

Her Second's eyes were closed, long lashes casting shadows down the plains of her face. She was beautiful, there was no denying that. All the Thirteen were. But Asterin was so... There was something special about her. She was different from the others.

Manon felt her body relax in her grasp, felt herself even move towards Asterin. Something, something feral inside her felt satisfied. Felt hungry for the golden haired girl's touch. Manon didn't understand. She didn't understand at all.

But it felt so right, so perfect to her. It was in that moment that Manon decided. Decided that everything would change. Her life, Asterin's life, the whole world. Everything would change.

Asterin pulled away, dark eyes cast towards the ground once again. Manon blinked twice, a hand touching her lips. They still tingled from the sensation of Asterin's mouth.

Asterin let out an exhale. "I don't want anything from you, Wing Leader," she whispered. "I don't expect you to give me anything in return. I just want you to know. To know that I will never turn on you. Manon... I will forever stay with you. I will keep you save. I-"

Manon moved forward, catching Asterin's wrists in her hands. Before the golden haired girl could react Manon had pressed her mouth to her own.

Her Second stiffened, words caught in her throat. Manon pulled her towards herself, letting their bodies collide. Asterin was lean and muscled, every inch the deadly warrior, but she melted under her touch. Manon's tongue swirled in and Asterin's mouth opened to allow her in.

Manon growled low in her throat, nipping at the witch's bottom lip. She tugged lightly at it before moving in with her tongue again. Over a hundred years of experience gave her skills that could make any man weak at the knees. And Asterin, so it seemed.

They broke apart, Asterin's eyes wide. She was shocked, expression clearly showing so. Asterin hadn't expected anything from her declaration. Most definitely didn't think that was how she'd have responded. Manon felt a grin sweep across her face.

She pressed Asterin against the wall behind her, a hand on each wrist, keeping them trapped above her head. Asterin was a seasoned warrior. If she so wished she could have easily kneed Manon in the gut and escaped. But she didn't. Instead she gazed at Manon with those eyes of hers.

"I love you, Manon," her Second gasped, breath short and needy.

Manon felt the sadist inside her curl and exhale, ready to lunge. Love wasn't something she understood. Didn't know if it was something she could ever understand.

But she felt something. It was unknown to her, a warm emotion that filled her from her head to her toes as she gazed at the witch. She didn't know how describe it, didn't have the right word to convey. It wasn't passion, it wasn't lust, it was much deeper.

So much more. She wanted to tell her how she felt, tell her the dark contents of her mind and what stirred inside her when she saw her. But how could she describe it if even she didn't know what it was. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have the words.

But Asterin saw it in her eyes and understood all that was in her heart. A shy blush crept across her face.

Manon felt a rush of amusement. Asterin was one of the Blackbeaks, a cruel warrior with a taste for human blood. She didn't blush. She didn't sob. She didn't mourn. None of them did. They were hardened and bloodthirsty, their lifestyle tough.

But here she was, trapped against a wall with red staining her cheeks. Manon grinned. Manon pushed her hips against her Second's, smirking at the little noise she made. A whimper.

Clutching both her wrists in one hand, she let traced Asterin's beautiful face with an iron nail. "You are mine," she growled, voice ending in a purr. "My Second, my warrior. Never will another lay claim to you. Because you are mine."

Asterin let out a shuddering gasp, arching her head back. This action left her throat bare to Manon who's eyes gleamed at the sight of the pure skin.

Witches didn't drink the blood of other witches. They only drank the blood of mortals, blood their sort of wine. But right now, Manon thought it would be a good way to leave her mark. Show Asterin that she was hers and no one else's.

Manon let her iron teeth snap out and pressed a kiss to the skin beneath her ear. Slowly she let them scrap along Asterin's neck, hovering over the pulse point. Beneath the surface of her golden skin flowed blue blood. Her veins were strong, little maps of blue weaving their way across her body.

Asterin's breath was shallow, full chest rising and falling. She'd pay attention to that area later. Manon kissed her neck again, choosing the spot she'd bite and draw blood. Just at the curve of her neck.

But before she did so, she paused, raising her eyes to Asterin's face. The witch's eyes were closed, lips slightly parting as she gasped. Manon licked her lips. "Is this... alright?"

Asterin's eyes flickered open, dark golden-flecked eyes ecstatic. "Destroy me," she gasped. "Mark me, do whatever you want. I am yours, Manon."

That was all she need to hear, the only push she needed. Manon dug her teeth into the witch's skin, feeling Asterin gasp beneath her. Her blue blood seeped into Manon mouth, allowing Manon to taste what ran in her veins.

Of all the blood Manon had ever drunk, Asterin's was by fair the most electrifying. It sent a chill down her spine, making her toes curl. The sweet liquid was swept up by her tongue as she probed gently at the cut. This was damn good.

"Manon!" Asterin gasped.

Manon raised her head, swiping her lips to rid them of the witch's blue blood. She bared her iron teeth in a snarl, a challenge in her eyes. "Shut up and kiss me."

Asterin's eyes were alive with a wicked fire and suddenly her wrists were free from her hands. Manon felt the golden haired girl spin her around and suddenly the wall was to her back, her own wrists trapped against the stone. There was a feral gleam to her grin as her Second leaned over her.

"As you wish, mistress."