AN: Found a writing promt that quickly turned into a fluffy Easter plot bunny this morning. Happy Easter everyone :)
"You look cute like that, Meredith." Orsino could barely hide the humour in his voice.
"Like what?" she snapped, blue eyes blazing, a furious storm brewing inside. It mirrored the storm brewing above her head in perfect manner. Whoever had found this spell and dared to use it on the unsuspecting Knight Commander deserved a medal for excellent sense of humour and bravery. As a mage grown up in the circle he had very few memories to cherish but this one would burn itself into his brain and retina, brightening all the future gloomy days to come. Of course he could not tell her that. It was cute in the most strangest of ways how the clouds hovering above her head reacted to every whim of her whirlwind of emotions.
"All sleep deprived and hating the world," he finally said. Nothing far from the usual, but the clouds added to it and a small fraction of him liked to see her suffer. The clouds darkened further as thunder and lightning roared above her head.
"Very funny, First Enchanter!" she spat. "I suggest you cancel the spell or I will annul the circle!" Another bout of thunder roared and they both winced as a nasty bit lightning followed, bright enough to illuminate his whole office which was dark save for the single candle on his desk. The First Enchanter was completely unfazed by her threat.
"Relax, Knight Commander. It will get better as soon as you relax." His suggestion seemed to anger her further and she did the opposite, shoulders tensing and the muscles in her jaw working, grinding teeth on teeth. As if on cue it started to rain, drenching her in ice cold water.
The elf could not help the grin from spreading on his face, easing the deep lines of worry away and mirth dancing in his expressive green eyes. "Meredith, you are raining on my carpet."
"How very good of you to state the obvious! Cancel. That. Spell!" She spat every syllable, sarcasm dripping from her mouth like the water from the clouds above her.
"I can't," he said with a shrug, eyes fixing on the droplets of water running down her face, tracing every contour of sharp cheekbones and soft lips before they met on her chin and made their way further down as a trickle. "You need to relax; the clouds will vanish as soon as the sun comes out."
Suddenly she looked as if all energy had left her and she slumped down in the chair in front of his desk, brows furrowing. "I'm cold." It was still cold for spring and she was clad in nothing but her now soaked shift, standing in his unheated office. Her attacker had hexed her right after her early morning jog, obviously careful not to hurt her. Lightning so close to her person combined with her metal plate would have been a rather unpleasant and disastrous experience.
Orsino smiled sympathetically and got to his feet. He rounded his desk, pausing behind her. He wasn't touching her, but it was still close enough to feel the body heat of the other in the cool office. Gently putting his hands on her wet shoulders he started to softly massage the tension he found underneath his fingertips. Her eyes snapped shut, head tilting slightly forward to give him better access. After all these years he was familiar with every tense knot in her muscles. As he reached a particular bad one on her right shoulder blade he drew a rather illicit moan out of her. She didn't care.
The rain lightened enough to reduce itself to a few heavy drops of water here and there as he moved her damp blond tresses away from her neck and pressed a soft kiss to her cool damp skin. The clouds brightened further and went from deep bluish grey to a much lighter hue.
"There," he whispered in her ear, his teeth grazing her earlobe, making her gasp and shiver. Orsino wasn't sure if it was his doing or the chill of his office, his eyes transfixed on the now shrinking clouds. Meredith's clothes and skin were clammy beneath his fingers but it didn't matter as he sneaked one hand around her neck, grabbing her jaw to tilt her head back and towards him. He ghosted a feather light kiss over her lips before he drew her into a searing and hungry one, tongue tracing her upper lip before entering her mouth without meeting resistance. She reached out and pulled him closer.
"Orsino…" she mumbled.
"The sun suits you a lot better," he spoke, lips barely parted from hers.
She looked at him with half closed eyelids, expression unreadable as his deep and gentle voice distracted whatever thoughts coursed through her brain, leaving her mind blank and focused on nothing but his presence. The clouds above her head vanished with a soft 'pop'.
He smiled the most genuine smile he'd smiled in years. Meredith didn't know why and she didn't dare questioning him. She was completely unaware the soft noise had changed the man's world within less than 10 minutes and the elf silently thanked the Maker for whomever had dared to prank his fierce spitfire of a woman this early in the morning.
For years he had wondered what he was to her. Their affair had dragged on for so long but she had always left him in the dark about her feelings or even the existence of said feelings. He'd spend nights lying awake thinking if he was the logical choice because he held similar powers in the Gallows or if she followed the same strange pull he always felt in her presence. He knew she frowned upon fraternizing with subordinates which left her with very little choices in the first place.
The discovery he had such an effect on her, that he could unwind her - the enigmatic force of everything templar put into the body of a beautiful woman - within minutes delighted him, heart beating faster and almost bursting with happiness. He now knew what he was to her and kissed her again, lips still stretched into a smile.
"I still want to punish whoever did that," she growled, her voice sounding more like a contend purr.
"Later," he murmured, dragging her to her feet before trapping her between his body and his desk. "Much later," he added as he busied his slender fingers with the removal of her shift. They still had an hour left before the Gallows would be buzzing with the daily ongoings and he intended to use it to show her just how much he valued her feelings even if she was unaware or in denial of them.