Context: set in the Black Spring AU. Raven is the Winter Maiden.
This scene takes place after the fall of Vale in V3. A seizable part of the survivors from the City of Vale have been relocated to the Island of Patch temporarily. The scar on Raven's face is from a Grimm Bug alike to the one Cinder used to attack Amber.
A Feathered Dragon (Raven Branwen x Taiyang Xiao Long) Oneshot.
They are lying on the bed naked. They have been staring at each other under the dim moon light, filtered by the window, for some time. At moments one of them will close their eyes and it appears they will just slip into slumber like that, but the eyes always open up again.
It's awkward, yet Taiyang is glad. He knows he should be mad, that he is in his right to be angry. He knows he is in his complete right to kick her out of his home.
He also knows she understands all of that. Her original intention when arriving to the island was looking for a place for herself. It took all of his pleas to convince her to stay at the house. And yet she didn't accept to take the guest room. Rather, she accommodated herself on the couch.
It bothers him. It makes him feel anxious, that he will wake up one morning and she will have vanished like the last time. And he will be left to pick up the pieces of their life by himself again. He can't avoid the sensation the couch is her way to avoid the permanence of installing oneself in a room.
And the question comes again: why does he care? Why does he allow her in his bed? The answer is simple: he still loves her. But it's easier to tell himself that he needs the part of his life she became back, because everything else is fractured beyond repair.
She had slipped into his bed that night without a word. Without asking for permission or forgiveness. She had never been the type to give excuses and she wasn't about to start now. And all he had been able to do was wish this was her way to say she was staying for good.
Raven's head rests over her left arm. She stretches her right hand to him, caresses his golden hair. It's a gesture for him to get closer. After 17 years they can still understand each other without words.
He props himself up with his right arm, and rests himself closer to her. They are touching now. Their legs tangle with each other.
She kisses him. And he corresponds.
It's not a passionate kiss. They don't burn, consuming, devouring each other. It's warm. It's sweet. It's the touch of two souls that have been lonely for too long. There is no urging desire, only longing.
And then it's over. As suddenly as it started.
There is a brief moment. His eyes stare into hers. A strange contrast of the cold lilac and her bright red.
He tempts to untangle their legs but she quickly responds by pulling them tightly together.
He boops his nose against hers. Trails her shoulder with his finger. And that's when, she pulls from him. Makes them turn so now she is on her back and he is sitting on top of her.
He almost falls flat, and has to use his hands to prevent himself from landing on her face.
Raven moves under him and shows him her neck. Taiyang leans on her, kisses it from the base up and then again. He can tell she is enjoying it by the way her hands reach to hold the sides of his abdomen.
His mouth moves down to the centre of her chest. He trails a line to her navel. Lays kisses circularly on her abdomen, until he feels the skin under his lips shake lightly. He looks up to her face to discover her giggling. He continues kissing her, giving her tickles.
It's over when her hands grasp strongly his shoulders and he helps her sit up. The smile still grazes her lips.
Then, it's as if she has a sudden rush of self conciousness, and leaves her hair fall covering the scar over the right half of her face. He must be scared this is the first step before she runs away and vanishes into the night, because his hand clenches on her arm, desperately. She notices and looks him in the eye.
There is a moment, when the silence appears to intensify.
"So?" her voice comes as a whisper.
"So?" he braves back.
"I want to." Raven replies. "Do you?"
It takes him a second to reply. A fear, an anxiety resurges. He hasn't touched a woman since he lost Summer. But what about Raven? Has she been with other men? Women? Since their last time. She left him, there is no reason to believe she hasn't touched other shores while away from him. But the primordial question in his mind: if he isn't good enough tonight, if she doesn't enjoy it, will that prompt her to take off again?
Taiyang looks at Raven, sees her. She is waiting for his reply. So he nods. "Yes."
She embraces his shoulders and he holds her hips as he leans back. They slide into each other fluently. There is ease as they move together.
Her back rests on his arm, one of her hands reaches for his hair while the other meets with his on her hip.
It culminates in ecstasy, and she lies down on his chest. His hand untangles from hers and runs down her feathered hair.
And then, it's over. She slips away from him and off the bed. He catches a glimpse as she vanishes from the room. A moment later he is up, heading to the bathroom. She isn't there.
His footsteps take him to the living room, but she hasn't retreated to the couch.
When he rushes to the room, it's to grab his clothes, ready to run into the night after her. Unwilling to let her go again.
Unnecessary. She is there.
Raven lays giving her back to the dorm's door. Her naked figure covered by the thin bed sheet.
Taiyang climbs to the bed behind her. Gets under the sheets gently, a fear of disturbing her. That the most minimal abrupt movement will cause Raven to vanish as a mirage. As if she were to dissolve away into the night.
He lays next to her and slowly slides an arm over her torso. He is surprised by her responding by taking his hand and pulling him closer. Soon, she has taken his other hand and encourages his arm to go under her body. Their legs tangle up again.
They fall asleep like that.
A fear lingers in the night air: that she won't be there when the Sun rises.