Disclaimer: I do not know Vrael or any of these characters, nor do I own them.
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Chapter 13-Pained Warmth
Arya entered the dim-lighted verituble grimly. She had never planned for this to happen.
On the way up the long spiraled stairs, she considered her odds with Eoin. They weren't to her favor. He was... different. He was good-looking and all, and he was cursed, as somehow she was, but he always seemed distant to her, and, she fears, he will always be so; while she's realistic and down-to-earth (somehow). She knew why now, and she couldn't do anything about it. He is young, and he does not seem to understand, although his curse would've been thought to clear his eyes by now.
And he didn't love her. He couldn't-
Arya shook her head angrily. I ain't fooling anyone, not even myself. Romantic or realistic, she couldn't cared less. She was only... scared. The voices, the screams. Is that really him? She shuddered at the thought.
Evarinya's low deep breaths snapped her back to the present. Briam was snoring contently in the arm chair, his glasses dangling from his nose and the scrolls scattered across his lap. Evarinya was coiled into the ball on the warm mattresses, his breaths loud and long. And near him sat Vrael (Arya could feel his presence), staring distantly across the black horizon of the forest.
Arya smiled and sat next to him careful not to the step on Evarinya, shoulders and hips touching, none making an effort to shift.
Vrael simply blinked, not taking his eyes of the horizon.
Arya eyed him, concerned. Something didn't feel right. "Vrael?"
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Vrael flinched at the sound of his name coming from her lips. How he loved her!
He looked at her hiding his true emotions, and saw the concern written across her face. He was glad, but retaining his expressionless face, he said, "Yes, Arya?"
Arya said nothing, and merely heaved a weighty sigh.
Vrael took no notice and turned back to the horizon. A long silence followed. Vrael saw the sun as a tiny yellow speck in the horizon, but it was so small, no light was cast on the forest yet and the stars still shone. It was a beautiful sight, unlike Vrael had ever seen.
But then again, so is Arya, he thought to himself.
Vrael was awoken from his thoughts by a soft touch on his arm.
"Vrael?"
He looked and saw Arya staring at Vrael with her black-green eyes, her hand on his. He flinched, hoping she hadn't felt that. "Have you not slept?"
"No, Arya. I have no hope in sleeping tonight."
Arya was too sleepy to notice what he was hinting to, and yawned loudly. She inched closer to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, I do."
Vrael smiled, unable to hide it this time. "G'night, then."
Arya cuddled closer to Vrael, like a child cuddling in her sheets. "You're warm."
"If that's a compliment, so are you."
Arya fell asleep that night smiling, her head still resting on Vrael's shoulder. He looked at her for a while, and saw a tear run down her silky white cheek. He wiped it off with his free hand.
Finally, Vrael sighed deeply, and rested his back against Evarinya's warm scales behind him. Just before he closed his eyes and fell deeply asleep, he heard Evarinya's quite chuckling in his mind.
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Eoin perched on the topmost of the highest tree his wings taut and stretched behind, his knees bent to his chest; he scanned the horizon in front of him. His now-improved eye saw the houses, the elves inside, the content faces they wore as they slept.
Eoin grumbled enviously over the growing voices in his head. He turned and stared at the vestibule and saw Arya and Vrael both asleep, Arya's head on Vrael's shoulder, a smug expression on her face.
Eoin only blinked blankly. He cared less. He didn't really love Arya. Eoin laughed grimly. How could he ever love? Yes, suicide has touched his mind many a million times, but the moment he picked the knife, the voices made him put it back again. They were part of him now-or, better put, they were HIM now.
Eoin eyed the rising sun in the distance and scowled. Now was the end of the night, as it has always been. Screams loudened in his mind, and his wings trembled. Eoin didn't move. The pain would come surely as it had before, but he liked it up here. The serenity and beauty of the forest seemed to decrease the screams.
So he stayed there, wincing and gasping every now and then in the pain.
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A/n: I'm thinking about dropping the idea of VraelxArya. Too naive, in my opinion. Tell me: should I drop it for good, or just for a long while through the story? (Sparks and minor attractions included, though).
