She woke in a bed that wasn't hers. Next to a body she didn't recognize. Mey-Rin tensed, a hand was on her hip. Another arm under her waist, curled up, but not touching her body, but close. She looked down and saw the dark brown pillow and sheets she washed on a regular basis. They were Sebastian's. A moment of panic made her look down again, at her body; she was clothed, but in his bed. And his hand, his bare, naked, right hand, was on her hip. His left one twitched a bit, as she sucked in a breath, watching in horror at the long fingers moved, as if he was dreaming of playing a piano. She tried to lift his right hand, but found it hard to move.
Licking her lips, she turned a bit and squeezed her eyes shut as she twisted and his hand now laid on top of her sex, her body tensed as she felt his left on the middle of her back. Scooting towards the edge of the bed, not too far away, she slipped out of the bed and stood, blushing deeply at how his hand had trailed over her body, making her want to feel them again. She took a step towards the door and another one.
"You could have asked me to move my hand."
Mey-Rin squeaked and jumped. She whirled around and saw Sebastian sitting in the very bed she had just carefully crawled out of.
"I didn't mean to startle you."
"Yes you did!" she hissed, walking closer to the end of the bed. "You knew I was trying to leave and - oh dear goodness, this is so improper!" she turned and stopped. "Why did you take me to your bed?"
He raised an eyebrow and glanced down at his bed, rumpled. "You needed protecting."
"I needed understanding and clarity," she retorted. "And I needed… I wanted, to put my feelings into something I could contain."
He smiled a bit. "Humans love to contain their emotions," he said, looking at her with a curious gleam. "You crave the wild ambitions and the crazy feelings, but bottle up those who express either too deeply. You are envious of those who can love with abandon, dance with such freedom, but inside you want to be doing it too."
She looked at him and sighed. "I can't deny that."
"Don't deny it at all," he said, now crawling towards her. She blinked and he was leaning into her face. "Don't deny any of it."
"Sebastian," she breathed.
"Mey-Rin," he responded.
Her lips danced over his and she backed a step, he reached out and pulled her back.
"I will never hurt you."
"Yet you are the essence of evil."
He gave a small laugh. "Yes, I am. But I can also feel other emotions. Lust. Desire. Protection. Possession. Need. Love." He smiled and kissed her cheek. "I feel them all deeply as I feel the darkness. I am not light, and I am a little less dark as I used to be," he chuckled. He cupped her chin and swiped a thumb over her lips. "There. There you are my Dignified Little Warrior. That's what you are, pure love and pure hate all in one beautifully wrapped package."
She surged forward and kissed him, suddenly wanting nothing but his lips on hers. She fought for air as she slowly pulled back. "I want to give you everything," she sighed. "But it has already been taken."
She let the tears slip down her face and his fingers wiped them up and brought her to his chest. He kissed her head and she felt as if he wanted to not let her go. Mey-Rin sighed; that was fine by her.
"I am a specialty in broken objects," he whispered into her hair finally. "The young master, Finny, Bard, you - hell, myself." He pulled back again and looked at her. "We are all broken, but we are finding our way to deal with the brokenness. I told you, I am selfish - I want you. I want your broken past. I want your bright future. I want the young master's as well, but you," he sighed and eyed her, "you are the strongest woman I have met and I want that. I need that. I have wanted to be that strong at my weakest, and you - out of all the lifetimes - have shown me how to walk with the demons and the brightness of the future."
There was a moment of stillness and Mey-Rin brought her hands to his face, and looked into his eyes. They were bright and pleading, bright and desiring, bright and loving. She blinked and focused on all the small details, some clear, some not, but the one thing that was very clear was she didn't mind if he wasn't as human as he appeared, if he wasn't quiet the same kind of monster she had grown up to be, if he was that in between, needed redemption and yet fought against it, feeling like punishment was appropriate, all in equal measures - like her.
Like her.
She was living in the in-between as he had said before. And now, standing at the foot of the bed, being held in arms of unknown strength, the spark of something once more spilled into her mind. The moment when she had let herself believe, as a young, naive girl, that she would be able to find a man who would rescue her, hold her, be the only thing they would see. And now, now in the space of a breath, Mey-Rin brought that small girl from the depths of where she had sunk so quickly after learning no one would rescue her, no one would keep her safe, no one would defend her, and presented the man she looked at, to her broken childhood self.
"I have been looking all my life for you too."