From the prompt CS stargazing. Pretty, please!
His magic tingles his skin, almost as if it wants to burst out of his palms. He knows why, but he doesn't regret not using it.
The night is unusually quiet, or would be if Emma wasn't grunting and mumbling that she is still asleep and if he wants to drag her outside he has to actually drag her to the garden.
Which is exactly what he's doing.
He could have just teleported her outside, but Emma is what keeps him himself most of the time, and he wants to do things normally for once. In this case, Killian wants to surprise her.
More than, he wants to show her something he never showed anyone else. Until he met her, Killian never realized the darkness could be used without it needing a price to be paid. The darkness has not disappeared completely, it probably never will, but Emma… even if indirectly, she never allows it to take hold of him and plant roots, to dig its talons into his flesh and ruin him completely.
Another grumble makes him look over his shoulder, where Emma trails behind him whilst rubbing her eyes. He can't help it, he lets his eyes roam down her body, taking in the way the white burgundy shift she is wearing, a thin thing, made of almost transparent fabric, gently hugs her curves, not too tightly but not too loose either. He still is able to make out the curve of her breasts, his hungry gaze focusing for a moment over her hard nipples, consequence of the night breeze. He can't say that he minds.
Squeezing her fingers with his, Killian moves quicker, reaching the kitchens - place he's probably stepped into once or twice before meeting Emma - and the heading towards the little door at the very end of it, a blue orb swirling in front of him as it lightens their path.
«I'm going to murder you,» Emma murmurs, voice thick with sleep. He'd feel sorry - he does, actually - for waking her up in the dead of the night, if he didn't know she will love it.
Emma always speaks of how wonderful it is to see the world from high up above, to touch the clouds and enjoy that freedom she never felt before, but what Killian wants to show her is something she will never be able to see, not even on a dragon's back.
She's been in the garden right in front of the castle training Lily from dawn 'til dusk, only taking a break to eat something. She needs to work fast with Lily, no one knows when her calling will be, or if it will ever happen, but in case it does, she needs to be ready. Something in the back of Killian's mind, tells him things are different, that Lily won't have the call because she already has found her rider, but he can't be sure, and he sure as hell won't give Emma false hopes.
He opens the door with a flick of his wrist, the orb disappearing with a soft sigh, leaving them to be guided by the stars alone.
Padding over the chilly grass, both of them barefoot, the Dark One and the woman who is slowly but surely becoming a light in the darkness, much like a star, the brightest one, like Sirius. No, no, like the bloody sun.
Even though he doesn't need to sleep, Killian spends time in bed with Emma anyway, letting her curl against his chest. Sometimes, he does sleep. It's a rare event, not a too happy one, darkness always looming and invading his thoughts. He's never deemed himself lucky, but whenever he wakes up gasping or screaming, Emma is always there. If he doesn't wake her up, he just holds her close, breathing her scent as his heart stops pounding. Otherwise, Emma talks to him, calms him, and whenever her words are not enough, her actions make him forget, either fast and rough or slow and tenderly, soothing his soul and healing his blackened heart.
Because of this habit, he's now wearing linen pants and a shirt, even if he usually doesn't wear one, especially not after Emma manifested her deep fascination with his chest hair and body warmth. He can't deny her anything.
Suddenly, Emma disentangles her hand from his, only to go laying down onto the grass, humming in satisfaction as she stretches there.
Killian chuckles, a warm feeling enveloping her heart. He imitates her, his body buzzing in anticipation. Suddenly, he feels like a child, a sensation he's forgotten and never felt in a very long time. Turning his head to look at her, he admires how beautiful she is, kissed by the moonlight. The peculiarity of her skin makes it shine as if the stars had fallen and landed on her.
«Open your eyes,» he orders gently, reaching out to take her hand in his.
With a grunt, Emma does as asked, eyes widening in wonderment at the sight above her head.
Given the position of the castle and the lack of other lights around, the sky is neater and seems oddly closer than usual. A smile draws on Killian's face.
It takes her a moment to take it all in. «It's- Killian,» she gasps, «this is wonderful.»
A chuckle escapes his lips, leaving a wicked grin in its wake as he turns his head to look at the sky. «When I was a lad, I loved looking at the stars. My dear mother… she told me the stories connected to the constellations. When I joined the Navy, I used the stars to navigate, though I already knew how to, even if just a bit - slaves don't get to know anything, except for what their orders are.»
Emma squeezes his hand, bringing it to her lips and pressing a soft kiss on the back of it. His entire body trembles.
Not speaking another word, he waves his free hand towards the sky, all the while looking at Emma, cataloguing the changes in her expression. She gasps again, green eyes widening as she witnesses the wonders of nature.
Casting a quick glance towards the sky, Killian felt his heart jump. Every time, the sensation is the same: he feels so little and insignificant, but always in awe.
«I'd ask how,» Emma's voice breaks the solemn silence, gaze never moving away from the stars, «but I think I don't want to know.»
It's a breathtaking sight, the stars now so close they can see how they really are, always in movement, expanding and giving them the illusion of moving with them.
He lifts his hand, pointing at one of the constellations. «That one,» Killian begins, connecting the stars and leaving a magical faint trace to let her see its form, «is Scorpius, the sign you're born under.» Killian knows how much it means to Emma that someone knows those little things about her, information she deems important but would never admit she does. She's staring at him, he knows, but he keeps speaking, telling her, enrapturing her with the story of the battle between Orion and the scorpion.
He moves his hand, and the stars suddenly move faster. «Apologies, I should've warned you,» he murmurs, but Emma shakes her head, turning to look at him.
«Scorpius isn't in this hemisphere, is it?» she wonders, brows knitting together adorably. Killian wants to smooth the skin there with a kiss.
«No, it's not.» He doesn't add more, there's no need: he's used his magic, magic he restrains himself from using because he believes he won't come back out from the darkness if he goes down that path. It tells Emma he wasn't afraid when he decided to use it for her. She can't begin to express how much it means to her. «Alas, it was an illusion, but these,» he waves his hand towards the bright stars Emma never thought she could see so closely, «these are the ones you can see every night.»
He then traces another constellation, sure she'll love that one, a smile pulling at his lips. «May I introduce you to Draco?»
Killian tells her about almost every constellation they can see, sometimes recreating the Southern hemisphere again. He particularly enjoys those shifts, the quiet surprised gasps music to his ears.
Dawn is still hours away when he rolls onto his side, head propped onto one hand to better stare down at her. He catalogues every detail of her visage, from the sparkle in her irises, almost blue, even, to the way her lips curl up or part when the stars seem so dangerously close she fears they could fall from the sky.
With his free hand, he traces scorching trails over her ribs, her shift riding up, exposing her calves. She turns her head, and Killian's swift to capture her lips with his own in a gentle kiss, probably the sweetest they ever exchanged. He can't say that he minds.
Looming over her, his hand sneaks down her body, gripping the hem of her shift and gently tugging at it. Emma moans into his mouth as the cold air hits her nipples. Killian smirks.
«Keep your eyes open,» he whispers in her ear, a quiet order she follows as he trails open mouthed kisses along her neck, blatantly ignoring the hard peaks atop her soft mounds. He stops when the neckline impedes him from continuing. Changing his tactic, he noses her stomach, breathing warm air from above the fabric, making her squirm at the warmth she must feel. In the back of his mind, Killian wonders if it could be described as his own kind of fire.
A loud moan fills the air as he breaths right above her still-covered sex, the knowledge she's not wearing undergarments making his manhood throb. Tonight, however, is about Emma, not himself.
With his nose he traces a line up her thigh, sucking marks every few inches as he gets closer to his treasure, tongue swirling and tasting Emma's skin.
Emma never closes her eyes, not even when the pleasure is so great she's tempted to and her eyes threaten to flutter close every time she blinks. She's fisting his hair as he lets his tongue slid through her folds, the other hand clawing at the earth as her feet plants onto the ground. It's not easy to follow his order, especially not when she knows Killian will gladly punish her for disobeying him.
What she's seeing now, what she's feeling, what Killian is making her feel, though, is worth listening to him.
Much like for many sayings, she doesn't know about their origin, but in this case, one thing she knows for sure: whatever they meant when they forged the expression "to make them see stars" would never compare to the new significance those words have now taken.
The stars have never been more beautiful.