+ Fallacy, a 100themes Challenge +
Sarehptar
Theme: 7, Heaven
Characters: Kharl, Star Princess
Pairing: Kharl/Star Princess (I know you all just went, WHAT?.!)
Warnings: Pure and pointless fluff, snow romping, play on the interchangability of "demons" and "devils".
Need to Know Info: A working knowledge of Cloaks chapters 15 and 16 would be helpful. If you don't have that, you'll just have to pretend the Star Princess and Kharl met and became friends. A tolerance for crack pairings is kinda necessary...
Title Provider: In Her Eyes (Josh Groban)
She Stares Through My Shadow, She Sees Something More...
He did not expect to see her, but it instantly makes the day a shade brighter; makes the sun (burningly white where it shines against the snow) seem kinder, seem warmer. Perhaps it is a natural talent of hers, to shed light without effort. Her delicate rose eyes glimmer with happiness and a girlish excitement that brings a smile unbidden to his face. Her breath clouds mist-like as she stands before his open door.
"Lord Alchemist." The fragile woman smiles too, coral lips parting just slightly, enough to bare her enjoyment.
"It's been a long time," he leans on the doorframe, a mockery of casualness that doesn't suit a man of his stature, "Hime-sama." Her cheeks color suddenly, and he wonders if it is because a demon of his strength is bowing to her or because of something else entirely. She looks for a moment over his shoulder, as if she is expecting to be invited in. A mischievous idea catches hold of him, lighting in his lilac eyes like fire. "To what do I owe this visit?" He moves just enough that she'll have to strain to see around him.
"I—" she has realized he is teasing her, and cannot understand why, "I wanted to see you." The pale pink has not faded from her cheeks, and something about that warms something inside him.
"Really." It's more a statement when he says it than a question, and there is the ghost of a pleasant smirk in the corners of his lips. "I had not realized I was such desirable company." The good-natured sound of it sets her on edge, because this is not how demons are supposed to act. She cannot stop herself from thinking that Kharl is unlike any demon she has ever met. When he steps over the doorsill toward her, it is not easy to keep herself from stepping back. The porch is small and, she notes with revelation, Kharl is quite tall. She reaches barely to his collar bone, and when they are standing so close together, she has to stare up. It makes her feel smaller suddenly, more like the girl she is.
"I wanted to see you too," he says it in a hesitant way, as if he has just realized it for himself. Without the slightest of warning –she has found he is fond of surprises– he reaches for her arm and pulls her down the steps. His grip has a practiced lightness to it, and she knows he is gentle because even a tiny bit of strength could bruise her. The thought drifts through her mind, and she refuses to let it take a solid form. He could tear her apart with less effort than it takes him to walk beside her—but he would not. She can feel the steady beat of his heart and hears each of his feelings in its monotone melody. For a moment she feels what he feels, and happiness that is both of theirs sounds an untouched beat.
For a long time, she simply walks beside him, mirroring his footsteps over the uneven forest terrain. There is something peaceful in it, something that she knows she will miss. She does not tell him (cannot tell him) but this will be the last time they will see each other. He knows, she imagines, looking at the delicate curve of his jaw and the lilac of his eyes that is calm but lit with solemnity. He is brilliant, and he must know, and it hurts suddenly—as if she is betraying something by leaving this world that is not her own. It is almost a physical pain, and wordlessly, she wishes that Kharl could feel her heart like she can feel his. She does not want him, not even for one moment, to think she does not regret.
There is a snap of a branch that stills them both from shock, and suddenly, a miniature avalanche of snow tumbles from the canopy and, as if by fate, pours over him, down the back of his cloak, over his shoulders, resting complacently on top of his pale plumed hair. His pale eyes blink owlishly at her, and he almost sneezes when a cold drop falls onto the end of his nose. For a moment, she is silent, utterly so, and then she can no longer hold herself back. A giggle escapes her, and then another, and in seconds, without even meaning to be, she is caught up in a gale of laughter. He has the dignity to look momentarily cross, and then he is laughing too, a deeper and louder sound that rings like church bells in her ears. She is so busy covering her wide smile with her hands, to hold in the giggles, that she notices his movements far too late.
With deft hands, he lifts a large chunk of the snow that had settled on his head and dumps it over her. A gasp of shock brings another round of laughter to his mouth, and she shivers and shakes the cold off quickly.
"That was quite cruel of you, Lord Alchemist." There is a note of imminent retribution in it that makes him nervous. He hastily backs away, and not a moment too late—she tosses a handful of loose snow at him that slips beneath his collar and makes goosebumps rise on hidden skin. Her gentle smile does not change, but he can see a flicker of excitement in her roseate eyes that makes his heart beat faster. He is running by the time she has found a decently firm patch of snow to make snowballs from.
They are both soaked from multiple strikes of melted snow, and he worries that perhaps she will catch cold, but shakes off the thought. Fragile as she is, there is a power rivaling his own inside her, and beneath the timid exterior and the breakable heart she bears, he knows there is a firm and powerful person lurking. She is a princess who will soon become a queen—there is a hint of the wise and tactful ruler she will become hidden just under her surface. With contented, tired sighs, they fall beside each other in the snow. It is cold, and both their cloaks fail to warm them.
He can feel her form beside him, panting misty breathes and smiling a wide and pure smile. Her rose locks are untamed and windswept, falling over him and tangling in his pale fingers. He wants to suggest they make snow angels, but suddenly there is something painful in the idea. Who is the angel?
He turns to look at her in the wrong moment, the same moment she turns to look at him, and their lips are dangerously close, and their eyes are dangerously inviting. He can feel her warm breath dance across his lips, melting the ice, and she must feel his too—she does not move, she does not blink, he wonders if she is waiting for something or is trying to say words neither one of them wants to hear.
He pulls back and helps her up with a frozen hand and his frozen heart.
The Princess of Heaven takes his hand with trembling fingers, and the happiness in her eyes is gone. She is engaged to be married, engaged to take her place as the pure-hearted ruler of another realm. She is engaged to a time and a world where he has no place—and her selfish heart breaks beneath his gaze. She does not cry, does not let her lips, cold and betrayed, slip into a frown. She laces her arm in his, the frigid expanse of his sleeve, and walks beside him.
Holds onto him, for just a moment.
He walks but sees nothing, and inside his mind, he shivers and wonders. He holds her tightly, because he never will again, and wonders.
Heaven wanted the devil, for just a moment.