Luna didn't know how long she stayed there with him like that. She didn't think he did either. But by the time she was able to take a step back, she had recovered herself, at least enough to not be falling apart completely. Her eyes were still soaked, but no longer leaking. Her eyes were probably red.
She didn't know how anyone was able to stand something like this. How could he blame himself for this? What could he have done, come sooner? He hadn't even known about her until they had met on his first visit, when he took her away without even staying for a single night.
And she told him as much, though her voice was unstable. As she spoke, her words began to rush over themselves, and she had to take a breath and quiet thoughts, then organize them, then she started again.
"This isn't because of you," she said. Her mouth barely moved, and this time she was nearly silent. Her emotions were too strong. She felt like if she tried to stand and be loud, she would just be lost in the current, unable to regain her footing.
So she leaned up as close to his ear as she could get, leaning heavily on his chest, supporting herself with both hands against him.
"It isn't your fault," she said for the third time. She thought he got it this time, but she wasn't sure, so she backed off a bit to see his reaction, but she didn't dare to take her hand off of him. His head lifted slowly, so that he was looking down at her instead of at the ground.
Well, he didn't seem to agree, but at least he heard it.
She leaned back up to try again.
"It's not your fault. It couldn't be. You didn't know me since before you took me."
"I could tell he was wrong. As a ruler," Lukas confided, his voice low. The fury was still there, but now it was buried underneath something broken. "I pushed for my father to depose him, but he refused. He said we don't mess in the humans' affairs. I should have pushed harder, I should have-"
He was gaining more momentum as he spoke, so Luna had to stop him.
Unfortunately, she had no idea how to do that.
So she just turned her head and kissed his cheek.
To her relief, his ranting cut off almost immediately. He took in a deep breath, and Luna realized that she was holding in one of her own.
Lukas pushed her back and down slowly, onto her feet, solid on the ground.
They looked at each other, one set of eyes strained and gaunt and the other firm and defiant.
Luna couldn't tell which was which. Both sets of emotions reflected back and forth across their eyes, until they were once again the same.
They were too similar to have come from different worlds.
Luna let out her breath slowly, forcing herself to calm down. Simultaneously, he released his own with a soft sound.
Hah...
Too close. Luna frowned, confused. Why did it feel like...
His hands grabbed her waist.
When had he moved? She had thought that she had been staring right at his eyes. Maybe their reflection was lingering? Whatever the reason, he was fast. Unnaturally so, impossibly so.
And she loved it.
If he had been trying to hold back, then he wouldn't be moving so quickly.
But as his grip tightened on her thighs, she realized that she was very, very wrong.
He was trying to hold back, he was just doing it in a different way than usual, by letting out some power instead of allowing it to get out of control. Either that or he was slipping and losing control of his strength and power.
Luna honestly wasn't sure which was scarier. Or if it even mattered.
Either way, she was stuck in the room with him. Even if she had been able to escape his grip, he was much faster than her, with far too much power for her to even hope to surprise him, much less outrun him. His body was literally vibrating against hers, and she could feel it against her bare back. There were more scars there.
I am so fucked. Again.