Beauty in Most Fragile of Places (Asteriel/E'zen)

She breathed lightly in her deep sleep of contentment, her golden curls splayed out around her head and shoulders. The corners of her mouth curved gently, as if in her slumber she smiled or laughed. She was warm and outside, her mist colored dragon lay beside his lover as sweetly as she did her own. There was nary a peep from Emanoth; he was too content and too exhausted by half to do anything other than sleep.

Slowly, the sleep peeled itself back from her. Still dream eyed, Asteriel opened her blue eyes softly to find her head pillowed against E'zens chest. Her legs tangled in his, her arms tucked against the warmth of him. She sighed deeply then, too happily for words.

The slightest of movements, but it was enough for him to realize he was not, entirely, comfortable.

It didn't matter, either. What did stone on his underside matter with velvet skin on his skin, silky hair across his shoulder, and the lightest of touches from his usually well-weighted shadow.

"Asteriel?" he asked softly, not wanting to wake her if she slept, but needing to see her face, know that this overwhelming experience had been good for her, and not...overwhelming.

She opened her eyes slowly and her smile was radiant as her mouth parted. "E'zen."

Her voice was the softest of sounds, caressing him with his own name. She was slightly stiff from the stone floor, with only their shed clothing to pillow them from the rock. She was sore for other reasons but only just so. It was of no matter to her. No physical discomfort could wipe the grin of joy off of her beautiful face.

If there were words in his head, they went right out in the face of the brilliance she turned on him. Luckily his hand could move without any conscious effort, and it rose to touch her face, almost wonderingly.

The feelings of the flight itself were there, riotous and shining and the moment of choice and falling and falling together and - there, yes, but something different. Something warm, and awed.

"Hi," he managed finally, stupidly, eyes still caught on hers. He definitely wanted to kiss her again, fully present, adding to the weight of the flight with just them, not even thinking someone might come for them, certainly not thinking of the weight of the rest of the Weyr's reaction. "You are so beautiful," he said instead, mouth also able to operate without any actual thought.

Warmth spread through her at his words and she leaned in and kissed him again. There was no one to stop them and here, with him, was so right. She had given her purity to the man she loved and right now, he was her world.

"Thank you, E'zen." she whispered when, at last, she broke the kiss. "You were...amazing."

It startled a little bit of a laugh from him - not the kiss (which was hard to break), but the compliment. "I think we were amazing," he said, voice low, meaning that as much as he's meant anything before. "And I'm...Asteriel," he said her name again, feeling it steady him somehow, "I'm glad it was you."

He'd wanted it to be her, and no one else, had he even given the time to think about it before Aliseth dove from her ledge. But who would have guessed it happened so soon?

"I'm glad it was you, also. It was my first time and that...you..it was so special." Asteriel said softly, as a butterfly landing on a flower. She nuzzled her face against his chest, breathing in the warm scent of him. She would have lain on that floor forever, if only to stay with him.

Whether she meant to or not, the words bubbled to her lips. "I have wanted this for so long."

E'zen thought, for the first time in some time, about Yalsine. She was a guilty start in his head, and his free hand lifted to touch the simple necklace he always wore.

She was so far away, physically and emotionally, and he wondered suddenly if Aliseth had shifted his loyalties so dramatically - he hadn't even thought of his parents, or what unfought Thread must be doing to the area around Eastern Weyr, in sevendays.

No, he realized, meeting those glowingly blue eyes of Asteriel's. It wasn't Aliseth's fault, or the smokerider's. Or, it was because of them, in part, but -

The complicated line of thinking petered out in favor of a dazed admiration of the woman in his arms, and of what she'd just told him. "Asteriel," he said, saying her name again because he could, because it grounded him in the moment, with her, "you were the one who made me really think about this place as...a place. Not an enemy. You and Aliseth..." they made this place home. He meant to say it, but faltered, the thought of the canyon he'd hated becoming, truly, his home still too big to deal with in this exact moment. "Maybe," he said instead, that old, blindingly sweet smile of his rising to the surface unreservedly, "we should make sure not to keep you waiting any longer. No one's coming for us, and I'm sure there's a storeroom with a little more padding - and I'm sure I can do better, focused on you." No room for shyness, her skin pressed to his, that lovely voice of hers landing in the most bewitching of ways.

She smiled and nodded, then slowly sat up from the warmth of him. "I would say the same for you, as your presence seemed to ease all the loss I experienced at Eastern. S'riel and Castera's deaths are not so sharp in the face of your tenderness. I can even overlook J'ril, flailing in all his hatred."

J'ril. Treyath. The thought suddenly sobered Asteriel. She cleared her throat and added.

"I won't let him near you, you know. If I have to get Casriel involved, I will. I know you and Aliseth are a power to be reckoned with but do not think Emanoth will not leap to Aliseth's defense, nor I yours."

She rose to a crouch and then stood, her curly gold hair tumbling down her front and only slightly obscuring her full breasts. Her expression was a equal mix of tender affection and gentle strength. She did not need to add threat to her words, only the honest truth that she would stand down J'rils fury.

E'zen probably should have thought of J'ril, and poor Treyath, who hadn't deserved the injury (not like his rider obviously did). He should have considered, or worried, or felt the barest tinge of Aliseth's scorn.

But he had no room for that, in any part of his body, with the glorious length of Asteriel fully revealed in front of him, all curves and soft edges and strength and gorgeousness. Few who were attracted to the female form could have blamed him, and it probably spoke to his willpower (or dazed shock at his luck) that he didn't lunge for her right then.

Instead he stood, carefully, eyes only for her and thoughts following suit. "We are lucky to have your support," he murmured, arms going around her - the only thing that could have broken his gaze was the excuse to touch her again - as he moved close enough. "But for now...?" The question, and intent, were clear - J'ril had no chance in his head, not against all her charms.

"For now, I am lucky to have you." Asteriel said and leaned forward to press the full length of her body against him, starting with his lips. Her hands slid up to tangle in his hair, lean into his embrace with warm wanting.

"I'll always be beside you, if you'll have me." she whispered between the kisses she placed on his mouth, his jawline and his throat. She slid a leg over him.

"Yes," E'zen replied, half-aware he was speaking, entirely aware of the woman in his arms, against him, moving...

Oh yes, entirely aware of her.