Thor & Sabine

The gentle shifting of the tree limbs made my heart race, despite the coolness of an early, autumn night. The air was brisk and smelled of the coming winter, but it was impossibly beautiful in the Grove. Fireflies had retired for the summer, seeking refuge in the thicket and within hallowed tree trunks, but the crickets remained, their symphony lifting and dropping away as I walked. I sought to find my way to the crystalline pool in hopes of again pondering what it might be like to accompany Evangeline to such an intimate refuge… I had been troubled by the idea for what felt like weeks and had yet to mention it to anyone other than the sea in the Edge. I had never before asked a woman for their hand in such a bold and presumptuous way and that made me nervous. Essetia had been unplanned and further born from inexperience in my youth. Yet, I was older now and Evangeline was not Tamira… Things were certainly different this time around. Was it so wrong of me to desire perfection?

I had waited so long for this, or perhaps I was getting ahead of myself- I had waited so long for her. More than anything I wanted to prove to Eva that I was not like the rest, I was entirely different. I planned to stay by her and support her and… do everything that any proper man must. I was not raised to be polygamous or swindling; I was raised to be the perfect gentleman and that’s exactly what Eva deserved.

We’d been here formerly, under much different circumstances no less, and before I’d hinted toward our return, it took much deliberation on my part. I wanted things to fall into place naturally because planning was certainly not my strong suit, nor Evangeline’s. Besides, if the Pure was evenly mildly convinced that I’d coerced her here under selfish pretenses, she’d be gone faster than I could utter the word “stop”. The woman had a mind of her own and that was something I admired in her, though I hoped it didn’t keep us from moving forward any more than it already had. I had stuck by her for so long, looking for ways to convince her to be mine… this was my way of sealing the deal.

Thor & Sabine

The very moments of time left between now and then were tantalizingly delicious. My thoughts stretched and flowered from the erotic to the downright romantic… but even as fantasy was quickly approaching reality, I knew that my musings were little compared to what was to come. The night had only begun and the cool breeze helped to dissuade the heat feathering just beneath my skin, but it was an unquenchable thirst that only grew with my expectations. She was like an addiction that I couldn’t quite kick or a desire that bloomed despite a summer drought… I was lost in a black hole and willing to accept the freefall.

Her scent reached me well before Evangeline herself, and it too was an intoxicating mixture of bated breath and anticipation. I was a madman, a collector of memories, and most of all the very epitome of vivid green… My mind was too easily swayed while my heart recalled the kind of mare that had stolen it from my very chest- the excitement was almost too much for me to overcome. I was certainly married to the idea of a life with her and it was something that would begin this night, no matter how many persuasion tactics might be employed to do as much. Did I really believe that she would deny me again or was that just the fear of history repeating itself? Our days together had grown long and now only the night remained… there was no avoiding it.

Amidst my anxiety I’d almost missed the quiet beating of dragon wings, but as soon as I recognized the familiar sound, a whimsical trilling drifted through the trees. It was as if the Queen herself were being announced to my company and a lazy smile stretched across my lips at the thought. Evangeline was nothing short of a stately matriarch and nothing or no one would ever be able to convince me otherwise. There was certainly no creature on earth capable of deterring a man in love and that was surely what I was, wasn’t it?

When her footfall was close enough to distinguish from the symphony of night dwellers, I turned to face her. I wanted to appear ready despite the racing of my heart and the hesitant rise and fall of my chest. I was nervous- a mere boy asking for the hand of a woman. Would she take it? “Eva,” I breathed like so many times before. Was it any surprise that such a majestic combination of mortal and goddess was able to take my breath away? I would never claim indignity for believing her to be the most graceful, stunning, creature to walk this earth. That was simply how it worked- women trumped men in all matters of the heart. We were but servants to their cause.

Like the first time I was able to invite Evangeline to my side, my skin was set aflame at her touch. Heat, passion, and worry all pooled within my chest with good intention before rushing downward in a fiery, cascading spiral. The blackness of the void was all that surrounded us and the moments that had seemed so long just minutes ago seemed to push me headlong into a desperate cacophony of emotion. This was like nothing I’d ever felt. It was awful, it was amazing, and it was everything I’d been dreaming of.


She was finally mine.

“I love you.”

Thor & Sabine

The lines of her body did not appear so hard anymore, but more so supple and- I couldn’t allow for distractions. I couldn’t allow this to be anything less than perfect, even if the surmounting stress of such an obligation felt almost suffocating. However, it was too difficult to ignore why I’d sought her consult… here in the Grove. Was there any point in lying anymore about my intentions? Did Evangeline feel the same? The pressure was mounting; my skin was toxic- a flame made of desire and doubt… Everything had become a wave of conflicting emotion, drowning me in isolation despite her nearness, her pliancy, and her ability to simultaneously calm and excite me. When the faintest trace of breath escaped her lips, I clung to it until it morphed into sound -a single word that left me hanging- trying to determine if she too clouded those double standards we had both arrived with.

Yet, the pure bliss just beneath the warm pools of green that I had come to adore was all but mesmerizing. I didn’t want to lose myself to this moment and yet I couldn’t control where things were headed… I was helpless to the matter, a winter storm blown in from the Basin, rampant and unstoppable. But, a flutter, a certain grounding met with my attempts to fly upon hearing the four words that lifted me in both heart and soul. I love you too. I’d needed to hear that, as free and open as the wild plains of the meadow… I’d been searching for someone like her for so long. Recognizing that the search was over was like lifting a weight off my shoulders- I was finally content.

Just when I’d settled for inhaling the sweet scent that was Eva, she caught me off guard by uttering my name in that soft cadence of hers, a ribbon of absolutely, decadent sound. As I shifted to peer down at her, my eyes filling with everlasting warmth that would ultimately never decay, she parted her lips once more- this time taking me aback with her request. A family? Wasn’t that what I wanted too? Had I lifted from earth and found myself relocated in an alternate universe? Everything was too surreal… and yet too real. “Of course,” I gushed throatily. “But… you are already my family Eva, always will be” I concluded on a heavy sigh. With that, I pressed my muzzle into her slender neck- finally losing myself.

-Insert What You Will Here-