As strong as the seas are stormy.</style>
When it's all said and done, it's like the snow shifting and settling after an avalanche. There's no fanfare to it, no drama that's inherent to their personalities. All it takes is a few whispered words, which seem like nothing in the face of how powerful an act it is for her to bend for him. To make room and mold herself around the idea of loving him, after all the hurt he'd caused her - and that she'd undoubtedly caused him, as well. But she'll take it. Because she remembers all the sad, whispered stories her mother used to tell the twins. About separation and misunderstandings that had hurt and torn her parents apart so often. But they'd loved each other until the end. Until the very end. And a tree had grown from their fallen forms as testament to that, and it would never fade. So if a romance like that could be so fraught with pain...then surely her and Thranduil would be just fine.
Only when warm metal pressed back against her breast did Hotaru make a sound of surprise and tilt her head down to peer at it for a moment, mystified. But when it did not do anything further, she dismissed it in favor of bringing Thranduil close. Exploration could come later, but Thranduil meant more than any trinket, even if it appeared to be magical. It didn't matter as much as this, as having him near. Knowing he was succumbing just as much as her by the soft whisper of her name on his lips. It was all she needed to know that he was falling as hard as she was, that they'd stopped fighting. At least for now.
His face is soft and tired beneath her lips, and she brushes his forelock away tenderly before retreating with a smile. Times like these she envies the other species, for how they can press their foreheads together so affectionately. Instead she angles her face to draw their cheeks together, undaunted by the crown on her head. And he pulls her close and vows to be hers, the weight of him digging pleasurably into her neck and she shudders and dances ever closer, though there is surely no space between them anymore for how they chase it away so violently. Arches beneath him like a cresting wave, pressing into each tough he blesses her with, smiling so brightly to echo the gorgeous smile he has deigned to reveal to her.
His laugh rumbles against her chest and she can't help but laugh softly in return, delighted by his joy, his genuine happiness. Maybe they can do this after all. This was surely what had kept her parents together despite it all - these moments.
Hotaru's breaths hitched softly as his lips scorched fire down her shoulders, bleeding into her veins as she shivered beneath his attentions. Each gentle nip of his teeth against her hide seemed to weaken her knees with a mix of arousal and deep, abiding affection. And though he loomed over her own small frame, she returned his actions where she could reach. Pulling playfully at his mane, dragging her muzzle across his shoulder and grooming the edge of his spine with careful, attentive gestures.
Time slips away from her, and she only absently notices that Alice has disappeared through the cavern's mouth sometime amidst all the commotion. Part of her appreciates it, and she sinks into gently grooming and cuddling the golden in her grasp. Only when her lips drift across one sore spot too many does she rip herself reluctantly from the dreamlike state she's in, and softly murmurs against his ear.
"We need to find one of the healers, love," Hotaru points out quietly, eyes soft with her own reluctance. She doesn't want to leave this cave, this moment she has with him. But he is injured, and she can't ignore that. The Valkyrie can do nothing but hope that, in the end, they will have more moments like these.
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