redmarsshit | mistleglow: a winter kiss meme

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mistleglow: a winter kiss meme

mistleglow: a winter kiss meme.

The month of December has been a cold one in Anchor, with the bots working hard to bring a little winter joy to the city. This year, there's a little extra surprise - the bots welcome the participation of the nanites, who are able to join in with the winter holiday protocols for the first time in a long time following their long imprisonment.

And what are the nanites doing? Well...this winter wonderland has been missing a conspicuous offender: the mistletoe. That's where the nanites come in...

▶ The nanites will be floating around in little swarms, lit up bright with various colors, and when they run into any sentient creature, they will enclose them in a harmless invisible shield with a radius of approximately three feet by three feet. Once the characters are entrapped, they'll be stuck for exactly one hour...unless they kiss!

▶ There is no compulsion to kiss, and characters are welcome to just wait out the hour and hope they're stuck with a good conversationalist, but if they want to get on their way, they'll have to kiss their fellow captive, in a specific way depending on the color of the nanite swarm that's trapped them.

▶ The bots will be helping by helpfully informing any trapped characters they need to kiss as they pass by. They won't say what kind of kiss because that would make it too easy. But at least now you know, right?

▶ This meme can be counted as game canon and used for AC if threads continue into January (don't forget: December is check-in only) if both parties wish. Characters who are not in the game are welcome, and threads from this meme can also count for application samples! Come join us!

▶ How to Participate: Just post a top-level detailing the types of kisses you're interested in, and then tag around to other people's top-levels.

▶ Kiss Type Legend:

RED: MOUTH ● ORANGE: NECK ● YELLOW: CHEEK
GREEN: FOREHEAD ● BLUE: HAND ● VIOLET: BUTTERFLY

Navigation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Though the barrier dissipated, Rey doesn't move, and so Elleru doesn't either, wanting her companion to decide when they should part -- giving her that agency should make her feel better, she reasons. Rey's hand is warm against her elbow; her lips are a little coarse, but it's expected when she is a soldier, someone who takes greater care of those on the battlefield than she ever does of herself. They haven't been living in the same space for very long, but Elleru has already picked up on the little things Rey does differently to her -- or doesn't do rather -- and taking care of her upright body is one of them.

But that's okay: the dryness of her lips, the heat of her body, and the trails of scars that line her face are traits that make Rey unique among the uprights of Anchor. They are telling of who she is in the same way that some of Elleru's kaulahren characteristics reveal what she is beneath the skin: they are their natures, plain and simple, and they are not so easily changed.

Elleru presses just a little harder against Rey before finally pulling herself away, thinking that, perhaps, she should take the initiative after all. She doesn't go far though, just a few inches from Rey's face, her hands still on her friend in case she needs her support.

"Is that better?"

While Rey wouldn't necessarily call herself 'better', the freedom from the barriers encasing them helps a bit. Still, even as Elleru pulls away, the answer to that question is uncertain -- so much so that she's afraid to move the tiniest bit. Instead she's just frozen, staring at the back of her lids as her other senses detect the environment around her to know that Elleru hasn't fully pulled away yet.

Touching the side of her own head now, Rey lowers her chin, hesitant to reply.

"Might need to lay down. Or sit. Feel dizzy."

It's not a yes, but it's not a no, either. At least her breathing has calmed down some.

"Then let us sit."

She holds onto Rey's hand and gives it a little tug, fully intending to lead her to somewhere more comfortable for them to rest. She generally finds the grass in the park to be comfy and calming, and it's nearby, so what better place is there?

Her steps are measured, her grasp never loosening as she gives Rey's hand a reassuring squeeze. She's led Kieran to the park loads of times now, the blinded man needing her to guide him; she leads Rey in much the same way, carefully watching her companion's pace and trying to stay just ahead of her until they reach her favorite tree near the lake's edge. The trunk has patch worn into one side with claw marks and scratches, making a nice spot to lean against -- one that just about perfectly fits Elleru's frame.

She lowers herself to the ground, her hand still clasping Rey's as she encourages her to sit, as well.

Rey's stride becomes more robotic than even her usual soldier's gait; moving along on autopilot than having any conscious awareness of what her body is doing. She senses Elleru's hand in hers and the guiding nudge, the steps towards the park and the tree. She notes the marks and the patch, giving way that this was a frequent haunt of at least one person here.

None of those things process yet though, as she brings her thoughts to focus on steadying her breath and heart rate. Normalize the flow of her blood so she doesn't erupt in heat just as fast as her temperature dropped.

Hands still clammy, face still blanched, Rey follows Elleru's cue to rest her legs now. She all but collapses off her feet here, as sweat drips from her brow and her eyes stare at the empty space in front of her.

"Apologies," she finally says, the words coming out of her mouth as mechanical as her body language. "Have trouble, being boxed in places."

She's quelled her anxiety in such cases before, but being encased with another person is... well, new.

"There is no need to apologize, Rrey!" Elleru insists, bringing her other hand to join the first, encasing Rey's between them both. "You were scared, that is all. We made it through together, and you are not alone. I am here."

She scoots closer to Rey, sliding a shoulder behind her back in case she needs some literal support to go with the figurative. Despite how clammy she is, Elleru can see the sweat dripping from her, and she warbles worriedly.

"Please, tell me how I may help you."

Normally she would withdraw from the physical contact, but for now Rey welcomes the comfort. She even takes the hint and allows herself to lean on the taller woman, allowing herself the time to take in the free oxygen outside of the barrier.

"Better now, but this might... take a few minutes. If you don't mind staying." The robots are gone, so at least she doesn't have to worry about them coming back to shut them in again.

Either way, she doesn't want to be alone.

Worried as she may be, Elleru can't help but smile.

"Of course I will stay, Rrey," she insists. "I know... you have been worried before, that those around you will leave you. I will not leave, not if I may help it."

Of course, Rey meant that more for the long-term than for a brief moment of calm after a panic, but why can't it apply for both?

Once again Rey would argue that it's not a fear... but that's not entirely inaccurate, either. She exhales a shuddering breath, trying to calm her body shaking from stress and strain, banishing the thought for the brief period she can fathom it.

Unable to help but think about the pressure on her lips earlier, Rey brings a hand over her mouth. For some reason, a kiss was the only thing capable of releasing them from their confinement.

It sounds just as stupid in her head as she expects it to.

"Well, um. Sorry, for making you have to do that," Rey mutters, the back of her hand still over her mouth as she stares off into empty space.

"For making me do what? Kiss you?"

She may sound coy as she asks, but she knows. She leans a little closer, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"I will tell you a secret. I do not do anything I do not want to do."

Instinctively Rey wants to ask 'Are you sure?' but the words don't make it out. She knows the answer; she's known Elleru and how she just is enough to make that prediction, for better or for worse.

Now she just has to try not to shiver -- this time it having less to do with the temperature and her drop in body heat and more with her sudden awareness of how close Elleru is. Her hand clasps even tighter around her own jaw, trying to remain grounded to the present as much as she can be and not to a particular redhead of the past who she had once shared a similar proximity with.

"Ah, in that case. Than... ks?"

Smooth.

Very smooth. Elleru seems satisfied by her response -- mostly by the fact Rey's not arguing, insisting she's still sorry, or making herself out to be unworthy of such attention -- and leans further against the tree, getting comfy. Despite the earlier panic, it's a nice moment now, and one Elleru hopes to enjoy just a little longer. After all, it may be the only time she gets to spend in such a way with her roommate. It's almost a shame they couldn't kiss longer.

Elleru's ears dip; she thinks about asking Rey if they could kiss again, just to make sure it was a good one. A single kiss was able to bring a smile to Kieran's face, making a blinded man feel joy in the uncertain and frightening world that marred him -- she likes to think she could, perhaps, do the same for Rey. However, Elleru doesn't want to push her into anything she's uncomfortable with, and it's clear from their interactions that physical contact is not Rey's area of expertise. Uprights can be so hard to read, but Elleru can feel it in her heart that Rey needs someone sometimes, even if she doesn't think so. Whether that person is a friend, family, lover, or otherwise is difficult to tell, but so long as there's someone to give her the support she needs, maybe it doesn't matter all that much.

Elleru is happy to be that support for now. She wants to help so badly, wants to better understand this intriguing, standoffish upright. How can one be so simultaneously strong and fragile?

"You are welcome, Rrey," she says softly. And then, feeling bold: "You may kiss me anytime, barrier or no."

Oh hell. It was one Rey's mind, but she wasn't sure how to be so bold as to say anything about it. With Elleru around, she doesn't have to.

As the seconds pass, she feels the heat slowly return to her skin. Now it's more of a flushed color rising to her face, as she feels the clamminess of her palms turn to sweat of a different kind.

"You think so?" Rey speaks out in a rather unsteady voice.

She's not exactly meeting Elleru's eyes to see how sincere she's being, but she's feeling a little more and more at ease despite the nervous creeping up inside her chest. It's baffling, how not even her panicked display earlier could deter someone like this from making suggestive comments like that in times like these. Not that Rey minds. She cares about it, but she doesn't mind...

"Might... need to lay down for a bit, first. Do you mind?" She doesn't mean to leave this place entirely. It's quiet, calm -- pretty chilly at the moment, but not to her. This is fine to relax for a little while more. Think about things... like that.

Elleru shakes her head, not minding at all. In fact, she leans back just a hair and pats her lap invitingly.

You want a thigh pillow, Rey? Have a thigh pillow.

While a lot of things tend to fly over Rey's head, a hint like this she gets. She's too weary, drained from what happened in her bones and spirit to react in exaggerated proportions and decline.

Instead, she takes the offer, repositioning herself onto her back so that she can rest her head on Elleru's lap. Rarely does she ever sleep like this, opting into sitting posture than putting herself in more vulnerable states. Right now, she'd rather not think about that.

What more, she closes her eyes, a soft hum rumbling from the back of her throat allowing herself to relax just a little.

As Rey closes her eyes, Elleru takes the opportunity to run her fingers through Rey's shaggy hair, gently brushing through the strands, carefully pulling at any tangles that curl around her hand. While preening is a social activity among her people, she's learned that humans tend to be more guarded with such contact, not allowing anyone but those they know and trust to be so close. Rey has been especially reluctant to form such connections, even with someone who has been trying her hardest to reach out to her, so for her to rest her head on Elleru's lap and close her eyes...

Well, Elleru can't help but feel she's special in some way, like she's done what others would deem impossible. With only the sound of the water for accompaniment, she hums to herself, her voice and song peppered with murmured trills and thrums as she goes through the melody. Rey is sharing something special with her, so it's only right she do the same.

In most scenarios, Rey wouldn't be caught dead letting her guard down the way she is now. To be so vulnerable that not only to expose her weaknesses out in the open, but to put herself into the hands of someone else...

It should be terrifying. But right now, there is an odd sense of comfort in this. She might not know Elleru that well, but in their past exchanges she's never given Rey any reason to assume that she's the type who'd take advantage of someone in effort to do them harm.

A few times there are memories of a confined room flashing in her mind's eye, in passing. A woman who would stroke her long, wild hair back then and hum a song not unlike a woman right here and now is doing. Rey doesn't linger on that moment for long, not to risk the ache in her chest causing more suffering than it needs to.

Her hands fold over her own chest, feeling the thrum of her mechanical heart under her fingertips. Focusing on Elleru's voice and touch through Rey's own unkempt hair, untangling her usually ungroomed strands bit by bit as she starts to allow her own tension unwind.

This is... nice.

This is nice. Elleru keeps humming, drawing her hands through Rey's hair, and wishing her native tongue weren't so strange to the upright ear. The words don't translate so well, but she tries anyway, her voice rich, deep:

I was born on this mountain
Born on this mountain
The river runs high as it flows through your veins
Yield in our claws, was a change in the thunder
Hear the tall trees as they whisper their pain

I was born on this mountain
Born on this mountain
The river cuts through and I follow its way
Yield in our claws as I think of before times
And know that the morning brings brighter a day

She had to swap a word or two on the fly to make it rhyme in common, but it works well enough. She forgoes lyrics after that, closing her own eyes to simply take in the moment.

"How does that feel, Rrey?"

Edited 2020-01-27 09:00 (UTC)

As Elleru sings, Rey doesn't shift, or speak. She's lies still, drinking in that voice, unaware of the changes their source had to make in order to translate. It doesn't matter. It keeps her grounded to this present moment for the time being, and that's all she needs.

For a fleeting moment, it seems all right to just forget... When she does move, it's to take Elleru's hand that's been combing through her own hair--

"It's beautiful," she exhales, not moving to stop Elleru from what she was doing, but to bring those fingers to her own scarred cheek. Her response isn't just to the song.

The touch of Rey's hand against hers startles Elleru slightly, her humming coming to an end with an inquisitive hm? as though to ask what it is Rey wants. She lets Rey guide her hand across her scars; from there, Elleru traces Rey's marred skin with her fingertips, mentally mapping out each one while reveling in the trust she's being shown. She hasn't known Rey terribly long, but she knows plenty well how closed off Rey can be when it comes to contact like this.

She smiles widely to herself, feeling truly special to have such a gift before her. Rey even called her song beautiful -- surely that is all she meant by that.

"It has been a long time since I sang," she admits. "I hope I am not rusted."

It's not entirely what she meant, but it's close enough that Rey isn't going to correct Elleru. Her fingers just curl around the other woman's; she finally welcomes herself to relax since her earlier episode.

"Is that a song from your home?" Rey asks, her voice uncharacteristically soft and quiet, careful when she asks because she realizes she doesn't know much about where Elleru comes from -- or even what she is. She appears humanoid enough, but the ears (and her other form) would imply otherwise.

"It is," she answers, her nails brushing through the shorter hairs at Rey's temples. "It is a song the... mm."

Her brow knits as she tries to think of the appropriate word for it -- one both understandable to an upright, and one that doesn't give away her true nature.

"I do not know the word for it," she admits. "But it is a song the hen? That she sings to the little ones at night."

At first Rey isn't sure she entirely follows. She looks up at Elleru, as if there will be clues in her features.

"To the little...?" Rey starts, tilting her head towards Elleru's touch a bit more. "You mean something like... a lullaby?"

Normally she wouldn't even understand the concept. But distant memories -- true and not fabrications, hint of a time where she was lulled with song and rhymes. It was always one of the few things that placated the monster inside.

"Ah yes, a lullaby!" Elleru giggles as she says the word, enjoying the way it rolls off her tongue. "It helps soothe them so they remain quiet." Too much noise not only wakes the others, but could draw unwanted attention to their colony, after all. The illusions set up to protect their home may deceive the eyes, but the ears are far more difficult to trick.

"I do not know many of them anymore. It has been so long since I heard them myself. Do your people have lullabies?"

To Rey it makes enough sense. She hasn't been around many children, but she knows they're rowdy, noisy, and not very good at being conspicuous.

"Don't... really have a 'people'." Rey casts a sidelong gaze, chewing the inside of her cheek. It's sad but it's also true -- she doesn't have a tribe or community to call her own. And the few she could, she doesn't want to burden herself upon. "But, have heard a few lullabies in the last. Songs. Stuff like that."

"You do not have a people?" Elleru questions. Rey had been hesitant to get close to others because she thought they would inevitably leave, but does she truly have no one?

That seems so sad, enough so that Elleru lets out a despondent warble. "Tell me of your lullabies. Perhaps I can sing them for you."

mistleglow: a winter kiss meme

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