A Spiral, Down or Up?

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


She was right in a sense Desire and passion were two of the hardest things to lock away and Alex knew that from the fourth thing he didn’t mention this room held. Temptation. Something he rarely if ever gave into willingly. But now he found himself less than a couple of inches from her face. He’d felt her hands running through his hair a tick ago no longer and could see the almost dazed look in her eyes and the deep crimson that spread across her cheeks. That slight glaze faded into a look of longing before. A stark look of shock and a sharp pain in his left cheek.

“I’m sorry. I just did something out of impulse. And that was wrong of m-” Before he even finished his sentence he felt her hand on his other cheek again, the touch much lighter this time. Soft enough to tell him he wasn’t fully wrong. As if he needed confirmation on that though this time she lunged at him. Planting her lips on his with a force that overshadowed his own from before. He wrapped his arms around her waist lightly and then slid one up to her bare back, feeling the soft warmth of her skin in his hands. His other going down to smooth over her dress and lift her by her legs a good couple of feet off of the ground. Never breaking the moment.

A few short steps and he placed her down atop the blood red sheets, his arms moving to hold himself above her as he held the lock. Not wanting to be parted from her for that moment. His hands moved to loosen the belt on his robe letting it hang open now. Then something deep within his subconscious spoke to him.
Stop! Don’t go any further. You remember what happened last time? You’ll only get hurt again. Or worse yet. You’ll hurt her.

He broke off the kiss now holding himself above her pinning her between himself and the sheets. He could have done anything in that moment, and something told him she’d be alright with it. Instead of going further, he stopped. Closing his eyes he pulled back and away moving to sit on the edge of the large mattress.
“I can’t do it.” He spoke with a quiet resignation in his voice. A subtle undertone that almost sounded reminiscent of shattering glass. “I can’t.” He hunched over elbows on his knees and his head held in his hands. He wanted too, by Nikali he wanted too. Yet he couldn’t run the risk of hurting her.

He’d hurt too many people through other means and he’d been hurt in a similar way. He wasn’t going to put her through that. No, not him, not now.
You did the right thing. Make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. He held there a good few ticks. Thinking over his options and what had just happened. Was she was alright with this, with him. And was he happy taking a chance like that?

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

They're second kiss was more fierce than before. Every time her lips touched his she was consumed by the same need and desire that he was, feeling it fully. The feeling of his hands on her bare skin made her shiver and when he picked her up she wrapped her legs around him, once again going for that soft hair as she entwined her fingers in it, gentle pulling them through and moving them back in to do it again. When he laid her on the bed she knew what happened next. He undid his belt and she took the time to slide her hands up his chest, all muscle and soft skin.

Then he stopped and she looked at him with first longing then puzzlement in her face as he didn't come back to her.
"I can't do it." He said.
He sat at the edge of the bed ans she joined him there, wrapping her hands around his torso, finding his bare skin, and settling her head on his shoulder.
"It's just the room Alex. Maybe we shouldn't have came here..."
She was rethinking her decision now that the feeling of desire was fading. It occurred to her that they really were moving fast, and maybe it was only the room's power which swayed them to act in such a way. Surely he didn't feel like this for her, it was only the way a man is affected by the powers of Passion, Desire, and Intensity around a woman. She let him go and stood out of the bed, standing away from him and near the door to the outside. Looking to it she walked over and opened up the door. A cool breeze filtered through the open door. It wasn't cold, but pleasant and quite the contrast to the heat of the room and the heat she was feeling earlier. She sighed to herself and looked at him. Even this, what they were just doing, made him sad.

She began to get angry. Was he toying with her? Perhaps his own wounded emotions forced him to hurt others, some kind of sick game where he gained what he lacked through emotional torture. Like a bully picking on you. She shot him a glance and began walking out the door onto the balcony but had a change of heart, thinking maybe he just couldn't. Maybe something stopped him that wasn't sinister.
'I mean look at him, head in hands... Oh I be all mixed up. But no more touching him, not at all.' She promised herself.
"Do you.... want to come out here with me? The night is still young and it be feelin' great out here."
She didn't know what to say. Hopefully he didn't want to talk about it. Though she had a feeling he might.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


He sat there a moment, thinking things over, mulling over what he was doing. As much as he wanted to he wouldn’t. He felt arms clasp around his chest and her head resting lightly on his shoulder. He didn’t try to push her away instead lifting a hand closer to lightly touch hers. It wasn’t just the room. H knew that the only thing the room did was amplify what he already felt.
“It’s not just the room…” He trailed off a moment before he continued on. “I’m sorry.” He spoke gently and as he did he felt her hands pull away from him and the soft sound of foot falls moving towards the large doors. He gingerly looked in her direction, and caught the short sharp glance. Perhaps by not going through with it he’d hurt her more?

The rush of air into the room shifted the feeling from that heat to a more pleasant breeze. He held still thinking about what had just happened. Mulling over the sensation in his head. Eventually she broke the silence, asking if he wanted to come over to her. He closed his eyes and smiled lightly.
Take it slowly. Make sure you won’t get hurt, and that you won’t hurt her. He stood looking out into the surrounding darkness, and watching the grass awash with that blue glow. He stepped up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing the bare skin of her back into his own chest as he lowered his head to her ear his words barely a whisper even by his standards.

“I’m sorry. I just want to be sure that I won’t hurt you. And I forgot to mention the fourth emotion this room deals with. Temptation.” He shifted his eyes out over the darkness. “Look up.” He tried to have her look heaven wards and into the thing that now stretched out eternally before them. The sky was awash with stars and so clear and dark that the entirety of the space nearby could be seen with perfect clarity. Like a painting in the sky itself.

“You don’t have to say anything.” He whispered again. Letting his fingertips pull away from her waist and his chest from her back he offered her a hand. “Perhaps we should leave this room. You’ve two more to take a look at if you’d like. We’ve still time.” He spoke again with a softness that belle his current turmoil inside. And with a small smirk he finished with. “And remind me not to get slapped by you again. You hit really hard.”

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

"It's not just the room." He said.
She considered this. He was real, that much was true. But would they ever meet? Were they doomed to have a quasi relationship, friends or otherwise, in the dream world? Did Nysel bring them together here for them to find their match but never truly meet? She couldn't have him be apart of her pod, Laviku would throw a fit for that but he could become a party on her ship. A passenger. She wondered if he knew how to sail. Did he know she was a Svefra? Previously he had spoken to her in Fratava, but did that mean he knew her heritage? He was just a human, that much she was sure of.
'Oh the Gods. Buckeye.'
By now Buckeye was used to her other lovers, despite his protests, but he would still throw a fit. She knew he wouldn't help her fish anymore and probably find someone to spite her by shacking up with them in Syka.
"You don't need to be sorry, Alex."

They went outside together and he wrapped his arms around her.
'He's touching me; not I, him.' The rule was unbroken.
Still that whisper in her ear set her a blazing and she fought with herself not to turn around and kiss him again. Instead she said in a strangled voice, fighting with herself.
"Temptation. I see where our problems be lyin'. And how would you hurt me?"
Of course he wanted to talk about it. She felt awkward, still not sure about what just happened. They had only just met but she did have feelings for him. Something about the way they met and what they've already been through, how he would protect her against even himself was just... romantic. She looked up. The full moon, yet again, hung high in a myriad stars. So clear it seemed like if she focused she could look past those stars, into the ones that lie behind and the ones that lie behind those. It was expansive. He broke away from her, exposing her back to the cold of the outside world.
"I love the stars. They be holdin' so much wisdom, watching over us mortals in their silent judgement."
And she really did love the stars.
"As a little girl I would watch them from my mothers casinor, on the deck. Playing games like connecting them together as we sang children's songs about Laviku. The Moonreef pod had a few of their own, very unique songs for children. I know one of them on the double flute. "

"Too late, I already said something."
She teased.
"But yes, lets go. I be nervous though. I don't know if I want to subject you to Malice or Fury. But we will go there if you have something to show me."
Taking his hand she hoped this was a nice break from his usual constant mixed emotions. Though it would seem even here he was subject to them. The poor guy never caught a break.
"Yes, I do hit hard. I learned from my mother."
She took her other arm out and flexed it playfully.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


“I do.” All he said as he stepped back. Her words tight and contested almost as if the well of repression from this room was starting to effect even her. And how would he hurt her?
“Simple. By not being there when you need me.” All he said the words holding more depth than the expanse of the stars. Almost like his own deep wound that still hadn’t healed. He ran a hand along the banister of the outside and up along the frame of the doors.

Stepping back inside the room he caught her speaking about her love of the stars and finally caught her last name. “Linie Moonreef?” He smirked rolling the words lightly off of his tongue. “I agree the stars are something beautiful and judgemental. However I’ve never taken great comfort in them. I often find them causing me to ask more questions than I ever find answers too.” He stepped back towards the staircase the soft footfalls light enough that he could still hear her speak. Her words again broke the silence. Much lighter than before. Though he could see her trepidation.

“Fury is not evil. And Malice is natural. You cannot have the good without the bad.” He smiled lightly and watched her raise her arm up into the air with a playful flex. “I wish I’d known that before I kissed you.” He smirked inciting a small joke. “Then I’d of ducked.”

He headed down the stairs slowly hoping that Linie would follow in tow. Stepping back through the fires his clothes changed again back into that simple black garb he wore when she first arrived. However when she’d step through her dress didn’t change in style nor shape instead she simply gained a pair of shoes that laced themselves up to her ankles but mostly open with the barest hint of a heel. The dress itself changing from the stark red to a prismatic glow. Like looking at light through a refractive crystal on a black canvas.

He paused a moment in the main room looking between the two remaining options. He settled upon the one he knew he’d have to go through. Leading the way he stepped up to the lightning. As he stepped through his clothing shifted once again the boots becoming thicker and fur lined. Along with the robe which grew thicker and denser. His shirt a darkened green. There was an almost royal look to him as he stepped through.

As he lead her through that dress began to shift and shimmer clinging to her form and rapping into a pair of pants the same golden shade as his own. The upper shirt grew slightly shorter coming up to just above her waist and the sleeves rolling down to her hands. Again the same shade as his own. And above it a thick fur lined robe now adorned her. The shoes changing into gilded boots that rose up to her knees.

“Above here lies something more meaningful than blind rage.” The staircase much shorter this time as he lead her up into something akin to a drawing room complete with a desk and papers. Another bookcase against the far wall but the room was much wider than the peak however the ceiling was flat. And the room was lit by what seemed to be bolts of lightning perpetually caught mid flash amongst four crystals in the corners of the room.
“Pride. Fury, Jealousy. And Purpose. The last I let leak from this room.” He glanced over the ground as two chairs rose out of the hard oaken wood floor. “Pride is dangerous, perhaps more so than fury.” Alex stepped over to a suit of armour in the corner of the room, a much cleaner much sharper looking version of the armour her wore as a squire. “Feel free to ask your questions about this place. And allow me to reintroduce myself. Alexander Faircroft, Ex-syliran knight, and Ravokian."

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

OOCThat's the pile of gold Linie will lay on someday, there in your boxcode.

Not being there when she needed him? She bit her lip. Should she tell him about Buckeye? It probably wasn't a good idea as he would be one to dwell, then they step into the jealousy room and they end as quickly as they came together. No. She wouldn't tell him about her other lover, human's were finicky about that sort of stuff, until they met, if they ever met, in person. His words though caused her to wonder if they would truly ever meet again. She decided she would treat it like their last, just in case. She followed him out of the room, listening as he spoke.
"Aye, more questions than you be findin' answers too. Perhaps Zintila would hold the answers. I've always wanted to travel to Lhavit."

She raised her eyebrow at his next words, not sure about them. They may come natural to him but she was a Svefra. Fun loving, playful pets of Laviku. While some of the more vicious pirates held malice and fury in their heart she had only met those types in passing. Alex didn't seem the type to delight in it, but kept it hidden in his sacred place for what reason? She would have to follow him to find out. She followed his slow descent down the steps, bare feet creating small food falls as they went. They passed through the glass on the other side and this time it didn't burn. It must be meant to keep intruders out, not in. She was glad, but when she stepped out she was greeted by the most lavish dress she had ever worn. It seemed to be made of diamonds and sparkled in such a beautiful way she did a turn to watch the light catch it on all sides.
Grinning at him she said, "So this is your mind. You have great taste in clothes."

She watched as he considered their last two options and followed him through the lightening. As she passed through there was a disorienting, blinding flash of light that even on the other side she took a moment to get her vision back.
"Blinding defenses huh?"
She asked rubbing her eyes. She still couldn't barely see, only the vaguest of outlines. In a panic she grabbed his arm with her hand, trying to steady herself as she rubbed and rubbed her eye. Finally after some minutes her sight came back, but her eyes hurt like she got some hot pepper in them and they watered. Still focusing on her problems, she barely caught his next words. Luckily she was till holding on to him as they cleared the flight of stairs into the drawing room. Her eyes were better now and they no longer stung.
"Yes, but pride can be useful. Like taking pride in your work. I be failin' to see how fury can be helpful. Purpose though, I can see why you be lettin' that bleed out."

She about coughed on her gasp when he said he used to be a knight.
"Like a knight, knight or do you mean a squire? A squire I can deal with, you gotta pay the bills but the knights? Oh Laviku." She considered the armor which stood before her and shivered. She disliked Syliras. It smelled like a barn, what with all the horses and from inside its walls everything felt so... oppressive.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


“Sorry I should really have warned you about that.” He gave a small wince as she rubbed her eyes. “As for my taste in clothes. It’s not that great” He smirked but as she grabbed his arm trying to focus herself on a singular point in time. And a Singular place it was enough for him to know that she honestly couldn’t see. Her words about pride thought he could fully understand.
“Pride is something that Need to be taken in small doses as excess pride can cause more harm than good. Careful consideration needs to be taken about what you take pride in. As for Fury. Fury is anger with purpose. Reckless anger is wild like a storm, destroying all in it’s path. However fury is that anger directed at a single thing. For example what happened when I was in your mind. It’s easier to explain in terms like that. Envy. There is no good in envy what so ever, at least not to me, but it can cause pride and anger, which is why it’s lumped in here.”

As he watched her reaction to him being a knight or a squire he laughed a little. “True I was Squire. I’ve no mark of Sylir for my proof of knighthood.” He sighed lightly looking out over the armour once again. “I’ve never been one to gain the favour of gods. At least I haven’t show enough diligence in any one aspect.” His fingers reached up to the loop of sigils. “I left syliras about forty days ago by this point. Three seasons within those tight corridors. I felt like I was going mad.”

He stepped over to the desk running his fingers once again across the dark lacquered wood. “I’ve heard of Laviku though. God of the seas. And by my recollection, the primary deity of your people.” He stepped forwards around the desk glancing towards the stack of books within the corner. “Pride and anger. Two of the most dangerous emotions. If taken out of restraint. Or at least left unchained. Neither though are as dangerous as those locked behind the fire. Anger can damage, pride can hurt. However unfettered passion can truly break someone. In a way they can never heal.”

He tapped his fingers across the desk offering her a seat. “I brought you here to show you that even when angered people can still focus it. And use it for good.” He shifted and sat upon the edge of the desk. “We’ve one more door left for me to show you.” He wasn’t going to mention the two doors below the surface. “And if you’re feeling brave enough there is one more door but that one is only if you feel brave enough.” He smiled an air of pride about him that he hadn’t shown before. Not arrogance but almost like an exuding majesty.

[Linie Moonreef]

"Ye know. I never thought of fury that way. To me fury be the most reckless type of anger. That anger that you can't hold back and causes you to do something you regret. I disagree, envy keeps your girl," she blushed, remembering earlier, "at your side. Sometimes it gives you the drive to do better if you were, say, jelous of a muscian's ability to play. I know that's why I picked up the double flute. I was terribley jealous of the musicians I saw on the Flotilla."
She explained. She hoped he would understand her meaning. He laughed, it was a pleasant sound and made her smile in return.
"I be marked by Laviku, but most Svefra get their marks as children. I didn't earn it much more than being born into the right body. It does be havin' its perks though. When you've been on the sea for weeks the 'salt water into fresh water' ability really helps. You're also able to call upon small schools of fish, which in my case as a fisherman, really helps. But there's a warning all Svefra know about that particular perk. Laviku doesn't take kindly to the mistreatment of his animals. It may upset the balance of the marine life if ye be usin' your gift too much."
She watched as his fingers reached for his necklace and grabbed a hold of them there.
"Only forty days? That's nearly half a season. You must be loving the great outdoors. I assume you went to Alvadas by boat? Did you go on the Mischief? I do love their shows. Three seasons is too much though. I could hardly stand it for a week, while we were there, as a child."

She stepped closer to the armor, coming up to inspect it. Never in her waking life would she get so close to a knights armor. She decided he would look handsome in it and wondered if during any of those cold Syliran night if he took a woman to bed because of his stature.
'Probably not he's too... Straight laced. I bet he cries after sex.'
She grinned to herself. Buckeye did that once and she found it kind of funny.
"Yes, he's my people's deity. We love, no need to praise him for making us what we are. Children of the sea. None better equpied to live on boats. None more fierce in battle and in the bedroom. Lovers, fighters, we're some of the best."
Glowing with Pride, she grinned at him, daring him to tell her she was wrong. If there was anything a Svefra could take pride in it was their heritage. Then she listened to his next words, carefully thinking about what to say.
"I think you be havin' a scewed veiw of passion. Passion should be allowed to run freely. To its fullest. But only if passion is given in return. And sometimes, we have to let people go. But to love and lost is better than to never have loved at all. I believe in giving my all no matter the consquences. To be my truest self in order to live my life to the fullest. That is passion."
She was having the conversation she wanted to have with him in the red room, but she supposed they got a little sidetracked in there. She sat when he beckoned to her.

"Like how you focused your anger during the fight. I remember how your voice boomed at one point."
Watching him sit she reached up and touched his knee, but quickly took her hand away as if she touched a hot coal. Afraid she would be overwhelmed by that intensity their touch had previously meant. Then she realised they were no longer in there, her caution was for naught.
"I'm feeling brave."
Though silently she wondered what else he could have in store for her.
'How much deeper does he go?'

Made by A. Faircroft

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


Alex wasn’t blind to the crimson that adorned her cheeks when she spoke of keeping the girl. Though her perspective on envy he could understand that drive to push to be better than the competition. Admittedly he never really saw anything as anything other than a chance to learn. Those better than him he just accepted and moved on. But in this instance she was fully right. And as he listened on her depictions of what Laviku’s mark could do was certainly helpful for those who spent their lives upon the open ocean. But it was a fair point to keep balance.

“Yes fourty days only sixteen of them though were aboard a ship and no not the mischief. A small merchant boat. Big enough that they needed someone willing to help for defence from pirates. A fair price for transport out of the city.” Alex shifted lightly watching her stepped up to the armour. “That’s actually a polished up version of the armour I used to wear. Which is why the stark cold steel stand out amongst the golden opulence and the wooden flooring.” He let her continue on listening intently and biting his tongue a moment. Perhaps she held a ring of truth.

“Sorry about that when I get a little heated it’s harder to control my voice. And since you’re feeling brave how’s about we put your theory of ther being no better “fighters or lovers” than the children of Laviku?” He smirked and slammed his fist down upon the desk the room then began to shift the furniture fading into the floor and the walls opening like an iris, and spreading out to form a much larger circle.

His clothing began to shift, the robe tightening over his form as the suit of armour began to vanish from it’s stand and fill out over his form, once again encasing him in full steel. His hands gripped the twin lengths of steel he’d become accustomed too over the last season or so. And he wasn’t the only one this happened too. At his stamp her clothing began to shift as well filling out into a protective plate much like his own but different in design and size. Smaller to fit her frame and lighter in construction seeing as she wasn’t used to the weight of full plate like he was but just as protective. In front of her a cutlass hovered openly in the air.

“Let’s see if you can live up to your words?” He beamed a smirk and his voice rose to a third of it's full volume. As neither of them were encased in helms. Easily that would be the only rule, no shots towards the head. Allowing her time to ready herself Alex began to pace around her slowly. Whirling his blades in a small flourish. And within an instant he was upon her. A blade from below and one from above. He was openly not going to hold back if she wanted to claim a place of superiority. In the room of HIS pride no less.

[Linie Moonreef]

"Only sixteen days on the sea..."
She pondered. She couldn't imagine being on the sea for only sixteen days. She was out there nearly everyday, or at least floating on it. While she liked her time on land she was very much a creature of the sea, reveling in the saltwater and the breeze.
"My family used to be pirates." She stated proudly. "Who's going to defend you from me? And a polished verison you say? It looks rather heavy."
He said nothing to her soapbox and she decided to leave it at that. He must think she was right. And she was, she knew she was. She wasn't stupid and like before it felt good having intelligent conversation for once. She was at a lack of it being with Buckeye, over the years they had graduated to just enjoying each other's company rather than getting into intense debates. They did fight though, if you wanted to count that. They fought a lot and that usually ended up with Linie ignoring Buckeye. Flat out ignoring. She wasn't above it and in fact enjoyed listening to him when he whined for her to acknowledge him.

"Well I didn't say I was one of the better ones--"
She started but it had already begun. The armor from the stand beginning to disappear and reappear on his frame as the battelfield spread out and shaped to be larger, large enough to hold them both. He stamped and suddenly she got heavier. Her golden outfit slowly turned red, plate appearing over top of leather armor. * She was now wearing fingerless gloves and the hands in which they incased wrapped around the steel of her cutlass. She got nervous. She had seen how well he could use a weapon before and knew she was no match.
"I'm telling you now, we both know who will win this."
She left it vague just incase she might take him unawares but knew in her heart she was just about to be taken care of. But if worst came to worse, she had a plan.... She guarded the strike from above with an upward guard, but the strike from below struck her and knocked the wind out of her.
'Wow, he really isn't holding back.'
The Svefra thought as she wheezed to catch her breath. Without thinking, she struck at him from above, trying to land a hit in his upper chest.

Made by A. Faircroft