Wonder City Stories III #67
Sep. 6th, 2014 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wonder_cityThe end of the summer has been busy and weird, but I'm glad I managed to finish this one up for you.
...And Dance By the Light of the Moon
Angelica stared at her ceiling in the twilight of her nightlights, breathing hard and feeling the sweat cool on her skin under the influence of the ceiling fan and fierce air conditioning in the bedroom. Every muscle in her body was suddenly relaxed, after days of being wound tighter than a violinist on stage at Carnegie Hall. She could feel muscles in her thighs twitching with relief, her pulse thudding in her throat and feet and groin, and her mind sailing free of the baggage that had been weighing it down.
Damn, Kit was good in bed.
As her temporary reprieve ended, she felt like she was sinking into the bed under the weight of the words that she had been putting off saying.
This was hard to give up. She had this impression that saying the words would break the curse, return the skin of the selkie (or whatever the hell he was), and make him vanish in a puff of smoke.
And what could she say, really? What are you? was too much like enraging and alienating things she herself had been asked over the years. Who are you? seemed a bit better, but not by much.
"You're quiet," Kit murmured from where he'd toppled over next to her.
"Yeah," Angelica said.
"You could just ask," Kit said.
She turned her head to stare at him. He was smiling lopsidedly at her, one eye almost hidden in the pillow. She almost thought that hidden eye glittered for a moment.
Finally, she said, "So, the little dogs…"
He laughed through his nose. "Not dogs at all."
She gave him a dubious look. They'd certainly looked and acted like dogs. Mean dogs. As they… ate people? Spirited them away? Turned them into little brown dogs? "Then what were they?"
"Hairs," he said. In response to her incredulous look, he said, "No, really, it's a trick a friend of mine taught me years ago."
Angelica digested that for a moment, then turned on her side and ran a fingertip along his beautiful jawline. "You're not human, are you?"
His lopsided smile didn't fail or freeze, and he didn't nod or shake his head. He just kept looking at her steadily with the one unconcealed eye.
"You don't look anything like humans on this new vision I've got," Angelica said by way of explanation. She'd not mentioned the new power to anyone yet, but this seemed like as good a time as any. "Everyone else looks… really busy. Active. That sort of thing. You… don't. So you don't look human."
He stroked her hip idly, running his palm back and forth over where her hipbone angled the flesh.
She sighed. "Jane said I shouldn't tell anyone, but against my better judgment, I actually trust you not to tell anyone else."
"Heh," he said, and while his expression didn't change, there was something strange deep in the one eye she could see. "It's a strange experience to be trusted."
They lay there quietly for a few moments, Angelica, at least, listening to the hum of the ceiling fan motor. Kit's hand continued to wander aimlessly over her hip and side.
"So, will you tell me?" Angelica said.
"Are you sure you don't know already?" Kit said.
"If I did, I wouldn't ask," Angelica said, struggling to not roll her eyes.
"Well," he said thoughtfully, turning on his back to regard the ceiling, "I'm kinda older than I look…"
When he drifted into silence, she proffered, "You have a lot of names and Kit isn't one of them?"
"Well, Kit is one of them," he said, the corner of his mouth she could see quirking again, "now."
"I get the feeling you're used to being evasive about this," Angelica said.
"Many people know me when they meet me," he said. "Or, well, they used to. Not so much any more."
"You're a lot older than you look then," she said.
"Kinda," he said. After another silence, and she opened her mouth to say something else, he said hurriedly, "No, no, I'm going to tell you, I'm just trying to find the right words."
"Okay," she said.
After another moment of consideration, he said, "Does the name Coyote mean anything to you?"
Angelica frowned, trying to think of someone whose name was Coyote. Then her gaze fell on her bookshelf across the room and she remembered some stories, all in a rush, and said, "You don't mean, like, the spirit, or deity, or whatever, named Coyote?"
In the dim light, for just a moment, his profile changed and lengthened, and when he turned to glance at her, there was a yellow glint in the corner of his eye. Then it vanished, and he was just Kit again. But that didn't stop the adrenaline that her lizard brain had just dumped into her bloodstream from making her pulse pound in her ears.
"Okay," she said, making a solid effort to sound calm and collected. I've been sleeping with a GOD??? "Cool. Thank you for telling me." She watched his face, his very human face, with its little laugh lines etched at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth, for a long moment before saying, in a smaller voice, "Can we talk about it in the morning?"
"Sure," he said, rolling toward her and putting his arms around her.
It took her a while to fall asleep, but by the time she did, she'd convinced herself that it had been a trick of the light and her bedmate was just the human man she'd thought him until a few days ago. She knew it was temporary sanity, but she wanted to spend one more night with her face in his neck, smelling his sweat and feeling safe and warm.
...And Dance By the Light of the Moon
Angelica stared at her ceiling in the twilight of her nightlights, breathing hard and feeling the sweat cool on her skin under the influence of the ceiling fan and fierce air conditioning in the bedroom. Every muscle in her body was suddenly relaxed, after days of being wound tighter than a violinist on stage at Carnegie Hall. She could feel muscles in her thighs twitching with relief, her pulse thudding in her throat and feet and groin, and her mind sailing free of the baggage that had been weighing it down.
Damn, Kit was good in bed.
As her temporary reprieve ended, she felt like she was sinking into the bed under the weight of the words that she had been putting off saying.
This was hard to give up. She had this impression that saying the words would break the curse, return the skin of the selkie (or whatever the hell he was), and make him vanish in a puff of smoke.
And what could she say, really? What are you? was too much like enraging and alienating things she herself had been asked over the years. Who are you? seemed a bit better, but not by much.
"You're quiet," Kit murmured from where he'd toppled over next to her.
"Yeah," Angelica said.
"You could just ask," Kit said.
She turned her head to stare at him. He was smiling lopsidedly at her, one eye almost hidden in the pillow. She almost thought that hidden eye glittered for a moment.
Finally, she said, "So, the little dogs…"
He laughed through his nose. "Not dogs at all."
She gave him a dubious look. They'd certainly looked and acted like dogs. Mean dogs. As they… ate people? Spirited them away? Turned them into little brown dogs? "Then what were they?"
"Hairs," he said. In response to her incredulous look, he said, "No, really, it's a trick a friend of mine taught me years ago."
Angelica digested that for a moment, then turned on her side and ran a fingertip along his beautiful jawline. "You're not human, are you?"
His lopsided smile didn't fail or freeze, and he didn't nod or shake his head. He just kept looking at her steadily with the one unconcealed eye.
"You don't look anything like humans on this new vision I've got," Angelica said by way of explanation. She'd not mentioned the new power to anyone yet, but this seemed like as good a time as any. "Everyone else looks… really busy. Active. That sort of thing. You… don't. So you don't look human."
He stroked her hip idly, running his palm back and forth over where her hipbone angled the flesh.
She sighed. "Jane said I shouldn't tell anyone, but against my better judgment, I actually trust you not to tell anyone else."
"Heh," he said, and while his expression didn't change, there was something strange deep in the one eye she could see. "It's a strange experience to be trusted."
They lay there quietly for a few moments, Angelica, at least, listening to the hum of the ceiling fan motor. Kit's hand continued to wander aimlessly over her hip and side.
"So, will you tell me?" Angelica said.
"Are you sure you don't know already?" Kit said.
"If I did, I wouldn't ask," Angelica said, struggling to not roll her eyes.
"Well," he said thoughtfully, turning on his back to regard the ceiling, "I'm kinda older than I look…"
When he drifted into silence, she proffered, "You have a lot of names and Kit isn't one of them?"
"Well, Kit is one of them," he said, the corner of his mouth she could see quirking again, "now."
"I get the feeling you're used to being evasive about this," Angelica said.
"Many people know me when they meet me," he said. "Or, well, they used to. Not so much any more."
"You're a lot older than you look then," she said.
"Kinda," he said. After another silence, and she opened her mouth to say something else, he said hurriedly, "No, no, I'm going to tell you, I'm just trying to find the right words."
"Okay," she said.
After another moment of consideration, he said, "Does the name Coyote mean anything to you?"
Angelica frowned, trying to think of someone whose name was Coyote. Then her gaze fell on her bookshelf across the room and she remembered some stories, all in a rush, and said, "You don't mean, like, the spirit, or deity, or whatever, named Coyote?"
In the dim light, for just a moment, his profile changed and lengthened, and when he turned to glance at her, there was a yellow glint in the corner of his eye. Then it vanished, and he was just Kit again. But that didn't stop the adrenaline that her lizard brain had just dumped into her bloodstream from making her pulse pound in her ears.
"Okay," she said, making a solid effort to sound calm and collected. I've been sleeping with a GOD??? "Cool. Thank you for telling me." She watched his face, his very human face, with its little laugh lines etched at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth, for a long moment before saying, in a smaller voice, "Can we talk about it in the morning?"
"Sure," he said, rolling toward her and putting his arms around her.
It took her a while to fall asleep, but by the time she did, she'd convinced herself that it had been a trick of the light and her bedmate was just the human man she'd thought him until a few days ago. She knew it was temporary sanity, but she wanted to spend one more night with her face in his neck, smelling his sweat and feeling safe and warm.
